Robert Mondavi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Robert Mondavi - Essay Example Mondavi successfully brought reforms to the US wine industry, and consequently, the wine industry all over the world. He was passionate about wine from a tender age and started a winery in Napa Valley, in 1966 (Mondavi and Chutkow 12). This was with the aim of outdoing the finest wine producers in Europe. His dream has today come true because many of the winemaking techniques used today were his ideas (Mondavi and Chutkow 17). He has also contributed to the modern wine industry by introducing winemaking concepts such as using French oak barrels, stainless steel tanks, and cold fermentation, which are all used in the modern wine industry today (Mondavi and Chutkow 23). Mondavi, a market leader in the wine industry, is remembered for initiating blind wine tasting sessions at the Napa Valley, combining these experiences with other world class wines. This allowed the wine industry and consumers to evaluate the value and quality of wine (Mondavi and Chutkow 39). He promoted the exportation of wine, which is a common practice in the modern wine industry today. He also promoted the production of high quality wines, after his wines became internationally recognized for their top quality. His wine educational tours and wine tastings helped to foster a wine culture, not only in America, but throughout the world (Mondavi and Chutkow 30). In conclusion, Mondavi has contributed to the modern wine industry in numerous ways. He has helped the industry refuse the culture of adding artificial flavors to wines. His innovations such as the vineyard management using digital mapping technologies, and remote-sensing via satellite have revolutionalized the modern wine industry (Mondavi and Chutkow 48). He created the wine culture and other wine related innovations such as using Quality Enhancement Teams, vintage dating to create varietal wines, traditional cork finishing, and barrel aging among others. The modern wine industry has also benefited through

Local Government Or A Non-Profit Organization Article

Local Government Or A Non-Profit Organization - Article Example expenditures and allocations made towards children but it is also about sharing the overall budget of the government as government grants constitutes a significant source of finance. From the official website of ‘Save the Children’ it was found that the organization has legal obligation of the government to fulfill rights and its ultimate goals. The budget is proposed by the committee set up by the Board of Trustees and it is based on the internal revenue code defined under section 501(c) (3). It is usually prepared under the supervision of the senior management (Save the Children, 2013, p.1). The budget so prepared by the management must be reviewed by the senior management and further approved by the Board of Trustees in order to be effective or executable. However, under the code of Ethics and Business Conduct of the organization, the senior management holds sufficient approving authority when the consequences of approval is in the best of interest of children, Agency , community or families that the organization it serve. This code will be specifically executed when there arise any conflict of interest regarding allocation of funds (Carnegie Mellon University, 2008, pp.1-2). The Budgeting Process A budget is a planning tool reflecting organizational mission, programs and strategic course of action and has to be approved by the board of directors. Keeping in mind the obligations of the organization towards the society and its stakeholders, the budgeting cycle may be analyzed by breaking the entire cycle into five simple steps. It begins by establishing the need for more expenditure compared to previous year to get better realization of children rights. For instance, as discussed earlier the organization was able to help more than 78 million children in last... Budgeting process refers to determining expenditure needs of the organization in line with its overall objective and long term strategies. It is usually done after assessment of expected expenditure because its relevance is ultimately decided by judging the real expenditure and the proposed allocation in a particular program and also in overall budget. Thus, monitoring of budget is also an important part of the whole budgeting process. Budgetary variances between actual and budgeted allocations must be minimized to increase reliability of forecasting. Some of the common causes of budget variances are faulty assumptions, unrealistic expectations, traditional bias, and arithmetic errors by accountant. Budget has to be prepared in a systematic and disciplined manner so that it covers all financial constraints and have proportionate allocation of funds for respective programs.

