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)

Differences between .edu, .org, .com, and .gov Websites

A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is the last part of a domain name that usually consists of three or more letters. There were originally six gTLD namely . edu . org . com . gov . net and . mil. Among these, . com is the most widely used. This can be attributed to the timing when . com use became unrestricted and when the internet gained popularity. The use of . com was primarily intended for commercial units or bodies. The . edu gTLD on the other hand was implemented for the use of any educational institutions.Presently, the .edu gTLD is now restricted to post secondary institutions only. A gTLD was also implemented for organizations that are not covered by other gTLDs. Back then the . org gTLD was restricted, but now anybody can freely register a . org domain. Lastly, the . gov gTLD was put into operation for the exclusive use of the US government. This gTLD is regulated and operated by the US General Services Administration. Today, any institution around the world that has proper authorization can use a particular gTLD in conjunction with a country code top-level domain (ccTLD).ccTLDs are only two letters long and specific to a certain country. It is now common to see domain names ending with . edu. uk, . gov. jp and . com. tw. Knowing the background of four of the most popular gTLDs, one can now expect what a website offers based only on its domain name. For example, the site www. mit. edu will probably offer information about a certain educational institution with an acronym of MIT. Upon visiting this site, one will find information about one of the best if not the best engineering school worldwide, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.www. fbi. gov will probably be the site of a particular department or bureau of the government. Looking it up on the internet, fbi. gov is actually the official site of the United State’s main investigation bureau. At first, the site unicef. org will probably be a site of a certain organization. Entering this sit e, one will be enlightened to see that unicef. org is about UNICEF, the arm of the United Nations that looks after the welfare of children worldwide.

Gender And Its Effects On The Media Essay - 2486 Words

EPQ In my EPQ I shall be discussing ‘How gender is portrayed in the media and its effects’. I will explore the effects on all genders and also how gender stereotypes are portrayed predominantly within plays and films. I chose to research and explore this topic as the portrayal of gender has dramatically changed over the years slowly due to the gender spectrum being more openly discussed. This progression widens the understanding of the definition of gender, and what gender fluidity is .For a long time gender has been a limited topic of discussion since many other genders were seen us unnatural because of this media tended to focus on only men and women due to other genders being unaccepted and unacknowledged. I will also be looking into the patriarchal point of view and its influence on the media and how it has progressed and its effects on the portrayal of certain genders overtime. I will then be looking at ‘The nuclear family’ and how that was considered †˜the norm’, the effects of not fitting into this category and how some genders upset this category. Then my focus will be how people’s lives are shaped when they don’t conform to the typical gender roles and how the media has impacted them. My final point will be to reflect on the changes were seeing in the media that are tackling these issues and furthering our understanding of genders. Patriarchal point of view In my research I explored the influences on the media one of them being the patriarchal perspective. ThroughShow MoreRelatedEffect Of Gender And Gender Representation On Media1735 Words   |  7 PagesThe effect of gender and gender representation in media has been widely researched in various academic disciplines, including anthropology and communication studies. Similar gender role expectations are not just restricted to Western culture either. A study on gender representation in East Asian advertising by Michael Prieler is a demonstration of the influence of gendered communication. The research examines the male and female representation in the advertising of East Asian countries like HongRead MoreEffects Of Mass Media And Gender889 Words   |  4 PagesGender Socialization In today’s society, we see the effects of mass media and media imaging more than we have in any era before. Whether it be the large amount of new social media apps, the access to growing technology and communication throughout the world, or simply the millions of viewers and users, social media has become one, if not the most influential source in the world. This gives mass media the power to create, destroy, and spread any image or idea having a large effect on the audienceRead MoreMedia s Effect On Gender Equality Essay1677 Words   |  7 PagesIn today’s day and age, media has become an integral and seemly unavoidable part of the American society. By far the most widespread form of media has become advertisements with â€Å"most Americans †¦ [being] exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day† (Marshel 2015). This constant stream of media that the public is exposed to can have a lasting effect on how we view not only the product being adve rtised, but also how we view ourselves, our identity, and even the people around us. ThisRead MoreThe Effects Of Media On Gender Roles1963 Words   |  8 Pages Media is definitely one of the most powerful forms of agency for social control. Yet, words alone are exceptionally powerful as well. Media consists of television, radio, internet, books, and so on. Commercials, for example, are a strong field of influence. When creating a certain message, commercials are able to manipulate people’s attitudes, beliefs and opinions, whether negatively or positively. Persuasion in the media is influential and it does not affect only adults, but children as wellRead More Media and Its Effects on Gender Stereotypes Essay1943 Words   |  8 Pagesis meant by mass media. The Collins English Dictionary defines mass media as the means of communication that reach large numbers of people in a short time, such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radio (Collins English Dictionary 5th edition, 2000, pp 957). This therefore suggests that any medium that conveys information to the people is categorised as mass media. By looking at two forms of media, this essay will examine how much the media can be charged withRead MoreEssay about The Effects of Printed Media on Gender Roles1672 Words   |  7 Pagesdesires. In simple terms, a stereotype is the application of one (usually negative) characteristic to a whole group. The stereotype is an easy concept to understand, but there are some points you need to consider when looking at media representations with regard to stereotyping. For a stereotype to ‘work’ it needs to be recognisable to the audience and when so recognised, then judgements are made about the subject. If the stereotype is negative, then the judgements willRead MoreWhat are the Effects of Representation and Self-regulation in the Media in Respect to Gender and Sexuality?2429 Words   |  10 PagesIntroduction Media in its numerous forms is an endemic part of modern life. We are continually exposed to media texts and their representations of gender and sexuality. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in how these representations affect our perceptions of gender and sexuality. Initially I will define what is meant by representation and self-regulation in a media context. Secondly, I will examine debates around these issues including self-identity role models, privacy publicRead MoreThe media have largely negative effects on people. It affects people of all ages, genders, and600 Words   |  3 PagesThe media have largely negative effects on people. It affects people of all ages, genders, and races. Effects are defined as a change that results when something is done or happens or a particular mood or feeling created by something. The media does this in both a positive and negative way but it’s negative effects are much worse and more numerous. Mass media does affec t the way in which people think and act. Its positive influences are celebrated, but its negative effects are something not beneficialRead MoreSocial Medi The End Of Gender1310 Words   |  6 PagesSocial Media: The End of Gender Maurice Brigham brighamm1966@faytechcc.edu Paper Submitted as Fulfillment of the Requirements for COM 231: Interpersonal Communication Fayetteville Technical Community College 09 May 2016 â€Æ' Abstract Social media has often been referred to as a social institution capable of influencing worldwide audiences through the shaping of gender norms. Gender identity is no longer decided at birth, but whenever culture and social conditions dictate. â€Å"Social media, theRead MoreGender Socialization Of Children : Gendered Toys, Media, And Parental Affects Child Development1289 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract Gender role expectations are inescapable in our society as we naturally tend to sort humans into categories, the easiest one being gender. Upon first meeting a person, most people automatically classify the other’s gender. With this classification come the inevitable gender role expectations. Even for those who consciously try their hardest not to cloud their perceptions of others based on â€Å"traditional† gender role expectations, it is almost impossible not to subconsciously succumb to these