Burger Machine

Burger Machine Holdings Corporation, more commonly known as Burger Machine , is one of the notable fastfood companies in the Philippines. It is a sub-company of the Gilmore Food Corporation. Unlike Jollibee and other burger chains, Burger Machine has always been retailing in outdoor stands instead of shops. History It was created in 1981 by Fe Esperanza S. Rodriguez and a sister who both planned to turn two old small buses into mobile stores, an idea they adapted from America. It was their fondness for hamburgers that inspired them to make a business that would serve for the masses. The stores were hen opened near two gas stations in Quezon City. They all began with a capital of P40,000 with nearly two dozen employees working continuously. This non-stop service earned Burger Machine the nickname of â€Å"the burger that never sleeps. † A year later, a third store was opened. The company was nationally recognized. In 1990, the Corporate Office in EDSA started and was called EDS A Business Unit. It was also in this year when the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology confirmed their burgers as â€Å"source of the most nutrients in terms of peso value compared to other eading hamburger chains. † Through the years, Burger Machine launched dozens of branches including stalls and full-scale fast food restaurants. But during the Asian Financial Crisis of the 90's, the company saw more struggles and was forced to close down several branches and restaurants. Burger Machine is now back to its roots operation which is 24/7 burger stands for the masses. Other information One distinctive character associated with the company is the dwarf which appears on every outlet. For a number of years it had been unnamed. Later in 1988, it was given one, Burger Bart through a name contest. 1] Graphic designer/visual communicator Zeus Paredes coined the name â€Å"BURGER MACHINE† and designed the original logo and graphics o n the mobile stores. The business was widely advertised on television in the mid-1990s. Among those who helped promote it include the Philippines' late master rapper Francis Magalona and iconic band Eraserheads. Permit controversy In 2007, it was revealed that a majority of Burger Machine's stores have been operating without business licenses . Because of this, the Market Development and Administration Department gave them 15 days to go with the demands lest Burger Machine s well as its parent Gilmore would undergo such consequences, specifically having those stores closed. Financial Aspects of Business by Brian Hill, Demand Media Finance is a business function that uses numbers and analytical tools to help managers make better decisions. Every business owner must learn at least basic finance principles to effectively run his company. Finance helps management gain a clear understanding of the company’s current financial position, particularly whether the business is profitabl e or not. Companies of all sizes benefit from thorough financial planning to guide the usiness steadily down the path to future growth. Forecasting And Planning During the planning process, management determines numerical goals for the upcoming 12 months, or in the case of a long-range plan, for three years or more. Company management then maps out the actions that need to be taken, and the timeframe, for the goals to be reached. Finance comes into play when the action steps are converted to forecast numbers for revenues and expenses. Managers with financial planning expertise are able to create forecasts that are attainable yet aggressive. They must also have sufficient nderstanding about company operations to build spreadsheet financial models based on assumptions that are realistic. Accounting And Measuring Results Accounting is the branch of finance responsible for recording financial data and generating financial statements that show the company’s operating results, as w ell as other critical functions such as tax compliance. Accounting has its own set of rules and standards for the recording of financial information and the presentation of results, called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP. Strict compliance with the standards allows ompany management to be assured the statements they receive are complete and accurate. Finance goes one step further and interprets the results. Variance analysis is done to compare actual results to forecast and uncover the reasons for negative or positive deviations. Finance staff members compare the company’s financial results to those of other companies in the industry to see whether the company is performing above or below average, compared with its peers. Monitoring Cash Position All businesses, particularly smaller ones that do not have large cash reserves or borrowing capacity, must always keep an ye on their cash position — the inflows and outflows of cash. The finance department i s charged with forecasting cash flow to prevent potentially disruptive shortages of cash. In a small company this can mean serious problems, such as not being able to pay employees at the end of the week. Investing surplus cash to achieve a maximum return is also part of the finance function. In larger companies these investment activities take place on a daily basis and involve constant monitoring of the financial markets to select the best investments for such things as the company’s employee retirement plan. Analysis for Decision MakingFinance can be likened to a toolbox for company management to use. The tools help answer questions that management must address when making small and large decisions. A small decision might be whether to lease or buy a new copy machine. A large decision for which finance provides guidance could be whether to acquire a competitor in order to grow the company more quickly. The goal of the data gathering and sometimes complex financial modeling utilized in finance is to ensure the company makes the most efficient use of its finite resources, including the capital, human resources and productive capacity.

Research Preliminaries Essay

This course is a brief overview about research design that is intended to cover the basics of designing and implementing a scientific study. Although this course will address every step of the research process, it is by no means exhaustive and is no substitute for a college level course in research methodology, nor is it a substitute for an experienced research advisor. Choosing a Topic For a researcher to choose a topic for a project, it is important to consider a broad area of inquiry and interest. This may be as broad as â€Å"global eye health† or â€Å"personality psychology,† but it should be an area that is of interest to the researcher. However, a broad area is useful only at the beginning of a research plan. Within a broader topic of inquiry, each researcher must begin narrowing the field into a few subtopics that are of greater specificity and detail. For example, a researcher may be interested in â€Å"global eye health,† but could focus more specifically on â€Å"proper eye care and how it affects individuals.† Although this topic is still too broad for a research project, it is more focused and can be further specified into a coherent project. Literature Review The literature review should be conducted early in the research process, directly after you choose a topic. A literature review can bring clarity and focus to your research problem and broaden your knowledge base in your research area. The literature review is crucial because an important responsibility in research is to add to a body of knowledge and to compare your findings with others. The procedure is simple: search the literature in your area of interest, review the selected studies, and develop a theoretical framework for your own study What makes a good research question? Not all research questions are good ones—in other words, not all questions can be answered through qualitative and quantitative research methodology. A good research question needs to: 1. â€Å"Make sense†: In other words, you must clearly define your terms using known definitions outlined in the literature. For example, a poor research question would be: How do people’s lives improve after surgery? Not only does this research question fail to specify the study population, it contains the vague term â€Å"improve†. The researcher must specify what he/she means by this term—does it involve a physical improvement or rather an improvement in mental state? The more specific your research question, the better. 2. Address an important and relevant issue: Scientific research is done to increase knowledge, not simply for a single researcher’s personal satisfaction. Whatever question the researcher sets out to solve must have some beneficial implications. A good research question will also always have relevance to the time, place, and population of the study. Not already have been done: A good research study will be novel. This means that there will be some new aspect of the study that has never before been examined. In fact, not only is replication a good way to get a research methodology, it is how science is supposed to advance knowledge. When replicating a pervious study, it is best to add or change one or two things to increase the novelty of the research. 3. Be â€Å"operationalizable†: Oftentimes, beginning researchers pose questions that cannot be operationalized, or assessed methodologically with research instruments. From the example above, the idea of life improvement could be operationalized by a Quality of Life survey—a well known and validated research tool. In general, the more abstract the idea, the harder it is to operationalize. 4. Be within a reasonable scope: A good research project will be manageable in depth and breadth. The scope will depend on the amount of time and the availability of resources you have for your study. In general, the more focused the research question the more likely it will be a successful project. For example, a study that seeks to identify the prevalence eye disease in a specific village is more likely to succeed than a comparable study that seeks to identify eye disease prevalence in the world population. Qualitative and Quantitative Studies Not all research projects require study measures. Some research simply involves observing the results of events in the field and drawing conclusions based on a theoretical framework. Others may involve analyzing data from clinics or other institutions, using statistics and reasoning to find patterns that may have important implications. However, many projects involve direct contact with participants, using an operationalized definition of a phenomenon. These projects require well-designed measures in order to be considered valid. There are two broad categories of research: quantitative and qualitative. A study is classified as qualitative if the purpose is primarily to describe a situation, phenomenon, problem or event; the information is gathered through the use of variables or measured on qualitative measurement scales, and if analysis is done to establish the variation in the situation or problem without quantifying it. Qualitative studies tend to be more â€Å"in-depth†, focusing on a smaller population but probing deeper into a given problem. This research is often associated with focus groups, interviews or surveys and seeks to answer open-ended questions. Thematic and content analysis are two methods used to analyze qualitative data. Disciplines such as anthropology, history, and sociology are more inclined towards a qualitative approach. On the other hand, quantitative studies often use standardized measures, numerical values, have larger sample sizes, and analyze data using statistical programs. A study is classified as quantitative if the researcher seeks to quantify the variation in a phenomenon and if information is gathered using quantitative variables. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, and advantages and disadvantages. Disciplines such as epidemiology, economics and public health are more inclined towards quantitative research. Hypothesis A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for an observed relationship or a causal prediction about a relationship among several variables. Every research project is based on a hypothesis, which generally begins with a specific question. A hypothesis takes the operationalized definition of the factors to produce a clear prediction of the causal relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable in the statement. The independent variable is a factor that the researcher can control or manipulate (whether or not a person receives basic eye care services), and a dependent variable is a factor that the researcher cannot manipulate, but instead varies in relation to the independent variable (the economic productivity of the individual). For example, a hypothesis might be â€Å"We predict that if nearsighted participants are provided with corrective lenses that bring their vision to 20/20, they will earn more money per week on average over the course of three months than nearsighted participants who did not receive corrective lenses.† When formulating a hypothesis, it is important not to try to â€Å"prove† that the hypothesis is true. Instead, one should seek to find evidence that it is not true.