A Financial Analysis Of Starbucks Coffee

A Financial Analysis Of Starbucks Coffee The aim of this financial analysis of Starbucks is to obtain a deep knowledge of annual financial reports and other corporate information, which can provide us measurable conclusions about the company. It is essential to understand the nature of companys business, by analyzing its economic and financial environment and strategy choices made in the past. This report will begin with industry and company description, followed by financial performance overview and projection of company development over the next two years. Conclusions drawn from above analysis will support managers in making a decision whether to invest in the company. 2. The industry description The coffee industry is growing since 2002, and in recent years there was a boom caused by consumers becoming more educated about espresso-based drinks and how they are made (H. Holmes, 2004). The coffee industry includes 20,000 outlets with combined revenue of $11 billion. Approximately 20 million people work in the coffee industry worldwide. Market is very concentrated at the top with the 50 companies taking up 70% of the sales, and fragmented at the bottom. Starbucks is the market leader (Franchise direct, 2010). 2.1. Starbucks description Starbucks Corporation is involved in: purchasing, roasting, and sale of whole bean coffees, cold-blended beverages, various food items, selection of teas, and beverage-related accessories and equipment, primarily through its company-operated retail stores. It was established in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. In 1986 Howard Shultz, Retail Sales and Marketing Manager, left the company to start his own retail coffee outlet, Il Giornale. In 1987 the original investors of Starbucks bought Peets Coffee and sold Starbucks to H.Shultz, who renamed Il Giornale to Starbucks. Firm expended with shops in Chicago and Vancouver. Starbuck was the first coffee company to offer employee stock options in 1991 and went public in 1992. In 1990s Starbucks started distributing coffee through department stores, bookstores, hotels, supermarkets and online; it signed contract with PepsiCo, AOL and Dyers and opened stores in Japan, Singapore, and UK. (Hoovers.com, 2008) Starbucks has built one of the worlds most powerful and recognizable brands and the image of a unique Starbucks Experience. Its mission statement was to revolutionize the coffeehouse industry by building a perception of a coffee shop as the third place between work and home. Wi-fi internet access in all stores makes it a place where customers can work. The companys goal was to make each location a community center for higher-income crowd of the young and college-educated, a group that tends toward higher luxury-consumption levels. (Wikinvest.com, n.d.) 2.2. Competition Starbucks close competitors include other specialty coffee shops, doughnut shops, and restaurants. Starbucks holds a dominant position in the coffeehouse market which is dispersed among the thousands of independent or small-chain coffee shops. Their largest direct competitors are Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds. Both offer specialty coffee at a lower price. Main competitors short description: Dunkin, specializes in fresh baked goods, but began offering coffee in 2005. Their level of sales is at $4.3b. Currently, their coffee sales start to exceed food sales, 5-10% of total sales are from espresso-based drinks. Dunkin has a 22.9% market share. (Starbucks in the aggregate category controls a 24.7% market share) McDonalds entered the coffeehouse industry in 2007, offering coffee at its flagship stores and opening its espresso-centric McCafe concept in some markets. McDs coffee sales generate $813m in additional annual income. Current revenue from coffee is around $490m, about 6-6.5% of Starbucks coffee sales. Their price point is at 18% discount on Starbuckss. The two competitorss targets are slightly different from Starbucks. They focus on cheaper coffee to go, whereas Starbucks is providing a premium experience for a luxury price. Consequently, they compete with each other more directly than with Starbucks, however McCafe has a negative impact on Starbucks. Analysts believe that competitors will settle into separate niches, McDonalds being the better value proposition and Starbucks offering higher quality experience. 3. Financial Performance 2007-2009 3.1. Overview of Starbucks performance 2007-2009 In the fiscal year 2007, Starbucks achieved a solid performance. All goals like new stores opening, total revenue growth, comparable store sales growth and considerable cost rises from dairy products were completed. The consolidated operating income in 2008 was $503.9 and operating margin 4.9%. This was a significant decrease compared with the past few years, the reason for decrease was a changing of structure. In 2009, Starbucks faced many challenges caused by unexpected economic environment and more intense competition, which had impact on the revenue, comparable store sales, operating income and margins. 