Thursday, January 30, 2020

Ratio Analysis of Hcl Tech Essay Example for Free

Ratio Analysis of Hcl Tech Essay It provides software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management and BPO services, focused mainly on transformational outsourcing. The company leverages its extensive offshore infrastructure and global network of offices in 31 countries to deliver solutions across selected verticals including financial services, retail and consumer, life sciences, aerospace, automotive, semiconductors, telecom, media publishing and entertainment. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of â€Å"Employees First, Customers Second† which empowers their 84,403 employees to create a real value for the customers. HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidated revenues of US$ 4. 5 billion, as on 31st March 2013. HCL Leadership team 2. Objectives of Study Development of industries depends on several factors such as financial, personnel, technology, quality of product and marketing. Financial aspects assume a significant role in determining the growth of industries. All the company’s operations virtually affect its need for cash. Most of these data covering operations area are however outside the direct responsibility of the financial executives. The firm whose present operations are inherently difficult should try to makes its financial analysis to enable its management to stay on top of its working position. In this context I am undertaking financial ratio analysis of HCL Technologies to examine and understand financial performance of the company. Using ratio analysis this project will provide the insights of – * The growth and development of HCL Technologies for last 5 years (FY 08-12) * The behavior of liquidity and profitability of HCL Technologies * The factors determining the liquidity and profitability of HCL Technologies Scope The scope of the study is limited to financial data published in the annual reports of the company every year. The analysis is done to suggest possible solutions for financial growth of the organization. This study is carried out for 5 years (2008-2012). Also data provided by external agencies are used for analysis of future predication. 3. Concept of Financial Statement amp; Ratio Analysis 2 3. 2 Financial Statement To understand the information contained in financial statements with a view to know the strength or weaknesses of the organization, to make forecast about future prospects and thereby enabling the management and external parties to take different decisions regarding the operations. Fundamental analysis has a very broad scope. One aspect looks at the general (qualitative) factors of the company. The other side considers tangible and measurable factors (quantitative). This means crunching and analyzing numbers from the financial statements if used in conjunction with other methods, quantitative analysis can produce excellent results. Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis is the method or process by which relationship/group of items in the financial statement are computed, determined and presented. Ratio analysis is an attempt to derive quantitative measure or guides concerning the financial health and profitability of business enterprises. Ratio analysis can be used both in trend and static analysis. Purpose of several ratios depends on the objective of analysis. A financial ratio measures a company’s performance in a specific area. For example, you could use a ratio of a company’s debt to its equity to measure a company’s gearing. By comparing the gearing ratios of two companies, you can determine which company uses greater debt per equity. You can use this information to make a judgment as to which company is better investment risk. However, you must be careful not to place too much importance on one ratio. You obtain better indication of the direction in which a company is moving when several ratios are taken as a group. Ratios are worked out to analyze the following aspects of an enterprise: a. Solvency: i. Long term ii. Short term iii. Immediate b. Profitability c. Operational Efficiency d. Credit standing e. Effective utilization of resources f. Investment Analysis 3. 4 Significance of Ratio Analysis in Financial Statement Ratio analysis is very important in revealing the financial position and soundness of the business so used by various parties * Management: The group that has the most interest in financial statement analysis is management. Management needs to discover quickly any area of mismanagement so that corrective action can be quickly taken. It mainly helps in: * Decision making: Ratio analysis helps in making decision from the information provided in these financial Statements. Financial forecasting and planning: Planning is looking ahead and the ratios calculated for a number of years a work as a guide for the future. * Communicating: The financial strength and weakness of a firm are communicated in a more easy and understandable manner using ratios. * Co-ordination: Better communication of efficiency and weakness of an enterprise result in better co-ordination in the enterprise * Control: The weaknesses are otherwise, if any, come to the knowledge of the managerial, which helps, in effective control of the business. * Investors or Shareholders Investors are interested in financial statements to evaluate current earnings and to predict future earnings. Financial statements influence greatly the price at which stock is bought and sold. * Lenders: Bankers before granting loans usually require that financial statements be submitted. Whether or not a loan is made depends heavily on a company’s financial condition and its prospects for the future. * Employees: Employees are mainly concerned about the profitability. Their salaries and increments are dependent on the profit made by the company. * Government:

