Essay for college application

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Woolworths Australia History

Woolworths Australia History Woolworths has the biggest supermarket chain in Australia and is owned by the Woolworths Limited. Woolworths Limited was established in 1924 with the initial store opening in Sydneys Imperial Arcade. Its opening advertisement claimed that every city required the Woolworths and thus everybody needed a handy place where good things were cheap (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). Woolworths was founded by Stanley Edward Chatterton, Harold Percival Christmas, Ernest Robert Williams, George William Percival Creed and Cecil Scott Waine. Stanley Chatterton and Percy Christmas had opened the first floor Frock Salon in Queen Victoria Markets currently the Queen Victoria Building at the corner of George and Market streets in Sydney (Collier and Evans, 2010). Formation of Woolworths limited It was obvious in 1924 the premises of S.E. Chatterton were small steered to opening of another branch. Formation of the new company (Woolworths limited) incorporated with the nominal capital of 25,000 shares each. The once proposed Woolworths Bazaar seemed cumbersome and on 22nd September in 1924, the company got registered as Woolworths limited after realization that the overseas Woolworths Company has no agenda to open in Australia. It had the following founding directors: S.E. Chatterton, H.P. Christmas, C. Scott Waine, E.R. Williams and G.W.P. Creed as the nearest advisers (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). There were 15,000 shares which were given to public though there was small confidence in the business enterprise. Only 11,707 shares got subscribed by 29 people mostly the friends of promoters. Despite the mode, it was decided to go on and open soonest possible. The store was an instantaneous success and in its initial year the company remunerated a dividend of 5%, 40% in the second year and 50% in its third year (Collier and Evans, 2010). The policy of the founders to sell good in popular demand on cash and carry basis had been maintained (Peter Schulz, 1982). Woolies before Transition Retail environment in Australia Over the last 50 years, the Australia enjoyed fine business environment with increased population with the shopping centre developers becoming some of the leading in the world. The country enjoys fine weather all the year round, apart from having many of open air shopping centers. The usually encompassed centers have also an outdoor component with enclosed air conditioned areas which offer the respite from summer heat in warmer states. Evolution of supermarkets came with huge impact on Australias retail landscape. Riding on the strength of supermarkets retailing, Woolworths were at the time prepared on their way to become the biggest largest retailers. The Woolworths and Cols have currently neared 10% of the total Australian retail sales. As the retail sector in Australia has grown, it has also remained flexible and strategic to cope with micro and macro economic challenges, consumer trends, technological advances, new retail formats, consumer trends, globalization, rising retail rents, and increasing competition. Warehousing At first the Sydney Bulk Store was built on the two floors above Oxford Street store in 1929 though the space was outgrown quickly and in 1933 the three floors of the nearby Wentworth Avenue warehouse got taken over. The 20,000 sq ft seemed enough for the foreseeable future though it was outgrown within two years. This lead into purchase of 1 acre site at Pyrmont and 100,000 sq ft warehouse establishment opening as Sydbulk in 1936. Within the two years of growth, the space was outgrown as now Woolworths had 71 stores bulk and trading buying was the significant part to supply the best prices to customers. A novel bigger site was obtained at Glebe and in 1940 a modern warehouse of 262,000 sq ft was opened. Simultaneously, the Sydprint which was initiated in 1934 as the silk screen department in Majestys store moved likewise into Glebe warehouse (Karen Plunkett-Powell , 2001). The availability of enough warehousing was short lived and the influx of troops in the World War II created a space at the premium and in 1942 the Woolworths managed to bargain for smaller area in the attempt of taking the Glebe Warehouse as 100,000 was fenced for Americans. The World War II had brought the companys growth into termination. Many Woolworths men and women joined into military services which made it difficult for the company get its stock and staff (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). The company saw a big change in its top management in 1940 with the appointment of Mr. Theo Kelly as the General Manager preceding Mr. H.P. Christmas then in office after the company sought the relief solution from increasingly arduous duties. Mr. Kelly who had joined Woolworths in 1928, its dedication interest in stock control issues led into his appointment as the Warehouse Manager two years later (Peter Schulz, 1982). Mr. Kelly was transferred to New Zealand in 1931 as the general manager and after three years he was appointed as the Director of Woolworths NZ. He took leave from position of General Manager to serve in RAAF for a few years and then got appointed into the board on his return. In 1945, Mr. Christmas retired as the managing director which led Kelly to be appointed as the successor at age 37. Mr. Christmas retained his Board position though on his oversees trip he suddenly died at Bordeaux in France. His position on Board was taken by Mr. Cedric Hart who joined the company in 1928 as the Queensland Accountant and got appointed as Secretary at the Head Office, Sydney in 1929. Post-War Expansion The termination of war brings the duty of rehabilitating the returned service personnel and the depleted warehouses and stores. The first post-war store was commenced at Brankstown, Sydney in 1948 and other stores quickly enhanced. In 1954, the Woolworths purchased the Majestys building for $ 2,200,000, Australian record price for one piece of the real estate and in 1955 the Woolworths opened the 200th store in Civic Centre, Canberra (Collier and Evans, 2010). Woolworths continued to grow in New Zealand to acquire 10 McDuffs stores by 1951 and in 1955 there were already 50 Woolworths stores established in New Zealand. In 1956 the company commenced its staff Journal which soon came to be called the Woolies News and circulated to all the states and stores to keep the Woolies family updated on the activities of rapidly expanding company (Karen Plunkett-Powell , 2001). Woolies Transition Woolworths limited continued to develop and in 1929 it saw its establishment in the London Buying Office (Australasian Chain Stores Ltd) and its related company in New Zealand, the Woolworths Zealand ltd whose initial store opened at Cuba Street in Wellington in 1929. By the ending of 1933, Woolworths limited had grown into 23 branches in Australia and 8 branches in New Zealand. The initial Victorian store was opened at Bourke Street in Melbourne in 1933. On the proceeding year, the former Bargain Basement Imperial Arcade in Sydney was closed after the company got the lease of her closest Majestys Theatre (Karen Plunkett-Powell , 2001). Following the considerable internal reconstruction, her new Majestys branch at Market and Pitt Street became the Woolworths major Sydney store which opened on 1934. In 1938, another new company was built to control the freehold properties of Woolworths properties ltd, Woolworths freehold properties and in 1942 the companys initial architect was selected. Woolworths had consistent advertisers in daily newspapers from beginning. In 1937, the company decided to utilize the comparatively new medium of radio sponsoring; the evening program referred to as Rhythm Round-up aired in station 2GB in Sydney (Collier and Evans, 2010). The Woolworths appeal for almost unfamiliar before breakfast resulted in Jack Davey to