3.2. Income statement analysis 2007-2009 While net revenues of Starbucks havent been stable from 2007 to 2009 (first increasing then decreasing), its total operating income have also been moving in 2008 it decreased by 52,2% and it was $503.9 million, 4.9% of total net revenues. The reason for decrease was high distribution costs and high rent expenses. In 2009 it increase again by $58.1. Main reason for this improvement was the restructuring charges which contain: assets impairment, lease exit and severance costs. In 2008 and 2009 while net revenues were $10,383 million and $9,774.6, total operating expenses were $9,992.7 million in 2008 and $9,334.5 in 2009 that means expenses were highly eating up more than 96% of the net revenues. The company suffered a major loss of 113.185% in net earnings between 2007 and 2008. Starbucks realized that he need to re-think its business strategy. In 2008, the company incurred restructuring charges of $266.9 million due to store closures in the US and Australia and reduction of the work force. Starbucks Company derived 84% of total net revenue from the company-operated retail stores. They opened 681 new stores in the last 12 months and this offset -3% losses in comparable store sales. Total net revenue of 2009 was showed a decrease of 5.9%, stayed at $9,774.6. The company-operated retail also went down. In detail, there was a change of nearly 6.7% in comparable, for 4% decrease in transactions and a 2% decrease in the average value per transaction. Figure 1: Net Revenue of Starbucks 2007-2009 (Starbucks annual financial report) Figure 2: Operating Income of Starbucks 2007-2009 (Starbucks annual financial report) Figure 3: Net earnings of Starbucks 2007-2009 (Starbuck annual report) 3.4. Balance sheet In term of assets, the total assets for the three years kept staying around $5,600 million. The total current assets in 2009 were $2,036 million. This was higher than in 2008 and 2007 due to the high cash and cash equivalents in 2009. The marketable securities in 2007 were $157 millions so in 2007 the company had more short term investment. On the other hand, the total liabilities in 2008 were the highest in three years because of the commercial paper and short-term borrowing in 2008. Additionally, there was no short-term debt in 2009 but it was the highest accrued expenses during the three years. The shareholders equity in 2009 was the highest in three years owing to the additional paid-in capital. 3.4. Ratio analysis: By doing ratio analysis, the company performance would be evaluated more clearly. As we can see the current ratio for the 2009 was higher than 2008 and 2007. In 2008 and 2007, the current ratio was under 1. That means Starbucks was not in good financial health in these two years. However, this situation didnt exist for a long time but it was not a good sign. The current ratio for 2009 was 1.29, so the company had 1.29 times more current assets than current liabilities. That means Starbucks was able to cover its own obligations. As the Exhibit 1 shows the quick ratio was low for 3 years that is all below 1. This indicates that the company had difficult to turning their inventory into cash like a short-term liability which the company could not pay off immediately. In 2007, the profit margin of Starbucks was 7.15%. This means 7 cents of each dollar is companys profit. In the next two years, the profit margin decreased by nearly 3 percent. That means the net income in 2009 was visibly lower than 2007. It may mainly caused from the increase of the restructuring charges. The return on assets ratio in the year 2007 was 13.77% while the ratio declined to 6.95% in 2009. From this we know Starbucks earned more in 2007 and the net income in 2007 was higher than in 2009. The reason for this decrease results is also from increase cost of the restructuring and innovation in 2008 and 2009. In terms of leverage ratio, to measure its ability to meet financial obligation from 2007 to 2009 the debt ratio was around 50%. That means nearly 50% of funds for assets came from debt. This does not seem good for the company and the most liabilities were long-term liabilities. The debt to equity ratio from 2007 to 2009 was pretty high and the highest point was in 2007, so in 2007 more debt was used. Interests earned ratio in Starbucks during the 3 years was extremely high like in 2007, the ratio was nearly 28 times, but finally in 2009 the ratio was around 15 times a year. It could be a really good margin since the company was able to cover its interest expenses 15 times with operating income. 3.5. Cash flow Operating activities: the net cash provided by operating actives in 2009 was highest during the 3 years. The main part of activities was depreciation and amortization. Same as in 2008 the company spent $604.5 thousands on depreciation and amortization. Investing activities: the net cash used by investing activities in 2007 was $-1201.9 thousands. The main costs here were addition to property, plant and equipment and the company also spent money on purchasing available-for-sale securities. But in 2009 the net cash used by investing activities was $-421.1 thousands. This was much less than in the 2007. The reason for this was the company spent less money on additions to property, plant and equipment. Financing activities: the net increase/ (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in 2009 was $330.0 thousands. That means Starbucks gained money from financing activities in 2009 while in 2008 and 2009 they had losses in financing activities. The reason for the gain of money in 2009 was the profit in short-term borrowing and nothing spent on the issuing of long-term debts. 