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

A womans choice :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The abortion debate in America has been framed by something known as â€Å"A Women’s Right To Choose!† But of just what does the Women’s Right To Choose consist of ? It is premised, we are told, on a â€Å"right to privacy.† But exactly what is included in that right to privacy, and what excluded? I hold my own opinion to this subject as being Pro-Choice (Pro-Choice is defined as having the ability to choose).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Opponents of choice have been using inflammatory rhetoric about â€Å"infanticide† and â€Å"partial-birth† abortion in a nationwide strategy to further their goal of eroding women’s reproductive options. However, bans on abortion procedures are unconstitutional in at least three ways. First, the definition of what methods of abortion would be banned is vague and overboard – it would ban a variety of safe and common abortion procedures, not just the unsafe procedures. Second, by banning a variety of safe abortion procedures, the bans impose an undue burden on women seeking access to abortions by forcing them to rely upon less safe medical options, or even non-medical options. Finally, these bans are unconstitutional because they do not allow a women to obtain a banned procedure when it would preserve her health. The Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v.s. Wade is often misrepresented by those who oppose safe, legal abortion. It is o ften portrayed as giving women the right to terminate their pregnancy for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy. But contrary to the arguments of many abortion opponents, Roe does not provide for â€Å"abortion on demand.† The court held that a woman has the right to choose abortion until fetal viability – the time at which it first becomes realistically possible for a fetus to live outside the woman’s body – but that the states interest outweighs the woman’s right after that point. So what happened to our â€Å"right to privacy†?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Except in the story of the Emperor’s New Cloths, I cannot think of a more startling example of mass refusal to see the obvious than is presented by the current attitudes toward the population problem on the one hand and abortion on the other. The government continues to maintain strict antiabortion laws on the books of at least four fifths of our states, denying freedom of choice to women and physicians and compelling the â€Å"unwilling to bear the unwanted.† Yet as Dr. Christopher Tietze and Sarah Lewit point out in the Scientific American (January 1969), â€Å"Abortion is still the most widespread method of fertility control in the modern world.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Life Cycle Analysis of the Fashion Industry

Life Cycle Analysis of the Fashion Industry BY caracal Industrial Ecology Practices in the Fashion Industry Introduction The industrial revolution in the sass brought a paradigm shift to the way humans interacted with the environment. The increased capability of producing and manufacturing on a large scale, the rise of multiple industries, growing demand and proliferation of hedonistic consumption patterns, has created a culture of surplus, want and waste. (Fallacy-Companion, 2012) From an environmental point of view, this resource hungry trend is unsustainable and has detrimental ecological impacts, such as pollution and climate change.These problems have highlighted the consequence of our insatiable demand for resources and the need to rethink current practices and thoughts in order to maintain current living standards and ensure future growth. The ideas of environmental management, industrial ecology and ecological footprint have been proposed to allow for a meticulous look to the products that we manufacture and use, with emphasis on measuring the ecological impacts in hopes of reducing them.A multitude of tools have since been created to measure efficiency in hopes to highlight areas for improvement, of which the ISO standard and Life cycle assessment are part of. Undoubtedly, many companies have adopted life cycle analysis (LLC) in order to assess and reduce their product's impact on the environment. The fashion industry, at its core, is based on the notion of continual consumption of the ‘new and the discard of the ‘old', especially