PHIL 102 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

PHIL 102 - Essay Example Simply, it is assumed to be a moral good in itself. Kant, a deontologist and philosopher, asserts that there are certain things that people are entitled to do, regardless of their repercussions. For instance, he perceives that people have an obligation of always standing for the truth. It is pertinent for anyone to find their moral obligations via the use of hard logic or reasoning. According to Kant, people begin to instill knowledge of the categorical imperative when they start to question and contemplate on the nature of ethics. Moreover, Kant asserts that acting with regard to morals is practically intricate and should not be easy especially in cases when one has a conviction to do something else. This apparently implies that acting morally may encompass people to act within a state of emotional detachment. For instance, reasons why smokers find it hard to quit smoking knowing that it is a morally wrong act, is questionable. In his categorical imperative, Kant states that moral truth is a concept beyond human experience and it is practically intricate to depend on senses to learn its meaning. In addition to moral truths being priori, they aid people to infer what it actually means to act morally and more so, comprehend why doing something or behaving in a certain manner is a morally good thing to do and this is through use of reason. Kant explains that, reason leads for moral actions but does not follow. Kant argues that the contemporary ethical debate starts with an assumption that a person requires free will for them to be morally accountable. Regardless of the fact that one may do good under instruction, Kant argues this to be a moral accident and not necessarily a moral act. Therefore, to qualify in acting in a truly moral manner, someone ought to choose to execute something by themselves. However, for Sigmund Freud, we cannot ever be completely sure of our actual motives. Moreover, it is

Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment Essay Example for Free

Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment Essay The most severe of all sentences: that of death. Also known as the death penalty, capital punishment is the most severe form of corporal punishment. It has been banned in many countries, in the United States, an earlier move to eliminate capital punishment has now been reversed and more and more states are resorting to capital punishment for serious offenses such as murder. An Eye for and eye, a life for a life, who has never heard of the famous Lex Talionis? The Bible mentions it, and people have been using it regularly for centuries. We use it in reference to burglary, adultery, love and many other situations. However, some people use it on a different level, some people use it in reference to death. One steals from those who have stolen from him, one wrongs those who have wronged him, but do we really have the right to kill those who have killed. Today, there is a big controversy over capital punishment whether or not it works, or if it is morally right. We have a certain privilege on our own lives, but do the lives of others belong to us as well? Do we have the right to decide the kind of lives others can or cannot live? We find someone guilty of murder and sentence him to death, does that not make murderers out of ourselves? Can justice justify our acts? Those who assist in the death penalty are they not partners in crime? Is the death penalty a Cruel and Unusual punishment or is it now a necessary tool in the war on crime? With the increase in crime and violence in our society, how does the death penalty affect a North American family. Use of the death penalty has declined throughout the industrial Western World since the 19th century. In 1972, movement in America to have the death penalty declared unconstitutional during the landmark case of Furman v. Georgia, which declared the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. However, after a supreme court decision in 1975, Gregg v. Georgia, which stated capital punishment did not violate the eighth Amendment, executions commenced again under state supervision. (Van der Haag, 1975, 3-4). There are seven main types of execution: Hanging, where the prisoner is blindfolded and stands on a trap door, with a rope around his neck. The trap door is opened suddenly. The weight of the prisoner’s body below the neck causes traction separating the spinal cord from the brain. The second most widely used technique is shooting, where a firing quad shoots the prisoner from some meters away. Another method is Guillotine, a device consisting of a heavy blade held aloft between upright guides and dropped to behead the victim below. Then there was garroting, in which a tightened iron collar is used to strangle or break the neck of a condemned person. One of the more recent is Electrocution where the prisoner is fastened to a chair by his chest, groin, arms and legs. Electrodes are placed around a band around the head, then jolts of 4-8 amperes at voltage between 500 and 2000 volts are applied at half a minute at a time. The newest forms of execution are Lethal Injection where a lethal poison is injected into the prisoners arm or the Gas Chamber where the prisoner is placed in a room with Sodium Cyanide crystals and left to die. (Meltser, 1973, 21-26) There are four major issues in the capital punishment debate, the first being deterrence. A major purpose of criminal punishment is to deter future criminal conduct. The deterrence theory suggests that a rational person will avoid criminal behavior if the severity of the punishment outweigh the benefits of the illegal conduct. It is believed that fear of death deters people from committing crimes. Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own lives was at stake. That if attached to certain crimes, the penalty of death exerts a positive moral influence by placing a stigma on certain crimes like manslaughter, resulting in attitudes of disgust and horror to such acts. (McCuen, 1985, 11) Studies of the deterrent effect of the death penalty have been conducted for several years, with varying results. Most of these studies have failed to produce evidence that the death penalty deterred murders more effectively then the threat of imprisonment. The reason for this is that few people are executed and so the death penalty is not a satisfactory deterrent. If capital punishment were carried out more it would prove to be the crime deterrent it was partly intended to be. During highly publicized death penalty cases the homicide rate is found to go down but it goes back up when the case is over. (Bailey, 1994, 42) When comparisons are made between states with the death penalty and states without, the majority of death penalty states show murder rates higher than non-death penalty states. The average murder rate per 100,000 population in 1996 among death penalty states was 7.1, the average murder rate among non-death penalty states was only 3.6. A look at neighboring death penalty and non-death penalty states show similar trends. Death penalty states usually have a higher murder rate than their neighboring non- death penalty states. (Death Penalty Information Center) The second issue in the capital punishment debate is retribution. The need for society to express sufficient condemnation for heinous murders. Supporters of the death penalty contend that the only proper response to the most vile murders is the most sever punishment possible. Therefore, society should literally interpret the â€Å"eye for an eye† principle when an individual takes a life, society’s moral balance will remain upset until the killer’s life is also taken. (Block, 1983, 112) Although death penalty opponents disagree society should be able to express its outrage with a vile crime by inflicting capital punishment. They suggest that they are showing outrage for taking a life by talking the life of another. (Bedau, 1982, 88) Use of the death penalty as intended by law could actually reduce the number of violent murders by eliminating some of the repeat offenders thus being used as a system of justice, not just a method of deterrence. Modern supporters of capital punishment no longer view the death penalty as a deterrent, but just as a punishment for the crime, one source said, in recent years the appeal of deterrence has been supplanted by a frank desire for what large majorities see as just vengeance.† (Bailey, 1994, 55) The third major issue is arbitrariness determined by or arising from whim or impulse rather than judgment or reason. â€Å"From the days of slavery in which black people were considered property, through the years of lynching and Jim Crow laws, capital punishment has always been deeply affected by race. Unfortunately, the days of racial bias in the death penalty are not a remnant of the past.† (NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund) Fairness requires that people who break the same law under similar circumstances should meet with the same punishment, however the justice system is not consistent. Statistics show that a black man who kills a white person is 11 times more likely to receive the death penalty than a white man who kills a black person. And blacks who kill blacks have even less to worry about. Its almost like we kind of say, Oh, well, he needed killing anyhow.† (NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund) The fourth debate is the danger of mistake. In the past, there were many people wrongfully executed for crimes that they did not commit all in the name of justice. It has happened that after the execution of the alleged guilty party, the real murderer confessed to elevate his guilty conscience. â€Å"No matter how careful courts are, the possibility of perjured testimony, mistaken honest testimony, and human error remain all too real. We have no way of judging how many innocent persons have been executed, but we can be certain there were some.