Importance of Time in Chinese Culture Essay Example for Free

Importance of Time in Chinese Culture Essay The importance of time is always dependent on the different perspectives of people’s origin, particularly culture. â€Å"Time is one of the most important bases by which culture rests and all other activities revolve† (Riggs et al 31). Different cultures handle time differently. In the past, time was measured in daylight, darkness, or in seasons; however, nowadays, time has become more important and more complicated. Yet, no matter how complicated it has become, it always boils down to the influence of culture, just like China, one of the countries with a very rich culture. The impact of modernization in China on the changes of Chinese’ behavior is significant. However, these changes in their behavior have had a more significant impact on their values. Indeed, Chinese seem to have never given up one of their most important cultural characteristics, Guanxi, which up until now, remains as an important Chinese business element. In the advent of globalization, Chinese has kept and reinforced this unique characteristic even in the most important socio-cultural changes. Yes, China has indeed undergone substantial cultural changes; nonetheless, with regards to the thinking and dealing process, modern China remains rooted to its traditional Yin Yang approach, and this is reflected on their shrewd use of time to keep their relationship intact. Because Chinese people value relationship more than anything else, as they believe that this could lead them to success, it is logical to expect that the Chinese society concentrates on fluid/multi-focus time value. Chinese people are both famous and infamous in different negotiations for their wise use of time as their bargaining tool. Chinese are known to have adept ability to run down the clock because they prioritize their relationships with their associates or business partners first. This way, they know that the value of relationship or guanxi continues. Moreover, Chinese can afford or stand to play the waiting game, provided that there is always someone left to invest and spend for them. Cultures around the world have developed their own way of responding to time. The dimension for time orientation is based on two aspects; the relative significance the culture gives to its past, present, and future, and its way of approaching the time. China has indeed embraced globalization since the last three decades. Despite this, its stronghold to its culture is still very evident. This is because China is considered as a past-oriented culture country. Countries that fall under this category have a culture that is largely leaned towards the past; they see their future as a repetition of their past experiences. Moreover, they have high respect and regard for their collective historical experiences and their ancestors. As per David Thomas’ description of the country, China embraces its tradition and culture of ancestor worship and has strong pride of its customary and cultural persistence for over thousands of years (73). The Chinese society holds the perspective that their past is their guide on how to live their lives in the present. According to an old Chinese proverb, â€Å"Consider the past and you will know the present† (Quotations). Work Cited Riggs, James, et al. Industrial Organization and Management. Manila, Philippines: McGraw-Hill, Inc. , 1980. Lo, Vincent. Chinese Business Culture: Guanxi, An Important Chinese Business Element. 17 March 2005. 01 May 2009 http://chinese-school. netfirms. com/guanxi. html Thomas, David. Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts Second Ed. California: Sage Publications. 2008. Quotations. 14 February 2008. 01 May 2009. http://www1. bbiq. jp/quotations/past. htm

Negative Effects Of Peer Rejection Psychology Essay

Negative Effects Of Peer Rejection Psychology Essay This paper researches the effects of peer rejection on children, from the beginning of elementary school and transitioning into middle school, and the adverse effects that peer rejection can have. The paper also examines if there are certain factors, such as race, sex, parental care, or societal deviance, that correlate to or can be used as predictors of peer rejection. Looking at peer rejection shows multiple adverse effects, varying from psychological damage, increase in aggression, disinterest in academic life, increase in risk taking behavior, and negative academic performance, with all being related in turn to the duration and intensity of the rejection. This paper examines how peer rejection is correlated to these factors and outcomes, and if they can be used to predict adjustment in adult life. Peer Rejection: An Examination of the Negative Effects of Peer Rejection on Multiple Aspects of a Childs Life Merriam-Webster defines reject as to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use, and peer as one that is of equal standing with another : especially : one belonging to the same societal group especially based on age, grade, or status. From these two definitions we get peer rejection, which can be stated as refusal to accept someone of a similar age, grade or status into a social group. Anyone who has ever been part of a social group in their life, from a school associated club, to a sports team, to a playground group, has dealt with not fitting in. Whether it be due to their race, age, sex, or play preferences, children of all types deal with not being accepted by their classmates. Asking anyone will get you a tale of a time in which they experienced rejection by friends or fellow students, and how they felt when it occurred. But what many people never think about is how this rejection can affect a child, if it continues for a long amount of time, or is more intense then merely an exclusion from one days worth of activity. If this occurs there can be a risk for problems to begin developing. First, we will be discussing the immediately recognizable effects of peer rejection on a child, such as disinterest in school work, drop in grade point average, increase in aggression and overall lack of interest in education. Secondly, we will discuss the long