Spoken Word Poetry Essay Example For Students

Spoken Word Poetry Essay To hear such powerful words in such a strong voice come from the tiny body was absolutely amazing. Today, I had the pleasure of being part of the audience to which Gabriele Garcia Medina delivered several of her lengthy, yet heartfelt poems. When you first see Gabriele, you would never think that Inside the small body Lies such power and self-confidence. She captivates her audience, makes them laugh, cry and think from deep within themselves and in the end leaves them wanting to hear more of what she has to say. Gabriele gives you a bit of background before reciting any poems so that you can understand a bit more about who she is and her point of view while listening to the poem she is reciting. According to Gabrielle, her family left Cuba in 1989 and moved to London. At the age of ten and on one of her first field trips, to a soup kitchen, Gabriele realized that there were people who didnt have food or homes. This brought her to tears and the only way she was able to soothe her soul and ease the tears was to express her feelings In the form of poetry. We will write a custom essay on Spoken Word Poetry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Her family embraced the retentive gift and encouraged her to keep writing. This was the start of the young womans career and a chance to let begin touching the lives of others through her words. Gabriele has two different ways in which she writes her poetry. One is a structured format in which she is hired by an organization given a theme, time and money. Though Gabriele has the freedom to write the poem in her own creative way, the theme and idea behind it must follow the guideline that the company which she was hired by provided. The other way Gabriele comes up with her ideas for poems re through her day-to-day interactions with others. According to Gabriele, every time she comes In contact with a person she knows that Its a potential poem. Things that most people consider normal daily activities, Gabriele turns Into poetry. Whether It Is a bad day or a trip to the mall, for Gabriele Its a way to tell a story that can potentially touch someones life or change their views, Including her own. Gabriel poems are quite lengthy, approximately 4 to 6 minutes in length. She memorizes them by rehearsing -standing in a mirror reciting them over, and over, ND over again until the words are etched into her mind and heart. Even though she has performed before hundreds of audiences, Gabriele still gets nervous before going on stage. To keep her nerves in check, Gabriele meditates for a minute and reminds herself that what she has to say is meaningful and positive. This helps her memorize her thoughts, relax and put on a great show that seems very natural. Since there are a lot of people that write, but not all have the pleasure of getting on stage to share their thoughts with an audience Gabriele embraces the opportunity and looks at It as an honor. According to Gabriele, she wants to Inspire people to feel great and empowered about themselves and their lives and encourage them to be positive and do positive things. Because Gabriele has worked hard and stayed focused, her writing and thing that she dislikes most about all of the traveling to different venues to perform is that she never really gets a chance to connect with the audience and members of the community, there is no time for that with her hectic schedule. Even though she is a wonderful performer, she still has off days when she is going through something ND would rather be locked away in her room thinking while burning a candle than putting on a show. .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c , .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .postImageUrl , .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c , .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:hover , .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:visited , .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:active { border:0!important; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:active , .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8d22b0072357fa55b97cd5f06c2f646c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Understanding dramatic tragedy EssayBecause her career has taken off so quickly, she realized that she must always be a performer and put on the best possible show that she can for her audience. According to Gabriele, the thing she likes most about what she does is meeting people all over the world and having the opportunity to put empowering ideas in their heads. Gabriele hopes that through her writings and performances, she puts larger than life ideas into her audiences heads and leaves them with the feeling of mating to do big things that will change lives, or maybe even the world. Gabriele Garcia Medina, spoken word poet, strong woman, full of knowledge, inspires others with her thoughts, captivates them with her words, sure of who she is and isnt afraid to express her thoughts in the form of poetry on a stage in front of thousands. I had the pleasure of meeting her and seeing her show, I may forget her name over time; but her words are something that have touched my heart forever and some of them are etched in my mind.

