Budget Planning and Control Tootsie Roll Industries

Budget Planning and Control Tootsie Roll Industries About the company Tootsie Roll Industries is based in the United States and it deals with the production of food items that have high levels of Carbohydrates and sugar. The company was established in 1896 and it operates in the confectionery industry. Currently, it is a public company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol TR.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Budget Planning and Control: Tootsie Roll Industries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Currently, the shares of the company are trading at $31.86 per share. Further, the company has a market capitalization of 2.0 billion. At the end of the year 2014, the total revenue of the company amounted to $544 million while the operating income totaled to $84 million, an equivalent of 15.4% of sales. The net income for the year amounted to $63 million. The total assets at the end of the year 2014 amounted to $910 million, while liabilities and equity amounted to $220 million and $691 million. A review of the balance sheet shows that the company has more equity than debt in the capital structure. A review of the trend of the performance of the company over the years shows that the performance of the company has improved. Finally, the company has engaged more than 2000 employees. The paper seeks to analyze various aspects of budgeting for Tootsie Roll Industries. Reasons for budgeting There are a number of reasons why companies need to prepare and manage budgets on a period basis. The first reason is that budgets enable the management to plan for the future (Brigham Michael, 2009). In this case, the budget aids the management in developing a direction for the entity. It also facilitates the development of future policies for the organization. Also under planning, budgets aid management in planning for problems that might arise in the future. Finally, as a way of planning for the organization, budgets helps the managem ent in setting standards that can control the use of available resources (Collier, 2010). The second reason why companies need to prepare budget is that it aids in delivering important information on matters that deal with the capabilities of resources. An example is that a cash budget gives information on the ability of the company to generate revenue and pay for expenses. Further, a budget encourages coordination across various departments and units because the plan for a specific period is communicated to various employees (Brigham Michael, 2009). This contributes to the achievement of the overall objective of the entity. Thus, if the company carries out proper budgeting, then it serves as an effective tool for planning and controlling (Brigham Michael, 2009). Positive outcome The positive outcomes that are likely to be reported when budgets are carried out effectively are reduced costs and improved profits. This is based on the fact that budgets aids in effective management of costs and this has a positive impact on the performance of the company. As a result, the elements in the budget will be equivocal to achievement of the intentions of a company. Besides, the company will be able to track different budget performance matrices over a specified period of time.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Negative outcome The negative outcomes that are likely to be reported when budgets are carried out effectively are resource misuse and inability to track different parameters of performance of a specified period in a company. If budgeting is not done effectively, then there is likely to be misuse of resources since budget controls resource allocation and use in a company (Graham, Smart, Meggison, 2010). This will lead to poor working capital management and low level of sales. This may translate into poor performance since misusing resour ces cannot translate into efficiency. Therefore, it is important for the company to carry out planning for all financial years. Budget plan The company needs to come up with a comprehensive budget plan because it is involved in the production and sale of its products. Therefore, the high-level budget will capture the two aspects of the business and it gives strict control on spending (Brigham Michael, 2009). Thus, the high-level budget plan for the company is summarized in the table below. The plan above brings together all the aspects of the organization in one budget. It ensures that several employees are involved in planning and control of resources. Budgeting phases Budget preparation goes through four distinct phases. The first phase is budget preparation. This stage is quite critical because the resources available in the organization are reviewed to ascertain whether they can enable the company to achieve the desired goals and objectives (Brigham Michael, 2009). The phase is the approval of the budget while the third phase is executing the budget. The final stage is evaluating the budget. This stage ensures that resources are spent in accordance with the budget (Atrill, 2009). All these phases are critical because they ensure that the budgeting process is successful.