term effects of peer rejection, like increase in risk taking behavior, likelihood of continued low scores in GPA and continued lack of interest in school. Lastly, we will discuss how peer rejection can also be a predictor of other negative things in a childs life, such as deviance, whether it be physical, mental, or social, or even maltreatment by their parents. In 2008, Ladd, Herald-Brown Reiser conducted a study on whether chronic peer rejection would affect and predict a childs class room participation during grade school. It was hypothesized that (a) peer rejection creates constraints that inhibit childrens classroom participation and (b) the cessation of rejection enables children to become more active and cooperative participants in classroom activities. To test the hypothesis, Ladd et al. (2008) took a sample of 398 children, 199 girls and 199 boys, with a largely Caucasian sample, 77.5%, and followed them from age 5 through age 12. The largely Caucasian sample makes the group seem somewhat biased, due to its lack of representing any other race, however, it can be said that it is representative of the population of the United States. According to the 2011 Census, Caucasians make up 78.1% of the United States population, so while it may appear biased, it would seem that instead the sampling is quite accurate if we want to apply the sa mples results to the population. The results of the study, which are shown through a slope format, found that the early chronic rejected (ECR) group of children, or kids who were rejected from kindergarten to third or fourth grade showed little or no increase in participation of class, as well as this downward or stable trajectory continuing well into the other grades. It also found that children who experienced late chronic rejection (LCR), which was from grades four to six, experienced an immediate decline in participation and a continued decline in what was otherwise a normal upward growth of participation. What this show is that the effects of peer rejection are fast in being detrimental to a child, as well as being able to build up to the point that it lasts for periods of time longer then the original period in which peer rejection was experienced. Of note is that fact that, for the ECR group, once rejection ceased in fourth grade, if peer acceptance begins, then an immediate growth of participation, as would be expected in a non-chronic rejected child, will also begin(Ladd et al., 2008). Following this connection between peer rejection and decrease in classroom participation, we can look at a study by VÃ ©ronneau, Vitaro, Brendgen, Dishion Tremblay, 2010, which attempted to find out whether there was a link between peer rejection and academic achievement from middle age children into teenaged children. They hypothesized that academic achievement would decrease with peer rejection, due to an inability to integrate with the other children. VÃ ©ronneau et al. used a sample of 198 girls and 254 boys, almost all of European descent, that were selected from French speaking schools in Quebec. This reveals a bias in the sample, meaning the majority of the children chosen were Caucasians, as well as them being from Canada, which in turn means that the studies results cannot be generalized for all children, which could cause some serious problems if generalized. The lack of knowledge as to whether Hispanics, Asians or African Americans would show similar connections between their academic achievement and peer rejection would be something that a similar study could identify. The study found that academic achievement was a predictor in whether children were accepted by peers or rejected by them. This connection was shown by negative correlations ranging from -.12to a -.20, with the scores gradually decreasing towards middle school and adolescence. This not only shows that peer rejection decreases academic achievement, but that it affects it less as children grow older. An explanation could be seen in that as a child grows older, he will not be influenced by teachers and parents negative opinions of children who do badly in school, or that as children reach middle school, student bodies tend to increase in size, meaning they are less likely to know about fellow classmates academic scores and achievements. Now to tie those two studies together we can examine a study done Amy Bellmore in 2011, that looked at associations of Grade Point Average (GPA) and peer rejection and unpopularity. The study chose 901 students, 477 boys and 424 girls, from a school system in a middle sized town in the northeastern United States, with an ethnicity similar to that of the united states, with 65% being Caucasian, 20% African American, 12% Latino, and 3% Asian or other, and followed them from grades four to eighth(Bellmore, 2011). The study found that as peer rejection increased in a semester, GPA would decrease, and that peer rejection in a semester would also predict GPA decrease in the following semester. Bellmore also found that peer rejection and unpopularity function differently from each other, with unpopularity not affecting GPA at all during elementary years, but instead, increasing GPA during middle school! This distinction between actual rejection by peers and a lack of acceptance by peers bri ngs up an interesting thought. While being refused by friends and classmates in elementary school makes a child less likely to participate in class, and less likely to achieve academically, by middle school a general sense of difference and lack of acceptance seems to almost fuel a childs need to prove himself in a purely academic way. While this in no means says that being an outcast from the social norm makes a student better academically, it does seem to validate VÃ ©ronneau et al.s (2010) findings that peer acceptance increases with academic achievement. It also seems to suggest that Ladd et al.s 2008 findings of peer rejection hindering classroom participation could possibly be correlated with a drop in GPA as well. When a child feels like they cannot participate in class, they may learn less due to not asking questions due to fear of classmates reactions, perform less then normal in