Germany Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Germany Project - Essay Example Stories like Binjamin Wilkomirski's Fragments are acknowledged with no confirmation. Truth be told, to scrutinize a survivor story is to hazard the instance of being called hostile to Semitic. Finkelstein has called attention to that the present society needs to be casualties. Regardless of whether a Jew, African American, Native American, gay, lady, or other minority gatherings, individuals need to have a place with a casualty gathering. While Finkelstein did escalated research, his utilization of symbolism and shocking words make this story somewhat less dependable. In the event that he would have adhered to simply the realities, Finkelstein may have shown signs of improvement. Finkelstein calls attention to that genuine history is being disregarded for a misrepresented celebrated record that misuses the genuine Jewish enduring in the 'Nazi holocaust'. At the point when first moving toward this book, numerous perusers may think Finkelstein is being against Semitic. Anyway Finkelste in raises some valid statements. His primary concern is the Nazi holocaust occurred. It is an authentic occasion. The Nazis perpetrated violations against mankind. Finkelstein recognizes that the Nazi holocaust wasn't right, yet he needs the world to identify will all endures not simply the Jews of the Nazi holocaust. His point is war and barbarities have occurred since the start of man and still happen. These abominations are repulsive; the Nazi holocaust isn't any less ghastly, however not more awful than some other monstrosity. By utilizing the Holocaust as reference point to energize individuals to the Jewish reason disrespects the people in question and survivors. He clarifies: The cases of Holocaust uniqueness are mentally desolate and ethically discreditable, yet they persevere. The inquiry is, Why? In any case, one of a kind enduring presents remarkable qualification. The extraordinary malice of the Holocaust, as per Jacob Neusner, separates Jews from others, yet additionall y gives Jews a guarantee upon those others. (Finkelstein 25) All human enduring ought to be felt for, not simply the enduring during the Nazi holocaust. This isn't to reduce or excuse the Nazi holocaust, just to place it in appropriate viewpoint. Finkelstein proposes after World War II nobody in America, or around the globe thought about the Nazi holocaust. A few antiquarians conjecture that Jews would not like to talk or offer about their loathsome experience. Finkelstein excuses this hypothesis. He accepts that nobody needed to know or consider it, particularly in America. Finkelstein clarifies: The standard clarification is that Jews were damaged by the Nazi holocaust and consequently subdued its memory. Truth be told, there is no proof to help this end. Most likely a few survivors didn't at that point or, besides, in later years need to talk about what had occurred. Numerous others, be that as it may, especially needed to talk and, when the event benefited itself, wouldn't quit talking. The issue was that Americans would not like to tune in. (Finkelstein 9) Even American Jews would not like to tune in. After the war everybody needed to disregard the monstrosities of World War II. The Allies had won. It was a period for triumph, not time to recollect what number of Jews had kicked the bucket. The Holocaust Industry started after the United States began backing Israel as a feature of US Foreign Policy. At the point when Israel battled the War of Independence America carefully upheld the Arabs because of the oil in the district. It didn't seem as though Israel would endure. Anyway after Israel won, yet multiplied their territory size, the US began

The Power Above essays

The Power Above articles In the steady quest for progressively proficient wellsprings of vitality, sun based force clearly shows a lot of guarantee. The sun will last longer than any people will, hence this is one of the main sustainable common assets of vitality that has been found. Sunlight based cells, or photovoltaics, convert light vitality into electrical vitality. Albeit the vast majority of the vitality isn't changed over to power, they run at a low enough cost that there mechanical productivity fundamentally gets unimportant. Photovoltaics offer probably the best open doors presently accessible in the vitality creation field, at any rate assuming the rainclouds hold back. The surprisingly high unwavering quality of photovoltaic cells assists with saving them a suitable choice for elective vitality sources, if not the most reasonable. These cells initially were made for space, where fix of hardware is very exorbitant, if even conceivable by any means. Photovoltaics can work however for a considerable length of time at once with practically no support at all. Truth be told, sun powered cells remain the regularly utilized force source in satellites for that very explanation. Obviously, the best part about daylight is something each American, and most likely every individual on the planet, prefers without a doubt. Daylight is free, and most definitely, boundless! Because of the low support and absence of moving parts on the photovoltaics, they are perfect for places where upkeep is expensive or just not doable in any capacity whatsoever. In this way, sun oriented force comes at an ostensible expense to the buyer and to organizations. With an unnatural weather change on the ascent, nature has become a significant worry of America, however of almost every nation on the planet. Petroleum derivative outflows have harmed the climate for a considerable length of time, making this nursery impact. Atomic force presents the consistent danger of atomic emergency. Definitely hardly any propelled nations would place all their capacity assets into another Chernobyl episode. ... <!

Essay Topics Can Be Used to Make an Effective Essay

Essay Topics Can Be Used to Make an Effective EssayThe power of essay topics is something that is often overlooked by many high school students and college students alike. This article will explain why. Most students do not know why essay topics are important, but they should. If you do not know why essay topics are important, you should read this article.Your essay will be read in a lot of different ways by the reader needs to know. Many people tend to leave the topic in the hands of the students. This is a mistake for a couple of reasons. First, the student could change the topic. Second, the student could leave the topic open-ended, meaning they left themselves room for interpretation.When you think about it, you must really want to give your reader the information needed in order to get them excited about what you have to say. These are the reasons why you must include an essay topic.The reason why essay topics are so important is because it gives the reader something to chew on and they will tend to remember what you said much better. The reason for this is the essay topic itself is something that they can use to make a decision about what they want to know. Once they know what they want to know, they will be able to remember it easily.Remember, it is the hard work that really matters. The problem is that many students do not apply the appropriate amount of hard work that is needed to make an essay effective. What you must remember is that the last thing that you want to do is waste time making an essay. If you go through the problem from beginning to end, it will be far easier to create an essay that will be able to be read.Of course, the other issue is that the student should understand what he or she is writing an essay. If the student thinks it is a general report, he or she will be very difficult to get. A student who thinks his or her essay is supposed to be just a general report, or a report about something a bit more general will have even greater difficulties. The main thing is to make sure that the student understands what he or she is doing is an essay.Essay topics need to be something that a student thinks about long and hard. If the student wants to put a lot of extra thought into the topic, it will be far easier to write an essay that the student will remember. Once the student has a good idea of what he or she is writing, it will be easy to work on the essay.Remember, this writing process is to be used to put together a basic piece of writing that will be read by many people. A student who is able to make something great out of this writing process will be able to remember it and read it over again. Good writing takes a lot of hard work, and in order to produce good writing, you must use the proper essay topics.

Nursing as a Discipline - 1565 Words

Nursing as a Discipline: It’s Interrelationship with Philosophy, Science and Ethics Raymund Christopher R. dela Pena Saint Louis University The discipline of nursing is concerned with how nurses interact with people in relation to their health and within their total environment. Nursing at its core is caring for people within their health experience. The effective nurse is able to think critically, feel deeply, communicate clearly, interact meaningfully, assume responsibility, exhibit a thirst for knowledge and act morally. The discipline of nursing slowly evolved from the traditional role of women, apprenticeship, humanitarian aims, religious ideals, intuition, common sense, trial and error, theories, and research,†¦show more content†¦Spiegelberg (1982) believed that science had failed to be exact because it had not clearly described the essence of things before they were put into theoretical statement. Futhermore, Husserl (1932) writes that philosophy is fundamental to science and they have a reciprocal relationship. He views that philosophy and science as sharing a mutual relationship. Science provided the nursing profession breakthroughs on the different aspects of the nursing field. Philosophy enhanced the understanding of nurses on the application of this knowledge from science. I want to compare these two disciplines to a nurse who administers a pain reliever to a patient. The nurse’ ability to know the medication, route, dosage, adverse reactions and contraindications of the drug is of scientific knowledge. This can be very helpful to the nurse to administer the drug correctly. But the nurse should have intuition for her to recognize the patterns of response of the patient to that drug. This will help the nurse to detect or even predict a change in the patients’ condition, and that is philosophy. And if after administering the drug, the patient is still in pain, the value of ethics comes in to provide and insight to the nurse on what intervention has to be made and what choices are possible and why. Ethics is a moral component of nursing. It is a guide for nurses when moral dilemmas arise in situations of ambiguityShow MoreRelatedConcepts of the Discipline of Nursing Essay1552 Words   |  7 PagesConcepts Central to the Discipline of Nursing In order to critically examine the concepts central to the discipline of nursing it is important to clarify my understanding of what constitutes a discipline. Nursing literature has led me to understand that a discipline can be, in simple terms, thought of as a field of study with a unique perspective which gives rise to the nature and scope of inquiry of that field and therefore leads to a specialized body of knowledge (Parker, M Smith, M, 2010).Read MoreNursing Process Discipline and Independent Nursing Essay1574 Words   |  7 PagesNursing process discipline is a nursing theory developed by nursing theorist, Ida Jean Orlando. This theory, one of the first written about the nursing process, was written to help establish nursing as an independent function in providing health care for a patient. Through this independent nursing function, Orlando developed her theory on the concept of the nurse-patient interaction. During that interaction the nurse recognizes a patient behavior a s an â€Å"†¦ immediate need for help† (George, 2011Read MoreNursing Community And The Utilisation Of The Discipline1669 Words   |  7 Pagestowards patient care, in today’s health care setting. This essay will initially analyse evidence-based practice in the nursing community and the utilisation of the discipline. In the next part, the author will examine the attitudes of the nurses and challenges in applying the discipline as well as provide solutions where appropriate. Evidenced based practice is a vital element in nursing. It is a process that includes research and patient preferences to achieve a optimum results towards the care providedRead MoreCommunity Health Nursing : A Diverse Discipline1766 Words   |  8 PagesCommunity Intervention Paper Community health nursing is a diverse discipline that works to provide equitable health care to all residents of Canada. To achieve this goal, nurses, within this discipline, aid community members in identifying public health concerns, planning feasible interventions, implementing appropriate action or policy, and evaluating the intervention process (Community Health Nurses of Canada, 2016). As part of my Nursing 431 Community Nursing course, I was able to participate in a hydrationRead MoreConcepts Within Nursing And Advanced Nurse Practice Discipline1866 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"The metaparadigm is part of the domain of the discipline† (Turkel, 2013, p.423). Person, health, environment, nursing, and research are concepts or domains within nursing and advanced nurse practice discipline. A further question originate the concept of teach, and how this concept can be part of each domain in the nursing metaparadigm. The concept of teach in the unitary caring paradigm is the integrality or continuing interaction of human and the environment. In the person domain, the conceptRead MoreThe Comfort Theory, By Catharine Kolcaba, The Tradition Of Nursing Discipline1893 Words   |  8 PagesAbstract In the Comfort Theory, proposed by Catharine Kolcaba, the tradition of nursing discipline - deriving theory from former disciplines is examined, and the notion of former healthcare disciplines deriving nursing theory has been recommended. A short literature review of plagiarized theory sets the position to examine the modification of the theory. She describes convenience as one of the mechanisms for the full rehabilitation of the patient, and the personal desire of the patient to recoveryRead MoreNursing Is A Distinct Discipline That Requires Specialized Knowledge On Human Response995 Words   |  4 PagesNursing is a distinct discipline that requires specialized knowledge on human response. Nurses must identify behaviors, emotions, norms, and preferences and use this information to reflect and alter their individual care for their patient. Understanding human response allows nurses to advocate, protect, and care for their patient. It also allows nurses to determine which route to g o when dealing with a patient. If they’ve encountered specific responses in the past they have a better understandingRead MoreNursing Has Evolved from Being an Occupation to Being a Profession and an Academic Discipline.1528 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the past decade nurse theorists and educationalists have been attempting to establish nursing as an academic discipline Nurse education is rapidly moving away from a single scientific or technical colleges of nursing into institutes of higher education. In this paper I had the privilege to discuss how Nursing has evolved from being an occupation to being a profession and an academic discipline. According to the Collins English Dictionary, An occupation isa persons regular work or profession;Read MoreAnalyzing The Attributes Of Different Methods Equips The Researcher1119 Words   |  5 Pagesattributes of different methods equips the researcher to select an appropriate approach to satisfy the aim of their inquiry. Rodgers (2005) and Risjord (2010) present two approaches to nursing knowledge development. This paper will compare and contrast Rodgers â€Å"problem-solving†(p. 177) method with Risjord’s â€Å"nursing standpoint† (p. 36). Rodgers provides a method that uses knowledge deficits in practice as the foundation for research. Risjord, on the other hand, acknowledges nurses’ lives and the perspectiveRead MoreNursing Knowledge Based On The Level Of Abstraction Essay1254 Words   |  6 PagesNursing knowledge is the result of incorporating what is known and understood through learning, research, experience, and theory. Knowledge depends on research and theory to provide a collective, str uctured, and current information. This information can be used to explore phenomena, answer questions, generate new theory, and solve problems. DNPs need to be familiar with the components and levels of abstraction in nursing knowledge. The way to comprehend this information is by using the structural

Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1094 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? During the last decade, banking industry has become highly competitive, resulting in many banks to use aggressive strategies in order to survive or maintain their respective share in the market. This tendency of these financial institutions to become more aggressive when confronted with competitive pressures has led many banks to fail. Banking industry has gone through significant changes and is continuing to undergo major structural alterations. This dynamic structure results in an uncertain environment for the industry. The recent financial crisis has raised a large number of concerns about the strength of the current banking system to provide stability to the financial markets. Banks taking too much risk are highly prone to fail. Banks may fail if equity is insufficient to provide a safe cushion to write down any non-performing loans. Before recent financial turmoil, banks were more concerned about their profitability. They attempted to maximize profits t o increase shareholders wealth by increasing their financial leverage. A large deposit base provided for high financial leverage for banks, while their equity cushion continued to diminish. Most banks were using a ratio of more than twenty times debt compared to their equity. Low level of equity provided a very small cushion for the banks in case of a financial turmoil. A bank with three percent equity could suffer a loss of all its shareholders wealth if it lost just a minor fraction of its loan assets. For example, bank with an equity base of 10 billion pounds and a loan base of as high as 300 billion pounds, would have lost all its equity with a decrease of 3.33 % in the value of its loan assets. Banks need to manage their liquidity risk with extreme caution. A bank that maintains to little liquid reserves can go bankrupt if it fails to meet its obligations on time. These obligations include payment on demand deposits and interest payments to depositors holding cash in thei r saving accounts. If the bank is holding too little cash, it can usually borrow money through inter-bank borrowing at the federal funds rate. However, at times of financial crisis the liquidity of the market could be low. In the recent financial crisis rumours about bank failures resulted in a run on banks. Depositors wanted to withdraw their money before a suspected bankruptcy. On a usual day banks only anticipate a certain maximum percentage of funds to be withdrawn and hence they maintain cash to meet regular operational needs. However, in case of a run on banks all depositors simultaneously appear at bank counters to withdraw their deposits. Such a panic situation can result in bankruptcy of any financially sound bank in a matter of hours. Liquidity risk requires active management, as too much liquidity can be as much of a problem as is too little liquidity. Banks operate in a highly competitive environment and they are always competing for deposits. Those banks that prov ide higher interest rates relative to competition are able to attract more deposits and thereby expand their operations. Those that provide low interest rates suffer the risk that depositors will withdraw their funds to banks, which pay a higher return. To provide a higher return a bank needs to make profitable loans to other parties. Extending loans for businesses and for consumers restrict the liquidity of the banks. Therefore, there is a trade-off involved and the management has to choose the optimum level between return and liquidity. An economic crisis results in high levels of unemployment and can cause the non-performing loans to increase significantly. Lack of diversification into various asset classes in financing loans can result in major bank failures. During the recent banking crisis, subprime lending was at its peak. A component that lacks diversification was the subprime mortgage lending. A large number of mortgagees were speculating on housing prices and did not ha ve sufficient means to pay the dues. Banks were lending on zero down payment options where the mortgage holder had a call option to exercise. If housing prices increase, the mortgagee can sell the house, pay the mortgage amount and make a profit without any investment. However, if housing prices go down the mortgagee only lost the payments made already, which acted as an option premium. As the housing market collapsed, the losses were to be borne by the banking industry. Mortgages are pooled together to form collateralized mortgage obligations. These securities make mortgages from illiquid investments into liquid securities that sell in the secondary market. The high interest rates paid on mortgages and the liquidity feature of the securities attracted investors to invest trillions. The high demand for mortgage-backed securities in turn resulted in too much capital availability to create excessive low quality mortgages. As economy staggered and unemployment increased a high rate of mortgage default created the subprime crisis resulting in many banks to fail. As competitive pressures, increase only banks with high level of efficiency can survive. Larger banks enjoy both economies of scale and economies of scope. In an economic downturn, small and medium banks cannot maintain their net interest margins and tend to respond weakly to competitive pressures. Therefore, in an attempt to survive banks initiate mergers and acquisitions. Through mergers, these banks aim to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in order to improve their net interest margins and survive the hard times. Mergers do not always attain their desired goals. Many times the managements do not get along well, at other times the estimated synergies of the merger tend to be overestimated. Also, valuation models could have been erroneous resulting in huge write down of goodwill assets in the years to come. This can also wipe away the equity of the bank and eventually cause a bank to fail. Banks seek to maintain an active match between their assets and liabilities. A large gap between assets and liabilities can result in adverse movements. If a bank has a positive gap, its assets are more interest rate sensitive than its liabilities. The goal of banks is to maintain minimum interest rate exposure and keep the gap at a minimum. At times bank management can get more ambitious and take bets on interest rate movements. In this case, an unexpected movement in interest rates can be disastrous for a bank. In conclusion, a bank can fail due to various reasons mostly because of poor risk management techniques. Banks could be lending aggressively and create a large pool of subprime assets or they could maintain too little liquidity to meet their obligations during a financial crisis. All these reasons together can cause a bank to fail. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1094 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? During the last decade, banking industry has become highly competitive, resulting in many banks to use aggressive strategies in order to survive or maintain their respective share in the market. This tendency of these financial institutions to become more aggressive when confronted with competitive pressures has led many banks to fail. Banking industry has gone through significant changes and is continuing to undergo major structural alterations. This dynamic structure results in an uncertain environment for the industry. The recent financial crisis has raised a large number of concerns about the strength of the current banking system to provide stability to the financial markets. Banks taking too much risk are highly prone to fail. Banks may fail if equity is insufficient to provide a safe cushion to write down any non-performing loans. Before recent financial turmoil, banks were more concerned about their profitability. They attempted to maximize profits t o increase shareholders wealth by increasing their financial leverage. A large deposit base provided for high financial leverage for banks, while their equity cushion continued to diminish. Most banks were using a ratio of more than twenty times debt compared to their equity. Low level of equity provided a very small cushion for the banks in case of a financial turmoil. A bank with three percent equity could suffer a loss of all its shareholders wealth if it lost just a minor fraction of its loan assets. For example, bank with an equity base of 10 billion pounds and a loan base of as high as 300 billion pounds, would have lost all its equity with a decrease of 3.33 % in the value of its loan assets. Banks need to manage their liquidity risk with extreme caution. A bank that maintains to little liquid reserves can go bankrupt if it fails to meet its obligations on time. These obligations include payment on demand deposits and interest payments to depositors holding cash in thei r saving accounts. If the bank is holding too little cash, it can usually borrow money through inter-bank borrowing at the federal funds rate. However, at times of financial crisis the liquidity of the market could be low. In the recent financial crisis rumours about bank failures resulted in a run on banks. Depositors wanted to withdraw their money before a suspected bankruptcy. On a usual day banks only anticipate a certain maximum percentage of funds to be withdrawn and hence they maintain cash to meet regular operational needs. However, in case of a run on banks all depositors simultaneously appear at bank counters to withdraw their deposits. Such a panic situation can result in bankruptcy of any financially sound bank in a matter of hours. Liquidity risk requires active management, as too much liquidity can be as much of a problem as is too little liquidity. Banks operate in a highly competitive environment and they are always competing for deposits. Those banks that prov ide higher interest rates relative to competition are able to attract more deposits and thereby expand their operations. Those that provide low interest rates suffer the risk that depositors will withdraw their funds to banks, which pay a higher return. To provide a higher return a bank needs to make profitable loans to other parties. Extending loans for businesses and for consumers restrict the liquidity of the banks. Therefore, there is a trade-off involved and the management has to choose the optimum level between return and liquidity. An economic crisis results in high levels of unemployment and can cause the non-performing loans to increase significantly. Lack of diversification into various asset classes in financing loans can result in major bank failures. During the recent banking crisis, subprime lending was at its peak. A component that lacks diversification was the subprime mortgage lending. A large number of mortgagees were speculating on housing prices and did not ha ve sufficient means to pay the dues. Banks were lending on zero down payment options where the mortgage holder had a call option to exercise. If housing prices increase, the mortgagee can sell the house, pay the mortgage amount and make a profit without any investment. However, if housing prices go down the mortgagee only lost the payments made already, which acted as an option premium. As the housing market collapsed, the losses were to be borne by the banking industry. Mortgages are pooled together to form collateralized mortgage obligations. These securities make mortgages from illiquid investments into liquid securities that sell in the secondary market. The high interest rates paid on mortgages and the liquidity feature of the securities attracted investors to invest trillions. The high demand for mortgage-backed securities in turn resulted in too much capital availability to create excessive low quality mortgages. As economy staggered and unemployment increased a high rate of mortgage default created the subprime crisis resulting in many banks to fail. As competitive pressures, increase only banks with high level of efficiency can survive. Larger banks enjoy both economies of scale and economies of scope. In an economic downturn, small and medium banks cannot maintain their net interest margins and tend to respond weakly to competitive pressures. Therefore, in an attempt to survive banks initiate mergers and acquisitions. Through mergers, these banks aim to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in order to improve their net interest margins and survive the hard times. Mergers do not always attain their desired goals. Many times the managements do not get along well, at other times the estimated synergies of the merger tend to be overestimated. Also, valuation models could have been erroneous resulting in huge write down of goodwill assets in the years to come. This can also wipe away the equity of the bank and eventually cause a bank to fail. Banks seek to maintain an active match between their assets and liabilities. A large gap between assets and liabilities can result in adverse movements. If a bank has a positive gap, its assets are more interest rate sensitive than its liabilities. The goal of banks is to maintain minimum interest rate exposure and keep the gap at a minimum. At times bank management can get more ambitious and take bets on interest rate movements. In this case, an unexpected movement in interest rates can be disastrous for a bank. In conclusion, a bank can fail due to various reasons mostly because of poor risk management techniques. Banks could be lending aggressively and create a large pool of subprime assets or they could maintain too little liquidity to meet their obligations during a financial crisis. All these reasons together can cause a bank to fail. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1094 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? During the last decade, banking industry has become highly competitive, resulting in many banks to use aggressive strategies in order to survive or maintain their respective share in the market. This tendency of these financial institutions to become more aggressive when confronted with competitive pressures has led many banks to fail. Banking industry has gone through significant changes and is continuing to undergo major structural alterations. This dynamic structure results in an uncertain environment for the industry. The recent financial crisis has raised a large number of concerns about the strength of the current banking system to provide stability to the financial markets. Banks taking too much risk are highly prone to fail. Banks may fail if equity is insufficient to provide a safe cushion to write down any non-performing loans. Before recent financial turmoil, banks were more concerned about their profitability. They attempted to maximize profits t o increase shareholders wealth by increasing their financial leverage. A large deposit base provided for high financial leverage for banks, while their equity cushion continued to diminish. Most banks were using a ratio of more than twenty times debt compared to their equity. Low level of equity provided a very small cushion for the banks in case of a financial turmoil. A bank with three percent equity could suffer a loss of all its shareholders wealth if it lost just a minor fraction of its loan assets. For example, bank with an equity base of 10 billion pounds and a loan base of as high as 300 billion pounds, would have lost all its equity with a decrease of 3.33 % in the value of its loan assets. Banks need to manage their liquidity risk with extreme caution. A bank that maintains to little liquid reserves can go bankrupt if it fails to meet its obligations on time. These obligations include payment on demand deposits and interest payments to depositors holding cash in thei r saving accounts. If the bank is holding too little cash, it can usually borrow money through inter-bank borrowing at the federal funds rate. However, at times of financial crisis the liquidity of the market could be low. In the recent financial crisis rumours about bank failures resulted in a run on banks. Depositors wanted to withdraw their money before a suspected bankruptcy. On a usual day banks only anticipate a certain maximum percentage of funds to be withdrawn and hence they maintain cash to meet regular operational needs. However, in case of a run on banks all depositors simultaneously appear at bank counters to withdraw their deposits. Such a panic situation can result in bankruptcy of any financially sound bank in a matter of hours. Liquidity risk requires active management, as too much liquidity can be as much of a problem as is too little liquidity. Banks operate in a highly competitive environment and they are always competing for deposits. Those banks that prov ide higher interest rates relative to competition are able to attract more deposits and thereby expand their operations. Those that provide low interest rates suffer the risk that depositors will withdraw their funds to banks, which pay a higher return. To provide a higher return a bank needs to make profitable loans to other parties. Extending loans for businesses and for consumers restrict the liquidity of the banks. Therefore, there is a trade-off involved and the management has to choose the optimum level between return and liquidity. An economic crisis results in high levels of unemployment and can cause the non-performing loans to increase significantly. Lack of diversification into various asset classes in financing loans can result in major bank failures. During the recent banking crisis, subprime lending was at its peak. A component that lacks diversification was the subprime mortgage lending. A large number of mortgagees were speculating on housing prices and did not ha ve sufficient means to pay the dues. Banks were lending on zero down payment options where the mortgage holder had a call option to exercise. If housing prices increase, the mortgagee can sell the house, pay the mortgage amount and make a profit without any investment. However, if housing prices go down the mortgagee only lost the payments made already, which acted as an option premium. As the housing market collapsed, the losses were to be borne by the banking industry. Mortgages are pooled together to form collateralized mortgage obligations. These securities make mortgages from illiquid investments into liquid securities that sell in the secondary market. The high interest rates paid on mortgages and the liquidity feature of the securities attracted investors to invest trillions. The high demand for mortgage-backed securities in turn resulted in too much capital availability to create excessive low quality mortgages. As economy staggered and unemployment increased a high rate of mortgage default created the subprime crisis resulting in many banks to fail. As competitive pressures, increase only banks with high level of efficiency can survive. Larger banks enjoy both economies of scale and economies of scope. In an economic downturn, small and medium banks cannot maintain their net interest margins and tend to respond weakly to competitive pressures. Therefore, in an attempt to survive banks initiate mergers and acquisitions. Through mergers, these banks aim to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in order to improve their net interest margins and survive the hard times. Mergers do not always attain their desired goals. Many times the managements do not get along well, at other times the estimated synergies of the merger tend to be overestimated. Also, valuation models could have been erroneous resulting in huge write down of goodwill assets in the years to come. This can also wipe away the equity of the bank and eventually cause a bank to fail. Banks seek to maintain an active match between their assets and liabilities. A large gap between assets and liabilities can result in adverse movements. If a bank has a positive gap, its assets are more interest rate sensitive than its liabilities. The goal of banks is to maintain minimum interest rate exposure and keep the gap at a minimum. At times bank management can get more ambitious and take bets on interest rate movements. In this case, an unexpected movement in interest rates can be disastrous for a bank. In conclusion, a bank can fail due to various reasons mostly because of poor risk management techniques. Banks could be lending aggressively and create a large pool of subprime assets or they could maintain too little liquidity to meet their obligations during a financial crisis. All these reasons together can cause a bank to fail. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1094 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? During the last decade, banking industry has become highly competitive, resulting in many banks to use aggressive strategies in order to survive or maintain their respective share in the market. This tendency of these financial institutions to become more aggressive when confronted with competitive pressures has led many banks to fail. Banking industry has gone through significant changes and is continuing to undergo major structural alterations. This dynamic structure results in an uncertain environment for the industry. The recent financial crisis has raised a large number of concerns about the strength of the current banking system to provide stability to the financial markets. Banks taking too much risk are highly prone to fail. Banks may fail if equity is insufficient to provide a safe cushion to write down any non-performing loans. Before recent financial turmoil, banks were more concerned about their profitability. They attempted to maximize profits t o increase shareholders wealth by increasing their financial leverage. A large deposit base provided for high financial leverage for banks, while their equity cushion continued to diminish. Most banks were using a ratio of more than twenty times debt compared to their equity. Low level of equity provided a very small cushion for the banks in case of a financial turmoil. A bank with three percent equity could suffer a loss of all its shareholders wealth if it lost just a minor fraction of its loan assets. For example, bank with an equity base of 10 billion pounds and a loan base of as high as 300 billion pounds, would have lost all its equity with a decrease of 3.33 % in the value of its loan assets. Banks need to manage their liquidity risk with extreme caution. A bank that maintains to little liquid reserves can go bankrupt if it fails to meet its obligations on time. These obligations include payment on demand deposits and interest payments to depositors holding cash in thei r saving accounts. If the bank is holding too little cash, it can usually borrow money through inter-bank borrowing at the federal funds rate. However, at times of financial crisis the liquidity of the market could be low. In the recent financial crisis rumours about bank failures resulted in a run on banks. Depositors wanted to withdraw their money before a suspected bankruptcy. On a usual day banks only anticipate a certain maximum percentage of funds to be withdrawn and hence they maintain cash to meet regular operational needs. However, in case of a run on banks all depositors simultaneously appear at bank counters to withdraw their deposits. Such a panic situation can result in bankruptcy of any financially sound bank in a matter of hours. Liquidity risk requires active management, as too much liquidity can be as much of a problem as is too little liquidity. Banks operate in a highly competitive environment and they are always competing for deposits. Those banks that prov ide higher interest rates relative to competition are able to attract more deposits and thereby expand their operations. Those that provide low interest rates suffer the risk that depositors will withdraw their funds to banks, which pay a higher return. To provide a higher return a bank needs to make profitable loans to other parties. Extending loans for businesses and for consumers restrict the liquidity of the banks. Therefore, there is a trade-off involved and the management has to choose the optimum level between return and liquidity. An economic crisis results in high levels of unemployment and can cause the non-performing loans to increase significantly. Lack of diversification into various asset classes in financing loans can result in major bank failures. During the recent banking crisis, subprime lending was at its peak. A component that lacks diversification was the subprime mortgage lending. A large number of mortgagees were speculating on housing prices and did not ha ve sufficient means to pay the dues. Banks were lending on zero down payment options where the mortgage holder had a call option to exercise. If housing prices increase, the mortgagee can sell the house, pay the mortgage amount and make a profit without any investment. However, if housing prices go down the mortgagee only lost the payments made already, which acted as an option premium. As the housing market collapsed, the losses were to be borne by the banking industry. Mortgages are pooled together to form collateralized mortgage obligations. These securities make mortgages from illiquid investments into liquid securities that sell in the secondary market. The high interest rates paid on mortgages and the liquidity feature of the securities attracted investors to invest trillions. The high demand for mortgage-backed securities in turn resulted in too much capital availability to create excessive low quality mortgages. As economy staggered and unemployment increased a high rate of mortgage default created the subprime crisis resulting in many banks to fail. As competitive pressures, increase only banks with high level of efficiency can survive. Larger banks enjoy both economies of scale and economies of scope. In an economic downturn, small and medium banks cannot maintain their net interest margins and tend to respond weakly to competitive pressures. Therefore, in an attempt to survive banks initiate mergers and acquisitions. Through mergers, these banks aim to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in order to improve their net interest margins and survive the hard times. Mergers do not always attain their desired goals. Many times the managements do not get along well, at other times the estimated synergies of the merger tend to be overestimated. Also, valuation models could have been erroneous resulting in huge write down of goodwill assets in the years to come. This can also wipe away the equity of the bank and eventually cause a bank to fail. Banks seek to maintain an active match between their assets and liabilities. A large gap between assets and liabilities can result in adverse movements. If a bank has a positive gap, its assets are more interest rate sensitive than its liabilities. The goal of banks is to maintain minimum interest rate exposure and keep the gap at a minimum. At times bank management can get more ambitious and take bets on interest rate movements. In this case, an unexpected movement in interest rates can be disastrous for a bank. In conclusion, a bank can fail due to various reasons mostly because of poor risk management techniques. Banks could be lending aggressively and create a large pool of subprime assets or they could maintain too little liquidity to meet their obligations during a financial crisis. All these reasons together can cause a bank to fail. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Main Determinants Of Bank Failure Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