4. Forecasting 2010-2011 In order to project the next two fiscal year performance of Starbucks, particularly to construct the pro forma income statements of 2010 and 2011, establishing the revenue (or sales) projection should be the first task of all. In the next steps, the rest items of the statement would be projected by the percent of sales method since it does provide simple, logical estimate of many important variables (Higgins, 2009). In fact, there was a visible growth of Starbucks revenue in both volume and speed during the period of time from 2000 to 2009. Especially, from 2000 to 2007, the annual company sales increased in steady pace in the range of 20% to 29%. This impressive growth of Starbucks revenue was a sophisticated proof for its great business strategies during the beginning of this decade. However, the story had some changes since 2008. At the end of this fiscal year, Starbucks finished with $10,383 million revenue, in comparison with 2007, the growth ratio was 10.3% only, the lowest rat io since 2000. Continuously, in the midst of the US economic crisis, Starbucks sales got negative growth at 5.9% after finish the fiscal year 2009, stay at $9,744 million. Figure 4: Starbucks Sales chart in 2000-2009 (in Millions) Obviously, the trustable estimation should be the sophisticated one, that normally came from data base statistic analyses. Specifically, with the availability of the last ten years data of Starbucks revenue, it was possible to apply most of time series forecast methods such as moving average, weighted moving average, exponential smoothing, and so on. Since each method had its own advantages and limitations, it is necessary to compare how every method would reflect the same provided data (Exhibit 4). The value of W3 (for the Weighted moving average method) and ÃŽÂ ± (for the Exponential smoothing method) were decided high at 0.6 and 0.3 due to the emphasis of the closest time period in term of its impact to the next following year. As a result, the forecasts for 2010 sales were quite low though there was still a slightly growth than 2009. Among the three methods, the weighted moving average method seems to be the most appropriated one since it had the smallest value of the Mean Absolute Deviation. Basically, it proved that this method had less forecasting error than others and might be the best choice of all. To be clear, the plot chart was established base on the result of the three forecast methods in Figure X. Figure 5: Plot of Actual Sales and Forecast Sales for 2010 in three different models (in $ Million) Visibly, the line created from weighted moving average method was the closest one to the actual sales line. Its trend reflected almost similarly to the actual during the period of time from 2003 to 2009. That is why this method was chosen to determine the 2010 Starbucks sales instead of the two methods remaining. Objectively, $9,920.81 million may not be a number that Starbucks shareholders and investors really expect, even it showed slightly growth at 1.5% than 2009. However, in some levels, it seems to reflect quite appropriately the reality of the economic conditions as well as the Starbucks status. In spite of many positive signs of the economic recovery, Starbucks is still continuing its plan to close 800 retail stores over two year 2009 and 2010. Since the 566 stores had already released in 2009, another 244 are expecting to be cleared in fiscal year 2010. Thus, it could be hard to see a rapid growth in revenue of Starbucks at the end of fiscal year 2010. In regard to fiscal year 2011, since all of the three forecasting method above only allowed forecaster to see the result of 2010 revenue, the Linear Regression method was applied to estimate the sales in 2011. By collecting the sales data from the last three years (2007 to 2009) in quarterly, by the calculation of the regression line (Exhibit 11), the value of a ( the y intercept) and b (slope of regression line) were found. These two values were use to determine the dependent variable (y). The regression forecast of sales in equation is: y = a + bx (Exhibit 5 ). The forecast results of $10,078.21 and $10,189.41 for each year of 2010 and 2011 once again confirmed about the growth trend of Starbucks sales in the next two year. Nonetheless, base on the Starbucks plan of opening over 500 new stores in US and over sea during 2011, there should be a stronger increase in sales of Starbucks in this year. Subjectively, the authors believed that Starbucks revenue would increase no less than 15% in 2011. In other words, if the 2010 revenue was forecasted at $9,920.81 million, the same item in 2011 would be around $11,408.93 million. This result was also determined base on many positive factors that Starbucks could get benefits from such as the economic recovery in higher volume and speed, the more effective operating of Starbucks after the reorganizing process in its retail stores system as well as the objective increase in customers demand. Moreover, the volume of average transaction would be higher due to the increase in cost of goods sold and the im pact of inflation. In the Exhibit 6, all the operating performances of Starbucks from 2005 to 2009 were displayed in detail by the percent of total revenue. Base on those historical data and theirs visible trends, it was possible to anticipate logically the operating results for next two fiscal years 2010 and 2011 (Exhibit 7). According to the Exhibit 14, the net income of Starbucks stays at $466.27 and $479.18 million for each of 2010 and 2011. This may be considered as the acceptable results in regard to the challenges of the current circumstance. In fact, the forecast net income of 2010 is 19.3% higher than 2009. Since the revenue of 2010 did not rise in a strong level (only 1.5%), this impressive net income mainly came from the reducing the stores operating expenses and the more effective tax rate. In 2011, the operating expenses are expected to increase and stay at 95.2% of total sales, this is an objective fact that many items in operating