with new seasonal lines coming out every 3 months.The industry celebrates creativity with the continuous turnover of trends, leading to the â€Å"premature product replacement and fashion obsolescence†. This constant change has major negative environmental and social impacts, particularly on those at the bottom of the supply chain. Ellwood et al, 2006; Whether and Leastwise, 2008) Moreover, delicates produc tion, often all over the world, is commonly practiced in line with the competitive advantages of different locales (such as low-cost labor, less stringent standards/regulations, strength in technology etc).Studies of Ellwood et al (2006), Madsen et al (2007) and Fletcher (2008) have highlighted issues of apparel waste as the majority of textile waste are not recycled or reuse but usually ends up in landfills. In this report, Nikkei Inc. And Levi Strauss & Co. Are chosen as case studies of the fashion industry for their efforts o apply LLC to their products. Life Cycle Assessment and IS014040 The International Organization for Standardization (SO) is an organization that aims to promote worldwide standards for proprietary, industrial and commercial purposes. ‘SO, 2013) The ISO 14000 series is a family of standards that related to environmental management, which aims to help organizations measure and minimize operations that will negatively affect the environment and comply with environmental regulations and audits required in the country of operation. For example, the ISO 14001 is integral to the European Union's CEO-Management and Audit Scheme (AMASS). AMASS, 2011) Before the development of the ISO 14000 series, most organizations had to rely on internal environmental management systems that made comparisons between companies difficult.The ISO 14040 standard focuses on Life Cycle Assessment. LLC is a technique to assess environment impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from its raw material extraction to its processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair, recycle and disposal. It is believed to encompass a larger scope of environmental concerns as the compiled inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases includes the attention impacts associated with the identified inputs and releases, which can then be interpreted to help make informed decisions and build corporate environmental strategies. EPA, 20 13) The method is most often used for the pinpointing potential for process improvements by assessing environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product's life. (Securing & Mueller, 2008) ISO 14040 standards shows how the LLC is to be carried out in four distinct phases as seen in Figure 1 before. Before any LLC can be carried out, an explicit goal and scope of the study, inclusive of technical details, has to be defined. This can then serve as a reference to guide the subsequent work.The functional unit, system boundaries, assumptions and limitations as well as the impact categories are identified and set in this first phase. The life cycle inventory analysis will then carry on from phase one by creating an inventory of all flows (input and output) between the stages of a product system, inclusive of all activities in the relevant supply chain and gives a clear picture of the system boundaries. Only when this is complete can the life cycle impact assessment be carried ou t.This is the most complex stage of the process as it aims to evaluate he significance of potential environmental impacts and calculate the input and output from the inventory. At the end of the assessment, the information gathered is evaluated and the assessment is objectively assessed before the identification of significant issues and problems, its evaluation and limitations are put forth. Figure 1 : The 4 phases of LLC (http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/ File:PhasesOfLifeCycleAnalysis. Eng) Current Context and Trends Environmental Management has progressed significantly over the years with regulations becoming more stringent and accountability expectations higher. Figure taken from Penman's (1999) report shows a simple evolution of environmental policies and their primary characteristics from the sass to present, whereby attitudes towards the environment have changes from merely managing the problem in the early days to one that is more actively involved in trying to prevent problems. Figure 2: Evolution of environmental management (Seaman, 1999) Within the industry and companies, Lamming ; Hampton (1996) stresses the need for companies to engage in environmental management as public pressure is and will continue to be a major factor. In their study, 75% of customers state that they would consider a Meany's environmental reputation when purchasing and 80% of those would be willing to pay a premium for an environmentally friendlier product.Although there are limitations to their study, in that the sentiment may only be shared by the European community of consumers, there is a trend whereby consumers are becoming more green conscious. Hawked et al (1999) in the book ‘Natural Capitalism' also calls for companies to embrace a new