Product Team Cialis Getting Ready

Product Team Cialis Getting Ready Brief background Mark Berbato is the product team leader and executive director of Cialis. He has for a long time worked to provide a remedy for impotence in men competing existing leader, Viagra. The team is structured according to the function of its members. The product and marketing team works day and night to provide differential marketing strategies in order to survive the competition.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Viagra has been used for a long time to treat erectile dysfunction in men. Despite this statistics, Mark’s team is optimistic about the uncertainties involved. Lilly management decided to find a better erectile dysfunction treatment by first understanding the market. The medical, regulatory, legal, manufacturing, financial and marketing managers report directly to the executive director. The drug is expected to go throu gh various tests to ensure that it is safe for consumption by human beings. The test involves three phase trials after which it can be available in clinics. Decision dilemma Decision dilemma for Leonard Blum and his is team is whether to market Cialis in the already competitive market or go for the niche strategy. If the team decides to compete with Viagra, then their marketing strategy will involve reaching out to the loyal Viagra customers, dropouts, and those who have never consumed it at all. Health practitioners are also important because they are the ones who prescribe the drug to their patients. The management will also have to consider targeting the partners of the male patients with erectile dysfunction. The niche strategy however involves choosing a specific target group. Contradicting case facts The German leading erectile dysfunction drug, Levitra, was more effective than Viagra hence posed a challenge to Cialis. Bayer’s market research showed that 76% expressed s ome interest in Levitra. However, in 2001, its sales dropped by 2%. The team was forced with a task of clearly choosing a market for Cialis and ways of achieving results against the competition. The side effects of ED drugs such as facial flashing also prevents users from trusting the drugs hence it is very difficult to penetrate the market. The physicians believe that they are the only people who decides what patients should take hence they influence the consumption habit of ED victims.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Important details for better decision making For better understanding and decision making, the team should first understand its target group hence details regarding consumption of Viagra, the health practitioners, the partners of male victims, and the views on the media regarding those who do not take the drug and why should be analyzed. The con sumer today is more demanding, more connected and less loyal to a product hence the team should find better ways of dealing with certain target groups especially if they go for the niche strategy. Things that make the chosen target group different from the rest should be studied and the details should be analyzed. In order to make the right choice between the two options, the decision makers must compare the two market strategy so as to justify their choice. Analysis Consumers tend to follow what others do; it is a life preserving habit. The target market is already used to the existing product hence changing their perspective involves a lot of work. All the two market strategies can be effective depending on the approach given by the decision markers. The niche strategy can only be used when the team decides to assume the position held by Viagra and concentrate on their product. The team can then market Cialis to a specific target group regardless of how Viagra is performing in oth er areas. In the health sector, people tend to avoid using harmful substances despite the campaigns conducted by the health experts and advices provided. Viagra is an example of such products that have received mixed reactions. Niche strategy Pros The reason for niche strategy is that working with a specific target group is cheaper especially for a new product in the market that is not well established. It is also a way of avoiding coalition with the existing products such as Viagra. Narrowing the market segment means that the new product will have relatively less competition. Cons The strategy however assumes the importance of other target groups because of its narrow market segment. This strategy may be successful but its slower hence can easily cause failures during the implementation. It is sometimes difficult to identify the right target group to focus on hence the team can choose the wrong users resulting into failures.Advertising We will write a custom case study samp le on Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Compete Pros This strategy is important because it provides a faster growth. Once all the target groups are reached they can be given better services in order to maintain their loyalty. Competing strategy also creates room for learning because the challenges created by Viagra provide a learning environment to Cialis. It also takes care of the uncertainties involved in the new market hence the users are left to choose for themselves and no speculations are made. Cons A reason against this strategy is that when joining a new market, it is not easy to know whether customers will prefer new product to the old ones hence more products can go to waste. This strategy is expensive because competing existing product involves differentiation in both services and products. Going head-to-head with Viagra may require Cialis to use their marketing strategies which may not work becau se the consumers expect something different. Beating Pros The reason for differentiation is that it makes consumers aware of the importance of the product. It gives a consumer an opportunity to compare and contrast the unique characteristics with other similar products. For Cialis, it is important because the users will easily identify unique health importance of the product. Cons However, product differentiation may not be good for drugs because it leads to false unique qualities that are used to attract more users. It also exposes the users to risks because the drug may be uniquely identified with wrong qualities that result to complications when consumed. Finally, medical products are not measured in terms of design but impact and diagnosis therefore the strategy violates this principle. Co-branding Pros The main purpose of this strategy is that the drug can be convincingly positioned using the renowned brand. It can also be used to change the perception of users when the drug is branded with a product they relate to. To capture the doubting users, co-branding can be used to improve the confidence of customers who feel the drug is not well known.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Cons Co-branding poses challenges when the partner brand goes through recession. Each company works hard to improve its market share hence one company may ruin one’s brand except for same-company co-branding. Co-branding also denies a company a chance to develop because it relies on a particular company to market its products. Conclusion Cialis can fairly compete with Viagra to gain a large customer base by choosing the best option, considering important details concerning the target market and making the right decision required in order to survive in the market.