class projects that require group participation in which they could experience rejection, and overall experience a drop in GPA and academic achievement because of their lack of group work finished and class participation points earned. While the studies seem to have a firm amount of findings from children in elementary and middle school, the lack of research into high school peer rejection and its detriments on academic life, shows that peer rejection still has many opportunities for research. This lack of research leads to another study which examined the effects of peer rejection and its influence on girls risk taking behavior. Conducted in 2004 by Prinstein and La Greca, it aimed to find out if there was a link between peer rejection and aggression and if they could be used as predictors of risk taking behaviors, such as marijuana use and risky sexual behaviors. Prinstein La Greca took a sample of 148 girls from fourth to sixth grade, and then examined them again when the girls had reached tenth to twelfth grade. The samples ethnicity consisted of over half being Caucasian, two sixths being Hispanic one sixth being African American and the remainder of the sample being Asian or other. Also of note is the fact that the sample was composed of mainly girls from middle class families. The conclusions drawn from the sample cannot then be applied to general population, and leave open the question of whether socioeconomic status could predispose girls to peer rejection, or if their socioeconomic status itself leaves predisposition to risk taking behavior. In recent studies, such as that by Shields, Ryan and Cicchetti (2001) and Juvonen (1991), peer rejection was found to be linked to maltreatment by parents and shown to be related to deviance from norms. Beginning with maltreatment by caregivers, Shields et al. 2001 hypothesized that: Maltreated children would evidence maladaptive representations, maladaptive representations would be associated with emotion dysregulation and peer rejection on entry into new social groups, maladaptive representations would foster emotion dysregulation among maltreated children, such that they would be more likely to be rejected by peers. This was done by using a narrative representation by 76 maltreated and 45 non-maltreated girls and boys at a summer camp, of varying race and ethnicity, from ages eight to twelve, all from an inner city environment. While the sample size isnt large enough to accurately predict for the entire population, it is still diverse enough to give us a clear enough picture of ho w maltreatment can affect all types of children, and show up in social groups through peer rejection. The determination of maltreatment versus non-maltreatment was found using Child Protective and Preventative Services records, ensuring that maltreated children came from homes where maltreatment had occurred and would most likely continue due to dysfunctional family, which guards against any bias that could have come from using opinions alone to determine maltreatment. In an effort to keep the samples unbiased, even the types of maltreatment varied from child to child, with sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect all being types of maltreatment included. After choosing the children, an exercise in which each child was asked to elaborate upon a series of story stems, representing emotional and physical situations involving either a mother or father, was recorded and then transcribed for comparison. After comparing the findings, it was shown that

Euthanasia is Moral Essay -- Argument for Euthanasia

Recent debates over active euthanasia, "killing" a terminally ill patient, in Holland, has raised the question whether euthanasia is immoral or a simple human right. Doctors seem to have no doubt. They made an oath. The definition of Euthanasia depends on whether it is active or passive. Active Euthanasia I only allowed in Holland, and it means that the doctor takes direct measures to put a patient to sleep, whereas passive Euthanasia only involves stopping pill consumption, or stopping treatment. In England, only passive Euthanasia is allowed. Euthanasia touches some of the deepest feelings in human beings. It is the power over life and death, and responsibilities no one wishes to take, have to be taken. This, of cause, leads to the ultimatum, that it is the patient's own choice. But can we allow some one to take their own lives? Doesn't this mean that everyone else around the patient has failed, that more could have been done? From the patient's point of view, a lot of arguments talk in favour of euthanasia. For one, no body wants to be a burden. If a person has had a car accident, which paralyses him from neck and down, and is doomed to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he knows that he will be 100% dependant on the ones that care for him, his lived ones, forever. It can also be mentioned that the life quality of a terminally ill patient, gets reduced a lot. Never being able to walk again, never being able to talk to your children again, never being able to go shopping, swimming, playing, driving etc. must be terrible for anyone. The whole situation only gets worse, if the patient himself can see that his condition is worsening, and only time keeps his thoughts clear. A third very importa... ... disease by killing the patient, as he believes. It allows the patient to die in peace with no suffering. Steve Forbes calls euthanasia barbaric (31). Isn't it far more barbaric to force someone to suffer rather than helping them to end their misery? Euthanasia is ethical, and physicians should be allowed to assist in it legally. My great-grandfather was terminally ill with cancer. He couldn't eat or sleep, he just laid there, constantly in pain. There was nothing they could do as far as cancer treatment, because his body was too old and weak. So, he suffered for almost 2 months, while we all watched him suffer more and more everyday as he lay there dying. He stated many times how he just wanted to die and didn't want to live anymore. But, we (society) forced him to suffer. This is something that should have never happened and should never happen again.

