Monmouth Case Study free essay sample

In Table 1 we compare Robertson’s efficiency ratios to the industry average: Efficiency Ratio| Robertson| Industry Average| Collection Periods| 69| 52| Inventory % Sales| 15%| 5%| Operating Margin % Sales| 17%| 33%| Return on Capital| 13%| 6%| As the comparison suggests, there is considerable margin for improvement in Robertson’s inventory management and operating margin. However, even in these circumstances, the company has an above average Return on Capital and collection period; as such, there is considerable potential for upside under a new management team with tighter, more efficient controls. 2) In general, how might an acquisition benefit the acquiring firm’s shareholders (give four or five generic ways)? In the specific case of Robertson: Why is Robertson an acquisition target? Why are Monmouth and the other parties interested? Usually, an acquisition is pursued for some or all of the following reasons: * Increasing market share and geographical reach * Realizing revenue (cross sales / up sales) and expense synergies (redundancies, rents) * Diversification of products (or conversely, divesting to focus on core businesses) * Reducing tax liabilities (buying a loss maker) * Acquiring talent, especially if the target is a start-up * Vertical integration In many ways, Robertson is a textbook acquisition target; it has a large number of openly held shares, it trades below its book value and is managed in an ineffective way. We will write a custom essay sample on Monmouth Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In essence, this means that taking over Robertson can be profitable even without any synergies. Simmons, whose actions are more typical of those of a financial buyer rather than strategic buyer, hopes to gain control, replace the board and unlock the underlying value of Robertson through broad changes to the way the business is run, including aggressive cost cuts and elimination of product lines. Monmouth, a typical strategic buyer, is looking to work together with existing management in 3 key areas: * Focusing on a limited number of profitable products, thereby reducing COGS from 69% of sales to 65% of sales, * Personnel redundancies reducing SGamp;A expenses from 22% of sales to 19% of sales * Revenue synergies, mostly focused on cross-selling and opening new markets for Monmouth’s products through Robertson’s European distribution system NDP, which most likely was approached by Robertson, rather than the other way around, is a â€Å"white knight† looking to capitalize on a good deal (and possibly other privileged terms) offered under the pressure of a hostile takeover. Valuation 3) Estimate Robertson’s value per? share using Firm Value/EBIAT and P/E multiples for all comps and both recent Robertson data and operating improvement forecasts (where Firm Value in Exhibit 6 refers to market value of equity plus book value of interest bearing debt). D etermine a price range. What pitfalls do you see in this exercise? What would you do to alleviate them? First, we assume that the definition of Firm Value refers to net debt, that is book value of debt minus cash. The only companies comparable with Robertson are Actuant, Lincoln Electric, Snap-On and Stanley Works; the other companies have a different business focus, and therefore must be excluded from the valuation. Even so, there is a large discrepancy between the size of Robertson, with an Enterprise Value of $29 million, and the average comparable company, with an Enterprise Value of $1. 5 billion. There may be little relevance towards Robertson, which carries significantly more risk due to its small size; it is evident from the information available that bond rating correlates well with company size. In the absence of a different set of companies, with a smaller market capitalization, we observe the following estimations for Robertson.

