Analysis of the Warehouse Automation Failure at Sainsbury’s The WritePass Journal

Examination of the Warehouse Automation Failure at Sainsbury’s Conceptual Examination of the Warehouse Automation Failure at Sainsbury’s ). Despite the fact that the organization being re-appropriated to might have had a decent notoriety in executing such ventures, the absence of association by parent organization directors in the checking and assessment of the task can influence the accomplishment of the proposed objective (Alexander Walker, 2013). The negligible association by Sainsbury’s the board in this venture clarifies why it took three years and an adjustment in initiative to understand that the task was not prone to achieve its set goals (Alexander Walker, 2013). Another conceivable reason, which has additionally been recognized by Double Loop (2013) is that there was inadequate commitment between the company’s CEO and its IT providers in anticipating the conceivable key business and IT dangers. Therefore, no conveyance methodology that could handle these difficulties was immediately planned (Chermack, 2011). This can likewise be considered as the absence of adequate arrangements by the then CEO (Sir Peter Davis) before the inception of the task. Lacking readiness opens ventures to the danger of conceivable disappointment and over-use (Kardes et al., 2013). There was likewise a correspondence issue, which can be for the most part accused on Sir Peter Davis. While it more likely than not been known to him that the venture could presumably neglect to serve its proposed objective, his introduction about the undertaking to general society was that its encouraging was as arranged and that by 2003, it had spared the organization  £700 million. Had the issues been honestly and immediately called attention to, fundamental measures could have been attempted to turn away the overwhelming misfortune that was later brought about (Aula Siira, 2010). Given that this disappointment was related with the distribution center mechanization practice at Sainsbury’s stockroom robotization venture, it is additionally important that the disappointment may have been halfway brought about via computerization challenges. The way that mechanized framework neglected to work as it was proposed to, demonstrates that all the contributions to terms of time, ca sh and assets were lost (Kardes et al., 2013). Porter’s Value chain Analysis of the Failure Doormen esteem chain model can be utilized to recognize the essential and supporting exercises which added to the disappointment at Sainsbury’s According to Porter (1985), conventional worth included exercises can be partitioned into two. These are essential exercises and bolster exercises. Essential exercises involve inbound and outbound coordinations, deals and showcasing, administrations and activities. Supporting exercises, then again, contain firm foundation, senior administration jobs, inside culture, acquisition, redistributing and innovative turns of events. The model is spoken to in the outline underneath, in which the capacities that added to the disappointment at Sainsbury’s have been checked. Fig. 1: Sainsbury’s esteem affix parts that added to the disappointment in stockroom robotization The capacities set apart in the worth chain model above have been distinguished as the donors towards the recognized disappointment. They are clarified in more detail beneath: Outbound coordinations: in the worth chain, outbound coordinations are alluded to as exercises that principally identify with transference of merchandise to clients through warehousing. The computerization of the distribution center at Sainsbury’s was being done as such as to encourage this essential movement in the association. The disappointment of the distribution center computerization to viably occur in this way influenced the exercises in outbound coordinations (Zott et al., 2011). Senior administration Roles: There was a disappointment by the senior administration, drove by the company’s CEO to adequately make a thorough arrangement of the stockroom computerization venture, which could have distinguished the expected dangers and added to the definition of potential systems to defeat these difficulties (Kardes et al., 2013). Another disappointment by the administration was as far as their contribution in the execution of the venture, just to distinguish issues three years after usage of the task (Double Loop, 2013). Inward Communications: This capacity alludes to how adequately and precisely data is passed inside the hierarchical area (Wright, 2012). The disappointment was because of the miscommunication by the CEO, where he indicated that the task was destined for success and had in actuality spared the organization a sensible measure of cash. This shows he was either being given an inappropriate data by the temporary worker organization or he was introducing incorrectly data about the undertaking. Innovation developments:â It must be recognized that the company’s plan was to improve its administration conveyance to its clients through mechanical advancement. In any case, given that the whole computerization venture neglected to appear, it tends to be contended that there was a mechanical improvement disappointment. As indicated by Porter’s (1985) model, mechanical improvement includes all exercises that identify with the handling and the board of data. It additionally includes the exercises attempted in guaranteeing that the association stays aware of the most recent mechanical changes. Re-appropriating: The IT computerization venture was embraced by Accenture, a re-appropriated IT organization, which neglected to convey the expected robotization results, and at last prompted the wiping out of the agreement (Double Loop, 2013). End This paper has introduced an instance of distribution center computerization disappointment at Sainsbury’s in 2004. With the assistance of the Porter’s esteem chain model, a few essential and supporting exercises that may have added to the disappointment have been distinguished. The distinguished essential exercises are inbound coordinations and outbound coordinations. Supporting exercises are redistributing, innovation improvements, interior interchanges and senior administration jobs. The way that every one of these exercises influenced and were likewise influenced by the distribution center robotization disappointment at Sainsbury’s demonstrates that numerous operational disappointments or calamities that happen on the grounds that there is absence of comprehension of the entire association, bringing about issues in the synchronization of various authoritative capacities. References Alexander, A. Walker, H., 2013. Feasible flexibly chain the executives: towards a frameworks hypothesis point of view. Dublin: EUROMA gathering. Twofold Loop, 2013. Sainsbury’s Warehouse Automation Project. [Online] Available at:  â doubleloopconsulting.com/sainsbury-distribution center automationâ [Accessed 6 March 2014]. Kardes, I., Ozturk, A., Cavusgil, S.T. Cavusgil, E., 2013. Overseeing worldwide megaprojects: Complexity and hazard the executives. Worldwide Business Review, 22(6), pp.905-17. OBrien, L., 2004. Advanced calamity. [Online] Available at:  â supplymanagement.com/examination/highlights/2004/advanced fiasco/ [Accessed 6 March 2014]. Doorman, M., 1985. Upper hand. New York: Free Press. Sainsburys, 2014. About us. [Online] Available at: j-sainsbury.co.uk/about-us/ [Accessed 6 March 2014]. Zott, C., Amit, R. Massa, L., 2011. The plan of action: late turns of events and future exploration. Diary of Management , 37(4), pp.1019-42. Abdullah, L.M. Verner, J.M., 2012. Examination and utilization of a re-appropriating hazard structure. Diary of Systems and Software, 85(8), pp.1930-52. Aula, P. Siira, K., 2010. Authoritative Communication and Conflict Management Systems: A Social Complexity Approach. Nordicom Review, 31, pp.125-41. Chermack, T.J., 2011. Situation Planning in Organizations. California: Berrett-Koehler. Wright, M., 2012. Gower Handbook of Internal Communication. Burlington: Gower Publishing.

Museum Project Essays

Exhibition hall Project Essays Exhibition hall Project Essay Exhibition hall Project Essay 10 November 2010 Museum Project Ansel Adams, The Tetons and The Snake River, Grand Teton National Park. 1942. Gelatin Silver Print. Highlighted at Phoenix Art Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was conceived in San Francisco, California. Being brought up in the shadows of the incomparable Golden Gate Bridge was the inspiration for his profound gratefulness for nature and his youth would turn into his essential motivation to seek after photography. For some odd reason the 1906 quake made a changeless imprint on him as he was tossed to the earth shattering his nose. At the point when he was 17 he picked up his initial understanding and motivation by working for the Sierra Club at the Clubs LeConte Memorial Lodge, in Yosemite National Park. Ansel in the long run turned into a picture taker for the clubs yearly trips. He is most popular as a visionary figure for normal photography just as for his energy in safeguarding the wild. In 1980, Ansel got the lofty Presidential Medal of Freedom for his endeavors to protect the wild. He assumed a huge job in the natural cognizance of the United States and his photography, right up 'til today; keep on moving the two craftsmen and protectionist (Adams 6)(Ansel). The class is photography. The image is of mountains in the setting, with a stream streaming before it encompassed by backwoods. The three qualities to portray the piece would be; point of view, worth and organization. From the William Cronon site we learn of the two alternate points of view in this photograph. The creator expresses that the first is a vantage-point viewpoint. This viewpoint gives us a dazzling picture of the scene. The subsequent point of view would be the winged animals eye viewpoint where the watcher is separated from the genuine components in the image giving them a general perspective on the image (Hung). The print is Geletin Silver, which gives the exceptionally rich blacks and grays. The worth that is imparted in each piece of the print makes the prints excellence simply unfurl before your eyes, giving you the sentiment of nearly being there. It esteem recognizes the shapes and items from each other in the photo. Mr. Adams arrangement shows how he confined the photograph to focus the mountain and the stream. The waterway drives our eyes to the mountain or looking down from the mountain to the stream streaming before us. As indicated by Ansel Adams, the image speaks to achieving data earth to the outsider development. The reason for existing is indicating what life on earth is. The image gives us the crude magnificence of the Teton Nation Park (Van-buskirk). His adoration for scene and nature appear as he actually brings this image alive. To me it gives us what the National Parks were and ought to consistently be, left as nature planned them to be. Having a flat out adoration for nature and photography this image caught my eye promptly and actually left me in wonder. Alfredo Ramos Martin, La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala Oaxaca). 1940’s. Oil on Canvas. Highlighted at The Phoenix Art Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. Alfredo Ramos Martinez (1872 †1946). He was conceived on November 12, 1872. His folks were from Monterrey Mexico, in the province of Nuevo Leon. His dad was a white collar class vendor. His mom was exceptionally steady of his creative undertakings. He turned into a genuine craftsman ahead of schedule at the youthful age of 9 by sending a picture he painted of the legislative leader of Nuevo Leon to an opposition in San Antonio, Texas. This representation won in front of the pack! Ramos got the attention of American Phoebe Hearst by his work of painted normal life scenes, which he aced in the wake of getting tired of the framework while going to the renowned Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City for a long time. His life scene work was made while he was still at the Academia. He was exhausted of the present educational plan and during those occasions where he would stray burnt out on drawing from mortar throws is the point at which he started making his style. Phoebe is the individual who made game plans to monetarily bolster his examinations abroad. So in 1897 he went to Paris where he aced his exchange the avenues by grasping the Post-Impressionists style. This is the place Ramos began painting on newsprint (Martinez). The class of this work of art is Latin American. The canvas is of a youthful Aztec Indian lady. Three qualities to depict the piece would be line, shape and shading. Ramos is utilizing inclining lines out of sight to bring you into the excellent young lady. His lines will direct you and lead you to the focal point of the artwork, which is the little youngster. It will make you order the consideration of her, who is his primary core interest. Ramos further uses enormous shapes in his representations, which again request your consideration, making her strong and excellent. The shapes are huge promotion natural from the state of her face to the state of her lips, and all that are in the middle. The shades of earthy colors and blacks make the image warm and agreeable and furthermore speak to the class it is from. It gives you the sentiment of being there in the youthful woman’s culture as those hues speak to the Indian culture. The representation speaks to a young lady in the Aztec Indian culture as a courageous woman. It gives us an inside gander at the ladies of this time and culture. His utilization of hues and intensity speak to the resilient ladies in the way of life and their magnificence, as the genuine champions they are not the whores some described them. This representation halted me truly in my strides. I needed to take a second and even a third look as the intensity, the quality and unadulterated effortlessness of the lady in the image shouts to you requesting your consideration. I began to look all starry eyed at from the start site (La Malinche). Sandy Skoglund, Fox Games, 1989. Model in mud. Included at The Denver Art Museum. Denver, Colorado. Sandy Skoglund was conceived September 11, 1946. She presently dwells in New York City where she has a studio and is an educator at Rutgers University. The greater part of her adolescence was spent in California, where her later work would get its impact. Sandy earned a B. A. from Smith College, where she contemplated craftsmanship history and her M. A. furthermore, M. F. A. she got from the University of Iowa. She likewise considered craftsmanship history at the Sorbonne and Ecole du Louver in Paris, France during her lesser year of school. It was in the late 70’s that Sandy took another bearing when business picture making propelled her. Her work regularly includes Surrealist tableaux made out of splendid hues and various repeating objects. Sandy Skoglund has had her work has been shown in various galleries around the nation, for example, Dayton Art Institute, Denver Art Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. A portion of her most celebrated work is the Radioactive Cats and Revenge of the Goldfish. Sandy will make a domain like Fox Games and afterward photo the piece and afterward display the piece alongside the photo (The Free Library)(Fantasy). The class of this figure: Fox Games, is Modern/Contemporary. The piece or pieces are of dim foxes in red rooms searching for food and playing among one another. Three qualities to portray the piece would be structure, surface and shading. The structure in this piece is the lively foxes, which are made of earth and are three dimensional and they are the noticeable components of the piece. These pieces being of earth mold additionally show the surface of the pieces by contacting the unpleasant and smooth surfaces. You can likewise get the visual feel of the surface just by taking a gander at the pieces. You see the lines and carvings in each piece. You can see where the pieces are smooth and unpleasant in the surface of the earth. One of the most visual parts of these bits of workmanship is the shading and differentiation. She utilizes the shading red to speak to the dread (the bad dream) while she utilizes the difference of the delicate dark foxes to give you a greater amount of the sentiment of smoothness (fanciful). It leaves you feeling somewhat confounded by which message she is attempting to pass on. Sandy’s work speaks to oddity and conceptualism as expressed by The Nelson-Atkins Museum. The Nelson-Atkins Museum proceeds to state that the pieces are silly and welcoming into just about a fanciful understanding and yet speaking to your most exceedingly terrible bad dream (Nelson-Atkins).