† J. Marshall (Bailey, 1994, 38) The unique thing about the death penalty is that it is final and irreversible. Since 1970, 77 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence. Researchers Radelet Bedau found 23 cases since 1900 where innocent people were executed, and the numbers are growing. With stories of people like Rolando Cruz, released after 10 years on Illinoiss death row, despite the fact that another man had confessed to the crime shortly after his conviction; and Ricardo Aldape Guerra, who returned to Mexico after 15 years on Texass death row because of a prosecution that a federal judge called outrageous and designed to simply achieve another notch on the prosecutors guns. (Death Penalty Information Center) There are safeguards guaranteeing protection of those facing the death penalty. These safeguards are : The defendant can not be insane, and the man’s real or criminal intent must be present. Also, minors very rarely receive the death penalty because they are not fully mature and might not know the consequences of their actions. Finally the mentally retarded are very seldom executed. The reason for not executing the retarded is that they often have difficulty defending themselves in court, have problems remembering details, locating witnesses, and testifying credibly on their own behalf. These safeguards are to try to insure that justice will be served without having it suffer. (Bailey, 1994, 147) It costs up to three times the amount to keep a prisoner on death row than it would be to keep them in prison for the rest of their lives. The expense comes from the long drawn out appeals process that we are giving our criminals, and the court appointed attorneys that the poor are receiving. (Death Penalty Information Center) The death penalty costs the state of North Carolina 2.6 million per execution while it costs the whole nation [United States] 700 million since 1976. And it’s the same everywhere, Florida spent an estimated $57 million on the death penalty from 1973 to 1988 to achieve 18 executions that is an average of $3.2 million per execution. (Miami Herald, July 10, 1988). In Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. However it is also a form of insurance that the criminal will never commit another crime again. (Death Penalty Information Center) In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) the death penalty was required for a wide range of offenses, both civil and religious. In the following passages from the King James Version of the Bible, Jehovah required the state to execute a person for murder: Genesis 9:6 states: Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. If sufficient proof were provided that a person had committed a crime, the state imposed the death penalty on the guilty person(s). They were either stoned to death, impaled or burned alive. Witnesses who testified at the trial would often participate in the killing. To their credit, the courts of ancient Israel required very high levels of proof of criminality before they would order the death penalty (Horwitz, 1973, 36) Of course, a person may think it is immoral to kill someone no matter what they have done. When I say it is retributive justice to take the life in turn for the taking of another life, it could be argued that a criminal is not able to learn a lesson since he dies as an immediate result of the punishment. How can this be called punishment if no lesson is taught? In my opinion, the only way for justice to be served is to have the criminal pay with their life, â€Å" an eye for an eye.† Many people believe that capital punishment does not belong in a civilized society. I believe it is needed because we do not live in a civilized society, if we did there would be no crime. We live in a day and age where killing happens everyday, and many get away with it. Those who do get caught, don’t stay in a jail cell for the rest of their live. If we could rig our streets of murderers, it could mean a safer place for everyone. Men and women could feel safer jogging or doing errands at night. Single women could feel safer in their homes. Children could feel safe playing in their yards. No executed murderer has ever killed again. References The Death Penalty in America 256-63 (H. Bedau ed., 3d ed. 1982) E. Van den Haag, Punishment as a Device for Controlling the Crime Rate, 33 Rutgers L, Rev. 706, 719 (1981) H. Gross, A Theory of Criminal Justice 489 (1979) Ehrlich Gibbons, On the Measurement of the Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment and the Theory of Deterrence, 6 J. Legal Stud. 35 (1977). Bedau Radelet, Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases (1st draft, Oct. 1985) E. Van der Haag, Punishing Criminals 196-206 (1975). C.F. Phllips, The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: New Evidence on an Old Controversy, 86 Am. J. Soc. 139 (1980). Baumgart, R. A. McCuen, Gary E. Reviving the Death Penalty. Madison, WI: Gary McCuen, 1985: 22. Electrocution. Academic American Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Grolier, 1993: 113. Clark, Lesley. Florida execution of 350-pound inmate turns bloody. Miami Herald. 10 July 1988.