get its initial peak-time break in the show business and became one of the Sydneys principal personalities (Karen Plunkett-Powell , 2001). In 1981, the construction began on novel 74,000 sq metre warehouse complex on a land of 13 hectares at Yennora at the approximate cost of $20 million. The Yennora Distribution Cntre opened in 1983 and became the companys initial computerized Food warehouse. The second computerized Food Warehouse was established at the Acacia Ridge, Qld in 1983 and the novel meat processing plant at Wacol, Brisbane stated its production in July. In 1985, acquisition of 126 Australian Safeway Stores brought Woolworths to be the biggest food retailer in Australia. The Safeway Stores were located in Queensland and Victoria, New South Wales and involved the Northern New South Wales and Food Barns in Queensland. The stores got acquired following the agreement in which the Safeway Inc received 19.99% interest in Woolworths Limited (Peter Schulz, 1982). This led into Mr. J.W.R, the managing director and chairman of Australian Safeway stores, and Mr. P.A. Magowan, the chief executive officer and chairman of the Safeway stores Inc, USA got appointed into the Woolworths Board (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). Currently the Food Store Chain included Philip Leong, Flemings (NSW), BCC, Food for Less (QLD), BCC, Fabulous (SA), Nancarrows (Vic), and Food Fair (WA) and it was concluded that from 1986 the businesses would operate as Food and Wholesaling Unit based at Mascot, Flemings, and Sydney. Woolworths also enhanced into franchising with the passing of Clancys franchises from the testing stage and 12 Clancy stores which operated in New South Wales. On January of 1985, acquisition of 50% for issued capital of Chandlers, Australia got pronounced. Chandler operated the chain of 59 electrical retail stores in Northern New South Wales and Queensland while in April the initial Dick Smith store was established in San Francisco, United States (Collier and Evans, 2010). In 1985, the minute group of 12 Homemaker stores was terminated. These stores were initially established in 1973 with stores in Jesmond in NSW and Bankstown Square, which involved a wide range of furniture, white goods and furnishings. On November, the IEL advised the unconditional offer to all shares in Woolworths Limited at the price of $3.65 cash per share. On December, the chairman for Woolworths declared the Woolworths directors had agreed on IEL offer to get the Woolworths shares. In 1989, the IEL had acquired 98.4% of shares in Woolworths and went on with compulsory acquisition of remaining Woolworths share (Collier and Evans, 2010). Woolworths became fully owned subsidiary of IEL at the cost of $ 850 million and on 31st of May, the Woolworths Limited shares got delisted and the company never appeared on Stock Exchange Boards after being listed for 65 years (Peter Schulz, 1982). The Woolworths limited stores had not been given attention until the premises offer on the highly advantageous terms which resulted in Woolworths opening at the store in Queen Street, Brisbane in 1927. On the preceding year, the company opened a store at 370 Pitt Street, second in Brisbane in the Valley and initial in Western Australia at the Hay Street, Perth (Peter Schulz, 1982). Cost and Benefits On October in 1964, the Woolworths opened its initial entirely sponsored and established the regional shopping centre (Jesmond Centre), near Newcastle, NSW. The 12 acre $2 million project involved the Woolworths initial BIG W department store, extensive car parking and specialty shops. In the preceding year the company opened the second BIG W department store at Chatswood. In 1964 Woolworths celebrated its 30th anniversary for its total retail sales which totaled $250 million setting the record for Australian retailer. It saw the building of laboratory of food testing at Perishables Warehouse in Auburn hence launching the company on the Quality Assurance Program which became one of the biggest and most comprehensive in retail industry in Australia (Karen Plunkett-Powell , 2001). In October 1965, Woolworths opened the second regional shopping centre at Newcastle in New South Wales. The $4 million establishment was referred as Kotara and in August 1966 was preceded by a drive-in shopping centre at the Liverpool nearby Sydney. And in November 1968, the Rock-hampton (Central Queensland) got its initial drive in the shopping centre when the Woolworths started the Northside Plaza (Karen Plunkett-Powell , 2001). On the proceeding year, Sundale on Queenslands Gold Coast was established on March and the fifth drive-in shopping centre got entirely expanded by Woolworths. Also the $71/2 million regional shopping centre on a 13 acre site comprising 50 shops was flagged as one of the developed designs in Australia by the time (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). The drive-in supermarkets greatly spread as Warrawong Regional Centre in the nearby Port Kembla, and New South Wales opened in 1969. Woolworths drive-ins opened its seventh shopping centre south of Warrawong at Warilla Grove with Woolworths supermarket and other 20 specialty stores (Peter Schulz, 1982). Woolworths formed an export division in 1963 as Woolworths registered in Malaysia, Thailand Philippines and Hong Kong. In May 1965, the Woolworths Limited in Malaysia acquired the management interest in Fitzpatricks Food Suppliers, the Far East Limited, which is one of the Leading Singapores retail, agency and wholesale organizations. This was consequently sold in 1970. In 1965 Woolworths had the significant events of acquiring the long-term lease in Bebarfalds building the famous Sydney landmark at the corner of Park and George streets opposite Sydney Town Hall. In 1978, the board agreed the offer from LD Nathan and Co Ltd, from New Zealand to buy the Woolworths 40% interest in Woolworths (NZ) ltd. The company had the net gain due to transaction of $2,016,000 and 1,887,844 shares in Co.Ltd and LD Nathan which represented the 15% interest in the company (Peter Schulz, 1982). In 1979 Woolworths shares in LD Nathan plus Company Limited got sold to the New Zealand institutions bringing into an end the association which extended over half century. Woolworths established their initial New Zealand store in Cuba Street, Wellington in 1929 and lastly got 98 stores in New Zealand. In the marketing style changes of the Woolworths first self-service, a variety store was started at Beverly Hills, in a Sydney suburb on October, 1955. In the similar concept in retail trading overseas, especially in America, customers no longer waited to be catered for but serviced themselves to the items they required to pay at the checkouts as they moved out of the store (Peter Schulz, 1982). In 1983, the company made the year sales of $3,243,701,000 and the net profit of $56,965,000 after taxing. To recognize the companys 60th anniversary, the directors issued for bonus issue of shares made to all shareholders in the proportion of 1 to 10. The dividend reinvestment plan was pronounced and became operating in 1984 last dividend. In the year, 10 small stores in north of Western Australia got acquired from Elders IXL. The acquisition brought Woolies into a sole rich Pilbara region of north Western Australia for initial time and into the total number of 793. The concept was successful and the second self-service store got opened in Carnegie, in Melbourne the preceding year. In this whole period, the company experimented with small food sections in the rear parts of its variety stores including the Burswood, Punchbowl, Dee Why and Campsie (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). The grocery range was limited though it included delicatessen items, fresh vegetables and packaged fresh meat sold in refrigerated cabinets. The variety sectors were serviced while the food sections were on self-service basis and had their own checkouts in the middle of the store. In May 1958, the company enhanced his fewer food outlets by acquisition of other 32 BCC (Stores food markets) in Queensland. The quick expansion enabled Woolworths to open its 300ths store in Wentworthville in December 1959. 