Top 10 Communication Tips 2011 #2 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Top 10 Communication Tips 2011 â€" #2 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog This is the second entry in our “Top 10? list for you to consider when communicating with our office and applying. Number 2 â€" Avoid Unnecessarily Creating a Duplicate Online Application I am sure almost everyone has forgotten a user name of password.   However, please do not follow the temptation to simply create a new application in our system if you forget this information.   Having multiple applications in the system can lead to problems with document tracking.   Our software provider has tools that will allow you to retrieve your user name and password so do not create another account because you forgot your user name or password. As an example of what can happen, perhaps you have one “active” application in the system and one that is “hibernating” (you lost the user name or password) and will never be used.   Our office does not know which is the “real” application and this may lead to our office tracking different documents to different applications and therefore neither of the applications may reach complete status.   Please contact technical support (see instructions on the application site) if you lose your user name or password and do not succumb to the temptation to create a new application. There is one important footnote.   In some cases SIPA does allow for applications to more than one program.   In this case, applicants will want to create more than one application in the online system and inform our office that they are applying to two different programs by sending an email to sipa_admission@columbia.edu.   Here are some important details.   In examples 2 and 3 below, the same application system is used, but two separate applications must be created. 1. An applicant may not apply to both the MIA and MPA program. 2. An applicant may apply to the MIA or the MPA and to any of the following programs:   PEPM, PESP, MPA-DP, EMPA. 3.   Applicants can also apply for either the MIA or MPA and any one of the international dual degree programs listed here: an MPA with the London School of Economics, an MPA with Sciences Po, an MPP with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, an MPP with the Hertie School of Governance, and an MIA or MPA with FGV-EAESP in São Paolo. 4. The dual degree MIA program with Sciences Po requires that an application be submitted only through the Sciences Po application site.   If an applicant wishes to apply for the dual MIA degree with Sciences Po and to SIPA, that is fine and would require two applications: 1) one for the dual degree program through the Sciences Po Web site 2) One for the stand alone program at SIPA through our online system. For details on all of our international dual degree programs, visit our international dual degree page.   If any of this sounds confusing, I do not blame you â€" it can be a bit complex.   If you have questions about our international dual degree programs we have an adviser that can assist you.   His contact information is here.   If applying to a Columbia University dual degree program, you must submit separate applications to each school.   For a list of Columbia dual degree programs click here. It is possible to create two applications in our system, but you should only do so if you are absolutely sure.   This is one of those circumstances where it might make the most sense to contact our office if you do not feel you understand all of the details.   You can reach us at sipa_admission@columbia.edu. And one final note, if you are reapplying do not use a previous PIN number.   Each application is associated with a unique PIN.   So if you are reapplying be sure to create a new application to create a new PIN number.

Educational Philosophy - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 608 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Education Essay Level High school Tags: Philosophy Of Education Essay Did you like this example? The previous 4 years I have taught as an ESL Tutor and have worked with a wide array of teachers, with various teaching styles. I have seen characteristics of good teachers and those that are not so good. I have observed them carefully and taken notes on what seems to work in the classroom and what clearly does not work. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Educational Philosophy" essay for you Create order I have seen classrooms that are organized, neat, and colorful, with students work hanging around the room and I have been in classrooms where the walls are white, boring and nothing to look at. I have had a lot of time to think about the teacher I want to become, what I want my classroom to look like and what kind of environment I want my classroom to be. Teaching is full of responsibilities, challenges and frustrations, but on the other hand it can be so exciting and rewarding! I believe one of the most important characteristics of an effective teacher is getting to know the students on a personal level, learning what their likes and dislikes are and to be able to teach them lessons inside the classroom as well as out in the real world. I want to be that teacher that makes a difference in my students lives and the one they remember for years to come. I have already seen a difference in my students just by simply telling them that I am here for them and that I care about them. I want them to be able to trust in me and be able to talk to me if someone or something is bothering them. Creating a safe learning environment within my classroom is very important as well. Students need to feel that when they enter OUR classroom that they are going to be safe both physically and emotionally. I have students that are coming from very rough ba ckgrounds, I want them all to be treated equally and be loved not just by me, but also by their classmates. I am very organized and like to keep the classroom organized as well. I am trying to teach my students organizational skills that they can take with them year after year. By having each of their composition books color-coded, it eases confusion of which journal they should be working in at a particular time. I have arranged the students desks into clusters of four and five, with students from each reading group so my higher students can assist my lower students during independent work centers. I feel that the students can learn a lot from each other and this also helps minimize some behavior issues. Keeping an organized classroom with classroom procedures helps my students know what, how, when and where to do something. The students have routines in the classroom that make daily schedules flow more smoothly for both them and me. Lastly, I believe in teaching content that is meaningful to the students. I want the students to be able to make real-life connections with the subject matter so they understand it better. This can sometimes be a challenge, but when students can link the topics to real-life experiences, it has a better impact on them. Allowing them to turn and talk about those experiences is important too so they develop interactions with other students to formulate ideas and verbalize them with other peers. As an educator, I believe my teaching styles might change over the years as society and curriculums change, but I want my philosophy of teaching to remain the same. I want to remain the teacher that provides a fun, but safe, environment for each student to grow and prosper.

Difference Between Job Satisfaction And Organizational...

An organization’s culture contributes to the success of that organization, especially when employees are able to relate and identify with the culture. A company’s culture should be relatable, applicable to all and ethical. Understanding and promoting proper organizational behavior enables managers to be more aware of the consequences of their decision. Below is a developed survey that will be administered to 3 employees of Alexander Mann Solutions. This organization is a UK based organization that recently opened their operations to the United States. This survey will provide an insight on employee knowledge regarding Alexander Mann Solutions’’ culture. 1. What are the main goals of Alexander Mann Solutions? 2. Would you be able to explain Alexander Mann Solutions’ culture? 3. How does this culture relate to your values and professional goals? 4. What is difference between job satisfaction and organizational culture? 5. How does Alexander Mann Solutions allocate resources within the organization? 6. How is performance measured within Alexander Mann Solutions? 7. What resources might you need in order to improve your performance? 8. Can you explain the metrics used by management in order to measure performance? 9. How effective is management at being transparent when it comes to expectations and rewards? 10. Do you believe management promotes ethical behavior? 11. How do you view management decision’s making regarding ethics issues? 12. Do you believe Alexander MannShow MoreRelatedHuman Resource Practices And Job Satisfaction Essay1560 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Strategic human resource management is a method to dealing human resources that supplies long-term organizational goal and results with a strategic structure. Strategic human resource management is effect with various external aspects. External factors include economic, legal, demographic, cultural, political and technological factors. All these stated factors have changed the HR practices with the channel of time and now HR practices have become more capable in conveying the valueRead MoreThe Impact Of Ethical Dimension On Job Satisfaction Of Employees1232 Words   |  5 PagesIMPACT OF ETHICAL DIMENSION ON JOB SATISFACTION OF EMPLOYEES Chapter No. 1 Introduction 1.0 Background The need of organizational ethics is becoming more significant for job satisfaction in all businesses. These businesses have to face many ethical issues like social responsibilities, social expectations, fair competition, legal protections and rights. The consistency and maintenance of an organization’s culture enforces the management to take into account the culture and various factors like performanceRead MoreOrganizational Culture And The Social Environment Of The Workplace1590 Words   |  7 PagesFoundation Organizational culture was discovered to be an important factor in the social environment of the workplace. The attitudes and beliefs of employees and management are what have shaped the culture of an organization. The culture of an organization has been particularly important in the healthcare setting because it has shaped the type of healthcare that the patients receive within the healthcare organization (Sovie, 1993). The construct organizational culture was developed after theRead MoreOrganizational Culture and National Culture in Multinational Companies1745 Words   |  7 Pagesand employees. Organizational culture and national culture are significantly important in current marketing environment. Organizational culture mainly shows the value and the roles inside the organization. However, national culture is the directing of organizational culture and influence both leadership and employees deeply from their personal values. Furthermore, the relationship between organizational culture and national culture has impacts on leaderships, employees, job satisfaction as well as theRead Moreorganizational behaviour1261 Words   |  6 Pages Organizational Behavior MG6013 The exploration of the theories, research and practices that allow a better understanding of human behavior in organizations. Topics include motivation and job satisfaction; decision making; group dynamics; work teams; leadership; communication; power, politics and conflict; organization culture, structure and design; impact of technology; management of work stress; organizational change andRead MoreProcedural Justice And Job Satisfaction Of Nursing Employees1523 Words   |  7 Pagesoutcome. According to the write-up, â€Å"procedural justice and job satisfaction of nursing employees are positively and significantly related to their innovative behavior† (Xerri, 2014, p.4), and â€Å"interactional justice directly affects job satisfaction and indirectly affects innovative behavior through job satisfaction† (Xerri, 2014, p.4). In other words, an organization that engages in practical apprehensions reaps perfected job satisfaction, which in turn has a bearing on workplace attitudes. To someRead MoreCross Cultural Psychology And Social Psychology1723 Words   |  7 PagesSignature Assignment Cross-cultural psychology involves the examination of relationships between cultural context and human behavior (Berry, Poortinga, Breugelmans, Chasiotis and Sam, 2011, p. 2). Research in the area of cross-cultural psychology is aimed at comparing specific covert and overt behaviors of two or more cultures. More specifically, cross-cultural psychology examines the â€Å"†¦similarities and differences in psychological functioning in various cultural and ethnocultural groups†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 5). HenceforthRead MoreThe Theory Of Job Satisfaction1097 Words   |  5 PagesThe theory of job satisfaction is highlighted in this case. Morale and job dissatisfaction is a major symptom that contributed to the high turnover in the Lima plan. Yet, there are other symptoms that were directly related to morale and job dissatisfaction that should be analyzed to understand the root cause of the problem. First, the nature of the work is a symptom that contributed to the morale and dissatisf action. According to the case, the foremen had to manage and resolve a variety of issuesRead MoreLeadership And Its Effect On Employee s Productivity1568 Words   |  7 Pages Leadership is a crucial concept in the organizational sciences and has prompted many researchers to study its effects and benefits on management as well as its effects on employee’s productivity. In the structure of an organization or institution, the position of leadership is fundamental for its proper function and operation. Leadership is about having the ability to influence others. Having influence means that there is a greater need on the part of leadership positions to exercise their influenceRead MoreEmployee Satisfaction Variables Essay1339 Words   |  6 PagesEmployee Satisfaction Variables Employee Satisfaction: Employee satisfaction is considered to be a key indicator of productivity and customer satisfaction. Employee satisfaction is a key to the success of the organization. The Companys ability to fulfill the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of its employees is employee satisfaction. Satisfaction: Satisfaction is the psychological state that indicates how a person feels about his or her situation, based on an evaluation of