industrialism that will create profits and jobs while saving the environment, through the creation of a closed-loop supply chain that will generate more value and profit. By aggressive recycling, there is the potential of reducing up t o 90% of energy and materials consumption.Although individual organizations are recognizing the need and their responsibility to address environmental and sustainability issues, there remains a lack of systematic and coordinated effort across the board. At a larger and general scale, there has been an increase of government level interest and engagement to transition sustainability at the firm and facility level, to one that is more holistic and encompasses production sustainability throughout the value chain. Golden et al, 2011) President Obama issued Executive Order 13514 in 2009 that requires â€Å"the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, obtain 50% diversion rates of solid waste, pursue opportunities with vendors to reduce greenhouse gas (GOGH) emissions, ensure procurement preferences for energy-efficient products, and reduce consumption of paper with low recycled content†. Likewise the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission are driving the use of sustainable product design and supply chains by the issuance of directives and interpretive guidance. Golden et al, 2011) Since the fiasco of â€Å"sweatshop† labor in the sass, leading to public outcry and clash on the fashion industry, there has been unison of calls for greater accountability. (Whether and Leastwise, 2008; Clownish et al, 2012) Especially in an industry where the consumers are the largest stakeholders; public opinion is crucial and highly influential. This helps the environmental cause when more consumers become green conscious and demand for a smaller ecological footprint. There is a need to cater to these consumers and for companies to set themselves apart from their competitors. Kumar & Amalgamate, 2006) Environmental consciousness has been worked into the corporate social responsibility (CAR) of many companies and increasingly, in the fashion industry, CEO-fashion is trying to capture a larger share of the mainstream market with fashionable and envi ronmental apparel. Regions, 2006) There is also the emergence of industry consortia such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the Sustainability Consortium (TTS) and the Outdoor Industry Association (IA), all of which are multi-stakeholder organizations that are suited for establishing standardized metrics for regulation.Nikkei and Levies are both part of the SAC. Case study: LEVI STRAUSS & CO. Company Background The company, Levi Strauss & Co. Was founded by its namesake, Levi Strauss onetime in the mid-sass. It started off as a dry goods wholesaler before collaboration between Levi and Jacob Davis, a tailor, in 1872 saw the filing for its patented rivet pants- the start of the denim company that it is known for today. Over the years, the company have grown tremendously and has expanded its brands carried.Its current brands include Levi'†, [email  protected], Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. And [email  protected] The company has a vision to be â€Å"the embodiment of the energy and events of our times, inspiring people with a pioneering spirit† (Levi, 2013) and is committed to a variety of issues in its public policy approach that includes read, worker rights, equality and the environment. Since the sass, with the rise of global environmental concerns and problems, Levies have been working on reducing the environmental impact of its products.This was done by complying with environmental regulations, implementing a Code of Conduct for its suppliers- ensuring a reduction of water consumption and ending the use of harmful chemicals on its Restricted Substances List, switching to organic cotton when possible and increasing the amount of recycled materials in their end product. In 2007, as part of an attempt at a consolidated look at the company's environmental impact, a LLC was one on 2 products- a pair of Levi'† 5018 stonewashed Sears and the [email  protected] original khakis.This enabled the company to develop strategies that wi ll address the greatest impacts on the environment to ensure longevity in the industry. (Levi, 2013) Levies introduced its water;less Sears in 2011 and its waste;Less Sears in 2013. Waste;Less Sears has a minimum of 20% post-consumer recycled content (from PET bottles) instead of cotton. Ferries, 2013) Levies Life Cycle Assessment Levies product lifestyle assessment focuses on a quantitative method that looks at ass and energy balance using direct and indirect data over the â€Å"cradle to grave† lifespan of the product.A disclaimer on their website states that this LLC does not include social or economic impacts. In the input/output inventory aspect of the LLC, indirect data of mass and energy inputs are taken from extensive industry-average data sets. Together with the system analysis of the lifestyle assessment, in accordance with ISO 14040 requirements, the data is then translated to calculate the environmental impacts of the system. Figure 3 below