Thursday, May 28, 2020

Project 210 Research Paper - 1375 Words

Project 210 (Research Paper Sample) Content: Project 210Students NameInstitutionProject 210Obtain the most recent annual report (or 10-K report) for two competitor companies in an industry of your choice. The report must contain at least three years of income statement data and two years of balance sheet data.The paper will analyze the financial statements of Adams Resources Energy Inc. and Adino Energy Corporation, both in the energy industry.Adams Resources Energy, Inc. was established in 1947 and is based in Houston, Texas. It is an oil company with various subsidiaries in other countries. This company engages in marketing natural gas and crude oil. It also engages in the exploration, development of gas properties and domestic oil in Texas and the south central region of the United States. Adams Resource Energy, Inc. holds interests in 484 wells.Adino Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is based in Houston, Texas. Adino Energy Corporation is a company operating in producing and exploring gas an d oil. It mainly focuses on oily assets in the Permian Basin in West Texas. This company was known as Consolidated Medical Management, Inc. but in January 2008 changed its name to Adino Energy Corporation.Analyze at least three items on the income statement for your target company that would be important to an investor, and discuss whether your companys performance related to these items appeared to be improving, deteriorating or remaining stable. Justify your answer by going deeper than just citing percentage increases or decreases. According to analysis of the financial statements, I recommend Adams Resources Energy, Inc. as the best to invest. Adams Resources Energy Company should be targeted because of its financial position based on the analysis of the past three years on operations. The items analyzed on the income statement of Adams Resourcs Energy, Inc. are sales revenue, net income and cost of goods sold.The sales revenues for the three years 2010, 2011 and 2012 were 208 3.8 $, 3045.04 and 3381.0$ respectively. Revenues for 2010 and 2011 show an increase of 961.2$ or 9.6%. This means that, company made many sales hence increasing its annual revenue. The increased revenues and operating results were an improvement from the transportation sectors achieved in the last two years of operations. In 2012 and 2011, the increased revenues were due to increased customer demand. Over the last three financial years, Adams Resources Energy Inc. showed a growth rate on revenues collected in the three financial years from $3.0 B USD to $3.4 B USD. The company achieved this by reducing the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold from 98.06% to 97.86% hence growth from $22.9 M USD to $27.8 M USD. This growth rate of revenue is one of the bases which investors used to make decisions on where to invest thus the company is in a position to encourage investors.The second item analyzed is net income. In the three financial years, net income showed a positive a mount hence better operating position of the company. Positive net income of a company is significant in encouraging investors. Most investors are willing to invest in a company with a foreseen future of operations. Positive net income shows that the company can broaden its activities without any fear of giving negative results at the end of a financial year and is in a stable operating position with a future going concern. The net profit ratios for the three financial years are 9%, 23% and 28% respectively. These ratios will show increased profits ratios in the future of the company operations. The EPS is the base where the investment decisions are based on the investment. In this case, the three financial positions have shown positive EPS hence investor have base for their decisions. The third item is the cost of goods sold. Adams Resources Energy, Inc. managed to reduce the amount devoted to cost of goods sold. This reduction of cost of goods sold leads to improved growth of th e company in terms of net profit, which has been earned at the end of the financial year. The percentage reduced on cost of goods sold was 0.2%. The cost reduced in the 3rd year of operation has lead to an increase in net income of 4.99%. Analyze at least three items on the balance sheet for your target company that would be important to an investor, and discuss whether your companys performance related to these items appeared to be improving, deteriorating, or remaining stable. Justify your answer by going deeper than just citing percentage increases or decreases.The three