The Idea of Order at Key West Free Essays

â€Å" The Idea of Order at Key West† Wallace Stevens, a imaginative poet, created a wonderful world of desire in the poem â€Å"The Idea of Order at Key West†. Line after line, new perspectives and curious thoughts popped into my head. Stevens creates the desire to want to decipher his puzzle of a poem. We will write a custom essay sample on The Idea of Order at Key West or any similar topic only for you Order Now Stevens is a poet of many themes and perspectives, which led me to understand why I was coming up with so many different meanings behind this poem. In this particular poem, Key West being the muse, Stevens writes down the keys to the mystery, only to be unlocked if you dig deep into his poem. However, once unlocked, understanding the passion and mystery with each written word is a whole other activity. The speaker opens up the poem stating that â€Å"She sang beyond the genius of the sea. †Automatically, I am hit with a vision of a women standing on the shore, running away from the water as is grew closer to her toes, laughter being the song the sea couldn’t amount to. The speaker then goes on to say that she was not mind nor voice. Nonexistent? No. This presence was very much alive in the sense of motion. The speaker, draw in by it’s â€Å"empty†¦ mimic motion†, somehow understands the ovement. Emphasis on there being no physical form, but a being none the less. This possibly gives the speaker a sense of comfort. Being surrounded by a presence the speaker knew, but had a great desire to know more about it. In return, the speaker and company have empathy, constantly hearing a cry. The focus on a feminine figure was very obvious to me in th e beginning of this poem. However, as the poem carries along, I am torn between what I think and what Stevens meant it to be. Continuing along, the presence becomes more mysterious. An open book for she was not a mask no more than was the sea. Water, for the most part, is a transparent substance. It makes sense that the speaker would use this metaphor, being in Key West where the water is crystal. The speaker makes it apparent that the sound is not that of the sea, but of the presence, â€Å"The song and water were not medleyed sound†. The speaker starts to clearly separate the presence from the surroundings of Key West. On the other hand, using the surroundings, the speaker defines the presence. Up to this point in the poem, I was sure that the feminine figure he so carefully described was a love of his. A women he longed for, but couldn’t have. Once I read â€Å" she was the maker of the song she sang†, I changed my mind about who the muse was. It made sense that now, the feminine figure could possibly be a depiction of Mother Nature. A women who controlled the motion of the waves but herself had no motion. She was the cry they knew but was not of there own. The song was not the water, it was the wind as it crashed itself against the water, always pushing against that barrier. Every and all aspect led to this idea that the love was not a love of a woman, but a love for the nature of women itself. The presence, something much larger than im, controlling all of the wonderful things he so desired and felt for. I was so sure about this notion, because I felt reassured by a verse. When the speaker said â€Å"it was she and not the sea we heard† I knew I had come across it all. Despite my reassurance, I instantly withdrew that notion when I came upon this verse, â€Å"repeated in a summer without end†. If the womanly figure was Mother Nature, then seasons would not be an issue. I was then left to recollect my thoughts. Sound, one of our five sense that allows us to soak up the chirping of the birds, crashing of the waves, and the beating of hearts. It seems to be the main drive of the speaker. Everything that the speaker explains comes from the song of Key West, the sound of Key West. Not knowing where it is from or what it is, the speaker so infatuatedly talks about a song and cry. I find it really ironic that the speaker creates a sense with the use of a sense. As you read you are painted a picture with the desire to listen to this song as well as ponder about the origin. The song, I believe, creates the desire to be at Key West and gives it life. To the speaker, the song becomes a song of tranquility amongst chaos, it calms him. The idea of order comes from the sounds that create the song of Key West. Once the song has stopped, the life it sang about trudges on. There is a kind of emptiness to the song, but it moves everyone who listens to it. It creates a connection with the listeners as well as brings their love of Key West to life â€Å"And when she sang†¦ whatever self it had, became the self†. This tune could be of their own life or the reason they come to Key West. It definitely paints the picture everyone goes there for. Sadly, when the song is over, it seems as if the love for the West isn’t as strong. When the speaker turns away, the song no longer is a beautiful melody of the ocean, but a cry. The cry, a constant longing of Key West to have visitors and of the speaker to return again. Only during the summer does the speaker visit the Keys. Since he is only able to visit once every year, the need to visit as well as the Keys need for visitors builds up. Both with the longing to reunite, the cry is heard. There is a strong connection with the speaker and Key West. The speaker carefully describes the beauty of the beach as if it were a women. Every hour spent at the beach is precious. As the sun egins to set, the speaker gets an unsettling feeling. Even though he comes back every summer, it is painful for him to leave such a hypnotizing place. As the day comes to an end, the song seems as if it becomes slower. Creating everything that Key West is, as the song comes to an end, so does its surroundings. Fishing boats go back out to sea, the light begin to turn on, and the speaker has to tear himself away from his love. Time is of the essence and in no sense wasted when the speaker visits Key West. â€Å"She measured it to the hour†, the song is perfectly measured out between sunrise and unset. This then makes it easier for the speaker to leave the beach, allowing him to go about his daily life. Then there is the mention of another man, Ramon Fernandez. The speaker looks up to him, asking if he knew why the melody was ending. I just came to the conclusion that Ramon was nothing but a man who was along for the ride. The speaker probably just asked him if he was interested in seeing Key West. Ramon has no deep connection with the coast unlike his chaotic friend. Although, he seems as if he is good company. He provides the speaker a chance to express his displacement with the song nding as well as the day coming to an end. Key West as a whole can be interpreted as something desired. Expressed like a love for a women, the beaches of Key West provides the speak er with a peaceful place. He longs for the passion, comfort, and peace that the coast grants him. The possibility arises that the speaker was never able to truly express his love until arriving at the coast. There is no sure reason that the speaker feels such a deep connection with Florida. Maybe he lived there as a child, hearing the sounds of the ocean, wind, and creatures daily. Then when he would come back summer after summer, the sounds and sights hanged much like he did with each passing day. The speaker is constantly going back to a later time when things were as they picture them as a child. The song could represent the passing of time, as the day ended, he came to the realization that the beach was not what it used to be. The beach lifestyle being calm and easygoing, allowed the speaker to feel at peace. So then when the speaker left this lifestyle behind for another one, he realized the chaos was too much for him to handle. Sadly he was not able to return for whatever reas on, except once a year, every year when the weather was at its hottest. A possibility could be that there was a job, family, and or life experience that was calling his name. Something of a forceful nature that caused him to leave. In his absence, the coast cried out for him, desperately trying to bring him back to peace. He did not know the cry was for him at the time, but once he came back, it became real. His love for Key West, for his old life was no longer in his grasp. The speaker could no longer turn back time and enjoy all those years he had flash before his eyes. Another interpretation could be that the need to be that Key West represents some sort of psychical or emotional need. Something that cannot be fulfilled by every day life. Key West is a tropical place, there are always exciting, fun, and new things to try. It is a freeing place where anything and everything is accepted. It is easy to find yourself in a social acceptable setting. Depending on the person, different settings can be more opening to others. For example, many people go to New York because they are widely accepted. All in all, Wallace Stevens wrote a cavern of a poem. Always going in deeper, seeing new perspectives, and discovering something new. The Idea of Order at Key West could be interpreted into ust about anything for anyone. Stevens so delicately thought out every single detail, making it such a beautiful read. Carefully unwrapping each sentence, I find myself longing to know more. In the end, what Stevens really wanted was an admirer. Someone who craved the words written by him. An adorer who would stop for nothing to know what his next thought would be. What creator doesn’t want someone to admire their work ? Creating a vivid picture with every word, Stevens captured the essence of the thirst for love and desire. The Idea of Order at Key West was only just the foot in the door of this new way of writing. How to cite The Idea of Order at Key West, Papers

Military’s Impact On My Life Sample Essay Example For Students

Military’s Impact On My Life Sample Essay Writer’s Checklist for Writing a Narrative:* 1. Be my rubric and debut enticing?* My rubric and debut is in my sentiment luring. *2. Be my thesis effectual?* I believe that my thesis statement is really effectual. *3. Have I included plenty inside informations so the reader can visualise my experience? * The inside informations included in my essay should give the reader a clear position on my experience. *4. Are the events presented in a logical sequence? * The events included in my essay are presented in a logical sequence. *5. Have I used passages to assist the sequence of events flow swimmingly? * I have used passages to assist t sequence of evens flow swimmingly. *6. Have I used duologue ( if appropriate ) ? * If duologue was appropriate it has been used.* 7. Have I used a consistent point of position and verb tense? * In my essay I have used a consistent point of position and verb tense. *8. Is the point of my narrative evident?* The point of my narrative is apparent throughout the essay. *9. Have I ended the narrative satisfactorily?* I believe and feel I have ended the narrative satisfactorily. *10. Have I proofread exhaustively?* I have proofread thorough. and besides had another cogent evidence reader read my narrative througly. ( Adapted from Write Now. pp. 110-111 ) The minute that had the most impact in my life would be when I joined the United States Army. Before the twenty-four hours that I signed up I neer in my life pictured that I would be where I am today because of the Military. The twenty-four hours that I left for basic preparation was the beginning of a whole new life. I joined the Army July 27th 2009. and at the clip I was still under the age of 18. I had to hold my parents consent. and they were in full support of my pick to enlist. This didn’t come to a large surprise to my parents. because my older brother was already enlisted. functioning clip in Iraq. He had a large influence in my determination because I watched him go a better individual and wanted to follow in his footfalls. Equally shortly as I had seen how much. for the better. my brother had changed and grown into a much more mature immature adult male. I knew this is what I non merely needed. but what wanted to make. When I foremost realized my whole life was traveling to alter dramatically was when I went through basic preparation. The twenty-four hours of Graduation as I looked out and saw my parents for the first clip in six months was one of the greatest and happiest minutes of my life. Right so and at that place I knew I had accomplished what merely one per centum of America has achieved. During my clip served. I neer thought in my life I would hold traveled to the bases. and states the military brought me to. Bing in all different parts of the universe. particularly Baghdad Iraq. had a immense impact on non merely my life. but on how non to take life for granted. Sing the manner they lived over seas. in a war zone. has made me perfectly thankful for the friends. household. fiance . and life I have and live freely here in the United States. Friends and memories came rapidly during my clip served as an active responsibility member of the armed forces. Today I still maintain in touch with many of the friends I met over the three old ages I was in. Our deployment together brought us closer than of all time. and I consider each one of them a brother to me. Anytime a job occurs in my life. if my fiance is non around I know I can tilt on any one of them for their full support. Whenever I call I know that I will acquire an reply every individual clip. and this has an astonishing impact in my life by holding more so adequate support. It is non merely the friends that impact my life. but the completion of my service has now set me up for nil but success in my hereafter. Using the GI measure I am non merely taking college that is to the full paid for. but besides receive a allowance that helps out with the rent I must pay. and the nutrient I buy. .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 , .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .postImageUrl , .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 , .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:hover , .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:visited , .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:active { border:0!important; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:active , .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73 .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9f337a77f9914f0893c6b4e2668efc73:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Modest Proposal Rhetorical Analysis EssayThe life I live merrily today is owed greatly to the pick I made in fall ining the armed forces. It has impacted my life significantly. and in every individual manner it has bettered me as a adult male. As I continue my instruction. utilizing the GI measure I believe to hold earned for myself. I will ever look back at the twenty-four hours I enlisted and cognize I made the greatest pick of my life as of today. I look frontward to what the hereafter will now convey me. and the successes I will go on to do because of the impact fall ining the armed forces has made in my life.

St. Augustine On Death Essays - Amillennialism, Augustine Of Hippo

St. Augustine On Death Death is a very natural occurrence in life, and everyone experiences death differently, but yet in the same way. When Augustine was a young boy his father died, and he makes a small account of this in the Confessions. Later on in life, he loses a dear friend, and his loving mother. With time, he mentally matures and death affects Augustine differently each time. The death of his father was merely mentioned in the Confessions, while the death of Monica, his mother, was an elaborate detailed account of the time of her death. The death of his close friend, when Augustine was a child made him realize that life is temporal. Growing up, Augustine was not very close to his father. He confided in his mother and leaned towards her Christian beliefs. Patricius, Augustine's father, was a pagan, but later became a catechumen. Patricius did not pressure Augustine about following his mother's beliefs, and gave him the freedom to do so. When Augustine was a child, he was subjected to the verbal abuse his father laid on Monica. His father was also not faithful, and this left a lasting scaring impression on Augustine. Patricius never hit Monica, and she realized that other wives were being beaten, so she accepted the verbal abuse. Patricius was proud of his son's accomplishments, and was admired by all for the sacrifices Patricius made for Augustine. Patricius was considered"generous," but then was also very "hot-tempered." In the Confessions, Augustine only makes note of his father's death, and one reason may be that Augustine was not happy with the way Patricius treated his loving and ever-forgiving mother. Shortly after Patricius' death, Augustine deals with death once more, with his childhood friend. In the Confessions, Augustine tells of a close friend he had as a child growing up. They both went to school together, and enjoyed each other's company. "...I had come to have a friend who because of our shared interests was very close. He was my age, and we shared the flowering of youth. As a boy he had grown up with me, and had gone to school together and played with one another..." Augustine and this unnamed friend knew each other for a short time, yet Augustine felt that he was losing someone he had known all his life. "You [God] took the man from this life when our friendship had scarcely completed a year. It had been sweet to me beyond all sweetnesses of life that I had experienced." The unnamed friend came down a bad fever, and he was baptized while he was unconscious. Augustine felt as if this baptismal sacrament would have no affect on him and he would carry all the sins of his childhood. The unnamed friend did awake from his unconscious state and Augustine and the friend had a minor conflict over a joke Augustine made over the friend's baptism. The friend did not find it a laughing matter, but they did resolve the conflict. Augustine left for a few days and while he was gone, his friend passed away. Augustine explains that he was stricken with grief from the death of his friend, that made him want to leave his hometown. Everything made him think of his friend, and he was always looking for him. Augustine was constantly weeping and was a wreck. "My home became a torture to me; my father's house a strange world of unhappiness; all that I shared with him was transformed into a cruel torment. My eyes looked for him everywhere, and he was not there. I hated everything because they did not have him...I had become to myself a vast problem..." Augustine explains that during this time of sorrow, he did not look towards God for help, and was too wrapped up in the misery of the death of his friend. One thought he had was that he was angered by the fact people in general do not realize that they are on this earth for a short time, and they do not understand the temporality of life. "What madness not to understand how to love human beings with the awareness of human condition!" With this sorrow, Augustine moves from Thagaste to Carthage. The third death Augustine had to confront in his life was that of his mother's, which ends the biographical accounts in Augustine's life. During days of Augustine's childhood, Monica felt as if he was the "son of tears." He turned away from Catholicism, and became a Manichean. Monica greatly disapproved of