Free Essays on Police Brutality And Is Prevelence In Todays Society

Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed. But, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed. The use of excessive force may or may not be large problem, but it should be looked into by both the police and the public. For those people who feel racism is not a factor in causing the use of excessive force, here is a startling fact. In Tampa Bay, Florida, five men died while in the custody of the Tampa Bay police Department (C.C. 27). The thing is, the Tampa Bay Police Department is made up of mostly white officers, but of the five men who died, none where white. Four of the five men that died where African Americans, and the other man was a Mexican National. If the incident in Tampa Bay does not show a person racism, this event might. In New York City, an average of seven Latin Americans were killed a year between 1986 to 1989, but in 1990, that number increased greatly. In that year, twenty-three Latin Americans were killed by police gunfire. When asked how he felt about racism being involved in police brutality, Yussuf Naimkly of the University of Regina commented: "Excessive police force against blacks has always been tolerated, because as a formally enslaved minority African Americans are trapped in a cultural context specifically designed to inhibit their development and thus minimize their threat to white hegemony" (C.C. 72) Executive Director of Police Misconduct Lawyers Referral Service Karol Heppe commented, â€Å"Brutality against minorities is a daily occurrence in Los Angeles,† she says. â€Å"The difference this time is someone videotaped it (C.C. 36). Another shocking incident of police brutality occurred in Reynoldsberg, Ohio. A group of offices named themselves â€Å"S.N.A.T.† squad. This acronym stood for â€Å"Special Nigger Arrest Team† and they made it a... Free Essays on Police Brutality And Is Prevelence In Today's Society Free Essays on Police Brutality And Is Prevelence In Today's Society Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed. But, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed. The use of excessive force may or may not be large problem, but it should be looked into by both the police and the public. For those people who feel racism is not a factor in causing the use of excessive force, here is a startling fact. In Tampa Bay, Florida, five men died while in the custody of the Tampa Bay police Department (C.C. 27). The thing is, the Tampa Bay Police Department is made up of mostly white officers, but of the five men who died, none where white. Four of the five men that died where African Americans, and the other man was a Mexican National. If the incident in Tampa Bay does not show a person racism, this event might. In New York City, an average of seven Latin Americans were killed a year between 1986 to 1989, but in 1990, that number increased greatly. In that year, twenty-three Latin Americans were killed by police gunfire. When asked how he felt about racism being involved in police brutality, Yussuf Naimkly of the University of Regina commented: "Excessive police force against blacks has always been tolerated, because as a formally enslaved minority African Americans are trapped in a cultural context specifically designed to inhibit their development and thus minimize their threat to white hegemony" (C.C. 72) Executive Director of Police Misconduct Lawyers Referral Service Karol Heppe commented, â€Å"Brutality against minorities is a daily occurrence in Los Angeles,† she says. â€Å"The difference this time is someone videotaped it (C.C. 36). Another shocking incident of police brutality occurred in Reynoldsberg, Ohio. A group of offices named themselves â€Å"S.N.A.T.† squad. This acronym stood for â€Å"Special Nigger Arrest Team† and they made it a...

Motivation - Methods of Motivation use to excel in a College program Assignment

Motivation - Methods of Motivation use to excel in a College program - Assignment Example Motivation may push a student to spend countless nights studying for a course to excel in the marketplace. Psychologists believe that human beings are not the same. Thus, it is important to understand different types of motivation to capture different type of people, personality, and character. People are different on the way they perceive or view things, thus it follows that motivation has to be different. The three methods of motivation used to excel in college program include incentive, change, and extrinsic motivation. Primarily, incentive motivation is a strong force used in the learning institution. This method involves rewards. Through incentive motivation, students believe that they will obtain rewards for working hard or doing something. This motivates them to do everything they can to attain certain goals. This method of motivation bases its argument on the fact that human beings need to attain their set goals and objectives. To Anderman & Anderman (2010), learning institut ions utilize incentive motivation to reward the best performing or well-behaved students. By offering rewards, the management hopes to increase their performance and motivate their students to work harder in school programs. It is crucial to note that, there is high morale and motivation when people are working as a group in a given task. A continuous interaction in college programs increases friendship, unity, and mutual association. Motivation and morale help students to accomplish school programs faster and at an easy pace. For instance, incentive motivation may trigger students to work as a team and in turn creates a healthy competition. Teamwork or group discussion may help students to compete with each other and excel in all ways. It may also boost satisfaction and a sense of belonging. According to Karabenick & Urdan (2010), change motivation is a strong medium used to excel in college program. Sometimes, students, teachers, and other workers may do things to bring changes in the immediate environment. Change motivation pushes an individual to work tirelessly, hoping that one-day things will be better in their immediate environment. It is important to note that, change motivation help students to be tired of how things are and thus, think of a program to improve the entire environment. People are more likely to succeed when they understand their need to bring value to their organization. In the school set-up, external and internal factors that can sustain, intensify, start, or discourage bad behaviour. At this point, internal factors include human characteristics that trigger certain behaviours in the learning environment. For instance, students are fearful or confident when they approach new tasks. However, they are motivated when they live in a pleasant environment that fosters positive behaviours. It is crucial to understand that, external factors can affect learning conditions and personal development. For instance, certain schooling practices can h inder or promote motivations. These features include peer groups, classrooms, instructional practices, and school activities (Malloy, Marinak & Gambrell, 2010). At this point, helpful instruction may motivate a student to have good conduct. Change motivation is crucial in the school set up as it shapes students’ ability to learn experiences at school and in the large