expenses areas are in trend of steady increase year by year accompany with the business enlarge strategy of Starbucks, such as store operating expenses or general and administrative expenses. However, this ratio might be less in the next following years if the restructure process of Starbucks would get its aims of improving efficiency of cost control in various act ivities. Conclusion and recommendation Starbucks has been the largest specialty coffee retailer in its industry, but due to the problems with our economy, it has been seeing an effect on its sales and profits. The economic situation has affected consumers spending at Starbucks and other luxury goods. Starbucks also raised prices by an average of 9 cents a cup in July of 2007, causing U.S. customers who face higher food, fuel and housing expenses to go to McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts for cheaper coffee. These issues have affected Starbucks stocks performance in the market and are slowly making this stock an unfavorable one for potential investors. My recommendation for potential investors would be to hold off on purchasing stocks from Starbucks at this moment because now is not a good time to invest in them. I would advise these investors to keep looking into this stock until they see a positive change in its market pattern and that would be when I would advise them to purchase the stock; before its price increases higher t han the average market price. My recommendation for investors holding the share of the company would be to hold on to it until they can see for certain if Starbucks stocks will continue to go down and become a loss or maybe potential go back up and become profitable as they once were. After conducting my research, I believe the Starbucks stock will eventually start going up again after they put into effect their plans for the upcoming year. This stock is definitely a valuable one that I would not let go of if I owned shares in it. Starbucks hold value to its stock, which is why my advice to shareholders is to hold off on selling their shares until they see how the upcoming year goes for the company. In a response to the McDonalds challenge Starbucks is teaming up with Burger King, which has announced that by September 2010 it would begin selling Starbucks Seattles Best Coffee in about 7,250 U.S. outlets it would launch its first national advertising campaign.

Improving Language Acquisition in Bilingual Children Essay -- learning

For most bilingual speakers, the English language is hard to navigate. Like an unknown street, not natural to them, they stumble to find the words to say what they want to say; they trip over cracks of pronunciation, taking wrong turns over careless misuse, out of context phrasing, as they attempt to follow the rules of ambiguous signage established by others. â€Å"Uh, um, hmmm, how do you say†¦?† A long pause follows. The image that comes to mind is of a student scratching at their head, hesitating before finally delivering the â€Å"right† word. It’s a matter of translating it to convey the correct meaning. Many bilingual speakers think out a process of word sorting that allows them to think through their vocabularies, sort, and choose a word that sounds right and is easy to say. A significant amount of bilingual speakers make every effort to learn how to say pronunciations that do not always readily translate from their native language; thus they struggl e to express themselves correctly in everyday conversations. Today in the U.S., The Department of Education reports that 21% of school-age children between the ages of 5 and 17 speak a language other than English at home. Studies have shown that students that first learn to speak languages other than English often face neurolinguistic challenges, especially with the formation of organized thoughts for pronunciations and syntax. It is important that bilingual speakers in the U.S. become more comfortable and confident speaking English, but this can only be carried out and developed correctly if done at the right age and in the right environment. What makes for better bilingual speakers? It all depends on timing. Widely acclaimed linguistic psychologists like Patricia K. Kuhl and Steven ... ...go: College-Hill, 1984. 27-41. Print. Hatch, Evelyn M. "Introduction: A Perspective on Psycholinguistics." Psycholinguistics: A Second Language Perspective. Rowley: Newbury House, 1983. 1+. Print Hatch, Evelyn M. "Phonology." Psycholinguistics: A Second Language Perspective. Rowley: Newbury House, 1983. 12+. Print Badger, Emily. "Where 60 Million People in the U.S. Don't Speak English at Home." The Atlantic Cities. The Atlantic Cities, 6 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Kim, K. H., Relkin, N. R., Lee, K. M., & Hirsch, J. (1997). Distinct cortical areas asso- ciated with native and second languages. Nature, 388(6638), 171–4. "Fact Sheets: Languages Spoken in the United States According to the 2000 U.S. Census." U.S. English. U.S. English, 200. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Kuhl, Patricia. â€Å"The Linguistic Genius of Babies.† TEDTalks, Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Financial Analysis of PepsiCo and Coca Cola