A Brave New World

Utopia means the idyllic state as first used by sir Thomas Moore as the title of his book in 1516 (Brave New World’s Barron’s Notes by Anthony Astrachan).The Utopia achieved by the world-state in Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World had a terribly High price. A price which, I think is not worth it. Their citizens live in as oblivious and ignorant kind of bliss in world that is free of war, fear, violence, disease and all the other draw-backs of living in the real world (Sybille Bedford, Aldous Huxley: A Biography, 1974, cited in Brave New World’s Barron’s Notes by Anthony Astrachan).The characters from Utopia in the novel do not even know freedom. They are happy and contented in their respective occupations and are satiated by spending their free time wallowing in pleasure even though they are all alike in each class and behave in much the same way as each other save for a few idiosyncrasies Uniformity is stressed and individuality becomes like a sickn ess and all characters who had even a minor difference from other citizens in the same class were cruelly crushed into either conformity or the final escape of death in John’s case.However, if the price of such comforts would be the ignorance of the existence of freedom, an idea that many countless people have died fighting for in the real world, I think Utopia is not worth it.A. Huxley did very well in highlighting this point. John’s suicide after seeing that his beloved joined the mob to watch him suffer is a great point at rejecting the idea of Utopia in the book.Even when John found a place where he could live with all the things that he thought were necessary, including pain, he was followed by a huge crowd which had come to watch him suffer. Seeing Lenina come to watch him whip himself causes him to kill himself.In the novel, Huxley plays with the idea of how technological advances would affect society. In Utopia, humans are grown in bottles. No one has a mother. Multiple copies of a single person can be made in one go. This is a very extreme way to highlight the author’s point, completely removing the â€Å"humanity† from humanity to the point that even the genuine personal bond of parent and child is removed.The achievement of stability is attained by keeping everybody in an artificial state of perpetual happiness and contentment.   Pain and grief is removed from the realm of human emotion thereby removing all the deep feelings we associate with the feeling of being genuinely â€Å"alive†.Citizens in Utopia are encouraged to be promiscuous. Anybody can have sex with anybody they want and vice versa. Family life and the formation of intense personal relationship are obliterated so that these cannot interfere with the stability of society. Love is non-existent. Anybody who’d date or have sex with a single person for an extended period is looked on as weird.I think that the author was successful at highlighting his point. His characters were only secondary to the ideas that he proposed especially considering the time and context when he propounded them. He makes me feel as if the novel’s version of Utopia is not far from becoming a truth. Today’s culture promotes the culture of almost mindless consumption, too much indulgence in pleasure and diminishing of the family.Technology is a result of human endeavor. It allows us to live in a better world with all of our modern necessities and comforts. In this book however, a different view is illustrated. While it acknowledges the former to be true, it declares resoundingly that the opposite is possible also. Technology also has the potential to wipe out the essence of humanity. It can wipe out genuine happiness, individuality, close personal relationships, deep emotions and family.ReferencesBLTC, Brave New World? A Defence of Paradise-Engineering, Retrieved on April 13, 2008, from http://www.huxley.net/index.htmlBLTC, Brave New Wor ld’s Barron’s Notes by Anthony Astrachan, Retrieved on April 13, 2008, from http://www.huxley.net/studyaid/bnwbarron.htmlBLTC, Brave’s New World’s Monarch Notes, Retrieved on April 13, 2008 from http://www.huxley.net/studyaid/index.html   

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Salem Witch Trials - Research Paper Example The outcome was sure but not short. The female convict often with her baby, were put to hellish inferno till their last breath. The following paper highlights those torments that the women had endured in the background of Salem Witch Trials. Witchcraft and black magic had always cast deep horror and doubt among human beings, belonging to different strata and countries of the world. Anything that apparently unexplainable through common sense or substantial investigation had either been termed as divine or evil. In this battle of two extremities the later often gained much weight out of the fear of the common people. Like other countries of the world United States of America (USA) was no exception regarding its attitude towards witchcraft and subsequent steps and trials that had been taken against the same. Among them Salem Witch Trial might be considered as the most significant that had paved a new angle to that atrocity. Marilynne K. Roach describes Salem witch trials as â€Å"one o f the American history’s favorite stereotypes of intolerance and superstition, a tragedy with popular associations of magical evil and Halloween jokes† (Roach, 2004, p.xv). ... 59). As time passed by, the colony admitted to the fact that the results of the trials were mistakenly interpreted and the convicted families were compensated accordingly. The shadow casting of the trials brings with it the essence of paranoia and injustice within the quintessence of the populace of the later times. Boiling down to a pinpoint inspection it can be inferred that the victims were women and they faced the evil consequences. Varied ideas are associated with the Salem witch trials like the outgrowth of conflicts among the merchant and trading class alone with the disposition of the Puritanical doctrine. Again this paper will drive its omnipotent focus on the role of the women and their perils in the society of that at the background the periphery of Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch trials highlighted the fact that the colonial New England was subject to subordination along with immense oppression towards women of any age and that often came behind the veil of superstiti on as a justification of those heinous offenses. Disintegrated into a prosperous town and a farming village the inhabitants of the Salem village were basically in a dilemma to seek either ecclesiastical or political independence from the town. In 1689, after winning the rights of establishing their own church, the villagers had chosen the monk Samuel Parris as their minister who was a merchant before adopting priestly hood. Parris’s perturbed exploitative mechanism of appropriation led to the generation of rigorous friction amongst the inhabitants and that eventually resulted in termination of salary contribution in October 1691. In 1685, King James II's

Buddist Materiality and How it compares to Vimalakirti Essay

Buddist Materiality and How it compares to Vimalakirti - Essay Example The paper provides an analysis of the Vimalakirti Sutra, and the social material lifestyles in Dunhuang during the fifth through to the fourteenth century. This paper argues that during the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, the Buddhists used social, material lifestyles to describe their social lifestyle. Vimalakirti is an ordinary individual and not a learned scholar. One realizes that his spiritual level is high and his knowledge is profound as he debates with a number of disciples of Buddha and bodhisattvas. His spiritual level is supposed to be at par with Buddha. So, the issue is defined in clear terms in the sutra that enlightenment does not depend on initiation. Vimalakirti belonged to Licchavi, one of the ruling clans of ancient India, and he commanded high respect from all. The second chapter makes a reference to his illness. There is passing reference to his feigning illness but the fact is he probably has taken the illness of one of his devotees upon himself. People come to enquire about his welfare and Vimalakirti takes that opportunity to preach the finer aspects of dharma and many of them are blessed with enlightenment. In the ensuing chapters Lord Buddha advises his disciples and bodhisattvas to visit Vimalakirti as well. But they are disinclined to go and make pretexts, because in the past they had all been overwhelmed by Vimalakirtis loftier understanding of the ultimate spiritual truth. Vimalakriti owns extraordinary spiritual talent. Evan Manjusri, bodhisattva of wisdom, is no match for him. When he agrees to visit Vimalakriti, a galaxy of Buddha’s disciples, bodhisattvas, gods and goddesses decide to follow him to avail the opportunity to watch the two great spiritual giants conversing with each other. All of them know that it would be an astounding and illuminating experience. Soon the room where Vimalakirti is convalescing becomes the spiritual dispensation center. A large number of people

Maya And Spaniards In Yucatan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Maya And Spaniards In Yucatan - Essay Example Through the accounts furnished by the Spanish chronicles and other texts of historical importance that the Historians have predominantly tried to judge the invasion of an acclaimed and great civilization in pre-Columbian America. There is no denying the fact these historical accounts ensuing from the Spanish adventurers, churchmen, and booty hunters were somewhat biased in their approach towards the Mexican history (Henderson 45). These historical accounts present only the Spanish side of the story, without caring much about the Mayan perspective regarding the Spanish invaders (Henderson 45). Many times the historians never cared to bother that perhaps the conquered Mexicans may have set their own versions of the Spanish invasion of America. So a great part of the Mayan side of the story is known through the works compiled by Mexicans in their native language, which managed to survive the ravages of the Spanish Invasion. Though it is a fact that both the Spanish and Mexican accounts tell the same story, yet, these two sets of historical text tend to differ immensely in what they decide to convey and how they try to convey it. Though the modern historians of the European origins tend to outline varied cultural, moral and religious motivations that supported the Spanish invasion of the Native American civilizations, still even a cursory perusal of the Spanish invaders brings to fore the fact that the Spanish invasion was predominantly ruled and guided by economic and pecuniary motives (Patch 22). Many accounts of the Spanish encounters with the Mayan diplomatic missions strongly unravel the fact that the Spaniards tried to evaluate the gifts extended by the Mayans in a profit to loss context, without delving specifically on the artistic and cultural relevance of those gifts.

Planning Function of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Planning Function of Management - Essay Example The overall focus of planning process however based upon establishing a company which can be market leader in the long distance calls market niche. Apart from this, planning function was a top down approach wherein higher management was mostly responsible for all the management planning function at the organization. Plan came from the top and lower level management actually followed the plans without actually providing effective feedback to the higher management. This aspect of planning therefore made it relatively rigid to adapt itself to the different external scenarios wherein top management actually failed to realize overall market movements. It is also important to note that there was a lack of alternative plans for the organization to deal with any contingency. When the overall crisis hit the organization, there was generally lack of alternative plans available to deal with the contingency. Lack of effective plans to deal with the contingencies suggested that the firm was unable to defend itself against any bankruptcy proceedings and the only way out for the firm was to file for bankruptcy. Influence of Issues Considering the overall nature of the fraud committed by WorldCom, it is relatively obvious that the firm had not been influenced by the legal as well as ethical issues. It also failed to follow the corporate social responsibility codes and procedures also while reporting its overall financial state of the affairs.

Investigate the expectation of the users of financial statement from Dissertation - 1

Investigate the expectation of the users of financial statement from the auditors in case of Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example This is usually done through their authentication, reliability and the correctness of their financial reporting (Mautz and Sharaf 1961; Manson and Zaman 2001). The accountants and auditors play an important role as they manage the finances of the companies (Manson 2000; Galloway 2003). Unfortunately, a number of issues have significantly affected the said process. In fact, one of the most important consequences is related to the existence of the so-called audit expectation gap. The audit expectation gap is indeed, one of the most important issues related to the audited function as it has relatively affected the development of auditing standards and practices (Godsell 1992; Best, Buckby and Tan 2001; Fadzly and Ahmad 2004). Members of the profession even attributed the existence of this issue to the significant increases in the litigations and criticisms they face (Mednick 1986; Berry, Otahata and Saleh 2000). The audit expectation gap pertains to the difference between the expectatio ns of the public in relation to an audit. The importance of this factor to the auditing profession lies on the fact that it tends to lower the credibility of the latter as well as their earnings potential (Godsell 1992; Best, Buckby and Tan 2001; Lin and Chen 2004;). More significantly, the presence of this problem also lowers the prestige of the profession (Beck 1973; Berry, Otahat and Saleh 2000; Best, Buckby and Tan 2001). 1.2 Statement of the Problem Various literatures have already been published in relation to audit expectations gap between the auditors and the users of financial statements. These literatures all emphasize that the expectations gap is usually evident from two points of view: (1) the users of the financial statements and (2) the auditors. In addition, there are also four expectation issues connected with this; these are: (1) audit assurance which pertains to the role and functions that the auditors must fulfill, (2) the level of quality in relation to the perfo rmance of the audits, (3) structural issues and regulatory issues that significantly affect the independence of the accountants/auditors, and (4) the manner by which the said audits are reported, taking into consideration the inconsistencies in terms of the construction of the different meanings contained in the audit reports. Previous studies conducted in relation to the auditing experiences gap tend to focus on developed countries and at the same time, have significantly failed to give paramount importance to the political and historical contexts wherein the said expectations are formed. Aside from this, the common recommendation is to publish strict guidelines with respect to accounting and auditing to cater to the problem at hand. However, some of the said studies mention that the said recommendations do not usually apply to all countries, most especially the developing ones taking into consideration the differences as to the ideological and legal structures that govern it. The study focuses on the experiences and perceptions of the users of financial statements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition to this, it also seeks to determine the different factors affecting this to gain a better understanding of the auditing expe