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Budget Planning and Control: Tootsie Roll Industries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Methods and techniques of managing budgets Methods managing budgets The first technique of managing budgets is by preparing flexible budgets. These are budget relationships that can be adjusted to various levels of activities. This technique is suitable for performance management (Atrill, 2009). The second technique is by managing variances by exception. These variances can cause significant variations on the results. Managing variances is a technique that ensures that the company stays within th e budget (Hansen, Mowen, Guan, 2009). Techniques of managing budgets The first method of managing budget is drawing parallel budgets from which the most effective budget is picked. This method is necessary in minimize possible risks as a result of dynamics that might affect projections in a single fixed budget (Graham, Smart, Meggison, 2010). The second method of managing budgets is creating a matrix for balancing the actual and projected figures to ensure that the funds allocated for each function are spent within the acceptable degree of variation (Atrill, 2009). Action plan to resolve budget misalignment Flexibility is often compromised in companies facing uncertainty. In real sense, there should be a balancing system that is critical in improving leadership skills, evaluation skills, promoting creativity, and tracking goals (Graham, Smart, Meggison, 2010). Therefore, the basis for flexibility implementation should function on a comprehensive analysis of how budget monitors an y change in variance from expected outcome to facilitate work-life balance in a project (Brigham Michael, 2009). The concept should remain relevant even during economic downturn since an ideal tracker has a moderator within Pareto efficiency matrix (Arnold, 2008). Recommendations for resolving budget misalignments Managing variances by exception This is achieved through variance analysis to resolve budget misalignment. Variance analysis focuses on the difference between the actual and budgeted amounts. It analyzes the total variance between standard and actual result (Graham, Smart, Meggison, 2010). Variances can either be favorable or unfavorable. Variance analysis has a number of advantages. First, it helps in performance management. This is because the management uses results of variance analysis to measure performance against expected results. Secondly, variance analysis improves responsible accounting. Finally, variance analysis encourages management by exemption, that is, ma nagement puts a lot of emphasis on areas with adverse variances (Atrill, 2009). The rationale for this technique is the ability to track the variances that might be detected in budget implementation to ensure that these variations do not affect the overall outcome (Brigham Michael, 2009).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Preparing flexible budgets In line with the main objective to determine the forecast density closest to actual value, it is of essence to resonate upon the principles of relative performance of different competing forecast densities as part of the cost reduction system. In computing this, higher scores are given more priority since they are prone to give positive values. Besides, this model distributes higher probability to values observed (Graham, Smart, Meggison, 2010). From the different densities realized and those forecasted, the sequences of observed results on densities of return are compared from the base line of an average score. Subsequently, in line with the accuracy of equal forecast, the loss differential is expected to be minimal (Brigham Michael, 2009). The rationale for this technique is that the parameters and variables used are aligned to ensure that threshold on model-independent is achieved within competing parameters (Graham, Smart, Meggison, 2010). Thus, thi s is the most appropriate benchmarking for managing a budget. References Arnold, G. (2008). Corporate financial management. New York, NY: Pearson Publishers. Atrill, P. (2009). Financial management for decision makers. New York, NY: Pearson Publishers. Brigham, E., Michael, J. (2009). Financial management theory and practice. New York, NY: South-Western Cengage Learning. Collier, P. (2010). Accounting for managers. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons. Graham, J., Smart, S., Meggison, W. (2010). Corporate finance: linking theory to what companies do. New York, NY: Cengage Learning. Hansen, R., Mowen, M., Guan, L. (2009). Cost management: accounting control. New York, NY: South Western Cengage Learning.

Back Up Your Writing

Back Up Your Writing Back Up Your Writing Back Up Your Writing By Simon Kewin John Steinbecks dog ate an early draft of Of Mice and Men. Ernest Hemingway famously lost an entire suitcase of his early writings a suitcase that contained his originals and all his copies. The only copy of Thomas Carlyles The History of the French Revolution was destroyed when it was used to light a fire. It took him six months to recreate it. Dylan Thomas managed to lose the script for Under Milk Wood three times. These days, if youre using a computer to create and store your work, none of this should ever happen. While computer hard disks can fail and laptops can be lost or stolen, you should always have your precious work safely backed up. Making copies of computer files is a trivial matter and if disaster strikes, restoring your magnum opus to working order should be a simple matter of a few clicks. Many writers have some informal system for backing up what they create. Perhaps they copy everything to a CD or USB drive from time to time, or email a copy to someone else. These approaches are a good start, but theres no substitute for an automated mechanism. Its all-too easy to forget to carry out a back up. Whole weeks can go by without one being made and that means whole weeks of work can be lost. Computers are good at mundane, repetitive tasks like this whereas people often arent. Ideally, you should make (at least) two backups of everything you write : one local and one off-site or remote. The local one can be used to