Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Statistics - Essay Example If a home has a pool is another factor in buying homes which should be well known to the selling agents. Nowadays, how aggressive one is while marketing the wares of the company he/she works for determines how the management of the company will view him/her. Marketing opportunities are there but only the go-getters are better placed to notice them. Various companies have come up with marketing strategies on how they will market their wares to the public in this world full of competitions and new innovations from time to time. In this regard, companies have resulted into employing what to them are the best personnel people who can take the company a notch higher and are either males of females. However, many companies employ females in their sales departments. This is so because, according to Learned, A (2006), females have a different communications approach than their male counterparts. Females are regarded to have a soft approach which convinces many to buy wares and recommend them to other people. In buying homes, many factors come into play. The number of bed rooms offers a challenge to any selling agent since customer need houses according to sizes which is determined by the number of bedrooms. This also is occasioned by the fact that, many families have more than one family member and are in dire need of more than 1 bedroom. According to Breen, R. & Goldthorpe, J.H. (1999), the aspect of diving people according to classes in one of the causes of the above phenomenon. Further, people are interested in what was used to construct the house. Fibros, single brick and double brick are some of the materials used in the constructions of houses. To Breen, R. & Goldthorpe, J.H. (1999), many people value double bricked house as according to them the aspect of security comes up. People feel secure when they live in a place which they perceive to be secure and where there is privacy. According to Carchedi, G. (1987), a research done on social

Financial Analysis for Managers DQ4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial Analysis for Managers DQ4 - Essay Example In organizations, for the investors' interest, abundance in the company's working capital depicts a positive sign in making financial amendments and integrations internally and also in the market to compete other companies. After globalization, a number of companies are comparing their positions in the market by considering their past and current records and predicting their futures associated with liquidity and solvency of firm's assets (Bernstein et al, 1997). Today the policy makers, especially the governments, deeply observe the trends in variations of the working capital of organizations to impose rules and regulations on them. Even the investment decisions from giant companies are also based on the extent of working capital that a company possesses. Inventories act as the important assets for various businesses and they also influence the revenue generation of different companies. Inventory costs are essential to determine because it affects the income and asset levels. The net income of an organization is dependent on the inventory costs, except for the service organizations, as the net income is directly linked with the costs of goods sold. Inventory costs can be categorized in two ways.