items analyzed in the balance sheet of Adams Resources Energy, Inc. are disposing and acquisition of assets, cash and cash equivalent, and share capital. The company operations which gained $1.2 million and $2.6 million in the year 2011 and 2012 respectively were from the sale of used equipment hence increasing the net income for the company. As the transportation revenues decrease or increase, operating earning s will decrease or increase at an accelerated rate.The Crude oil revenues increased in 2011 relative to 2010 and in 2012 relative to 2011 due to the increased field level purchase volumes and due to the higher average crude oil price. Increased Volume of sales resulted from a well-established customer base in the Eagle Ford Shale trend of South Texas from 2011. The prices fluctuate upwards with general market conditionshence, the operating earnings will grow. Cash and cash equivalent are maintained by the company through making discretionary investments in its transportation, exploring businesses and marketing. The company uses the sale proceeds from property to fund its cash flow needs and reinvestments in long-term assets.The company has budgeted $9.9 million to be used for storing tank terminal arrangements, office lease space and for planned investment. The company maintains future commitments in order to curtail operating cash flows. Maintenance of cash to settle daily operatio n of the company is important, as this will facilitate daily operation hence will maintain the stability of the company through running its daily activities. Investors should consider this as important since cheques do not discharge all the transactions.In this company, accounts receivable is one of the industry's worst performing items with 25.15 days worth of sales outstanding. This implies that collections of revenues are not collected in an efficient manner. Finally, Adams Resources Energy Inc. is one of the least efficient in its industry in managing inventories, with 2.58 days on the Cost of Goods Sold held in Inventories. Investors should be aware of changes in working capital, when deciding where to invest in.The final analysis is based on the share capital. The company relies much on the trade credit to finance its project and other long-term activities and avoid acquiring debt obligations. Adams Resources Energy, Inc. obtains credit finance from the suppliers. Analyzing the situation, it can be said that this way of financing operation is not good and does not enable the company to broaden its financial operation hence investors are not encouraged to invest in companies with such financial behaviors. For instance, the company used working capital of $57,799,000 at December 31, 2012. In 2012, capital expenditure included additions of property costing $23,083,000, transportation equipment, and marketing of $27,929,000 and all this funding is from available working capital and operating cash flow. Analyze your companys investing and financing activities for the most recent year as identified in the statement of cash flows, specifically identifying the two largest investing activities and the two largest financing activities. Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the investing and financing strategies that your company is employing.Adams Resources Energy, Inc. financing activities include disposing of property, plant and equipment at 6.3$, 8.4$ a nd 0.1$ in 2013, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The company also acquires new equipment to replace old sold equipment. Investing activities the company engaged in include payment of dividend at the end of 2012 financial year; the company paid an annual cash dividend of $.62 per common share to common stockholders of record on December 3, 2012. In 2011 financial year, the company paid an annual cash dividend of $.57 per common share to common stockholders of record. Totaldividends paid amounted to $2,614,954 and $2,404,000 for 2012 and 2011, respectively. Finally, the company reinvested dividend on the ex-dividends date. The company performance is good because it does not use debt in financing its activities and thus it is not much exposed to risks. The financial strategies applied by the company include reinvesting dividend on the ex-dividend date. It also uses net income to broaden its activities.Identify two items not included in the financial statements that you think would be impo rtant to someone considering whether to invest in your company. Discuss your reasons for believing that these two items about the company would be important in making an investment decision. You might want to consider items disc...