Who Moved My Cheese? Essay -- Book Reviews Spencer Johnson

Change is one of those unique subjects that can be perceived differently by any one individual. You might ask three people what their personal definition of change is and receive three different answers. Some people offer very little resistance to change, they consider it the spice of life; it prevents stagnancy and maintains excitement through diversity. Some people view change like the U.S. viewed Russia during the cold war, as an inevitable threat that we must constantly monitor and prepare for. Other people react to change like an ostrich reacts to danger. They just stick their head in a hole and pretend it doesn't exist. Change is constantly happening all the time to everyone in someway or another. Whether or not change is accepted does not alter the fact that it exists however the way you accept change can alter the way you exist. The book titled, Who Moved My Cheese?, written by Spencer Johnson, M.D. is a parable that reveals how change is dealt with differently by individuals. In this story there are four characters, two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two "little people", named Hem and Haw, who are about the size of mice but act and think much like humans. These four characters are in a maze searching for cheese. The cheese is a metaphor for the things that make you happy in life like a successful career, happy marriage, financial security, materialistic possessions etc. The maze represents where you might be looking for these things for example your company, home, or town. Change plays a key element in this parable. Change happens when the four characters run out of cheese, which was once abundant at their location in the maze. Each of the characters reacts a little differently to this change, some reactions ... ... than not people much like Haw find that their fears are of lesser threat than they have imagined them to be. Many times fear is only a self-contrived obstacle that prevents personal progress. Whether or not change is accepted does not alter the fact that it exists however the way you accept change can alter the way you exist. Hem's existence was obviously negatively affected by his inability to accept change. The mice quickly moved on to a better existence after accepting change without hesitation. Haw learned that his hesitation to acceptance of change caused him precious time without cheese. As Haw learned in the parable, accepting change, anticipating change, being aware of change and enjoying change can lead to living a happier and more prosperous life. Works Cited Johnson M.D., Spencer. Who Moved My Cheese? New York: G.P. Putman's Sons, 1998,2002

Chantale and Clinton’s Service Expectations Essay

In general, for their past experience Chantale and Clinton’s service expectations to The Canadian are that they provide very customer-oriented service, that is not only the frontline representatives but also every role within the company and its distributors cares for the customers and always think of the best interests of customers. To be more specific, as what we have seen in this case, Chantale and Clinton coupon expected the following: 1) a quick and courteous response and follow up on their request or phone calls instead of keeps transferring their requests from one party to another; 2) Always stay in touch with the customer and provide recent updates and feedback for important changes (e.g., repair could not come on the day); 3) Reliable service, e.g., if you make a promise then you need to keep your promise 4) On time delivery and repair service as well as timely communication to save customer time; 5) Has department to bridge the gaps or escalation the issue in a timely manner 6) Flexibility, e.g., provide a temporary solution that can help the customer while waiting for the appliance to be fixed (delivery a small fridge for temporary use). 7) Care for the customer needs especially monetary needs, e.g., reimbursement Culture factors that influence the development of these expectations are the couple is middle class and they can afford decent brands of products. Their entire family is well-educated and the couple values achievement and success, environment, material comfort and external comfort. Because of their subculture that they are Canadians, fully bilingual and live in Montreal, they give preferences to products delivered by the Canadian based product supplier â€Å"The Canadian†. Social factors are the reference group, e.g., client service team that the couple kept calling to did provide some courteous and polite response, however they had to repeat the same case over and over again which eventually made the couple feel frustrated and angry. From the family factors perspective, Chantele’s brother failed to enjoy a good meal made her feel even more frustrated with the delay of the repair which she expected it should be done on time. Personal factors are that they are well educated and care about the environment, thus they decided to purchase an energy efficient fridge to save energy. In addition, they prefer fresh foods as well as food that meet the dietary needs of youngest child which can be found when they threw away non-fresh foods and require immediate repair of the fridge. Because they are advisors and accounts who can occasionally work from home, they have the luxury to spend hours of their day time calling and waiting for customer service. From the personality and self-concept perspective, Chantale worked at The Canadian during the past as department manager and he considered himself very customer oriented. Therefore, he would think the others in the firm would be like him or his department. From the lifestyle and value perspective, they are more money constrained than time constrained, therefore, they asked for reimbursement for the loss of foods.