Defining The Processes Of Emergent Strategy Development Commerce Essay

Defining The Processes Of Emergent Strategy Development Commerce Essay Emergent strategy comes about through everyday routines, activities and processes in organizations (Johnson, et. al. 2005, Pp 408). It occurs by chance or happens within the organization without any long term planning. There are four organizational processes of emergent strategy development: Logical Incrementalism Resource allocation routines Cultural processes Organizational politics Logical Incrementalism The development of strategy by experimentation and learning from partial commitments rather than through global formulations of total strategies (Quinn and Voyer, 2003. Pp 408) Key features of logical incremental approach are Managers have a general view rather than specific view of future direction Develop strong, flexible core business and experiment with side bet ventures Top managers utilize mix of formal/informal social and political to pull together emerging pattern of strategies. Resource allocation routines strategies emerge through formalized routines and systems of the organization (Johnson, et. al. 2005, Pp 411). Key features of resource allocation routines approach are Day to day decision making about resource allocation across businesses Decisions may be made at a lower level than conventionally thought to be strategic Managers proposals competing for funds Collective effects of such decisions guide the strategy. Cultural Processes Incremental strategy development can be explained as the outcome of the influence of organization culture (Johnson, et. al. 2005, Pp 416). Key features are Self-reinforcing model Over time may result in strategic drift The model and the way we do things around here mean that managers try to minimize haziness/ambiguity by defining situation as something familiar. Organizational politics Political view of strategy development is that strategies develop as the outcome of processes of bargaining and negotiation among powerful internal or external interest groups or stakeholders (Johnson, et. al. 2005, Pp 414). Negative influence Powerful individuals may influence identification of key issues and strategies selected Obstructs analysis and rational thinking Results in emergent or incremental patterns of strategic development Emphasis or de-emphasis of data can be source of power Positive influence Champions will support new ideas. Political conflict and tensions may produce new ideas Emergent Strategy The case of Honda: In 1959, Honda Motor Corporation decided to enter the United States motorcycle market. They established the US operations in Los Angeles. The main aim of the Honda was to focus on selling 250cc and 350cc rather than the 50-cc Honda Cubs, which were a big hit in Japan. They think that the Honda 50cc Cubs were not suitable for the US market because in US everything was bigger and more luxurious. The sales of 250cc and 350cc bikes were slow because the bikes themselves were overwhelmed by mechanical problems and the Honda strategy was going to fail (Hill and Jones, 2009, Pp 25). The Honda officials were decided to sell the 50cc bikes to a broad market of Americans. Honda had also found an experimental channel of distribution, general retailers rather than specific motorbike stores. By 1964, nearly one out of two motorcycles sold in the US was a Honda (Hill and Jones, 2009, Pp 25). In this case, the companys carefully planned intended strategy but it was a failure. What ultimately worked was the emergent strategy. Using the website of a large organisation find its organisational chart. Explain why the organisation is structured in the way illustrated? Organizational structure clearly defines reporting relationships, decision-making authority and the physical location of employees from various departments. Organizational Structure Xerox: Source: (Xerox, 2011) Xerox Corporation is a technology and service company. Xerox Corporation is using the worldwide geographic area structure to support its multidomestic strategy. Geographical organizational structure group representatives from each functional department into units formed to serve a specific market or region. A divisional structure by geographic area is appropriate for this firm because the strategies need to be tailored to fit the particular needs and characteristics of customers in different geographic areas. David (2009) says that a divisional structure by geographic area allows local participation in decision making and improved coordination within a region. Xerox Corporation emphasizes product innovation to best serve customers needs and process innovations to simultaneously improve quality and reduce its production costs. Xerox is using multidomestic strategy to serve customers in its three primary markets like production, networked offices from small to large and value added services. The main reason for using this strategy is so the firm can apply its service capabilities to solve unique problems of customers in different geographic locations. Global Services, North America, Europe and Developing Markets Operations are the four business groups that make up Xeroxs organizational structure. Xerox relies on the match between its international strategy and structure of the organization as a key driver of profitable growth (Hitt, et. al., 2009, Pp 325). The main potential advantages for Xerox of having Geographical structure are: Customers can feel more at ease when speaking with local representatives who fully understand their language Customer support representatives will also have greater access to representatives from other functions Tracking the performance of individual markets and work groups is simplified under this structure Explain the four tenets of organizational learning? The learning organization is capable of continual regeneration from the variety of knowledge, experience and skills of individuals within a culture which encourages mutual questioning and challenge around a shared purpose or vision (Johnson, et. al. 2005, Pp 421). Tenets of Organizational Learning: Managers facilitate rather than direct Managers need the skills to facilitate and direct at the same time. Managers should be able to take correct decisions after