Case Study of the Strategic Issues of Chipotle Mexican Grill

Case Study of the Strategic Issues of Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill is an American chain of fast casual restaurants currently found in more than 1000 locations throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The chain specializes in tacos and burritos and has been in operation since it was founded in 1993. It is run by a board of four directors and a chairman who is also the founder of the food chain and has its headquarters in Denver, Colorado. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and posted a net income of US$178 million in 2010[1]. It has a human resource of 26,500 employees. In 1998 McDonalds made an investment into the company that allowed Chipotle to expand quickly, however in 2006, McDonalds divested from Chipotle. In January 2006, the company made its Initial Public Offering to a very positive response from investors who were eagerly waiting on the listing of the companys shares since it had shown a remarkable sign of continuous growth and profitability. The share price doubled on the first day of listing as a public company. The company employs quality financial and budgetary control systems that have seen it grow and expand without landing in financial crisis since it started operations. Multiple control systems are used to ensure that the different restaurant maintain the company standards in the quality of products produced, employee welfare and [1]A., M,. Hospitality today: an introduction. City: American Hotel Lodging Educational Institute, 2007. upholding of the company policies and mission. The company encourages new innovations in its products and that is why they have some of the restaurants selling beer and margaritas depending on the location and demand from the clients. The company has focused mainly on its initial core business which has proven to be an advantage to the business because all emphasis is given to ensure the company mission is upheld without side destructions from extra deviations from the core business. Recent developments in the company include: Dec, 2010: Plans to open the first Asian casual concept restaurant Dec, 2010: Hired Chef Nate Appleman to develop new cuisine Apr, 2010: Chipotle Q1 Revenues Up 15.6% Feb, 2010: Chipotle to open in Marion, Ohio Nov, 2009: Chipotle Finalizes Location In London Nov, 2009: Chipotle Mexican Grill to debut in London Oct, 2009: Converted Organics Announces Tactical Relationship With IESI to Collect, Process And Convert Food Waste [2] [2]J.R., Zapoli,. How to Succeed in the Restaurant Business: Crunching NumbersnowThats the Bottom Line! City: 2005. Section 2: Key Strategic issues Despite of its success, Chipotle does face key strategic issues that the company has to deal with. Due to its rapid growth and need to keep growing, the company has encountered problems when raising the money to finance new operations since it is all company owned and does not franchise. The large number of outlets also makes it difficult to ensure that company standards are met and maintained thus some outlets have lagged behind leading to embarrassing incidents like the norovirus outbreak in Kent, Ohio. The companys strategy still remains expanding and setting up new restaurants in key markets and offering new menus to cater for different tastes thus becoming available near its clients with a choice of food and drink to cater for a wider clientele thus remaining relevant. The company also faces major competition from other chain restaurants thus the need to come up with new innovations to attract and maintain clients. The company has also been implicated with the crime of employing people using fraudulent papers especially in its outlets in Minneapolis. Section 3: Analysis and Evaluation Chipotles main challenge as a restaurant chain is to fight competition. Its main competitors include Qdoba Mexican Grill, Moes Southwest Grill, Rubios Fresh Mexican Grill, Pancheros Mexican Grill, and Baja Fresh. The company executives have identified ways to make the company stand out amongst the competition in different ways that they hope will enable the company to remain at the top and keep making profits as it has done since inception. One of the best ways is new innovations. This has been done by employing a new chef with vast experience to come up with new menus that will be tested in selected restaurants before the menu is adapted by all the restaurants. This is a gamble for the chain because it has had the same menu of burrito bowls, burritos, tacos, salads, various meats and extra dishes such as salsas, cheese, lettuce and guacamole which have been the restaurants signatures. The company has also been testing a childrens menu that is to be incorporated in all the restaurant s to give the children a fun menu to enjoy thus attracting more families and children to its restaurants. Innovations have also included plans to open Asian fast casual restaurants to give a wider choice to the company clients in the selection of food and drinks while at the same time attract a new clientele of lovers of Asian food and drinks. The company has continued to open new branches all over the country and has even ventured in London and Toronto. This rapid expansion has in the past proven a disadvantage for some companies but it is worth acknowledging that Chipotle has managed to handle the growth to its advantage and is a perfect example of what good strategies coupled with good management can result to. In spite of the rigorous aspects and challenges of rapid expansion, the company managed to be ranked as the eighth fastest growing company in the US based on sales in 2009 and improved this to be ranked at position three in 2010 with a daily customer base of over 750,000 c ustomers. Thus it is evident that this company has managed to expand in a profitable manner without even facing financial difficulties considering that it takes US$850,000 to open a new Chipotle restaurant. [3]A., M,. Hospitality today: an introduction. City: American Hotel Lodging Educational Institute, 2007. Strong and strict financial and budgetary controls have been applied throughout the company and this have enabled smooth running of the expansive business without financial problems. The money that MacDonalds had pumped into the company in 1998 was well used to fund the initial expansion and opening of new restaurants that saw the company restaurants rise in number from 18 in 1998 to 500 in 2005 [3]. This means that the company management did not first focus on paying themselves and issuing themselves huge bonuses rather the money was directed into the interests of the company. It is also worth to note that the founder of the company, Steve Ells was a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and has remained the chairman and C.E.O of the company he founded. The relevance of his educational and professional background to the company success is that Steve had acquired the relevant knowledge and expertise in food production thus had all the necessary backgrou nd to set up a restaurant since he practically knew what he was doing in a restaurant setup. Secondly, Steves background reveals how he had opened his first restaurant with a loan from his father thus the man has good intuition on how to spend money and his presence on the board of the company has ensured that the same intelligent virtues he had used in the beginning of the business trickle down even when the business has grown to astronomical scales of success. Â   Successful operational controls employed by Chipotle restaurants begin from the top. Once the first restaurant was on its feet the founder focused on growing the business rather than working in the business. This is instrumental because most business people get buried in the day to day running of their businesses and forget the reason why they started it in the first place. Chipotle has invested heavily in operating systems that enable the smooth running of the company restaurants considering the huge number of customers that they serve. The company has introduced new ways to order and pay for food items online from the comfort of ones home or office and even has an iPhone application for the same service targeting the technology servy clients. This company has an abstract way of advertising. Instead of the traditional media oriented advertisements on television, radio and print, it heavily depends on word of mouth for advertising and the use of billboards. The company also sponsors cycling events and runs many events throughout the year where it offers free food to participants. Works Sited A., M,. Hospitality today: an introduction. City: American Hotel Lodging Educational Institute, 2007. J.D., Dittmer,. Principles of Food, Beverage, and Labor Cost Controls. City: John Wiley Sons, 2008. J.D., Schmidgall,. Restaurant financial basics. City: John Wiley Sons, 2002. J.R., Zapoli,. How to Succeed in the Restaurant Business: Crunching Numbersnow Thats the Bottom Line! City: 2005.