Comparison Between Windows 7 And Mac OS X Essay

Comparison Between Windows 7 And Mac OS X - Essay Example It is shown that despite having nowhere near as much malware as on Windows, the Mac remains vulnerable although its usability and multimedia support are much better. The Macintosh OS X series of systems introduced in 2002 is based on Unix, specifically the FreeBSD and NetBSD implementations that were contained in the NeXTSTEP object-oriented system. Mac OS X enabled Apple to move away from its previous Mac OS operating systems, which lacked pre-emptive multitasking support and memory protection (Abu Rumman, 30). Mac OS X is POSIX compliant that is built on an XNU kernel. Originally designed for the PowerPC architecture, it is now made for the x86 architecture, the same as for Windows. The current version of the Macintosh operating system, as of March 2012, is 10.7.3 named Lion and the next version 10.8 named Mountain Lion is due later this year. The Windows operating system is made available in a number of editions including Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. Windows 7 added su pport for a number of additional features such as virtual hard disks and handwriting recognition. It is considered to be a vast improvement over the previous Windows Vista, which was considered to be a disaster. ... OS 10.7 Company Microsoft Apple Minimum system requirements 1 GHz IA-32/x86-64 processor; 1 / 2 GB RAM; 16 / 20 GB free disk space Intel Core 2 Duo or higher processor; 2 GB RAM; 4 GB disk space for installation (OS X Daily, 2011) Retail price $119.99-219.99 $29.99 Variety of versions Six different versions including Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate A single all-in-one solution (with built-in server) Sources: Microsoft and OS X Daily Of the two systems, Windows enjoys the greatest market share. The main reasons for its dominance is the huge variety of hardware it can run on, the amount of developer support behind it and the amount of games that are available for the platform (Abu Rumman, 30). Apple instead enjoys a niche in the creative and educational markets. On the other hand, the Mac has the advantage of access to Apple's Mac App Store, it has a built-in browser that is better than Internet Explorer, it already has multi-touch support, suffers from much less malware than W indows, it has several features not present in Windows and it has better refinement overall (Reisinger). Examples of the special features are Resume, Air Drop, system-wide Auto Save, Expose, Spaces (virtual desktops), Mission Control, Time Machine and Remote Wipe. These make Lion well ahead of Windows 7 (Warne). With Lion, Apple also introduced a digital distribution method for greater convenience instead of the traditional physical selling method, which Windows is still following. In terms of usability, the Mac is renowned for being generally easier to use from being more intuitive and built on the principle of minimalism. Microsoft on the other hand, is generally more cumbersome and complicated with perhaps too many unnecessary elements that can cause confusion. As a simple example, if a