Analysis Of The Kern s Article Gendered Urbanization

In relation to this, Kern’s article â€Å"Gendered Urbanization† illustrates how the factors attracting affluent women to the new condominiums in Parkdale are often the same instruments of oppression against the residents; according to her research, an attractive aspect of the new condominiums are security measures put into place to keep out the impoverished, and therefore dangerous, communities within Parkdale, such as a 24-hour concierge, double locks on all apartment doors, and a video monitor at the front desk. Even if â€Å"street[s] are very quiet† (Kern 372, III) the design of the buildings project and imply a criminal, unpredictable nature onto the original residents of Parkdale, and â€Å"enshrines these expectations into the built environment†. One resident interviewed stated â€Å" my [apartment] has twenty-four-hour security, and they don’t let anybody in without talking to security. Residents are not allowed to let anybody in, even if you open the doors† (Kern 372, IV). Therefore, the community lost to the shift in housing rates is not replaced with incoming residents, but rather the two communities are segregated by classist infrastructure and stereotypes that push the lower income people to the outskirts of Parkdale. This leads to a huge sense of isolation and unease in the community of original Parkdale residents because, not only are they threatened and disadvantaged financially, the implantation on these condominiums are actively keeping them out. In this same line of

Is Technology a Boon free essay sample

Technology is very much a part of modern life. Many people see technology as a force that has escaped from human control. Others feel that technology has improved the quality of life. Do you think that the contribution technology has made to modern life has been positive or negative? State your position on this issue and support it with appropriate examples. Technology has become a part of our lives. The issue of decide if this part is or not good for life is a controversial one. Many believe that contribution technology has made to modern life improve the quality of life in different aspects. Others believe that technology is out of human control and they see adverse effects in modern life. After careful analysis of different fields such as daily life, medicine, and education, I feel that contribution technology has made to modern life has been really positive and help to improve the quality of human lives. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Technology a Boon or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first reason for me to believe contribution technology made to modern life is just the daily life to unprecedented levels. Houses security systems, for example, connected to the police, is more powerfully because is build on technologies developed in the last years. As women increase their roles in society in the last times, daily homework such is cook, make laundry or vacuum take less time to do it than before, and its permits women to dedicate this time to other activities such is study, working, and other activities. Not only the daily live is benefited by advances of technology, another field is medicine. Thanks to advances in technology, many diseases that before was the cause of massive death, now is a past true, with the advances in technology, scientific and doctors find different vaccines to help people be healthier. The medical equipments advances help process such as surgery in a way that was never possible before. Nowadays, it is routine to get a heart replacement, which in the past such situations was simply impossible. Most importantly, we can see how scientific are in the process of looking for the solution to current diseases, and this will be possible, with the use of advanced medical technology. The best reason for me to applaud contribution technology made is in the field of education. I see how the advances in technology help students in their learning. For instance, the use of projectors and video conferences help in important amount in the process of learning; by using these approaches, different kinds of students intelligence can be addressed. Computers are another example of contribution that technology made to educational field. The use of well equipped computer lab is truly helpful for students because they have the chance to learn computer skills that are very important in almost all the work environments. Nowadays, teachers can find information they can use in their daily lessons. For instance, in a math class, teachers can use updated statistical information finding in computers (by just a click), and they can infuse these information into a lesson, making the lesson related with real life situations for students. In the final analysis, I think the benefits technology offer to improve the quality of life outweigh the deficits. I do not think technology is out of human control and by the exposed in lines above we can easily see how technology helps and improves the quality of human live in the daily routine, Medical advances allow humans to live longer and more healthy lives than ever before and technological advances make the learning more easy. Ultimately, Technology is developed by people to help improve quality of human lives and all of us are using technological advances in many different ways, also to indicate that it is incontrollable.

Altering The Face Of Science Essays - Genetics, Molecular Biology

Altering The Face Of Science Science is a creature that continues to evolve at a much higher rate than the beings that gave it birth. The transformation time from tree shrew, to ape, to human far exceeds the time from analytical engine, to calculator, to computer. But science, in the past, has always remained distant. It has allowed for advances in production, transportation, and even entertainment, but never in history will science be able to so deeply affect our lives, as genetic engineering will undoubtedly do. With the birth of this new technology, scientific extremists and anti-technologists have risen in arms to block its budding future. Spreading fear by misinterpretation of facts, they promote their hidden agendas in the halls of the United States congress. Genetic engineering is a safe and powerful tool that will yield unprecedented results, specifically in the field of medicine. It will usher in a world where gene defects, bacterial disease, and even aging are a thing of the past. By understanding genetic engineering and its history, discovering its possibilities, and answering the moral and safety questions it brings forth, the blanket of fear covering this remarkable technical miracle can be lifted. The first step to understanding genetic engineering, and embracing its possibilities for society, is to obtain a rough knowledge base of its history and method. The basis for altering the evolutionary process is dependant on the understanding of how individuals pass on characteristics to their offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of nature's evolutionary process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel developed the first laws of heredity. Using these laws, scientists studied the characteristics of organisms for most of the next one hundred years following Mendel's discovery. These early studies concluded that each organism has two sets of character determinants, or genes (Stableford 16). For instance, in regards to eye color, a child could receive one set of genes from his father that were encoded one blue and the other brown. The same child could also receive two brown genes from his mother. The conclusion for this inheritance would be the child has a three in four chance of having brown eyes, and a one in three chance of having blue eyes (Stableford 16). Genes are transmitted through chromosomes, which reside in the nucleus of every living organism's cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands of deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA. The information carried on the DNA determines the cells function within the organism. Sex cells are the only cells that contain a complete DNA map of the organism; therefore, the structure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules determines the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] offspring (Lewin 1). DNA discovery is attributed to the research of three scientists, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson in 1951. They were all later accredited with the Nobel Price in physiology and medicine in 1962 (Lewin 1). The new science of genetic engineering aims to take a dramatic short cut in the slow process of evolution (Stableford 25). In essence, scientists aim to remove one gene from an organism's DNA, and place it into the DNA of another organism. This would create a new DNA strand, full of new encoded instructions; a strand that would have taken Mother Nature millions of years of natural selection to develop. Isolating and removing a desired gene from a DNA strand involves many different tools. Exposing it to ultra-high-frequency sound waves can break up DNA, but this is an extremely inaccurate way of isolating a desirable DNA section (Stableford 26). A more accurate way of DNA splicing is the use of restriction enzymes, which are produced by various species of bacteria (Clarke 1). The restriction enzymes cut the DNA strand at a particular location called a nucleotide base, which makes up a DNA molecule. Now that the desired portion of the DNA is cut out, it can be joined to another strand of DNA by using enzymes called ligases. The final important step in the creation of a new DNA strand is giving it the ability to self-replicate. Using special pieces of DNA, called vectors, that permit the generation of multiple copies of a total DNA strand and fusing it

Substance Abuse Essay

Substance Abuse Essay Substance Abuse Essay Substance Abuse When you are talking about the different views on substance abuse you are talking about the sociocultural view, cognitive - behavioral view, psychodynamic view, and the biological. Each of these views believes that that something different causes individuals to have problems with substance abuse. Sociocultural view on substance abuse says that individuals have a substance abuse problem because of pressure from their peers, stress from everyday life, as well as economic problems. Although I understand that people get pressure from their peers in thinking that they have to look, act, or do certain things in order to fit in. I also understand the pressures of everyday life and the constant heart ache that it can cause when you feel like you are stuck and going nowhere in your life. I can even understand economic problems and the stress that it can cause and the feeling of needing to get away. When it comes to the treatments that they believe will work for individuals substance abuse problems they believe are a good source of treatment are self-help groups. Self-help groups refer to the programs like narcotics anonymous, alcoholics anonymous, and marijuana anonymous. Whereas I think these are great programs where people can go and talk about what they are going through without fe eling like they are getting judged I do not believe that these programs by themselves would keep someone from their drug of choice if they really want to do it. Psychodynamic view on substance abuse believes that an individual that suffers from substance abuse is because of the lack of nurturing during childhood. Many people can look at their childhood and say that they did not get that feeling from their parents as they were growing up that their parents cared. I see this everyday where I work, and these children truly have gone through their life not knowing what unconditional love is and turn towards a drug to make that feeling go away. Psychodynamic view on substance abuse believes that the best treatment is centered on the resolution of their underlying needs and conflicts. This form of treatment is usually a form of therapy to help them get a better understanding of what their needs truly are and how they can start healing. Cognitive – Behavioral view on substance abuse believes that individuals that suffer from substance abuse are individuals that suffer from anxiety, depression, as well as many other issues. My sister is not only a recovering alcoholic but her substance of choice was cocaine. She would drink to escape from any form of conflict and found that after a while when the alcohol did not work anymore she went to cocaine and then told me she spent most of her tome chasing the original high. The treatments that they suggest are detoxification, outpatient as well as in hospitals and clinics. Although there are studies showing that this form of treatment works for some, I do not feel that this would keep a person off their drug of choice. All that would have to happen is for them to go back around their friends and get that urge and they are right back to square one. Biological view on substance abuse believes that an individual suffering from substance abuse because they inherited it from their family genetics. This is basically saying that if your

Exam questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Exam questions - Essay Example The use of technology enhanced the invention of machines that increased the productivity of workers. Technology also enhanced the growth of enterprises to large scale producers. Food products were, therefore, produced in masses that fed the society. End products were produced at cheaper costs and less time than in the recent times. Due to the changes the standards of living of the citizens were improved and also recorded a social change. People moved from suburb areas to the cities thus land was left vacant for production of food. At times people who lived in the urban areas and worked in the factories lived in filthy conditions due to overpopulation in the urban areas (Goloboy 2008, p.58). Increased food production is essential for industrialization in any state. Labor is essential for the growth of industries and the state to maintain a sufficient number of laborers it needs to device ways of producing enough food to feed the population. Industrialization in Europe was due to sustainable methods of food production. Industrialization in Britain occurred between 1750 and 1830. Britain had perfect conditions for industrialization to occur. Mineral resources, labor and technology, were present in Britain and facilitated the industrial revolution (Goloboy 2008, p.67). Britain had made the use of wood as a source of heat for a long time it thus had plenty of coal deposits remaining and were used in new ideas. The source of heat was used in the industries. Britain was also a colonial master of many nations, the raw materials that could not be found in Britain could be imported from the colonies at cheap costs. The colonies also provided markets for the end products. Other factors that contributed to industrialization in Britain were the plenty natural resources in Britain. The government of Britain also improved the transportation in Britain enhancing the movements of finished goods and raw materials. The growing population in

Assignment 1 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assignment 1 - Case Study Example 20) whereas extroverts are known for their desire to become oriented externally with other people (Fox, 2010, p. 229). Since people in general can be introverts, there is nothing wrong with having few friends because this can be a personal choice. However, the fact that people tend to walk away each time she enters a group is a clear sign that Peggy does not have a good social well-being. person, it simply means that Kathy has an introvert-type of personality. The fact that she is well liked and that other people are asking her for some advice only means she has a good social life. With regards to her physical health, the fact that she undergoes physical training strongly suggests that that she is physically healthy. The only exercise that Mary has is her daily walks and performing her daily activities. Avoiding TV at night and staying active during the day time is good. In fact, there is nothing wrong with daily walks. To stay physically healthy, Bragg and Bragg (2003, p. 82) mentioned that each person should have their daily walks of 2 to 3 miles each day. However, the fact that Mary avoids wasting time at the gym or paying money for special health classes can be a sign of poor physical health. Undergoing a rigorous exercise program each week is necessary to make Mary sweat and ensure that her heart is in good condition (Bragg and Bragg, 2003, p. 82). The fact that Mary chose not to exert an effort in losing weight or to be more physically fit may eventually put her at risk of having a poor physical condition. Mary is also known for being a perfectionist. Basically, perfectionism is defined as â€Å"behaviour that exceeds what is required of a situation† (Cockerill, 2002, p. 78). For this reason, Mary is prone to feel dissatisfied with anything that she can achieve in class. As one of the brightest student in class, Mary was able to get straight A’s in Biochemistry. In case she gets B in Biochemistry, Mary can be at risk of feeling depressed.

