Business Financial Metrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Financial Metrics - Essay Example Company managers, investors and government regulators utilize various metrics and ratios to analyze company financial statements such as income statements and balance sheets so as to determine the fiscal viability of the organization in the short and long term. This paper will examine some of the ratios and metrics utilized by various stakeholders to appraise different financial statements, examining how various stakeholders can successfully employ the metrics and ratios in their decision making. The examination of balance sheets entails the use of financial ratios as the primary metrics. These ratios include the quick ratio, leverage or debt-to-worth ration and current ratio. The current ratio, which is also referred to as the liquidity ratio, measures the liquidity or solvency of an entity (Higgins, 2009). This metric offers investors a measure of the business’ capacity to pay its current liabilities using its current assets. Investors typically use this information to decid e whether or not to invest in a business. A high current ratio means the company has vast capabilities to pay its short-term debts using short-term cash. Investors and company managers seek a current ratio that is above 1.0 since this indicates a company’s competence to repay all its current liabilities. Secondly, quick ratio is also a measure of liquidity, which eliminates certain minimally liquid assets from the current ratio equation. Company managers, government regulators and investors utilize quick ratio to analyze a company’s financial strength (Shapiro & Balbirer, 2000). Company managers, investors and business managers use this information to determine a company’s overall capacity to repay its current liabilities, which influences its long term viability. On the other hand, the leverage ratio or debt-to-equity or debt-to-worth ratio provides investors a viable signal of a business’ leverage. When this ratio is high, it means a company’s as sets exceed its stock equity, which indicates that the company has more debt than equity. Leverage ratios of 2:1 or lower mean that liabilities are double the amount of shareholder’s equity. Ratios above 2:1 indicate that a business may be unable to pay its creditors or acquire supplementary long-term funding (Higgins, 2009). Government regulators use leverage ratios to determine whether or not companies can legally file for bankruptcy. Investors use the ratios for control purposes such as deciding either to invest or pull out their investments in a company (Harrington, 2003). The ratios allow current and prospective investors to examine how managers acquire and make use of company resources in their control, thereby influencing investment decisions with a view to deterring the incidence of financial loss. Through the ratios, company managers gain knowledge of the successfulness of the business’ past and present strategies and how to enhance their future viability. Rat ios also enable managers to highlight and exact deviations from optimal performance levels thus allowing organizations to steer their decision making and processes towards the attainment of such optimal performance. Various stakeholders use different ratios and metrics to analyze income statements. For instance, earnings per share ratios tell government analysts and investors the amount of money available to shareholders

Introduction To A Social Experiment Social Work Essay

Introduction To A Social Experiment Social Work Essay This assignment follows the experiences of an immigrant Indian/Kashmiri family in their first couple of months in Australia. The family was a period of five weeks for a period of one to two hours per week in their family setting at home and once in the final week on a family picnic which they were gracious enough to invite me to. For discretionary purposes all personal information including names, addresses and any other identifiable markers have been changed in keeping with the primacy of the familys privacy. The family consists of five individuals, the father Mr. Fayaz Ahmad, his wife Rubina Geelani, their two children Ahmad, a boy of 10, Maryam a girl of 12 and their 5 year old nephew Abbas. The family from here on for purposes of brevity will be known as the Ahmads. The Ahmad family is from the northern most state in India, Kashmir. Mr. Fayaz used to work as an engineer in the state of Kashmir with the municipal department of the state as a civil engineer superintendent. Ms. Rubina has a bachelors degree in education but has never worked full time, Maryam and Ahmad were both studying in a well reputed private school and were both performing above average in academics as well as extra-curricular activities, Abbas is their nephew who was recently witness to the tragic death of his parents in a militancy related incident in their home state. Kashmir has had a long history of troubled political activity dating back to the partition of India and Pakistan during which time the Muslim majority state of Kashmir became a bone of contention between the two newborn nations. Since then there has been a slew of political and military activity that has served only to worsen the tangled situation between the two countries with two wars being fought over the state and an armed uprising against the Indian state fueled by Pakistan which resulted in massive state sponsored atrocities as well as transgressions on behalf of the armed rebels. Several other variables, including the growing influence of China, the rise of Afghan Islamist groups, political instability etc has