quickly recover an accidentally-deleted file, or to revert to an earlier version of a manuscript if something has been lost. A USB drive is ideal for this : they are cheap and portable. A 2GB (2 gigabyte) model can hold the manuscript of a 100,000 word novel a couple of thousand times over. You’ll also need some software to automatically perform the back up. There’s lots available, some of it free. The remote backup is vital if disaster really strikes and both computer and local backup are lost (because of, say, theft or fire-damage). There are numerous services available on the internet that will use your broadband connection to back up your files in a safe, remote location. If the worst happens, you can just download them all and carry on working. If you dont have a backup scheme in place, set one up now before its too late. Footnote : Backup and back up are often used interchangeably. The best approach is to treat backup as a noun : the name given to the copy of some data and to use back up as a verb : what you do to create a backup. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Words with More Than One SpellingDisappointed + PrepositionHow to Punctuate Introductory Phrases

Legal Technique and Reasoning Moot Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal Technique and Reasoning Moot - Case Study Example When Barry asked Graham to unlock the door Graham refused and said that he would be released only after Barry finished cleaning the windows. This resulted in confinement of Barry for a considerable period of time2. My Lord false imprisonment is committed when an employee is deliberately and lawlessly held against his or her will not allowing him or her to leave the room. This could be done either by locking the person in a room or closing all the path through which he or she could go out. The most common way of retaining an employee by an employer is, when he refuses to allow the person to leave the room. The employer may do this by locking him or her in a room, or by putting someone at the door to the room to avoid the person from leaving. Nevertheless, movement of the person so imprisoned, must be entirely restricted so that the employer's action qualifies as false imprisonment. Thus in the case on hand Barry was locked on the scaffolding thereby completely restricting his movements. To be completely confined physically, the plaintiff must not be able to move from the place of confinement. A plaintiff, thus cannot be said to be totally confined, if a means of breaking out is available to the restricted person. Nevertheless, such means of escape must be fair and reasonable4. It was, for instance, a fair way of escape in (Wright v Wright) 5 where the escape required a nominal encroachment on the land of a third party. Thus for Barry v. Graham, Barry was physically restricted from moving out of the place.. ---------------------------------------- 4Burton v Davies [1953] St R Qd 26. 5Wright v Wright (1699) 1 Ld Raym 739. False imprisonment requires the captivity of another person or the control of their movement. To set up false imprisonment a plaintiff has to institute at least 3 elements, and perhaps a fourth also as is discussed below: (1) The plaintiff is restrained (that is he is, sort of imprisoned). (2) The defendant restrained the plaintiff and held captive. (3) The plaintiff has the suitable mental state, which is deliberate, almost certainly carelessness and maybe negligence. (4) Even though arguable, but extremely litigious contentious is the fourth element, and that is that the plaintiff must know of the imprisonment. If the supra mentioned elements are fulfilled then it is false imprisonment. Nevertheless sometimes it may so happen that the imprisonment which does not fulfil all these requirements may still be unjust in one of the two following ways: (1) It may be unjust in negligence6 (This case is for unintentional imprisonment). (2) It may be unjust due to an action as in the case (Williams v Hursey and Wright v Wilson)7, both the cases were for partial imprisonment. In case of (De Freville v Dill)8

Understanding people in organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Understanding people in organisation - Essay Example Workplace structure can be described as the way individuals departments and managers in an organization work with each other to achieve the laid out objectives at the workplace. The work place structure can be informal or highly complex depending on the size of the company. Small businesses usually maintain simple workplace structures (Anderson, 2008). A simple workplace structure allows the leaders in that organization to have most of the control. The employees are usually flexible and usually possess knowledge and skills to perform many different tasks. Medium sized companies usually have a functional workplace structure in place. The functional workplace structure is organized around specific job functions. The structure groups employees together depending on the duties they perform within the organization. The leaders are categorized by departments and each employee performs duties according to the area of expertise. Health workplace refers to combined efforts of the employers and the employees to support and encourage health lifestyle habits and making healthy choices at workplace. A healthy workplace is one where people are safe, healthy and are happy to come to work. A healthy workplace can be created by developing health-related policies like no-smoking policies. It is also important to develop and encourage activities that promote team work. For instance, coming up with team related extracurricular activities like participating in walks for a good cause can also go a long way in promoting a healthy workplace environment. Another way of developing a healthy workplace environment is by organizing talks by health professionals who can advise employees on some issues affecting their health like alcohol abuse or smoking (Scott, 2007). A healthy workplace is characterized by the way employees relate with each