Saturday, May 16, 2020

John Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men - 959 Words

â€Å"Listen to me, you crazy bastard,† â€Å"Don t you even take a look at the bitch. In this quote, it shines light on how people treat each other during the book and how they act when they are near each other. Instead of saying nice words, they bring people down in Mice and Men. Individuals in the story use mean phrases and words to use against people that are not the same as them or that doesn’t look like them. Why does the author use derogatory terms in his book Mice and Men, what message was he trying to send to his readers? â€Å"In John Steinbeck s novel Of Mice and Men, the author illustrates that people discriminate against one another because they want to feel better about themselves and to gain self-pride. People discriminate because they are insecure about themselves. What this idea means is that people are not true to themselves, so they have to reform in bullying and discriminating each other. So when Candy or anybody on the farm tries to bully Lennie, it is because he not the same as a â€Å"normal† person in that society and that he is not the same as everybody else in the book. For example â€Å"Lennie lumbered to his feet and disappeared into the brush. Furthermore, proving my point, â€Å"George lay where he was and whistled softly to himself. There were sounds of splashing down the river in direction Lennie had taken. George stopped whistling and listened.† â€Å"Poor bastard,† he said softly, and then went on whistling again.†(Steinbeck s 8) George in this quote brings down LennieShow MoreRelatedJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1248 Words   |  5 PagesIn Steinbeck s novel Of Mice and Men, He uses imagery many times to create a realistic setting a nd plot. Steinbeck’s depiction of migrant workers and their daily complications during the depression are objectively precise due to his use of imagery with idioms, dreams, nature, loneliness and animal imagery. The main theme of the book transpires to be loneliness and fate. While George and Lennie, the main characters have a synergetic relationship, fate steps in and does away with their dreams, whichRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men897 Words   |  4 Pagesthat we possess. Many people feel certain emotions based on events that have taken place in their lifetime or how they were raised throughout their childhood. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, he portrays the feelings of isolation and loneliness in three different characters. George’s isolation is illustrated in Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. George expresses many hard feelings towards Lennie at the opening of this story. â€Å"‘...you’re a lot of trouble,’ said George. ‘I could get along so easy and soRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1243 Words   |  5 Pagesis what John Steinbeck achieves by portraying this through the characters in his novella Of Mice and Men. The main characters are affected by loneliness in their own different way throughout the novella. rf The loneliness is maintained by the challenges that the characters have to face, and they sustain those challenges of being inhumane towards each other. Crook, a figure in the story who experiences discrimination encounters the challenge of race, due to the book’s setting in the 1930’s duringRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1080 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"I want you to stay with me Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.† The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows the relationship between two migrant workers in the 1930s, George and Lennie, along with the other members on the new ranch that they began working on. Georgie and Lennie dreamed of following the American Dream and owning their own patch of land and the novel revolves around the dream and the obstacles that stand in their way. Lennie, a strongRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1286 Words   |  6 PagesThe realistic fiction novella O f Mice And Men by John Steinbeck explains the journey of two migrant farm workers. Lennie and George are forced to overcome the Dust Bowl and The Great Depression around 1938. This makes jobs even harder to come by because everyone wanted one. Lennie and George were kicked out of Weed and they now work at a ranch in Soledad. At the new farm the friendship between Lennie and George becomes harder to maintain. The people on the farm are all different shapes, sizes, andRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men2167 Words   |  9 Pagesjobs. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small wander through California in search of a new job that would help them make enough money to live their American dream on â€Å"the fatta the lan’†(Steinbeck 14). George and Lennie’s hard work and determination is not enough for them to live their dream. Lennie has a mental disability that slows the two friends down from living their dream; they have to ru n from job to job because of Lennie’s unintentional actions. Steinbeck incorporatesRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1360 Words   |  6 Pagesfeeling, thinking and acting in everyday life. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a duo of farmers, George and Lennie, search for work wherever they can. Their dream of having a farm of their own is coming into reach, while George has to wield Lennie away from the temptation of Curley’s wife and the reality of what Lennie can do. John Steinbeck uses characterization to illustrate the nature of human existence. Steinbeck portrays George as a man who tries to help, and helps others soRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1448 Words   |  6 Pages In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck discusses the idea of loneliness and how people who work at the ranch have no family and no future in lives. He indicates that all people at the ranch are lonely, but he specifically uses a few characters to highlight their state of being lonely and more miserable than the others. He emphasizes the loneliness of ranch life during the Great Depression, and shows how people are willing to try and find friendship in order to escape from the state ofRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1205 Words   |  5 Pagesand the time period of John Steinbeck s novella, Of Mice and Men, exemplifies the idea that people from minorities are held back from achieving their version of the ‘American Dream’. This goes to prove not everyone will overcome the overbearing tidal waves of their hardship s, which makes the American Dream nothing more than a dream to them. Crooks, the black stable hand, faces discrimination due to his skin color as this unfortunately was common in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck uses Crooks’ situationRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men968 Words   |  4 PagesSolidifying the theme of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the protagonist George expresses his significant loneliness despite a strong kinship with his friend Lennie, â€Å"’I ain’t got no people†¦ I seen the guys that go around the ranches alone. That ain’t no good’† (41). Published in 1937, amidst the horrific turmoil of the Great Depression, Steinbeck’s novella struck a sensitive chord with readers. Set in the heart of California’s Central Valley, this story follows two men, George and Lennie, as they

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Analysis Of James Mcpherson s The Opening Sentence

