Moral absolutism Essay Example for Free

Moral absolutism Essay The choices we make in our everyday life all have to do with our ethics. In this paper the topic will discuss the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. In order to understand the similarities, and differences of virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics we must first define them. Virtue theory is defined as a moral excellence. It is a positive trait quality demand to be morally good and is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. It takes the viewpoint that in living your life you should try to cultivate excellence in all that you do and all that others do. Utilitarianism is a theory that suggests that an action is morally right when that action produces more utility for the group than any other alternative. We need to understand what our consequence would be based on our choice. When we make the right choice we will get a positive consequence and are acting morally; if we make the wrong choice the consequences will be acting immorally. Deontological moral is focused on loyalty to independent moral rules or duties. To make the right choices we need to comprehend what our duties are and the rules of our moral perspective. This is a matter of what we view to be moral or immorally based on our beliefs. The similarities between the three theories represent the good in people and how they strive for excellence. The differences are with virtue theory describes a person’s character, cultivating excellence in all we do. Utilitarianism addresses ethical and morality issues by addressing the balance of good over bad consequences. The morality associated with this theory suggests actions that produce a total utility for the group. Deontological ethics have a definition of a definition of a person’s dedication to recognize moral duties. In my current position as an assistant manager I am often put in a situation that includes some type of confidentiality with an associate that falls under me. If I am told about a certain situation that an associate is having in their personal life I have been told in trust and this be unethical for me to tell everyone else what is going on. Also when I have to write up any associate for work performance, that should be kept between me and that associate. For me to be able to keep my word about a particular situation involving any of my associates consist of moral concepts. Values, virtues, and ethics distinguish those actions as being morally right or morally wrong.

The Use Of Union Dues For Political Activities Essay Example for Free

The Use Of Union Dues For Political Activities Essay A union is an association that represents workers well being to running their salaries, work hours and working conditions. The workers are involved in ensuring the unions sustain their activities with its due fees to pay for their services. Workers are mandated to pay union an outstanding amount are required to know the how their money is being utilized. The organization controlling the unions must give the employees with enough data on how their money is being used. The work of these unions levy for opinionated goings on continues to be a contentious issue for both community and private sector unions. This thesis will give an impression of the lawful issues of the use of union’s dues in America for both community and private sectors. Law protects all workers a right to join and get involved in union actions. Workers can negotiate and discuss with unions over service issues that affect the join workers about their operational terms. The bargaining items include issues like salaries, supremacy and penalizing procedures are some examples. The workers join the unions for various reasons including, when they feel:- o Are unhappy about some aspects of their occupation. o Sense that they are not involved meeting the required changes. o See the joining together as an answer to their troubles. The union best friend is bad operational system. If the managers listen to workers and let them dictate in policies that influence their jobs and treat them literally, then the workers won’t need to join the union. The manager who pay no attention to their employees well being and are dictatorial in their operational style often have their companies organized. Most job providers prefer to hire workers who have not joined unions, as the unions may limit the potentiality of the managers. This relates to decisions that openly affect joint workers working conditions. In the private sector for example a company may contract out part of its operations, and this may be legal but the effect of that pronouncement has to be discussed with the union. And if the senior workers are made redundant because of the decision to contract out, the contract terms must be evaluated to see the level of harm caused to the involved workers. