Financial Statement Analysis Marico Bangladesh Limited...

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS PROJECT Financial statement analysis: Marico Bangladesh Limited and ACI Formulation Limited The objective of this project is to link theory with applications in the real world by requiring students to analyze financial statements of actual companies listed in either the DSE or CSE. This project provides the opportunity to use corporate financial statements of actual companies for the purpose of analyzing the financial condition and trend indicators from the viewpoints of a potential investor, lending institution (bank), and the company’s top management. Developed by Sadek Jake Alam sadekjake@technoflame.com Marico Bangladesh limited (MBL:Dhaka) and ACI Formulation Ltd (ACIF:Dhaka) are both listed under the†¦show more content†¦ACIF Total Current Assets Total Current Liabilities Current Ratio MBL Total Current Assets Total Current Liabilities Current Ratio 2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010 EXHIBIT 1.0 Profitability Ratios 1. Return on Assets 2. Return on Equity 3. Return on Capital Margin Analysis 1. Gross Margin 2. Levered Free Cash Flow Margin 3. EBITDA Margin Asset Turnover Analysis 1. Total Asset Turnover 2. Accounts Receivable Turnover 3. Fixed Assets Turnover 4. Inventory Turnover Credit Ratios 1. Current Ratio 2. Quick Ratio Long Term Solvency 1. Total Debt/Equity 2. Total Liabilities/Total Assets Growth over Prior Year 1. Total Revenue 2. Tangible Book Value 3. EBITDA 4. Gross Profit 5. Receivables 6. Inventory 7. Capital Expenditures 8. Diluted EPS before extra 9. Cash from Operations 10. Levered Free Cash Flow Financial Statements For ACI Formulation Ltd (ACIF) Income Statements Dec 31 2008 As of: BDT Dec 31 2009 Restated BDT Dec 31 2010 BDT Currency in Millions of Bangladesh Taka Revenues Total Revenues Cost Of Goods Sold Gross Profit Selling General Admin Expenses, Total RD Expenses Depreciation Amortization, Total Other Operating Expenses Other Operating Expenses, Total Operating Income Interest Expense Interest And Investment Income Net Interest Expense Other Non-Operating Income (Expenses) Ebt, Excluding Unusual Items Other Unusual Items, Total Ebt, Including Unusual Items Income Tax Expense Earnings From Continuing Operations Net Income Net

The Electronic Commerce And The Internet - 818 Words

The introduction chapter will be explaining the purpose of research. The research background, questions and limitation will be presented. 1.1 Background Nowadays, millions of people joined Internet in daily life. According to Internet World Stats’ statistics (2012) today more than two billion people linked to the Internet. The Internet mass use promotes the electronic commerce rapid expansion in the 20th century. The electronic commerce has been changed of the traditional way people shop. According to Turban et al (2000) defined the e-commerce is an emerging concept the process of buying, selling, exchanging product, service and information through Internet. The Internet has created a new market for both customers and business firms, the†¦show more content†¦Young people and women are the primary target of Internet retailers. In particular, university students are higher percent of online shoppers. University students spends $200 billion online market each year, and average students available discretionary spending total $287 monthly (Gardyn, 2002). University students are the main target groups of online shopping due to they are frequently use computer in order to they have rich online experience and enjoy online activities. According to Xia and Munroe (2004), students incomes are most from their parents without a lot of expendable income and thus the price is easily stimulate students. The consumers are prefers to purchase online due to discount sales. When they shop online they can find more cheaper products or service than in traditional retailer. Such as, the SECRETSALES.com is the most famous discount sales website. Another popular fashionable retailers ASOS.com is much cheaper than high street stores. Consequently, this is another reason for growth of consumers shopping over Internet. The consumer chose purchase online due to conveniently provides consumer more information and choices to compare product and price. Joines et al (2003) claims that the certain characteristics of online shopping are ability to making purchase for consumers conveniently and efficiency compared to the tradit ional way of shopping, such as the ability to view and purchase

The Training Process of an Organisation.