Drug Wars In Mexico: Overview of Cartels

Drug Wars In Mexico: Overview of Cartels A wise man once said, Im the king of the trap, El Chapo Jr, this man was 2 Chainz. Im talking about El Chapo and Mexican drug wars in general. Unlike most other research paper topics, drug wars are going on right now. In fact, from the time that you woke up yesterday morning to the time that you went to sleep last night, about 103 people died because of the drug war. Mexican drug wars are the result of killing for money, long time gang feuds, and because of the actions of high level drug lords. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has made progress in stopping the drug violence. He has done things such as dropping homicide numbers 30% and arresting Joaquin Guzman in 2014. Money is the main reason for The Drug War. If it wasnt for the billions of dollars involved, most people probably wouldnt get involved in the lifestyle. Mexico, on average, spends about $431,000,000 per year on illegal drugs. Mexican authorities have revealed that drug cartels earn an estimated $64,340,000,000 per year off of the United States alone! That is enough money to buy every NBA and NFL franchise (therichest.com). Its not only large industries that make billions of dollars. Forbes Magazine estimated that his net worth is in the billions. The United States Government announced that a $5,000,000 reward was waiting for anyone who gave information leading to his location and arrest. Car ·tel (kà ¤rˈtel) n. An association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition. Drug cartels pretty much run Mexico. The three main cartels in Mexico are the Tijuana, Sinaloa, and the Mara Salvatrucha Cartel. The Tijuana Cartel traces back the the Sinaloa State. Founded in the 1960s, the founders were Pedro Aviles Perez, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca. It is important to note that the gang is a shell of what it was in the late 1990s (Insight Crime, 2015). The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is where the famous drug lord, El Chapo, thrives from (Insight Crime, 2015). El Mayo is second in command with the Sinaloa. While El Chapo has been sidelined in jail for short periods of time El Mayo takes over and handles things to perfection. El Mayo is a 68 year old man that has been in the business his whole life. He was the leader of El Chapos escape from prison in 2001 and in 2015. The origins can be traced back to Guadalajara cartel. In 1985 the cartel was involved in the 1985 torture and murder of a U.S. drug enforcement agent. While Mexico and the United States were on the hunt for whoever was behind all of this the cartel split up into multiple groups. The Sinaloa Cartel came out the most powerful. The Mara Salvatrucha Cartel is considered the most powerful street gang in the Western Hemisphere. They rob and bully their way into neighborhoods and have turned to crimes such as human smuggling and drug trafficking. The Mara Salvatrucha Cartel (MS13) was founded in the barrios of Los Angeles in the 1980s. The gang was made from immigrants to the United States because of a civil war going on in El Salvador, their previous home. The gangs members are often decorated with tattoos all over their body, and often on their face. National Security and Foreign Affairs Reporter JP Carroll said, MS-13 tattoos partially mean loyalty to the group or family, but they mainly demonstrate the identification to a specific lifestyle, representing the culture of the street. Also in this scenario, tattoos were like like a baptism of the member into a group, representing the turning point of the appartenance (The Daily Caller). El Chapo is right behind Pablo Escobar when it comes to most notorious drug lords in history. El Chapo was born in La Tuna somewhere from 1954-1957. There are no existing birth certificates of him that we know of. El Chapo is a professional at escaping prison. His latest escape was in 2015 from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, New York. He escaped through a 60 foot deep tunnel leading him to freedom. In the 10th-floor Special Housing Unit, known by its acronym, the SHU, pronounced like the shoe, around a dozen prisoners spend 23 hours a day in 20-by-12-foot cells, prohibited from communicating with one another. Meals are eaten in cells, and exercise is in a recreation area specifically for these inmates (Fox News). El Chapo has a lot of power in Mexico and all over the world. He became the Sinaloa Cartel leader in 1980 and needless to say, hes a billionaire. The Mexican Drug Wars will end soon. The FBI is cracking down on leaders more and more every day. Drug lords like El Chapo are always going to be on the run, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has already made a ridiculous amount of progress but he wont be stopped until the fighting stops. The Mexican people live in fear every day. The people of Columbia believed that just because you are involved in the drug scene doesnt make you a bad person. Pablo Escobar is known as a hero in Columbia. He took care of the people of his country. The people of Columbia saw him as a father.Behind every crime is a story of sadness- Enrique Pena Nieto. Works Cited Crime, InSight. Tijuana Cartel. InSight Crime | Organized Crime In The Americas. Insight Crime, 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. Drug Cartel. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 6 May. 2016. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/drug-cartel/607942#334007.toc. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Enrique Peà ±a Nieto. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 12 Jan. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Enrique-Pe%C3%B1a-Nieto/599569. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Joaquà ­n Guzmà ¡n Loera. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 19 Jan. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Joaqu%C3%ADn-Guzm%C3%A1n-Loera/600397. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 26 May. 2016. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Mara-Salvatrucha/627101. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Post, Latin. How Mexican Drug Cartels Earn Billions in Drug Trade. Latin Post. KJ Marino, 03 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Internal And External Business Environment Of Bunzl Plc

Bunzl is one of the world’s fastest growing specialist distribution groups in international market. The groups specialized in providing one-stop-shop for customers within several business sectors. The business includes producing a range of product including outsourced food packaging, disposable supplies and cleaning and safety products, caterers, non-food retail, hotels, etc. Its operations spread across North America, Europe and Australasia. Within this paper, we will focus more on the retail sector of Bunzl’s business environment.The company existed as far as 1854, as a haberdashery business founded by Moritz Bunzl in Slovakia, but it was not named Bunzl plc until 1940. The Bunzl family transmigrated to US and Europe and formed Tissue Paper Limited, the original name for Bunzl plc. During its early years, the company enters various types of business some of them were successful and some other are failures. Going through several changes of direction, the company did no t loose its existence in local as well as international market.Today, the company is a focused international value added distribution and outsourcing group, with the addition of Filtrona, a supplier of fibre and plastic technology products to international niche markets, listed as a separate entity (‘History’, 2006). Within this paper, I will perform an analysis on the internal and external business environment of Bunzl plc. The following chapter will elaborate how the company manages its internal conditions during its daily operations. The next chapter is about the external conditions of the retail sectors, and the challenges it brought to Bunzl plc.In the later part of the paper, there will be a short analysis on how best Bunzl perform its strategic management to face corporate challenges. II. Internal Strategic Environment of Bunzl Plc II. 1 Bunzl Core Competencies Bunzl has formulated a range of corporate mission to guide its steps in daily operations. The company s upported manufacturers who assist in satisfying customers’ needs for the benefit of all. It aims to provide services of such excellence that customers prefer Bunzl as their supplier regardless of the brand and product they select (‘About Bunzl Distribution’, 2006).If all successful companies have their own values that describe their competitive advantages, for Bunzl, it is the effective and creative utilization of technology. The company has only a single and uniform hardware and software platform to operate its business. The main data center of the company resides at its Corporate Headquarters in St Louis. The facility includes UPS generator, dual A/C and redundant telecommunications. The company also has a ‘hot site’ disaster recovery center where all transaction data are relayed to this site as a protection from natural disaster (‘Bunzl plc – Major Products and Services’, 2006).The company has a real time software system consis t of order processing, purchasing, receiving, billing, sales, warehousing, distribution and accounting modules. All locations of Bunzl operations are equipped with those software and all of them are connected to a centralized database repository, which is maintained by corporate IT staff. The company also maintains a National Accounting Customers system that provides customers from all over the country with standardized reports (including fill rates, sales tracking, item utilization, etc).In the retail sector, the company has an extensive network of distribution centers that serves retail supermarkets. Using the technology elaborated above, the company aims to maintain the quality of its services. Furthermore, it utilizes e-commerce facilities for online ordering and EDI computer-based technologies to support its ongoing strategies to increase productivity, service quality and achieved their ‘packaged of performance’ slogan. E-commerce technology is also used to continu e explore new business opportunities.These new business opportunities might be pursued in the form of internal growth as well as acquisition of new business (‘Bunzl plc – Major Products and Services’, 2006). II. 2 Product and Market Management Bunzl retail segment grocery customers include small, regional and national supermarket chains as well as warehouse grocery stores. The retail segment provided Bunzl’s customers with disposable packaging, supplies and carryout items. The retail outsourcing segment has a fleet of over 370 trucks, operating through 83 locations in North America and serving all 50 states, plus Canada and Mexico (‘Bunzl plc- Business Description’, 2006).The company is the leading distributor of disposable paper and plastic packaging supplies to the retail grocery industry. This includes the self-distributing chains and wholesalers. Bunzl