Auerbach Enterprise Essay Example for Free

Auerbach Enterprise Essay â€Å"Auerbach Enterprises uses machine hours as the cost driver to assign overhead costs to the air conditioners. The company has used a company-wide predetermined overhead rate in past years, but the new controller, Bennie Leon, is considering the use of departmental overhead rates beginning with the next year. â€Å"(Schneider, 2012). One product is affected more than the other by use of departmental rates rather than companywide rate. â€Å"Companies can choose to use the accounting job order costing method when they have a single product line or numerous products to manufacture. However, it is less costly and less time-consuming if they elect to use process costing when calculating the manufacturing of a single product line. With similarities and differences, there are also pros and cons that come with these costing methods. Every company is unique and what may work well in a car repair shop, may not work in an automobile company. When we think about the similarities between job order costing and process costing we can agree that they both monitor three specific elements, which are direct material, direct labor and manufacturing overhead. In addition the flow of costs in each method is essentially the same when you look at both accounts. † (Huntington, 2013) Radiator Parts Fabrication equal Overhead Costs divided by Machine Hours $80,000 equal $8 per machine hour 10,000 Radiator Assembly, Weld, and Test equal $100,000 equal $5 per machine hour 20,000 Compressor Parts Fabrication equal $120,000 equal $24 per machine hour 5,000 Compressor Assembly and Test equal $180,000 equal $4 per machine hour 45,000. The department overhead rates included the compressor assembly and test department has the highest overhead costs with the most machine hours that total $4 per machine hour. The compressor parts fabrication department yields the highest cost per machine hour at $24. †Job order costing gives managers the advantage of being able to keep track of individuals and teams performance in terms of cost-control, efficiency and productivity. Process costing, on the other hand, gives managers the advantage of being able to ascertain the same qualities in entire departments and compare performance over time. (Ingram, D 2013) The next feasible objective for the company is to determine the company wide overhead rate using machine hours as the cost driver. Company Wide Overhead Rate equal Forecast Overhead divided by Expected Machine Hours Overhead Rate equal $480,000 equal $6 per machine hour 80,000. Company Wide Rate: Direct Material Costs x Batch Size plus Direct Labor Costs x Batch Size Maxiflow: Alaska: 135 x 20 equal 2700 110 x 20 equal 2200 75 x 20 equal 1500 95 x 20 equal 1900 equal $4200 per batch equal $4100 per batch Departmental Rate. Direct Materials Costs plus Direct Labor Costs divided by Each Department Hour Maxiflow: 135 plus 75 equal $210 Radiator Parts Fabrication: 210 divided by 28 equal $7. 50 per batch Radiator Assembly, Weld, and Test equal 210 divided by 30 equal $7 per batch Compressor Parts Fabrication: 210 divided by 32 equal $6. 60 per batch Compressor Assembly and Test: 210 divided by 26 equal $8. 10 per batch Alaska: 110 plus 95 equal 205 Radiator Parts Fabrication: 205 divided by 16 equal $12. 80 per batch Radiator Assembly, Weld, and Test: 205 divided by 74 equal $2. 0 per batch Compressor Parts Fabrication: 205 divided by 8 equal $25. 60 per batch Compressor Assembly and Test: 205 divided by 66 equal $3. 10 per batch. There was only a $100 difference between Maxiflow and Alaska when it came to company-wide rates per batch. On other hand, the departmental rates between Maxiflow and Alaska were significantly different. Maxiflow had the cheaper departmental costs per batch with an average of $7. 30 per batch compared to $11. 05 per batch with Alaska. to determine the companywide and departmental costs per unit of Maxiflow and Alaska. Company-Wide Rate: Total Cost per Unit equal direct material Costs plus Direct Labor Costs divided by Number of Units Maxiflow. Direct Materials equal Alaska: 135 Direct Labor Costs equal 75 210 $415 plus $480,000 divided by 40 equal $12,010. 38 per unit 110 plus 95 equal 205 210 plus 205 equal $415 Departmental Rate: Radiator Parts Fabrication: $80,000 plus $415 divided by 40 equal $2010. 38 per unit Radiator Assembly, Weld, and Test: $100,000 plus 415 divided by 40 equal $2510. 38. Compressor Parts Fabrication: $120,000 plus 415 divided by 40 equal $3010. 8 Compressor Assembly and Test: $180,000 plus 415 divided by 40 equal $4510. 38. So, it seems that the total costs per unit for the company-wide rate is slightly less per unit. The company-wide rate for total cost per unit is $12,010. 38, while the total cost per unit for each department is $12, 041. 52. â€Å"Auerbach Enterprises manufactures air conditioners for automobiles and trucks manufactured throughout North America. The company designs its products with flexibility to accommodate many makes and models of automobiles and trucks. The company’s two main products are MaxiFlow and Alaska. †(Schneider, 2012). The reduction of overhead expenses is one of the sparse areas of corporate cost control that receives few to no attention from management. However the savings and profit improvement can be surprising. Reviewing the data for Auerbach management would be better suited to continue using company-wide rates. The perception by managers of the relative importance of costs may be determined by the nature.

How Inclusion Came to Be :: essays papers

How Inclusion Came to Be When children have a learning disability there are two different ways for them to be taught. One is an out of the classroom approach where children with disabilities receive extra help with a specialist separate from the regular classroom. There are also schools that only have children that are disabled and cater to only the different needs of a child with a disability. In the approach where children with disabilities are separated from non-disabled children, the child spends half the day in the mainstream classroom and half of the day separated and excluded from the mainstream classroom (Odom 2002). As a result of this approach schools did not have the appropriate funding for the extra teachers needed to provide a separate learning classroom. This problem leads to public schools denying children with disabilities access to the facilities that are offered in a regular classroom, hence segregating the children with disabilities from the mainstream children (Lewis, 1999). In 1975 the Education for all Handicapped Children’s Act (later renamed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act abbreviated IDEA) was passed in reaction the problem of students being segregated. This act was written to make sure that all handicapped children would have access to free education including special education. The law emphasizes that children with disabilities be educated with non-disabled children (Daniel 1997). The act gave parents the right to choose how their disabled child will be educated whether it be a pull out program or and inclusive program with non-disabled children (Become 2003). This act gave way to inclusion, which is the second approach to educating children with disabilities. Inclusion is the "integration of a disabled student in a regular classroom with the necessary aids and services" (Daniel 1997). Student Views on Inclusion Since inclusion started there has been controversy on whether or not inclusion helps the children more than the pull-out program. There have been many different experiments that have studied the effects of student’s performances in inclusion programs and in pull out programs. In one specific study done in Iowa by the Council for Exceptional Children, students with a specific learning disability were sent to two different middle schools to participate in an 8th grade classroom. The two schools differed in only one way, and that was one was an inclusive school, the Enterprise, and one was a regular mainstream school, the Voyager.