Revised paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Revised paper - Essay Example The lessons are, therefore, well planned to help the students identify with the complex situations in life, to enhance their reading capabilities. The students are taken through advanced multicultural recipes to enable them to be familiar with the delicacies of the world. At the same time, this enables those who are familiar with the recipes to feel part and parcel of the class. The lesson plans are plans are designed to enable them to enhance their listening then reading skills. The teacher will read aloud; this helps the students remember and store the pronunciation in their brains. This helps them to read and say the words correctly the next time they are in the position to speak this words. The teacher will also aim at improving the conversation skills of the students by asking them to assume scenarios in life and talk to one another in reference to these scenarios. This will develop the ability of the students to talk and ask for things in real life. The lessons are also planned to improve the students’ ability to sieve out the relevant information from excerpts. This will enable them to be able to pick out clues from passages, and they can apply this when faced with examination questions, or other critical analysis situations, whereby they need to write what is important and leave out the less important material. Goals:Develop students’ confidence in speaking through conversation with peers and reading aloud thus helping them remember this words in future. The conversation is aimed to help them understand the contexts of their readingso they could appreciate the practical use of the language and encourage them to frequently speak English. Teacher willdivide the students into four groups and give each group a recipe card, then let them converse and read the content freely.Worksheets will be distributed to each student, but they cannot answer the questions right away, and notes must be written at the back of the worksheets.

Thinking Globally; Do you think the US should convert to the metric Essay

Thinking Globally; Do you think the US should convert to the metric system - Essay Example The system has proved beneficial in baking for the reason that baking is a science where accurate measurements are required to generate consistent and quality baked products (Strianese and Strianese 118). Other than the baking industry, metric system is important in the pharmaceutical, automotive, engineering, and science industry. These industries have decided to go metric system because it is very crucial in world trade. Metric terminology is being used in the medical field. The metric system is taught early during the training of doctors because the drug dosage is usually specified in metric units. Presently, approximately ninety percent of global population utilizes the metric system. The metric system is still being introduced and utilized in majority of the industries in the United States; the most remarkable industries using the system include the food and beverage industry. For instance, when an individual purchases a beverage such as coffee or soda, the measurement usually appears on the beverage package in metric terms and customary measurements always used (Strianese and Strianese 119). As stated before, the metric system is used in the baking industry because it gives exact measurements. Thus, it is useful in this industry because the ingredients are generally weighted instead of being measured. The change to the metric system is evident in the United States; in the food and beverage industry, very few bottles of wine are sold using the customary U.S. measures (Strianese and Strianese 119). The metric system offers standard rules for â€Å"communicating the amounts of its units through prefixes. For example, a milligram is one-thousandth of a gram (weight), a milliliter is one-thousandth of a liter (volume), and a millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter (length)† (Strianese and Strianese 120). The customary system does not have this form of predictability and uniformity (Strianese and Strianese 120).