Symbols in Fahrenheit 451 Essays

Symbols in Fahrenheit 451 Essays Symbols in Fahrenheit 451 Paper Symbols in Fahrenheit 451 Paper Essay Topic: Fahrenheit 451 As spoken by Socrates â€Å"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new†. Focusing on change and putting all your energy in changing what is wrong is what Ray Bradbury is expressing in the novel Fahrenheit 451. This novel is about one man named Guy Montag is set on a path by multiple people to change society and make it a new dawn of humanity. Bradbury asserts three main symbols. The Phoenix, which embodies rebirth of mankind and the nature of history, mirrors which represent seeing oneself and understanding what has happened, the last symbol blood personifies someones instinctive self. Right up front, the Phoenix embodies the ability for mankind to see one’s mistake and fix the mistake and learn not to do it again. For example in the novel Fahrenheit 451 Granger states â€Å"We know all the damn silly things we’ve done for thousands of years, and as long we know thatsomeday we’ll stop making goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them†(156). Granger makes a direct comparison to human beings and the Phoenix. They both destroy themselves in a shroud of fire, but both start again in the ashes. If the people in the society kept the books which preserve the past and allow people to learn the lessons of prior tragedies. Granger hoped that humanity will remember the suffering caused by destruction, and will avoid destroying itself in the future. Granger clearly statesâ€Å"We’re remembering . . . And some day we’ll remember so much that we’ll build the biggest g______ steam-shovel in history and dig the bigges t grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up†(157). He is saying, ask yourself one question what we’re doing and you can say â€Å"We’re remembering†(157). Granger is saying when somebody remembers then that will be the dawn of fixing our mistakes, but we don’t fix them because we don’t look ourselves in the mirror and try to fix it. The

Homeland Security - Predaredness & Prevention Assignment - 4

Homeland Security - Predaredness & Prevention - Assignment Example Such trainings/exercises are significant to attain a collective goal or objective since it provides opportunity to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses that can be corrected before an actual incident of the same kind occurs (US Department of Homeland Security, n.d.) These exercises or training will enhance preparedness in all first responders who in any situation will normally commence on the same footing, hence making them aware on how to respond effectively to small, medium and large-scale emergencies (US Department of Homeland Security, n.d.). Equally crucial to first responders is being provided with reliable information or data regarding a certain emergency or mishap. This being the case a solid and dependable system of information from all credible sources is needed to determine the actions that must be taken. This entails having a common and ultimate goal for all the responders so a consistent and unbiased approach is drawn from technical and other collection efforts (Th e Provisions of Executive Order 12333, 1981); which will however require all heads of the executive branch departments and agencies to submit timely responsive information necessary to effect programming and budgeting that will sustain the flow of reliable information for appropriate action implementation (The Provisions of Executive Order 12333, 1981). The Provisions of Executive Order 12333. (1981, December 4). Executive Order 12333 – United States Intelligence Activities. Retrieved from

Quality Management High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Quality Management High School - Essay Example Focusing on intangible effects on processes and ways to optimize and reduce their effects. Examination of the way the organization applies the product aimed at improving the product itself and Broadening management concern beyond the product. TQM is mainly concerned with continuous improvement in all work, whether in strategic planning and decision-making or at the supervisory level. It is based in the belief that, mistakes are avoidable and their effects are preventable. It leads to continuously improving results, in all aspects of work, as a result of continuously improving capabilities of workers, processes and technology. TQM is very key to achieving efficiency in the health sector in that it ensures that an organisation maintains a quality standard in all aspects of its business and undertakings. This involves doing things the right and therefore eliminating wastage and losses from the organisations operations. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency, in the United States government for protecting health and safety of the Americans and other needy people throughout the world. CDC concerns itself with prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases, injuries or workplace hazards, and environmental problems.