1960 was the momentous year as Woolworths continued to proceed into the food sector to acquire John Wills supermarket chain which consisted of nine stores in Western Australia (Collier and Evans, 2010). With enhanced expertise in food marketing, the Woolworths planned for a series of comprehensive supermarkets, self selection stores, giving a variety of goods and range of food under one roof, with nearby parking space to meet the needs of fast growing population of car owners (Peter Schulz, 1982). The first Woolworths supermarket was opened at Warrawong, New South Wales in 1960 and was a great success which the other stores planned on drawing board reviewed to allow for full growth of the entire sites. In November and December of the same year, supermarkets got opened at Seven Hills, Berala, St. Ives, and Fairfield Heights, New South Wales, Margate and Coorparoo in Queensland and Elizabeth in South Australia. Acquisition for the 55 store Flemings food Chain in June and 57 New South Wales stores At McIraiths in November enhanced Woolworths food marketing. Woolworths became the initial retailer to function widely in Australia in 1960 when it bought the Northern Territory business for Centralian Traders Pty Ltd, in Alice Springs and Woolies were brought in the centre of the continent as Darwin followed in 1962. Following the massive expansion, the Glebe warehouse became a bit small and the existing stock-handling techniques too cumbersome. By the beginning of 1960, a new eighteen acre distribution centre at North Auburn, Silver water in NSW got established in stages. It occupied the entire block and offered the largest building for its kind in Australia with 800,000 sq ft of the storage space on two levels (Peter Schulz, 1982). The variety stock was held in one floor with consumables and groceries on other. Installation in the warehouse of Ramac, electronic computer for distribution and modern stock control, built Woolworths as the leader in computer usage in retail industry. In 1962, the completion of warehouse in Sydprint shifted from Glebe warehouse to Silverwater and got renamed as Woolprint and remained there until 1989. A new subsidiary Meatex was formed at Auburn for meat supplication to supermarkets and by 1961 another smaller Meatex plant got opened at Welland, South Australia before it relocated to Marleston in 1963. In August, a novel Meat distribution centre got completed in Blacktown to replace the Meatex at Auburn. The modern plant had extensive facilities which facilitated distribution for fresh meat to Woolworths NSW supermarkets (Collier and Evans, 2010). In 1960s, Woolworths expanded again into apparel market. It purchased 70 Rockmans apparel stores which operated in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland in 1961 and by November purchased the manufacturing company (L.O. Bailey Pty Ltd) 78 and other related Chic Salon lingerie shops. The initial stage of enhanced alterations towards the building now called the Woolies Corner, culminated in November opening of the new look Woolworths variety store which occupied the basement, first and ground floors (Peter Schulz, 1982). There was the addition of two additional storeys, and the upper floors became the head office of the company in March 1970. Her Majesty store which traded for 36 years terminated in 1970 and the building got sold to AMP Society for redevelopment as a portion of Centre point project. In 1966 a Knighthood, the Queens Birthday Honor List was pronounced for Woolies Chairman and Managing Director (Sir Theo Kelly) in reorganization for his services to industry and Commerce. Sir Theo Kelly had taken the part of Mr. C. Scott Waine as the Chairman of Board in 1963, to hold the appointment jointly with Managing Directorship. In 1967 eight Cox brothers department stores got acquired successfully to comprise the Foys at Bourke Street in Melbourne and the stores in Melbourne in Chadstone suburbs, Prahran, Northland and Collingwood; Cox-Economic at Hay stret, Morshead atBallarat, Cox-Foys and Perth at Mt Gambier SA. The Victorian group of 26 food stores (trading as Nancarrows) was acquired in 1969 and further group of 75 Crofts Food Stores in 1970. The stores added to existing Food Fairs to make it the composite group of 120 food stores which trading as Nancarrows and offered the strong entry into Victorian market (Collier and Evans, 2010). Woolworths opened a novel BIG W Centre at Booval near Ipswich Qld which featured the complete self-selection and checkout process to merchandising in department store as well as food in 60,000 sq. ft. trading level. On the preceding year, a similar store opened at Indooroopilly in Brisbane. This became announced as the Woolworths Family Centre and Booval store got adopted at the same time (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). Simultaneously, it was decided to hold the trading name of BIG W department stores for the purpose of transferring the existing stores to new Woolworths Family Centre Division. In the end of 1970 other three Woolworths Family Centers started to operate in Queensland at Mt, Isa, North Rockhampton and Mt Gravatt, Brisbane. Popularity in Woolworths Family Centers, Queensland gave way for more expansion for this new division and in 1971 the initial New South Wales centers started at Warilla Grove shopping centre and St, Wollingong. These got followed by the Wagga NSW, 10th and the Phoenix Park near the Fremantle WA, 31st. By the end of September in 1971, there were opened six more Family Centers, three in Queensland, two in (NSW) and one in WA. Also the company lauched its 25-year club in 1970 where the Woolworths honors its employees retired or active with 25 or more years service. The inaugural functions got held in the entire states at Companys London Office (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). Sir Theo Kelly retired in 1971 and Owen Price the general manager since 1969 was appointed as the companys chief executive. Sir Theo remained as the chairman of Woolworths Limited, subsidiary and associated companies and the managing and chairman of Woolworths, in New Zealand Limited. In November 1972, the last surviving member of Woolworths group who founded Woolworths, Mr. Stanley E. Chatterton CBE, retired from the directors board to severe the link of great historical importance. In 1974, the general manager, Mr. Owen Price, resigned and Mr. Paul Simons and Mr. W.B Dean got appointed jointly as general managers and Mr. C.T. Waldon became the deputy general manager. On December in 1978, Mr. C.T. Waldron the deputy general manager became appointed as the joint general manager corporate services after resignation of Mr. Paul Simons as Mr. W.B. Dean maintained his responsibility as the Joint General Manager (merchandising). In 1973 Woolworths introduced the carefully organized series of Woolworths own brands. It launched 200 items under five different names: St Mark, Chevron, Grandway and Woothworths which all bared the Own Brands seal. For qualification in inclusion of the Own Brands range, the e product retained the least equal quality to national market leader though it sold at a minimal price (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001) Woolworths limited 50th anniversary was celebrated by the shoppers in the entire Australia on 5th December as Australia shaped cakes which bared 50 candles got distributed in all the stores for customers and staff to share (Peter Schulz, 1982). That year saw the retail sales of $702,024,065 and the operating profit minus the tax of $9, 933,770. The staff currently which totaled 32,000 made the Woolworths as one of the largest employers of private labor enterprise sector (Collier and Evans, 2010). The Woolworths board recently established the four clear corporate objectives: To offer the customers with good