(persuasive speech) Preventing exposing our kids to Violent video Speech or Presentation

(persuasive ) Preventing exposing our kids to Violent video games (negative effects of violent video games on youth) - Speech or Presentation Example Video games are also a component of the media and the usage of video games has greatly increased over the years as a form of entertainment. With the surge in the playing of video games, the negative aspects of the video games have come forward and have been highlighted. A strong link between playing violent video games and the increase in the rate of crime amongst youths has been portrayed and many criminal acts have been associated with exposure to violence in video games. Video games have become an essential form of entertainment for youths and the increasing popularity can be analyzed from the fact that children who are as young as two years of age play video games on an average of one hour every day. This tends to increase with age and children between the age group of 8 to 13 years play video games for more than approximately 7.5 hours in a single week. Furthermore another very important aspect that has been indicated by a research is that teenagers presented the fact that the g ames that they bought and played were not reviewed by their parents. Thus there is no regulation on the type of video games that these children play (Anderson et al 2001). It has also been analyzed that 75 percent of the games that are played by teenagers are not meant for their age and have a large amount of violence portrayed in them (Adams, 2010). Video games date back from the years following 1970. The creation of video games itself was not an issue of debate but arguments arose with regard to video games when violent video games were brought into the market. These included Death Race 2000, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Wolfenstein 3D and Night Trap. These video games all follow violent themes and patterns and were objected upon. Such controversies were a threat for the video game industry and in the year 1994 Entertainment Software Rating Board came into existence which was meant to regulate the violence and sexual material of the video games. This served to be an important st ep owing to the fact that a controlling measure was essential for keeping a check on the type of video games that came in the market. Researches indicated the fact that there was greater popularity of violent video games and 59 percent of girls and 73 percent of boys in their fourth year of school preferred violent games over the other ones. The matter became a subject of national concern and the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision that it may put bans on violent video games owing to the negative aspects of these issues (Anderson et al 2001; Greenberg 2007; Suddath 2010). Important incidents have served as eye openers with regard to this subject. The killing of a six year old girl named Zoe by her sister and her boyfriend was a shocking incident. Zoe became the target of her sister Heather Trujillo who was 16 years old and her boyfriend Lamar Roberts who was 17 years old. According to reports, Heather and her boyfriend were greatly inspired by the game Mortal Combat and were practicing the moves of the game on Zoe. This resulted in Zoe suffering from multiple fractures and eventually her death (McPhee 2007). The death of Zoe was a tragic incident. Children should be allowed to play video games but parental supervision is an extremely essential step that needs to be taken. Parents should guide their children and they should keep fixed hours for their games. They

The Best Accounting Software Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Best Accounting Software Systems - Essay Example The software is best for small and medium-sized businesses because first of all, it prides itself with a very easy to use system where you can do almost all accounting job done from calculating payroll checks with correct federal, state, and local taxes, keep track of employees’ pay records including vacation and sick leaves, produce accurate payroll register reports, calculate and print employees W2, W3, 1099-M at the year-end, create direct deposit files and a lot more! Computer specifications to get the most of the software would be at least 1gb RAM, 600 MB of free disk space, and preferably Windows Server 2003. What is great about this is that prices start at $249 only depending on the package you need (Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Direct Deposit, n.d.) The second alternative to payroll accounting system would be Andica software manufactured by Andica which is suitable for all types of businesses because it complies with the latest government legislation that would be sure to allow payments of salaries and at the same time be able to monitor the deductions by allowing you to do statutory calculations without being an accountant. Also, what is great about this software is that you can immediately view employee data on the screen and would give you an organized file in easy to follow reports. Some of its essential features are as follows: calculation of PAYE, National Insurance Contributions, Statutory Payments such as Statutory Sick Pay SSP, Statutory Maternity Pay SMP, Statutory Paternity Pay SPP, Statutory Adoption Pay SAP, students loan deductions and perform a range of other payroll functions.

Explain the Impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment on Psychology and Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Explain the Impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment on Psychology and Behaviour Essay The Stanford prison experiment ,led by professor Philip Zimbardo, was aimed at seeing the effect on people on becoming prisoners or prison guards. The idea was to see what happens to people when they are put in relatively ‘evil’ places. Do the people themselves become evil or is there no net effect? The results indicated that in fact people adapt to their role exceptionally well. It was observed that the prison guards became overly tyrannical to the level of sadism. In consequence the prisoners were seen to be under severe stress to the extent that they became crazy or depressed. 24 volunteers were selected that had no psychological problems, health issues or any past crime accounts. They were brought to a mock prison set up in the basement of the Stanford university’s psychology building where they were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards. 3 prisoners each were given rooms that they had to live in for 24 hours of the day and the guards were given 8 hour shifts to work in. The study was observed upon using cameras and microphones. They study was supposed to last for 14 days but had to be halted after 6 days due to extreme unethical practices in the prison. The Stanford prison experiment showed us that human beings alter to the situation they are put in. The guards won total control over the prisoners who blindly followed orders. All of this in just 5 days of experimental conditions. Zimbardo said that the prisoners had internalised their roles and thus continued to participate in the experiment on their own will. One example of this is when they introduced themselves to the priest with their serial number rather than their real name. Another example would be of the prison consultant who took on the role of an autocratic head of the parole board. After the experiment was over he was said to be disgusted at the person he had become. In essence there were two groups created among the volunteers, therefore, according to social identity theory ,people in the in-group would exhibit in-group favouritism and a sense of discrimination of the out-group. This can explain the unanimity between the guards themselves and their certain dislike towards the inmates. To further build on this ,the idea of the prison guards being a group may evoke the feeling of anonymity, which would allow the guards to be more free and aggressive as they could shake off responsibility for their actions. This is called deindividuation theory. It may be a cause of the violence occurred on the prisoners by the guards as there is a diffusion of responsibility. The Self-fulfilling prophecy states that when a person is given a label we often live up to that expectation. In the same way ,as the volunteers were given labels, they tried to live up to that expectation and thus acted in the way they thought they should. Furthermore it can be said that the volunteers had set stereotypes on the idea of a prison guard and prisoner. It can be assumed that these stereotypes illustrated the prison guards to be strong and authoritative. It could also be an illusionary correlation made by them through watching films or through media (which means that they attribute the behaviour of the prison guards to their disposition rather than situation :FAE). The theory of cognitive dissonance can also be used to understand why the prisoners and guards acted this way. They had to alter their mind-set(attitudes) to match with their behaviours so that there was no tension in their self identity. The situation put the prisoners in certain set roles that they tried to live up to and thus they changed their behaviour. This experiment along with Milligram’s shock experiment demonstrates the fundamental attribution error which says that there is a overestimation of dispositional factors and under-estimation of situational factors when we attribute. It changed the way we looked at psychology in a socio-cultural aspect. This experiment has helped us understand how good people do bad things such as the torture of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Gharib prison, which was a real life example of the same results obtained by Zimabardo. It was also used to investigate matters such as prison riots and abuse of juveniles in many prisons. Young adults are also known to be power hungry. Their lust for power might have changed the way they would have normally behaved. The prisoners were made powerless and thus started to behave in such a way. They became depressed ,helpless and unstable. Thus it can be said that power also affected their behaviour. In relation to gender I believe that there would not have been much difference in the experiment as people, male or female, tend to have similar schematic processing when it comes to social perceptions of a certain group or individuals. If conducted with only females it is more likely that there would have been lesser violence as it has been researched that testosterone, which is much more predominating in males, is a cause of sexual arousal and aggression. Culture would not affect the behaviour as everybody needs some power in their life and if power is stolen from us we tend to become unstable. Lastly, it can be argued that all the volunteers of the experiment were college students. These students are more likely to be aggressive, as they would have higher testosterone levels compared to older guards in regular prisons. The volunteers were mostly white males who were on average ,financially stable, which when compared to regular prisoners would not equate well as people in prisons are usually financially unstable. It goes without saying that this experiment was extremely unethical. It did harmed the volunteers both physically and mentally as they were put under severe stress as well as physical torture. Their consent forms were not complete as it id not involve the details of the experiment. The volunteers did not know what they were getting themselves into , for example strip searched which is a violation itself. They were also ,without prior knowledge ,arrested. Zimbardo himself became the super-intendant and did not abide by his role as a psychologist ,which should have been the case to have an unbiased study. The experiment had no controls and thus is therefore severely criticised. Therefore the validity and ethics of this experiment, relating to its method are questioned. In conclusion, the experiment was a path breaking exercise that opened our eyes to show us the vulnerability of our race in terms of conformity and how we adapt to our situations especially when it comes to the fight for power.

Week 2 Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Week 2 Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet Essay Please complete the following exercises, remembering that you are in an academic setting and should remain unbiased, considerate, and professional when completing this worksheet. Part I Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: ?Race ?Ethnicity ?Religion ?Gender ?Sexual orientation ?Age ?Disability Category Stereotype 1 Stereotype 2 Stereotype 3 Race African Americans are the best at basketball or foorball. Hispanics don’t know English. All Asians know Karate. Gender Women are the homemakers. Men are the income providers. A woman’s place is in the kitchen. Age When someone gets old they will be senile or have dementia. Old people do not learn very well. The older you get the more religious you become. Part II Answer each question in 50 to 100 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. ?What are the positive aspects of stereotypes, if any? The only positive I could see to a stereotype will only to prove the stereotype untrue. No good can come from a stereotype since they usually do not provide any real facts only assumption. This is when people get their feelings hurt and want to be more combative to the labeler and other like them. ?What are the negative aspects of stereotypes? The negatives to stereotypes are the facts are not really there. Anyone can be good at sports or any race can learn Karate. Stereotypes are generally associated with negative feelings towards another race, gender, or age group. Stereotypes tend to lead to racism or prejudice which can lead to fights or even wars. Copyright  © 2012 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet ETH/125 Version 8 2. Part III Answer each question in 50 to 150 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. ?Define stereotypes and prejudice. What is the difference between stereotyping and prejudice? Use examples to illustrate the differences. A stereotype is where a person or group of people believe that untrue characteristics about another group or person. An example of a sterotype would be that all Asians are geniuses. According to â€Å"Dictionary. com† (2014), prejudice means â€Å"an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason†. An example would be that after 911 people of Arab decent, or even resembling the Arab nationality through appearance or name, are looked at differently and with suspicion or wrong doings. ?What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice? The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice almost always work together. A person who is prejudice judges another without having met the person or group before and stereotyping is assuming incorrect information about others based on a limited experience. Usually a person who is prejudice became that way because of stereotypes from either their own experience or from people they respect. ?What can be done to prevent prejudice from occurring? People can make others aware of prejudice and how to spot when someone is the subject of stereotyping. Teach children at a young age that all people are equal regardless of age, race, or religious beliefs. Finally, practice treating everyone as equals even when others do not agree with your views. References: Dictionary. com. (2014). Retrieved from http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/prejudice Copyright  © 2012 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Case Study: Holly Farms