consulting his team and getting useful ideas and feedback from the employees. This process would not only help the manager to identify problems and opportunities but would also help employees to be motivated and led towards the organizational goals. Leadership in a learning organization means involving employees in decision making. Information flows and relationships are lateral as well as vertical Instead of processing information through the existing hierarchical channels; the organization can establish vertical information systems. In this case, the information flow for a specific task (or set of tasks) is routed in accordance to the applied business logic, rather than the hierarchical organization. Following the lateral relations concept, it also becomes possible to employ an organizational form that is different from the simple hierarchical information. Lateral decision processes are established that cut across functional organizational units. The aim is to apply a system of decision subsidiary, i.e. to move decision power to the process, instead of moving information from the process into the hierarchy for decision-making. Organizations are pluralistic Every organization should entertain fresh and contradictory ideas to emerge which would then become the basis of debate and finally give rise to new strategies. Experimentation is the norm An important if not essential part of a learning organization is its ability to create new knowledge and to use it to capitalize on new opportunities open to the organization. This requires questioning the current status quo and how things are done, which allows employees to bring new ideas into the organization. Managers should also be willing to encourage individuals and teams to continuously improve the existing processes and try to evolve new strategies. Does structure follow strategy or does strategy follow structure? There are two views on the relationship between Structure and Strategy. Structure follow Strategy Strategy follow Structure The first observation put forward by Alfred Chandler (1962), was based on a study of the development of large corporations in the United States. The focus of the study was on the historical development of the businesses and the different types of organizational structure appropriate at each of the key stages of development. Chandler and Cain (1979) says that in all sides of an organizations structure, form the creation of departments and divisions to the designation of reporting relationships, and which should be made while keeping the company strategic intent in mind. He observed that the transition from one form of structure to another usually did not take place as soon as the key strategic issue changed. He suggested that although the entrepreneurs were typically very astute at strategy development and implementation, they tended to know very little about organization structure. From the research he concluded that Structure follows Strategy. The second view, Strategy follows structure is based on the idea that managers already working within a particular organizational structure will take the structure for granted and only consider strategies that will fit with the existing structure. The reason for managerial reluctance to change structure is associated with the time consuming effort involved in such a process and the fact that some managers will have vested interests in maintaining the structure as it is. According to Lynch (2006), strategy and structure are interlinked. It may not be optimal for an organization to develop its structure after it has developed its strategy. Strategy and the structure associated with it may need to develop at the same time in an experimental way: as the strategy develops, so does the structure. The organizations learn to adapt to its changing environment and to its changing resources, especially if such change is radical. If the strategy process is emergent, then the learning and experimentation involved may need a more open and less formal organization structure. Finally, an organization must achieve a fit, or congruence, between strategy and structure. Since different strategies and environments place different demands on an organization, they call for different structural responses. Give an example of an organisation where resource allocation processes (RAP) form part of strategy development? The Resource Allocation Process explanation of strategy development is that realized strategies emerge as a result of the way resources are allocated in organizations (Johnson, et. al. 2008, Pp 411). Bower and Gilbert argues that strategy is not like a software program that you install and it suddenly all works, it is a fluid process that is shaped by a range of internal and external forces (Bower and Gilbert, 2005). It is claimed that resource allocation must be viewed as something that gets in the way of implementing ideas but understood as a force that can lead a company in new and unforeseen directions. The role of resource allocation in strategy making: The case of Intel The Intel case shows clearly how resource allocation has a direct impact upon the effective strategy of a company. Intel started doing semiconductor memories; more specifically they had a dominant position in the production of DRAMs (Dynamic Random Access Memory). In 1971 an Intel engineer invented the microprocessor during a funded development project for a Japanese calculator company. Top managers must know the personal track record of the individuals who are making proposals for resource allocation, recognize the strategic issues in danger; reach down to operational managers to work across the division lines (Bower and Gilbert, 2007). Intels sales of microprocessors grew gradually in a host of small, emerging applications. In 1980s the Japanese DRAM makers intensifies their attack on the US market causing pricing levels to drop (Johnson, et. al. 2005, Pp 430). But, microprocessors consistently had the most attractive gross margins in Intels product portfolio, and the resource allocation process therefore systematically diverted manufacturing capacity away from DRAMs and into microprocessors. From this process, we can recognize the allocation of resources was guiding the company not the deliberate strategy.