quality merchandise at cheap prices. Improved profit on shareholders funds to make the people owning Woolworths To receive good returns on investment. To offer their customers with adequate and friendly services. To provide good conditions, wages, job satisfaction for its employees. In 1975, there was a high inflection in Australia and Woolworths got affected by the heavy increases of wages. Even though, 143 new stores got completed in the year and significantly the policy discussions got held to rationalize the trading operations and plan for establishment of BIG W Discount Store Division, the novel style for retailing of Woolworths. The BIG W concept was for big store, and sold the general merchandise on a sole level with enhanced parking facilities. The initial BIG W DISCOUNT STORE was started at West Tamworth in New South Wales in 1976 and by the ending of 1978, up to 13 BIG W Discount stores operated with stores in the entire states and ACT. Also in 1976, Woolworths became the initial Australian retail organization to get the sales which exceeded $ 1 billion in a financial year and the initial Annual Report to staff got distributed, an additional initial Australian Retail Industry (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). In 1980, Sir Theo Kelly OBE retired from the position of Chairman and got succeeded by Mr. E.P. McClintock. Sir Theo Kelly was established to commemorate his 52 years in the company and 17 years as the chairman. The foundation offered the scholarship to enable managers from the industry participates in the moment of tertiary education aiming directly to develop the skills in Executive Retail Management. On January, 31st, Mr. AJ Tony the previous state manager for NSW was selected as to general manager and also chief executive and director for the board before his appointment as the managing director in 1981. In the year which ended in 28th January in 1981, the company sales exceeded by $2 billion for initial time and the increased results made the bonus issue of usual shares of 1 for 10. A $30 million pronounceable rights matter for convertible unsecured was made to ordinary shareholders to help in funding of new store development. In 1981, the Woolworths got 60% of the established companies operated by Dick Smith Electronic, and the remaining 40% of Dick Smith group got acquired in 1983. The food store group was based in Townsville, Qld as Philip Leong was taken in April and acquirement of Purity Group of 14 supermarkets and Roelf Vos group of 10 supermarkets in Tasmania. Woolworths had been in the forefront in utilization of the latest technology and improved its retail performance. In year 1926 the receipt-printing cash registers got installed by National Cash Register Company which declared Woolworths Limited was the words firt variety store to implement that kind of machines to record its sales (Collier and Evans, 2010). In August of 1982, the Arndale Supermarket and the Frenchs Forest formed the initial centre for scanning operations with NCR equipment in Sydney. Preceding the successful pilit scheme, the scanning systems got introduced in 10 supermarkets in Purity Stores and New South Wales in Tasmania. The Proceeding year on 5th of December, there was the introduction of the worlds first national electronic funds transfer system at the point of sale at that supermarket at Neutral Bay, New South Wales. The Food Plus and BP Australia joined Westpac for this historic initially. In 1998, the trial for the first scanning system got launched at Glenorchy Purity Supermarket, Tasmania. In the first week of December, celebrations were held in the entire Woolworths stores to celebrate the companys 60th Anniversary. This followed the giving of 11 kilo maps of Australia cakes to all Woolworths stores for cake-cutting ceremonies and presentation in the community groups. This give opportunity for the 25 year club with the membership f 705 which held special functions in all the states. The community gestured for 60th anniversary and the poster of Australian flags with 38 flags depicting the Australian history got produced for Australian day. Two of posters were given free to all the Australian schools, state and independent likewise to make available in all the parliamentarians and any interested parties. They proved to be successful and became an annual event with the new poster on Australian theme designed and distributed every year (Collier and Evans, 2010). The Future of Woolworths Improvement in Profitability The companys results reviewed a dramatic turnaround from negative effects of 1987. The half year trading of 1988 confirmed the improvement trend in profitability of company though the directors never declared on interim dividend. In the period of 1988 to 1989, the sales and the group operating profit increased and again putting the Woolworths as the leader of retailed food in Australia (Peter Schulz, 1982). In 1989, the new concept of store presentation introduced alongside Crazy Prices Store that was opened at Eastwood, NSW. Formally growing from aggressive efforts into clear stocks on closing of unprofitable variety stores, the precepts was then enhanced into new sites and in two years the 20 Crazy Prices stores got established (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001). Environment Woolworths looked for various ways of reducing its effects on environment. It engaged in recycling of in-store waste like polystyrene boxes, cardboard boxes, meat off cuts and chicken rotisserie fat and the supermarkets came up with storefront bins of plastic bag recycling. In the last half of 1989, Woolworths established the testing program and became the CFC free and utilized only the HFC refrigerants. All the refitted and new Woolworths supermarkets are fitted with HFC products nationally (Peter Schulz, 1982). Woolworths currently uses the latest technological advances to offer the service for their customers. The Woolworths Online Fresh Food Website involves the personalized meal planning features. The site gives room for the customer to browse around 2000 delicious recipes, dietary advice and practical cooling tips from the leading nutritionist: Rosemary Stanton and register for dietary requirements and personal food preferences. Proper meal plans particularly tailored to those kinds of requirements are generated and after the recipes are chosen, the sites form a shopping list and advice to the viewer of their nearest Woolworths Purity, Safeway or Roelf Vos Supermarket. Its Home Page Services got extended when the Homeshop went live in 1998. Centered on the Woolworths store at Eastwood, Sydney, the Homeshop enables the customers to view for products range including fresh fruit and vegetables, groceries, serviced deli, fresh meat, liquor, frozen and chilled foods. The customers have got their chosen groceries delivered within the nominated 2 hour delivery window amidst 7am and 11pm by the refrigerated Homeshop van as the payments are made via mobile EFTPOS on their arrival. The service has been expanded rapidly with plans to cover the for 140 suburbs in Sydney (Collier and Evans, 2010). In July of 1998, the Woolworths and Commonwealth Bank pronounced the alliance purposed at offering the range of co-branded financial services to personal customers. Immediately after the Woolworths had announced it, contracted with the Dan Murphy Cellars liquor business (in Victoria) with five other retail outlets in metropolitan Melbourne. It had been the intention of Woolworths to sustain the Dan Murphy business as the autonomous expand and operation nationwide in the new brand-name concept (Peter Schulz, 1982). Woolworths goes on to enhance its activities with novel marketplace shopping centers in construction , and more so Metro Stores being opened in New South Wales and Queensland likewise to Woolworths +Plus Petro enhancing up to 42 outlets and new distribution and warehousing centers at Minchin bury, broad meadows and New South Wales, Victoria (Karen Plunkett-Powell, 2001).

