Affirmation :: essays research papers

Affirmation is defined as a recognition of political, personal, cultural values and identity. The Puritans, African Americans, and Native Americans affirmed their identity in Colonial America through: oral traditions, songs, and rituals. This is the reason they are studied all over the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Puritans affirmed their identity through their religious beliefs, utopian ideas and theocracy. The Puritans had a storyteller who spoke of their genealogy. Since these stories were based on the bible, most of the listeners (children) were isolated from the reality of life. They grew up with their same beliefs as their parents, grandparents, and elders. All Puritans were considered sinned because of the teachings on the bible. However, they believed in predestination (only those people, â€Å"the elect† by God are saved and go to Heaven) yet the other Puritans continued to value the bible and obtained good citizenship. The Puritans respected hard work and had a distrust of leisure, a suspicion that the poor are shiftless which is said to have contributed to their downfall. When the Puritans escaped Europe from its Religious persecution and came to the colonies, they dreamed of becoming a utopian society. This society was also looked at as â€Å"the city on top of the hull† probably expressing the point of view the Puritans had of themselves. They used their theocracy (belief that the bible was the supreme authority) to complete their utopian society and has been debuted by historians if they achieved their dream. The Puritans did affirm their beliefs by their storytelling, by their genealogists, their theocracy, and the achievement of their utopian society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Enslaved African-Americans affirmed their identity through their developmental resistance towards slavery, sacred songs and their storytelling. Storytelling has existed in many cultures, but existed for different reasons than that of the Puritans. Survival skills folk wisdom and hope, were the most common reasons and were important to their everyday survival. Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear is one of many stories told by the griot (genealogist) which focuses on hope that the Enslaved African-Americans will one day be a trickster like Mr. Rabbit and escaped slavery; like the Rabbit escaped being hung from a tree. After a long bitter life, the Enslaved African-Americans began to imagine and dream of freedom. Most slaves had learned to speak English and sang. Having been a slave herself, Harriet Tubman, helped other slaves escape by using her songs to guide them North, thus becoming the founder of the Underground railroad; by her will to give and her heroism, she is still re membered and her determination inspires people still today.

Visual Shopper Stop

ualMedia Release Shoppers Stop recognised as ‘Most Respected Company in the Retail Sector’ By Business World Mumbai, February 9, 2011: The New Year has started off on a rewarding note for Shoppers Stop. India’s premier lifestyle and fashion destination was one among 20 Indian Companies honored by Business World as ‘Most Respected Companies’ across various sectors. Shoppers Stop was awarded the ‘Most Respected Company in the Retail Sector’ at the hands of the Honorable Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee at the award ceremony held last evening in the Capital City.Business World’s ‘Most Respected Companies’ award is recognized as one of the most coveted awards in the country. Companies are measured not only on the basis of their balance sheets but also on the basis of innovativeness, depth and quality of top management, financial performances and returns and moreover, on qualities like ethics and transparency, quality of products and services, people practices/talent management and global competitiveness. About Shoppers Stop Shoppers Stop is a leader in the Indian Retail Sector and one of the pioneers in setting up large format department stores chain in India.Shopper’s Stop Ltd has a national presence, with over 2. 05 million square feet area across 34 stores in 15 cities viz. Mumbai (8 stores), Delhi (4 stores), Kolkata (3 stores), Bangalore (4 stores), Hyderabad (3 stores), Jaipur (2 stores), Pune (2 stores), Gurgaon, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Noida, Amritsar, Bhopal and Aurangabad. Shoppers Stop is the only Indian member of IGDS (Intercontinental Group of Departmental stores) along with 29 other experienced retailers from all over the world.Mr. B. S. Nagesh, Customer Care Associate & Vice Chairman, Shopper’s Stop Ltd, has been recognised as an iconic retailer and was inducted into the World Retail Hall of Fame 2008. Mr. Nagesh is the only Indian retailer to take a significant place alongside more than 100 stalwarts of the global retail industry, which includes veterans like Sam Walton of Wal-Mart, Giorgio Armani, Jack Cohen of Tesco, Simon Marks and Israel Sieff of Marks & Spencer; Ingvar Kamprad of Ikea, amongst others.CMAI felicitated the ‘Golden Scale Trophy’ to Mr. Nagesh in honour of this achievement. Mr. Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shopper’s Stop Ltd received prestigious honours of the ‘Retail Professional of the Year’ by CMAI in 2009 & ‘Most Admired Fashion Retail Professional’ at the Images Fashion Awards 2010. Images Retail Awards consecutively for two years (2008 & 2009) named Shoppers Stop the ‘Most Admired Retailer of the Year –CRM’.The Company has also been felicitated with ‘Retailer of the Year –Fashion & Lifestyle’ at the Asia Retail Congress in 2009. Shopper’s Stop Ltd also received the ‘Best Visual Merch andising’ Award at the VMRD Retail Design Awards 2009 and the ‘Prestigious Loyalty’ award for Customer & Brand loyalty in the ‘Retail Sector’ 2010 at the 3rd Loyalty Summit. Shopper’s Stop Ltd has been awarded by CMAI -The ‘Golden Scale Trophy’ as the ‘Brand of the Year’ for its STOP Ladies ethnic wear in 2008 & 2009, and the ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ in 2009.Images Fashion Awards held in 2009 recognised Shoppers Stop as ‘The Most Admired Fashion Retail Destination of the Year’ and in 2010 ‘Most Admired Large Format Retailer’ award by Gini & Jony and the ‘Most Admired Partner’ by Gili. Shoppers Stop has also introduced new formats in the market viz HomeStop – the exclusive home furnishings, decor as well as furniture store and HyperCity– a premium shopping destination for Foods, Homeware, Home Entertainment, HiTech Appliances, Furniture, Sports, Toys & Fashion. For further information contact – Perfect Relations Juhi Khanna @ 9820601226 Kirti Pachauri @ 9819898306