Business Environment Essay Example for Free

Business Environment Essay In the light of the fundamental gross and incremental changes that are constantly occurring in the external and internal business environment of organizations, leaders need to realize their organization can only survive if they recognize, anticipate, plan and implement adequate strategies to accommodate the changes in a timely manner (Toyne Nigh, 1999). Currently the organizations are facing many challenges that include global market competition, mergers, managerial restructuring, and acquisition and break up of the companies, media scrutiny, and increased business regulation, desire of employees to participate in decision making process and declining business ethics. Such increasingly and unpredictable changes in the business environment requires that the leaders in business organizations are properly and constantly aligned with the new business realities (Jain Tandan, 2006). The changes in the business organization can become a treat to the business and therefore it requires the leaders to anticipate these changes before they become real. In addition leaders also require redefining the ethical framework in order to come up with a proper in organizations in the global business setting (Toyne Nigh, 1999). If the leaders do not introduce adequate change in ethical and timely manner then the organization are likely to face difficult time and significantly reduces the chances of long time survival of the business (Gholipour, 2007). Organizational behavior Change in business environment indicates any act that makes it to be different. The factors that contribute to changes in the business environment include technology people, competition and processing of information and communication. Some of the changes in the business organization may occur suddenly without conscious efforts of leaders. Changes that occur without the efforts of the people are unplanned changes (Jain Tandan, 2006). On the other hand planned changes may be initiated by the leaders in the organization in order to achieve some objectives ands goals. Both planned and unplanned changes are met with resistance. The resistance can be covert i. e. implicit or overt/explicit. Classification of resistance to change can be classified to organization resistance or individual resistance (Toyne Nigh, 1999). Individual resistance to changes in the business environment can occur since the individuals perceive it to be a threat to their economic conditions, security and habit. On the other hand organization resistance to changes may occur because of group inertia, structural inertia, control of resources, expertise, fear of loosing power etc (Gholipour, 2007). To overcome these resistances to changes, the leaders can educate employees, go for negotiation, co-optation, coercion, manipulation and ensure that workers are involved in decision making process. For example the management can use Lewin’s three step model to manage the planned changes (Jain Tandan, 2006). Lewin’s three step approaches suggest that business organizations can develop permanent changes in the behaviors of the employees by making them unlearn the old working procedures and behaviors (Gholipour, 2007). On the other hand modern organizations place emphases on innovation and how they can learn to cope with the changes in business environment in order to stay ahead of competition (Toyne Nigh, 1999). Sources of innovations may include acquisition of new knowledge that leads to changes of perception and awareness, change of market and industrial structures, demographic changes etc. usiness organizations require to be committed in innovation and change and also change their cultures and structure in order to facilitate continuous learning of the employees. Conclusion The main purpose of change in a constantly changing business environment is to learn to adapt to those changes very quickly and also develop planned strategies to deal with the changes. Organizations need to introduce their own changes considering their size, goals and circumstances (Toyne Nigh, 1999).

Critical Analysis of This Boys Life by Tobias Wolff Essay -- Analys

This Boy's Life is the autobiographical account of teenager. Toby and his mother's search for financial stability and a peaceful life. Toby’s family was split down the middle as a child, leaving his father and older brother on the East Coast and, for the most part, uninvolved in Toby’s life. The story begins when Toby and his mother, Rosemary, leave her abusive boyfriend in Florida to take their chances at becoming rich in the uranium mines in Utah. They are short on money, a theme that continually comes up throughout the book, but full of hope and love for each other. Unfortunately, as they arrive in Utah, they discover the uranium resources have already been bled dry and they must go to Salt Lake City where Rosemary manages to get a job as a secretary. Soon afterwards, the ex-boyfriend follows the pair to Salt Lake City and rejoins their life. His abusive behavior continues and Toby and Rosemary are forced to flee again. This time fate lands them on a bus headed for S eattle. Once in Washington, Rosemary finds a group of female friends who encourage her to start dating, eventually landing her with a relationship and later marriage with yet another abusive man, Dwight. The mother and son pair is in a constant fight for a better way to live in terms of security and stability, but their love and loyalty to each other is solid. Toby seems to show signs of emotional and behavioral disorders in his journey through adolescence. He develops many different distinct personalities at various points to try to evade the harsh realities of his life. In the beginning of the novel, he expresses a... ...ter fighter by tormenting him. Wolff admits that, â€Å"All of Dwight's complaints against me had the aim of giving me a definition of myself. They succeeded, but not in the way I wished. I defined myself in opposition to him. In the past, I had been ready, even when innocent, to believe any evil thing of myself. Now that I had grounds for guilt I could no longer feel it.† His admission of oblivion to his disorder becomes realistic when explained in this context. Despite seeing him repeatedly change his identity, lie, steal, take excessive risks, and act generally wild and out of control at times, the reader somehow still comes out believing in and loving this lost young man. His spirit to survive and loyalty to his mother shine through, forcing readers to recognize, but look past the emotional and behavioral disorders that sometimes hinder his journey towards freedom.