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW I n the beginning of the 20th century, as the American economy was building up most employers created bad working conditions for workers. Most workers were from other nations to the US and they were not trained, could not communicate properly in English and had no money to pillow their jobs. Some were from the rural areas of America and were most occupants of the towns. They were misused because people looking for jobs were many. Due to economical growth, it resulted to understanding between the employers and employees. This understanding made people to loose their jobs, thus created poverty. During this period a private sector union was allowed to operate called the Wagner act of 1935 also called (National Labor Relations Act). The Wagner Act was enacted to guard employee’s rights and enable them to form join unions. This allowed them to have a right to be involved in such activities as strikes, picketing and collective bargaining. The Act also enhanced multiple employments as illegal, as the workers can not be interfered with or persuaded in practicing their rights to engage or not to engage in combined activities, dictate or interrupt the union activities, categorize workers to prevent them joining together forming an association, expulsion or placing charges against workers who file charges against their employers and or testify against their employees according to the Act’s provision, decline to negotiate with the union . The NLRB also formed a self governing organization to enforce American labor law and its primary actions were as follows:- o To identify the actual unit for cooperative bargaining in a company. o To manage documentation elections secret ballot that decided whether the workers were to be represented by a joint group. o To avoid and deal with illegal labor Acts. ‘The Taft – Hartley Act’ was enacted and represented a delicate change in connection between the unions and employers. The legislation was formed to bind some of the authority that the unions had secured under the Wagner’s Act; also it was made to defend the rights of organization and the workers too. The Taft Hartley Act is positive towards the employees concerns against unjust labor practices. Joint organizations cannot or persuade workers in the duty of their rights as provided under the Act, insight employees to discriminate each other especially those are not members of labor union for whatever the reason. Including:- failing to pay the union levy and joining fees as required to attain membership in the union, decline to negotiate with the management after a good number of employees have decided to be represented by a certain union group, persuade the associates and members to refuse to use products by companies involved in a labor dispute, and charge workers for extreme levy as a condition of relationship in a joint group. The Landrum Griffin Act has sustained this change in lawful surroundings and creating More limits in joint groups activities. The Act was enacted to protect joint members and their involvement in the activities and presentation of their joint groups. The Act controls how unions are managed. The Act has three sections including; o Bill of rights for union members, it assures clandestine and seasonal elections to choose their joint group representatives. It also gives the group members the right to take legal action against the union if it abuses their lawful rights. o Requires complete reports to the secretary of labor concerning all economical issues of the joint group. o Controls the persons who may be used or employed as union officers. Persons who are found guilty of illegal activities or may have investment interests that may not agree with interests of the joint groups are stopped from holding office. Most of the factors affecting the employees in the private sector are same as those affecting the public sector. The legal association between public sector and private sector employees and their bosses are legally not the same at federal and state level. The government is the supreme ruler and may be compelled by law to perform certain actions and provide some services. The administration officials have the permission to take legal action and make supposed decisions to ensure performance of those activities. Negotiation involves the sharing of decision making power between the administration and the joint groups. For instance; communal workers at a national level in the most states are forbidden to strike. In America the lawful history of the communal sector organizations has gone through major reforms. The communal joint groups can be categorized as being at the national level, state employee level and local county and municipal level. The community workers have no rights under the Wagner Act, with the exception of workers of the American Postal Service. The Postal Reforms Act in America has a private agency and legalized National Labor Relations Board to decide appropriate negotiating units, oversee version elections, and put in force the unjust labor practice of the Wagner Act. THE USE OF UNION DUES FOR POLITICAL ACTIVITY F ederal employees have started negotiating over the terms of their employment. This is due to Lloyd La Follette Act. The Civil Service Act and it gives power to set wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. It is prohibited that national workers or their joint groups from dictating in salaries, either before congress, its committee or before heads of executive agencies. It appears that on the collective negotiating events of the community unions at both the national and state levels have more officially authorized than their private partners. The national workers have a right to organize and form unions. National workers also have a right to present their views on salaries and terms of employment to companies which h they worked for. It is an illegal practice to discriminate an employee on basis of color, race, nationality, sex, age, political status and marital status. It is also an offence to interfere with exercise of employee rights or to take disciplinary actions against a worker or categorize an employee because of union activity, or to persuade a regulation that differs with a collective negotiating agreement. An important variation in the legislation