Management and Leadership Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Management and Leadership Development - Essay Example The benefits are vital for organizations as a whole, particularly in countries that are developing, where the level of quality is low and require increment in search for effective cooperation in the various organizations. In the due course of implementation, there are many difficulties that are faced by organizations and do fail to practice benefits that are expected from management implementation that is of quality. Relating this to the implementation issue, it is observed that the implementation process is a major determinant of success in the introduction of technology or methods in an organization (Collins, 2001). It can be seen from these studies that acquisition of insights into the implementation process is vital, especially in trying to get a way of transforming the concept of quality management and practice from principles in the course of the organization. The transformation is referred to as implementation of quality management. In accordance, implementation research is re quired for the effectiveness of organizations. This report provides for operationalization of management and leadership development into practice in manufacturing companies, in Indonesia (Babbie, 2007). Basing on development of concepts and different leadership frameworks, there will be a discussion on operationalization. The operationalization discussion takes into consideration the research raised as an expression that guides relevant subject observation of implementation of quality management. As it is comprised of facts that are observable, it can occur in an analysis level. If related to management implementation, it allows an individual to conceive an organization analysis level. It is mainly focused on how leadership and management of an organization are conceptualized. Automotive Assembly Company (AAC) Implementation process From the time ownership was changed, three factors influenced management implementation process. Firstly, there was a change in the orientation of group that covered both investment decisions and encouragement of individuals’ use of the management system. Here, there was changes, in the in the management guidance for the group. Secondly, in 1997, a relationship of the joint nature with Itochu Corporation and Isuzu Ltd restructured the business pattern and this made AAC the only manufacture. Thirdly, there was an economic, national crisis which made AAC to bring in an efficiency policy to satisfy the new requirement of customers. Being the largest Corporation in Indonesia, AAC had close relation with Japanese partners. This was an influence to the member countries as it introduced unique practices, norms and value (Effron and Ort, 2010). The many corporations they had with Japanese counterparts made them acquire knowledge from different perspectives. For the integration of the practice, value and norms, there was a development of system of management to unite and link resources, identities and capability. This system was refe rred to as ATQC. There was also an introduction of quality control system by the group. The groups made a team put to practice and encourage companies adhere to the quality assurance. In 1994, AAC received their certification and got support from implementation group and was renewed in 1996. AAC transformed

Investment Appraisal Report Example

Investment Appraisal Report Example Re: Investment in Kingfisher Plc Following our conversation earlier, I have prepared a report into Kingfisher Plc to help you with your investment decision. I have split this report into two sections, to help you analyse the company’s financial management practices and also to determine what represents a fair price for the company’s shares. As we discussed earlier, when making any investment it is vital to consider the financial management policies and practices of the company. These include what the company invests in; how these investments perform; how the company raises funds to invest; and how the company treats its profits. As such, the first part of this section will address these four sections in turn, and how these affect the performance of the company. The second section will address the fair value of the shares of the company. This is because, whilst the company may perform well, if the shares are purchased for more than a fair value, based on the company’s ability to earn, they may not provide a good return to an investor. I hope this report will be of interest to you, please let me know if you have any questions about any aspects. Part A)  Financial Management Investments Kingfisher’s primary investment over the past five years has been in tangible assets, such as property, plant and equipment, which have made up over fifty percent of total assets over the past five years. The majority of the remaining assets are composed of goodwill, with small amounts devoted to pension plans, financial derivatives and other intangible assets. This can be seen in the table below: Table of non current asset values for Kingfisher Group Plc (all in  £ millions) Assets 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Property, Plant and Equipment 3041 2781 3032 3265 3211 3698 Goodwill 2652 2455 2463 2559 2552 2532 Other Assets 309 146 289 354 380 532 (Source: Kingfisher, 2008) The main trend in the assets of Kingfisher has been a steady rise in the value of property, plant and equipment as well as other assets. The main change in the other assets is a rise in the level of post employment benefits; deferred tax assets; and derivative financial instruments, which were not on the balance sheet in 2003 but have a total value of over  £200 million in 2008. In addition, the drop in all values from 2003 to 2004 is a result of the disposal of the Chartwell Land property portfolio, which resulted in a reduction in the value of all asset classes due to the transfer of goodwill associated with the property sold. From 2004 onwards, the company has engaged in a significant expansion program based on organic