Finanacial Evaluation of Unilever

Table of Contents Table of Content3 List of Tables4 Table 1 6 1. Introduction2 2. Main Body2 3. Management Structure4 4. Ability to Earn Income 5 5. Size of Inventory Held5 6. Relience on Debt Financing5 7. Key Indicators for 2011 and 20126 8. Profitability of var. Product Lines and Geographic Regions 6 Table 28 9. FINANCIAL RATIOS FOR UNILEVER10 9. 1 Operations Analysis10 9. 2 Liquidity Analysis12 9. 3 Debt and Solvency Analysis 14 9. 4 Profitability Analysis15 5. CONCLUSION16 LIST OF REFERENCES17 IntroductionWhen evaluating a company important is to know company’s history, operations and the nature of the business in which it operates. On other hand by reviewing company’s financial statements, operational practices we can evaluate its performance and compare it with the previous years or with the key competitors. By analyzing its financial indicators we can assess how profitable and sound the company is. This research paper will give brief description Unilever, its ma in divisions and products, its managements structure and the financial performance evaluation, with an aim to highlight the best practices and the growth drivers.Main Body 2. 1 Profile of the company, its divisions, products and supply chain Unilever is multinational corporation and is one of the worlds fast moving consumer goods companies with a host of well known brands. The company operates through four segments: Personal Care, Foods, Refreshment, and Home Care. Unilever is a joint venture of two companies that date back from the late nineteen century. It was formed by two Dutch families, Jurgens and Van den Bergh, butter merchants who later started producing margarine and by the British soap producer William Hesketh Lever.Since the early nineteen century the two companies were concentrated on acquisitions and in the early 1929 they signed an agreement to create Unilever (Unilever, 1929 p. 2). Unilever over the last two decades acquired the meat business Zwanenberg's at Oss, Lipt on International, Brooke Bond, Naarden, Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden/Faberge, Brayers ice cream, Kibon ice cream, Bestfoods, Slim Fast Foods, Ben & Jerry's and the Amora-Maille. In 1992 Unilever entered the Czech Republic and Hungary, and established UniRus in Russia, also enters in India and other parts of the world. (Unilever, 1995 p. 3) Unilever N.V. operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Europe, and the Americas Unilever possesses a portfolio of more than 400 brands, from nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products. Their products are sold in more than 190 countries, generating sales of â‚ ¬51 billion in 2012. In the 21st century they launched growth strategies, in order to transform the business, leading to more acquisitions, rationalization of manufacturing and production sites to form centers of excellence.Unilever is responding quickl y to rapid shifts in consumer behavior by investing in Research and Development and changing market conditions. Unilever's sells its product across 170 countries and their procurement teams are purchasing from a network of around 160,000 suppliers worldwide. For the same reason its suppliers' materials and services are an integral part of their commercial operations. Unilever has integrated supply management informational system that helps their local, regional and global supply managers to make appropriate sourcing decisions, allowing them to analyze information quickly and easily.Through this system they can negotiate with their suppliers in a more transparent and efficient way. Unilever's largest international competitors are Procter & Gamble and Nestle. While the competition in local markets or specific product ranges from numerous companies, including Beiersdorf, ConAgra, Danone, Henkel, Mars, Pepsico, and others (Unilever) Management Structure Maintaining good governance is on e of the essentials factors for the long-term success of the company. For the same reason Unilever is engaged in conducting its operations in accordance with internationally accepted principles of good corporate governance.The success of Unilever is due to a combination of structural formality and managerial flexibility. Being a company that is present for more than a century, that operated in changing and transitional environment, is evidence of a flexible management structure that made Unilever successful (Floris 1992,p. 6). Learning through a trial and error Unilever has focused on two reliable and related practices to strengthen all structural changes: recruitment and training of high-quality managers, and the importance of linking decentralized units through a common corporate culture (Annual report 2012 p. 5) Unilever’s companies maintain formal processes to inform, consult and involve employees. They recognize collective bargaining on a number of sites and engage with employees. Their usage of sites tools such as Total Productive Maintenance rely heavily on employee involvement, contribution and commitment (Annual Report 2012 p. 28). The profitable growth that Unilever accomplishes is mainly due and is achieved through the right people working in an organization that is fit to win and with a culture in which performance is aligned with values.Unilever has built an employer brand development tool which leverages best practice, and adapts recruitment models to reach the best people worldwide. The better recruitment, family-friendly working conditions, a culture of accountability, initiatives, and remuneration represent one of the crucial factors for the success which it achieves (Annual Report 2012, p. 66). Ability to earn income Unilever’s ability to earn income has increased due to the increase in revenue. In 2012 their ability to earn income has increased by 8. % compared with 2011, and with no changes from 2010 to 2011 (Annual Report 201 2/11, p. 32 p. 24). Size of inventory held millionsmillionsmillions Inventories 201220112010 Raw materials and consumables1. 