Atwood’s Presentation of her Female Characters Essay -- Alias Grace Ma

Atwood’s Presentation of her Female Characters Early in the novel Atwood presents us with the division between ladies and women. The example given is Grace compared to the governor’s wife and the ladies who frequently visit her. It seems that grace wishes that she was a lady when she comments â€Å"I have no gloves† this shows that Grace is conscious of her appearance even if she is in prison. Grace cannot sit on the governor’s wife’s settee without thinking of the ladies that have sat there before her who have bums â€Å"like wobbly soft boiled eggs†. These ladies are compared to jellyfish that grace has seen in her childhood, Grace shows admiration for these ladies ass he says â€Å"they were bell shaped and ruffled† Atwood also makes the point through grace that ladies of this time were restricted. This is achieved by the mentioning of wire crinolines that were â€Å"Like birdcages† the ladies were not allowed to touch or brush up against other men’s legs. Grace is now talking about legs in sexual way (also another sign of the times) â€Å"the governor’s wife never says legs† this commen...

Corporate Re-initiation as a Change-Management Program Essay

Corporate organizations have adopted a number of knighthood-based investitures as methods to infuse the delicate but significant management of change among their old/senior managers.   A number of published business reviews state that the Japanese and Danish shipping companies are known for their unique change management techniques through â€Å"initiations† or corporate â€Å"baptisms of fire†, where the old-school managers are guaranteed to taste a military-style right of passage in these companies that would comprise all phases of the change process from shock to integration (Recklies). It is true enough that change management through retraining or managerial initiation is a tried and tested military method of producing good commanders for facing an ever-changing brutal field, and the design of such change management initiations has shaped the right of passage for their civilian corporate counterparts.   Essentially, a good initiation must be anchored on the scientifically-established phases of change, to provide the mental and strategic framework for leadership renewal.   One can only contemplate on the complexity of designing an effective initiation process and their phases on changing the character of the trainee into a newly refreshed manager. Departmental/Field Rotation Since experience is thought of as the best teacher, re-initiation should be conducted mostly on the field.   The manager-trainee must spend one month working in each department/division of the company.   The job for Week One must involve the lowest and dirtiest chores to provide the shock or surprise therapy.   For our shipping company example, s/he can man the forklift, move crates/boxes etc., to erase his /her alienation with the lowest level of employees and learn to confront unexpected situations on the ground level.    Week Two must involve more technical tasks, such as ship communications and radio coordination.   Then the trainee must progress up the department’s ladder in Week Three, manning a team (or teams) in the department to achieve the rational understanding and emotional acceptance phases, for it is in these ground teams that the usual crises spur up.   Then on Week Four, the re-trainee will supervise the whole department. For each first Friday of the month, the trainee must answer an exam issued by the head of the department to evaluate his/her performance and document his/her character change for the past month.   After this, the trainee must then be rotated to another department, starting from the ground-up again, then another exam, until s/he comes across all departments to implement the exercising and learning and phase, where the manager tries new behaviors and processes while adapting totally new departmental environments This program sounds very exciting for a multinational shipping company with operations (and offices) across the world, requiring the trainee(s) to travel and spend time in both functional and geographical field departments.   For optimum learning experience for the future manager, this departmental rotation must be done within 12 months, then a comprehensive exam to asses the trainee’s management horizon and newly-learned expertise.   But the designed program must not end in departmental management, for there is still the higher-level management to teach. High-level Management Now that our trainee had valuable experience in the departments and field offices, s/he should master the main office and its worldwide coordinating patterns/styles.   S/he could be in charge of a section of the coordinating network of the logistics and sea transportation form, while attending mandatory classes on advanced, MBA-level economics, customs and trade management during the weekends, all expenses paid by the company, this conducive to the realization phase of change where new experiences and insights are encountered and related into company policy and strategy.   This high-level management part should go on for another year, to ensure that our trainee can relate his/her departmental/field experience to the theoretical/conceptual nature of top-level management, thus achieving the integration phase. At the end of this program, the manager is expected to have a healthy mix of experiencing the harsh field offices/departments and the stressful solitude of the main office.   The main purpose of mixing, creating a blend of experiences is to build upon the manager an ability to empathize on real business challenges and real-life operations, that in case problems arise, our trainee can confidently resolve new and inevitable crises, then shape company policy for success.   In designing a training program, one must achieve a character change that is holistic and balanced. Reference The Maersk Group. (2007). A Global Way to Work. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from http://www.mise.edu/. Recklies, O. (no date). Managing Change: Definition and Phases in Change Processes. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from http://www.themanager.org/Strategy/Change_Phases.htm.