growth and the opening of new stores. This has naturally increased the value of the total property, plant and equipment; with a small drop in 2007 where the company disposed of some of its less profitable stores. This balance in assets is largely expected because Kingfisher is a retail group, operating stores such as BQ, Screwfix, Castorama, and Brico Depot. As such, the group’s main source of income comes from sales from these stores; hence these stores are the most valuable asset the group owns. In addition, the company maintains a diverse portfolio of businesses across the UK, France and other countries including the Republic of Ireland, Poland, Italy, Spain, Turkey and China. In order to operate in these countries, the group needs to own assets such as stores, offices, and distribution networks. This further increases the percentage of total assets which will be taken up by property, plant and equipment. With regards to the level of goodwill, this became quite high prior to 2003, but has stayed quite constant over the period of the study. This indicates that a significant proportion of the business’ assets have been purchased for more than their book value. This is possibly how the group has managed to obtain such a large portfolio of businesses, and particularly how it has managed to ensure that all of its businesses are in the top three of the domestic markets. However, over the period of the study, the group has not experienced a significant increase or decrease in the level of goodwill, which implies that it has not significantly expanded its portfolio through acquisitions, and the majority of the increase in the value of the total assets has come through organic growth or purchases at close to book value. This is slightly complicated by the group’s goodwill policy, which makes an assessment of the ability of acquired businesses to generate cash each year, and amort ises the level of goodwill to compensate. As such, it is possible that the group has invested a significant amount in buying new businesses, and the value of the goodwill from these businesses has since fallen. However, the annual reports mention that new stores are being opened, not bought, which implies that the group’s expansion policy is to open new stores, rather than acquire existing ones from competitors. Investment appraisal Investment appraisal is generally done on a per project basis, with a company projecting the cashflows, both positive and negative, associated with a project; and then calculating whether the net cashflow will be positive or negative, and by how much. This value can be calculated based on either the absolute value of the cashflows, or on the discounted value of the cashflows which takes into account the fact that cashflows occurring in later years will be less valuable due to inflation and other factors (Knott, 2004). However, when considering an investment in Kingfisher, this methodology is not appropriate, as the company is a continuous operation with no definite start or end point. Indeed, all the new stores the company opens are intended to remain operational for the foreseeable future, hence making it very difficult to calculate their rates of return and net present values. Whilst the company will undoubtedly have an internal method for doing this, perhaps taking the cashflows f or the first five years of operations, this method is not detailed in the annual reports. Nor does Kingfisher reveal details of the exact costs of the investment into stores or their cashflows in the annual reports, thus making it impossible to attempt such an analysis with the available data. As such, it is necessary to analyse the performance of Kingfisher’s overall business, from the point of view of an investor looking to buy shares. As such, the initial purchase of the shares represents the initial investment, and the return made on these shares can be taken to be the future cashflows for the purposes of the analysis. On this basis, it is necessary to look at the annual returns provided by Kingfisher, as well as the change in the value of the shares (Lumby, 1994). Kingfisher annual share price from May 2003 to May 2008 Date Closing Price 27/05/2003 257.25 27/05/2004 285.5 27/05/2005 259 26/05/2006 235.75 25/05/2007 252.75 27/05/2008 138.1 (Source: Yahoo Finance, 2008) Kingfisher earnings per share from 2003 to 2008 Year Earnings per share 2003 16.4 2004 17.4 2005 20.8 2006 12.2 2007 11.8 2008 11.7 (Source: Kingfisher, 2008) As can be seen from these graphs above, Kingfisher’s share price and earnings per share have both fallen over the period of the study. As such, one share purchased for 257 pence in 2003 would be worth just 138 pence in 2008, and the total dividend earnings per share would be just 90 pence. As such, the total return from an investment of 257 pence would be only 228 pence. This implies that an investment in Kingfisher over the past three years would have performed very poorly, with a return of -12.7% over five years, even without considering discount factors and net present values. Indeed, given that the positive cashflows have occurred after the negative cashflows, any investment in Kingfisher would have a negative net positive value for any positive discount factor. In addition, the earnings per share have fallen from 2003 to 2008. Within the period of the study, earnings per share rose from 2003 to 2005, before falling sharply between 2005 and 2006 and then remaining relatively constant. This fall is specifically mentioned in Kingfisher’s 2006 annual report as being due to a significant fall in profits from the UK market, which was driven by â€Å"rising energy costs, higher taxes and pension contributions and [consumer] confidence has been affected by a weaker housing market† (Kingfisher, 2008). This implies that Kingfisher’s investments in the UK have performed poorly over the past three years, and indeed the 2008 annual report shows that the UK investments have further weakened against the background of the global â€Å"credit crunch†. Whilst the credit crunch has affected all markets around the world, Kingfisher specifically