also contributed to the increasingly complex situation in the state. The Ahmad family immigrated to Australia following the tragic death of his brothers family in a military encounter against suspected militants, young Abbas was the only survivor of the tragedy and was a dopted by Fayaz and his wife who decided to leave the trouble torn state behind in order to secure a better future for their children. I came into contact with them through a mutual friend who is a volunteer activist for militancy affected families in Kashmir and who also helped Fayaz through the formalities surrounding immigration. Week one: My first encounter with the Fayaz family was on a pleasant sunny Australian Sunday afternoon the very next day after they had moved in to their home. My reception in their home was very warm and enthusiastic with Mr. Fayaz greeting me very effusively and treating me with great hospitality and warmth. I was told by my friend that the house was a temporary accommodation and was not in that great shape, nevertheless everywhere I saw I could see the efforts of Ms. Rubina and Mr. Fayaz to tidy up the place. There were boxes and unpacked luggage everywhere but Mr. Fayaz managed a comfortable couch space in the main room for me to settle down in. The object of my research was somewhat puzzling to them as they seemed to follow me everywhere I went and it took some while for me to explain to them that this was merely an observation and not an interview, this was greeted with some skepticism and worry by Ms. Rubina who immediately wanted to know what I was looking for. The initial warmth gave way to some mistrust on behalf of Ms. Rubina who instructed the children not to play downstairs or in the open but to go to their room and play there. My initial thoughts were that the mistrust of my presence in their midst was related to their negative experiences with official government agencies that are notorious for their clandestine activities amongst the civilian population in Kashmir. The rest of the time passed by without any major incident and was spent mostly talking to Mr. Fayaz over consecutive cups of tea. Week 2: My second week started right after Mr. Fayaz found a part time job at a nearby retail institute as a sales executive; on my visit to the house he was not present as he was picking up a late shift that day. I used this opportunity to increase my rapport with Ms. Rubina and get to know her better, I felt that our previous encounter had not gone over the smoothest and after some initial reluctance she allowed me to observe the children playing in the yard. I had to assure her that I would not take any photographs of the children before she would allow me this. The children showed little effect of the trauma in their past, although Ahmad was showing signs of lethargy and malnutrition, upon asking Ms. Rubina about his health she replied that he was always a picky eater and had been getting progressively difficult to get him to eat properly in recent weeks. On closer inspection of the children I saw that both Maryam and Ahmad were trying to involve Abbas in traditional Kashmiri games, a version of hopscotch and tag that somehow always ended up with Abbas winning, it was obvious that both Maryam and Ahmad were letting Abbas win these games. Later on while observing them I noticed that they shied away from me and rather spent time with their mother in the kitchen rather than stay anywhere they knew I could see them. In normal cases I would have construed this as natural shyness on behalf of the children but after seeing them play I could not imagine them being very timid by instinct. Week 3: My third visit marked the first time that the children had started school in Australia, I was fortunate enough to observe them coming home directly from school. Maryam seemed very pleased and satisfied with her day at school, although she spoke only in Kashmiri around her mother I could gather from the tone that she was excited about the prospect of school, Ahmad on the other hand seemed subdued and quiet, on closer observation I noticed the signs of a scuffle on the child, with a pocket torn off his new shirt, he was taken away by his mother to his room, I presumed this was to comfort him as there were no sounds of scolding from his room. Maryam was pleased enough to try and interact with me and be comfortable around me, she offered to show me her new books and notebooks, one of which bore a note by her teacher praising her drawing skills and another one which had her homework written down in her small, neat handwriting. She spoke with me in accented by fluent English asking me abou t why I was always in the house with them. The conversation led to the topics of her brother and little cousin, she admitted that Abbas was much sadder nowadays than in the past and he frequently wet his bed at night and as a result had to sleep with the parents in the other room instead of with them. I resolved to talk to Mister and Missis Ahmad about getting Abbas to see a child therapist. Week 4: My fourth visit was a bit rocky as my previous suggestion of a child therapist for Abbas had not gone down well with Mister Fayaz. He felt that I was making unfair demands of him and that the child had been doing fine before I was there and even at one point tried blaming me for Abbass changed behavior. The majority of the time was spent trying to explain to him that it was just a suggestion and that he was in no way bound to do what I asked of him. Later on he admitted that the stress of managing finances for the household was starting to build on him and that he was worried about their future in Australia, on