is the absence of the right to strike among the federal level employees. While the use of the unions levy for the political activity has always been frowned upon in both the community and private sectors, thus the issue of has remained a major topic of the debate. Thus, many people argue that unless closely monitored, the joint groups will continue to utilize their members levy for political activity in regardless of the lawful constraints; for example the American Supreme Court has illegalized the use of union for political activity. The Supreme Court defined the term â€Å"agency fee† and this ruling applies to both communal and private sector workers. The joint group may require all the workers covered by a union security agreement t pay an â€Å"agency fee† which is designed to cover the cost associated with collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance administration procedures. The recent presidential promotion has once again highlighted the issue of the union dues being utilized for supporting purposes. Congress and many states have enacted or tried to enhance new laws to more lawful constraints in this area. On the one hand, many argue that all that all that is needed is for the current laws as interpreted by the courts are implemented and imposed and no extra legislation is needed. If an employee does not want his or her money used for political purposes, then they have the authority to block this from occurring. Another survey focuses on the pubic sector. The results show that much has been done to make services accessible, but how typical they are across the other sectors. Websites in the US commercial sectors including airlines, newspaper, banks, supermarkets, sport, retail and telecommunications have at some percentage achieved their goals. This ending therefore suggests that the private sector not superior than the communal unit when it comes to web accessibility. ESTMATED VERSUS ACTUAL CONFORMANCE The strategy study requested the respondents to estimate the proportions of sites in each member state that already conform at various levels. Only a few people said that they had data, about the public sector versus community. The most parallel information returned related showed a conformance with the public sector, where there were six clear estimates. The most states cannot know the actual conformance of their member states and those can offers low estimates, which makes it clear that they are not coming up with good standards. If we estimate the site studies are representing the administration websites in the states, they shows that there is a recognizable gap in data and comment in between the strategy planning and actual results. Changing this data difference should improve effectiveness of all related strategy interventions. This could be realized more independently by the member states but there may be positive outcomes through union efforts. The internet accessibility observatory project may provide a mechanism for such collaboration and its main objective is to contribute to better accessibility for all citizens and to improve the standards for online services and resources. Recommendation for public policy makers is to develop response mechanisms for closing the data gap between the strategy planning and actual results may provide a mechanism for such collaboration. To produce a strategy for improving awareness throughout the nation by reviewing all the examples of engagement, shows that this study is for improving awareness of web accessibility. Most of the sites studies are those put in place to provide the administration services. They are basically the government sites which offer some degree of interaction or transaction rather than purely informational sites. Provided this situation and the general move towards greater degree of transaction in the government services and web accessibility are more complicated sites might be not easy to make and keep them accessible or create awareness. In the event there is no statistical association between the accessibility and either of the key measures used in that report for online complexity or the availability of the government data online. It is urged that the underlying administration system is in that respect for more significant number of checkpoints and help in meeting a range of others. Position of salary protection laws differ from state to state. Washington is the first state to pass the salary protection law which was supported by a majority of supporters. In other states like California and Oregon took a different position took a different position. The plan allows and requires joint groups to seek annual written permission from each member before utilizing their dues to support a political activity. Conclusion The discussion over the use of union levy for the supporting activity will continue. Even if the laws are clear that the employees can avoid their money from being used for political purposes, this issue remains contentious. It is wise to say this remains a major issue with closeness of the recent presidential election as an example we see the republicans are always in the favor of salary protection legislation while the democrats opposed. Experts suggested that the power of the joint unions as a political voice had gone down. The recent figures on the campaign contributions suggest this conclusion may not be true. Therefore it is safe to assume that this issue will continue to be debated in congress and in state legislatures to every corner of the country. References Official Title and Summary retrieved on 2nd April 2008 available at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/bp_nov05/voter_info_pdf/entire75.pdf Should we restrict political use of union dues? / Political choice retrieved on 2nd April 2008 available at www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/05/06/EDGKDCKGA01.DTL 55k Cached Similar pages Note this The Worker Paycheck Fairness Act: Ending the Involuntary Use of retrieved on 2nd April 2008 available at www.heritage.org/Research/Labor/BG1156.cfm 58k Labor Relations :: Education :: Glossary retrieved on 2nd April 2008 available at www.massnurses.org/labor/education/resources/glossary3.htm 72k