Case Study: Holly Farms Introduction In order to revive profits and save themselves from bearing heavy losses, Fred and Gillian Giles had opened a two purposed farm for the general public in 1993. Their ambitious goals had let them to put in all their savings to establish facilities on the farm which would entertain the tourists. This side of the business was apart from the usual farming being carried out which included the distribution of ice cream which was manufactured behind the farm in a small factory, a milking parlor to see the latest technology being used to milk the cows and an additional guided tour of the farm. Even though the business is currently running reasonably well, the owners are facing some serious issues related capacity constraints and competition. Answers Answer 1: There is a no. of issues which Gillian Gales is facing in her side of the business. These issues include the fact that in order to grow the Holly Farms business, it is not possible for the owners to add additional capital. They have already invested a lot of money and any additional capital available to them will be in terms of a loan. However, the interest rate on the loan is expected to be above ten percent which would not make it feasible since the owners are not expecting to earn that high a return on their investment in order to pay the interest and the principal amount. Other issues which Gillian needs to take notice of include the fact that the ice-cream factory is not operating at full capacity, the freezer which has a capacity to hold 10,000 units is operated at 7000 units storage to allow for stick rotation. The lack of preservatives used in the ice-cream would also be a factor in this regard where the inventory needs to move out of the factory within 6-12 weeks. This factor would be driving down retail sales to shops and hotels which might be interested in stockpiling the ice-cream for their peak periods (since Gillian is not in a position to increase production for them at that time). Gillian also needs to decide whether to promote coach firms or market to families and schools for trips to their farm. Gillian mentions that on average one out of two coach customers buys one liter box of ice-cream while a four occupant car buys the same amount. This data, though a good starting point, would not allow for proper decision making since data on how many a coach normally holds. Also the use of averaged data is not advisable when making decisions as to who the target market would be for the coming year. There is also a need for extra staff by the farm, currently the ice-cream manufacturing employs farm workers wives (three) and a maximum of four flavor can be produced given the time constraints and the set up time (to change flavors). Since capital investment is not possible at this time, Gillian would need to hire more staff for ice-cream manufacturing if she plans to increase the number of flavors to ten, analysis and accurate forecasting of what quantities of flavors t o produce would also be required if the number of flavors is to be increased. Market researches as to which flavors are being demanded by the customers would also be required and could help eliminate the need to expand to ten flavors outright, but this is currently not being undertaken by Gillian. The lack of promotional activities by Gillian has seen the number of arrivals to the farm cap at 15000 a year; this situation is being ignored as Gillian is concentrating more on expanding the manufacturing side, now she needs to take a more active approach to increasing the traffic at the farm. The issue of farm timings not being conducive to picnics and factory visits (20% of the customers leave before the milking process) and this very fact that many visitors are unable to see the milking process is also one which would be driving lower ice-cream sales and needs to be looked into by Gillian. Answer 2: To increase the number of farm visitors by 50% in a single year is a almost unachievable goal that Gillian has set for herself. Although it is possible that the number be increased, but going from 15000 visitors to 22500 visitors is not a small task which can be achieved in the duration of a single year. This is due to a number of factors which, for Gillian, would be constraints in achieving this growth target. These factors include: 1. The fact that the farm is open to visitors for 7 months in a year, during the remaining months the animals are kept inside and the rides etc available to customers are not safe due to the weather situation. This is a limit which Gillian would be unable to surmount in a single years time without capital investment into building sheds and indoor facilities etc at the Holly Farm. 2. Another time constraint is the fact that Gillian and Fred found that keeping the farm open for more than the four days it is already open (Friday to Monday) is not feasible due to the low traffic during the remaining days. Also the farm workers would not be free during the three days of the week (they would be involved in the â€Å"real† farm work), so the only way to keep the farm open the entire week is through hiring extra staff which could only be justified and feasible if Gillian were able to confirm attendance/traffic at the farm during these days via school trips etc. The weekend is the peak period for Holly Farm and it is unlikely that working individuals would be willing to take farm trips during work days. The sales forecast for 1999 shows that Gillian has prepared is highly presumptuous given that she has yet to decide how she would be increasing the number of customers on the farm. Whether she wishes to bring in more customers through coach firms or target the family and recreational travelers (who come by car). With coach firms Gillian would most likely have to offer discounts on the farm visits to the coaching firms to plan trips or revert to her old marketing tactics of giving lectures at schools and institutes and market her farm herself. The decision on whether or not to engage with coaching firms is not possible at this time because the number of passengers on each coach has not been identified, thus one cannot calculate the profits to be had from the sales of ice-cream and other produce along with the admission fees (with or without the discounts). Even if the averaged figure of one-liter ice-cream sale per two coach passengers is taken to be reliably accurate without the numb er of potential customers coming through the coach trips, and via cars for that matter (one liter per four passengers), choice between the options would be more moot point than proper decision making on the part of Gillian. If we were to assume that half the customers come by car and half come via coach trips than promoting coach trips would yield more benefits in terms of ice-cream sales as 7400 coach trips/2 = 3700 liters of sales 7400 car travelers/4 = 1850 liters of sales Given that 13500 liters were sold through the retail shop ($27000/$2(selling price)) this would mean that close to 41% of the sales comes through the customers on the farm. A 50% increase in the number of customers on the farm would lead to sales of $40,000 only if the number of customers at the farm window also increased by 50% which is a market not being targeted by Gillian, thus the following calculation leading to a figure of $40,000 would be incorrect as the sales would be lower (higher from the customers on the farm but when including the trend based sales through the farm window the total sales would be lower). 148001.5=22200 customers 11100 coach trips/2$2=$11100 11100 car travelers/4$2= $5550 $16650/0.41 = $40,610 in sales. School parties and trips could be a good tactic on the part of Gillian as they would ensure higher number of visitors and a larger sale of ice-cream and other products which could be made on the farm. Charging a lower admission fees for parties and retaining the catering of the party would be a good source of income for the farm and has the potential of increasing the traffic at the farm by opening a whole new target market for Holly Farms i.e. party venue. Gillian should invest some time and effort into undertaking market research into how many schools would be willing to have parties or field trips on the farm (before offering party packages), also information on the customer tolerance for queuing (to watch the milking process) would be beneficial to Gillian in analyzing how to increase the number of customers on the farm because if the customers are not able to watch the milking process and view this as a deal breaker, they might seek out other sources of recreation and by increasing customers in the short run, Gillian might lose customers in the long run. Information on the actual number of car visitors vs. those coming through coach trips should be sought before Gillian decides on a course of action. Answer 3: Before undertaking a decision to increase the number of ice-cream flavors from 4 to 10 Gillian should weight the advantages and the disadvantages of this venture. The first factor which Gillian needs to consider is whether a market exists for ten flavors of ice-cream or not, and whether it is feasible for the farm to be producing ten flavors. The fact that capital investment is not possible for Holly Farms means that the additional production would be through an increase in the labor force but the overall quantity of the ice-cream produced would still be limited to an inventory level of 7000 liters (which can be held by the freezer). This would mean that the new flavors would be introduced at the expense of the old flavors. This can be an advantage if the customers of Holly Farm are seeking one or two flavors other than those being offered (market research would be required to confirm this) and that the quantity demanded would allow for greater turnover through either farm or retail sales. Alternatively this venture could lead to unsatisfied customers in cases where the farm could experience stock outs of certain flavors due to the fact that many flavors would be under production. A move to directly offering ten flavors would also create logistical problems as the machines available for production and storing are limited. The fact that more staff would have to be hired would also increase the cost of production of all ice-creams and that would affect the profits of the ice-cream venture and Gillian would be forced to make another key decision on whether to pass on the increased cost to the customers in the form of higher prices, and risk losing some business, or decrease the profit margins of the same. Since an increase in volume is only possible if the inventory turnover is greatly enhanced by the introduction of new flavors (which is not certain) the profits for the farm would be on a downward trend if all other factors remain constant and flavors are added to the product offerings. Since there is no research to suggest that there would be a greater uptake of ice-cream (at retail or farm level) with more flavors, a jump to 10 flavors would be rash and create more problems for Gillian in terms of resource management, forecasting the demand for individual products and overlooking the manufacturing of the same, rather than the advantages Gillian seeks. Undertaking some degree of market research and exploring one or two additional flavors (based on research findings) whilst maintaining the same level of staff could be more beneficial for Holly Farms and they could expand their flavor offerings over the long run when they have the capacity to increase production or maintain higher levels of inventory. Conclusion The case under review explores the capacity and resource constraints being faced by a small business which was able to attract customers and diversify into other forms of complementary businesses i.e. tours and ice-cream retailing. What we find in this case is that Gillian, the partner in charge of the complementary businesses is facing two critical decisions (a) how to increase the number of customers visiting the farm and (b) how to increase the retail sales of the ice-cream. Since capital investment is not a viable option for the business the means of increasing customer traffic are limited to promotional activities and attracting the right customers for both tours and ice-cream sales. We find that such decisions are not possible with the data available to Gillian at the present time and that the option to increase the number of ice-cream flavors to ten (from four) is also not viable given the manufacturing and storage constraints. Gillian should therefore seek additional data on the target audience for promotional activities and if she plans to increase the number of ice-cream flavors she should start on a smaller scale after conducting proper market demand research. References [Author of Book] (1999), â€Å"Case Study: Holly Farms†, [Name of Book], Pp 244-248

Merchant of Venice Essay: A Comedy? :: free essay writer

To the reader, The Merchant of Venice, may seem horrible and it be impossible to find the â€Å"comedy† at all.   Perhaps, Shakespeare may have been simply trying to make people laugh at the appalling injustice we cause one another because of the small differences among us.  Ã‚   Or, perhaps, he may have at first wanted the viewers of The Merchant of Venice to feel that they, the Christians, had nothing in common with the Jew, Shylock.   What on earth could the Christians have in common with a Jew?   Shakespeare demonstrates that the Christians were just as hungry for money and fortune as the Jew.   Perhaps this is a comedy after all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That Shakespeare sees people, Jew or Christian, as simply people, and if he could not make people see that they were all people with common ground, then he would have to start with something he knew everyone could relate with.  Ã‚   The best item to come to mind was money.   No matter if the amount is in ducats, dollars or pesos, everyone understands this concept.  Ã‚   Although it does not seem perfectly clear in what way Shakespeare was trying to deliver the comedy in this play, one thing is evident,   Shakespeare was a man before his time.     Ã‚   So, besides trying to find where the comedy is, maybe one should try to find where the most superficial person lies.   Who is more superficial in this play?   The Jew whose only business is money, or the Christians? It seems apparent that both are superficial, and one no more than the other.   In the play Bassanio does not try to hide the fact that he needs to marry a woman of wealth to restore his fortune.   Shylock's daughter Jessica,   promises to steal jewels and fortune from her father, proving that she too is money hungry.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even Salerio and Solanio seem to talk of nothing more than riches and wealth throughout the play.   So yes, they all are superficial, and one can not peg one any more than another.So again, we are back to the comedy of the whole thing!   Ã‚  Ã‚   Now that I think about it, it seems strange that the majority of our class found no humor in this play.  Ã‚  Ã‚   When one thinks of why this may be, it is simple.   We do not laugh when we read this play because we have not changed.   Since the time of this play, we have inched very little away from prejudice and belittling people because they are what we feel is different, therefore making them strange.