PepsiCo and Coca Cola are two major companies that manufacture beverages. They compete to be the number on manufacturer and distributor of beverages in the world. These two companies are very identifiable in this market and you know them as PepsiCo and Coca Cola. These two companies have undoubtedly dominated the markets worldwide that they both receive universal recognition for their different products. Although, there are many other manufacturers and distributors of beverages these two are the major competitors.Not only do they produce soda drinks, they also produce flavored water, spring water, and some energy drinks. PepsiCo, best known for Pepsi and Coca Cola best known for Coke have great marketing anddue to this they are able to target all income brackets. Their marketing and reasonable prices make iteasy for the people to buy their products in all income brackets. I will be examining both company’s income statements and balance sheets to disclose thefinancial condition of these companies in relation one to another.I will also perform vertical andhorizontal analysis from their annual report of financial data. There are a vast amount of manufacturers and distributors in this market, but Pepsi and Coca-Cola have managed to stay in the number one spot for a couple of decades. These two companies have not only dominated the market domestically they have dominated the worldwide market. They followed a plan that kept them above and beyond the market of soft drinks. They have overcome obstacles that allowed them to manufacture and distribute globally. (The Coca Cola Company, 2009).These companies compete with one another for the same customers. When one company comes up with a product the other company comes out with something very similar to it; this is called the â€Å"follow up strategy,† and while doing so they live the other companies behind dazed and confused, wondering what just happened. (www. PepsiCo. com, 2009). Being successful does not come without a price, both of this companies has had to deal with legal issues, precedents, and politics. These two companies are the best examples on how leadership is the power of influence.They design their product geared towards a certain taste and to appeal to a certain population and make look as though they are subjected to certain ethical and moral practices. Their influence in this market is so powerful that they drive out and shut down any other competitor in this market. I would like for you to keep in mind that all financial data of these companies are shown in millions so if you see a figure of 200 that means 200 million and if you see 5,000 it is in the billions. We will start with a vertical analysis of these companies. The vertical analysis comes from each company’s financial statements.The total assets for each company will be the starting point of this analysis. Coca Cola’s total assets in 2004 were $31,441 and its 2005 total assets were $29,427. Pep siCo’s total assets for 2004 were $27,987 and its total assets for 2005 were $31,727. (Weygandt, Kimmel, & Kieso, 2008). The total asset of each of the figures relates to items from each company’s balance sheet. The cost of sales for PepsiCo during 2004 was $12,674 yielding a ratio percentage of 45. 3% of total assets and for 2005 the cost of sales was $14,167 yielding a ratio percentage of 44. 7% of total assets.Coca-Cola’s cost of sales in 2004 was $7,674 yielding a ratio percentage of 24. 4% of total assets and in 2005it was $8,195 yielding a ratio percentage of 27. 8% of total assets. PepsiCo experienced a 5% increase within a one year span and Coca Cola experienced a 3. 4% increase during the same span. This does not mean that this increase is a positive analysis since the single figure does not reveal whether the increase is a positive measure. A higher cost of sales may not be offset by higher revenues matching or exceeding the increased cost. The next th ing we are going to look at is net income.Pepsi had in 2004 a net income of $4,212 and this yielded a ratio percentage of 15. 1% of total assets and in 2005 their net income was $4,078 yielding a ratio percentage of 13. 2% of their total assets. This is a 1. 9% decrease in their net income between 2004 and 2005 and they also show a decrease in the cost of sales during the same period. Coke on the other hand had a net income of $4,847 in 2004 yielding a ratio percentage of 15. 4% and in2005 their net income was $4,872 yielding a ratio of 16. 6% of their total assets. This shows and an increase of 1. 2% between 2004 and 2005.Although they experienced an increase it is not entirely an offset of their income overall, making this a negative indication for Coca Cola. Now the breakdown of each company’s consolidated balance sheets to compare current assets and current liabilities to their total assets for each year considered. Pepsi’s total current assets in 2004 were $8,639 which yields a ratio percentage of 30. 9% of total assets for that year. Pepsi’s total current assets in 2005 were $10,454 which yields a ratio percentage of 32. 9% of total assets. This shows a 2%increase in current assets.In contrast coca Cola current asset in 2004 were $12,281 yielding a ratio percentage of 39. 1% and in 2005 current asset were $10,250 yielding a ratio percentage of 34. 8%;which show a major decrease in their current assets. Although, there was a significant decrease in their current assets it was accompanied by a decrease in their current liabilities, which would be a positive indication for Coke instead of a negative one. Looking at the horizontal analysis of each company will give us more information. Horizontal analysis is also called â€Å"trend analysis† because of its ability to show financial data compared over a period of time.There are two different formulas that can be employed to teach this information. The first one uses the current yea r amount and subtracts from that the base year amount. The second formula divides the current year amount by the base year amount. The year 2004 is the base year for both companies in this analysis. Pepsi’s total current assets for 2004 were $8,639 and for 2005 were $10,454. In the first Pepsi had an increase of 121. 