further questioning he informed me that his engineering degree was invalid in this country and he would be stuck with lower level jobs until he could complete another technical course here in Australia. Week five: I was surprised by my fifth and last visit when the family decided to take me along for a surprise picnic. Although not strictly their domestic settings I decided to go along with them to observe their interaction with the Australian picnic experience. The children seemed slightly apprehensive instead of the natural exuberance that most children would show when informed about going to the beach, apart from Ahmad both Abbas and Maryam seemed to stick close to Ms. Rubina and reserved themselves to helping her pack whereas Ahmad wanted to put on his rubber wings and flippers right in the house and go to beach thus dressed. While helping Mr. Fayaz get the car ready I came to know that Ahmad has been having trouble with bullies at school who make fun of his accent, that he has been dreading school and enjoys their outings with a relish, Abbas had started his sessions with a child therapist and was no longer wetting his bed and that Maryam had already enrolled in soccer class. I provided Mr. Fayaz with some brochures and booklets regarding part time courses and short term courses that he could take. Analysis: There were several issues and points that I observed while with the Ahmad family in regards to their reasons for coming to Australia, their interactions with the local culture and the nature of their family relations. Most importantly I came to realize about their unique needs and perspectives, their unique characteristics in regards to what they could bring in to the community, the culture they came from and the special needs that the three children of the family that needed to be addressed. My analysis can be elaborated as: For the greater part of this analysis the focus will be on young Abbas, then on Ahmad and on Maryam in decreasing order of significance in relation to special early care needs. The very first observations regarding Abbas were those of his interactions with the different societal settings that he had to experience. For instance his initial immigration to Australia was prompted by a drastic change in his original environment of Kashmir where he suffered the debilitating trauma of losing both his parents, in conversations with the Ahmads I got to know that Abbas was naturally a shy child and following the death of his parents he became even more withdrawn, to the point where he managed only a few sentences in conversation per day with the Ahmads and not even that with strangers. The initial experiences of the children with their societal systems were also apparent in how they treated me, a stranger in their house, the initial mistrust and fear that they projected on me was only a reflec tion of their past environment where authority figures or those who were in anyway related to official status were viewed with mistrust and even fear, this symptom extended not only to the children but to Ms.Rubina as well, when she forbade the children from interacting with me. The family structure in conservative societies like that of the Ahmad family is generally constituted of only close blood relations, the adoption of children as in the case of Abbas is almost unheard of, the most that a Kashmiri family will do is provide all the necessary support and accessories to a relative but that is all the other party will remain; a relative, in this case the traditional family structure has changed to that of a typical western nuclear family model and that has put an additional load on the two adults as Ms. Rubina and Mr. Fayaz do not have the traditional family support structure in place to help them manage their children any more. The cultural background of the Ahmad family is also an issue that has led to certain hindrances while integrating with their new environment, this was demonstrated with the trouble that Ahmad had with bullies at school and the frustration and worry that Mr. Fayaz felt at his educational qualifications not being considered eligible in the Australian work environment. The stress also showed on Ms. Rubina when she felt mistrustful of me, furthermore the bed wetting episodes of Abbas were symptomatic of elevated stress levels as Maryam informed me that he had never had this kind of problem before. There were of course the needs of the children to take into consideration especially those of Abbas and Ahmad. The specific list of activities and processes that I recommended for the children were: Child specialist therapy for Abbas to help address the trauma of his parents death and the sudden culture shock of shift from Kashmir to Australia. Extracurricular activities for Maryam in order to enable her to come out of her shyness and gain the confidence and self-esteem she needs in order to engage in social interactions effectively. Ahmad requires counseling as well in order to encourage better, more constructive outlets for his frustrations, bullying is always a significant issue to be dealt with in regards to early child care and Ahmads case is no exception but his situation is further compounded by the complexities of the previous experience in the stifling and rather constricted environment of Kashmir along with his experience in a private school in Kashmir as opposed to a public school in Australia In addition to the counseling steps for the children I also suggested certain short term technical courses for Mr. Fayaz so that he doesnt feel trapped in a lower level employment circle in Australia due to his degree not being recognized here.

Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues - Homosexuality is Abnormal and Immora

Homosexuality is Abnormal and Immoral      Ã‚   Of all topics most popular in today's media, issues concerning homosexuals and homosexuality in general top the list. Homosexuality is generally defined as a sexual relationship between partners of the same sex. Debate concerning its causes and consequences has been going on for many centuries and almost in every period in human history. However, never before in human history has it been granted such wide scale acceptance in western society as it has now. The question that I seek to answer in this paper is whether such wide scale acceptance should in fact be granted to homosexual behavior? Is such behavior rational, scientifically functional or is it actually detrimental to the high level of civilization that we've achieved?    I) THE SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE: Scientifically speaking, sex is a means to an end. The end being the propagation of the human race. This end can never be fulfilled by sex between males (in the case of gays) or between females (in the case of lesbians). Therefore, the general conclusion is that homosexuality is irrational and illogical.    If we consider the construction of the bodies of the male and female, what is noticed at once is that the construction of a body of a male (the penis and the anus- i.e no vagina) does not accommodate having sex with another male. Nor does the construction of a body of a female (no penis, a vagina) accommodate sex with another female. What is obvious to common sense is that the construction and location of specific sexual organs in the bodies of a male and a female accommodate sex between a male and a female and not among members of the same sex. Therefore, the conclusion once again is that homosexuality i... ...ciety prospers. If clear and concrete evidence were indeed found in the other direction, I would gladly change my above conclusions. Therefore let our end be towards the truth! "..What is left after the truth except error? How then are you turned away."(Koran10:32)    WORKS CITED Comer, Ronald J. Abnormal Psychology. New York, W.H Freeman Co, 1992 Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Iowa, World Bible Publishers Inc, 1971. "Homosexuality", Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol 6 (Micropaedia). 15th ed, 1990 Koran. Translation, Picthall, M. Marmaduke, Lahore, Taj co 1981. Macionis, John J. Sociology. New Jersey, Prentice Hall International, 1987. "Reproduction Reproductive Systems", Encyclopaedia Britannica,vol 26 (Macropaedia), 15th ed. 1990. "Sex Sexuality", Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol 27 (Macropaedia). 15th ed, 1990.   

Perfect Blue Essay

Introduction I will be investigating Marcus Hamilton, an associate of my uncle, who is in the career of web design. As a web designer, Marcus creates and arranges the pages that make up a website. He often has to balance how a page looks versus how a web page functions, which can involve some compromises. One of his recent acknowledgements is website accessibility; this refers to creating web pages that are accessible to anyone, no matter what device they are using. Website accessibility also stresses the importance of making a website accessible to those with any kind of disability. Marcus works for a website design company called â€Å"Perfect Blue†, he usually works from home and so his work can sometimes invade his personal life as his employer expects lots more work to be done than in the time span of a normal 9am-5pm job. Internet Description of technology The Internet is the worldwide, freely accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked, hypertext documents that runs over the Internet. With a web browser, a user can view Web pages that may contain text, images, and other multimedia and navigates between them using hyperlinks. E-mail allows the user to send and receive messages which may include images, documents or video via a telephone signal. Additionally, web based messengers such as windows live messenger allow the user to communicate with contacts through the internet. Advantages He can publish anything which he creates online. It is easy to use.   Search engines that are fast and powerful for finding resources. Ability to link to him and contacts almost immediately.   He can buy/download the latest software for web design.   He can use email to transfer files without the need to leave his home. Disadvantages   Search engines that show results based on who pays them the most. Speed takes precedence over quality.   Personal information being accessed by others.   Malware such as adware or spyware become a nuisance and can be very harmful.   Spam – receiving many unnecessary and useless emails. Professional needs and effect on working style Marcus needs to be able to transfer his completed work back and forth from home to work when his employer demands them and when he does not want to go to work. He can attach the files, which his employer needs, to an email and send them without having to go to work. He can also use Windows Live Messenger to send the files to his employer without going to work. Marcus needs to be able to view his work when it is in progress as his customers would, he needs to do this to make improvements or fix bugs. To do this he uses a web browser and navigates to the website, he then tests the website by navigating around it, searching for errors or where improvements need to be made. Since the internet is what his work depends upon, it is very good at meeting Marcus’ professional needs. Marcus can choose his working hours and so can wrap his work around his social life, to a certain extent. Additionally, the same aspect of the internet can be interpreted as an obligation of if working at home that he is forced to complete his work at home, this is highly conflicting with his personal life. Personal needs Marcus needs to be able to be able to update his music collection with the new songs without having to buy a CD album with unwanted tracks on it. Marcus uses iTunes to buy and download songs from the iTunes Music Store and can easily update his collection. Marcus