ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Preparation of the income statement of Smith Company first requires the calculation of the company’s operating expenses and the retained earnings at the start of the trading period ended December 31 st , 2012. The operating expenditure is computed as shown in the worksheet hereunder. Working: Operating Expenses. The retained earnings have been established by comparing the total debits and credits of the trial balance. Retained Earnings b/f = $760850 – $718000 = $42850 Income Statement. Statement of Financial Position. Remarks on Smith Company’s Success The success of a firm is defined in quantitative and qualitative terms. Qualitative indicators refer to non-quantifiable information used to describe the performance of an enterprise. Quantitative performance indicators refer to the quantifiable measures of a firms or industry’s success. The most used measurable indicators of performance are financial ratios (Walther, 2010). In describing the success of Smith limited, a variety of ratios have been computed. The ratios describe, in quantitative terms, the firm’s liquidity, activity, profitability and gearing level (Walther, 2010). Liquidity ratios have been used to determine the company’s to meet its short term debts as the fall due (Walther, 2010). The current and the acid test ratio have been computed to assess Smith Company’s ability to offset current obligations as they mature. A proportion of 2:1 is acceptable. Current Ratio = Current Assets/ Current Liabilities = 79500/ 67000 = 1.1866: 1 The computed ratio indicates that the firm may be experiencing difficulties in meeting short-term obligations as they fall due. The acid test ratio is a quotient of the most liquid current assets and the current liabilities. In normal situations, the ratio should be 1:1. Acid Test Ratio = [Current Assets- Inventory]/ Current Liabilities = [79500 – 25000]/ 67000 = 0.8134: 1 The firm’s quick ratio is unsatisfactory. This indicates that the company’s ability to raise quick cash is limited since much of its investment is locked in inventory. Profitability is the widely used measure of an enterprise’s success. The profitability ratios are hence used to determine an enterprise’s ability to generate profit. The commonly computed profitability ratios include return on capital employed, return on investment, profit margin, assets turnover and gross and net profit ratios (Walther, 2010). Return on investment refers to profit on the owners’ investment in the firm. It is a quotient of profit after tax and owners’ equity. Return on Investment = [Profit after Tax / Owners’ Equity]* 100 = * 100 = 23.4294% Assets turnover is a quotient of sales and capital employed expressed as a percentage. Assets Turnover = [Sales / Capital Employed]* 100 = [406000/ 249000]* 100 = 163.05% Gross profit ratio is calculated by dividing gross profit by sales and expressing the quotient as a percentage. Gross Profit Ratio = [Gross Profit / Sales]* 100 = [172000/ 406000]* 100 = 42.3645% Net profit proportion is computed by dividing net profit by revenue and expressing the resul
The argument of what constitutes as egoism is based on the principle that inevitably all human actions come from feelings that the person selfishly chooses. One perspective considers all activity that an individual carries out as being self pleasing. Even if someone wants to help another person, they are acting upon own thinking and want to please themselves by doing a good deed. A possibility explanation is that an individual can simply get used to being a good person and does not think about immediate effect of self-worth while performing some beneficial action. In reality, either way egoism is a negative quality that has minimal benefit. It seems that people who acquire products of luxury will be benefiting from the material possessions but the greater pleasure is in helping others. Physical objects can bring joy in and of themselves but once a person gets used to them, they stop bringing pleasure and the person is forced to get new things. In the end, the amount of goods and services that a person could get is limited. Comparing to the act of helping others physical objects will lose appeal, whereas there are many people and it would be impossible to help everyone in one lifetime. Also, humans are social beings and are born to live in communities and societies, so in uniting for the common cause each individual is involuntarily investing in the greater good. The more people cooperate and work together, more things can be accomplished and prosperity of the nation will equal to success of a single individual. In any case, egoism will only
Introduction In order to conduct job analysis for new salesperson positions in InterClean, the HR manager should apply several methods. First of all, one should interview the members of the staff about various requirements which are set for this kind of job. The main advantage of this method is that it enables to gain accurate information about mental qualities and personality traits that a salesperson should possess (Cascio, 141). It has to be admitted that this research method is time-consuming and it lead the suspicions among members of the staff. If I were to conduct this interview, I would first ask those employees who feel positive about the changes introduced in InterClean. The second strategy that can be applied is structured questionnaire. It should be used only after the interview. First, it is necessary to list the tasks activities of sales personnel, later the employees will need to rate them in terms of importance and frequency. On the basis of this questionnaire, the HR manager will be able to determine which tasks and skills of are of the greatest importance for the company. It is possible to single out several duties that pertain to the new sales department: 1) the