Basement Car Park Design

Basement Car Park Design A basement car park has to be design in this project to meet the property developers requirement. The car park will have 3 below ground level as the figure attached in the appendix (page 2). A site investigation has been completed and supplied as the information in this project. The construction technique for the basement walls has to be identified, then design the basement walls and produce a report justifying the solution. 1.2 Project Aim and Objective This project title is set up for student who is having their third year study in Civil and Structural Engineering. The objective of this project is to reflect the design and construction process of a geotechnical structure that students are likely to encounter in their future industry life. There are several aim have to be achieved in order to meet the objective in this project. Those aims are: To gain the overall thinking in a project construction and understanding those factors influence the development of the project. To gain deeper knowledge in the geotechnical field such as type of retaining structure and soil profiles. To develop the rational thinking and view of the constructability of the project. To identify the engineering problems in a project and minimize it to the minimum. To justify the proposed concepts into engineering fields. To apply engineering thinking into a project and design the structure in accordance. To communicate with the supervisor for seeking appropriate advice and self study to complete the project. 1.3 Project Scope This project had been separated into two main parts which are conceptual design and detailing design. In the conceptual design part, the choices of pile have to be considered wisely and justify it before get into the detailing design part. In this project, there are several type of retaining structure can be used but just the most appropriate one will be chosen to carry out into the detailing design part. There are few factors have to be concerned while selecting the choice of retaining structure. Those factors are the type of soil, durability, constructability, estimated costs and others. By having a good comparison among type of retaining structure, then the most adoptable type of retaining structure will be selected to construct the retaining wall. For the detailing design part, an adequate design calculation has to be produced in order to show that the retaining structure is satisfied with several circumstances and sufficient drawings have to be prepared if needed. The construction sequences have to indentify and list out clearly. Last but not least, a detailed method statement for the safe construction of the building including any supporting risk assessments, and an outline construction programs in the form of a bar have to be provided. 2.0 Background Study and Constraints The background study is the first stage of this entire project and a work must to be done before a project begin to progress on. The main purpose of this stage is to gather information as much as possible and analysis to figure out the restriction of the project. There must be some restriction in every single project that has to be concerned and further rational thinking to manipulate a good design. The discussion of the constraints has to be done in the early part of the project then the better final design will be produced by passing through this process. 2.1 Deep Excavation and Site The site tolerance is limited due to a public highway located just next to the footpath which is 2m away from the site. There must be some disturbance will face by the public highway due to this significant issue. This point has to be considering while choosing the type of retaining structure to be construct and minimizing it to the minimum when the construction is going on. Deep excavation has to be taking part in this entire project, so the hazards of deep excavation either supported or unsupported case has to be indicated and it is a considerable concern while making decision for the type of earth retaining structure. For example, the dewatering problems might be exist base on the water table and the excavation is variable base on different type of soil in the area as well. 2.2 Soil Profiles The soil profiles are the interesting and concerning part for the geotechnical engineering especially the engineering soils found beneath the topsoil [1]. The engineering properties and the behaviour of these soils are their concerning and interesting point [1]. Different type of soil profiles will be having different ability for a structure. Therefore, site investigation process has to carry out to determine the soil profiles. The layer and the type of soil or rock beneath the ground surface will be determined by this process. Its behaviour and the properties of each layer will be obtained as well to progress on. In this project, there are three boreholes given from the site investigation data which named as BH-02, BH-03 and BH-09. The boreholes record is attached at the back of the report which in the appendix part (from page 1 to page 2). The location of BH-02 and BH-03 are shown inside the plan view of the site but there is nothing relevant to BH-09 can be figured out from the view. The plan view is attached in the appendix (page 1). A simple analytic of the height and depth of each layer have done which shown in the Figure 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3. C:UsersFuhDesktopZzz_Study thingsCIVE 3709ProjectIMG_0619.JPG Figure 2.1 Borehole Record, BH-02 C:UsersFuhDesktopIMG_0617.JPG Figure 2.2 Borehole Record, BH-03 C:UsersFuhDesktopIMG_0618.JPG Figure 2.3 Borehole Record, BH-09 From the figure of the three boreholes records, it shown that they are about the same. The soil profiles for the top layer is made ground then followed by clay and then mudstone as the bottom layer. Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which is generally plastic at appropriate water contents and will harden with dried or fired. Although clay usually contains phyllosilicates, it may contain other materials that impart plasticity and harden when dried or fired. Associated phases in clay may include materials that do not impart plasticity and organic matter [14]. In the other hands, mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock which is formed by clays or muds with the pressure over long time. It looks like hardened clay but depending on the situation when it was formed. 2.3 Water level Groundwater observation where the water seeps or ingress has to be recorded in the site investigation logs as they link with the casing and the boreholes depth [2]. Groundwater observation is the concern for geotechnical engineering due to the water pressure too. The water pressure is an issue that will affect the decision of the choice of retaining structure and the depth of the pile as well. The water table is not given in this particular project specification therefore proper consideration is needed before making any assumption. The water level is to be assumed one meter below ground level after a long consideration and communication with supervisor. This should be the best assumption and go on for the later part of design. 2.4 Time, Cost and Quality As a designer, the concern of the property developer has to be taking into consideration while designing a project. Time, cost and quality are playing the important roles for a single project which will be the concern of the developer. These three elements are the key issues and related to each other. The cost of the project will be increased if a project construction time getting longer. Base on this, the shorter the construction period the lower the cost of the project so a proper planning of the construction method and procedure is needed to minimize the construction cost but the quality of the project must be still maintain in a satisfy adoptable level. 3.0 Type of Earth Retaining Structure Earth retaining structures are mainly used to support the soil and structure due to the difference in elevation of the ground surface. It can be either propped or cantilever. There is various type of earth retaining structures which are used in geotechnical field for civil engineering. Those retaining structure more commonly used in basement car park and more suitable for this project are: Sheet Pile Walls Diaphragm Walls Bored Pile Walls There is different capable of each type of wall, the typical applications of walls have shown in the figure below. Figure 3.1 Typical applications of embedded walls ([8] pages 98) 3.1 Sheet Pile Walls Sheet pile walls are made of timber or precast concrete previously but nowadays sheet pile walls are more commonly made of steel. Sheet pile walls are formed by individually driven sheet pile into the ground and form the series of interlocking piles to support the soil and the structure [1]. Sheet pile wall can be category into two main types which are cantilever wall and anchored wall. Sheet piles are light to handle and being robust. It can handle the high compressive loads whiles it driven into a hard ground surface [3]. It has the ability of being driven into deep penetration to reach a bearing stratum or to develop a high frictional resistance [3]. There are two method of driving sheet piles into stratum which is: Pitch and Drive This is the simplest method, each sheet pile or pair of piles will be driving into the finished level (full depth) before repeating the next sheet pile. By the way, this method is preferable for loose soils and short piles only. Panel Driving In this method, the first pair of piles has to be pitched carefully, plumbed and driven partly to form adjacent piles. Then, the remaining of piles are pitched and interlocked. Finally, the last pair of piles pitched into the panel are then driven partially and followed by the partial driving of the rest of the panel, working back towards the first pair in the panel [4]. The piles is arranged as whole panel, therefore it is no need to drive all piles fully to maintain the piling operations. The risk of driving problem and difficulties of de-clutching will be minimised too [5]. This method is suitable for dense sands and stiff cohesive soils. http://www.earthwork.us/files/DSCN2063.JPG Figure 3.2, Sheet Pile Walls There are few issues have to be discuss while considering to be used sheet pile walls for design. Firstly, the deep of the basement has to be constructed. If the depth of the basement too deep which mean the length of the pile will be quite long and the ability of transporting, pitching and driven those piles has to be taken into consideration especially in urban area. Cost will be affected in this issue as well because it is hard to manufacture a big size of sheet piles. Basement car park recently constructed in urban area to fully utilize the space in the cities. While sheet pile walls can be act as a permanent structure or temporary work in a construction project, but there is a concern if the sheet piles act as the temporary work. The ability to remove the sheet piles after constructed the retaining structure has to be think twice base on the limited spaces around the cities for the crane to remove it. Even there is some improvement of the technology on the noise and vibration problems for sheet piles while driven it into the stratum but vibration and noise are still exit which is the disadvantages of sheet piles. The improvement just mainly overcomes the problem on some type of soil layer only, such as by using some hydraulic pressure equipment to press the sheet piles into stiff clay layer. Refer to this entire issue; there must be rational consideration if steel pile has to be used specially in the urban area. 3.2 Diaphragm Walls A diaphragm wall basically is the combination of reinforced concrete wall and sheet pile wall. It has the ability of the combination of reinforced concrete and sheet pile wall. A diaphragm wall are formed and fixed by vertical reinforced concrete slab in position with the same manner to support the soil. In the other hand, the sheet pile held in the lower part of the diaphragm wall by the passive and active soil pressures that act upon it [1]. Most of the diaphragm walls are the reinforced concrete wall that cast in situ by a machine digging a trench in panels of limited length. It acts as temporary support during construction and a permanent wall, sometimes with lining [8]. The stability of the excavation to the required depth is filled by the use of a drilling fluid, usually is bentonite slurry [6]. This slurry has thixotropic properties, as it forms into gel when left undisturbed but becomes a liquid when disturbed [1]. The bentonite slurry initially penetrates into the soil and the virtually impervious skin of bentonite particles is formed [1]. It is only about few millimetres thick on the sides of the trench. There is no penetration of the slurry into clays, sand and silt water. The main purpose of the use of slurry is to prevent collapse of the trench by creates lateral pressures that act on the side of the short trench panel. When the excavation is done, the required steel reinforcement is place into the trench panel. The walls are constructed by filled with concrete in discrete panel lengths ranging typically between 2.5m and 7.0m using purpose in appropriate circumstances. Those displaced slurry being collected for cleaning and further use. Standard widths of diaphragm walling equipment are 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and 1500mm although greater can be provided as required. Depths of the diaphragm wall are constructed up to 50m by using grabs and up to 80m using standard hydromills (milling machines). The remaining intermediate panels are excavated and constructed to fully complete the wall when the concrete has developed sufficient strength. The length of each panel is limited to the amount that the soil will arch, in a horizontal direction, to support the ground until the concrete has been placed [6]. A simplified Figure 3.3 has been attached to shown the various construction stages. In the Figure 3.3, the processes of each stage are: Guide-wall construction Panel excavation in progress Installing stop ends Panel concreting Figure 3.3, the stage of construction a diaphragm walls. http://www.stroyinject.com/images/gallery/pics_new.08.08/thumb_SZ_2.JPG Figure 3.4, Diaphragm Walls There still exists another type of diaphragm walls which are precast reinforced concrete diaphragm walls. The use for this type of diaphragm wall is nearly the same with diaphragm wall that reinforced concrete cast in situ. It provides both temporary and permanent soil support but with limited depth. There must be some advantages and disadvantages for every single earth retaining structure. Therefore the discussion of pros and cons for this type of retaining structure has to be done, while considering of using diaphragm walls. The construction time and cost of diaphragm wall is generally efficient where it is used for both permanent and temporary subsoil retention for walls of medium, and greater, depth [8]. Diaphragm walls also allow the effective transfer of vertical load from the building superstructure to subsoil below basement level. The vertical load transfer is not added in the wall design while the early of diaphragm wall in UK. The reluctance of designers to allow such load transfer was due no doubt to lack of published test results. This situation changed gradually when the diaphragm more commonly use in the construction of basement [8]. While constructing the diaphragm walls, it has the minimum noise and vibration disturbance. This is an advantage of using diaphragm walls as a retaining structure. The noise and vibration in diaphragm wall installation are about the same compare with the normal civil engineering equipment, such as cranes and generators. Base on this, it suitable to be constructed in urban area. Diaphragm walls can be constructed under groundwater condition so there is not any affection in groundwater problems for this kind of structure. Diaphragm walls have the advantages of high bearing capacity and good in horizontal or vertical bearing capacity. The allowances of settlement for this kind of structure are small which is good for superstructure [9]. Although there are many advantages of using diaphragm wall but there is some limitations for this structure to be used. It could not be use either in very soft soil such as soft clay due to trench stability problem or very stiff rock. The principal disadvantages of diaphragm walling are the risk of loss or spillage of bentonite slurry, the relatively high cost of cleaning and the disposal of the slurry, the site space needed for large reinforcement cages and the large cranes needed to handle them. Above all, the need for continuity in the construction process from excavation through concreting to removal of temporary stop formers is a disadvantage of the method [8]. A good quality control is needed in the diaphragm wall construction. Diaphragm walls are the new type of retaining structure which is more modern and construct by some modern equipment. Those skilful and more specialist workers needed while installation the walls. 3.3 Bored Pile Walls Bored pile walls are an earth retaining structure that form by bored cast in situ piles either small or large diameter. This technique often used in deep basements and underground structure as a temporary or permanent retaining structure. It commonly used for those structures with limited working space or constraint of adjacent existing structures that prevent excessive bulk excavation and help to control the movement of the ground [6]. The construction method of bored pile walls are slightly different compare to the diaphragm wall, initially a casing has to be driven into the ground by using the vibro-hammer and leaving 1 metre length of the casing above the ground. Casing can be ignored where the soil profiles are firm to stiff cohesive soils [11]. The power-driven rotary auger (a drilling tool) will be used to cut and remove the soil within the casing to form a borehole. The range of diameters and depths possible is considerable, from 300 to over 5000mm and down to 100. The used of the casing is to support the surrounding soil. If the length of the casing not enough long to reach the required depth in the ground, bentonite slurry could be used to support the soil below the casing. The steel reinforcement will be lifted up and placed into the borehole by crane. If the depth of the boreholes too deep, reinforcements have to be over lapping and welding if possible. The concrete is poured into the borehole to form th e bored pile. Finally, the bored pile is formed by using the vibro-hammer to withdrawn the casing [3][10]. A bored pile wall has its own characteristic that have to take into consideration while selecting the type for retaining structure. The presence of the advantages and disadvantages of the bored pile walls have to be taken into consideration if bored pile walls chosen to be used. The length of bored pile walls can be varied to suit the varying ground condition which is more adoptable for most of the design project. Moreover, the soil can be inspected and if necessary sampled or in situ tests made when it is cut and removed from the boreholes. By using this method, the large excavations and subsequent backfill are eliminated. The noise and vibration are existed while constructing the bored pile but it is acceptable and will not disturb the adjacent pile or structure [12]. Basically, the disadvantages of bored pile wall are not much. The transportation of the casing could be one of it. The unable to place the concrete under the ideal condition and cannot subsequently inspected are one of the disadvantages as well. Figure 3.5, the steps of constructing contiguous bored pile walls. Bored pile walls are categorised into two types, which are: Contiguous Bored Pile Walls Secant Bored Pile Walls Several factors have to be concerned while choosing the type of bored pile walls. Those factors are: Soil Type The ground water profile Construction time available Propping requirements Cost Life span 3.3.1 Contiguous Bored Pile Walls A single row or double row of piles pitched and constructed next to each other with leaving some gaps. Alternative piles are cast first and the intermediate piles are then installed. Figure 3.6 and Figure 3.7 are attached for more detail and understanding. For this type of retaining structure, the water will flow through the gaps between piles [1]. This type retaining structure suitable where the soils are between firm to stiff and the water level is below the depth of excavation. This method is the fastest method and most economic option to construct. Figure 3.6, an example for the plan view of contiguous bored pile wall http://www.sbe.napier.ac.uk/esm/images/bored_pile_small.jpg Figure 3.7, contiguous bored pile wall 3.3.2 Secant Bored Pile Walls Secant bored pile walls are similar with the contiguous bored pile wall, except that the gap of the piles are either filled with concrete or secondary pile are cut into the primary piles as shown in Figure 3.8 and Figure 3.9.This technique is suitable for high water level due to the continuous wall had formed and it is a watertight condition that stops the inflow of water. The procedure of this method is slightly more complicated compare to bored pile wall. Figure 3.8, an example of plan view of secant bored pile walls http://www.amplusltd.com/upldimages/ISecant%20piled%20wal%20-%20Battricks%20-MG_0042.jpg Figure 3.9, Secant bored pile walls 4.0 Comparing and Selecting Of Retaining Structure. By using a simple matrix analysis table as shown in Table 4.1, it can be determined the best selection of retaining structures as in general concept. The selection of the retaining structures can be determined by rational comparisons by applying the weighting into the matrix table. The weighting in the matrix table are represented with numerical numbers from 1 to 3 in which the higher the value, the more beneficial for the route while the lower the value indicates as otherwise. From the table, it shown that each type of the retaining structures is about the same, they have their own characteristic and advantages in different aspects. Secant bored pile walls gained the most point in the weighting but it might not be the best choice because this is just a general concept comparing within the type of retaining structures so a proper comparison that fit with this entire project issues will be done later on. The soil profiles of this project are made ground, firm to stiff clay and mudstone which adoptable for all of the retaining structure mentioned above except sheet pile walls. In this soil conditions, sheet pile walls are not suitable to be driven into the ground due to the hardness of the mudstone layer. This problem can be solved by providing bigger size of sheet pile which significantly increased the cost and waste of materials. Therefore, sheet pile walls are not recommended and if possible choose other type of retaining structure into design. Water level is a problem which will be affected the decision of selecting retaining structures. The water level is to be assumed at 1m below ground level. It is quite high and proper consideration has to be done base on this issue. Diaphragm walls, sheet pile walls and secant pile walls are capable to construct in high water level condition. Contiguous pile walls are not able to construct below ground water condition due to the gaps between the piling which allowed the inflow of the water. This might a concern while selecting this as the retaining structures. Diaphragm walls are a good retaining structure among all of the retaining structure. It allowed the highest depth of excavation which is about 7 to 30m length but 8m of excavation is sufficiently enough in this entire project. In the other hand, the other retaining structures are more adoptable which allowed 4 to 15 or 20m depth of excavation length. This will be an issue while selecting the choice of retaining structures. Basically, there is specific difficulty of constructing each type of retaining structures just in different restriction. There is not much to comment on the ease of construct issue but it must be fit with the site restriction. The durability of each type retaining structure is about the same and it could be ignored while comparing with each other. The cost of construction must be minimizing to the minimum if possible because it is a concern of the project developer and economical problem. Sheet pile walls are rejected in this project due to several concerns. First, the main concern of using sheet pile is the size and area of the pile to be used due to the depth and area of excavation are quite big. It is hard to manufacture such big size of sheet pile in the factory and hard to transport large number of them to the site. If sheet pile chosen into design for basement car park, it will commonly act as temporary work and the ability to withdraw the sheet piles after the construction is an issue because a highway just located 2m away from the boundary of the site. Moreover, the soil profile contains lot of the mudstone which cause the sheet pile hard to be driven into the ground. There will be some vibration which will be affected the public highway either on the foundation or the whole structure while the sheet pile is driven into the ground. Diaphragm walls are good to be used in basement construction which is commonly in urban area. Honestly, it is capable with all the construction constraints in this entire project such as it is able to construct under groundwater condition and there isnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t any vibration problem in diaphragm walls construction. Even it is so good compare with other retaining structures but it still will not be selecting as the retaining structure. First, large amount of steel reinforcements needed for a diaphragm walls, it have to be tied up before they lifted up by crane and placed into the panels. Base on the number of materials and skilful workers needed, the cost of the construction will increased directly. It is also relatively high cost of cleaning and the disposal of the slurry. Diaphragm walls are good enough which is a bit over for this project because some of the advantages is not needed in this project. Consequently, diaphragm walls are not suitable for this p roject and some other retaining structure will do because the overall estimated construction cost is too expensive compare with others. Bored pile walls are the most adequate retaining structure to be used in this project compare to the others. Even there are some disadvantages in this type of retaining structure but the advantages of using it are higher after proper consideration and comparing. Then, the vibration and noise of constructing bored pile walls are in the acceptable range and will not affect those structure next to it especially the public highway. Bored pile walls are able to consort with the soil conditions in this project too. It is the cheapest retaining structure as well. Bored pile walls are chosen either secant bored pile wall or contiguous bored pile wall. As a conclusion, secant bored pile wall is chosen as the retaining structure in this project because it offers a watertight alternative compare with contiguous bored pile walls. 4.1 Selected Retaining Structure à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Secant Bored Pile Walls Secant bored pile walls basically are bored cast in situ piles either small or large diameter. It will be constructed in a line and the gap between piling will be filling with cement or concrete to form a watertight condition for preventing the inflow of water. The filling technique will be mentioned in the later part of report. Secant bored pile walls are categorised into 3 types which are: Hard / Soft Secant Pile Wall Hard / Firm Secant Pile Wall Hard / Hard Secant Pile Wall 4.1.1 Hard / Soft Secant Pile Wall The female pile has a characteristic compressive strength of 10-20 N/mm2, which is retarded to reduce the strength of the mix while the mail piles are drilled between the female piels. 4.1.2 Hard / Firm Secant Pile Wall 4.1.3 Hard / Hard Secant Pile Wall