International expansion for DS Fashion UK LTD

International expansion for DS Fashion UK LTD Strategy is the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources for carrying out these goals (Chandler 1962) International Expansion This report is about a company which is a clothes manufacture based in the north east of England in Darlington. This company which is owned by my friends Father and has been established for well over 15 years. Mr Sandhu was employed by a family friend in the 1970s where he gained experience in the clothing sector, he picked up knowledge and skills on how to run the labour aspect of clothing manufacturing. After this he left this job and with his savings opened up his own clothing company in Darlington. At first the distribution channels was limited so they started selling their goods through market stalls. The company employed 20 people but then expanded to more. They specialise in manufacturing clothing for women and children. Their main distributing channel at this time after the market stalls was to small independent retailers across the England and supplying Yours Clothing and recently started producing garments for Lipsy London. At the start of 2011 Mr Sandhu decided to work on a strategy that will increase profits and to go international. The plan was to think of what country labour and materials would be cheap and the day to day running of the business. He had to take into consideration the amount of employees and if he was going to buy a new factory or rent one. He took a numerous amount of trips to India to see which one would be more cost beneficial for him. D S Fashions Ltd strategy is To produce unique high quality goods, through methods which involve cost efficient manufacturing , and enables us to retail our goods to reputable companies at cheap prices, ethically and fairly which benefits all stakeholders To achieve these objectives outlined in the statement above the company had to stick to a certain path, the business environment which affects the profits of the company such as the material, labour, machinery and tax all was considered before a strategic plan was thought about. The clothing manufacturing industry in the UK is changing where more companies are now going abroad to set up factories because the costs are lower to run and cheaper to produce garments. This means there is increased competition from competitors and the external factor needs to be considered, before the move to go international is considered. DS Fashions Ltd used this model to create strategic plan this is what the model looked like: Objectives External factors affecting business PEST Internal factors affecting business SWOT Plan to achieve objectives Implement Plan Review and Evaluate To investigate further and to get a broader picture of what issues can arise a PEST analysis was created which assessed the Political, Economical, Social and Technological factors which could affect the external influences on the international expansion. This is a PEST analysis on the external environment and external influences that could affect the expansion to India. Political War Changes in Import duties VAT rises Better relations between India and UK Economical Inflation Creates new employment opportunities therefore reducing unemployment Beneficial for the UK and Indian economy Social People might not want clothes from India New trends in fashion can contribute to extended clothing lines, which can cause expansion for factory Technological The use of the internet is beneficial because trips to India can be limited, designs can be emailed and video conference can take place from anywhere in the world New machines such as the Vetigraph system which enables cut patterns and makes it accurate and cost efficient as it minimises waste of fabric After this PEST analysis it shows a balanced side of the advantages and disadvantages of the risks and opportunities to move abroad for DS Fashions Ltd, considered in the business environment externally. However even though these environmental risks have been established it is still necessary to do a SWOT analysis on international expansion strategy that could affect the strategic plan being implemented, that is why the strategy needs to be assessed DS Fashions Ltd SWOT is illustrated below. SWOT on DS Fashions Ltd Strategy Strengths Advertising to a new market Bigger market share Attracting new customers Offering something locals cant Weaknesses Different culture Different fashion trends Competing with loads of others competitors in India need to established Opportunities Cheap distribution costs Cheap labour Larger workforce with lower price which means mass productions Quality control which gives good competitive edge Threats Big competitors such as Primark and Matalan has a bigger market share and negotiate better deals as they mass produce garments Deadlines might not be met on time Other companies setting up business in India for fashion trade The analysis clearly outlines positive