Jack Welch Essay example -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Jack Welch - Leadership Secret 1- Harness the Power of Change It is important in today’s changing economy that business leaders are not afraid to make necessary changes to succeed. When Jack Welch became CEO of General Electric in 1981, it was a lethargic business, satisfied with its output and entangled in bureaucracy. He understood the competition that overseas markets presented and the need for a new global strategic plan. He was able to envision the true potential of his resources and implemented drastic changes such as the Stretch, Work-Out, and Number One, Number Two business concepts (which will be discussed later) to achieve his goals. - Leadership Secret 2- Face Reality This is the most important rule in Jack Welch’s business strategy. Too many business leaders become comfortable with their performance and refuse to see the need for change. A business leader must understand the importance of accurately defining their company’s current position if they are planning on making successful changes. And once problem areas are discovered, managers must act immediately to correct them. When Welch took over at GE, he quickly addressed the common practice of sugar coating financial paperwork that only left a false since of security and insisted that every business unit in the GE empire must be the number one or number two competitor in its respective marketplaces or it would be fix, close, or sold. - Leadership Secret 3- Managing Less is Managing Better Managers need to provide the vision for their employees and instill confidence. Too many times, employees are held back by not having the power to make even the simplest of decisions without approval. Managers should empower their employees and trust that they are giving their total effort. This will give managers more time to work on plans to achieve the long-term goals of the company. - Leadership Secret 4- Create a Vision, Then Get Out of the Way â€Å"People always overestimate how complex business is. This isn’t rocket science. We’ve chosen one of the world’s most simple professions.† In Jack Welch’s words, business is simple. A leader needs to supply his employees with the information, the resources, the vision, and the atmosphere to succeed and reward them when they do. Welch does not concern himself with the details of GE’s many business units; he only needs to ma... ...direct more attention to the services side of an industry. The growth rates for product services increases more rapidly than that of product productions, so there is great incentive to direct your primary resources to provide service after the sale. - Leadership Secret 27, 28, 29- Turn Your Business into an e-Company The Internet is the future of business. Bring your company up-to-date and provide customers, not only with product descriptions and information, but with a way to shop, communicate and interact with your company via the web. The Internet also provides less chance for human error in the ordering process because fewer individuals have to handle information. And, most importantly, the Internet speeds up operations, whether it is use for sending information to employees or receiving custom orders from customers. - Conclusion Jack Welch has definitely revolutionized the business approach. He has proven, over the years, that his techniques and concepts are extremely effective and that business leaders, worldwide, should heed his advice. This book provides a small glance into the methods and methodology of, arguably, one of the greatest managers of our time.

Essay --

Separate Spheres Concerning Work Life and Family Life Industrial revolution is a time reigning from the 18th to 19th century. The era was marked with the major changes in the transport industry, mining, manufacturing and agriculture. This was due to the profound impact of the early agriculture on the cultural and socioeconomic aspects concerning people’s lives. The result of the industrial revolution spread throughout North America, Europe and the entire world with time. This marks the major turning point in early life and history of man as the industrial revolution influenced almost all aspects of human life in the present civilization. There was a rapid population growth and improved standards of living due to the advancement of the industrial revolution (Triece, 2007). This paper is going to cover all aspects of family life and work life as separate spheres and how they create both men and women experiences today. With the advancement of the ancient technology, family life shifted to women expectation while the men dominated the business life. This is highly evident as most of the duties at during the ancient time required lots of determination and work force. Most of the work was so tiresome for women due to their nature of being less masculine. In this regard, work life is a balance of concepts that usually entails good prioritizing with an individual’s lifestyle and work. These are the choices that individuals make in their lives concerning different roles and duties in the community. A dramatic change is evident in both the demographic profiles and labor markets. Most of The families have embarked on the dual earner kind of living from the traditional mode that views the male as the only breadwinner. Relevant to this, the c... ...refore, the emergence of politics, religion and male public figures promoted the ideology of women as a civilizing force within the family home. For example, men took part in active war front in the Second World War while the women sustained them with their daily food supply and provision of medical care. Some women roles declined to the extent of acting as spies’ and providing the relevant information to the men in battle. In conclusion, the separate spheres mainly acted as a reminder to both genders concerning their duties and roles concerning the entire society expectations towards them (Tronto, 2013). References Triece, M. E. (2007). On the picket line: Strategies of working-class women during the depression. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Tronto, J. C. (2013). Caring democracy: Markets, equality, and justice. New York: New York University Press.