01% of total current assets; over their 2004 base year figure. The second formula yields a 21. 01% total current assets from the base year. Coke’s total assets in 2004 were$12,281 and $10,250 in 2005.As you can see Coke’s total current assets dropped between 2004 and2005 without performing the formulaic calculations. All the analysis shows that PepsiCo and Coca Cola both experienced lower net profits in 2005than in 2004. They showed an increased operation expenses which resulted in a lower net profit. Both has had a higher operating expense in 2005 than in 2004 and need to modify their operations to reduce their expenses so their profit margins can increase so they will not keep experiencing a decrease in profits. I have analyzed two well-known companies in this paper.These two companies are PepsiCo and Coca Cola. These two companies have been around for a long time and have stormed the market. We have seen in my vertical and horizontal analysis that their financial data reveals somewhat a different picture of each company’s financial status. Both companies have experienced a moment were they were not profitable and a moment when they were profitable. During this exercise made me realize that although these companies appear to be profitable the analyses showed that these two companies performance were very different from one another in the years 2004 and 2005

Native American Culture Essay

Estrangement is the state of being withdrawn or isolated from the objective world, as through indifference or disaffection. Ill-advisedly, the protagonist from â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† is forever bound in this state of mind. His internal conflicts enthrall between fighting for his Native American ethnicity, and, finding his purpose to this world. This link between the two becomes a challenge due to his pessimistic, and protective attitude for his race. The narrator’s volatile actions imply his frustration towards the discrimination against his native Spokane reservation heritage. The protagonists’ Native American upbringing intertwined with White culture challenges his Red and White thinking. The protagonists’ family style upbringing has distilled values that are outlived in his Native American identity. Unfortunately, the protagonist is quite protective of his Native American descent. In fact, his view of people is quite pessimistic towards the Native American race. This rigidness to his ethnicity is foretold in two parts. As humans, we are first born with an identity that is kept close to us, such as Native American, African American, or Grecian. Although we are born with uniqueness; the values we instill to our race are brought about through parent’s effort in raising their children. For Sherman Alexie, he’d developed a cynical character who bares strong connections to his Native American race. The protagonist’s existence and demeanor is uncanny because he’d been destined for a life of prosperity through public schooling and a college education. Found here, â€Å"But I was special, a former college student, a smart kid. I was one of those Indians who was supposed to make it. I was a new kind of warrior. † This quote reveals his sense of insecurity concerning his life thus far and how he has not lived up to his expectations. â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† exposes a few scenes where the main character is fighting for ethical freedom outside of Spokane. The protagonist’s discriminative experiences begin at a convenience store in Seattle where he feels like a predator lurking amongst his preys. As stated, â€Å"He looked me over so he could describe me to the police later. † The protagonist was familiar with this wicked look; as he’d lost a close relationship to its devilish hands once before. His loss began like this, â€Å"When one person starts to look at another like a criminal, then the love is over. † As Native American, these adverse impressions occur randomly as seen through the Police incident. In this scene, the protagonist had been pulled over in a wealthy neighborhood by the police officer, â€Å"You’re making people nervous. You don’t fit the profile of the neighborhood. † This was a friendly way of saying; you are not wanted in this area, please leave. These occurrences are upsetting to the narrator as they have affected his view of Whites. As the protagonist becomes disgusted with life, he packs his belongings and heads home to Spokane in Washington State. While home, he realizes that connecting to his family and finding peace is not easy. His weak-minded thinking is foreseen here,† They’d been expecting me back the day I left for Seattle. There’s an old Indian poet who said that Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there. † In fact, while living in Seattle, his dreams became nightmares of a vivid war scene between the Red’s and Whites. The Indians became slaughtered by the Whites and at one point, â€Å"Three mounted soldiers played polo with a dead Indian woman’s head. † This graphic image stays with him as he found accounts of this madness occurred in the old west and in parts of the world today. The protagonist’s dreams and Native American ethnicity have instilled protective beliefs to his ethnicity and real life demeanor towards others. Although he’s strong-willed concerning his background, insecurity remains present. One instance occurs where he starts a job in Spokane at the local high school