Dell Computer Company

DELL’s Working Capital 1. How was Dell’s working capital policy a competitive advantage? Dell has achieved low working capital by keeping its work-in-process and finished goods inventory very low. The competitive advantage Dell achieves from this is that its inventory is significantly lower than its competitors, it does not require large warehouses for stocking the inventories and Dell is also able to adapt the fastest to technology changes in the components. The competitors would find it difficult to adapt to technology changes in a short time because they have larger inventories than Dell does. In short, Dell builds computers only when ordered and thus does not spend much capital as a result. The declining DSI means that Dell takes increasingly shorter days to sell its inventory. 2. How did Dell fund its 52% growth in 1996? Dell needed the following amount to fund its 52% growth in 1996 (using exhibit 4&5): Operating assets (OA) = total assets – short term investment OA in 1995 = 1594 – 484 = 1110 Mil USD Operating Asset to Sales ratio = 1110/3457 = 32% Sales increased from 3457 to 5296 Mil USD in 1996. Multiplying the operating asset to sales ratio by the increase in sales 0. 2 x (5296 – 3457) = 582 mil USD, which is the operating assets that Dell needed to fund its 52% growth. This increase in assets meant an increase in liabilities too, proportional to the sales. The increase in liabilities would be: Liabilities in 1995 = 942 Mil USD Liabilities to Sales ratio = 942/3475 = 27. 1% Increase in liabilities = 0. 271 x (5296 – 3475) = 494 mil USD S o, Dell would have an increase in operating assets of 582 mil USD and an increase in liabilities of 494 mil USD. The short investments would remain the same as it is not related to operations. Operational profit would increase with the Operating Profit to Sales ratio: (net profit/sales) x (5296 – 3457) = (149/3457) x (5296 – 3457) = 227 mil USD In all, we see that a sales increase of 52% has to be funded by 582 mil USD operating assets. The sales increase would also bring additional 494 mil USD in liabilities, while generating 227 mil USD of operating profit, with short term investments remaining the same at 484 mil USD. As a result, any two combinations of liabilities, operational profit or short term investments would be sufficient to offset the 582 mil USD operating assets needed to sustain the 52% sales growth. In 1995, as shown earlier, the operating asset to sales ratio was 32%. Similarly, the ratio in 1996 was (2148 – 591)/5296 = 29. 4%. The difference in the percentages is 2. 54%. This decrease in operating assets in year 1996 suggests that operating efficiency was improved by the same amount. Multiplying this difference in ratio by total sales in 1996: 5296 x 0. 0254 = 134. 5 mil USD, this amount can be reduced from the originally forecasted 582 mil USD to give the actual additional operating asset required to fund the 52% growth: 582 – 134. 5 = 447. 5 mil USD. The net margin in 1995, as shown earlier was 4. % (149/3457). In 1996 it increased to 272/5296 = 5. 14%. This net profit is an increase from the forecasted 227 mil USD (calculation shown earlier), and can be attributed to improved net margins. Also, we see an increase in current liabilities of 187 mil USD between 1995 and 1996. We also see that the sum of the increase in current liability and the net profit, of 199 6, is higher than the actual additional operating asset requirement: 272 + 187 = 459 mil USD > 447. 