is the company who is recognized for revolutionizing the outsourcing industry. The compa ny revolutionized that industry by developing sophisticated marketing, procurement and logistics systems designed to lower the delivered costs of supplies. Within this retail sector, Bunzl offers customers three types of logistics systems, which are: ? Direct-Store-Door (DSD), which constitutes a direct delivery to customers stores and supermarkets? Warehouse Replenishment System, which describes a just-in-time delivery system to customers’ warehouses instead of to customers’ retail stores. ? Cross Docking, which describes a system that serves clients in accordance to their individual stores’ needs? It is a system of individualized store-ready deliveries. (‘Bunzl plc- Business Description’, 2006) II. 3 Financial and Performance Management From the figures displayed in their financial report, the company displayed an increasing amount of sales and net profit during the last decade.This displayed a considerable growth of market share which is an impor tant indicator of overall corporate performance. The profit margin and operational ratios also display positive indication. A more detailed data revealed that the company made ? 2,182 million from sales in the year 2000, while in the year 2005; the sales number went up to ? 2,916 million. Other sales numbers between the two periods indicated a stable increase of corporate performance. The operating profit account of 2000 displayed a number of ? 165 million, while in 2005, this number changes to ? 205 million.The number between the years also displayed a stable rate of increase. Other accounts from the income statement as well as the balance sheet indicated that the company manages their resources in a very presentable manner. II. 4 Human Resource and Culture Management In terms of human resource management, the company aims to provide employees with real jobs since the fist day of work. This means that the company will expect high quality of working performance, but not before all e mployees are provided with training that involves practical experience as well as formal programs.The company has high expectations on key personal skills such as teamwork, leadership, self-development, innovation and creativity. Maintaining these programs, Bunzl aims to: ? Increase employees’ personal effectiveness by concentrating on the tried and tested techniques used by managers and specialist around the world. ? Improve employees’ financial understanding by providing them with programs that educated employees to interpret financial information and make decisive contribution to the key financial ratios of the business? Help employees to concentrate on team working and enablement, making each of them realized that enablement of individuals are crucial to a team’s success, etc Graduates that joined with Bunzl stated that Bunzl has a carefully structured training scheme, which covers a wide range of areas and gives trainees exposure to the whole organization. They stated that the company only take few graduates but tend to be encouraging in the process of developing their practical as well as decisive skills. They also mentioned that the company values teamwork and equality in performing team tasks.III. External Business Environment of Bunzl Plc III. 1 Macro Environment (PEST Analysis) ? Political Politically, the company did not have many obstacles that harm growth. The company operates in foreign markets, but limited to the regions of North America, Europe and Australasia, in which, political business restrictions are minimum. Because Bunzl do not perform business activities in China or in other Asian economy, the business experiences minimum complications when it comes to government regulations, market entrance and tax.The company also has a reputation of providing employees with equal work treatment, this keeps all problems of race and nationality away forms Bunzl operations (Desloge, 2005). Furthermore, Bunzl plc is officially headq uartered in London, who provided it with a slightly lighter burden of taxation. Nevertheless, because most of the group’s operations are in countries with higher tax rate (US and European countries); the taxation charge recorded for Bunzl in its financial report could be higher that the UK base rate.For instance, in 2004 the recorder tax rate was 32%, which is slightly higher that the nominal UK rate of 30%. Another political obstacle is the approval of regulators in foreign country. This is because a country’s government where Bunzl interests in needs to protect local players. Therefore, politically, the objective of Bunzl to enter new market in a foreign countries might be delayed due to regulation to protect local players. ? Economic The retail segment is naturally a capital intensive business. Retail companies generally perform considerable borrowing actions which will be paid-off gradually by years of profit.In the case of Bunzl, the company has been on the busine ss for decades and therefore, has already a low debt to capital ratio. In order words, the company no longer has to carry the heavy burden of interest rates. Nevertheless, the company performed numerous large acquisitions in its operational years that new borrowings are made occasionally. For example, the net interest charge for continuing operations increased to ? 10. 8 million from ? 2. 9 million because increased average borrowings due to recent acquisitions (‘Bunzl eyes more acquisitions’. 