Sime Darby

Page 1 of 6 Fundamental Analysis for SIME DARBY BHD Company Name: Stock Code (Bursa): Bloomberg: Industry: Sub-Sector: Company Description: Date of Analysis: Financial Year: SIME DARBY BHD Board: Main Board SIME FBMKLCI: TRUE SIME:MK Reuters: SIME. KL TRADING SERVICES OIL PALM/RUBBER AND OTH CROP PRODUCTION PLANTATION; PROP; MOTORS; INDUSTRIAL; ENERGY & UTILITIES. 19-Sep-12 2011 30/6/2011 Price: 9. 79 Stock Grade: Emerging Investment Grade Profitability Profitability 10 ROI 8 ROI Liquidity 6 Efficiency 4 Risks 2 0 Potential Growth Buy & Hold Returns Potential Growth 65 75 90 50 105 105 Buy & Hold Returns 25 Liquidity 1. 80759 40. 02273 62. 4099 36. 10128 85. 8969 57. 48956 18. 75 7. 97 5. 34 6. 93 7. 22 8. 18 5. 48 7. 5 Risks Efficiency Future growth drivers and Risks: http://announcements. bursamalaysia. com/edms/edmswebh. nsf/all/FF95B42CEC4045D948257A7A0062 DF67/$File/Press%20release. pdf Due-Diligence All figures in millions of Ringgit Malaysia except per share values and ratio M easures 2002 @ 2002/6/30 2003 @ 2003/6/30 2004 @ 2004/6/30 2005 @ 2005/6/30 2006 @ 2006/6/30 2007 @ 2007/6/30 2008 @ 2008/6/30 2009 @ 2009/6/30 2010 @ 2010/6/30 2011 @ 2011/6/30 Importane Rate CommentsProfitability Increasing Sales Revenue Increasing Net Income After Tax Increasing Gross Profit Margin (Preferably ? 40%) ROI Increasing high ROE (Preferably ? 15%) Increasing ROIC (Preferably ? 15%) Increasing CROIC (Preferably ? 15%) Liquidity Increasing Net Cash from Operations Increasing Free Cash Flow / Sales (Preferably ? 5%) Increasing Quick Ratio (Preferably ? 1) Short & declining Cash Conversion Cycle Efficiency Increasing Net Profit Margin (Preferably ? 10%) Increasing OCF/TA (Preferably ? 8%) 12,053 928 29. 9% 13,718 945 30. 4% 14,904 1,015 26. % 18,646 933 24. 4% 20,162 1,203 23. 6% 20,735 1,597 23. 3% 34,045 3,753 26. 2% 31,014 2,341 23. 0% 32,845 855 26. 8% 41,859 3,847 25. 7% 10. 7% 8. 0% 4. 5% 10. 2% 8. 0% 5. 2% 10. 9% 8. 0% 3. 3% 10. 0% 9. 0% 3. 6% 12. 7% 7. 0% 5. 2% 15 . 8% 8. 0% 7. 1% 16. 2% 12. 0% 9. 1% 10. 7% 9. 0% -1. 1% 3. 6% 5. 0% 6. 8% 15. 2% 13. 0% 6. 5% 647 3. 5% 1. 09 62 930 4. 3% 1. 41 66 652 2. 6% 1. 39 65 737 2. 3% 1. 12 62 1,154 3. 4% 1. 23 67 1,644 4. 8% 1. 27 65 3,936 7. 2% 1. 38 63 937 -1. 0% 1. 00 91 3,570 5. 9% 1. 00 65 3,393 4. 9% 1. 05 65 10. 0% 5. 2% 9. 0% 6. 3% . 0% 4. 2% 7. 0% 4. 5% 8. 0% 6. 6% 10. 0% 8. 4% 15. 0% 10. 9% 10. 0% 2. 6% 5. 0% 9. 5% 13. 0% 7. 9% Risks Declining Debt/Equity Ratio (Preferably <1) Operating Income Variability Sales Variability Increasing Altman Z Score (Preferably ? 2. 6) Declining Beneish Score (Preferably < -2. 22) Potential Growth Increasing Sustainable Growth Rate (Preferably ? 8%) Increasing Expected EBIT Growth N/A (Preferably ? 8%) Quality of Sales Revenue Growth (Preferably ? 80%) N/A 0. 15 1,081 12,053 5. 73 0. 27 1,225 13,718 5. 50 -2. 83 0. 28 1,389 14,904 6. 5 -2. 90 0. 34 1,406 18,646 5. 13 -2. 95 0. 38 1,206 20,162 5. 42 -2. 86 0. 29 1,569 20,735 7. 13 -3. 00 0. 22 4,339 34,045 5. 83 -1. 99 0. 26 3,151 31,014 7. 02 -2. 89 0. 37 2,081 32,845 5. 80 -2. 84 0. 29 5,483 41,859 6. 38 -2. 86 3. 5% 2. 9% 16. 4% 93. 5% 85. 8% 28. 7% 53. 4% 59. 1% 56. 9% 3. 7% 4. 1% 2008: 2002-2011: 2008: 2002-2011: 2008: 2002-2011: 2. 3% 3. 1% 77. 2% 2009: 91. 1% 52. 4% 2009: 58. 2% 76. 6% 2009: 45. 6% 6. 4% 5-Y: 4. 4% 9. 9% 7. 9% 14. 9% 74. 6% 2010: 59. 2% 2010: 14. 9% 2010: 2. 9% 19. 4% 5. 0% -5. 0% 69. 4% 2011: 17. % 2011: 21. 6% 2011: 0. 6% 6. 6% 7. 7% 13. 6% 73. 3% 30. 0% 14. 0% 2007: 2005-2011: Quality of EBIT Growth (Preferably 2007: ? 80%) 2005-2011: Quality of Operating Cash Flow 2007: Growth (Preferably ? 80%) 2005-2011: Buy & Hold Returns Shareholder Wealth Creation Full: (Preferably ? 8%) 5. 7% 10-Y: -1. 0% 3-Y: 11. 5% Investment Strategy Position Strategy Position Lump Sum + Top Up Strategy: Buy Criteria Averaging Down Method: Dollar Cost/Value Averaging Criteria 1. The current quarter's EPS is up more than 15% from the same quarter the year before. . Price is below I ntrinsic Value 3. Current EY% or Rolling 4Q EY% ;gt; 6% 4. Current DY% or Rolling 4Q DY% ;gt; 6% 5. Stock price breaks out of consolidation/dip on an uptrend. 6. Comparison of P/B ratio (for Financial stocks only) 7. Company owner, EPF, Khazanah and PNB heavily buying Sell Criteria I Remarks Criteria 1. Current EY% or Rolling 4Q EY% ;lt; 6% for more than 2 years 2. Current DY% or Rolling 4Q DY% ;lt; 6% for more than 2 years 3. Quarterly EPS drop for 5 consecutive months 4. Fundamental of business turns unattractive or bad 5.Found a better opportunity to replace this stock 6. The stock drops near to my average cost or hit my stop loss 7. Long term trend changed from bullish to bearish 8. Company owner, EPF, Khazanah and PNB heavily selling. 9. Did I make a mistake? 10. Has the stock risen too far from its intrinsic value? VI Remarks Discounted Cash Flows Valuation Shares Out. M. O. S. 13 Default Value Custom Value 6009. 46 11 Sustainable Growth % (for Average risk Average Discount % Terminal % 2011 FCF Excess Cash Intangibles Intangibles% Decay Rate Extra Decay Growth (for DCF Calc. premium Risk free Assets add to DCF (Yr4E-Yr7E) (Yr8E-Yr10E) reference) rate 20% 5% 8% 5. 50% 3. 68% 9. 2% 2% 2068. 66 4593. 30 86. 00 0% 8% 15% 4% 11. 50% 15% 20% Projection of Future Free Cash Flow 2012 Yearly Growth Future Value Discounted Perpetuity Value Present Value 2,151. 41 2013 2,237. 46 2014 2,326. 96 18,023. 58 28,024. 79 3-Y Shares Outstanding Fair Value Desired M. O. S. Buy Under Current Price Actual M. O. S. 4. 66 3. 73 9. 79 -110% 5-Y 6009. 46 4. 69 20% 3. 75 9. 79 -109% 2015 2,364. 67 2016 2,445. 07 15,233. 30 28,183. 22 10-Y 4. 70 3. 76 9. 79 -108% 2017 2,528. 1 2018 2,614. 16 2019 2,564. 07 2020 2,633. 81 2021 2,705. 45 9,780. 64 28,239. 49 Market Timing Analysis Discounted Cash Flow Valuation Fair Value Actual M. O. S. Buy Under Selection 3-Y 4. 66 -110% 3. 73 5-Y 4. 69 -109% 3. 75 10-Y 4. 70 -108% 3. 76 ? 3-Y: Fast-growing company; operates in highly competitive , low margin industry 5-Y: Solid company; operates with advantage such as strong marketing channels, recognizable brand name, or regulatory advantage 10-Y: Outstanding growth company; operates with very high barriers to entry, dominant market position or prospectsPrice-to-book Ratio Valuation by Price-to-book Ratio: Current EY% or Rolling 4Q EY% ;gt; 6% CU EY%: 6. 23 R-4Q EY%: 7. 05 4. 26 60 Current DY% or Rolling 4Q DY% ;gt; 6% CU DY%: 3. 06 R-4Q DY%: 3. 58 Current Cash Return% or MRQ Cash Return% ;gt; 6% 62 CU CR%: 4% Quarterly Financial Performance MRQ CR%: 2% Increasing revenue Increasing net profit Increasing EPS Jun-12's EPS ? 15% from Jun-11 Jun-11 Sep-11 Dec-11 Mar-12 Jun-12 13,059 11,064 11,389 11,027 14,122 1,313 0. 22 1,074 0. 18 1,101 0. 18 876 0. 15 1,099 0. 18 -16% Sime Darby COMPANY BACKGROUND Sime Darby Berhad is a multinational company which was established in 1910; a British businessman William Sime and Henry Darby established Sime, Darby & Co. and is based in Malaysia. Sime Darby is also involved in key growth sector of the national economy, plantations, property, motors, energy & utilities and healthcare. Business activities include oil palm and the company's original business, the manufacture of rubber tires, heavy equipment and motor vehicle distribution, property development, power generation, and engineering services.Other operations include the manufacture of paints, cooling tourism product manufacturing, and tourism services, hospitals, and golf courses. Sime Darby is listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on the main board. The company is the largest in Southeast Asia and the largest multinational companies in Malaysia. They operate in more than 20 countries and have around 100,000 employees worldwide. William Middleton Sime, a traveler f rom Scotland. In his efforts to be successful, he has to face two times a failure in the import-export business and other coffee farm when he left his job as a mercantile assistant in Singapore.Henry Darby was a wealthy 50-year-old English banker who owned property in Northern Malaya. The organization is well known in the field of global business and is also experienced in the field of business. They have a wide range of industries such as Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad and Golden Hope Plantations Berhad for combined and created as a new organization with the mission and vision and new goals. VISION To be a leading multinational corporation delivering sustainable value to all stakeholders. MISSION 1. We are committed to developing a winning portfolio of sustainable businesses; 2.We subscribe to good corporate governance and high ethical values; 3. We continuously strive to deliver superior financial returns through operational excellence and high performance standards; and 4. We provide an environment for our people to realize their full potential. CORE AND RELATED BUSINESS Sime Darby is a key player in the Malaysian economy as well as a diversified multinational involved in key growth sectors, namely, plantations, property, motors, industrial equipment, energy ; utilities and healthcare with operations in more than 20 countries. . Sime Darby Plantation Sime Darby Plantation is the largest oil palm plantation in the world to produce about 2. 4 million tons or 6% of the production of crude palm oil (CPO) is the world every year, making the Sime Darby Plantation as sustainable producers of edible oils in the world. Sime Darby has two operations, namely: I. Upstream operations Sime Darby Plantation has an area of 682. 616 hectares in Malaysia and Indonesia, with the rest of the oil palm planted area of 519. 620 hectares. It has a total of 200 fields and 64 oil mills in the two countries.Outside Asia, starting from January 2010 has expanded its upstream operations to Lib eria in Africa. Overall, Sime Darby Plantation has 200,000 hectares in Liberia, where 1. 190 hectares have been planted with oil palm until 31 January 2012. As a key player in keeping the industry, Sime Darby plantation division using best practices. 329. 225 of this part have been planting trees for rare and endangered in the next three years, as part of its commitment towards ensuring a more reserved nature. Trees are grown mainly in the area of the holding company, while partially buried along with other companies.II. Downstream Operations Sime Darby Plantation downstream operations operate in 15 countries, covering the production and distribution of oil and fat products for biodiesels, oleochemicals, and nutraceuticals. It is divided into two segments namely based food and non-food segments carried by eight refineries located in : * Malaysia (Sime Darby Jomalina Sdn Bhd, Sime Darby Kempas Sdn Bhd and Sime Darby Austral Co. , Ltd. ) * Singapore (Sime Darby Edible Products Limited ) * Thailand (Morakot Industries Public Company Ltd) Vietnam (Golden Hope – Nha Be Oils Sdn Bhd) * Netherlands (Sime Darby Unimills B. V. ) * South Africa (Sime Darby Hudson ; Knight (M) Sdn Bhd) III. Food Sime Darby Plantation also produces and markets a variety of consumer goods such as cooking oil, fruit juice and cooks the sauce for the Malaysian market. Sime Darby Jomalina which is a subsidiary of Sime Darby Berhad produce refined palm oil and palm kernel oil products which include shortening, industrial margarine, frying palm oil, milk fat replacement, vegetable ghee and cooking oil.Also produce oil for frying, application in dairy products, dyes and as a food for the domestic market and for export to Japan, Hong Kong, Europe and the United States. Sime Darby also niche product the following: * Special Animal Fat Substitute (Safar) – A substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in food products, * Jomalina Quality Assurance (JGQ) products – products made fr om palm oil with a low content of saturated fatty acids, * Golden Joma Red Olein – Red Palm Oil with beta carotene content is very high. IV. Research ; DevelopmentSime Darby Plantation is a leader in the research ; development of oil palm, and was the first company in the world to successfully compile, assemble and annotate the oil palm genome. Breakthroughs will allow scientists and our research staff to identify markers for the valuable features such as features yield, disease resistance and drought tolerance, and use these markers to breed a new generation of oil palm. The Division now has more than 200 scientists and researchers, who conducted various studies on the efficacy results, best practices, quality, best agricultural practices and food ingredients.Division also has a fully operational along the palm oil value chain – from farm to food on the table, He took himself one of the cheapest foods in the form of oil-estate estate, processing of this material in it s own farm and later in its own filter factories, and finally, it is also processed cooking oil for domestic market. As a fully integrated player, this means that it can control the quality at every stage by using best practices in all layers of palm oil value chain.This process is done by thinking of the environment and quality, ensuring that while providing a valuable material for the needs of the world, our earth is also protected through best practices. 2. Sime Darby Property Sime Darby Plantation is a leader in research ; development of oil palm, and was the first company in the world to successfully compile, assemble and annotate the genome of oil palm. The Division has been fully operational along the palm oil value chain – from farm to food on the table.It released a self cheapest food in the form of coconut plantation estate, the processing of these materials in their own farm and then at refineries themselves, and finally, it is also processed cooking oil for the lo cal market. As a fully integrated player, this means that it can control the quality at every stage by using best practices in all walks of palm oil value chain. This process is done by thinking of the environment and quality, to ensure that when providing valuable material for the needs of the world, our earth is also protected through best practices.Sime Darby Property is one of the leading property developers in Malaysia. It is also the largest developers in the country in terms of land area savings. It now has 19. 000 acres of land and has identified savings of 18. 800 acres of land for future development. Sime Darby Property's core businesses are property development, property investment, hospitality & leisure and operations in China. Apart from Malaysia, it has a wide range of projects in five countries, namely, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Australia and the United Kingdom.Over the past few years, Sime Darby Property has built 10 townships that house a total of 80,000 families a nd 400,000 people throughout the Klang Valley and Penang, the Ara Damansara, Subang Jaya, USJ Heights, Putra Heights, Bukit Jelutong, Bandar Bukit Raja, Nature Trail, Melawati, The Dream and Planter's Haven. Sime Darby Property also rates limit investment property in Malaysia such as Sime Darby Pavilion is a 3-storey office building in Shah Alam, Sime Darby Complex is a 4 – ? torey office building, Wisma Guthrie is a six storey purpose built office building in Damansara Heights, Wisma Sime Darby is a 22 storey office building in Jalan Raja Laut, Wisma UEP is a 11-storey office building in Subang Jaya. Sime Darby Property has built a variety of hospitality in Malaysia such as Sime Darby Convention Centre (SDCC) which was officially launched on December 6, 2007 by the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Resumes Operations since February 2006 at the Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.Hospitaliti such as PNB Darby Park Executive Suites Start operations in June 2000 at the Kuala Lumpur. Harvard atmosphere Hotels in Bedong, Kedah. Genting View Resort in Genting Highlands, Pahang. Subang Avenue Service Suites in Subang Jaya and Hotel Equatorial Melaka in the Lower Town, Melaka. 