shows the 6 stage syste m analysis of the 5018 Sears taken from the Levies website, that starts from the cotton production till the end of life after consumer use.Figure 3: LLC of a pair of Levies 501 Sears (http://alleviators. Com/sites/default/files/ liberationists/2012/4/ca-summary-2012-update. PDF) Phase 1: Goals and Scope Levies wanted their LLC to be done on a high volume product, produced for the U. S. Market during the 2006 production year. The Levi'† 5018, medium stonewashed Jean was chosen. The data compiled from Levi Strauss and Co. ‘s suppliers is processed via Gab 4 software datasets, following the ISO 14040 series standards. The LLC was conducted by PEP Americas from Boston, MA.The results were intended for internal use and with the option to share selected data publicly after addition reviews. Phase 2: Inventory Analysis Figure 4 shows the system boundary of the Levies 501 Jean, from the different places where cotton is sources, the different production plants, distribution chann els to its end. Figure 4: Levies 501 Jean System Boundary (Levi, 2013) Phase 3: Impact assessment After gathering information and data, Levies was able to measure the climate change, energy and water use of their best-selling Sears, with interesting results.A pair of original Levies has a global warming potential of 15 keg CA equivalent, consumes MAIM] of energy in its production process and only has 1% of its ingredients that are recycled. (Gaskin, 2012) Figures 5-7 show a breakdown of the weight of different factors and their impacts. Unsurprisingly, the growth of cotton was the most water intensive stage in the LLC, with the usage of the Jean being the next highest. Usage however was by far, the biggest contributor of energy use and climate change.This is due to the long lifespan of the Jean (denim as a material can be quite hardy) and the instant wash cycles can add up significantly over time. Figure 5: Impacts on energy use (Levi, 2013) Figure 6: Impacts on water use (Levi, 201 3) Figure 7: Impacts on climate change (Levi, 2013) Phase 4: Interpretation From the LLC, Levies realized that the majority of environmental impacts occur in the lifestyle phases that are outside their direct control. Reducing the overall environmental impact requires a two-pronged approach of focusing on internal operations whilst engaging consumers.Internally, Levi started looking at cotton production at the farmer's level, switching to organic cotton when possible and articulating in projects such as the â€Å"Better Cotton Initiative†, as cotton growing is water intensive. They also reduced product packaging and tweaked product design and manufacturing to reduce their water and energy use- the water

Monday, January 6, 2020

Army Essay - 2595 Words

World History Dr. Mahdavi History 101 Fall 2012 Study Guide For Mid-Term Examination The examination will consist of 5 essay questions of which one is mandatory to write upon (40 points). You may choose any other two to write about (30 points each) for a total of 100 points 93 - 100 A 73 - 76 C 90 - 92 A- 70 - 72 C- 87 - 89 B+ 67 - 69 D+ 83 - 86 B 63 - 66 D 80 - 82 B- 60 - 62 D- 77 - 79 C+ 59 or below F=0 In reviewing for the examination, focus your study on the following general topics: 1) 1.Examine the centralizing efforts in countries like France, Spain, and England. How and in what ways were they successful? Why was the Holy Roman Empire not as successful as other†¦show more content†¦2:the results of early modern science were so powerful that some European intellectuals sought to overhaul moral, social, and potlitical thought by adapting scientific methods ad relying on reason rather than traditional cultural authoriteis. Their efforts weakened the influence of churches in western Europe and encouraged the development of secular values 4) 1:What were the major factors that were behind the western European exploration? 2: What developments and discoveries were important in this process? (Class notes and Bentley Zeigler, Chap. 22) 1:The search for basic resources and lands suitable for cultivation of cash crops, the desire to establish new trade routes to asian markets, and the aspiration to expand the unfluence of Chirstianity 2:Development: ships sails( square sails takes advantage of a wind blowing from behind, triangular sail takes advantage were more maneuverable and could cath side winds as well as from behind) navigational equipment( magenetic compasses and astrobles), latitudes Discovery: knowledge of wind and currents, volta do mar( mediterranean to canaray islands(N.EAST) canary island to portugal (West winds) then turned east to return home) 5) Learn the process of Europenization of â€Å"the Fortunate Isles† (Class notes and Crosby, chap. 4) Azoles island: brought in maize MedaresShow MoreRelatedArmy Vs. Military Army1549 Words   |  7 Pages Another change occurred, in that armies changed from being mercenary based to kingdoms establishing their own standing armies. As a result, professional soldiers emerged which only continued to elevate the common soldier’s status in society. This occurred for a few reasons. Before arquebuses, a state maintaining a standing