Mba Spring2011 Merck Sample Group Project

DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY (MBA – Spring 2011) Strategic Management Case Study Executive Summary:3 Current Vision4 Current Mission4 Values5 Current Strategies:6 Developed Vision7 Developed Mission7 Reason for new mission8 SWOT Analysis9 External opportunities:9 External Threats:10 Financial and Operating Performance Analysis11 Close Competitors11 Ratio Analysis11 Key Industry Ratios14 Operating Profit margin14 Net Profit margin14 Current Ratio14 Return on Assets15 Debt/Equity Ratio15 Inventory Turnover Ratio15 Revenue Growth16 Market Share16 Internal Strengths16Internal Weakness20 External Factor Evaluation Matrix21 Competitive Profile Matrix23 Internal Factor Evaluation24 Space Matrix27 SWOT Matrix29 Grand Strategy Matrix31 Recommended Strategies31 Recommended strategy No. 1:31 Recommended strategy No. 2:32 Projected Financial Statements33 Projected Ratios34 Company worth Analysis34 Annual Objectives:35 Strategic Review and Evaluation Procedures:35 Bibliography:36 Executive Su mmary: Merck & Co. is a research driven pharmaceutical company involved in manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and drugs.Merck's products are not limited to preventive and therapeutic vaccines. Merck merged with Schering-Plough in November of 2009 for $41billion. Merck is based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey and has more than 110000 employees. The company has a annual revenue of $45billion during the year ending December 2010. The increase in revenues was mainly due to the incremental sales resulting from the inclusion of the post-merger results of Schering-Plough products. The operating profit of the company was $1,653. 0 million during FY2010, a decrease of 90% over 2009.The net profit was $859 million in FY2010, an increase of 93% over 2009. Merck’s products include preventive and therapeutic vaccines sold by prescription to treat human disorders and to also treat animal health. The company manages many products in different segments. Human health pharmaceutical produc ts consist of prescription therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders. Merck distributes its human health pharmaceutical products to retailers, government, drug companies, health and wellness organizations, and others.Merck's vaccine products are primarily managed and administered at physician offices. These products include preventive vaccines. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccines for Children program is a major customer for some of these vaccines. Merck also manages a clinical pipeline that has products in many different disease domains not limited to diabetes, heart strokes, hyper-tension, inflammatory problems, neurology related diseases, osteoporosis, respiratory, female health and many other prominent and new domains.This pipeline is managed in phases followed by a few ready for registration. Majority of these are subject to FDA approval before commercial manufacturing commences. Merck also manages vaccines for animal health an d this is a growing segment where there is more need for research for prevention of many diseases in animals. In addition to the above many different segments, Merck also manages a portfolio of regular consumer healthcare and manufactures many OTC products, foot and sun care products not just in the USA but also in Canada. Current VisionWe make a difference in the lives of people globally through our innovative medicines, vaccines, and consumer health and animal products. We aspire to be the best healthcare company in the world and are dedicated to providing leading innovations and solutions for tomorrow. (1) Current Mission To provide innovative, distinctive products and services that save and improve lives and satisfy customer needs, to be recognized as a great place to work, and to provide investors with a superior rate of return. (1) | Mission Component| Accomplished? | 1| Customers| No| | Products or Services| Yes| 3| Markets| No| 4| Technology| No| 5| Concern for survival, gro wth and profitability| No| 6| Philosophy| No| 7| Self-Concept| No| 8| Concern for public image| Yes| 9| Concern for employees| Yes| Values Our business is preserving and improving human life. We also work to improve animal health. All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving these goals. We value, above all, our ability to serve everyone who can benefit from the appropriate use of our products and services, thereby providing lasting consumer satisfaction.We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We are responsible to our customers, to Merck employees and their families, to the environments we inhabit, and to the societies we serve worldwide. In discharging our responsibilities, we do not take professional or ethical shortcuts. We are dedicated to the highest level of scientific excellence and commit our research to improving human and animal health and the quality of life. We strive to identify the most critical needs of consumers and cust omers, and we devote our resources to meeting those needs.We expect profits, but only from work that satisfies customer needs and benefits humanity. This depends on maintaining a financial position that invites investment in leading-edge research and that makes it possible to effectively deliver the results of that research. Our ability to excel depends on the integrity, knowledge, imagination, skill, diversity and teamwork of our employees. To this end, we strive to create an environment of mutual respect, encouragement and teamwork. We also strive to reward commitment and performance and be responsive to the needs of our employees and their families. 1) Current Strategies: * The Access Strategy aims at increasing access to medicines, vaccines, and healthcare in the emerging and developed countries. * To ensure safety and quality of products, Merck introduced a ‘Anti-counterfeiting’ strategy to prevent counterfeits across the world. Merck has setup an advanced laborato ry to implement this strategy.* To restore confidence as a quality producer of global vaccines, Merck continues to implement vaccine supply manufacturing strategy. * Merck continues to implement its global diversity strategy. * Merck’s research strategy is designed to mprove productivity and the probability of success and this is monitored by a Research Strategy Review Committee. * The most popular MRL strategy i. e. Merck Research Laboratory strategy is designed to manage the pipeline that uses the expertise to treat many unsolved diseases and health issues. MRL scientists are passionate about resolving and meeting unmet medical needs. * Merck established External Basic Research (EBR) and an EBR strategy are formulated to expand the scope and size of Merck’s early pipeline through partnerships with external partners. * Merck follows a responsible pricing policy thru its worldwide tiered pricing strategy. To foster health literacy in Switzerland, Merck follows the Swis s e-health strategy and as part of this strategy, they work with universities around the world. * Merck formed a Global Labor Relations Strategy to include global labor guidelines and principles and monitoring tools worldwide.* Merck energy management strategy serves as a useful framework in measuring current performance resulting in Merck receiving the Energy Star sustained excellence award. * Merck’s corporate strategy is â€Å"Plan to win†. * Merck has a supply strategy that combines the skills of internal and external manufacturers. (1) Developed Vision Our vision is to be an outstanding and most trusted company in the world’s healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. † Developed Mission We are passionately committed to providing creative, comprehensive and effective health solutions (2) that will improve the health, wellness and quality of life of our customers (1), consumers and partners around the globe for today, tomorrow and forever thru our continu ed superior performance, intelligent and creative employees (9), innovative and qualitative safe products, sustainable and profitable partnerships and by building increased shareholder returns thru this process.We will focus on increasing healthcare access (6) in the local and emerging markets (3) and will strive to use modern environment friendly technology(4) for our scientific innovation to improve productivity and to reduce costs to make our products more affordable. We will serve the society and the eligible people (8) with programs that will provide free and cost effective health solutions. We will collaborate with global research companies to lead and contribute to the resolution of global health issues (7) and we will position ourselves as the best in the industry with sustainable prosperity(5). Mission Component| Accomplished ? | 1| Customers| Yes| 2| Products or Services| Yes| 3| Markets| Yes| 4| Technology| Yes| 5| Concern for survival, growth and profitability| Yes| 6| P hilosophy| Yes| 7| Self-Concept| Yes| 8| Concern for public image| Yes| 9| Concern for employees| Yes| Reason for new mission The current mission is not exciting and does not emphasize on all the key components of an effective mission. The new mission emphasizes on health solutions as a whole versus products and services only. The new mission is targeted towards the wellbeing of the end consumer and not just to save the life.The focus is specifically mentioned to be in all markets including the emerging markets. Modern environment friendly technology will be used to develop safe products that are not counterproductive to the wellbeing of the end consumer. The needy people will be served with effective solutions and the new mission passionately suggests sustainable prosperity while engaging creative and intelligent people building profitable shareholder returns thru the whole process. SWOT Analysis External opportunities: O1 – The recent agreement with Schering-Plough opens mo re avenues for potential growth in the fields of respiratory and infectious disease herapeutic segments. (1) O2 – Possible Cost savings of $3. 5 Billon from internal restructuring efforts beyond 2011. (1) O3 – There is a lot of potential for growth in the Diabetes and Oncology markets and Merck has made its entry into this market thru the product Januvia. O4 – Merck can add core strength to its portfolio by expanding research and innovation in the biological markets thru partners, acquisitions and joint ventures. O5 – Rapidly expanding market share in emerging markets proves to be a high potential opportunity for Merck.Emerging Markets in the Pharma Industry will take 50% Growth Credit by 2013. (2) O6- Increased opportunity for new Generic Drug products. Healthcare reform suggests cost savings and insurance industries emphasize usage of generic drugs and the expiring patents on a lot of drugs opens up opportunity for Merck to pioneer the generic drug mark et leveraging its world-class research capabilities. The total market share of the patents that will expire over 2010-2015 is 17% with a market share of $142billion. (17) O7- Pfizer’s animal health business returned a profit of $2. billion which is second to Merck and with the cancelled joint venture of Merck and Sanofi-Aventis, Merck should further pursue their concept with Novartis who are No. 5 in animal health business. This will strengthen their No. 1 position in the light of Pfizer's growing sales and the merger between J;amp;J and Eli Lilly Co in this segment. (3) External Threats: T1 – At least five of the patents are expiring in the next two years and competition is ready to introduce generic products backed by healthcare reform and this can pose a serious threat to Merck’s products and profitability.T2 – The consumer is not the one that usually makes the choice of using a particular drug. Mostly, drugs are prescribed by physicians, who sometimes lack the necessary information about relative prices. (4) T3 – The recent housing market problem, the oil prices problem and the global recession has a cascading effect on the job market and many people are unemployed losing their health insurance and forced to not being able to use medical or pharmaceutical products.If there is no sales in the pharmaceutical products, Merck can suffer financial losses and reduced returns to shareholders. T4 – The HealthCare Reform enacted in 2010 caused unanticipated losses for Merck and the effects of this Act will continue into future. These new provisions will decrease revenue and increase costs. (5) * 2010 – Costs incurred due to increased Medicaid rebates. With respect to the effect of the law on the pharmaceutical industry, the law increased the mandated Medicaid rebate from 15. 1% to 23. 1%. 2011 – An annual health care reform fee on all branded prescription drug manufacturers and importers and the requirement th at drug manufacturers pay a 50% discount on Medicare Part D utilization incurred by beneficiaries when they are in the Medicare Part D coverage also known as the ‘Donut hole’.T5 – Although not included in the health care reform law, Congress has also considered, and may consider again, proposals to increase the government’s role in pharmaceutical pricing in the Medicare program. (5) T6 –    Congress may again consider proposals to allow, under certain conditions, the importation of medicines from other countries. 5) T7 – Merck is experiencing delay in manufacturing some of its vaccines and this delay can cause a competitor to launch a product that can be manufactured quickly. Financial and Operating Performance Analysis Close Competitors Pfizer Inc. Eli Lilly and Company Ratio Analysis | 2006| 2007| 2008| 2009| 2010| Margins (% of Sales)| | | | | | Revenue| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| COGS| 26. 50%| 25. 40%| 23. 40%| 3 2. 90%| 40. 00%| Gross Margin| 73. 50%| 74. 60%| 76. 60%| 67. 10%| 60. 00%| SG;amp;A| 36. 10%| 31. 20%| 30. 90%| 31. 10%| 28. 80%| R;amp;D| 21. 10%| 20. 20%| 20. 10%| 21. 30%| 23. 90%|Other| 0. 60%| 1. 40%| 4. 30%| 6. 00%| 2. 10%| Operating Margin| 15. 70%| 21. 90%| 21. 20%| 8. 70%| 5. 20%| Net Int Inc ;amp; Other| 12. 40%| -7. 40%| 20. 50%| 47. 00%| -1. 60%| EBT Margin| 27. 50%| 13. 90%| 41. 10%| 55. 