presentation of InterClean’s products and services; 2) proving after-sale services to the clients; 3) the development of sales contracts; 4) excellent knowledge of sanitation regulations and environmental standards; 5) understanding of cleaning industry market. Workforce planning system The development of workforce planning should start with the review of the hard and soft skills of the current personnel. Such notion as hard skills is related directly to the major business activities of the department. It is possible to single the following hard skills:   * sales administration and contract development;   * the development of solution-based cleaning products;   * ability to explain product specification to the customer;   * PC skills. In turn, the term “ soft skills” refers to mental qualities and personality traits of the employee (Guffey, 34). Judging from the employee profiles, we can identify such soft skills as aggressiveness, critical thinking, politeness and ability to communicate with customers; leadership skills. The employee profiles indicate that each of them is sufficiently aggressive, persuasive and capable of closing a deal with a client. However, a candidate should have profound knowledge of industry standards and safety regulations. This can greatly help him establish long-term relations with a client. Finally, expertise in product development and technical specifications is crucial for the team since it ensures that the customers are fully satisfied with the quality of products and services. Overall
Summary of Article: Who/What is the article about? What is happening? When did it happen? Where is did it happen? Why is it happening? The author describes a Snapchat clone, Snow, designed and rolled in South Korea. Like Snapchat, the smartphone application offers numerous options for making funny photos adding filters such as glowing eyes, dog ears, and tongues, bulbous foreheads, etc. However, unlike the social network originally launched in the USA, it includes Asia-specific filters such as a rain of sushi or fried chicken, images of sumo wrestlers and Korean pop stars, bottles of soju and Korean liquor. Snow was introduced in September. As for now, more than 30 million users downloaded it. There are several reasons leading to its growing popularity. First of all, Snapchat is not available in one of the region’s leading Internet markets – China. That is why Chinese people enjoy using the analog. Second, Snow is Asia-specific, so it is psychologically acceptable. Moreover, it offers an opportunity to send short videos. In addition to it, the app is popular among showbiz starts. That is why ordinary people started downloading it. Finally, Snapchat did not overcome the language barrier because it does not have Asian offices and local-language versions are still being developed while Snow does not face this problem since it was designed in Asia and focused on the Asian market. Author’s Position: What is the author’s take on this current event issue? The author’s take on Snow can be seen in the first sentence of the article – the images and messages are self-destructing. However, the primary focus is made on the start-
Introduction Internationalisation is a new concept that has increasingly taken centre stage in the recent times, particularly among firms. The advancement in technology is the core reason why globalisation has become popular and real. Companies are seeking to expand beyond their national borders and venture into foreign markets as a way of tackling the issue of competition and market saturation. Companies can now communicate in real time between the headquarters and subsidiaries using the new advanced technologies. Managers can even control operations taking place in a different continent from the home continent. However, even as global operations become easy for organisations, one challenging factor that threatens to limit the activities of the multinational corporations (MNC) is the challenge of culture. Each society in the world practices a unique culture, including the languages used in the day-to-day communication. Firms are, therefore, finding it difficult to integrate these alien cultures into their operations. This report highlights some of the benefits and limitations for firms in terms of adopting the use of English as their official language. The report will focus on Japan and Germany, issuing effective advice and recommendations to MNC managers operating in these countries. Japan General Culture Power Distance According to Hofstede, Japan registers a score of 54 with regard to this cultural dimension. In other words, it implies that the Japanese mildly expect and accept societal inequalities. This mainly affects their decision making process in the sense that final judgements in the society do not happen all at once, but it is a process that involves many other people to give their various inputs. Individualism Individualism refers to the tendency of members in a society to either rely upon themselves while leading their daily lives, or depend on communal support. Japan has a score of 46 on this dimension, implying that it is a collectivist society. Individuals consider group harmony as weightier than individual opinions (Schumacher 220). Masculinity/Femininity Japan is mainly a masculine society, with its respective score on this dimension being 95. There is severe competition among the groups formed in society, with the basis of competition being to achieve the highest results. Characteristically, the Japanese are workaholics and they work to achieve both excellence and perfection in whatever they do. It is not easy for Japanese women to ascend the corporate ladder mainly because of the masculine nature of the