Glaxo Pakistan

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION As per Jim Collins, *â€Å"V*ery few have a capability of going from Good to Great†. Many companies strive to be the best in the market. Most never succeed. Many do so only temporarily and subsequently lose their position through misunderstanding how they got there and what is needed to stay there. http://www. roi-ally. com/BPE_vol1. htm Therefore in order to maintain the business position and to identify its future needs, one requires an accurate analysis of the reality of the business situation and determine its financial health. This is rather complicated yet necessary for keeping one’s financial affairs clean and sustains the organization’s growth. Recognizing the importance of the above subject matter, I choose topic 8 for my research report i. e. â€Å"An analysis of the financial situation of your choice of organization. † The company selected for this purpose is *â€Å"*GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited*†*, also referred to as â€Å"GSK† or â€Å"The Company†. REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC Topic selection is based on a number of factors which derived me towards selecting this topic for my thesis in comparison to other topics specified in research and analysis project guidelines. Following are the few reasons for choosing the said topic: Relevance to the Current profession: While working in the Financial Advisory Services Department of Deloitte Pakistan, I got various opportunities to explore different sectors and industries. This has equipped me with strong interpretational and analytical skills which helped me to work effectively on the said topic. Future Assistance: The pharmaceutical industry provides a lot of financial analysis opportunities because of the complexity of its operation. This complicated structure enabled me to better understand and practically apply theoretical knowledge and be better equipped to undertake financial analysis in my future career. Importance in ACCA: Financial analysis is one of the most important topics tested in ACCA examinations. I personally feel that it is an interesting topic which has a practical application. Moreover, it enabled me to utilize my IT skills and the knowledge that I gained from my studies. COMPANY AND SECTOR Industry: Pakistan has a very vibrant and forward looking Pharma Industry. It has about 500 pharmaceutical manufacturing units including those operated by 25 multinationals present in the country. It has shown progressive growth over the last one decade and now meets around 70% of the country's demand of Finished Medicine. The industry has invested substantially to upgrade itself in the last few years and today majority of the industry is following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), in accordance with the domestic as well as international Guidance. The industry has the capacity to manufacture a variety of product ranging from simple pills to sophisticated Biotech, Oncology and Value Added Generic compounds. http://www. ppma. org. pk/ The Company: History: There are four major companies in the history of GSK: Burroughs Wellcome & Company, Glaxo Laboratories, Beecham and SmithKline and French. GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited was created on January 1st 2002 through the merger of the aforementioned companies operating separately in Pakistan. Today GSK is standing as one of the largest pharmaceutical company of the world. Business: As a leading international pharmaceutical company, GSK is dedicated towards global healthcare and believes it to be ethically important and a key to its business success. GSK Pakistan’s primary activities are manufacturing, import, export and marketing of research-based pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products. It operates mainly in two industry segments: Pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs and vaccines) and consumer healthcare (over-the-counter- medicines, oral care and nutritional care). Market Share: GSK Pakistan limited holds a major market share in terms of products, asset base, revenue and innovation. It produces 5 brands among the 10 top brands of the pharmaceutical products in the market. It is the 1st company in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry which reached the revenue of Rs 10 Billion and currently holds 18. 33% of the total volume of the pharmaceutical product traded in Pakistan. Products: GSK has a large products portfolio ranging from tablets, toothpaste, inhalers to complex capsules, in over 28,000 different pack sizes and presentations. Principally GSK produces antibiotics, respiratory, dermatological, gastro-intestinal, metabolic, analgesics, central nervous system (CNS) products and vaccines. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Objectives and milestones are of crucial importance for any activity and are the core of its success, or failure. Setting an objective before initiating the project provides the required directions and assists in anticipating its result. This report aims to evaluate and assess the financial & business position of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited for financial year ended December 30, 2008. This will be achieved by the following three key tools: Vertical Analysis It deals with the most sophisticated technique for analyzing the financial statements which is ratio analysis, also known as trend analysis. This analysis will be conducted to compare GSK's current year performance with its previous periods under four broad categories i. e. Profitability, Short Term Solvency, Liquidity and Efficiency, Long Term Solvency and stability & Market ratios. Within each category different ratios would be calculated depending upon their significance and appropriateness. Horizontal Analysis For a more meaningful and judicious picture of the entity’s position it is compared with its competitor within the industry. Through this horizontal or competitor analysis, GSK’s current year performance is judge against its major competitor Sanofi Aventis. This analysis is conducted by the use of financial ratios in the same four broad categories. Business Analysis Business analysis is a well-established means of thinking critically about an entity, its resources and its environment. This analysis aims to evaluate GSK’s performance not only from the financial perspective but its business as a whole. This will be achieved by the use of technique namely â€Å"SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, and Opportunities & Threat) analysis† and by conducting a general analysis of business highlighting its major performance area. Future Prospects: This report will also highlight the company’s future objective and strategies and assess its alignment with GSK’s vision and purpose of existence. INFORMATION GATHERING ‘Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit’. William Pollard Any course of action that generates a successive message can be considered as a source of information. Information can be gathered from virtually anywhere but ideal information is that, which when used, adds value. Keeping this in mind, I exploited the most appropriate and authentic information sources. The major sources used to gather the information are: Annual Reports The most reliable source of information is the company’s annual report. These not only contain financial statements of an entity but also other information of current and future scenarios which helps in evaluating its performance. Annual Reports of GSK for December 2008 and 2007 and its competitor Sanofi Aventis for the December 2008 were obtained from their websites. Meetings Several informal meetings were conducted with the management of GSK regarding its business and financial stance. I also managed to have meeting with senior associates at Deloitte who had an experience of conducting audit of Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited. They provided me guidance to conduct the business analysis and industry knowledge, to facilitate me in achieving my goals effectively. Internet Internet proved to be one of the strongest sources which enhanced the frequency and quality of information gathered during the project. The official website of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited (http//:www. gsk. com. pk) assisted to assemble constructive information for its better understanding which helped in scrutinizing the company’s financial performance. Additionally, different quotes and definitions were gathered from Google Search Engine. Articles The Article published in Student Accountant by ACCA, â€Å"How to Approach Performance Appraisal Questions? by Steve Scott from May 2006 issue, helped in the interpretation of the financial position of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited. ACCA Study Texts The study texts of ACCA Paper F7 and P2, P3, CAT Paper T6 published by BPP and FTC, were the helpful resources in gathering definitions and interpretations of ratios and conducting business analysis. Financial Analysis Financial analysis is an aspect of the overall business fina ncial position that involves examining historical and competitor data to gain information about the current and future financial health of a company. ttp://www. enotes. com/small-business-encyclopedia/financial-analysis Comparison with the prior periods (Vertical analysis) and with the competitor (horizontal analysis) in the form of ratios assists an organization in taking appropriate measures for improving its financial credibility. Vertical Analysis: Trend or vertical analysis is an aspect of technical analysis that evaluates the current performance of the company using the past data. It is based on the idea that what has happened in the past gives traders an idea of what will happen in the future. ttp://www. investopedia. com/. This analysis is done under four broad ratio categories discussed below: Profitability Ratios: RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED (ROCE): The primary measure of profitability is normally considered to be ROCE. It is the ratio which measures the relationship betwee n the sizes of the profit figure relevant to size of the business. (Student Accountant – May 2006) ROCE of the company has reached at a level of 36. 84% in 2008, which is a growth of 4% from 2007 32. 89% that had reduced by 2. 29% compare to 2006 (35. 18%). This increase in 2008 was mainly due to the rise in net profit of 17% in comparison to FY 2007. Whereas, in the year 2007, the increase in noncurrent liabilities by 40. 65% (in comparison to 2006) caused a decline in its ROCE. {draw:frame} GROSS PROFIT MARGIN (GP %): The gross profit margin ratio tells us the profit a business makes on its cost of sales. GP% of GSK was 28. 77% in the year 2008 which demonstrated a downward trend, since the recorded margin in the year 2007 was 37. 25% and 38. 33% in 2006 respectively. Despite of the rise in the sales revenue by 26% in 2008, GSK’s GP% has decreased. This was due to the drastic increase in its cost of sales by 43. 38% over 2007 (which was particularly due to the rise in raw material & commodities prices), whereas there was no consequent increase in its sales prices (because of no increase in drug prices sanctioned by the government since 2001). The same reason was observed in the year 2007 which squeezed its GP% by 1. 08% over 2006, regardless of the increase in its net sales by 5. 6%. {draw:frame} NET POFIT MARGIN (NP %): â€Å"A change in the net profit margin is a measure of how well a company has controlled its overheads†. Student Accountant- May 2006) NP% of GSK has shown a declining trend by an average of approximately 1% per year during the three years periods. It was 15. 74% in 2007 but decreased to 14. 59% in the year 2008. However, this reduction was not in the same proportion as of gross profit, due to the increase in other operating income by 100. 15% (which is 65. 46% of the net profit) and tighter control of company on its expenses during the year. In the year 2007 the NP% decreased by 0. 76% from 16. 50 in 2006, nonetheless indicating no major variation. {draw:frame} ASSET TURNOVER: The asset utilization ratio (sales/net assets) shows how efficiently the assets are being used to generate sales. (ACCA P3 BPP Study Text) Asset turnover of GSK was 1. 26 times in 2008, which was an increase of 22% from 2007. This was due to an increase in sales by 26% from 2007 and the raise in fixed assets by 4. 54% (which was because of the capital investment of 646 million made by the company, the major portion of which was spend on facility improvement, rationalization and upgrading its plant) that resulted in the improvement of its assets turnover. However, in the year 2007 it declined by 3% from 1. 7 times in 2006 to 1. 04 times, which was due to the increase in total assets by 7. 63%. {draw:frame} RETURN ON EQUITY (ROE): ROE is the amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. It measures an entity’s profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. http://www. investopedia. com/ ROE of GSK was 23. 4% in the year 2008 that was 2. 82% higher than 2007, which was because of the boost of 17. 04% in its net profits figure. In the financial year 2007, it slightly dropped by 1. 32% from 22. 9% in 2006 to 20. 58%. The issued common stock (Bonus Shares) in FY 2007 resulted in its equity enlargement by 7. 7% over 2006, consequently decelerating its ROE. {draw:frame} Short Term Solvency, Liquidity and Efficiency: CURRENT RATIO: Current ratio measures a company's ability to pay its short-term obligations. www. investopedia. com The current ratio of GSK was 4. 22:1 in 2006 further declining to 4. 27:1 and 4. 11:1 in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Although there have been a raise in current assets by 5. 98% but current liabilities are increased in a greater proportion i. e. y 10% during 2008, thus decelerating GSK’s current ratio by 4% from 2007. Whereas, the decrease of 15% from 2006 to 2007 in current ratio was due to 3. 3% rise in the company’s current liabilities. A lthough there have been no drastic changes in current assets figure over the three year period, however, it comprises almost 34% of cash and bank balance, signaling towards ineffective cash management. {draw:frame} QUICK RATIO: The quick ratio measures the company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. It shows better liquidity position than current ratio. ww. investopedia. com The quick ratio of GSK has decreased from 3. 13 in FY 2006 to 2. 98 in FY 2007 to 2. 31 in FY 2008. In the year 2008 GSK’s quick ratio has declined in a greater proportion than its current ratio, indicating cash being stuck in stock in trade which can be seen by an increase of 53% in stock in trade figure over 2007. This implies the company has made high investment in less liquid assets which resulted in the increase of its cash operating cycle. Therefore there is a need to restrain any further increase in its inventory level. In the year 2007, inventory only increased by 7%, indicating no substantial change. {draw:frame} ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE COLLECTION PERIOD (In Days): It is a measure of the average number of days that a company takes to collect revenue from its customers after a sale has been made. www. investopedia. com Account receivable collection period of GSK had radically increased from 4 days in the year 2007 to 27 days in 2008, which was caused by 770% increase in its accounts receivables (mainly because of high receivable on government tenders) over 2007. Although, this resulted in the augmented sales turnover but it also raised doubtful debt provision from 2. 9 million in 2007 to 4. 6 million in 2008. However, no significant rise was observed in receivable collection period days of 3. 06 days in FY06 from FY07. {draw:frame} ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PAYMENT PERIOD (In Days): It is used to calculate the average number of days that a business takes to pay off its creditors. www. investopedia. com Account payable days of GSK have decreased by 22 days from 93 days in FY 2007 to 71 days in FY 2008. This sudden decline was due to the increase of 43. 8% in cost of goods sold, which is fairly less in comparison to the 9. 94% rise in trade and other payables. However, in FY 2007 the 7% increase in COGS was in proportion to the 6. 25% raise in trade and other payables, resulting in no considerable change in the year 2007 in comparison to 94 days of its preceding year 2006. {draw:frame} Long Term Solvency and stability Ratios: GEARING (Long Term Debt / Equity): Gearing is a general term describing a financial ratio which compares some form of owner's equity (or capital) to borrowed funds. It is a measure of financial leverage, demonstrating the degree to which a firm's activities are funded by owner's funds versus creditor's funds. Financial gearing ratio of GSK is not significantly important as it has remained below 1% in the 3 year period from 2006 to 2008. Gearing ratio for FY 2008 and FY 2007 is 0. 25% and 0. 29%, which are relatively better in comparison to 0. 88% for the financial year 2006. This indicates that the company is highly dependent on its internal cash flow generation system and holds a stable financial position. Therefore, it currently and subsequently would have no problem to borrow funds but at present, it does not seem to rely on the strategy of generating finance through debt. {draw:frame} INTEREST COVER: It is a ratio that indicates how many times a company can cover its interest charges on a pretax basis. Failing to meet these obligations could force a company into bankruptcy. www. investopedia. com Interest cover of GSK had declined by 191 times being at 40. 