and negative outcomes on the strategy but the strategy looks more promising for the future, moving to India would be a positive outcome. As the strategy was a way of DS Fashions Ltd to expand to India which could be more cost efficient for them. The SWOT analysis suggests by doing this they can infiltrate a new market and could take a big market share of the fashion industry. Also it suggests by expanding to India they will be able to produce larger quantity of garments, using high quality materials and fabrics. As they will have a larger workforce they will be able to produce garments that need more labour in production, because they will have a bigger and more powerful workforce they will have a bigger turn around period therefore attracting more customers. One of the weaknesses that the SWOT picked up was the difference in culture, however it can also be seen as strength because they could diffuse the two different cultures and create a new m arket, or they could also provide to the smaller minor Asian community within the bigger British western community, thus producing garments to cater for different cultures within the UK and other potential distributors. Opening the production unit in India would mean that they would get cheaper labour; therefore they would be able to invest more into the quality of the fabrics and the quality of the labour, so they would be producing garments of a more higher standard, so they may also be able to enter a higher level market within the fashion industry. Another beneficial factor is that they will be creating more jobs in the Indian community. Michael Porter came up with a concept of a value chain; this chain was made to include the functions which would give core competences over its competitors. The links with suppliers are referred to as upstream linkages and the distributors and customers are downstream linkages. Different organisations have different value chains. Tesco will have a different value chain to Comet the electrical goods retailer. Having an analysis of the value activities helps the organisation identify where there is potential, finding this out they can change activities and improve the way they are run. The way it is analysed is not in isolation but with external linkages too such as distributors and suppliers. Primary Activities Inbound Logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing and Sales Services Efficient links to suppliers Products. Large Shipments, massive warehouses Mass production to exploit economies of scale and experience effects to cut production costs Selection of bulk or large order low cost carriers. Tight controls on inventory levels Little promotion or advertising. Products priced to generate large sales volume Modest after sales service and maintenance. As you can see above these are the primary activities of the value chain, this in relation to DS Fashions Ltd, will have the same structure. Now we will look at the support activities. Support Activities Infrastructure Human Resource Management Technology Development Procurement traditional centralised managerial style with formal procedures and rigid hierarchy:emphasis on cost control Intensive training to emphasize cost saving:encourage employees to look for new ways to improve methods Economies of scale of RD and technology development: process innovation Seek low cost suppliers, use size in bargaining with suppliers The Risks Too much differentiation Buyers become better informed Dilution of brand identification Sustaining perceived distinctiveness Offering more features than customers desire, especially if this is reflected in a premium price Demand becomes more price sensitive, which limits any price premium that may be charged Offering lower priced product-line extensions may adversely affect quality brand image Imitation and product improvement by competitors, or changes in consumer tastes, or changes in technology can all undermine a differentiation strategy Conclusion After looking at DS Fashions Ltd strategy it is quite clear that it is a very positive move forward. This international expansion has been beneficial for the company as well as the consumer and also the workers. Sticking to their ethical and environmental efficiency DS Fashions have scrapped the image of moving to India as a sweat shop and taking advantage of labour to a fair way. Everything has been taken into consideration for this international move and the benefits and rewards are big.

I Hate Decisions Essay -- Personal Narrative, essay about myself

When I decide to go out to eat, I generally have picked out where I want to go and what I want to order before I leave home. Nevertheless, when I arrive at the restaurant, my mind races in circles. Should I get what I was craving on the way here, or should I get what is on special? Should I try something new and different, or should I get one of my old favorites? Should I get it Supersized? For here or to go? Do I want the soup or salad? Should I get something to drink or for dessert? What would go best with the main course? After agonizing over all of my choices, I usually just end up following my gut instinct and ordering what I had in mind on the way to the restaurant. Decisions have always tended to come difficult for me, big or small. Â   Similar to selecting a meal at a restaurant, I have an extremely difficult time choosing a major at college. Since grade school, I have dreamed of becoming a schoolteacher. I had always envied their big desk, red pens, and superior knowledge. However, as I grew older, I became increasingly aware of how expensive college ...