Steps of Coducting an Audit

I sincerely hope that this assignment meets your approval and demonstrates my ability to resent assignments. If you require further clarification, I will be happy to contact you according to your convenience. Sincerely, Ishrat Nahid ID: 0930183 Executive Summery An auditor is an official whose Job it is to carefully check the accuracy of business records. An auditor can be either an independent auditor unaffiliated with the company being audited or a captive auditor, and some are elected public officials. Auditors are used to ensure that organizations are maintaining accurate and honest financial records and statements.In this report I have written about the plan of audit and the importance of ndependence of auditors. Planning the audit is an important step to conduct the audit. Auditor uses different planning methods to determine risk assessment, assessment of internal controls etc. The auditor either internal or external cannot complete all the aspects of the audit in one year. The auditors plan the audit is such a way they can cover the audit over a period of time. Auditor independence is one of the most important issues in accounting practice today.Independence increases the effectiveness of the audit by providing assurance that the auditor will plan and execute the audit objectively. High-quality audits enhance the reliability of the financial reporting process by investors and other users. Topic 1. Planning of audit 15- 163. References Page no 5-14 2. Independence of auditor 17 audit report Planning refers to the process of deciding what to do and how to do it. Planning involves selecting mission and objective and the actions to achieve them; it requires decision making that is, choosing from among alternative future course of actions.Plans thus provide a rational approach to achieving reselected objectives. Planning is an intellectually demanding process; it requires that we consciously determine ourses of action and base our decisions on purpose, knowle dge and considered estimates. An audit plan is the specific guideling to be followed when conducting an internal or external audit. Internal audits are usually conducted by a company's accounting staff and are primarily used for a management review of accounting process.External audits are conduct by external public accounting firms or private certified accountants (CPA) to ensure outside stakeholders that the company's financial information is prepared in accordance with that Jurisdiction's accepted accounting principles. External audit usually use a formal audit plan for auditors to follow when conducting audits. Audit planning improves the quality of audit work. It is necessary for an effective, efficient and timely audit. Adequate audit planning establishes the right means to achieve the objectives of audit.It helps in identifying potential problems and ensures that work is completed expeditiously. An audit plan does help the auditor not only to understand the scope of audit but also facilities smooth conduct of audit. Auditors use five types of test to determine whether financial statements are fairly stated: rocedures to obtain understanding of internal control, tests of controls, substantive tests of transactions, analytical procedures and tests of details of balances. All audit procedures fall into one or more than one of these five categories.By these tests detection risk reduces and effectiveness of internal control has increase. Five types of tests are firstly, update and evaluate the auditor's previous experience with the entity. Secondly, make inquiries of client personnel. Thirdly, read client's policy and systems manuals. Fourthly, examine documents and records. Fifthly, observe entity and operations. A meaningful audit plan considers some basic steps. If these basic steps are the minimal possible time. Step 1: Talk to the client The auditor discusses the nature of the engagement and the client's business and industry trends at the beginning of planning.Insights gained from this discussion help the au ditor navigate through the remainder of the audit planning procedures. These insights set the stage for an active two way communication process that result in a fully engaged audi tor. Step 2: Obtaining background information An extensive understanding of the clients business and industry and knowledge bout the company's operations are essential for doing an adequate audit. The auditor asks about recent developments in the company that may cause the audit to differ from prior years.Developments such as mergers, new locations or new product lines may have a significant impact on the audit plan for the current year. These discussions take place at the client 10 cation. Going on site provides the auditor the opportunity to meet with key employees or new employees and to see for him or herself any changes in the overall operations of the client. Step 3: Prepare A Complete list of items needed from the client Before starting uditi ng auditors require samples, documents and many other papers those auditors need to audit.A meaningful audit plan pro vides an updated list of client-prepared items that considers the following: New schedules because of changed risk profiles at the client New schedules resulting from a change in audit ap proach Example schedules and templates so the client prepares them in the auditors desired format Insertion of due dates for each schedule that has been agreed to by the client For larger clients, insert the name of a person respon Sible for the completion of the schedule that has been agreed to by the client