â€Å"Despite the ghastly events of September 11, 2001, another September day 139 years earlier remains the bloodiest single day in American History.† The opening sentence in James McPherson’s book is quite telling. McPherson goes on to describe that around 6,500 Union and Confederate soldiers combined met their deaths at the Battle of Antietam. McPherson’s use of death statistics bring the reader into his narrative, and help the reader to begin thinking about the impact the Civil War had on America. According to McPherson the Civil War was constantly changing hands, at some points the Confederates were ahead, and at other times it was the Union Army. McPherson’s thesis is that no one battle decided the war, but Antietam was the â€Å"event† of the war, and changed the course of the war. McPherson effectively confirms his thesis, by not just including the military characteristics, but also interweaving social and political characteristics that w ere important throughout the Civil War. McPherson effectively supports his thesis by providing military characteristics about the Battle of Antietam. To first outline this McPherson begins by outlining how important certain bordered were to Union armies at the beginning of the war in 1861. He supports this by noting that Union armies had secured pertinent border states: Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland. The purpose of this was to push Confederate armies out of western Virginia, which then would later become a Union state. The detailsShow MoreRelatedSports17363 Words   |  70 PagesDates 3. Student profile 4. A suggested invitation for a sportscaster speaker Designed for teachers, this section is suggestive only, and is open to input—as is, in fact, this whole project. Your responses are encouraged, and I wish you well in your analysis of and/or career in sportscasting. Chapter 1 Introduction to Sports, Sportscasters, and Sportscasting Exercise 1.1: Your Definition/Description of Sportscasting We all have our own experiences with the subject of sportscasting. Tell about yoursRead MoreSports17369 Words   |  70 PagesDates 3. Student profile 4. A suggested invitation for a sportscaster speaker Designed for teachers, this section is suggestive only, and is open to input—as is, in fact, this whole project. Your responses are encouraged, and I wish you well in your analysis of and/or career in sportscasting. Chapter 1 Introduction to Sports, Sportscasters, and Sportscasting Exercise 1.1: Your Definition/Description of Sportscasting We all have our own experiences with the subject of sportscasting. Tell aboutRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesproviding a voice of reason amidst all the consultancy excitement of seemingly new ways of costing the business world. He has played a similar role in the area of accounting standard setting, both taking forward the British tradition of the economic analysis of financial accounting and, of possibly greater significance, providing some very original analyses of the possibilities for meaningful accounting standardization. With an agenda as rich as this, it is all the more praiseworthy that Michael maintainedRead MoreTop 1 Cause for Project Failure65023 Words   |  261 PagesFeatured discussion In your experience, what is the TOP #1 cause for Project failure? From experience, the following are the TOP10 causes of Project failure that Mathew can think of (they are not in any kind of order): #1. Lacking Sponsor s Involvement/Ownership #2. Halo Effect (Wrong Man for the Job) #3. Poor HR Management #4. Poor/Inadequate Project Communications #5. Ignoring Project Stakeholders #6. Absence of Risk Management #7. Scope Creep/Unrealistic Expectations ( scope creep:Read MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesLeadership Chapter 2 Organization Strategy and Project Selection 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 1.4.1 Managing the portfolio 1.4.3 Strategy and projects 2.3 Stakeholders and review boards 12.1 RFP’s and vendor selection (.3.4.5) 11.2.2.6 SWAT analysis 6.5.2.7 Schedule compression 9.4.2.5 Leadership skills G.1 Project leadership 10.1 Stakeholder management Chapter 11 Teams Chapter 3 Organization: Structure and Culture 2.4.1 Organization cultures [G.7] 2.4.2 Organization structure

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Establishing Strategic CSR in SMEs