The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delves into symbolism. A few of the symbols throughout are: the Scarlet â€Å"A† embroidered on Hester’s chest, the Forrest (in the daytime), the Forrest (in the nighttime), the prison, the rose growing up by the prison wall and light and dark. Each of these has a certain significance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The â€Å"A† is the outward symbol of Hester and Dimmsdale’s sin. It is the tangible, form of punishment. The thing that physically sets Hester apart. This symbolizes her sin and her punishment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Forrest during the daytime is a symbol of beauty of freedom. While at nighttime it is the devil’s playground, symbolizing chaos and evil. The Puritans felt this way because they had no control over the Forrest and were thus threatened by it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The prison is yet another symbol of Hester’s physical punishment and isolation from the world. She is cast out. No longer an accepted member of society for the crimes that she has committed. The prison is hard and cruel, it is also a reflection of the ideals of the Puritan society. The rose shows the beauty that can grow out of that harsh, ugliness. The rose is Pearl.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Light and darkness is used to show Dimmsdale’s guilt and his mental anguish. He walks to the scaffold, mocking a confession at night in the darkness. Then blazes an meteor in the sky as if God himself were looking down and saying to Dimmsdale, â€Å"Almost, but not quite.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author gives several lengthy, difficult descriptions in the beginning of the novel to set the harsh, Puritan tone of the novel. He says, â€Å"The founder of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house gone where in the vicinity of cornhill, almost as seasonable as they marked out the first burial-ground, on Isaac Johnson’s lot...† (pg. 75). He uses very long, hard to read passages to create a Puritan-esque feeling in the reader.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pearl is her mother’s only treasure, bought with all she had. She is the symbol of her guilt, and the price of her sin. Pearl is described as a â€Å"sprite† and an â€Å"elf-child†. She is lively, and spirited. She is a constant reminder to Dimmsdale of his mistakes, and the fact that he has yet to be punished for them by the

Chinese dream and my dream Essay

â€Å"There would be no new China without the Communist Party†, I’ve heard of this saying since I was a little child. From then on, the Communist Party has left a deep and giant impression on me. China makes great progress under the leadership of the Communist Party which has always been the belief of China. I’ve been told that it would be a great honor to be a party member. So now I am a party member and the Chinese belief becomes my genuine belief. However, as growing up, I begin to wonder whether all the party members can regard the Communist party as their belief all the time and whether they are doing the things the party member should do. The answer is so disappointed. The power of Chinese belief and the awareness of Chinese people of supporting the belief are becoming weaker and weaker. China needs a firm and strong advocate of the belief. Many people can establish the belief of becoming a party member, but they can’t follow their original belief all the lifetime. Gradually they lose themselves in the debauchery lives and they forget what they have said under the flag. Other people without party affiliation are harder to see their own belief clearly. A nation without definite belief is lamentable and horrible because it can be easily destroyed by the outside rumor. Chinese dream of need a power to hold the belief is the same as my dream. We are facing the similar situation. It is easy for me to set up a goal, but I can’t carry out the goal from beginning to end. Sometimes the obstacles or the outside environment make me give up the goal. I lack the perseverance. I lack the power to hold the goal. I’ m a member of the Communist Party, but I’m not true of the name for the reason I’ve mentioned above. After many years, I’ m afraid of becoming the kind of person I disliked before. I’ m afraid of losing myself in the busy world. I’ m afraid of forget all the dream and belief made when I was young. I really need the power to help me hold the belief. China is developing and I’ m growing. We all share the same dream. China needs the citizens to awaken themselves and I need the self-awakening. The glamour of the surface must be very vulnerable. We should be tested by the time. Only holding the belief all the time can we go further towards the success. Chinese dream is my dream. Hoping the dream comes true.

Astral Records Ltd Case Report

————————————————- ————————————————- KOZMINSKI UNIVERSITY ————————————————- Financial Statement Analysis ————————————————- ————————————————- Critical Review ————————————————- ————————————————- Astral Records Ltd â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Ewelina Laguna 23200 ————————————————- Joanna Czechowicz 23155 ————————————————-Yue Jingtong 23275 ————————————————- ————————————————- April 15, 2012 ————————————————- Academic Year 2012/2013 ——————————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€- ————————————————- I hereby certify that this paper is the result of my own work and that all sources I used have been reported. ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————– Signature ————————————————- Kozminski University 2010 1. Please assess the current financial health and recent financial performance of the company. What strengths and/or weaknesses would you highlight to Sarah Conner? The group managed to pick out a few factors to check the current financial health and recent financial performance of the company but they did not point out the total sales from income statement are increase. The thing we did not like was from the presentation point of view the group didn’t show us the good assessment of the situation like their report, and during the presentation it is so hard to catch the point of the question.The group gives us impressive numbers which we thought is from evaluating the financial situation but from the case exhibits. They didn’t mention the situation of the company (CEO been killed) they only talking about the numbers, in this point of view the group focus on numbers too much on this question. And in our opinion it will be better if they put some graph to show the trend. The trend can show us the financial health. The confuse part is they didn’t go to the point of the question directly. They didn’t give us the certain answer in the firs t part of question one.The good part is from the report; we can see the group was really focus on this question compare rest of the questions, besides the answer of first question is much better comparing the presentation. It will be good if they are not only showing the numbers but also available to explain the numbers. From the report we can see clearly about the EBITDA ratio however we cannot find anything from the presentation. Here is the copy from the report: â€Å"In operating management we used gross profit and EBITDA ratios (Table 2. ,). We use EBITDA ratio to better evaluate Astral financial condition- companies have different distribution and pricing policies which lead to different cost structure. † The ratios showed really clear in the report, and they think it is the most important ratio to see the financial health however they did not show anything during the presentation. 2. Please forecast the financial statements of the firm for 1994 and 1995. What will be t he external financing requirements of the firm in those years? Can the firm repay its loan within a reasonable period?The purpose of this question was to detect the skills of preparing financial forecast. However, during the presentation the group did not show us how to forecast but only numbers again. Audience may lose interest to follow. And it is also to catch the point during the presentation. Besides the group’s answer to this question, in the presentation and report, assume too much as they just mentioned; â€Å"Sales growth: 15%, Dividends, Fixed-assets, Interest expense , Production cost & expense and Admin & selling expense† In our point of view here is no need to assume too many unchanged numbers.And more assumption means more incorrect of the result. For example here is no need to assume stable interest expensive. During the presentation, when people asking why using the numbers they said just because of assumption. The growth rate they were using is 15% and they give no reason, however the 15% is from the expected growth rate not only from the assumption. Considering all the previous calculation is from assumptions and we must agree but if they do it more careful and using less assumption it will be much better compare the thing they have now. 3.What are the key driver assumptions of the firm’s future financial performance? * What are the managerial implications of those key drivers? * That is, what aspects of the firm’s activities should Conner especially focus on? Question 3 is not clear during the presentation however they showed everything in their report. 4. What is Astral’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC)? * What methods did you use to estimate the WACC? * What key assumptions especially influenced the WACC? Question 4 looks correct, but they didn’t show us numbers and we feel like the result is from the heaven.After checking the report we found out they use the wrong data. What they wrote in their report: ‘‘WACC was calculated using the following inputs; Using information from the comparables, Haris-Bershel and Donaldson, Inc E = Equity = average outstanding shares of the two comparables used multiplied by their average book value per share D = Debt= long-term debt E(re )= cost of equity = Gordon growth model= average comparable dividend, 10% growth, average comparable share price D(re) = cost of debt= libor + 1%† They have to tell us the number they were using whatever during the presentation or in the report.The most confusing part is cost of equity. There are 2 ways to calculate the cost of equity: And they were choosing the first way. They were using the different dividend and we even cannot find out the number they use. And they feel the number incorrect so they even divided by 2 to make the number similar as what we usually use during the lecture. In our case we got all the numbers to evaluate the cost of equity and the different ways should show the similar numbers of cost of equity. So our calculation of the cost of equity=risk-free return (6%)+beta(1. 45)*(average stock return(0. 8)-risk free return)=8. 9% And the WACC=5. 1. This part of the present is the worst and people cannot understand the point during the presentation. The report is not enough explanations. As you can see the group’s method would be not only confusing themself but provided them with the wrong answer. 5. What are the free cash flows of the packaging machine investment? Should Conner approve the investment? The Group did not answer to this question at all. It was not clear where there it actually is better to buy a machine later or not. They did not compare the two situations, just put not clear assumption.Therefore here is a proposition of alternative approach that in our opinion makes it clearer. * The discount rate used for calculation is the WACC from previous question. If you look at the totals and the differences between them it becomes quite clear that buying the machine now will result cost only 718,401 in terms of all cost for 10 years projection. At the same time the present value of all sawing to be made is higher by 280,028 if the machine is to be bought now. Evidently looking at this numbers will make you conclude that it is in fact worth to but the new equipment now.However it is important to look at general condition of the company. Keeping that in mind we must say that even thou the calculation would suggest to buy it now the company would have to finance it with a loan. It already has a lack of cash so making it even worst by investing another million is not a best idea. Especially that they can buy it any time in the future I would first deal with their shortage of cash and excess of account receivables and inventories. Then it will be a time to think about new investment in the equipment.