5 mil USD. Therefore, Dell funded its 1996 sales growth through internal resources, i. e. reducing its current assets and increasing its net margin. . Assuming Dell sales will grow 50% in 1997, how might the company fund this growth internally? How much would working capital need to be reduced and/or profit margin increased? What steps do you recommend the company take? For the year 1996, Operating Assets = Total Assets – Short term Investments = 2148 – 591 = 1557 Mil USD When the sales increases by 50% in 1997, operating assets are also expected to increase by 50%. So for 1997, Dell requires an operating asset of 1557 x 1. 5 = 2336 Mil USD. We should also assume that the net profit as a percentage of sales will increase proportionally by 50% for 1997. For 1996, Net profit as a percentage of sales = 272/5296 = 5. 14% For 1997, Net profit = 5296 x 0. 0514 * 1. 5 = 408 Mil USD For 1997, additional operating asset required = 2336 – 1557 = 779 Mil USD How could this be funded by Dell? Let us assume two scenarios Scenario 1: Let us assume the liabilities remain the same for the year 1997 even when sales increases by 50%, i. e. DELL would not go for any additional liability to fund the increase in operating asset and it would try to do it internally. As per the calculation shown in the attached exhibit, Dell would need 371 Mil USD to fund the increase in sales. The following are the ways DELL could fund this increase in operating asset 1. They could liquidate the short term investments of 591 Mil USD which would cover all of the additional funds required. 2. Dell could sell some of its fixed assets 3. They could reduce inventories, account receivables, and increase the account payables. They could bring down the working capital substantially by having a very low cash cycle. They could negotiate with their suppliers for a higher DPO. With the Just In Time (JIT) concept, they could receive payments immediately from their customers. Let us assume in 1997 Â   |Q4 1996 |Q4 1997 |Difference | |DSI |31 |20 |-11 | |DSO |42 |25 |-17 | |DPO |33 |50 |17 | |CCC |40 |-5 |-35 | So, there is a high possibility to attain a negative cash cycle which in turn saves on the working capital. Average daily sales in 1997 = 7944/365 = 21. 8 Mil USD Cost of sales in 1997 = (4229/5296) x 7944 = 6343. 5 Mil USD Average daily cost of sales in 1997 = 6343. 5/365 = 17. 4 Mil USD For the year 1997, savings due to improved cash cycle is Savings due to reduced inventory days = 11 x 17. 4 = 191. 4 Mil USD Savings due to reduced receivable days = 17 x 21. 8 = 370. 6 Mil USD Savings due to increased payable days = 17 x 17. 4 = 295. 8 Mil USD Total saving from cash cycle improvements = 857. 8 Mil USD Scenario 2: Let us assume liabilities for 1997 increase proportionally (50%) with the increase in sales, i. e. Dell would look for external funding for the increase in operating asset. As per the calculation shown in the attached exhibit, Dell would have enough money to fund the increase in sales with the corresponding increase in liabilities. In fact they will have an excess of 161 Mil USD assuming the long term debt remains unchanged. Dell could use this excess money to repay the long term debt or it could buy back some common stocks. 4. How would your answers to Question 3 change if Dell also repurchased $500 mil USD of common stock in 1997 and repaid its long-term debt? Let us assume Dell repurchased 500 Mil USD of common stock in 1997 and it also repaid its long term debt. In such a scenario, as per the calculation shown in the attached exhibit, Dell would need 452 Mil USD to fund the increase in sales. The points discussed in scenario 1 of Q3 holds good here as well.