Macy’s Inc Case Essay

Analyze the publicly-traded firm Macy’s Inc.; you are to complete a financial analysis. Complete the following steps for this portion of the project: 1. Obtain financial information for your firm for at least a 5 (2008-2012) year time period. This information should include: income statements, balance sheets, cash-flow statements. 2. Provide a brief history of the firm: You will need to do background reading about the firm in order to gain insight into its performance and behavior. Focus this section on the â€Å"who, when, where and what† questions about your firm’s history. 3. Complete financial measures of the firm for a multi-year time period (e.g. 5 years). This should include all measures concerning the income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statements. 4. Analysis of the financial performance of the firm. Once all financial measures have been determined, an analysis of this information is crucial to understanding how well the firm is performing and its current state of operations. There will be two components to this analysis: a. End-Point Analysis: Using the end-point methodology described in the document in the Reference Module of the Content Section of the course, compare the firm’s current financial performance to its financial performance in the beginning time frame. Describe, discuss, and analyze the changes you observe. b. Industry Comparison: Obtain current industry data on the various financial measures you have determined for the firm. Compare the performance of the firm to the industry and describe/discuss your results. 5. Summarize your findings. Based on the financial analysis you have just completed, summarize your findings and draw conclusions about the changes in the financial performance/structure of the firm over time and about the current strengths of its operations.

Learning Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Learning Theories - Essay Example Behaviorism is an important approach in educating younger students. Young learners may sometimes be unmanageable especially when they are left on their own (Casas, 2011). In teaching, behaviorists usually lay down the rules to the students at the beginning of the year. This helps to avoid misbehavior. Teachers also use positive and negative reinforcements to affect students’ behavior. As such, it is imperative for teachers to know their students’ behavior and plan out reinforcements to influence negative behaviors and make them positive. Rewards that are meaningful to the students should be in place to strengthen positive behaviors, and rules must be set at the very start to avoid negative behaviors. Classroom management is one aspect that a behaviorist teacher focuses on. Students have different personalities but when they come to school, they act in uniformity according to the policies and regulations set by the school and its teachers. Establishing classroom rules is thus the first step to a well-managed classroom. Teachers should make it a point to establish rules at the beginning of the year and have them posted. In particular, classroom rules may be memorized by students and recited as part of routines. Rules may be posted on the bulletin board to remind students of their responsibility. In terms of assignments, it is best to make contracts for parents or guardians to sign. There should be an assignment notebook where students will write all their assignments. The teacher signs the assignment page, whether it was completed or not, and students will ask their parents to countersign the page so as to monitor students’ effort in doing their assignments. ... Rules may be posted on the bulletin board to remind students of their responsibility. In terms of assignments, it is best to make contracts for parents or guardians to sign. There should be an assignment notebook where students will write all their assignments. The teacher signs the assignment page, whether it was completed or not, and students will ask their parents to countersign the page so as to monitor students’ effort in doing their assignments. Practicing routines is another beneficial aspect of the behaviorist classroom. Routines help to make students become organized individuals. Students who learn routines in school will learn to keep a routine at home and eventually, in their professional field. With routines, performance and processes will be perfected. As part of everyday routine, students should greet the teacher and their classmates, check attendance by counting off (each should be assigned a class number), recite classroom rules, and report current news. The re porting of current events should be done in turns, based on the class number. These routine activities are supposed to prepare students for the day ahead, and to condition them to behave the way they should in school. Setting the mood of students is a must in the behaviorist classroom. In every lesson, the teacher should always give students some idea on what to expect for the day. This gets the students in the mood for activities, games, etc. For example, if the teacher says, â€Å"Today, we will play a game.† The students will know how to behave or react, and they will respond accordingly to the situation. If some serious activities need to be accomplished, then the teacher could say, â€Å"Have you made a Diorama? Today, I will teach you how to

STRATEGIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

STRATEGIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT - Term Paper Example Countless NPOs, in some countries referred to as NGOs, work for various causes and spend their entire fortune on their causes. Such organizations may include SOS Home Villages, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Red Cross organizations, and many others (Rottman, 2012a). Similar to these organizations is another one known as the United Services Organization (USO). The USO is an American organization committed to the morale boosting and the spiritual enhancements of the American troops and their respective families all over the world. It is an organization which supports and aids the US troops spiritually. This organization serves the US troops in nearly 14 countries worldwide, 27 states nationwide, with nearly 250,000 volunteers working hard in 160 centers worldwide (Howell, 2011). Ethical Significance Considering the ethical and moral values of the USO, we will find a very strict policy regarding the organization’s mission statement and conduct. The USO was form ed back in 1941 during the Second World War, bringing the nation together to boost the morale of the American troops. It did the same during the Vietnam War and is continuing to do so in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The USO also serves for the medication and rehabilitation of all those injured soldiers who lost their vital body parts. The ethical values of the volunteers in this organization are extremely strict. They have a set of rules or a mission statement which must be followed. They include Do the Right Thing, Respect, Collaboration, Excellence, Accountability, Gratitude and Innovation. Working in the jurisdiction of USO, a volunteer must follow these principles. In return, volunteers are provided with various gifts according to the USO policy. These policies are very similar to those of every other functional NGO, as all these organizations have strict moral and ethical guidelines which a volunteer has to follow. The volunteers are not given any financial advantage, but t he volunteership provides them with various gifts and invaluable credits (Rottman, 2012b). Capital Budgeting With such an inflow of donations and funds from different organizations to USO, these funds must be spent in a proper budgeted manner in various fields. According to the financial statement of the USO, there have been total expenses of nearly $300 million by the 31st of December of 2011. The expenses of various processes of the USO are determined (Howell, 2011). According to their expenditure statistics, almost $228 million were spent on contribution of materials, facilities and services. This is the largest proportion of expenditures for the USO, which mainly includes medical support for all injured troops and facilities provided to various troops during their operations at the camps. After these expenditures, come the maintenance programs of various USO camps throughout the world, which required a budget of nearly $33 million in 2011. These expenditures include all maintena nce and day-to-day office work charges, which each camp particularly requires. Other than these expenditures, $35 million were nearly spent on various programs the USO conducted: the camp shows for the entertainment of troops, and the general public awareness programs, for which the USO pays to create awareness in the

Change of Organizational Culture Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change of Organizational Culture Case - Essay Example The first step taken by the team in cultural change was the introduction of cultural change toolbox. These were all standard tools including detailed forms for organizational quarterly performance evaluations. There were many other tools including resource planning, talent reviews, learning forums, conference calls and HR processes.The introduction of matrices, processes, programs and structures which were part of Home Depot cultural change were the main elements which added as a fuel in the company’s cultural change. These matrices quantified data on both sides of the equations i.e. the customer side and the employee side. On the customer side it was quantified in the form of feedback and customer perception about the stores and likewise on the employee side an HR process was introduced.Donovan introduced a new performance management system lessening more than 150 employee forms to just three one page electronic documents. The new performance management was quantitative in na ture rather than qualitative as it was before. It enabled the HR department and the managers to identify people with right skill set for the right job.Other matrices like revenue, margins, inventory, cash flow relationship matrices and matrices for collaboration and decision making for managers were also presented which purposely simplified processes like merchandising, operations and the whole supply chain process.In the Processes part the two-hour Monday morning conference call by executives with individual reports.

External Environment Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

External Environment Analysis - Term Paper Example It previously operated using Boeing 727 airplanes but has recently updated their fleet to the more advanced airplanes to meet the demands of their customers. The newly purchased planes are more advanced, fast and are more comfortable than the older planes that were previously being utilized. The company has a very busy schedule as it operates over six flights on a daily basis (Southwest Airlines, 2012). The airline company has also made acquisitions of several other companies like Air Tran Airways in the year 2011 during the month of May. This has enabled them to increase their airplanes due to the expansions witnessed in their operations. In addition, the company has a large labor force that comprises of over thirty seven thousand workers who are qualified in different fields to aid the company in running their activities. The airline company runs its operations in over forty two states within the United States that cover over ninety five of their destinations. Their management adve rtises vigorously to help in reaching a wider market through several humorous adverts like, â€Å"Just Plane Smart† slogans that have become familiar to most travelers within the country. The company’s strategy of fighting off their competition involves their recruitment of very competent employees, their high productivity along with their offer of low prices for their products. Finally, the company currently has a market capital of over 6.2 billion dollars with a price to capital ratio of 23.49. Their earnings for every share stand at 0.35 whereas their dividend yields stand at 0.02% (Southwest Airlines, 2012). Section 2. Porter’s Forces and PEST Analysis According to the article titled â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces, Assessing the Balance Of Power in a Business Situation†, the forces are powerful that are used for determining where the power of a business lies. The article stipulates that the type of information required when each of the forces inclu des the powers of the businesses suppliers, their buyer powers, competitive rivalries encountered, threats posed by substitute goods along with the threats of new entrants coming into their market. It additionally suggests that the threats posed by new entrants could be further complicated through their specialized knowledge, the cost advantages they have along with issues such as economies of scale. The competition encountered is augmented when the number of competitors increases, there are quality differences, switching and departure costs along with other differences in the products offered. Supplier power is influenced by issues such as the amount of suppliers, their scope of operations, the distinctiveness and the businesses ability to obtain substitute products. The threats of substitution are aggravated by substitute performances being greater and the costs incurred in changing from a product to another. Finally, the buyer’s power is said to be influenced by the number of available customers, their order sizes and their sensitivity to the prices set. On the other hand, the article by Dagmar Recklies on ‘Porters 5 Forces’ states that the model is founded on the basis of an organization utilizing the opportunities availed and fighting off any threats it might encounter. The forces are said to include the bargaining powers of suppliers and customers, threats of new entrants along with substitute goods and the competition witnessed in their market. The article from Value Based Management.Com describes