3. Sime Darby Industrial Sime Darby Industrial is a leading distributor of premium heavy equipment in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region.It offered a comprehensive range of products and support services equipment in key markets such as plantations, property, mining, marine construction, forestry, ports and power systems sectors. Sime Darby Industrial is also the fifth largest Caterpillar dealer in the world and operates the largest Caterpillar dealership network in the Asia Pacific region, with more than 100 branches covering more than 20 countries. Heavy equipment business spans across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Christmas Island, the Maldives, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.To market in Malaysia, Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd offers a compre hensive list of heavy equipment and services, from the sale of machinery, new engines and equipment rental services through a network until CAT Rental Stores outlets nationwide. Other brands represented include: * Premium Terberg Terminal Tractor * Kubota Tractor and Agricultural Transplanters * Transport tractor New Holland * Perkins engines * GE Pipeline Inspection * Atlas Copco (in Vietnam) * Jacobsen Turf Care Equipment * Former operator of Omega 4. Sime Darby MotorsSime Darby Motors is one of the leading players of the automotive industry and automotive luxury in Malaysia, Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand, with business activities that vary from country to country, including import, assembly, distribution and sale of the vehicle. This represents the various brands and luxury brands such as BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Jaguar and Lamborghini, Hyundai, Land Rover, Alfa Romeo, Ford, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Ssang Yong, Jeep, Dodge, McLaren, Suzuki, Chrysler, Audi, Ferra ri, Maserati, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mazda and Chevrolet.Sime Darby Motors is also the third largest BMW dealer in the world, while Rolls Roycenya representation in East China is one of the largest in the world in 2011. This section is a dealer for McLaren to Hong Kong, the franchise up for grabs. It also has a distribution business for Huanghai Bus, Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and buses in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as electric vehicles Smith, apart from organizing Sime Darby Fleet Servicing Australia 4WD, 2WD, bus rental and mechanical services for industry leading market experts and government regional tourism market in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.In terms of installation, Sime Darby Motors to install a variety of Hyundai passenger cars and commercial vehicles, other than passenger vehicles Land Rover and BMW through its subsidiaries, the Corporation Inokom in Kulim, Kedah. It also has the Hertz car rental business in Malaysia and Singapore. With a good distributi on network in the Asia Pacific region, the Automotive Division Sime Darby ready for a bright future. 5. Sime Darby Energy ; Utilities Sime Darby Energy ; Utilities has core businesses in the Engineering Services, Ports ; Logistics, Power and Water Management.It is supported by a staff of more than 1,000 people in all of our operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China. I. Power With plants in Malaysia and Thailand, we have a combined gross capacity of 590MW. Operations in Malaysia which is located in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan have a capacity of 440MW of electricity while operating in Thailand at Laem Chabang has two power plants with an installed capacity of 100MW and 50MW respectively. II. Engineering Services Led by Mecomb Group, a unit of engineering services division is supported by a variety of reputable products that provide solutions and value-added engineering services.Mecomb Group is headquartered in Singapore and has operations in Malaysia and Thailand. III. P orts ; Logistics Port operations and logistics division is based in Shangdong province, China. There are three ports that operate at this time – a sea port handles general cargo and bulk in Bohai Bay, Weifang and two river ports handling coal and general cargo along the Grand Canal in Jining. A new coal handling terminal being planned in Jining. Port's current capacity to reach about 30 million tones per year with plans to expand further into the target handling capacity of 60 million tones per ear. We hope to become a major player in the arena harbor and logistics in China in the next five years. IV. Water Management Water management unit is headquartered in Shandong province of China, comprising Weifang Sime Darby Water Management Co. Ltd and Zibo Chemical Co. Ltd Sime Darby. Established in 2005, Weifang Sime Darby Water Management Co Ltd has a capacity of 140. 0003 per day, supplying clean water to the Hua Hai and surrounding industrial areas. Sime Darby Zibo Chemical Co. Ltd. Zibo) was incorporated in March 2007 to produce polyaluminium chloride at a capacity of four tones per year for use in water treatment plants Weifang Sime Darby Water. 6. Sime Darby Healthcare Sime Darby Healthcare is a leader in the private healthcare industry, and aspires to be the gold standard of health care providers in the Asia Pacific region. This section consists of five private entities, namely: – * Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya (SDMC SJ) – our flagship tertiary care 393-bed hospital * Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah (SDSC Megah) – our outpatient and daycare * Sime Darby Nursing & Health Sciences College Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara (SDMC AD) – Centres of Excellence for Brain, Heart and Spine & Joint * Sime Darby Medical Centre Parkcity (SDMC Parkcity) – will open in 2013 This division was established on 21 October 2008 when the first three entities were rebranded under the brand name of Sime Darby. Sime Darby He althcare offers a range of special services for health care related to Customers, from emergency care, disease; management to screening services and more terrorism as follows: * Dietetics Services Dr Golf * Health Screening Centre * Imaging and Diagnostics * Breast Care Centre * Subang Fertility Centre * Obesity Clinic * Menstrual Clinic * Nuclear Medicine & PET / CT Centre * Vascular & Interventional Radiology Centre * Stone Centre * Digestive and Liver Health Clinic * Blood Disease Centre In addition to health care for Patients, Sime Darby Healthcare Patient Services Banjarmasin also rates offers for hire offer Home Care Nursing Services, International Patient Services, Medical Reports and Accommodation ServicesIt institutions, SDMC SJ, is one of the leading private hospitals in Malaysia. Internationally recognized, private hospitals with advanced facilities, this is the only private hospital that has won the Prime Minister's Quality Award twice. Today, SDMC SJ has 393 beds, 93 su ites and 14 theaters clinic, keep up to 1,800 patients and 300 patients per day. The hospital also offers the latest state of the art equipment such as scanners 64-slice PET / CT, 3-Tesla MRI, High Dose 3D brachytherapy system, dual-source CT scanner and TomoTherapy Hi-Art System for the treatment of cancer.SDMC AD had the first private Brain Centre of Excellence in Malaysia, with a comprehensive epilepsy management system as well as full and advanced facilities for treatment. Sime Darby Healthcare is planning to open another medical center renamed Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity in 2013. Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity will operate as a comprehensive center of excellence dedicated to women and children with a focus on breast oncology, child development and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes. 7. Other BusinessesI. Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Ltd Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn. Ltd. is a joint venture between Sime Darby Berhad and Tesco plc. Its inception in the year 2 001, show that the Sime Darby owns 30% interest in the joint venture. Tesco currently operates 40 hypermarkets in the country. II. Insurance Broking and Agency Sime Darby Lockton Insurance Brokers Sdn Bhd (Sime Darby Lockton) is one of the leading professional risk services in Malaysia, which specialized in the specialty risk insurance and takaful solutions.The company is the result of a union between Sime Darby Berhad and Lockton, the risk of a service company to the 9 largest in the world. With active involvement in insurance services since early 1930 in Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, Sime Darby Lockton has more than 80 dedicated professionals, highly trained and knowledgeable in their respective fields. Sime Darby Lockton is licensed and regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Almost 200 years ago, Britons growers have established rubber plantations in Malaya and mostly planted with oil palm.Among the pioneers-pioneers is Alexander Guthr ie, Daniel and Smith Harrison, Joseph Crosfield, William Sime and Henry d'Esterre and Herbert Mitford Darby who is the founder of three large companies today are Sime Darby Berhad. Alexander Guthrie Guthrie & Co established. in Singapore in 1821 as the first British trading company in Southeast Asia. Guthrie introduced rubber and palm oil in Malaysia in 1896 and 1924. Daniel and Smith Harrison and Joseph Crosfield also formed a trading partnership tea and coffees are known as Harrisons & Crosfield in England in 1844. Harrisons & Crosfield bought several small farms in Malaysia of ? 0,000 and they came together to form Golden Hope Rubber Estate. In 1982, Harrison and Crossfield have sold three large plantation groups, Golden Hope, Pataling, and London Asiatic to Malaysian concerns for ? 146 million. Business name was changed to Golden Hope Plantations Berhad in 1990 after taking majority Nasional Berhad capitalization equity. In January 2007, three giant Malaysia (Sime Darby, Guthrie and Golden Hope) incorporated into the entity named Synergy Drive vehicle and on 27 November 2007, Synergy Drive renamed Sime Darby Berhad. Entity that combines three different companies in Malaysia are multinational workforce of 104. 00 Malaysian workers. Its core businesses are plantations, property, motor, heavy equipment and energy & utilities that are expected to benefit from continued population growth and economic development in the Asia Pacific region and the global economy. Non-core business unit of Sime Darby as health care, insurance, and home products grouped under Allied Products and Services division (APS). Subsidiary under the APS including Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya (formerly known as Subang Jaya Medical Centre) (health care), Sime Alexander Forbes (insurance), and Dunlopillo Malaysia Sdn Bhd (home products).It also has a controlling stake in the supermarket chain Tesco in Malaysia. Sime Darby is a multinational company, with more than 60 percent of the g roup's revenue comes from overseas. As a result of the merger, Sime Darby became one of the leading companies listed on the world's palm oil plantations. Sime Darby Berhad also has a significant presence in downstream palm oil. The merger also made Sime Darby a leading developer of residential and commercial community. Additionally, it holds the rights Caterpillar in 12 countries worldwide and distribution and distributor brands like BMW motor.Current President and Chief Executive Officer of the Group is Dato ‘Mohd Bakke Saleh. Sime Darby brand now more than 100 years old even though it does not explain how these companies are just starting with a small shop in Malacca memoirs starting in 1910. It is the legacy of the three companies that create Sime Darby today. PROBLEM Although Sime darby a giant plantation company in the world, they still have problems such as the company's internal operations and management models that lack of transparency, poor governance, red tape, and m isconduct (moral hazard) that may affect the business.This is a result of the merger of three companies Golden Hope Limited. , Guthrie Bhd. and Sime Darby Bhd. through Synergy Drive to form a giant company where five times of its original size. With the merger of these companies have the inherent problems of bureaucracy and management. In May 2010, the Energy and Utilities Division has reported large losses where four projects the Energy and Utilities Division, including Qatar Petroleum, Maersk Oil Qatar, Marine and Bakun Dam, delayed because of bad management, leading to increased costs exceeded estimates and lead to a loss of RM1. 31 billion. As a result of these losses, Sime Darby has experienced the loss of market value of RM6. 37 billion in the period of one month from the RM52. 94 billion to RM46. 57 billion. Sime Darby has experienced a net loss of RM308. 63 million in the third quarter. Sime Darby yet to recover from past losses continued to be constrained problems associate d with neighboring countries, namely Indonesia.Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad was ordered to pay the civil claim to the Indonesian company PT Adhiyasa Saranamas more than USD25 million. Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad plans to capture asset PT Holdico power was taken over by the National Banking Penyehatan Agency (IBRA) owned by the Indonesian government. PT Adhiyasa Saranamas was appointed by Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad as an intermediary for the acquisition of PT Holdico Power, including its subsidiaries and assets of the company including oil palm plantations in several cities.Problems began to arise when the Guthrie Berhad has agreed to pay 7% of the transaction value results for Adhiyasa been breached by the Guthrie Berhad resulting in a Malaysian government-owned companies have been accused of breach of contract because of delayed payments promised to Adhiyasa. Sime Darby has also suffered huge losses during the financial crisis era asia 1997 when the stock market plummeted, which recorded a los s of Rs 1. 6 billion, of which the largest level in the history of banking in Malaysia. REFERENCES http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/history2/20/Sime-Darby-Berhad. tml http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sime_Darby http://www. simedarby. com/default. aspx http://www. simedarbyplantation. com/default. aspx http://siffusuffi. blogspot. com/2010_06_01_archive. html http://www. utusan. com. my/utusan/info. asp? y=2010&dt=0524&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Korporat&pg=ko_02. htm http://teamoverdraf. blogspot. com/2010/11/masalah-pada-syarikat-sime-darby. html http://jommelabur. wordpress. com/2010/05/13/kerugian-sime-darby-apa-yang-aku-faham/ http://razali01. blogspot. com/2010/08/sime-darby-hadapi-masalah-lagi-kali-ini. html