5171. 5381. 554 Finished goods and goods for resale2. 9193. 0172. 753 4. 4364. 6014. 307 Source: www. unilever. com The size of inventory during the last three years was moving closely. The raw materials and consumables from 2010 to 2011 decreased by 1% and in 2012 by 1. 3%. On the other hand the finished goods and goods for resale increased by 8. 5 in 2011 and a decrease of 3. 35% in 2012. This change in the finished goods and goods for resale was charged to the income statement for damaged, obsolete and lost inventories (Annual Report 2012/11, p. 113). Reliance on debt financing The net debt position in 2011 was 8. 781 billion or â‚ ¬2. 1 billion higher than the last year, in part due to the acquisition of Alberto Culver (Annual Report 2011, p. 28). In 2012 the net debt was 7. 355 billion, or 1. 4 billion lower than 2011.The cash outflow from acquisitions , dividends, tax, net capital expenditure and interest, and the negative impact of foreign exchange rates exceeded the cash inflow from operating activities and business disposals. The leverage ratio reveals that 32% of the financing its covered by debt (Annual Report 2012, p. 36). Key indicators for 2011 and 2012 The sales growth of Unilever in 2011 increased by 6. 5% and volume growth by 1. 6%. Emerging markets delivered 11. 5% underlying sales growth and turnover of 5% compared to 2010 (Annual Report 2011, p. 9). In 2012 the sale growth increased by 6. % and volume growth increase of 3. 4%. Emerging markets represented 55% of the turnover or 11. 6% of sales and turnover of 10. 5% compared to 2011 (Annual Report 2012, p. 9). Profitability of various product lines and geographical regions The region with the highest turnover, sales and volume growth in 2011 and 2012 is Asia, Africa and Central & Eastern Europe with over â‚ ¬20. 5 billion of turnover in 2012 and â‚ ¬18. 9 in 2 011. Followed by Americas â‚ ¬17. 1 billion in 2012 and â‚ ¬15. 3 in 2011. the last is Western Europe with turnover of â‚ ¬ 13. 9 in 2012 and â‚ ¬12. in 2011 (Annual Report 2012/11, p. 10) Table 2 Formulas for Financial Ratios (Methodology) FormulasNumber 1. Activities (Operating) ratios Inventory Turnover = COGS/average inventory1. 1 Average number days in stock =365 days/inventory turnover1. 1. 1 Receivables Turnover = Net Sales/average receivables 1. 2 Av. Number of days receivables outstanding =365days/receivables turnover 1. 2. 1 Account Payable Turnover =Cost of Sale/Average Acc. Payable 1. 3 Av. N. of days payables outstanding =365days/payable turnover1. 3. 1 Working Capital Turnover =Sales/Average Working Capital . 4 Fixed asset turnover =net sales/av. Net fixed assets1. 5 Asset Turnover Ratio= Net Sales/Average Total Asset1. 6 Liquidity ratios Current Ratio= Current Assets/Current Liabilities2. 1. Quick Ratio= ((Cash + Marketable Securities)+ Acc. Receivables)/C urrent Liabilities2. 2 Cash Ratio =(Cash + Marketable Securities)/Current Liabilities2. 3 Cash Flow From Operations Ratio = CFO/Current Liabilities2. 4 Solvency ratios Debt to Capital Ratio= Total Debt/Total Capital3. 1 Times Interest Earned Ratio= EBIT/Interest Expense3. 2 CFO to Debt Ratio=CFO/Total Debt3. 3Total Debt Ratio=Total Liabilities/Total Assets3. 4 Leverage Ratio= Long term debt/ (Long term debt+ Shareholders equity)3. 5 Profitability ratios Gross Profit Margin= Gross Profit/Net Sales4. 1 Operating Profit Margin = Operating Income/Net Sales4. 2 Pre Tax Margin = EBT/Sales4. 3 Return on Assets= EBIT/Average Total Assets4. 4 Return on Total Capital= (Net Income + Interest Expense)/(Long-Term debt +Equity)4. 5 Return On Total Equity = Net Income/Average Total Equity 4. 6 Authors own sources FINANCIAL RATIOS FOR UNILEVER 9. 1. Operational analysis Formula 1. 1 Formula 1. 1. Average inventory2010 =3942. 5 Average inventory2011 =4454 Average inventory2012=4518. 5 Inventory turn over ratio2010 =6. 57 Average number days in stock2010 =55. 6 days Inventory turnover ratio2011 = 6. 27 Average number days in stock2011 = 58. 2 days Inventory turnover ratio2012 = 6. 53 Average number days in stock2012 = 55days Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has performed better. Higher the ratio, better it is. Which means that in 2012 it required 55 days to turnover(renew its inventory) Formula 1. 2 Formula 1. 2. 1 Average receivebles2010 =2424. 5 Average receivebles2011 = 2719Average receivebles2012 =3666. 5 Receivables Turnover 2010 = 18. 23 Av. Number of days receivables outstanding2010 =20days Receivables Turnover 2011 =17. 09 Av. Number of days receivables outstanding2011 =21. 3days Receivables Turnover 2012 =14 Av. Number of days receivables outstanding2012 =26days Conclusion: In year 2010 UN has performed better. Higher the ratio, better it is. Which means that in 2010 it required 20 days to collect its receivables from customers. Formula 1. 