Woolworths Australia History

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Dulce Et Decorum Est Essay -- English Literature

Dulce Et Decorum Est Owen's attitude to war is justified by the title and the language used in the poem. He is anti-war. He uses the Latin title ironically to show his aim, that the translation of: "Dulce Et Decorum Est" Is a false saying. It is not good and proper or sweet and fitting to die for their country, it is a lie as he points out in the final 3 lines: "To children ardent for some desperate glory, the old Lie: Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria mori" He tries to teach those that in turn teach their young to fight, that dying for their country, their Queen isn't right, he shows how the eager children: "Desperate for some ardent glory" Are actually excited and fuelled by the dreams put into their minds, of fame, heroism and power, these children absorb these stories, the propaganda spoon fed to them as fuel. It fuels the idealist mind of a child and this would lead them to further believe and trust in those stories and never reject the lie growing within them till they enlist for the army and discover the truth hidden from them for so long, that war is hopeless, war is horrid, war is mankind's creation. They will grow to learn the frightening effects and results of a war and it is this, which Owen hopes to prevent. Latin in this poem is extremely significant; the phrase is the idea behind Owens poem, the lesson he sets out to teach. Latin is a dead language but was spoken by, many countries during the times of the Roman Empire. Owen for the sake of this poem revives it. In my view he is using the Latin as a metaphor for war, Latin is dead! Owen suggests the propaganda of the past presents inexplicably false stories with no real truth behind them. Owen is angry at those who would ... ...ighly patriotic or is tainted by there countries propaganda campaigns, it is the lie, the lie that has cost many jives and decimated many landscapes, its old, it has been retold and taught for many generations, by grandparents, uncles & aunties and the parents themselves who were taught it also, its shouldn't go any further, it has cost too many lives already, Owen is crying out stop the teachings, stop the slaughter of innocent young men corrupted by their countries propaganda, stop it and keep it ended because war doesn't solve anything, families are ended in wars, innocent people and beautiful landscapes are destroyed in senseless wars with only one point, Power for the country who wins but what is greater? The cost of victory, or the survival of so many soldiers that could be future fathers, or future scientists, writers and inventors, think about it.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Under The Spell :: Creative Writing Short Stories Traveling Essays

Under The Spell "The great advantage of having an ancestry like that of a mongrel dog is I have so many ancestral homes to go home to." We caught the ferry from Le Havre, France to Ireland, land of my ancestors. Every since I was a wee lad, my mind has been used as a canvas by every Irishman who has been displaced from the Emerald Isle. A picture of quaintness bordering upon myth. Cute I thought it would be, but never as much as the tourist hype I had read. I donned my suit of armor constructed of cynicism, forged by age. Protected thus from the hype, I the ancestral child would see Ireland as it really is. Mind you, no tourist hype for me. The ship pulled in to Rosslare Harbor near Wexford and lowered its gangplank. I made it most of the way down before I was sucked clean out of my armor into, head over heels, and under the spell of the Emerald Isle. We had arranged for a rental car, to be picked upon arrival at the harbor. I thought perhaps we would be shown how to operate it. Instead the attendant said in his sweet Irish brogue, "It's the wee red one over there," and handed me the keys. Still dazed by the sudden entrance in to "The Spell" we sped off in our wee red Ford Fiesta. Every so many hundred yards along the road signs reminded us to "Drive to the left." On the open road it was no problem, however moments later in the congestion of Wexford I was near panic, yelling at Travis to help remind me what side of the street I was on. It didn't help that he often mixes left and right up in his mind, some sort of hereditary functional disorder. I almost broke out in sweat when I had to make my first right turn feeling as though I was going head on into the oncoming traffic. By the time we got through Wexford I was in desperate need to stop for a wee pee. I saw a small side road and took that hoping to find a secluded spot to relieve myself. I discovered that when you leave the main roads in Ireland you are almost immediately secluded. We stopped in front of an old abandoned barn made of stone with an unusual door shaped like a horseshoe. The earth smelled wet and fresh and was a bit boggy, more so when I departed. It was only a few hundred yards before we learned our first rule of driving in Ireland. Under The Spell :: Creative Writing Short Stories Traveling Essays Under The Spell "The great advantage of having an ancestry like that of a mongrel dog is I have so many ancestral homes to go home to." We caught the ferry from Le Havre, France to Ireland, land of my ancestors. Every since I was a wee lad, my mind has been used as a canvas by every Irishman who has been displaced from the Emerald Isle. A picture of quaintness bordering upon myth. Cute I thought it would be, but never as much as the tourist hype I had read. I donned my suit of armor constructed of cynicism, forged by age. Protected thus from the hype, I the ancestral child would see Ireland as it really is. Mind you, no tourist hype for me. The ship pulled in to Rosslare Harbor near Wexford and lowered its gangplank. I made it most of the way down before I was sucked clean out of my armor into, head over heels, and under the spell of the Emerald Isle. We had arranged for a rental car, to be picked upon arrival at the harbor. I thought perhaps we would be shown how to operate it. Instead the attendant said in his sweet Irish brogue, "It's the wee red one over there," and handed me the keys. Still dazed by the sudden entrance in to "The Spell" we sped off in our wee red Ford Fiesta. Every so many hundred yards along the road signs reminded us to "Drive to the left." On the open road it was no problem, however moments later in the congestion of Wexford I was near panic, yelling at Travis to help remind me what side of the street I was on. It didn't help that he often mixes left and right up in his mind, some sort of hereditary functional disorder. I almost broke out in sweat when I had to make my first right turn feeling as though I was going head on into the oncoming traffic. By the time we got through Wexford I was in desperate need to stop for a wee pee. I saw a small side road and took that hoping to find a secluded spot to relieve myself. I discovered that when you leave the main roads in Ireland you are almost immediately secluded. We stopped in front of an old abandoned barn made of stone with an unusual door shaped like a horseshoe. The earth smelled wet and fresh and was a bit boggy, more so when I departed. It was only a few hundred yards before we learned our first rule of driving in Ireland.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Nuclear Family

Yesterday, 22:02Ã‚ in:Ã‚ Essay samples The question is to outline and critically evaluate the functionalist view that the typical family unit is nuclear. The other part of the question is to critically evaluate the work of Willmott and Young that suggests that the family is becoming increasingly symmetrical. In defining the symmetrical family according to Willmott and Young, males and females are becoming equal within the family. Willmott and Young also stated that there are three stages in becoming a symmetrical family.The first stage is the pre-industrial family, which is a unit of production consisting of a husband, wife and unmarried children. The family worked for themselves on the land as a unit of production. This is still represented in a small minority of families today. The family started to decline in the nineteenth Ã¢â‚¬â€œcentury due to the industrial revolution which gave rise to the emergence of the factory system. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2002). The stage two famili es began with early industrialization.Factory production replaced the domestic system and such families ceased to be a unit of production and focused more on the individuals employed as wage earners. During the nineteenth century there was high unemployment and widespread poverty amongst the working class. Stage three families began in the early 1970Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s. This is a new emerging family called the symmetrical family. It is egalitarian and democratic. The conjugal bond between husband and wife is strong and they share their work and time around the home. The nuclear family has become a large self-containing and self-reliant unit.Wives still have the main responsibility of raising the children with a little help from their husbands. Women started a network of support in order to help each other and their children during hard times. This extension of network was done to cope with poverty by creating an insurance policy and support. The bond between married daughter and mother became closer and the conjugal bond between husband and wife became weaker. A survey carried out by Willmott and Young in the 1950Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s showed that stage two families still exists in Bethnal Green.There is still a strong bond between mothers and daughters. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000) Historically the symmetrical family brought changes to the structure of the family. However, there are feminist theories on the family for example, radical feminists believe that that the family is a unit of oppression. Radical feminists see the home as a place where women were exploited by the capitalists and their husbands. Men were the head of the family and household. The men had political and economic powers allowing them to make decisions in the home. As a result the women would be dependent on the men.In order to understand the family, feminism has probably had more influence on the study of the family than any other approaches in society. Feminists have highlighted the dangerous effects on wome n within the family. Also the dominance of men within the family was highlighted. They also question whether the family life is becoming egalitarian. In addition, feminists view the family as an institution, which has greater benefits for men compared to those for women (Haralambos, 2000). In regards to the Marxist feminist perspective, Marxists such as Engel and Zaretsky recognised that women are treated unfairly in the home.However their focus is on the relationship between Capitalism and the family. Margaret Benston states that women are the emotional support for her husband. This support provides him with comfort, which enables him to continue to go out to perform well in his job. In terms this is good for the Capitalist employee working well in order to perform his role as a wage labourer (handout feminist perspectives on the family). According to Bryson (1997), radical feminists view the oppression of women as the most fundamental and universal from of control.In this view, th is is a patriarchal society rather than a Capitalist society in which women have different interests than men. Men are not seen as the source of male domination, although the feminists do see the family as important in keeping male power. Women are seen as exploited because of the housework and child care duties that she has to carry out unpaid. Men are seen as the ruling class and females as the subject in which patriarchal power control womenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s sexual activity. Willmott (1970) argues that the way society is organised enabled men to dominate women.In the extreme from this can take the form of violence. As Dobash and Dobash (1980) indicates this violence from men is a real threat to many women and children. Liberal feminists views ague that women wanted equal rights. However they point on that changes in the political, economic and social system of western societies will be a gradual process. Liberal feminists see inequalities as affecting both males and females. They see wom en with potential in the workplace as not having the opportunity to progress. Liberal feminists are a strong advocate of equal opportunities for males and females.According to Haralambos and Holborn (2000) liberal feminists supported such measures as the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and the Equality Act (1970) with the intention that these laws would help end discrimination. Critically evaluate the functionalist view that the nuclear family is both universal and typical. According to Murdock a functionalist whoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s claimed that some kind of family existed in every society and was universal. His definition of the family states that Ã¢â‚¬Ëœthe family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction.It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children own or adopted of the sexually co-habiting adultsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Haralambos, 2000) His idea of the universality of the family seems to focus on one type of family. However, the kind of family form that Murdock based his findings on when he did his research in 250 societies he found only nuclear families. This led him to the conclusion that the nuclear family was a universal social group. However, Murdock views of the family is somewhat flawed due to the different type of families that exist in todayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s society.Murdock and Parsons have the view that women should be a t the home looking after and nurturing the children, while men should go out to work and are bread winners of the family. Murdock states that the nuclear family is universal and is based on three key functions for a family to survive in society. These are, it stabilizes sexual and reproductive functions. It also provides basic economic requirements such as food and shelter. Moreover it provides the function of socialization of the next generation into the norms, values and other aspects of culture in that society.Murdock argues tha t without these functions the nuclear family would not survive (Kirby, 1997) However the functionalist view that the nuclear family is both universal and typical can be contradictory. Murdock studied families in 250 societies and found that some kind of family existed in every society and was therefore universal. The types of family structure that Murdock found in all 250 families was the nuclear family which lead him to conclude that the nuclear family is a universal social grouping, (Handout the family) Parsons agrees with Murdock and goes on to say that the nuclear family is typical and normal.Parsons states that the female role is expressive. He makes distinction on the basic biology in that the female is more expressive because of giving birth to the child. Due to child birth the mother has a closer relationship with her baby. The female is a real carer and good at expressing her emotions and is natural in socialising children. The female is a role model for girls in the family . On the other hand the male role is instrumental. He is the breadwinner, provider, supporter of the family, a role model for male children in promoting achievement and giving motivation.There are biological factors that contribute to the difference between male and female in the family. However as Haralambos and Holborn suggested Ã¢â‚¬Ëœthere is no single blueprint for the family which applies to all societiesÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000) Families vary in shapes and sizes and come in different forms such as the Nayar tribe, which is communal. There is the single parent, the same sex, contemporary and reconstituted family. Murdock and Parsons view of the nuclear family implies that women should be looking after the home and men as the provider and breadwinner.Murdock views can be contradictory because of the different types of families that led us to discuss the following families, which can be referred to as the exceptions to the rule of the universal existence. However, according to Gough the cross-cultural Nayar family perform qualities of the nuclear family in that there is a special and social recognised tie, which exists between a girl and the boy when she had her first sexual experience. The Nayar society of southern India performs as a nuclear family.Before puberty girls were ritually married to a Nayar man in the tali-rite. However after the tali-rite the female was free to take up several sexual partners as a result paternity was often uncertain. The only responsibility the women possess was to mourn at her husbandÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s funeral. Women would receive visiting Ã¢â‚¬ËœhusbandsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ after puberty as the men spend a lot of time away fighting. Husbands would visit other wives although the husband took preference when he was back home. The husband or wife would end the marriage any time.Other women share in the caring of the children and the fatherhood of the child was not important because of its matrilineal society. The economical contribu tion of males was minimal towards their children. Brothers and sisters of both parents side contributed to the economics and bringing up of the children (OÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Donnell, 1985) the functionalist views regarding childrenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s need for social and stability works well in the Nayar society (OÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ Donnell, 1985) MurdockÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s view on the universality of the family is too narrow because it excludes many family forms.For example the single parent family is a distinct and viable family type as OÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ Donnell states one in five families with dependant children in Britain in 1994 was headed by a single parent. Single parent family is the most common in western society (Bourne, 1995) states that in 1996 11 per sent of people in Britain lived in this type of family. Today it has doubled. However, there are professional women who choose to be single parents as studied by Jean Renvoizes single mother by choice (1985).She examined 30 mothers of this type who could afford to raise a child single-handed. On the other hand the Cashmore Study this showed that non-professional single parents were poorer and some of these women found being single was better than being in an oppressive relationship. Then there is the same sex