Networking :: essays research papers

1. Which versions of NetWare support TCP/IP services such as Web site hosting? c. 4.x and 5.0 2. Which version of NetWare contains many services coded in the Java programming language? d. 5.0 3. How many processors can a NetWare 5.0 server support? c. 32 4. What is the minimum amount of RAM required for a NetWare 5.0 server? d. 64 MB 5. Why might you want to install more than the minimum RAM required by NetWare 5.x? The more RAM, the better the performance of the server. 6. Where can you go to find out about known bugs in NetWare? b. www.support.novell.com 7. How might NLMs provide better stability on your NetWare server? a. They can be loaded and unloaded without taking down the server. 8. Which version of NetWare supports the use of virtual memory? d. 5.x 9. What stands at the very top of the NDS tree? a.root a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10. If you decide to change the name of your NDS tree after you’ve installed NetWare, you can rename it through a server console command. True or False? 11. What is the name of the graphical server manager utility in NetWare 5.x? d. NetMon 12. Which DOS command loads the NetWare operating system kernel? d. SERVER.EXE 13. Which of the following file systems does NetWare not support? b. NTFS 14. What is the name of the volume created automatically when you install NetWare 5.x? d. SYS 15. File compression is enabled by default during a NetWare 5.x installation.True or False? 16. Which server resource does block suballocation conserve? c. hard disk space 17. What is the purpose of a container object in an NDS tree? a. to logically subdivide objects in the tree 18. A user is an example of what kind of NDS object? c. leaf 19. If a user’s login ID is â€Å"james† and the user belongs to the â€Å"marketing† organizational unit, which is in turn part of the â€Å"Corporate† organizational unit within the â€Å"ABC† Organization, what is this user’s context? c. O_ABC_OU_marketing_OU_corporate_U_james 20. Which utility allows you to manage NDS objects? c. NWAdmin 22. After right-clicking an object within NWAdmin, which option should you choose to modify that object’s properties? a. Details 23. In a typeful context notation, how is a user object’s container designated? d. O 24. Why might you want to create an administrator-equivalent ID that isn’t called â€Å"Admin†? b. for security purposes 25. After a simple NetWare 5.x installation, what rights does the default group called PUBLIC have to the NDS tree? b. Browse, Modify, Erase 26. In NWAdmin, you can grant users rights to save files in a directory.

Unjust Bomb :: essays research papers fc

Death is a reality. Men should be conscious of that reality. I say men, because the willingness to die for a cause is most likely inherent to our sex. We (the man) were hunters running after wily beasts, and nature most likely gave us the cruel gift to be contentedly conscious of our fate ( the jaws of the prehistoric predator before us!) If the soldier can imagine his enemy to be the beast, then perhaps he can die with this intrinsic honor. Throw total war away, leave the unprepared civilian be. The death of a civilian, bombarded by the atomic bomb is beyond all wrongs. The atom bomb is a manipulated force, the product of the human mind, misdirected to defile humanity and nature simultaneously. It gives the victims no time to prepare their life for their sudden exit, or worse, for a life tortured by atomic mutilation and shame. May a human be granted a death of peace, or at least, one of honor? The soldier has been forced to accept his role. He is fighting for his nation, against another nation, which is his enemy and he, perhaps, can perceive as evil. Perhaps he has considered his death. This will give him honor in that death, an otherwise empty destination. Let they who do not wish to be heroes or enemies, be. It is indeed morally wrong to end a war by killing civilians, regardless of whether their lives will save the lives of soldiers. To save our American soldiers these bombs were hurriedly created by physicists under the guidance of Oppenheimer. Later he would refer to it as the "scientist’s sin". Perhaps all of human civilization is an atom bomb. We harness nature, in order to destroy both it and ourselves. Yet nothing in our civilization is as overt as the atomic bomb. Who are these moralists? These moralists who bear objective truth? There is no truth? The atom bomb is natural? It is in our nature to destroy ourselves? So it is inevitable that we would forge the bomb, that our destructive nature would reach for the golden apple. But what is it? It’s a vile apple with worms and rot and dripping poison. We annihilated two cities filled with human civilians,( not living in a democracy, but

The Financial Detective