3 Formula 1. 3. 1 Average payables2 010 = 5006 Average payables2011 = 6398. 5 Average payables2012 = 9217Account Payable Turnover 2010 = 5. 1 Av. N. of days payables outstanding 2010 =71. 56days Account Payable Turnover 2011 = 4. 36 Av. N. of days payables outstanding 2011 = 83. 6days Account Payable Turnover 2012 = 3. 2 Av. N. of days payables outstanding 2012 =114days Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has performed better. Lower the ratio, better it is. Which means that in 2012 it required 114 days do pay its liabilities. By extending the period the company enables financing of its operation activities. Formula 1. 4 Average working capital2010 = -931 Average working capital2011 = -2356Average working capital2012 = -3653 Working Capital Turnover2010 = -47. 54 Working Capital Turnover2011 = -19. 72 Working Capital Turnover2012 = -14 Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has performed better. Higher the ratio, better it is. Which means that in 2012 UN had more efficient utilization of the working capital, needed for maintaining certai n level of sales, and even though it is negative we can see sharp decrease during the precedent years. Formula 1. 5 Average fix assets2010 = 6218 Average fix assets2011 =7033 Average fix assets2012 =8404 Fixed asset Turnover2010= 7. 11Fixed asset Turnover2011= 6. 6 Fixed asset Turnover2012= 6. 1 Conclusion: In year 2010 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2010 UN had more efficient utilization of the long-term capital investments. Formula 1. 6 Average total assets2010 =39094 Average total assets2011 =44342 Average total assets2012 =46839 Asset Turnover Ratio 2010 = 1. 13 Asset Turnover Ratio 2011 = 1. 048 Asset Turnover Ratio 2012 = 1. 1 Conclusion: In year 2010 and 2012 UN has higher ratio. This means that had higher and more efficient performance of the company. 9. 2 Liquidity analysis Formula 2. 1Current Ratio2010 = 0. 92 Current Ratio2011 = 0. 79 Current Ratio2012 = 0. 76 Conclusion: In year 2010 UN has higher ratio. A commonly acceptable current ratio is 1. 5-2. This level of ratio may show than UN cannot meet its short-term financial obligations. Formula 2. 2 Quick Ratio2010 = 0. 36 Quick Ratio2011 =0. 37 Quick Ratio2012 =0. 46 Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2012 UN was more financially secure to meet its short-term financial obligations. Commonly acceptable current ratio is 1, but may vary from industry to industry. Formula 2. 3Cash Ratio2010 =0. 179 Cash Ratio2011 = 0. 21 Cash Ratio2012 = 0. 182 Conclusion: In year 2011 UN has higher ratio. This indicates that in 2011 UN has good level of liquid assets which can be easily used to pay its current obligations. Formula 2. 4 CFO Ratio2010 = 0. 4034 CFO Ratio2011 =0. 3 CFO Ratio2012 =0. 432 Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has higher ratio. This indicates that in 2012 UN current liabilities were covered by the cash flow generated from operations. 9. 3 Debt and solvency analysis Formula 3. 1 Debt to Capital Ratio2010 = 1. 18 Debt to Capital Ratio2011 = 1. 44Debt to Capital Ra tio2012 = 1. 308 Conclusion: In year 2011 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2011 UN has low level of capital that is financed through debt. Formula 3. 2 Times interest earned2010 = 6. 46 Times interest earned2011 = 11. 66 Times interest earned2012 = 12. 87 Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2012 UN can 13 times make the interest payments on its debt with its EBIT, or this means that it easily can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt. Formula 3. 3 CFO to Debt Ratio 2010 = 0. 21 CFO to Debt Ratio 2011 =0. 16 CFO to Debt Ratio 2012 =0. 25 Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2012 UN has higher ability to cover the total debt from the cash flow from operations Formula 3. 4 Total Debt Ratio 2010 =0. 63 Total Debt Ratio 2011 =0. 68 Total Debt Ratio 2012 =0. 66 Conclusion: In year 2010 UN has lower ratio. This means that in 2010 UN risk is lower and the company relies less on debt to finance its assets. Formula 3. 5 Lever age Ratio 2011 =0. 38=38% Leverage Ratio 2012 =0. 32=32% Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has lower ratio. This means that in 2012 Unilever had 32% of its financing covered by debt. . 4 Profitability Analysis Formula 4. 1 Gross Profit Margin 2010 = 0. 41 Gross Profit Margin 2011 = 0. 39 Gross Profit Margin 2012 = 0. 45 Conclusion: In year 2012 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2012 UN has higher earnings taking into consideration the costs that it incurs for producing its products. Formula 4. 2 Operating Profit Margin 2010 = 0. 144 Operating Profit Margin 2011 = 0. 142 Operating Profit Margin 2012 = 0. 137 Conclusion: In year 2010 UN has higher ratio. This means that in 2010 UN profit left after paying its variable costs was higher.Formula 4. 3 Pre-tax Margin 2010 = 0. 06 Pre-tax Margin 2011 = 0. 123 Pre-tax Margin 2012 = 0. 122 Conclusion: In 2011 and 2012 UN has high ratio. This indicates that in 2011 and 2012 UN had greater profitability, comparing it with 2010 when it was two t imes lower. Formula 4. 4 Average Total assets2010 = 39094 Average Total assets2011 =44342 Average Total assets2012 =46839 ROA 2010 = 10. 8% ROA 2011 = 9. 58% ROA 2012 = 9. 56% Conclusion: : In year 2010 UN has higher ratio which suggest that it has earned more money and invested less in assets. Formula 4. 