exchange program. He answers phone calls and asks himself, â€Å"Sometimes I wonder if the people on the other end of the line know that I’m Indian and if their voices would change if they did know. † His insecurity exponentially evolves to every facet in his life and only exacerbates his pessimistic attitude. The cynical behavior by the protagonist has incurred due to several discriminatory experiences. One being, the protagonist’s cup is full; which allows him to believe this Red vs. White rivalry will never change. Because of his ignorance, he leaves no trust to anyone and is forced to run when he encounters discrimination. One situation that symbolizes the protagonist’s doubtful thoughts is encountered at his hometown basketball court. He comes home to find the new BIA chief’s White kid named Jimmy Seyler who can play ball. â€Å"And he could play. He played Indian ball, fast and loose, better than all the Indians there. † That night, Jimmy whooped on every Indian who played Basketball. I recognize this as a change of tone and direction in the protagonist’s life. At this point in time, he realizes that he must submit to his Red vs. White rivalry in order to move forward in his life. Just as Jimmy will advance and become an NBA star, the gap between the two races, White and Indian will only become larger. Indian’s will control the small reservation plains out West while the White culture advances to become a powerhouse figure in the United States of America. Hereafter this epiphany, the protagonist’s life begins to move forward as he starts a new job and connects with his ex-girlfriend once again.

Free Essays on Philosophy In Teaching

Personal Philosophy of Teaching My personal philosophy of teaching focuses around my beliefs about education and what I hope to accomplish in my future years as a Special Education teacher. My main goal as a future teacher is to create a safe and welcoming classroom for my students. A place where they feel comfortable to be themselves, are motivated to learn and have fun while doing it. The school's of today offer children so much more than simple reading, writing and arithmetic. Yes, academics are the most important components of a school, but schools also give children the opportunity to explore new ideas, learn from and interact with their peers, and to help them become active members of society. I believe that all students, including students with special needs have the right to learn and to reach his/her highest potential, no matter what his/her learning style or pace may be. Each child should be given the opportunity to live, participate, and interact with one another in the same settings which include school, home and the workplace. Education is an ongoing process that begins at birth and continues throughout our entire lives, both in and out of the classroom. I believe it is important to be aware that education involves not only the instruction that takes place in the classroom but the community and the enviornment in which it exists. Therefore, I believe it necessary to incorporate the aspects of everyday life into the curriculum and for parents to be involved in their child's schooling as well. Effective teachers also bring lessons and activities to the classroom that promote interactive group activities where the children learn from each other. Learning is active rather than passive. In order for a child to fully learn something, they need to learn by doing rather than watching. Through group work, the students are able to share their differing ideas with each other, and gain an even bigger picture of the... Free Essays on Philosophy In Teaching Free Essays on Philosophy In Teaching Personal Philosophy of Teaching My personal philosophy of teaching focuses around my beliefs about education and what I hope to accomplish in my future years as a Special Education teacher. My main goal as a future teacher is to create a safe and welcoming classroom for my students. A place where they feel comfortable to be themselves, are motivated to learn and have fun while doing it. The school's of today offer children so much more than simple reading, writing and arithmetic. Yes, academics are the most important components of a school, but schools also give children the opportunity to explore new ideas, learn from and interact with their peers, and to help them become active members of society. I believe that all students, including students with special needs have the right to learn and to reach his/her highest potential, no matter what his/her learning style or pace may be. Each child should be given the opportunity to live, participate, and interact with one another in the same settings which include school, home and the workplace. Education is an ongoing process that begins at birth and continues throughout our entire lives, both in and out of the classroom. I believe it is important to be aware that education involves not only the instruction that takes place in the classroom but the community and the enviornment in which it exists. Therefore, I believe it necessary to incorporate the aspects of everyday life into the curriculum and for parents to be involved in their child's schooling as well. Effective teachers also bring lessons and activities to the classroom that promote interactive group activities where the children learn from each other. Learning is active rather than passive. In order for a child to fully learn something, they need to learn by doing rather than watching. Through group work, the students are able to share their differing ideas with each other, and gain an even bigger picture of the...