80%| 3. 60%| Profitability| | | | | | Tax Rate| 28. 70%| 2. 80%| 20. 40%| 14. 80%| 40. 60%| Net Margin| 19. 59%| 13. 54%| 32. 74%| 47. 03%| 1. 87%| Asset Turnover| 0. 51| 0. 52| 0. 5| 0. 34| 0. 42| (Average)| | | | | | Return on Assets| 9. 92%| 7. 05%| 16. 34%| 16. 20%| 0. 79%| Financial Leverage (Average)| 2. 54| 2. 66| 2. 52| 1. 9| 1. 95| Return on Equity| 25. 00%| 18. 33%| 42. 27%| 33. 15%| 1. 1%| Growth| | | | | | Revenue Growth| | | | | | Year over Year| 2. 80%| 6. 90%| -1. 40%| 15. 00%| 67. 70%| 3-Year Average| 0. 20%| 1. 80%| 2. 70%| 6. 60%| 23. 90%| 5-Year Average| -13. 90%| -1 4. 10%| 1. 20%| 3. 60%| 15. 90%| 10-Year Average| 1. 30%| 0. 20%| -1. 20%| -1. 80%| 1. 30%| Operating Income| | | | | | Year over Year| -36. 00%| 49. 30%| -4. 50%| -52. 80%| -0. 70%| 3-Year Average| -24. 90%| -7. 20%| -3. 00%| -12. 30%| -23. 50%| 5-Year Average| -18. 30%| -11. 40%| -9. 60%| -18. 50%| -15. 60%| 10-Year Average| -3. 40%| -0. 70%| -2. 30%| -10. 90%| -12. 60%| EPS| | | | | | Year over Year| -3. 30%| -26. 60%| 144. 0%| 55. 20%| -95. 00%| 3-Year Average| -11. 40%| -17. 00%| 20. 10%| 40. 70%| -42. 70%| 5-Year Average| -8. 40%| -13. 90%| 4. 50%| 16. 70%| -33. 20%| 10-Year Average| 2. 60%| -2. 30%| 5. 40%| 8. 70%| -20. 90%| Cash Flow Ratios| | | | | | Operating Cash Flow Growth-YOY| -11. 10%| 3. 50%| -6. 10%| -48. 40%| 219. 00%| Free Cash Flow Growth-YOY| -6. 80%| 3. 50%| -11. 90%| -63. 40%| 373. 40%| Cap Ex as a % of Sales| 4. 30%| 4. 20%| 5. 40%| 5. 30%| 3. 60%| Free Cash Flow/Sales| 25. 56%| 24. 75%| 22. 11%| 7. 04%| 19. 88%| Free Cash Flow/Net Income| 1. 3| 1. 83| 0. 68| 0. 15| 10. 64| Liquidity/Financial Health| | | | | |Current Ratio| 1. 2| 1. 23| 1. 35| 1. 8| 1. 86| Quick Ratio| 0. 95| 0. 97| 0. 65| 1. 03| 1. 25| Financial Leverage| 2. 54| 2. 66| 2. 52| 1. 9| 1. 95| Debt/Equity| 0. 32| 0. 22| 0. 21| 0. 27| 0. 28| Efficiency| | | | | | Days Sales Outstanding| 50. 3| 52. 4| 56. 7| 69. 1| 55. 4| Days Inventory| 104. 2| 108. 5| 136. 1| 209. 2| 138. 1| Payables Period| 29. 4| 33. 3| 40. 6| 57. 8| 45. 1| Cash Conversion Cycle| 125. 1| 127. 6| 152. 3| 220. 5| 148. 4| Receivables Turnover| 7. 3| 7| 6. 4| 5. 3| 6. 6| Inventory Turnover| 3. 5| 3. 4| 2. 7| 1. 7| 2. 6| Fixed Asset Turnover| 1. 6| 1. 9| 2| 1. 8| 2. 6| Asset Turnover| 0. 5| 0. 5| 0. | 0. 3| 0. 4| Reference – (6) Key Industry Ratios Operating Profit margin 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company | Operating Profit margin| 5. 2| 20. 3| 28. 3| Merck had Operating Profit margin of 5. 2 OPM%. Merck Operating profit margin is low when compared to competitors; this indicates that there is scope for improving the cost structure. Net Profit margin 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company | Net Profit margin| 1. 87| 12. 18| 21. 97| Merck had a Net Profit margin i. e. , 1. 87 NPM%. Merck NPM is lower than its competitors. A net profit margin indicates that there is scope for improving the capital structure.Huge percentage drop when compared to 2009 (47%). Current Ratio 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company | Current Ratio| 1. 86| 2. 11| 2. 09| Current Ratio: Merck has Current Ratio of 1. 8, which shows that Merck may meet short-term obligations. Current Ratio 2. 0 is considered good to meet short-term financial obligations. Return on Assets 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company | Return on Assets| 0. 79| 4. 05| 17. 34| Return on Assets (ROA): Merck has ROA of 0. 79%, which indicates its assets are NOT at optimum their utilization. Debt/Equity Ratio 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company |Debt/Equity Ratio| 0. 28| 0. 44| 0. 55| Debt/equity ratio (D/E ratio ): Merck had D/E ratio of . 27, which is good. Inventory Turnover Ratio 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company | Inventory Turnover Ratio| 2. 6| 1. 6| 1. 6| Inventory Turnover Ratio: Merck has a 2. 6 times turnover ratio, which is good when compare to competitors. It also suggests that loss of sales as it will not have sufficient stock in hand. Revenue Growth 2010| MERCK| PFIZER| Eli Lilly and Company | Revenue Growth| 67. 7| 35. 6| 5. 7| Revenue growth: Merck Sales growth rate is 67%, Revenue growth is very good when compared to competitors.New products Isentress and Januvia  sales boosted revenue. Market Share Market share: – Total Pharmacy industry share is $836 billion and Merck has $46 billion, stands one of the largest company in 2010 – 5. 5 % of Global Market. Internal Strengths S1 – Merck maintains strong financial health despite the $8. 5 billion debt needed for the acquisition. Analysts are predicting that the combined company will generate a $12 billion cash flow in 2011 which should help repay the debt quickly. (7) S2 – Majority of the blockbuster products introduced recently showed very strong sales.Especially, Januvia (diabetes), Isentress (HIV), and Gardasil. (7) S3 – Merck has strong earnings when compared to the industry. | Stock| Industry| S;amp;P 500 | Stock's 5Yr Average*| Price/Earnings| 122. 0| 17. 7| 16. 6| 40. 7| Price/Book| 1. 9| 2. 6| 2. 2| 4. 0| Price/Sales| 2. 3| 2. 6| 1. 4| 3. 5| Price/Cash Flow| 9. 8| 10. 1| 8. 5| 19. 9| Dividend Yield %| 4. 5| 3. 4| 1. 7| —| S4 – Merck’s latest acquisition of Schering results in a $6 billion pipeline of drugs with the potential of multiple blockbusters and very few patent losses are expected over the next couple of years.It is predicted that the combination of the two entities should generate $3 billion plus in annual cost savings before 2011. (8) S5 – Global market presence along with production facilities. Merck operates in 120 countries with 31 factories worldwide. (9) Merck follows a unique strategy of integrated markets as below. (10) S6 – Merck is well positioned in some Emerging Markets and is showing robust growth in China and is actively searching for a partner in India. Merck has developed a separate strategy for positioning itself as numero uno in emerging markets. 11) & (12) S7- A vast diversified product portfolio in Medicines, Vaccines, Biologics, Consumer Care and Animal Health. (12) S8 – It has various  patient assistance programs  in U. S. to help the people who are unable to afford the medical treatment in terms of medicine if household income is less than 400% of Federal Poverty Level. (13) S9 – The firm has robust in-house research capabilities that also make it a leader in designing new medical products. Internal Weakness W1 – EPS dropped from $0. 28 from $5. 7 mainly due which reflect a net unfavorable impact resulting from the amortization of purcha se accounting adjustments, in-process research and development (â€Å"IPR&D†) impairment charges, including a charge related to the vorapaxar clinical development program, restructuring and merger-related costs, as well as a legal reserve relating to Vioxx (the â€Å"Vioxx Liability Reserve†) discussed below, partially offset by the gain recognized on AstraZeneca’s exercise of its option to acquire certain assets. (5) W2 – Singulair is Merck’s largest volume selling pharmacy product with a annual sales of $3. billion as of 2010 and this is expiring in Aug 2012. (5) On top of this, FDA announced that a potential link exists between this product and suicidal behavior. (14) W3 – Few of Merck’s late-stage pipeline products did not get approved by FDA. Following drugs did not get FDA approvals anacetrapib for atherosclerosis, cholesterol drug Tredaptive, Rolofylline for heart disease and Telcagepant for migraines. W4 – The firm faced lawsuits on Vioxx product on increased chances of heart attack and Merck Agreement Provides for $4. 85 Billion Vioxx Settlement Payment. 15) W5 – Merck settled a lawsuit with J&J for $500 million over a dispute on two anti-inflammatory records. Merck also looses marketing rights in some areas. (16) W6 – Merck’s Current ratio is 1. 8, has a limited liquidity position as compared to its competitors. W7 – Merck has minimal presence in the Generic Drug Market. External Factor Evaluation Matrix | External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFE)|   |   |   |   | Opportunities| Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| 1. | O1 – The recent agreement with Schering-Plough opens more avenues for potential growth in the fields of respiratory and infectious disease therapeutic segments | 0. 8| 4| 0. 32| 2. | O2 – Possible Cost savings of $3. 5 Billon from internal restructuring efforts beyond 2011. | 0. 10| 3| 0. 30| 3. | O3 – There is a lot of po tential for growth in the Diabetes and Oncology markets and Merck has made its entry into this market thru the product Januvia | 0. 05| 3| 0. 15| 4. | O4 – Merck can add core strength to its portfolio by expanding research and innovation in the biological markets thru partners, acquisitions and joint ventures| 0. 05| 1| 0. 05| 5. | O5 – Rapidly expanding market share in emerging markets proves to be a high potential opportunity for Merck.Emerging Markets in Pharma Industry to take 50% Growth Credit by 2013 | 0. 10| 3| 0. 30| 6. | O6- Increased opportunity for new Generic Drug products through more focus on quality R&D. Healthcare reform suggests cost savings and insurance industries emphasize usage of generic drugs and the expiring patents on a lot of drugs opens up opportunity for Merck to pioneer the generic drug market leveraging its world-class research capabilities. The total market share of the patents that will expire over 2010-2015 is 17% with a market shar e of $142billion. | 0. 15| 2| 0. 30| 7. | O7- Pfizer’s animal health business returned a profit of $2. billion which is second to Merck and with the cancelled joint venture of Merck and Sanofi-Aventis, Merck should further pursue their concept with Novartis who are No. 5 in animal health business. This will strengthen their No. 1 position in the light of Pfizer's growing sales and the merger between J;amp;J and Eli Lilly Co in this segment| 0. 02| 3| 0. 06| | | | | | | Threats| Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| 1. | T1 – At least five of the patents are expiring in the next two years and competition is ready to introduce generic products backed by healthcare reform and this can pose a serious threat to Merck’s products and profitability| 0. 5| 2| 0. 30| 2. | T2 – The consumer is not the one that usually makes the choice of using a particular drug. Mostly, drugs are prescribed by physicians, who sometimes lack the necessary information about relative prices. | 0. 05| 3| 0. 15| 3. | T3 – The recent housing market problem, the oil prices problem and the global recession has a cascading effect on the job market and many people are unemployed losing their health insurance and forced to not being able to use medical or pharmaceutical products. If there is no sales in the pharmaceutical products, Merck can suffer financial losses and reduced returns to shareholders. 0. 08| 3| 0. 24| 4. | T4 – The HealthCare Reform enacted in 2010 caused unanticipated losses for Merck and the effects of this Act will continue into future. These new provisions will decrease revenue and increase costs. | 0. 08| 2| 0. 16| 5. | T5 – Although not included in the health care reform law, Congress has also considered, and may consider again, proposals to increase the government’s role in pharmaceutical pricing in the Medicare program. | 0. 03| 3| 0. 09| 6. | T6 – Congress may again consider proposals to allow, under certain conditio ns, the importation of medicines from other countries. 0. 03| 3| 0. 09| 7. | T7 – Merck is experiencing delay in manufacturing some of its vaccines and this delay can cause a competitor to launch a product that can be manufactured quickly. | 0. 03| 2| 0. 06|   | TOTALS| 1. 00|   | 2. 57| Competitive Profile Matrix Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)| | Merck| Pfizer| Eli Lilly and Company | Critical Success Factors| Weight | Rating| Score| Rating| Score| Rating| Score| Global Expansion| 0. 10| 3| 0. 30| 3| 0. 30| 4| 0. 40| Market Penetration| 0. 06| 4| 0. 24| 4| 0. 24| 2| 0. 12| Pipeline| 0. 15| 3| 0. 45| 4| 0. 60| 2| 0. 30| Patents| 0. 8| 4| 0. 72| 3| 0. 54| 2| 0. 36| R;amp;D| 0. 17| 3| 0. 51| 4| 0. 68| 2| 0. 34| Financial Profit| 0. 05| 2| 0. 10| 3| 0. 15| 4| 0. 20| Customer Loyalty| 0. 00| 3| 0. 00| 3| 0. 00| 2| 0. 00| Market Share| 0. 08| 4| 0. 32| 4| 0. 32| 3| 0. 24| Product Quality| 0. 06| 1| 0. 06| 2| 0. 12| 2| 0. 12| Generic Drugs| 0. 15| 2| 0. 30| 3| 0. 45| 2| 0. 30 | Totals| 1. 00|   | 3. 00|   | 3. 40|   | 2. 38| * Global Expansion: Merck is in 121 countries Pfizer is in 150 countries Eli Lily is in 143 countries. * Pipeline: 94 in Pipeline for Pfizer, Lilly has 15 and 57 in Merck Pipeline excluding registration. Patents: Pfizer has 11 basic patent products and Lily has 8 basic patent products and Merck has 29 basic patent products. * Financial Profit : EPS – Lilly has EPS 4. 58 Merck has 0. 28 Pfizer has 1. 02. * Market Share : Merck has $45 billion and Pfizer has $67 and Lilly has $23 billion. * Product quality : Merck has two major lawsuits whereas Pfizer has one and Lilly has one. * Generic Drugs : Pfizer has 59 generic drugs which is more than what Merck has and what Lilly has Merck is still entering into different JVS with SUN and other pharma companies. Internal Factor Evaluation Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE)|   |   |   |   | Strengths| Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| 1. | S1 – Merck maintains stro ng financial health despite the $8. 5 billion debt needed for the acquisition. Analysts are predicting that the combined company will generate a $12billion cash flow in 2011 which should help repay the debt quickly. | 0. 05| 4| 0. 20| 2. | S2 – Majority of the blockbuster products introduced recently showed very strong sales. Especially, Januvia(diabetes), Isentress(HIV), and Gardasil. | 0. 08| 4| 0. 32| 3. | S3 – Merck has strong earnings when compared to the industry. | 0. 04| 3| 0. 12| 4. S4 Merck’s latest acquisition of Schering results in a $6 billion pipeline of drugs with the potential of multiple blockbusters and very few patent losses are expected over the next couple of years. It is predicted that the combination of the two entities should generate $3 billion plus in annual cost savings before 2011. | 0. 15| 4| 0. 