05 times in FY 2008 in comparison to 231. 18 times in FY 2007 which was an increase of 93. 92 times in comparison to 137. 5 times in FY 2006. One of the major reasons for this drastic decline in the interest cover in 2008 is because of the rise in financial charges of GSK, which rose because of the foreign exchange losses occurred during the year by the company. This depicts an inefficient FOREX risk management for importing of raw material and exports of its products. While in the year 2007 exchange losses are apparently low comp ared to the other two years. {draw:frame} Market Ratio: EARNING PER SHARE (EPS): EPS is the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. Earnings per share serve as an indicator of a company's profitability. www. investopedia. com EPS of GSK had increased from 9. 79 per share in 2007 to 11. 46 per share in FY 2008, but it was lower as compared to 12. 19 per share of 2006. The increase in the current year (FY 2008) is due to vigorous 17. 04% increase in net profit in comparison to the profit of FY 2007; however no further shares issue was made during the year. Whereas, the decline in FY 2007 was due to the issue of common shares (bonus shares) which expanded the company’s common stock by 25% but net profit remained almost same as of FY 2006. draw:frame} PRICE EARNING RATIO (P/E): A valuation ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings. It is calculated as: Market Value/ share divided by Earning per share. www. investopedia. com P/E ratio of GSK has decreased by 13. 03 to 6. 63 in the FY 2008 compare to the FY 2007, but in 2007 it increased by 19. 66 compared to the 12. 81 of FY 20 06. The decrease observed in the year 2008 was because of the undervalued share price and improvement in the EPS during the year. The market price of the share in Dec 2008 was Rs. 75. 9 (Dec07: Rs. 192. 4) and the earning per share was Rs. 1. 46 (Dec07: Rs. 9. 79). The low P/E ratio will result in the high expectations of investors for the potential rise in share prices. The stock prices were generally low due to economic recession in the country and fragile moves of the investors at the stock exchange. The increase in P/E ratio during 2007 was due to decrease in EPS by 20% over 2006. {draw:frame} DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATIO (DPO): Dividend payout ratio is the percentage of earnings paid to shareholders as dividends. www. investopedia. com Dividend payout ratio of the company is depicting a growing trend. Its DPO in the FY 2008 reached to 82. % from 76. 6% in FY 2007, i. e. approximately an increase of 6%. This was due to a raise in net profit by 17%, consequently meeting its investorâ₠¬â„¢s expectation. Whilst the payout ratio of GSK indicates that it was able cover 65. 6% of the total profit in FY 2006. However GSK retained 23. 4% and 32. 4% of its net profits in the year 2007 and 2006 respectively, since heavy capital expenditure was incurred within these two years, which was financed by its retained earnings. {draw:frame} Horizontal Analysis: Knowing your customer is critical, but knowing your competition can be even more valuable. Better knowledge of rivals proffers a legitimate source of competitive advantage, horizontal analysis commonly known as competitor analysis is used for that purpose. This analysis tends to evaluate the entity’s standing in comparison to the other companies within the industry. It is not vital that the companies within the same industry are direct competitors (which can be seen in the case of GSK & Sanofi Aventis hereinafter referred to as SA); even then they would be expected to broadly demonstrate similar performance, in terms of growth. (ACCAP3). The Horizontal analysis of GSK is done within the same categories of trend analysis. Profitability Ratios: Profitability ratios of GSK are better than that of SA. The huge difference in the profit margin of these two corporations is due to the difference in their size. Gross profit margin of the GSK is 28. 77%, which is 4. 48% better than that of SA. GSK’s vast product range allows it to purchase and produce in bulk, hence reducing its overall cost. On the other hand, SA manufactures low volumes of products which increase its ordering cost and consequently raise its cost of production. Net profit margin of GSK is 14. 9% while that of SA is 0. 88% in the FY 2008. This difference of 13. 71% indicates that excessive non production cost of SA is squeezing its net profit. As a consequence low ROCE of SA of 15. 36% is witnessed in comparison to GSK’s 36. 84%. SA’s asset turnover of 1. 46 times indicates that it has utilized its assets 0. 2 times more efficiently than G SK to generate sales revenue. Short Term Solvency, Liquidity and Efficiency: The current ratio of GSK for FY 2008 is 4. 11 and of SA is 0. 98. Since SA’s current ratio is less than 1, it is can lead to the difficulty in fulfilling its short term obligations. SA’s liquidity problems can be witnessed from its short term borrowings covering 48% of the total Current Liabilities. Conversely, Current ratio of GSK is high showing signs of over capitalization. Additionally, cash and bank balances of GSK are 34 % of its total current assets which indicates weak working capital management. Quick Ratio of SA and GSK is 0. 2 and 2. 25 respectively. This enormous difference from the current ratios of these companies highlights the possibility of investment in assets which are less liquid. The inventory (stock in trade) of the SA is almost 62% of its total current assets while GSK holds around 44% of its current assets. SA has kept a stringent control over its working capital while GSK’s policy seems much more relaxed with its creditors and Debtors. These relaxed terms could be one of the reasons which helped GSK in increasing its Sales revenue by 26% in FY 2008 from FY 2007. SA, in contrast, has less receivable collection days and increased payable payment days. Hence SA is better at controlling its cash conversion. Long Term Solvency and stability Ratios: Both the companies hold stable positions in the context of long term solvency. Gearing ratios are not significant as these are less than 1% in both the companies. Interest cover of 40. 05 times shows a sound financial position. Finance cost occurred by GSK mainly consist of the foreign exchange losses borne by the company in importing the raw material. While SA has interest cover of 0. 51 times due to the high finance cost on short term borrowing. Market Ratios: The huge difference in EPS of GSK and SA is due to their different profitability position. Moreover GSK has a high payout ratio of approximately 83% as compared to 35. 28% of SA. NAV of SA is 2. 5 times higher than GSK particularly due to the high number of equity shares (common stock) issued, which is also reflected in its share price. SA currently has a share price of Rs. 211 and GSK’s shares are of Rs. 75. 94/share respectively. SA’s P/E ratio of 53. 18 indicates low earnings and high market price of its shares. This is a source of concern indicating that its shares are overvalued. Conversely, GSK’s P/E ratio of 6. 63, highlights that its shares are currently undervalued. Business Analysis The business performance analysis of GSK will be carried out using SWOT analysis and by general discussion of its business practices. SWOT SWOT analysis is fundamentally about discovering what a company does well, how it could improve, whether it is making the most out of the available opportunities and whether there are any changes in the market that call for corresponding changes in the business. http://www. bnet. com/2410-13240_23-66478. html Strengths The largest pharmaceutical company in Pakistan. The first company in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry that crossed Rs 10 billion sales mark. Produces 269 varieties of products, out of which Augmentin, Amoxil, Panadol, Ventolin and Ampiclox are among the top 10 pharmaceutical Rx products of Pakistan. The sales revenue of Augmentin and Amoxil reached to PKR2bn and PKR1bn in 2008. Betnovate is its leading brand by volume. Segment leadership in antibiotics, respiratory products, anti-malaria, gastrointestinal (GI), derma and hepatitis products, vaccines and anti helmentic medicaments. Stood at 1st position in poster competition of â€Å"International Clinical Operations, Community of Practice Meetings†. Awarded with corporate philanthropic award certificate in 2008 by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy. Contributes to social welfare by running various charitable programs with leading NGO’s in Pakistan such as Pakistan National Forum, National Children Human Development on women’s health, concern for Children trust and the trust for health and medical sciences. Awarded as â€Å"Best place to work-2008† by a leading HR consultancy in association with Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management. Committed to innovation by developing medicines through its global R effort. Weaknesses Due to high cost of importing raw material for medicines, GSK faces strong competition from low-cost generic equivalents. Ineffective foreign exchange currency contracts resulted in the increase of exchange losses (financial charges) for the current year. Strict labor laws and a corporate income tax rate, makes it difficult for GSK to operate. Weak cash management. Opportunities: Potential for growth in the domestic market. Sector modernization initiatives will create expansion opportunities. Cut of import duties were made by the government on Pharmaceutical products. This will increase the import of products and motivate foreign involvement in respect of the investment, raw material purchase and technology transfer. Prospective increase in exports of medicines is possible as currently, Pakistan is ranked among the top eight leading exporters of herbal medicine. Threats: Significant counterfeit drug industry. Domestic patent law is below international standards. Illegal copying, counterfeiting and law enforcement is continuing to present significant problems for the international pharmaceutical companies operating in Pakistan. Rising numbers of generics is a major barrier to multinational investment. Increasing inflationary trends without consequent increases in the prices of drugs. Exposed to foreign exchange currency risk as the company is highly dependent on import of raw materials. Slow registration process for approving new formulae for medicine thus hampering its access. More about GSK: The Vision: â€Å"The opportunity to make a difference to the lives of billions of people† GSK states that they are aware of the work they do to improve the quality of people’s lives. It takes pride in this and is committed to produce products that benefit patients. It is committed towards improving and implementing the healthcare programs in Pakistan, particularly the area of preventive healthcare and vaccines remains essential and explicit. GSK is the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of vaccines. In order to evaluate the alignment of company’s activities with its vision, I have conducted the business analysis under the following heads: Market Eminence: GSK has always remained a strong wing of the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. It has managed to maintain a consistent growth in demand of different vaccines, antibiotics, dermatology, gastro intestinal & cardio vascular portfolios. GSK has a wide distribution network, it sell its products to wholesale drug distributors, hospitals, government entities and other institutions, hence covering almost the whole pharmaceutical market. It produces 7 out of 20 top brands in the pharmaceutical industry of the country. It was as awarded â€Å"The most preferred pharmaceutical company† of the year. It is the market leader of pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. Quality Management: Quality in the Pharmaceutical industry is of significant importance. Due to the sensitive nature of industry, strict quality parameters are set by the regulatory bodies for pharmaceutical companies. GSK is one of the few companies which not only follow the quality standard set locally but also practice international quality standards. It was reward with the prestigious â€Å"Corporate Excellence Award† by Management Association of Pakistan (MAP). This was presented after independent evaluation of quality of management practices followed by GSK including corporate governance practices, marketing planning, production, R, corporate social responsibility and remarkable financial performance. GSK has always set high quality standards in the industry. It has recently introduced quality management system and is conducting workshops for its successful implementation. It has also installed one of the fastest tube filling and cartooning machines for its production efficiency and is continually advancing towards improvement in product’s quality and productivity. Research & Developments: GlaxoSmithKline, Pakistan (GSKP) Limited is the largest research-based pharmaceutical company in the country and the second largest in the world. It has recently conducted 19 Phase-II and III studies in therapeutic areas of Oncology, Neurosciences, Psychiatry, Metabolic and Hematology. It got 1st Position in poster competition in â€Å"International Clinical Operations, Community of Practice Meeting† held in Bangkok. Its R department’s 10 team members were presented with â€Å"Gold Awards† and Certificate of Recognition by CMD. It spends globally around US $ 14 million on research and development each day. The Company has consistently launched new products. † Sensodyne Total Care† and â€Å"Sensodyne Gentle Mouthwash† launched with unique formulation are its recent addition. Overall, it has supported the Pharma industry of by introducing low cost and quality pharmaceutical products. Employee’s Development: GSK is well known for being one of the most preferred employers. It has been awarded as â€Å"Best place to work† in 2008 by a leading HR consultancy in association with Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management. International Day of Disability was celebrated at GSK, showing its strong believes in equal opportunity employment. Its HR team recently launched a new initiative titled â€Å"Mentoring†, which provides guidance and assistance for developing talent. It also conducted a learning fair in 4 major cities of Pakistan, which offers a diverse range of courses for employees’ development and learning exposure. In order to promote and give a chance to new talent, its HR team visited 14 Universities during its recruitment process. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): GSK believes that corporate social responsibility is an integral and embedded part of its business. It is sincerely involved in the community work and in various charitable projects in Pakistan and around the world. It works under the context of various health, women and child development, education, and relief programmers’ at grass root level. In 2008 GSK has been rewarded with a corporate philanthropy award in recognition of its support for the social development causes in Pakistan. It is the major corporate donor for numerous NGOs and also a member of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD). As a movement to its corporate social responsibility GSK Pakistan has introduced 1st of its kind, value health card. The card will be issued solely on the prescription of doctors, for those who cannot afford pharmaceutical products at their standard retail prices. Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Environment, health and safety are major concerns for GSK. It continually works towards improving people’s health and safety and for developing environment friendly products. It has received Environment Excellence Award (AEEA 2008) and EHS Excellence Awards in recognition to its good environmental practices. It has installed low-cost engineering solution (glove box), which reduced OEL level by 40%. Business Continuity Plan desktop exercise was also conducted at all of its sites. CONCLUSION: GSK leads the industry in terms of value, volume and market shares. It has managed to improve the quality of human life along with showing consistency and stability in its overall business growth. This report’s objective, to assess the financial and business position of GSK, was achieved in four key areas. This report aims to analyze the financial and business position of GSK over the three year period from 2006 to 2008. In the context of aforementioned objectives this report concludes: Business: GSK‘s overall business performance is in line with its mission and is contributing towards its strategic objective. Due to its presence in the country since 1955, it has managed to build strong business foundation and is able to maintain consistent growth in the market. It has excelled in the field of Research and Development by introducing new products covering various generics, ensuring employees satisfaction by providing better environment to work, expanding its operation through empowerment of diverse product portfolio, contributing towards corporate social responsibility by capturing tasks; to work for the social health and safety, education and environment friendliness and most importantly being profitable, depicts its strong businesses practices. Financial Trend: GSK Pakistan has managed to give better financial results in the current year 2008 as compared to the FY 2007, which identifies its financial stability and further growth prospects. Even though the returns (ROCE & ROE) in the current year have improved but its profit margins (GP% & NP %) have depicted a declining trend, which was a result of raise in its revenue expenditure (COGS, Admin, S and Financial expenses). However it can be witnessed that the company has remained focused on continuous improvement in its business processes and sustained its investment in its product & promotion to offset the negative impact on margins through productivity improvement and sales growth. Although the company was not able to perform well in the year 2007 in comparison to its preceding year 2006, but it was able still able to deliver a stable financial performance having no major threats. This decrease in its financial position during the year was mainly due to the increase in inflation and depreciation in rupee that affected its operating margin negatively. Moreover the capital expenditure made during the year caused a decline in its profitability ratios, but its benefit will be obtained in the later years. The company has always provided sound investment returns which can be seen by consistent growth in its payout ratio. In the year 2007, GSK announce bonus issue of 1:4 when it declared lower dividends, thus retaining its investor’s confidence and being a reliable company for all of its stakeholders. Competitor’s Comparison: Due to its larger asset base, vast product portfolio, global presence and skilled research & development function GSK has a natural edge over its competitor Sanofi Aventis. Overall GSK’s financial performance is better than its competitor in the FY 2008. Almost all of the ratios calculated under the four broad heads, shows that GSK is giving better returns and incurring less cost. Profitability ratios of the GSK show a better picture than that of Sanofi Aventis, with the exception of Asset efficiency which shows a better utilization of assets by Sanofi to generate revenues. Liquidity position of both the companies is stable apart from the huge investments that were stuck in the stock in trade. Higher EPS and low P/E ratio of GSK shows that there is a potential for rise in its share price of the Company, in comparison to the overvalued shares of SA resulted in high P/E ratio. Future Prospects: The company can be seen as being committed to respond to the challenges of the operating environment and continues to seek opportunities to drive growth in its existing portfolio. It has a good pipeline of innovative new medicines together with the sustained availability of existing products. However, the pharmaceutical industry, in which GSK exists, has ample of barriers such as high inflationary environment without general price relief, which makes it difficult to manage its business operations. The company has a great potential for growth, but its sustained success depends on the industry’s regulatory environment, that should be able to balance the interest of the company with the need of affordable healthcare. APPENDIcES APPENDIX 1: BALANCE SHEETS (GSK) {draw:frame} APPENDIX 2: PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENTS (GSK) {draw:frame} APPENDIX 3: BALANCE SHEETS (SA) draw:frame} APPENDIX 4: PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENTS (SA) {draw:frame} APPENDIX 4: RATIOS FORMULAE {draw:frame} APPENDIX 5: RATIOS CALCULATIONS {draw:frame} Key Skill Statement Skill and Learning Statement is the testimonial which includes the compilation of key factors learned during the course this project. This part of report includes following: What did you learn from the meetings with your project mentor, includ ing the presentation that you gave to your project mentor? How well do you think that you have answered your research question(s)? How have you demonstrated your interpersonal and communication skills during the project work? How has undertaking the RAP helped you in your accountancy studies and/or current employment role? Choosing a Mentor In accordance with the guidelines, I was required to hold three meetings with my mentor. Working as a trainee in one of the big four audit firms, made the task of locating a mentor quite easy. Mr. Qayam Karim Maknojia (ACA from Institute of Chartered Accountant of Pakistan), Manager in Financial Advisory Services at Deloitte Touche Tomastu, agreed to occupy the role of my mentor. I choose Mr. Qayam as my mentor because of his vast knowledge and experience in the field of advisory and audit. Meetings Planning all the meetings before hand ensured their smooth running, and enable maximum to be achieved in the shortest time. Meeting 1 Due to time constraint and workload, first meeting took place at 7 pm, Wednesday 16th September, 2009 at our client’s office. In order to get most out of the 1st meeting, I had performed all the background work and shortlisted two topics, topic 8 and Topic 20 for the purpose of this report. I also selected the potential organizations that I was willing to use for each respective topic, but before making the final decision I decided to consult Mr. Qayam. After discussing number of issues like learning potential and merits of each topic I decided to underpin my research report on Topic 8, business and financial analysis of an organization over a three year period. We also discussed the potential sources of information which I could use for the purpose of this report. Due to workload, Mr. Qayam told me that we will hold the next meeting after finalizing the client and asked me to mail him the agenda and progress of the report one week before the meeting. Meeting 2 Second meeting took place at the 6:30 pm, after office hours, at Deloitte Karachi Office on Thursday 29th October, 2009. As requested by Mr. Qayam, I e-mailed him the agenda, my uncompleted report and excel generated worksheet one week before the meeting. By then my report consisted of interpretation ratios of the Company and business evaluation aspects with initial data in bullet points that I was going to use. Mr. Qayam assessed the work that I had performed and pointed out weaknesses and lack of reasoning in my interpretation. He also suggested that I should incorporate a competitor analysis so that a complete financial overview is covered in the report. Furthermore, he also pointed the fact that, it was not feasible to use business model as the data required for them are hard to come by. Instead, he recommended me to take some specific aspect of the company’s operations and evaluate their alignment with its vision and strategic objectives. We concluded the meeting and my mentor told me to take as much time as I want, because the deadline for the submission of the report is too far. He asked me to mail him final draft report once I have completed it. Meeting 3 The last meeting was held in the conference room of Deloitte Pakistan’s Karachi office on Wednesday, 25th November, 2009. I had mailed the final draft report to my mentor around 15 days before the meeting. After receiving his acknowledgment, I prepared presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 slides to give it a more professional look. I consulted my seniors, as how to make and delivery good quality presentation. Keeping the guidance provided by my seniors in mind, I prepared and rehearsed my presentation several times. I was a bit shaky at the start of the meeting, but my confidence level grew as I proceeded. After the presentation question answer session took place, which was most exciting as my colleagues and mentor tried to challenge my research by asking numerous questions. I was glad that I had prepared myself for this, although I was not able to answer 100% of the questions asked, my mentor and colleagues were satisfied with the work I had performed and effort I gave in preparing this report. Assessment of the Presentation The presentation took place in front of my mentor and my office colleagues. It took me nearly two days to structure and prepare the presentation. After that, I rehearsed the number of times alone to build confidence. The day before the meeting, I gave this presentation in front of my friends, who are MBA professionals so that they can point out any weakness in my communication. At the start of the meeting I distributed, handouts consisting of ratios, competitor analysis and summary of the business performance of the Company. The meeting progressed smoothly throughout the presentation. As I have already informed the listeners that a question answer session will take place after the presentation is over, no interruption occurred in between. In the introduction phase, it was quite clear that most of my colleagues didn’t possess any prior knowledge of GSK Pakistan Limited, so they took a keen interest in the topic. During the Q & A session numbers of questions were asked by my colleagues challenging my research. Most of the questions related to the financial aspects of the Company, like why I chose that particular competitor. Most exciting questions were asked by my mentor, which focused on the business performance and which widen my horizon of analyzing the business. Overall the presentation was effective. I was able to deliver the presentation in the allocated time, although question answer session went longer than I had hoped. After the presentation my overall efforts were appreciated by my colleagues and mentor. Presentation Outline {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Questioning Questioning is a vital element of effective communication based on any medium. It enhances understanding, searches for clarification and opinions. There are two basic types of questions: Open questions such as; what†¦? Who†¦? Where†¦? The responses they require are in broad terms. Open questions can further be classif ied in to probing questions and leading questions. Closed question defines a parameter which limits the response of the questioned individual to choices like ‘Yes or No. During the three meeting Questioning formed a significant part of the communication. Through this me and my mentor developed ideas and structured my thoughts which helped me in completing my report. During the question answer session both open and close ended question were asked by the audience, which tested my knowledge rigorously and helped me identifying weakness in the communication process. However, Questioning was two way process. Numerous open ended questions were asked by me, in order to gain better understanding of the work I had to perform and whether I was on the right track or not. Listening As communication are a two way process between sender and a receiver. Listening is the act of decoding the information being received and it forms a fundamental part of a communication process. Listening is as important a characteristic as questioning. Every communication process is open to noise and distortion and the meaning of the message being delivered is altered or lost if they are present. The first meeting held was open to frequent physical noises and distractions. One of my weaknesses that came into light during the 1st meeting was that, I found out to be an impatient listener. I interrupted Mr. Qayam at numerous times when I did not agree with his opinions. Learning from the 1st meeting other meetings were arranged and timed to avoid interruption. I started to become more patient and listened to my mentor with full concentration and noted down questions which I asked after he has concluded. During my 3rd meeting I noticed that some of the audience members were not listening effectively as they asked question which have already be answered during the course of my presentation. Self Evaluation {draw:g} Overall communication process consists of a sender, transmitting a message to the receiver through a communication medium. The process of communication is incomplete and/or ineffective until it is confirmed via feedback, that the receiver understood the intended message. The communication between me and my mentor could be seen by the above communication model. During the course of my project, the overall interaction with my mentor was quite effective. We were able to decode each other’s message easily and were able to communicate our thoughts properly. Perhaps, one of the reasons for effective communication was the informal relation with him, which allowed me to ask questions without being reluctant. I have used number of channels to communicate with my mentor, E-mail being the most effective medium after face to face conversation. The interaction with my colleagues during the presentation was not effective. Reason for which could be that I was not able to generate their interest. Due to this I had to repeat things over and over again. I was also asked questions, answers for which were already given in the presentation further implying that communication flow was hampered. Being an ACCA Affiliate and recruited recently, as a trainee consultant in Deloitte Pakistan, requirement for sound evaluation and interpretational skills are essential. During the course of this project, it had not only strengthened my academic knowledge I acquired before and furnished my interpretational and data mining skills, but also helped me into developing presentational skills which I lacked. Significant portion of the analysis of GSK was performed using ratio/trend analysis over a three year period ended 2008. In order for the assessment to be systematic and logical these ratios were broken into 4 broad categories so that proper attention would be given to each section and no major area was overlooked. To give a more meaning evaluation of the Company’s financial performance, I also incorporated, as guided by my mentor, a horizontal or competitor analysis of GSK with Sanofi Aventis. Performing business analysis of GSK was a difficult task, as this analysis required qualitative data in addition to the quantitative data about the Company. After carefully evaluating how to assess the business performance of a company I came to the conclusion that it was not feasible to use business evaluation models for the analyses of GSK as significant internal data was required. I discussed different operations for the company, evaluated whether’ they aligned with its vision and strategic objectives. Furthermore, I also used a corporate appraisal technique called SWOT analysis. In order to make my findings easy to understand for my mentor, I decided to use as minimum figures as I could and instead relied upon using graphs and interpreting data as a percentage. Microsoft Office was extensively used for this and by the end of this research project I was able to navigate around and use advance level options of its applications with ease. According to me, this research and analysis report contains a sound financial and business analysis of GSK Pakistan and fulfills the requirement to Topic of 8 of BSc. guidelines with ease. References Printed Material ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper F9 Financial Management. Kaplan Publishing Foulks Lynch ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper F7 (INT) Financial Reporting. Kaplan Publishing Foulks Lynch ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper P2 (INT) Corporate Reporting. BPP Learning Media Ltd ACCA Study Text (2008/09) Paper P3 Business Analysis. BPP Learning Media Ltd Annual Report (2006), Glaxo SmithKline. Annual Report (2007), Glaxo SmithKline. Annual Report (2008), Glaxo SmithKline. Electronic and Other Material Types BNET. SWOT Analysis: http://www. bnet. com/2410-13240_23-66478. html (Visited 05th November 2009) Financial Analysis http://www. enotes. com/small-business-encyclopedia/financial-analysis (Visited 05th November 2009) Introduction http://www. roi-ally. com/BPE_vol1. htm (Visited 05th November 2009) Industry http://www. ppma. org. pk/ (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Vertical Analysis: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/v/vertical_analysis. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Return on Equity: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/r/returnonequity. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Current Ratio: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/c/currentratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Quick Ratio: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/q/quickratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Accounts Recievable Collection Period: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/a/average_collection_period. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Accounts Payable Payment Period: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/a/accountspayableturnoverratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Interest Cover: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/i/interestcoverageratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Earning Per Share: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/e/eps. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) Investopedia. Dividend Payout Ratio: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/d/dividendpayoutratio. asp (Visited 05th November 2009) William Pollard. Quote (Visited 07th November) http://thinkexist. com/quotation/information_is_a_source_of_learning-but_unless_it/226524. html BIBLIOGRAPHY Electronic and Other Material Types Competitor Websites Novartis Pharma: http://www. novartis. com (Visited 05th November 2009) Sanofi-Aventis: http://www. anofi-aventis. com. pk (Visited 05th November 2009) Regulators/ Governments Websites Karachi Stock Exchange: http://www. kse. com. pk (Visited 15th November 2009) Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association: http://www. ppma. org. pk (Visited 12th November 2009) Newspaper Websites Business Recorder’s website: http://www. brecorder. com (Visited many times) Dawn’s website: http://www. dawn. com (Visited many times) The Financial Daily webs ite: http://www. thefinancialdaily. com (Visited many times)