Introduction The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is one of the oldest and largest financial institutions in Canada. The institution is almost a hundred and fifty years old (RBC, 2013). The bank started as a merchant bank in 1864, and served the needs of businesspersons in the Halifax area (RBC, 2013). The bank has two headquarters, one in Montreal, and the other in Toronto. The Montreal office is the institution’s corporate headquarters while the Toronto office serves as the operational headquarters (RBC, 2013). RBC has a customer base exceeding ten million people in Canada, and a further two and a half million customers in other countries (RBC, 2013). This customer base reflects the stability associated with the bank and the Canadian banking industry in general. Just like many other businesses, the bank is grappling with human resource management challenges. There is no shortage of staff, but there is the prevalent feeling that businesses must rationalize their labor forces to remain profitable. This paper looks at the non-market forces affecting the operations of the bank in light of recent revelations that the bank replaced permanent Canadian employees with foreigners who came under the Temporary Foreign Workers Program through an outsourcing contract. The move is controversial in the public arena because of the current state of the Canadian labor market. Public opinion on the matter is that the bank should be creating jobs, and not exporting them. Public Perception as a Force in the Non-Market Environment Public Perception is a very strong force in the conduct of any business. It is the sole justification for the emergence of professional PR practice across the world. The technological advances in IT over the last decade have complicated the execution of PR. It is impossible to control information once it reaches social media channels. In this regard, the RBC found itself on the wrong side of public perception when it became clear that it had employed foreigners to take up jobs previously held by Canadians by using the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. The four I’s model will be ideal for analyzing the impact of the public outcry that ensued. The I’s stand for interests, issues, institutions, and information. Interests The interests that led to the PR nightmare for RBC came from various places. First, RBC was under pressure due to public interest. The interest of the public is usually difficult to capture or measure because of the indefinite and impersonal nature of the public (Cardoso, 2009). Short of a referendum, gauging public interest on any issue is almost impossible. This does not mean that it does not exist. In fact, ignoring public interest can ruin a business
In the lawless world of the ancients the need for a great leader was never in question. In a time when tribes and small nations regularly go to war there was a need for a strong leader and there were times when members of a community, tribe or city would willingly offer themselves and their family under the authority of dictator in exchange for a life of stability and safety. In ancient times and to some extent to the present generation, people had found stability in monarchy. In order to perpetuate kings and queens regarded themselves as children of the divine and therefore secured the right to rule. But in the modern age, people who were disgusted and fed-up with their abuse of authority decided to form nations based on the idea of liberty and equality. Although liberalism is linked to the idea of freedom there is a need to examine if liberal nationalism advances shared national interests at the deliberate expense of state power and sovereignty. Background It would be difficult to fully understand nationalism and the rise of liberal theory without going through the finished work of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. John Locke believed that men were created equal in the eyes of God and should never be shackled under the power of a dictator or tyrant. Thomas Hobbes on the other hand is believed that personal freedom can be sacrificed for the sake of peace, security, and progress. Thomas Hobbes was born a few decades before John Locke and he was born into a European continent where nations are constantly at war. His particular experience with the English Civil War and its accompanying hardships led him to the conclusion that, “There must be some coercive power to compel men equally to the performance of their covenants, by the terror of some punishment, greater than the benefit they expect by the breach of their covenant” (Knutsen, 1997, p.12). In other words Hobbes made it clear that a powerful leaders is needed to sustain a country or a community. Political analysts explained even further Hobbes’ point of view by explaining that, “Because virtually any government would be better than a civil war, people ought to submit themselves to an absolute political authority. Continued stability will require that they also refrain from the sorts of actions that might undermine such a regime … Hobbes aimed to demonstrate the reciprocal relationship between political obedience and peace” (Lloyd, 2002, p.1). Hobbes believed there is nothing wrong with a centralised government having the power to hold sway over the livesof many people. John Locke on the other hand was one of the first to outline the idea that a human being has inalienable rights such as life, liberty, health, and property (Uzgalis, 2007, p.1). Locke and Hobbes may disagree on the idea of freedom and equality but they had the same view when it comes to the idea that there is such a thing as a natural state from which all beings came forth. In this natural state m