60| 5. | S5 Global market presence along with production facilities. Merck operates in 120 countries with 31 factories worldwide. | 0. 06| 3 | 0. 18| 6. | S6 Merck is well positioned in some Emerging Markets and is showing robust growth in China and is actively searching for a partner in India.Merck has developed a separate strategy for positioning itself as numero uno in emerging markets. | 0. 15| 3| 0. 45| 7. | S7 A vast diversified product portfolio in Medicines, Vaccines, Biologics, Consumer Care and Animal Health. | 0. 05| 3| 0. 15| | | | | | | Weaknesses| Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| 1. | W1 EPS dropped from $0. 28 from $5. 67 mainly due which reflect a net unfavorable impact resulting from the amortization of purchase accounting adjustments| 0. 04| 2| 0. 08| 2. | W2 Singulair is Merck’s largest volume selling pharma product with a annual sales of $3. 2 billion as of 2010 and this is expiring in Aug 2012. 0. 10| 1| 0. 10| 3. | W3 Few of Merck’s late-stage pipeline products did not get approved by FDA. Following drugs did not get FDA approvals anacetrapib for atherosclerosis, cholesterol drug Tredap tive ,Rolofylline for heart disease ,Telcagepant for migraines| 0. 10| 1| 0. 10| 4. | W4 The firm faced lawsuits on Vioxx product on increased chances of heart attack and Merck Agreement Provides for $4. 85 Billion Vioxx Settlement Payment. | 0. 04| 2| 0. 08| 5. | W5 Merck settled a lawsuit with J;amp;J for $500 million over a dispute on two anti-inflammatory records. Merck also looses marketing rights in some areas. 0. 04| 2| 0. 08| 6. | W6 Merck Current ratio is 1. 8, has a limited liquidity position as compared to its competitors. | 0. 05| 2| 0. 10| 7. | W7 Merck has minimal presence in Generic Drug Market. | 0. 05| 1| 0. 05|   | TOTALS| 1. 00|   | 2. 61| Space Matrix Financial Position: * Return on Investment is Average when compare to Industry. * Leverage: Compared to the industry standard, leverage or debt equity ratio of Merck is more industry is whereas Merck is 0. 27. * Liquidity: Current Ratio is around 1. 8. Above 2. 0 is preferred to meeting Short-term obligations. * Working Capital: Working Capital is low. Cash Flow: Cash Flows for 2010 is very good which is around $9 billion. Industrial Position: * Growth Potential: Revenues are up by 67% and successful new product launches. And successful merger with Schering Plough * Financial Stability: After M;amp;A, company financially is in difficult position, but in long-term it will do better. * Ease of Entry into Market: As Merck already exists in multiple markets and different pharma domains, ease of entry into market is considered high for Merck * Resource Utilization: Merck has ROA of 0. 79%, which indicates its assets are NOT at optimum their utilization. Profit Potential: As free cash flows are high, profit potential is more. Competitive Position: * Market Share: Second in global position * Product Quality: Two products have litigations. * Customer Loyalty: Due to Voixx and other products side effects, customer loyalty became average. * Technological know-how: Getting new biotechnology and bio-p harma industry. * Control over Suppliers and Distributors: Merck has control on Suppliers and Distributors. Sustainability Position: * Rate of Inflation: Same as like other products * Technological Changes: Minimal * Price Elasticity of Demand: As more are patent products, the effect will be less. Competitive Pressure: Yes, there is lot of competition with pharma and other generic drug products. * Barriers to Entry into Market: Minimum Barriers. SWOT Matrix SO Strategies: * S5O5O6: Healthcare reform emphasizes a paradigm shift to generic drugs from branded drugs and 17% of the patented drugs are going to expire by 2015 and this is an opportunity of $142 billion and there are not a lot of market players in this segment yet. Merck can take advantage of this upcoming situation and start working on generic drugs in the pipeline to be released in the established and emerging markets.We believe Merck should be able to tap into at least $50billion by this strategy. * S4O4O1: Merck’s merger with Schering results in a $6billion of pipeline of drugs and not many patents are expiring in this set. This strategy will result in $3billion of savings before 2011. Merck should further expand their research and innovation thru joint ventures and innovations in the current, biogenetics and other potential domains and follow a market penetration strategy in current and emerging markets.Merck should further expand their research and innovation thru joint ventures and innovations in the current, biogenerics and other potential domains and follow a market penetration strategy in current and emerging markets. ST Strategies: * S6T4T1: Healthcare reform can cause major losses in the domestic market and many laws of healthcare are not yet in implementation and the result of this will continue thru 2014 and so, Merck should start expanding globally beyond its current footprint and should focus on generic drugs as a majority of the emerging markets prefer inexpensive drugs compared to branded expensive drugs.The savings here are double-edged as we minimize the effect of healthcare reform oriented costs and we expand globally and earn more before competition takes over. The potential savings by this strategy is estimated to be a minimum of $4billion in the next one year considering we have a good presence in many established and emerging markets. * S7T2: Merck should start implementing a pharmacy management program by working closely with physicians and customers to deliver a one-of-a-kind integrated specialty pharmacy in every national segment that is part of Merck's client advisory board.This pharmacy management program specifically targets specialty medications for a number of chronic conditions and helps them better understand their condition, medication side effects, and the importance of adherence. WO Strategies: * W2O6O5W7: Singuliar is a branded product of Merck the patent of which is going to expire in 2012 and Merck should equip itself by penetrating into the generic drugs market that will substitute Singuliar and Merck should rapidly expand in emerging markets and focus on improving in existing markets to position itself better for the post patent expiration loss of sale. W3O4: FDA's denial of products in research and development can setback the product development lifecycle timeline during which competition can catch up and release their own branded or generic drug and so Merck should expand its research and innovation to adopt latest technologies for quicker innovation and also use joint ventures or partners or possible acquisitions to quickly supplement its lacunae in the research areas and thereby position itself for success. WT Strategies: * T1W2: More than six of Merck's patents are expiring in the near term.The additional capacity realized upon the cessation of Singuliar manufacturing should be used for high potential drugs which will face limited competition. The high potential drugs in the pipeline approved by FDA sho uld be made ready for use for the additional capacity. * W3T3: The current recession caused by multiple problems can hit Merck's profitability and the failure of FDA approvals can cause further sunk losses in the research and development area. Merck should look into outsourcing research and development to places where it is inexpensive for research.Grand Strategy Matrix The extensive analysis of Merck suggests the first quadrant of the Grand Strategy Matrix. Merck is in a good long term strategy and should continue to pursue its strategic plans and the recommended strategies. Recommended Strategies Recommended strategy No. 1: Healthcare reform emphasizes a paradigm shift to generic drugs from branded drugs in an effort to save money for the consumers and to eliminate undue profits for the healthcare or pharma industries. 7% of the patented drugs are going to expire by 2015 and this is an opportunity of $142 billion and there are not a lot of market players in this segment yet. Merck can take advantage of this upcoming situation and start working on generic drugs in the pipeline to be released in the established and emerging markets. We believe Merck should be able to tap into at least $50billion by this strategy over the next five years with an immediate return of $15billion in the upcoming fiscal year.More research and development can be leveraged by outsourcing research and development into areas where it’s more productive for the investment. A more detailed vision of this strategy in monetary terms is presented in the next section to give the audience a perspective of how this strategy is beneficial in making Merck the number one in the industry with sustainable prosperity laying the foundation to diversify into pharmacy management program in light of the healthcare reform. Recommended strategy No. 2:Merck should start implementing a pharmacy management program by working closely with physicians and customers to deliver a one-of-a-kind integrated spe cialty pharmacy in every national segment that is part of Merck's client advisory board. This pharmacy management program specifically targets specialty medications for a number of chronic conditions and helps them better understand their condition, medication side effects, and the importance of adherence. More research and development is suggested in areas that Merck can improve upon and the excess capacity that will be obtained after Singular should be used for pipeline products.This will position Merck as a differentiator in not just health but the health and wellness industry and will form a close nexus with physicians and customers while pursuing research in the most needed areas to improve life and wellbeing as visualized in the revised mission. Projected Financial Statements Projected Income Statement| | | | | 2010| 2011| | Revenue| 45,987. 00| 62832| Around $17 bln increase due to new strategies| COGS| 18,396. 00| 21991. 2| 35% of revenue| Gross Profit| 27,591. 00| 40840. 8| | | | | | Operating Expenses $Mil| | | | SG&A| 13,245. 00| 15708| 25% of sales | R&D| 10,991. 0| 13991| allocated $3 billion more| Other| 985| 985| | Pharmacy Management| | 200| | New Market Development expense| | 300| | Operating Income| 2,370. 00| 9656. 8| | Other Income and Expense $Mil| | | | Net Int Inc & Other| -717| -717| | Earnings Before Taxes| 1,653. 00| 8939. 8| | Income Taxes| 671| 3575. 92| 40% tax| Earnings After Taxes| 982| 5543. 88| | Acctg Changes| —| | | Disc Operations| —| | | Ext Items| -123| -123| | Net Income| 859| 5420. 88| | Diluted EPS, Cont Ops$| 0. 28| 0. 37| | Diluted EPS$| 0. 28| 0. 37| | Shares| 3,120. 00| 3208| | | | | | Project Balance Statement| | | |Assets $Mil| | | | | 2010| 2011| | Cash and Equiv| 10,900. 00| 11500| | Short-Term Investments| 1,301. 00| 1320| | Accts Rec| 7,344. 00| 11016| 50% increase| Inventory| 5,868. 00| 7335| 25% increase| Other Current Assets| 3,651. 00| 4250| | Total Current Assets| 29,064. 00| 354 21| | Net PP&E| 17,082. 00| 19555| | Intangibles| 51,834. 00| 52544| | Other Long-Term Assets| 7,801. 00| 8022| | Total Assets| 105,781. 00| 150963| | | | | | Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity $Mil| | | | | 2010| 2011| | Accts Payable| 2,308. 00| 2828| | Short-Term Debt| 2,400. 00| 2605| | Taxes Payable| 1,243. 0| 1300| | Accrued Liabilities| 8,514. 00| 8914| | Other Short-Term Liabilities| 1,176. 00| 1220| | Total Current Liabilities| 15,641. 00| 16867| | Long-Term Debt| 15,482. 00| 18282| | Other Long-Term Liabilities| 20,282. 00| 30455| | Total Liabilities| 51,405. 00| 55604| | Total Equity| 54,376. 00| 85359| | Total Liabilities ;amp; Equity| 105,781. 00| 150963| | Projected Ratios | 2010| 2011| Debt/Equity Ratio| 0. 28| 0. 65| Return on Assets| 0. 79| 3. 59| Net Profit margin| 1. 87| 8. 6| EPS| . 28| 1. 49| Company worth Analysis Net Worth Analysis |   | |   | Stockholders Equity| $66,754,000,000 |Net Income x 5| $4,295,000,000 | (Share Price/EPS) x Net Income| $104, 429,857,143 | Number of Shares Outstanding x Share Price| $104,948,066,926 | Method Average| $70,106,731,017 | Annual Objectives: * A projected increase in sales of $18bn is to be expected for 2011 and reduction of Singuliar sales will be $3bn resulting in $15bn. * An additional expense of $3bn for research and development is assumed for 2011 as part of recommendation 2. * A new category of expenses called â€Å"Pharmacy management expenses† will appear in statement for the amortization expenses of the start up of pharmacy management. A spike in interest of $200mn should be planned for due to the loan required for pharmacy management. * The pharmacy management program is expected to yield $2bn in profits in the first year. * New market development expenses should be planned for $300mn. * Merck should plan on generating equity to the tune of $30bn in the year 2011 to meet the expenses related to increased sales. Strategic Review and Evaluation Procedures: * At the end of the y ear, Merck should compare the stated objectives with the actual data.A re-evaluation of IFE and EFE should be implemented and should be checked for variance against the current IFE and EFE. * If no major variance is observed, the same strategies can be continued thru the following year. At the same time, if the result of these strategies position Merck in a better place, few more aggressive quadrant strategies should be evaluated and considered at that moment. * In the case of a situation where a wide variance is observed from the planned strategies, corrective actions are recommended after careful evaluation of factors from all relevant dimensions to check the main cause/s of the variance.A revised vision, mission and objectives may be needed at that moment in light of the new changes in external and internal factors. * We would also like to recommend usage of a balanced scorecard to evaluate the firm from multiple dimensions and ensure the overall progress of the firm follows the trajectory. * Key performance indicators should be evaluated from time to time internally against the plans or annual objectives and with industry standards for averages to identify any needed changes to the strategy.