Compare, contrast and summarize the information from all 3 article Essay

Compare, contrast and summarize the information from all 3 article together) - Essay Example ve perception of the nursing profession and unsatisfactory working conditions particularly played a critical role in influencing the decisions for most nurses to leave the nursing field. From the study findings, Gok and Kicaman (2011) concluded that strategies aimed at addressing the high turnover rates in nursing needed to apply a multidimensional perspective in the improvement of working conditions in the nursing field. The article by Kalisch, Lee and Rochman (2010), investigates the role of staff and unit characteristics as well as teamwork in influencing job satisfaction among the nursing staff. The study involved 3675 nurses drawn from five hospitals and 80 patient care units who participated in a teamwork survey. The analysis of the survey results revealed a strong association between occupational satisfaction and the levels of teamwork in the working environment. Other factors such as job title, current position, and gender further influenced the levels of job satisfaction in the nursing field. The patient unit in which the nurses served also influenced their levels of job satisfaction. Kalisch, Lee and Rochman (2010) concluded that high levels of teamwork, adequate staffing and the care patient units contribute to enhanced job satisfaction hence the need to promote teamwork in the nursing field. The article written by Jenaro, Flores, Orgaz, and Cruz (2010) explores the association between work engagement, dedication, assimilation, vigor, and job satisfaction. The study entailed 412 nurses who participated in work engagement surveys, an ad hoc survey and response to general health questions. The study reveals that 65.5% met the criteria for anxiety, 10% for severe depression, and 49% the somatic symptoms criteria (Jenaro, Flores, Orgaz, & Cruz, 2010). About 33% of the participants expressed high dedication, about 20% had high vigor and approximately 36% expressed high absorption (Jenaro, Flores, Orgaz, & Cruz, 2010). The reported levels were

Ethical Issues Research Assignment Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Issues Assignment - Research Paper Example g is an ethical issue in which a struggle between the body and mind would happen and the winner would be either the body (In case the person opts for mercy killing) or the mind (In case the person decided against the mercy killing). Proponents of mercy killing are of the opinion that it is better to assist a person medically to terminate his life, if he is in a hopeless situation. In their opinion, the person who suffers pain and discomforts should have given the right to take decision about sustaining his life in such pathetic condition. Others can cite ethical or moral issues against the mercy killing; but the ultimate sufferer would be the patient only. On the other hand, critics of mercy killing believe that only the creator has the right to take the life back of his creations. They are of the opinion that life is the most important thing in the world. Nobody has so far succeeded in unveiling the miseries about the life. Nobody knows from where we come and where we go after death. No science or technology, so far succeeded in creating an artificial life in a laboratory setup which underlines the importance and value of life on earth. Moreover critics also argue that only the creator has the right to modify or destroy creations and anything against his will would be unethical. As expected, we met strong arguments both in favour and against mercy killing during our research. We found most of the arguments of the proponents and the critics logical and valuable. It was difficult for us to take a position on this issue and our group actively discussed all the major arguments from both the sides in order to make a conclusion. Some of the arguments we found during our research are given below. The article IF MERCY KILLING BECOMES LEG, argued that mercy killing would be misused if it is made legal (IF MERCY KILLING BECOMES LEGAL). The above argument seems to be logical as the antisocial elements can kill innocent people on behalf of mercy killing in order to