family Ã¢â‚¬Ëœas Plummer (1976) argued that homosexual are less likely to establish long-term relationships. Legally homosexuals cannot marry but there are changes in the law that may allow this group to foster or adopt children.There is not enough evidence to support the notion that same-sex relationships are more dysfunctional than heterosexual families. Kirby states (1997) lesbian mothers maybe seen as unfit to nurture children. Then there are mothers who leave heterosexual relationships and enter lesbian relationships- are these women seen as unfit mothers (Kirby, 1997) The contributing family is one in which couples live together with their children for a period of time, before getting married.As Mc Rae (1993) shows many of these couples ma y never marry. Evidence shows that this type of family is less of a problem for themselves or society as a whole, than single mothers, who have been divorced or never married and live without a partner (Kirby, 1997) The reconstituted family is when there are previously married and divorced people with children coming together and getting married who form a new family. Many children are being brought up in this type of family.Many children are being brought up in this type of family of step-parents and step siblings. The extended family is still present in the 21st century. As study conducted by Willmott and Young in the borough of Green in the East End of London such families had intertwined in their lifestyle. The children and parents live in the same area as parents for three or more generations. This family helps and maintains links with each other. Also the mother housewife role is shared by the female members f the extended family (Haralambos and Holborn, 1996) The Neo-Conventi onal family are family of past divorces coming together and re-marrying to form a new family with children from previous marriages as stated by Chester Kirby (1985) There are alternatives styles of family such as the Kibbutz in Israel. Haralambos and Holborn state there are 3 per cent of the population that live in about 270 Kibbutz. These sizes vary from 100-2000 members and it consists of an agricultural lifestyle with some light industry.Children spend most of the day and all the night away from their parents in the children houses. They are educated and socialised by trained staff. Parents do visit their children and spend time together as a family, which keep the strong bond within the family. This bonding meets the childrenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s emotional needs, whereas the Kibbutz provides for childrenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s physical needs. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000) From the post-modern perspectives of the family this views the modern alternatives to the family.This view is saying that in contempo rary society there is a wide diversity of family forms all equally valid, which provide the function of the modern family (Kirby, 1997) In conclusion, according to Murdock and Parson this nuclear family is universal and typical. However this is contradictory because from my research there are a vast variety of family forms that are all existing and functioning, such as the single parent family, Kibbutzim, co-habiting, same sex and reconstitutional.As in the case of the lone parent family it could be argued that the family in industrial society has lost many of its functions. Many of these functions are taken over by the state in the form of specialised organisations for example the social security agency, schools and hospitals. (Haralambos and Holborn, 1983) The extended family still exist in some developing countries today and carry out the duties as the nuclear family. The post-modern view of the family fits in with modern contemporary society.The feminist view highlights the oppr ession of women within the family and changes that has come about. Even though there are differences in the family forms we have to celebrate all types of families. From the nursing profession it is important not to be judgemental towards people and to learn to accept that there are a wide range of families and groups of people in the contemporary society. This post originally appeared on http://www. customwritings. com/blog/sample-essays/essay-family. html

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Introduction Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis involves examining the economic, financial and other qualitative and quantitative factors related to a security in order to determine its intrinsic value. It attempts to study everything that can affect the securityÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s value, including macroeconomic factors (like the overall economy and industry conditions) and individually specific factors (like the financial condition and management of companies). Fundamental analysis, which is also known as quantitative analysis, involves delving into a companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s financial statements (such as profit and loss account and balance sheet) in order to study various financial indicators (such as revenues, earnings, liabilities, expenses, and assets). Such analysis is usually carried out by analysts, brokers and savvy investors. Many analysts and investors focus on a single number Ã¢â‚¬â€œ net income (or earnings) Ã¢â‚¬â€œ to evaluate performance. When investors attempt to forecast the market value of firm, they frequently rely on earnings. Many institutional investors, analysts and regulators believe earnings are not as relevant as they once were. Due to nonrecurring events, disparities in measuring risk and management ability to disguise fundamental earnings problems, other measures beyond net income can assist in predicting future firm earnings. Two approaches of fundamental analysis: * The top-down investor starts his or her analysis with global economics, including both international and national economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, productivity, and energy prices. He or she narrows his or her search down to regional/industry analysis of total sales, price levels, the effects of competing products, foreign competition, and entry or exit from the industry. Only then does he or she narrow his or her search to the best business in that area. * The bottom-up investor starts with specific businesses, regardless of their industry/region. How does fundamental analysis works ? The analysis of a business' health starts with financial statement analysis that includes ratios. It looks at dividends paid, operating cash flow, new equity issues and capital financing. The earnings estimates and growth rate projections published widely by Thomson Reuters and others can be considered either Ã¢â‚¬Ëœfundamental' (they are facts) or Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtechnical' (they are investor sentiment) based on your perception of their validity. The determined growth rates (of income and cash) and risk levels (to determine the discount rate) are used in various valuation models. The foremost is the discounted cash flow model, which calculates the present value of the future * Dividends received by the investor, along with the eventual sale price. Gordon model) * earnings of the company, or * Cash flows of the company. The amount of debt is also a major consideration in determining a company's health. It can be quickly assessed using the debt-to-equity ratio and the current ratio (current assets/current liabilities). The simple model commonly used is the Price/Earnings ratio. Implicit in this model of a perpetual annuity (Time value of money) is that the Ã¢â‚¬Ëœflip' of the P /E is the discount rate appropriate to the risk of the business. The multiple accepted is adjusted for expected growth (that is not built into the model). Growth estimates are incorporated into the PEG ratio, but the math does not hold up to analysis. Its validity depends on the length of time you think the growth will continue. IGAR models can be used to impute expected changes in growth from current P/E and historical growth rates for the stocks relative to a comparison index. Computer modelling of stock prices has now replaced much of the subjective interpretation of fundamental data (along with technical data) in the industry. Since about year 2000, with the power of computers to crunch vast quantities of data, a new career has been invented. At some funds (called Quant Funds) the manager's decisions have been replaced by proprietary mathematical models. Benefits of fundamental analysis: * Identifying the intrinsic value of a security. * Identifying long term investment opportunities since it involves real time data. Drawbacks of fundamental analysis: * Too many economic indicators and extensive macroeconomic data can confuse novice investors. * The same set of information on, macroeconomic indicators can have varied effects on the same currencies at different times. It is beneficial only for long term investments. Fundamental Analysis Tools These are the most popular tools of fundamental analysis. They focus on earnings, growth, and value in the market. For convenience, I have broken them into separate articles. Each article discusses related ratios. There are links in each article to the other articles and back to this article. The articles are: * Earnings per Share Ã¢â‚¬â€œ EPS * Price to Earnings Ratio Ã¢â‚¬â€œ P/E * Projected Earnings Growth Ã¢â‚¬â€œ PEG * Price to Sales Ã¢â‚¬â€œ P/S * Price to Book Ã¢â‚¬â€œ P/B * Dividend Payout Ratio * Dividend Yield Book Value * Return on Equity Ratio Analysis: Financial ratios are tools for interpreting financial statements to provide a basis for valuing securities and appraising financial and management performance. A good financial analyst will build in financial ratio calculations extensively in a financial modelling exercise to enable robust analysis. Financial ratios allow a financial analyst to: * Standardize information from financial statements across multiple financial years to allow comparison of a firmÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s performance over time in a financial model. Standardize information from financial statements from different companies to allow an apples to apples comparison between firms of differing size in a financial model. * Measure key relationships by relating inputs (costs) with outputs (benefits) and facilities comparison of these relationships over time and across firms in a financial mode. In general, there are 4 kinds of financial ratios that a financial analyst will use most frequently, these are: 1. Performance ratio 2. Working capital ratio 3. Liquidity ratio 4. Solvency ratio These 4 financial ratios allow a good financial analyst to quickly and efficiently address the following questions or concerns: 1. Performance ratio: * What return is the company making on its capital investments? * What are its profit margins? 