2006).Environmentally, only a small portion of the increase in interest charge is caused by fluctuation of interest rates. The environments in which Bunzl performs its operations are comparatively stable. The translation issue also has a weak influence over corporate profitability. Any fluctuation would not cause changes to more than 1% of sales number. According to Porter and Ketels (2003), within the last two decades, the UK economy had shown some excellent economic metrics. The y also said that the awareness on the issues of competitiveness had also increased significantly.This situation had helped the country to improve the country’s prosperity since there is an increase in the level of labor force utilization (hours worked per employee, employment rate, and labor force participation rate). In addition, they found that the country had experienced good growth in labor productivity while the country’s export market share and the attractiveness of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) were still stable. Despite the excellent performance in some economics metrics, Porter and Ketels (2003) pointed out that UK still lag many other advanced economies.They said while labor utilization is at high level, the country still face low labor productivity (Porter and Ketels, 2003). ? Socio-cultural Concerning the socio-cultural aspects, the company might consider following questions like, what are the attitudes toward foreign products. How strong are the environm ental issues? Are they important to address especially if we are embarking on international markets? (â€Å"PEST Analysis†). Under such circumstances, the customers and manufacturer/service providers, like Bunzl are closely related.It further influences the way Bunzl interacts with their suppliers in order to ensure the products tailored to fit their customers’ needs and faster delivery. In the socio-cultural aspect, the company does not deal with extreme differences of culture, as faced by other multinationals. On the other hand, the company faces a slightly more demanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Modern communities in the North America, Europe and Australasian region are more aware of the importance of a good CSR practice by multinationals.In the case of Bunzl plc, besides ensuring all-ethical operational processes, the company also performs various community investments. There is no apparent socio-cultural debacle in the corporate history. ? Technological The technological environment provided a tremendous chance for growth to Bunzl. The company lives within an advanced society where access to technology is practically limitless. The technology provided the company with the potential to increase the quality of its outsourcing services. For example, Bunzl can develop centralized procurement system, which employs computerized system as shown in the following figure:

Types of Ancient Greek Medicine

What do these three have in common? AsclepiusChironHippocrates Have you heard of a healing god of Greece called Asclepius or Asculapius? He was Apollos son, but his divine parentage didnt keep him alive after he became too good at his craft, depriving the Underworld gods of their denizens. Alongside the mythology about demigods bringing the dead back to life and a centaur who taught generations of heroes how to tend to their future, battle or quest-incurred wounds, were Greek thinkers and observers who furthered the craft of healing to what we would probably consider scientific levels. Ancient Greece is considered the home of rational medicine and the Hippocratic Oath, but that doesnt mean they rejected all forms of religious healing. Alternative and scientific medicine co-existed in the ancient world just as they do today. Lyttkens says that healing cults took an upswing at the time of the birth of secular medicine and doctors sacrificed to the healing god Asclepius. There were, of course, magicians, charlatans, and quacks, as well as midwives. The main divisions, according to G. M. A. Grube, were temple medicine, medicine connected with physical training, and the medicine of the medical schools. Medical Schools The two most important medical schools were those of Cos (Kos) and Cnidos (Knidos). Cos and Cnidos are in Asia Minor where there was contact with Asia and Egypt, as well as Greece. Practitioners from both these schools did not believe illness was connected with the supernatural. Treatment was holistic, involving diet and exercise. Typical physicians were itinerant craftsmen, although some physicians became public doctors (archiatros poleos) or attached to a household. They practiced rational medicine rather than deducing from philosophical theory. Temple Medicine The two main healing sanctuaries were located in Cos (again; remember religious and secular medicine were not mutually exclusive) and the birthplace of Asclepius, Epidauros (dating from the end of the 6th century). Following a sacrifice, treatment included incubation by which was meant the patient went to sleep. Upon awakening he would either be cured or have received divine instruction in a dream that would be interpreted by experienced priests. Gymnasium Gymnastic treatment, based on experience, relied mainly on athletic training and hygiene (mens sana in corpore sano). Henry says that the trainers were like chemists (druggists/pharmacists) to the Aesclepian priests. Gymnasium personnel administered enemas, bled, dressed wounds and ulcers, and treated fractures. The sophist Herodicus is called the father of gymnastic medicine. He may have taught Hippocrates. Sources Greek Medicine and the Greek Genius, G. M. A. Grube, Phoenix, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1954), pp. 123-135Health, Economics and Ancient Greek Medicine,Carl Hampus LyttkensJanuary 2011Lectures On The History Of Medicine (Concluded), Alexander Henry, The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 172 (Apr. 14, 1860), pp. 282-284