5ROC2010 = 11. 36% ROC2011 = 21. 14% ROC2012 = 22. 3% Conclusion:In 2012 UN has higher ratio which indicates the return that UN is achieving from the capital employed and this return has doubled from 2010 to 2011/12. Formula 4. 6 ROE2010 = 28. 14% ROE2011 = 28. 49% ROE2012 = 29. 25% Conclusion: In 2012 UN has higher ratio which indicates a high level of profit UN earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity. This ratio measures how profitable Unilever is for the owners of the investment, and how profitably the company employs its equity. ConclusionThe purpose of this paper was to reveal the financial performance of Unilever and to make an evaluation and assessment of the firm’s management structure and what contributes to the success they achieve and key figures and ratios. The financial position of Unilever for 2012 was admirable, due to the fact that had increased revenues, sales and volume growth of its divisions worldwide and decreased net debt. The compared data for 2010,2011, and 2012 show continuous improvement and increase of their financial position. List of references Unilever site www. unilever. comAnnual Report 2012, Available at: http://www. unilever. com/images/ir_Unilever_AR12_tcm13-348376. pdf [Accessed date 05/03/2012] Annual Report 2011, Available at: http://www. unilever. com/images/Unilever_AR11_tcm13-282960_tcm13-348380. pdf [Accessed date 07/03/2012} Floris M. (1992), Inside Unilever: The Evolving Transnational Company, Harvard Business Review; Vol. 70 Issue 5, p46-52, EBSCO Host http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/detail? vid=4=8aace911-769a-43f3-9949-b4364f9185cf%40sessionmgr111=124=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db =bth=9301105365 [Accessed date 09/03/2012]

Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema Pathophysiology Research Paper

Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema Pathophysiology - Research Paper Example The exact prevalence of these lung diseases across the globe is not well known. In this article, both the diseases with be discussed by comparing and contrasting with each other. Definitions Chronic bronchitis is defined clinically as a condition in which the patient suffers from expectorant cough for a minimum of 3 months for 2 consecutive years (Celli, 2008). The diagnosis is mainly through clinical presentation. On the other hand, emphysema is defined as a condition in which the patient has permanent and abnormal enlargement of the air spaces distal to the terminal bronchioles and associated with destruction of the walls without any obvious fibrosis (Celli, 2008). Chest radiography and pulmonary function tests are needed to arrive at the diagnosis. Pathophysiology In chronic bronchitis, there is typical inflammation of the bronchi. The endothelium is damaged because of which the mucociliary response is impaired. This leads to improper clearance of bacteria and mucus. Thus, inflamm ation, along with inadequate clearance of mucus contributes to obstruction in the disease. There is histopathological evidence of goblet cell hyperplasia, mucus plugging, smooth muscle hyperplasia and fibrosis. Alveolar attachments that are supportive are lost, the airways are deformed and the air lumens are narrowed. The capillary pulmonary bed is undamaged. In emphysema, the airspaces distal to the terminal bronchioles are enlarged permanently, because of which alveolar surface area necessary for gas exchange is decreased. Loss of alveolar walls leads to decreased elastic recoil property of the alveoli, causing limitations to airflow. Decrease in the alveolar limiting structure causes narrowing of the airway, causing further limitation of airflow. There are 3 characteristic patterns of morphology in emphysema and they are centriacinar, panacinar and distal acinar. In centriacinar type, destruction is mainly in the central portions of the acini. In panacinar type, entire alveolus i s involved. In distal acinar type, only those acini in the distal portion of the airways in involved. (Maclay et al, 2009). Etiology and pathogenesis The most common etiological agent in both chronic bronchitis and emphysema is cigarette smoking. Smoking over a long duration of time triggers the macrophages to release chemotactic factors like elastases which destroy the tissues of the lung. Passive smoking and other environmental factors also can contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Airway hyperresponsiveness is a risk factor for chronic bronchitis. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disorder, is an important risk factor for chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, especially emphysema. Intravenous drug abuse is another important risk factor for emphysema. The disease occurs because of the pulmonary vascular damage that occurs due to insoluble fillers present in the drugs. Immunodeficiency syndromes like HIV infection, vasculitis disorders, connective tissue dis orders and Salla disease are risk factors for both chronic bronchitis and emphysema (Celli, 2008). Prognosis As far as prognosis is concerned, both the conditions are associated with significant mortality and morbidity. The prognosis is worse in emphysema because of damage to pulmonary vascular bed. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is infact, the fourth leading cause of mortality in the United States. Both chronic bronch