points out that the high level of debt in the UK has created even more problems for consu mers, who have less money to spend as their debt payments have risen. As such, Kingfisher’s investments in the UK, which account for around 47% of the group’s total revenue, are unlikely to improve their performance in the near future. Sources of funding Kingfisher main sources of funding All in  £ millions 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total long term debt 1528 744.9 828.3 1255.5 1432 1620 Total equity 4463 4407 4387.3 4320.4 4421 4724 (Source: Kingfisher, 2008) Kingfisher is strongly dependent on equity as a source of funding, with total shareholder’s equity making up at least three times as much of the funding as long term debt. Short term debt has been excluded from these calculations, partly because short term debt appears to be used only to settle any cashflow issues, and partly because prior to the 2006 accounts short term debt was not declared separately from trade payables. As such, it would be impossible to compare short term debt across the entire period. It is worth point out that the decrease in debt from 2003 to 2004 is largely due to the sale of the Chartwell Land property portfolio mentioned above. The proceeds of this sale were largely used to reduce the level of long term borrowings, thus resulting in a significant drop between 2003 and 2004. However, following this sale, when the debt to equity ratio fell to just 0.17, the amount of debt has risen steadily, to the point where it reached 0.34 in 2008, the same level as in 2003. This rise has been accompanied by a small rise in the level of shareholder equity, but not to the extent that the total asset value has risen as seen in the investments section above. This implies that the store expansion and refurbishment programs mentioned throughout the Kingfisher annual reports during the period of the study have been funded largely by debt. This has caused the company’s debt to equity ratio to rise quite significantly over the period of the study, which has more than doubled the debt to equity ratio. This significant increase in the debt to equity ratio could be a cause for concern, as it potentially places a higher debt burden on the company which must be serviced from profits. As such, if the company’s fortunes continue to suffer due to the effects of the credit crunch, the company may have difficulty paying its debts and may suffer liquidity problems. However, in the 2008 financial statements the net finance costs on the debt are just  £62 million, whilst the operating profit is  £453 million. As such, the company can cover its interest more than seven times from profits, which means that this rise in the level of debt is not currently a significant concern. Of course, running counter to this is the fact that the global credit crunch is expected to increase the effective rates of borrowing, which could increase the interest payments as well as reducing the long term levels of consumer spending. As such, it is possible that the credit crunch will continue to reduce K ingfisher’s profits whilst increasing the interest cost, thus potentially creating financial troubles in the next few years. This potential issue is compounded by the fact that the company capitalised  £1 million of borrowing costs in 2007, and a further  £3 million in 2008, which may indicate issues in paying these loans out of profit. The major sources of debt finance for the business at the current time are medium term notes and other fixed term debt, which make up  £1,436 million of the debt. These have been placed on markets in the UK, Eurozone and United States and have raised capital at a net cost of between 4.1% and 6.9%. As such, the company has relied on non convertible loans raised on public markets. The majority of the remainder is made up of non secured bank loans. This indicates that, even if the company should encounter financial difficulties, it will not necessarily lose any of its property or have its equity diluted by convertible loans. Treatment of profits and dividend policy Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Dividend per share (pence) 9.5 9.65 10.65 10.65 10.65 7.25 Earnings per share (pence) 16.4 17.4 20.8 12.2 11.8 11.7 (Source: Kingfisher, 2008) From 2003 to 2005, Kingfisher’s dividend grew by a reasonable amount, although this was not proportional to the increase in earnings per share over the period. This indicates that Kingfisher was using partly using the increase in earnings to boost the dividend, but mainly using it to build up the volume of reserves, pay back debt, and expand the company. As a result of this, the company allowed its earnings per share to rise by more than the level of the dividend. Following the decline in the UK market from 2005 to 2006, and the subsequent fall in the earnings per share for the company, Kingfisher attempted to maintain its dividend at 10.65 pence per share in spite of the fact that this left very little retained earnings. However, in 2008, following a significant fall in the share price, the dividend yield has also fallen to 7.25 pence in spite of the earnings per share remaining at the same level as in previous years. This implies that the company is now encountering difficul ties maintaining its dividend yield at this level, and thus is having to drop its dividend in order to accumulate further reserves. Unfortunately, there is no detail in the Kingfisher accounts around exactly why this reserve is being built up. However, it is interesting to note that the reserves have now been built up to the  £2.2 billion mark, after being maintained at around the  £1.9 billion mark for the period from 2005 to 2007. This may indicate that the company feels that the tough trading conditions will continue for some time, and hence there may be a need to retain more earnings to help cover interest payments in the future. Another potential explanation is that, as a retail company owning a significant amount of property, plant and equipment; Kingfisher has a significant level exposure to the property market in both the UK