2. Working capital ratios: * How quickly are debts paid? * How many times is inventory turned? 3. Liquidity ratio: * Can company continue to pay its liabilities and debts? 4. Solvency ratios: * What is the level of debt in relation to other assets and debt to equity? * Is the level of interest payable out of profits? Why conduct fundamental analysis? Fundamental analysis helps you determine if a company is a good or poor investment choice. Imagine youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re a venture capitalist or a bank, who must decide if that company is worthy of a loan or equity investment. How can you evaluate whether this particular company deserves your investable capital? Fundamental analysts consider the following in making their decision to invest (or not): * Is the company making a profit consistently? (While this is naturally the most important question for investors, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s important to consider the answer in a bigger context. A single profitable quarter for a new company might be a fluke. In the same regard, a drop in profitability for an established blue-chip company might just be a temporary setback. ) * Is that profit growing or declining over time? * Is the company holding its own relative to the competition? Is it a leader in its sector? Is that sector growing or declining in importance to the overall economy? * Can the company pay its bills adequately? If you were to dismantle the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s operations today, what would be the intrinsic value of its assets versus the value of its debts? What information do we need to perform fundamental analysis? We can think of fundamental analysis as Ã¢â‚¬Å"investing by the numbers,Ã¢â‚¬ since much of the work involves evaluating financial statements issued by the company. Here are a few key statements you should learn to read and understand. All publicly traded companies in the United States are required to file statements of financial condition on a regular basis. These include the 10-Q, a quarterly statement, and the 10-K, an annual statement. Each statement follows a prescribed form to include certain basic information. Publicly traded companies are also subject to audits by government agencies that oversee their given industry. Those audits may be either scheduled or random events. The results of a regulatory audit may also be publishedÃ¢â‚¬â€œinteresting reading for a would-be investor. The 10-Q and 10-K are good places to start your fundamental research, but youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll likely want to dig deeper into the specifics. For that youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll need to understand three interrelated types of statements: the balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement. Reading a balance sheet: Assets As the name suggests, a Ã¢â‚¬Å"balance sheetÃ¢â‚¬ presents a picture of how the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s assets Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the value a company takes in Ã¢â‚¬â€œ are Ã¢â‚¬Å"balanced outÃ¢â‚¬ against its liabilities Ã¢â‚¬â€œ what the company must pay out. When Assets equals Liabilities plus Equity, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s when the statement is said to be in balance. You can look up a balance sheet for any publicly traded U. S. stock on the TradeKing website under Quotes + Research > Quotes + News + Research. Just enter the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s ticker symbol and youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be on your way. In most cases, balance sheets are presented in left and right side format. You'll find Assets on the left, and on the right side of the page are the Liabilities and Equity. (Sometimes these items are listed from top to bottom instead of left to right. ) Assets include resources the company has that are worth something. Many of these are self-explanatory, like Cash & Investments. Others are less familiar, like Current Assets, which refers to the value of assets that are readily converted into cash, such as Inventory or Receivables. Longer-term assets vary depending on business type, but may include such things as property or equipment values. Since long-term assets gradually decrease in value over time, Accumulated Depreciation is subtracted from this. Note that depreciated assets may show up as having little or no value on the balance sheet but may have a much greater market value if sold. Reading a balance sheet: Liabilities Liabilities are obligations the company has made to outside parties who have provided resources. In essence, these outside parties may have lent money or other supplies to the company and therefore are owed repayment. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s important to note these outside parties do not have ownership in the company; they are creditors. Items under Liabilities include Accounts Payable, the amount the company may owe suppliers, and Income Taxes Payable, which is self-explanatory. Note that Current Liabilities, which are short-term, are listed separately just as Current Assets are. This section may also contain long-term debt obligations: for example, if the company has taken out bank loans to finance equipment or real estate, or if the company has issued corporate bonds to investors. A figure called the Quick Ratio helps investors determine if a companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s assets and liabilities are in a healthy balance. The quick ratio measures a company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. The higher the quick ratio, the better the financial position of the company. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s calculated as follows: Note that the Quick Ratio is more conservative than some other liquidity measures, like the Current Ratio, because it excludes inventory from current assets. If you believe the company might have difficulty turning their inventory into cash, then the Quick Ratio might give a more accurate picture of the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s short-term financial strength. Reading a cash flow statement: The cash flow statement helps investors answer questions like: Is the company generating enough cash needed to fund growth? Is growth outpacing cash generation, requiring additional financing? Is the company generating enough cash to cover its short-term needs? In times of easy credit, companies may be able to patch over cash flow interruptions with interim financing; during tighter credit markets, though, such financing may not be as readily available. In those situations, steady cash-flow generated by the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s operations becomes especially important. There are three big categories of cash flow to pay attention to here. Word of warning: itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not always crystal-clear from just glancing at a cash flow statement which line items represent cash flowing IN versus cash flowing OUT. Cash generated by and used by the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s operations is summarized in the Net Cash Flow Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Operating Activities line. That line includes cash flowing in as well as cash-out. The companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s long-term investing of cash is detailed in the Net Cash Flow Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Investing line. That consists of cash flowing out. The third and last part, the Ã¢â‚¬Å"Net Cash Flow Ã¢â‚¬â€œ FinancingÃ¢â‚¬ line, shows the cash a company raised through from financing activities. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s cash that came in. The very bottom line shows the net change in the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s cash position. If you add the line to the cash on the balance sheet from the previous year, youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll get the current cash position on the current yearÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s balance sheet.