Do We Pay Athletes Too Much?

Do professional athletes get paid too much? In my personal opinion: No In this modern era this is an ethical issue that comes up more and more often. This has been brought up especially in times of economic hardship and the recession whereby families are really struggling to make ends meet with unemployment, delay of retirement and general reductions in disposable income. During this paper it shall be discussed how the ethical issue of high wages came about, why it is an issue, who is affected and what actions can be taken. Why is there this ethical problem?To put it simply, it is a matter of personal opinion and knowledge on whether you believe professional athletes in the United States should get paid the level of wages that they do. Below is a chart produced by Canbridge University which gives an introductory represenation of the salaries professional athletes earn annually. From June 2008 to June 2009, the highest paid professional athlete, Tiger Woods, made $110 million accordin g to Forbes. Also on their list, at number two, was Kobe Bryant making $45 million, and Michael Jordan with the same amount (and Michael Jordan hasn’t played in quite a while! . According to Forbes Magazine, the highest paying â€Å"regular† job in the U. S. during 2009 was that of a surgeon. The average annual pay of a surgeon last year was $206,770 (also out of Forbes). While the average pay for classroom teachers in the United States is $38,000 per year. At that rate, a teacher would need a little more than 27 years to make $1 million — less than half what a basketball player makes, on average, in just one year. The average pay for fire-fighters in the United States is around $40,000. The starting salary for police officers in the United States is around $29,000.Do athletes deserve more money than fire-fighters or teachers — people who hold what many consider being more valuable jobs? This is the basis of where this ethical problem comes about. Some pe ople work their entire life trying to make a living to support the families they have and have a very hard time trying to live near the poverty line. Some of the jobs they have to take to support their families are hard, manual labor jobs that they have to work at for 12 hours at a time. For example, adults that work in fast food estaurants usually work long days so they can make enough money to support a family, because minimum wage doesn’t go far in today’s world. Single parents usually work even harder than families that have two incomes helping to support them. The average professional football player gets paid almost $2 million and they’re not even the highest paid professional sport. Basketball players make the most out of all pro sports with the average salary being $5 million and the only thing they have to do is practice and play in games (FreeMoneyFinance).However it is rarely considered how much tax and good these athletes do in helping our economy. I n the banking business it is known as the ‘jock tax’ and when understood, people will not be so judgmental. For federal purposes, professional athletes are taxed in the same manner as other taxpayers: gross income less deductions equals taxable income. Federal tax is computed without regard to your state of residency (home state), or where the employer/team is located (team state). The current top federal tax rate is 35%, starting at taxable income of $319,101 (2004, single filing status) (ZZLR. om). Now to tax that level for an athlete that earns millions of dollars a year is creating some useful revenue for states and the government that no one can argue with. Another reason why athletes do not get overpaid is the wrong attitude that some people posses. For example people say, â€Å"Oh, I would hit a baseball for millions of dollars a year. † Well, I’m sorry you can’t. These athletes are unbelievably blessed with talent. All of these players have such immense and extraordinary ability that they make the game look effortless.In fact, good luck hitting a 96 MPH fastball moving down and in on your hands with a wood bat. If you were to put one of these players with a cluster of amateurs, they would stand out to such a degree, it would be astonishing. So, is nine months out of the year devoid of a vacation easy for you? Is travelling to different cities approximately every three days across the nation undemanding for you? Is being away from your family for most of the year trouble-free for you? Is hitting a 96 MPH fastball effortless for you? You are starting to deserve that pay check.People say it is just a game and athletes shouldn’t be paid so much. It is not just a game. Billions and billions of dollars get dumped into professional sports. In fact, professional sports are the 11th most lucrative business in the entire world (UPENN. EDU). It is a form of entertainment and people are willing to pay the big bucks to watch these athletes perform. If nobody came to watch, they wouldn’t get paid what they do. The fans pay the wages after all. In economical terms demand for high performing sports stars is high while there are a few numbers of them.This makes their wages high. Direct affect this issue applies to, of course, is professional athletes†¦ along with their respected affiliated clubs/teams who pay their salaries. In certain examples such as that of soccer team Manchester City, which runs with a loss, is kept afloat by a Middle Eastern royal family so in that case they pay player’s wages. Indirectly effected parties include those who contribute to the funding of high wages. Examples of these include supporters going to games, television networks paying licence fees, the public paying for cable to watch the games.One of the options discussed would be to cut player’s salaries. Now this could have profound consequences for many directly and indirectly involved. Firstly, th e quality of sportsman would diminish. This is a general mental