and France. As such, the company may feel that, with the property markets in the UK and France showing signs of weakness due to the credit crunch, there may soon be a need to revalue the property portfolio in each of these countries. Therefore, the reduced dividend and increase re serve may be an attempt to boost the equity and net asset value of the company in order to protect the value of the company against such a fall. However, the balance sheet tends to reveal a different potential explanation. The rise of  £300 million in the value of the reserves of the company has occurred at the same time as a  £300 million rise in the value of the inventory held by the company. This could be due to the fact that cost price inflation is significantly boosting the cost of inventory and the price of sales, and hence has increased the value of the inventory held by the company. However, the annual report indicates that cost price inflation for the company was just 4% over the previous year. As such, this cost price inflation is unlikely to have created a  £300 million rise in the value of inventory, which is a 20% rise in the total value of inventory. This implies that the rise in the value of the inventory is for another reason, potentially due to a lack of sales or by overbuying of replacement inventory. As such, this does not indicate that the company is making the best use of its profits, nor that it is efficiently pursuing a goal of maximising value for its shareholders. Part B) Fair Value When attempting to assess whether the current share price of Kingfisher Plc represents a fair value for the company, it is necessary to look both as the share price and the market capitalisation; which is the total market value of all the shares. This price is determined by the shares traded on a stock market where brokers buy and sell shares on behalf of their clients. For Kingfisher, the stock market is the London Stock Exchange, and Yahoo Finance (2008) quotes the current share price of the company as 128.2 pence. In addition, the 2008 annual report states there are 2,361 million shares outstanding. This gives the company a total market capitalisation of  £3.027 million as of the 18th August. One potential method of calculating the fair value of the company is through the net asset value of the company. This is because, provided the company can sell all its assets and pay off all its liabilities at their book value, it will realise its net asset value in cash. In addition, in theory the shareholders own a share of the net assets of the company equal to their share of the market capitalisation. Therefore, if the market capitalisation of the company was equal to the net asset value of the company, the share price would be at a fair value. For Kingfisher, the net asset value in the 2008 financial statements is  £4,724 million. This implies that a fair value for the market capitalisation would also be  £4,724 million, which is around 56% higher than the current value of the shares. This would further imply that a fair share price for the company would be 200 pence. However, this method is somewhat flawed because it assumes that all assets can be sold for fair value and al l liabilities can be settled at fair value. In reality, the only time when all assets and liabilities will be sold is if the business is wound up under bankruptcy or liquidity problems. As such, assets are most likely to be auctioned off by the creditors and shareholders are unlikely to receive a fair value for them. Indeed, assets such as inventory are often sold at less than ten per cent of their market value. As such, this method is likely to be unreliable, particularly for a business with such a large volume of inventory (Lumby, 1994). Another method of calculating the potential fair value of a company is to use the value of net earnings and compare this value to the historical price / earnings ratio to work out what the current fair price should be for the shares. Based on this method, the average price / earnings ratio of Kingfisher has been 16.18 over the past five year period. Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Average Earnings per share (pence) 16.4 17.4 20.8 12.2 11.8 11.7 15.05 Share price (pence) 257.25 285.5 259 235.75 252.75 138.1 238.0583 Price / Earnings Ratio 15.68598 16.408046 12.45192 19.32377 21.41949 11.80342 16.1821 Applying this to the earnings per share over the past year of 11.7 gives an estimate of the fair value of the share price of 189.33 pence: this is 47% higher than the market value of the shares. As such, this also implies that the current market value of the shares is too low. However, valuing the company on this basis is also flawed, in that it assumes that the company will maintain its past performance, and that the past performance of the shares has been efficient. Indeed, for Kingfisher this is arguably even less of a relevant method by which to judge the shares, as Kingfisher is currently suffering significant problems in its main UK market. Therefore, attempting to value the company based on its past valuations assumes that the company is still performing as it did in the past, something which is arguably not the case. In addition, with many predicting that the Kingfisher’s UK market will continue to shrink, it is possible that the company’s ability to generate ea rnings will be further impaired, and its earnings per share ratio will fall below its average (Lumby, 1994). As such, and given that there is significant uncertainty over the future value of Kingfisher’s assets and liabilities as well as the ability of the company to generate earnings, it is difficult to come up with an analytical method for calculating the fair value of the company. Therefore it is necessary to use the efficient market hypothesis when attempting to value the company. This hypothesis is based on the view that the market produces the fair value of the shares of the company using all available information. As such, the market should already have priced in the potential for Kingfisher’s properties to decrease in value and the potential for the company