Question: Discuss about the Establishing Strategic CSR in SMEs. Answer: Introduction Real estate is a very responsible business of the Business society of the world. One of the companies of New South Wales is Sunselect Property Group. It is a company of real estate which has been working in building many properties for a long time in NSW in Sydney. They especially work on developing residential and commercial properties. The main thing that matters in this kind of business is the sustainability. The properties which they build should sustain in the society with the Corporate Social Responsibility. So, being a CSR consultant I have to try to work on those problems which are hindering the rise of this in the market. Nowadays the criterion for making property is to be overall sustainability. The proper usage of energy resources including water management and consumption, efficiency of energy and the management of waste in that society is very important. There should not be any sort of problems for the people who are going to spend their lives in that property. The work of a CSR consultant is very profound for any business. It has been defined in different aspects by many different journals and news reports (Rosen, 2012). Findings and discussion As a CSR consultant, it was found out that to regain the name and reputation in the company really had to some sustainable projects. There were many aspects where the company was lagging (Gelbmann, 2010). Hence they decided to make a new project called The Greenfield Development which is going to be sustainable from all the aspects including the energy efficiency to water consumptions to the management of waste in that area. This will provide sustainable living condition with affordable price. There are some problems in this property business. The comfort and longevity of the property are what matters the most. The insulation system of the property should be such that it should be able to optimize the percent of heat gain and heat loss from the houses or building built there. During the summer season, the heat from the houses should be designed in such a way that it should minimize the usage of air conditioners. On the other hand in the winter season, the heat loss system from the house should be done in such a way that it should minimize the usage of heaters. It has been seen in a research that there is almost 40% hike in electricity bills just because of the excess usage of the extra machine to cope with the weather conditions in extreme positions (Johnston and Master, 2004). Water consumption We all are normally advised not to waste water for unnecessary reasons. The water consumption in that property should be done in such a way that it should not affect the natural resource or the environment in any way. The name Greenfields itself recommend the protection of nature in that locality. There is going to be one drinking water management system which is going to take care of the total management of water consumption. The health of the people living cannot be compromised in any way. The reuse of water is highly accepted for the waste water management system of the locality(Geyer-Alle?ly, 1998). Waste Management is one of the important issues of our present day environment department of the government. In Sydney, people are very much concerned about the cleanliness. As it is said that "Charity begins at home", so, in this new project, SPG has decided to give more importance to the comfort and health care of the people who are going to be a part of such a locality or property. SPG has tried to follow the three R's rule- reduce, reuse and recycle. Earlier landfill with waste was the traditional way of getting rid of waste but nowadays that is not accepted to be good for the environment. So, people have given more stress to recycle. While wasting or throwing anything away we really do not go for the calculating whether that can be reused or not, so, for this reason, only waste management or treatment of waste before dumping it has become a big issue for the government. So, here in this project also the waste which will be produced will be treated well before being dumped (Juhas z, Magesan and Naidu, 2004). Recommendations The above-given problems are really worthy to be given importance. There are many types of insulations that can be used while building a property - reflective foils, bulk insulation, polyester, loose-fill insulation and much more. These types of insulation are going to be good for controlling the heat gain and heat loss percentage which will logically be affected in their electricity bills. This is because if some things can be solved without any usage of extra machines then it is good for the people and their economy. Similarly for the waste management and water consumption criterion also many steps have been taken to drinking water management, etc. Conclusion The responsibility of the SPG does not get completed by just making or building the property. After completion of the property, the responsibility actually increases. This is because they have the responsibility of the all the people who are going to live there, comes on them. They are responsible for the safety and comfort of the people. So, I hope that as a CSR, after this survey and research if SPG follows the policies that are mentioned above then they are going to get back the name and fame that they have lost in due time. They have been working in this industry for over 50 years. In these 50 years they have completed many projects for the people but due to some problems in the above-mentioned issues may be they have lost their place in the market. If they follow the instructions and suggestions that have been explained earlier everything will be fine. This is because it is actually the people on whose reviews the reputation of any company is dependent. If they lose their reputa tion then they shall even have the chances of losing future projects. References Gelbmann, U. (2010). Establishing strategic CSR in SMEs: an Austrian CSR quality seal to substantiate the strategic CSR performance.Sustainable Development, 18(2), pp.90-98. https://www.unwater.org/downloads/gwp_inbo%20handbook%20for%20iwrm%20in%20basins_eng.pdf Geyer-Alle?ly, E. (1998).Water consumption and sustainable water resources management. 1st ed. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.newsociety.com/Books/G/Green-Remodeling Johnston, D. and Master, K. (2004).Green remodeling. 1st ed. Gabriola, B.C.: New Society Publishers. Juhasz, A., Magesan, G. and Naidu, R. (2004).Waste management. 1st ed. Enfield: Science Publishers. https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1cad=rjauact=8ved=0ahUKEwjwwIr7gZzTAhUBpY8KHRH7CRIQFggfMAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F2071-1050%2F4%2F9%2F2270%2Fpdfusg=AFQjCNESNpcPhmm2i4g-qQfmDcuKfK_gkgsig2=AiCntKtalSCQZg-Tso38bQ Rosen, M. (2012). Engineering Sustainability: A Technical Approach to Sustainability.Sustainability, 4(12), pp.2270-2292. https://www.wm.com/sustainability/pdfs/2014_Sustainability_Report.pdf