army was incredibly dangerous and expensive to handle. A standing army under a commander was mechanically difficult to manage while standing bowmen, as stated before, requiredRead MoreThe Army Of The Potomac1150 Words   |  5 Pagespositive that any forces from the Army of the Potomac would make its way down the I-70. Within the last twenty-four hours BG Lane was notified that elements of the 82nd Airborne were making its way north-east to support him and his Marines. The 82nd would take an alternate route circumnavigating Baltimore and coming up south of the Marines current position. Once the 82nd was five to ten miles from the Marines they would halt, dig in and wait for further orders. If the Army of the Potomac decided toRead MoreEssay On The Army721 Words   |  3 Pagescases you don’t execute the orders according to the rules, you improvise the action... and also that you don’t take the orders if you don’t like them. What kind of army are you in? We are not in a movie, we are in the war! And I can’t even put you in a jail for this because two of your former superiors are now leading the whole this army and would take you out before I put you in... And I would not even try to put you in a jail because I knew your father and now I know you are not much different thanRead MorePerception Of Indiscipline And The Army1293 Words   |  6 PagesPERCEPTION OF INDISCIPLINE IN THE ARMY 1 PERCEPTION OF INDISCIPLINE IN THE ARMY TODAY USAACE NCOA SSG Khana P. Dao 15Z SLC 17-003 SFC Maradol PERCEPTION OF INDISCIPLINE IN THE ARMY 2 â€Å"The Army profession is built on a foundation of discipline and standards. Discipline and standards are intrinsic within the Army culture of trust. Discipline guide our manner of performance. We conduct ourselves according to the discipline of our military art and scienceRead More join the army Essay884 Words   |  4 Pages I retired from the Army last year July 1, 2004. After spending 23 years in the Army, I would encourage any young man or woman to join. The Army was a great experience, and I would do it all over again if given the opportunity. The benefits I received made it well worth the occasional sacrifice. Some of the benefits are full time employment, money for college, free health care, Learning new skills, and the pride of knowing you are serving your country. While in the Army I earned decent money, 30Read MoreArmy Value Loyalty1126 Words   |  5 Pagesessentially take a vow to be faithful to your commitment to the military which includes everything from vowin g to be loyal to your unit, leadership, and of course to oneself. Oftentimes though, I have been told by senior enlisted members that the â€Å"new army† is non-argumentatively greatly different than what it used to be. And, typically the junior enlisted will ask why? What is different now than what it used to be back then? What is told to us, is normally a general consensus amongst the senior enlistedRead MoreThe Characteristics Of The Army Profession864 Words   |  4 Pagesan Army. When it comes to confidence from the public other organizations such as the police, the government, the media, and various other organizations do not have the same level of trust that the American people have in us. Trust is the most important of the five characteristics of the Army profession. Without trust we would lose the support of the American public, trust is the embodiment of our profession, and trust drives the four other characteristics of the Army profession. The Army existsRead MoreThe Problem Of The Brazilian Army878 Words   |  4 PagesBrazilian Army is facing can bring serious problems for the formation and the training of Artillery Soldiers. Due to the amount of Artillery materials, the size of the country, and the price of the ammunition necessary to accomplish the mission, the Brazilian Army has to find a balance in order to avoid a collapse in the Artillery systems. The tendency is that they increase, since the military exercises must continue in order to the Brazilian Army can prevent, shape, and win. How does the Army can doRead MoreThe Army Of The United States855 Words   |  4 PagesThe movement from a drafted to an all-volunteer force has proven to provide the Army of the United States with some of its most impressive Soldiers. Whether Soldiers desire to join the military for the pay, job security or answering the call to serve their country, these desires have become increasingly obsolete in today’s Army beca use of budget cuts. The Army will begin to lose quality Soldiers due to continued pay cuts to military pay, basic allowance for housing and changes to retirement plansRead MoreMy Duty Of The Army Essay1133 Words   |  5 Pagesout pink slips to individuals who had been stagnate in their ranks and were eligible for retirement. So, that younger soldiers like myself could had the opportunity to move up in the ranks and possibly make a career out of the Army. Several months afterwards, I noticed the number of solders start to diminish. At the same time, I also noticed that my unit wasn’t receiving any incoming soldiers. This left everyone wondering what was going on, we were losing more soldiers than what we could replace