to be unable to make as much money in the future. This is based on the argument that the market as a whole has access to all the information available, and also has experience in reading and judging signals regarding the value of a company. As such, if Kingfisher were currently trading at too high a price, people wo uld sell the shares until the value moved to a fair value. In contrast, were the company currently trading at too cheap a price, participants in the market would buy the shares until the value was driven up to a fair price. As such, the efficient market hypothesis implies that the current fair price for the Kingfisher shares is the price at which they are currently traded on the open market. Therefore, the fair price of the shares is 128.2 pence. However, the efficient market hypothesis is based on markets only being able to act on available information. As such, it is possible that there is a fundamental problem with Kingfisher which will affect the share price but which is not included in the publicly available information. In addition, the market price for the shares can be driven by factors such as investment banks buying up shares, or takeover rumours. Therefore, in the short term the market value of shares may not reflect their fair value, as the market may not have all the information or may be being driven by other factors. However, in the long term, the professional analysts who are employed by many of the banks and investment funds which buy and sell shares will be best able to value the share s, and hence the best estimate of the fair value of the shares is their current market value: 128.2 pence. References Kingfisher (2008) Kingfisher Plc. http://www.kingfisher.co.uk/ Accessed 16th August 2008. Knott, G. (2004) Financial Management. Palgrave MacMillan. Lumby, S. (1994) Investment Appraisal and Financing Decisions. Thomson Learning. Turner, G. (2008) The Credit Crunch: Housing Bubbles, Globalisation and the Worldwide Economic Crisis. Pluto Press. Yahoo Finance (2008) Kingfisher Share Price Chart. http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=KGF.Lt=5y Accessed 18th August 2008.

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley :: Papers

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley The author of this play is John Boynton Priestley. The Inspector Calls is set out in 1912, around two years before the outbreak of the Fist World War. Looking back on it now, or the perspective of 1945 when the play was actually produced in the Edwardian era. Priestly uses this era to show irony because in the play he talks about the Titanic not sinking and a war never occurring again. This was very ironic especially to the audience in 1945 because they would already know that the Titanic had sunk and had also experienced wars between the time the play was set and the time it was produced. In this play there is a rich, upper class family who were named the Birlings. In this family there was money the minded father of the family called Mr Birling and his wife. They had two children in the name of Eric and Sheila. Sheila was engaged to a rich man's son called Gerald Croft. This play is all about a suicide case involving this family. An officer who is called Inspector Goole is investigating the case. He is a hard talking inspector, who is trying to find out why Eva Smith (the person who committed suicide) took her life. In this essay I will examine how Priestly ends each act on a note of high drama. I will look at how the tension builds up and will describe how priestly leaves the audience plenty to think about during the ends of the acts and during the invitation. At the end of act one Gerald admits that he knew Daisy Renton (Eva Smith). He only says that he knew her and was hesitant to go on and explain how he knew Eva. "All right. I knew her. Lets leave it at that" After Gerald says that sentence tension begins to build between him and Sheila. Priestly presents this drama and tension by building it up gradually in the conversation. Tension is very high and increases hen Sheila figures out what the relationship between Gerald and Eva was. An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley :: Papers An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley The author of this play is John Boynton Priestley. The Inspector Calls is set out in 1912, around two years before the outbreak of the Fist World War. Looking back on it now, or the perspective of 1945 when the play was actually produced in the Edwardian era. Priestly uses this era to show irony because in the play he talks about the Titanic not sinking and a war never occurring again. This was very ironic especially to the audience in 1945 because they would already know that the Titanic had sunk and had also experienced wars between the time the play was set and the time it was produced. In this play there is a rich, upper class family who were named the Birlings. In this family there was money the minded father of the family called Mr Birling and his wife. They had two children in the name of Eric and Sheila. Sheila was engaged to a rich man's son called Gerald Croft. This play is all about a suicide case involving this family. An officer who is called Inspector Goole is investigating the case. He is a hard talking inspector, who is trying to find out why Eva Smith (the person who committed suicide) took her life. In this essay I will examine how Priestly ends each act on a note of high drama. I will look at how the tension builds up and will describe how priestly leaves the audience plenty to think about during the ends of the acts and during the invitation. At the end of act one Gerald admits that he knew Daisy Renton (Eva Smith). He only says that he knew her and was hesitant to go on and explain how he knew Eva. "All right. I knew her. Lets leave it at that" After Gerald says that sentence tension begins to build between him and Sheila. Priestly presents this drama and tension by building it up gradually in the conversation. Tension is very high and increases hen Sheila figures out what the relationship between Gerald and Eva was.