PAPER: We believe that Company I represents the Smaller Producer of printing papers and Company J represents the World’s Largest Market of Paper. Being the world’s largest paper maker indicates having a larger inventory, more current assets (esp. since it owns timberland and several facilities), and higher cost of goods sold than other paper makers. The inventory for Company J (10. 9) is larger than the inventory for Company I (8. 8); the current assets for Company J (32. 6) are higher than that for Company I (27. 2); and the cost of goods sold for Company J (82. 9) is higher than that for Company I (75. ). We also expect that, as the world’s largest paper maker, their products will move on the marketplace better than a smaller producer of paper. Thus, Inventory Turnover should also be higher. Here, Company J (7. 11) has a larger inventory turnover than Company I (6. 75). Receivables turnover, which tells how many times accounts receivables have been collected in a given period, should be higher for the world’s largest paper company than it would be for a small producer of specialty paper. Company J’s (11. 64) receivables turnover is higher than that for Company I (8. 68). The facts also state that the world’s largest maker of paper has been rationalizing capacity by closing inefficient mills, implementing cost-containment initiatives, and selling nonessential assets. This implies that the company would have a larger asset turnover ratio than other paper companies. Company J (1. 20) has a larger asset turnover ratio than Company I (. 73). It is probable that since the small producer of paper has most of its product marketed under branded labels, that it would have a higher value of Intangibles, such as trademarks, than the larger company. Here, Company I (14. 6) has an intangibles value that is significantly higher than Company J’s (1. 9) intangible value. Based on the above analysis, we believe that Company I is the small producer of printing, writing and technical specialty papers, and that Company J is the world’s largest maker of paper, paperboard, and packaging. RETAIL: From the financial ratios and the notes attached, it is apparent that Company N is the rapidly growing chain of upscale discount stores while Company M is the firm known for its low prices, breadth of merchandise and volume riented strategy. ASSETS Receivables: Company M has lower receivables of 1. 4 compared to company N with 17. 0 and this reason is to the fact that company N offers credit to qualified customer as a means of marketing strategy. Inventories: Company M has higher inventories of 24. 5 compared to company N with 16. 7 and this reason it attributed to the strategy company M adopts. Company M has a wide breadth of mercha ndise and volume oriented strategy amount to this high inventories on the balance sheet. Intangibles: There is a 93. 3% difference compared to company N with low intangibles. This reason is due to the operational strategy company M adopts. Company M possesses either or all of these following; Goodwill, Partnership rights or Patent rights. Analyzing the information provided accurately, one or more of the of the aforementioned rights exit because for company M to sell some products at very low prices, there must be an existing kind of memorandum of understanding between the producers and company M. LIABILITIES & EQUITY Deferred Taxes: Company M has deferred Taxes of 3. with company N having O. From the information of company M provided, it is possible that the deferred tax is an evidence of capital gains that might have risen from the proceeds of divestments of several non-discount department-store businesses. Debt in Current Liabilities: Company M is 75. 4% high than company Nâ€℠¢s Debt Current Liabilities. This can be as a result of the lease contract entered by company M. Depending on the lease agreement; Company M might have an overdue payment for the lease for a period within a year. INCOME STATEMENT Depreciation: It is understandable why company N has a high depreciation than company M and this is due to the reason that M is a lease copy therefore no depreciation is paid for leasing except a rental payment. There is an exception when the lease is a finance lease. Net Income: Company N strategies pay off because shareholders of any company want to maximize their investment or returns. Company N is making almost double of company M’s net profit, and also considering the fact that company N is making 85% of company M sales. MARKET DATA Beta: Companies in the same industries usually have different betas, one of the reasons this can happen is the kind of financing or debt equity ratio. The higher the debt equity ratio the higher the beta: this shows why company N has a higher beta compared to company M that has a lower debt equity ratio. Dividend Payout: Company M has a higher payout ratio of 31. 12%. Reason why company N might have a low payout ratio can be attributed to investment in future projects with positive NPV due to the rapidly growing chain of upscale discount stores. ASSET MANAGEMENT Receivables Turnover: This shows the degree of realization in accounts receivables. Company N has a lower turnover rate, a lower rate implies that receivables are being held longer and the less likely they are to be collected. Also there is an opportunity cost of tying up funds in receivables for a long period of time. Company M is 29 times higher than company N. From the above analysis, it is obvious that financial ratios of companies in same industries can never be the same but can only be similar. The kind of strategy and technology a company adopts tells a lot about differences in financial ratios. COMPUTERS: We believe that Company E is the company focused exclusively on mail-order sales and Company F is the company that sells a highly differentiable line of products. In this industry one company focuses exclusively on mail-order sales of built-to-order PCs, including desktops, laptops, and notebooks. Besides the company allows its customers to design, price and purchase through its web site. In contrast the other company has a retail strategy intended to drive traffic through its stores. With regards to the SGA expense, as well as depreciation, we can assume that the company resulting with the highest values is of course the one having more stores compared to the one conducting most of its transactions on an online basis. In this case the high value of 23. 