The Foundations Of Roman Empire’s Success

During the ancient times, imperialism was not a very uncommon phenomenon. Those were the days wherein bloodsheds happened almost everyday—those were the days wherein land conquests were the emerging trend and helmets, shields and heavy armory are considered as distinct fashion statements. Although fear and anxiety crippled the lives of many individuals, it cannot be denied that imperialism is one of those unforgettable events that readily shaped and moved the face of history. Generally speaking, the word empire originated from the Latin expression â€Å"imperium (Howe 13). Imperium, in return, translates to exercising sovereignty and authority. In the meantime, emperor is the title given to empire rulers. However, it is important to note that emperors go beyond being a political figure. More often than not, an emperor is viewed as someone who has the skills and influence of a military person. One of the most celebrated empires that have ever existed on this planet is the Roma n Empire. It is known for its wide scope and reach. Long before sea explorers have circumnavigated the world, the Roman Empire has already conquered the Western horizon. For the founders of these regimes, the act of observing authority and sovereignty translates to two core concepts. First, to achieve authority, more lands should be conquered, thus waging or creating wars is a must. Second, in order to ensure sovereignty, laws should be established and fully implemented. The success of the Roman Empire is indeed a notable one. Its major accomplishments remained unmatched and it had certainly contributed to the creation of civilization’s main pillars. Despite of the fact that the empire suffered from an ill-fated decline, it cannot be denied that its victory came about because of successful law implementations, efficient leaders and of course, a complex and highly organized military system wherein defeat was close to being non-existent. Roman Empire A Brief Overview From 509 BC to 264 BC, it would be too hard to imagine that Rome was actually plagued by different threats and invasion attacks (Spielgovel 75). It never occurred to anyone that this great empire was once belittled by those who attempted to conquer it. However, instead of perishing into oblivion, the darkest times of the Roman Empire worked well to its advantage. The scourge that almost annihilated it, turned out to be its greatest blessing. Instead of accepting its ill fate, the Roman Empire decided to strengthen their military force. The empire knew that if it has the strength and the necessary skills, it would not only defend its territories, it can also conquer other domains and therefore exercise its power and authority. The Roman Republic played an important role in the empire’s growth. Once and for all, the institution permitted the fusion of the government and the military rule (Spielvogel 76). In this case, the military, since it has a political function can participate on how to embark on their missions rather than waiting for the rulers’ permission (Spielvogel 76). This set-up also allowed Rome to further develop their army’s strengths and skills. These efforts did not go in vain. By the time 266 BC came, Rome has finally taken over the whole Italian peninsula (â€Å"Roman Empire†). Yet, the empire’s strength was further highlighted when it was able to conquer Carthage (Spielvogel 79). Carthage is an important domain for the empire. Aside from the fact that it controlled trade in the Mediterranean, it was also a strategic location (Spielvogel 79). Even though Hannibal, a renowned Carthage general was popular for his military skill and prowess, he has no matched for the newly reformed Roman army (Spielvogel 79). Carthage’s unfortunate loss meant that Spain, Sicily and North Africa would soon become Rome’s provinces (â€Å"Roman Empire†). Soon, Rome’s territory extended to Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Greece and modern France (â€Å"Roman Empire†). The Pillars of Success One of the main reasons behind the formidable success of the Roman Empire can be attributed to its seemingly invincible army (Whittock 14). More than anything else, it is the empire’s military that is responsible for its glory and prestige. Even in recent years, the elite Roman Army symbolizes the bastion of highly remarkable skills in combat and warfare. If Roman politics did contribute, this is simply secondary to what the army did. As Christopher Mackay described, the Roman Empire’s political triumph was primarily based on militarism (p. 59). In land conquests, it is the army that ensures the defeat of the empire’s enemy. This is something that cannot be readily accomplished by the ruling politicians of Rome. In addition to that, defending the empire from unexpected counter-attacks was also performed by the military. It is for this reason that the Roman army can be described as one of Rome’s main pillars and foundations. The Roman Army readily reflected its Greek influences (Whittock 14). However, one of the striking differences was that it was more organized and it continued to improve as the empire invaded more lands or territories. In the beginning, military men were ranked according to their respective social classes (Whittock 14). Those who have the means have the privilege of wearing armored suits that can protect them throughout the battle (Whittock 14). However, the lower classes had to purchase their own battle gears (Whittock 14). On a critical perspective, this situation was really unfair to those who are at the bottom of the economic hierarchy. To risk their lives in war wherein there is uncertainty of whether they will go home alive or not, cannot be really described as a noble activity. Therefore, loyalty in this case cannot be assured (â€Å"The Roman Army†). Later on, joining the military became a profitable source of income for those who wanted to take part in the group (Whittock 14). Basically, the discrepancies based on social class slowly disappeared. Being a military man became a profession (Whittock 14). Those who were enlisted were given gold coins and a piece of land upon there retirement (Whittock 14). This particular reform appealed to many. On a much closer examination, soldiers often have to worry not only about the injuries that they may suffer in the war. They are also worried about leaving their families behind. More than anyone else, they need security. The gold coins and the piece of land gave these individuals the assurance that they have something to come back for. In a sense, this also served as a motivational force for them to continue fighting and win wars (â€Å"The Roman Army†). It was also this reform that paved the way for the Roman Empire’s notable legion (Whittock 14). On the other hand, it was not only the benefits of being a military man that inspired the Roman Army to win. According to Whittock, the army was also very strict and highly disciplined when it comes to their training (p. 15). As a matter of fact, the group even built practice camps so that they can handle their opponents very well (Whittock 15). Relatively, as the army subdued more lands, the size of the army became bigger and bigger and as the old saying goes, there is indeed strength in numbers. There was an overflowing supply of soldiers needed to win the battle. There were also craftsmen, engineers and swordsmen, ready to build the necessary infrastructures to build the city of Rome and the weapons that they need in the war. Rome indeed suffered during the early years, but still they emerged as the victorious one in the end. As Roberts described it â€Å"Rome usually lost its first battle but always won the last (p. 306). † Aside from the military strength that the empire once possessed, another reason for its success can be attributed to the emperors’ efficient leadership. This is most especially true as for the case of Augustus (Potter xiii). Under his rule, Rome was still at the onset of recovering from the ravages of war and series of political upheaval (â€Å"Roman Empire†). It is also important to note that Augustus replaced Caesar who was then assassinated (â€Å"Roman Empire†). In this case, civil unrest was indeed, inevitable. However, the moment that he was put on power, he made various political reforms, which are primarily patterned on strengthening family relationships, thus making the empire more united (Potter xiii). As Sheffer mentioned, Augustus represents the â€Å"innovative leadership (p. 26). It was under his rule that Pax Romana was basically achieved, thus giving the empire a more stable and dependable government (â€Å"Roman Empire†). He reconstructed the Senate (â€Å"Roman Empire†) and it was also under his regime that land grants and retirement benefits were given to the military (Wells 18). Consequently, the foundations established by Augustus gave the succeeding emperors a framework wherein they can efficiently rule the government. Good leadership did not only bring stability, it also garnered the support and loyalty of the Roman public. Given this situation at hand, the next rulers of Rome simply needed to continue what Augustus started. Lastly it cannot be denied that the creation of a legal system (Saxonhouse) sustained the success of the Roman Empire. If there is a government, then it follows that a set of rules should be applied. This will ensure that the decisions made by politicians would be of service of the whole populace. In addition to that, the legal system assured that the people are systematically governed, thus preventing total anarchy. Conclusion Indeed, without the military, the Roman Empire would never be established. However, if not for its strong leader such as Augustus, for example, managing Rome and its colonies would soon turn into a disaster. Moreover, the legal system ensured that the interests of the majority shall overcome the interests of the few.