happening that when you reduce a person’s reward for something, more often than not, they will reduce their work ethic consequently. The knock on affect of this would be that people would then find sports less entertaining which is a social consequence as people need entertainment.After this it would probably be assumed that this industry that employs millions of people, the 11th largest industry in business, could start to struggle with the consequential fall in demand†¦ due to a fall in quality. People would indirectly be affected as the level of taxation that these athletes would drop and consequently affect the economy negatively not to mention the reduced spending the economy would see as they would have less disposable income. This would affect other people through job s and welfare.For example, if a professional footballer does not buy a boat in Florida then the company who makes the boat would lose o ut. Welfare wise, the federal governments would have less money to put towards benefits to help those less fortunate. Similar to this charities would find themselves losing out also as the athletes would probably donate less as they would have less wealth to offer. This would, again, influence people negatively. To partly reduce this ethical dilemma however it can be seen that wage caps could be introduced.These have been introduced in major competitions including: NFL, NHL, English Rugby Union and NBA. However there are pros and cons to the idea. For example, the  NBA salary cap  is the limit to the total amount of money that  National Basketball Association  teams are allowed to pay their players. It is defined by the  league's collective bargaining agreement  (CBA). The actual amount of the  salary cap  varies on a year-to-year basis, and is calculated as a percentage of the league's revenue from the previous season; for instance, in  2007–08, the NBA's s alary cap was approximately US$55.   million per team, and for the  2008–09  season it was $58. 68  million (NBA. com). Now, before it is discussed how the cap could be deemed pointless, it must be considered that if this system is done properly then wages would not go above and beyond relative figures when considering a leagues income. If a league sees more demand (television rights, franchise, etc) and therefore gains more revenue then it should be passed onto the players, surely. The issue here is that the actual problem of high wages is not stopped†¦ only in certain situations capped.To put across this point, in all but one season the revenue of NBA has been reduced. The reaction to this is that wages have also, in respect, gone up in a positive correlation. In conclusion, it is well documented that NBA stars are one of the best paid sports people in the business, even with a salary cap. The cap itself only stops certain individuals received ludicrous deals r elative to the rest of the industry and does not mean the average wage would not still be high. Again, there is the demand to watch these athletes and the result of this is the money that is made from that demand sustains high wages.It is basic economics. In terms of punishment for breaking of the salary caps, at the moment, only include fines. Examples of this include in 2012 where the Cowboys will be penalized $10 million, paying $5 million a year for two years. The Redskins penalty is much harsher at $36 million ($18 million a year for two years). While the Cowboys are unlikely to feel that much of a pinch, the penalty puts the Redskins in a world of hurt. That $18 million a year is significant money. The Redskins have a decent amount of young talent. Those not already signed to deals may be lost.Tight end Fred Davis, a burgeoning star, is on a one-year contract. And Kory Lichtensteiger, a left guard, may not be a Pro Bowler, but he’s worth keeping around. He is also on a one-year  deal (forbes. com). Personally, if I was a leader of an organization who had power over such an ethical issue such as a governing body or the government itself I do not believe I would enforce or change anything at present. In fact, the idea of a salary cap is off putting. I believe strongly that if an individual is worth a sum of money to a team that is natural in a market situation, i. . he can generate that revenue back for the team and the demand for him/her is there then why shouldn’t they get paid that money. Regardless of whether they save lives or not the quality of their labor is just as important. Perhaps not on a life-saving level however in terms of entertaining millions of people after thousands of hours of practise I believe to pay high wages is natural in the business environment professional athletes find themselves. Citations Badenhausen, Kurt. Top 100 paid athletes. N. p. : Forbes, 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. ;http://www. forbes. om/sites/kurtbadenh ausen/2012/06/18/mayweather-tops-list-of-the-worlds-100-highest-paid-athletes/;. NBA. NBA salary cap. N. p. : NBA. com, 2008. N. pag. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. ;http://www. nba. com/news/salarycap_070710. html;. â€Å"Salaries of Professional Athletes. †Ã‚  FreeMoneyFinance. N. p. , 2006. Web. 10 Jan 2012. ;http://www. freemoneyfinance. com/2006/09/salaries_of_ave. html;. Cambridge University. Pros paid too much? Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2011. N. pag. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. ;http://www. cambridge. org/other_files/downloads/esl/strageticreading/6843_SRL1_U04_P09. 1_sport. pdf;. UPENN. Where's the business in sport? Philladelphia: University of Pennsylvania, n. d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. . Zeisler, Zeisler, Rawson & Johnson LLP. Taxes: Cost of being a professional athlete. N. p. : ZZLRJ. com, 2011. N. pag. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. . Salary Cap Penalties. N. p. : Forbes, 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. .