1 in selling, general and administrative expense and the high value of 1. 8 in depreciation belonging to company F fit the description of the company with more retail stores. Another important financial data confirming this finding is the intangible data. From the Exhibit 1, the company E has a value of 0 in intangibles which is not surprising due to its business orientation. Company E is an assembler of PC components manufactured by its suppliers, therefore not having any claim of ownership of intangibles. On the other hand, the intangible value of 1. 2 of company F is due to the fact that company F has a variety of proprietary software products. In addition, the price to book ratio is lower for Company F (5. 3) than for Company E (17. 46). This is in line with our analysis because the facts state that the retail store has a declining market share, so the lower price to book ration would match the description for a company with a lower market share. Based on our analysis above, we believe that company E is the company focusing exclusively on mail-order sales of built-to-order PCs, and company F is the company having an aggressive retail strategy intended to drive traffic through its stores. NEWSPAPERS: We believe that company P is the diversified media company that generates most of its revenues through newspapers sold around the country and around the world and that Company O is the firm that owns a number of newspapers in relatively small communities throughout the Midwest and southwest. We believe this because Company P has a larger amount of current assets (other and total) and net fixed assets than CompanyO. Company P operates in not just the United States but it also operates in countries all around the world, which it means it will have a lot of assets than Company O. FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS ASSETS RECEIVABLES:Company P is higher than Company O and this can be attributed to the fact that company P has an international presence. This will result to a huge customer base compared to Company O. higher customer base would yield more credit sales. result to its revenues all over the world in the sense that it will have a lot of customers and there can be delays in monetary transactions. Since its business has international presence it can adopt a business strategy of offering a high volume of credit sales to customers. INVENTORIES: The two companies are at par have the same ratios. This means that there is an equal amount of goods and services available in the stock of both companies. INTANGIBLES: Company O has a higher intangibles value than company P because although company O is a smaller company it has acquired a Customer good will, employee morale, increased bureaucracy, and aesthetic appeal than company P which is a more diversified media company. DEBT MANAGEMENT TOTAL DEBT/TOTAL ASSET:Company P has a higher ratio compared to O. Most of company’s total debt are short term financed and this is to say that in the next period, the company can have a lower total debt to total asset ratio compared to company O. Based on this current standing it shows that 26. 81% of company’s P asset is financed by debt. INCOME/EXPENSES NETINCOME: Company O is almost likely to succeed more than company P in its operations because of its decentralized decision making and administration. Looking closely at the net income figure of both companies, company O net income is higher than company P net income. EBIT AND NET PROFIT MARGIN: Company O has a higher EBIT because the company is more profitable than company P. Company P has a lower net profit margin value than company O which indicates a low margin of safety, higher risk, and that a decline in sales will erase profits and result in a net loss. Company O is better in this aspect because of the adopted business of decentralized decision making and administration, which led to better success in its operations. MARKET DATA DIVIDEND PAYOUT: Company O has a higher ratio than company P which means it has a higher percentage of earnings paid to its shareholders in dividends. The shareholders of company O are benefiting better from the company than the shareholders of company P are. The reason for this could be that company P may be trying to invest in a project that is preventing it from paying shareholders adequate dividends BETA: Company P has a higher value which means a higher expected return of a stock or portfolio which is correlated to the return of the financial market as a whole than company O. PRICE/EARNING RATIO: Company O has a higher ratio than P. Over the years smaller firms have performed better in terms of returns. Shareholders of company O are willing to pay more for the shares today in anticipation of great prospects of returns in the future. ASSET MANAGEMENT RECEIVABLES TURNOVER: Company O has a higher turnover value because it has a higher number of number of times that account receivables are collected during in a period than company P. LIQUIDITY CURRENT RATIO AND QUICK RATIO: Company O has a better and higher value of the two ratios than company P so it means that company O has more current assets and cash equivalents to cover its liabilitie when due than company P. Based on our analysis above, we believe that company P is the diversified media company that generates most of its revenues through newspapers sold around the country and around the world and that Company O is the firm that owns a number of newspapers in relatively small communities throughout the Midwest and Southwest