needs to be able to withdraw and deposit from his bank account when it is difficult to get to the bank or when it is closed. He uses online banking to perform transactions, payments etc. over the Internet through a bank, credit union or building society’s secure website. This allows him to do his banking outside of bank hours and from anywhere where Internet access is available. And he does not need any special software or hardware to do this. The technology has drastically improved the personal fulfilment of Marcus’ needs. He can easily update his music collection and can perform banking wherever there is internet. Marcus’ needs are easily met with the internet but sometimes his professional life can reduce the time which he has to indulge in his personal amusements. As he may have to complete some work and so would not have necessary time to satisfy his personal needs. Also hackers may easily obtain his banking details and so could perform identity theft which is a huge risk. Social Marcus needs to communicate with his friends when they are otherwise unavailable or if it is expensive to use the telephone. Marcus can use Windows Live Messenger or email to freely communicate with his friends when the need arises. In Windows Live Messenger he can chat to friends in real-time and he can even have a video call with the aid of a webcam and a microphone. He can/may have to also communicate with his colleagues or his employer and provide progress information. The internet has improved the way in which Marcus communicates with his friends and family and his general social needs very well. The recent development of video calls has proven to have become superior to voice only calls as it is almost as if the communicators were in the same room. However, the fact that Marcus’ employer uses the same technology renders it quite irritating as his employer can contact him when he is not working and can make further demands when he is chatting with friends. To avoid conversing with his employer he can block him from Windows Live Messenger but this is not possible in email and his employer can almost contact him at any time. Digital Camera Description of Technology A digital camera is an electronic device used to capture and store photographs electronically instead of using photographic film like conventional cameras. Modern compact digital cameras are usually multifunctional, with some devices capable of recording sound and/or video as well as photographs. Advantages   The digital camera allows flexibility, instant images and picture possibilities that did not exist earlier.   Since there is essentially no film cost, the digital camera allows you to shoot fancifully over and over until you get it right. The cost never enters into your thinking.   The real-time visual image which shows you almost exactly what you are getting is a photographer’s dream. You see the picture in color on an LCD screen before you take it and also immediately after you take it. You can shoot for ten minutes, review what you just shot, then shoot for another ten minutes.   Also you can turn the lens around 180 degrees so that you can take self-portraits and see accurately what you will get at the same time, this was impossible before.   If you want to exhibit your work you can simply put your pictures directly on the internet which is the greatest gallery imaginable for a photographer. The gallery is accessible to anyone in the world who has an Internet connection, 24 hours a day at very little cost.   The digital camera is much less expensive to maintain, more spontaneous, easier to work with and easier to exhibit than conventional cameras. Disadvantages   Even the best digital camera can’t record images with the detail you get from a film camera. Digital recording devices can’t match the resolution, sharpness, tonal range and colour reproduction capabilities of film. Digital cameras take anywhere from two to 30 seconds to store each image.

Nutritional Requirements of Individuals with Dementia Essay

1.1 Describe how cognitive, functional and emotional changes associated with dementia can affect eating, drinking and nutrition 1.2 Explain how poor nutrition can contribute to an individual’s experience of dementia 1.3 Outline how other health and emotional conditions may affect the nutritional needs of an individual with dementia 1.4 Explain the importance of recognising and meeting an individual’s personal and cultural preferences for food and drink 1.5 Explain why it is important to include a variety of food and drink in the diet of an individual with dementia 2.1 Describe how mealtime cultures and environments can be a barrier to meeting the nutritional needs of an individual with dementia 2.2 Describe how mealtime environments and food presentation can be designed to help an individual to eat and drink 2.3 Describe how a person-centred approach can support an individual, with dementia at different levels of ability to eat and drink Read more:  Essay on Role of Communication With Individuals Who Have Dementia DEM313 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Dementia Care Practice 1.1 Explain why it is important to recognise and respect an individual’s heritage 1.2 Compare the experience of dementia for an individual who has acquired it as an older person with the experience of an individual who has acquired it  as a younger person 1.3a Describe how the experience of dementia may be different for individuals – who have a learning disability 1.3b Describe how the experience of dementia may be different for individuals – who are from different ethnic backgrounds 1.3c Describe how the experience of dementia may be different for individuals – who are at the end of life 1.4 Describe how the experience of an individual’s dementia may impact on carers 2.1 Describe how current legislation, government policy and agreed ways of working support inclusive practice for dementia care and support 2.2 Describe the ways in which an individual with dementia may be subjected to discrimination and oppression 2.3 Explain the potential impact of discrimination on an individual with dementia 2.4 Analyse how diversity, equality and inclusion are addressed in dementia care and support