Introduction Movies have grown to become of different importance to different individuals. Since the inception of movies in the 1860s movies have continued to evolve and the modern day movies can be classified into numerous categories such as educational, documentary, action, horror, thriller, drama and so on (Hill and Gibson 169). As such they offer a strong media tool to communicate to the world about the different topics and the cultural attributes (Acker 69) This essay reviews the main characters in two Latino movies; ‘Like water for chocolate’ directed by Alfonso Aurau, and ‘Maria full of grace’ directed by Joshua Marston. The main characters in these two movies are women; Maria in the first movie, and Tita in the second one, who are forced to make big decisions that potentially change the course of their lives’ destiny and fate. Maria full of Grace The movie begins by presenting Maria Alvarez, a young 17 year old Columbian girl who works in a flower plantation where the working conditions and environment are pathetic. The girl has to keep the job so as to support her family since she is the only bread winner for the family. She gets impregnated by a man she does not love and following a series of unjust treatment from her boss, she decides to quit the job even though the family is highly unsupportive of that move (Janet 6). Desperately looking for another job, she heads to Bogota, where she finds a job opening which requires her to act as a drug mule and traffic drugs to the United States of America. After weighing the options she has; being pregnant and coming from a humble background, she accepts the job and subsequently swallows sixty two wrapped heroin pellets and flies to the United States alongside her friend, Blanca. Once in the United States she is almost caught by the customs who notice her uncommon behavior but escapes the x-ray scan thanks to her pregnancy. They are retained in a hotel room so that they can give all the drugs they had swallowed (King 36). One of the drug mules, Lucy falls sick after one of the pellets raptures in her stomach and the drug barons are forced to burst her stomach in a murderous act so as to retrieve the pellets. When the culprits go to dispose the body of Lucy, Maria and Blanca escape into Lucy’s sister house. After sometime the sister finds out that Lucy is dead and consequently throws both Maria and Blanca out of her house. They decide to return the drugs to the traffickers and are paid their dues. Some of the cash that Maria receives from the traffickers is used by her to send Lucy’s body back home. They both plan to return home but Only Blanca does so and Maria opts to stay in the United States. Like water for Chocolate This movie is a love story that takes place in Mexico and revolves around a lady named Tita de la Garza. Tita is the last born girl in her family and the family customs, according to her mother forbids last born girls to be married. Instead they are supposed to stay at home and take care of their mothers. As such, although Tita is in love with Pedro, she is not allowed to marry him.
Introduction The problem of emissions has been on the rise with electricity generation accounting for up to 54% of the emissions in most countries (Braatz, 1996). Electricity generation relies on various sources of fossil fuel such as coal, gas and oil. These fuels are known to emit carbon in the atmosphere leading to change of climate. The countries met in Japan to discuss the problem at core and Kyoto protocol came into being. The electricity market was put under certain regulations which affected its trading market. According to See (2001), the pricing of electricity now depends on the markets for gas and carbon and it is for this reason that the three market need to relate. Carbon trading has had major impact in electricity trading causing major mishaps in the market. The aim of this report is to discuss the challenges facing the electricity trade market as a result of limitation of electricity generation. It will further discuss the inter-relationship between the gas, carbon and electricity markets. It will also examine the natural gas prices and how it has affected the generation of electricity. Electricity, Carbon and Gas Prices Electricity prices seem to be increasing day in day out and this has been attributed to the market increase of fuels. Despite the report released by the EU over carbon emission reduction, its price has considerably increased over the past few months. The demand for gas as a source of fuel has considerably risen to its effectiveness and this has made its prices to shoot up. gas fuel has been favored as it produces less carbon into the atmosphere hence reducing the climate changes witnessed by the emission. Faure and Peeters (2008) argue that gas prices and carbon emission become integral components to determine the price of electricity in the competitive market. Therefore, in order to achieve the desired profit, the electricity company should have knowledge of how to relate these three markets. With the aim of reducing carbon emission in the atmosphere, the company should balance the cost of fuel gas market price with the carbon credits available to generate in order to make profits once electricity has been supplied to the end consumer. The pricing of natural gas has been unstable and it is very difficult to ascertain its future level reliance. Therefore, there is a conflict between the gas market and electricity producers. This has resulted to the producers having a rough time pricing the end product causing a fluctuation in the electricity market. Though gas is the preferred source of fuel for its clean nature and environment friendly, it has caused the end user dig deeper into the pocket (Mitchell and Packer, 2002). According to Miller et al (2009), the three markets will relate in the following manner. The electricity market will rely on gas in compliant with Kyoto protocol hence will purchase gas in order to generate electricity. If the gas price increases, then the electrical company increases the price of electricity. The electricity market is not only affected by increase of gas prices but also by trading carbon scheme. If