Question: Discuss about the Training Process of an Organisation. Answer: Introduction: History: The Thilafushi Corporation Limited was founded in 2009 by the government of Maldives to promote industrialization in the country. It was built on reclaimed land filled by waste and is the pioneer in its area. Industry Details: The organization is run by the central government and can approach the governments of the neighbouring countries like India, China, Ausralia and Japan for industrial and diplomatic help to develop the economy of Maldives. It will also help RCL to realize its goals in a larger way. Vision: The main mission of TCL is to accelerate the industrial development in Maldives by providing a profitable platform to both foreign and domestic companies participating in large and medium scale industries. TCL envisions creating an industrial environment, which, will be receptive to the industrial requirements and benefit the consumers. Products/Services: TCL is a government enterprise whose main aim is to promote medium and large-scale industries in Maldives both from within and outside the country. The industrial zone is already harbouring key production, warehousing and service providers and looks forward to promote potential further industrial development in Maldives. Number of Employees/Scale of Business/Revenue The board of directors is led by Mohamed Rasheed, chairman while Ahmed Nasif is the managing director. Aminath Hameed, Adil Jaleel and Ahmed Nasheed are the three directors and Fathmath Amna Ibrahim is the company secretary ("Overview Thilafushi Corporation", 2017). TCL earned a profit of 24260466 Maldivian Rufiya in 2015 against a loss of 26930444 in 2014, which is promising. The organization employs over a hundred employees in various posts. It will need to employ more employees to run its ever-growing organizational structure, which is going to see more expansion with globalization. TCL as a government organization should take help from similar organizations in the neighbouring countries. The organization can also approach Indian banks like the State Bank of India financial help to provide better training (Edirisuriya Gunasekarage, 2016). Figure 1. Statement showing profit of TCL (Source:"Auditor General's Office - Official Website", 2017) Existing Training Process: The employees of all departments of TCL are made to take a training program after the requests of the departmental heads to the HR department. The Maldives government created Thalafushi Corporation limited to bring about industrial development in the islands of Maldives. The following are the steps of the training employees undergo at TCL: Assessing the Training Needs: The first step to start an effective training program is to assess the needs of the trainees for example, the need to train in order to make the employees nurture a positive attitude towards their job roles and targets. Since, TCL is determined to bring about industrial development in the country; the employees should develop a multicultural attitude to adapt to the transnational work culture of the multinational corporations (Moore, 2016). Maldives does not follow IFRS, which repels global companies (Bank, 2017). Incorporation of IFRS in the Maldivian accounting standard should be one of the most high priority training needs. The marketing personnel should receive training in the most advanced methods, which are accepted and applied globally. Training needs should depend on the designation of trainees and their professional requirements. Figure 2. A comparison of accounting standards in Maldives against international standards (Source: Bank, 2017) Set Organizational Training Objectives: The training requirements of the employees will be assessed after considering their performance and their record of accomplishment in TCL and with previous employers, if possible. The gap between the expected level of performance and the achieved rate of performance will be compared and this will act as a guidance to decide on the training programme to be used. TCL aims to attract investment in form of joint venture and contractor financing both from the foreign and domestic investment companies ("Investors Opportunity Thilafushi Corporation", 2017). This will bring the TCL in contact with the international laws and trade policies in various countries. Figure 3. Graph showing export and import in Maldives (www.wto.org, 2017) The figure above shows the falling exports and the rising imports in Maldives which points out towards low productivity human resources and various other factors. Creating Action Plan: The next step involves creating an action plan keeping the aim of training and the skills the trainees should have at the end of the training. This includes study of the theories, handouts showing the job details, study materials and so on. The theories can be various leadership theories for the people for the posts of managers and above (Luna, D. (2015). The trainees who are entrusted with the role of marketing the organization on various national and international platforms should be trained on the selling and marketing theories, target handling techniques and stress management. The employees who will deal with the areas of accounting, laws, procurement of resources, supply chain management and related fields should be trained on the laws pertaining to these fields that are prevalent in the partner countries (Wild, Wild Han, 2014). The training program of TCL must project towards bridging the gap between the international business practices followed in the global companies and the conservative Maldivian business culture. The action plan should ensure that the Maldivian workforce accepts international standards rather than viewing them as challenges to their customs and traditions. Implementation of Training Initiatives: This is the step where the training programme is actually started and the HR department has to decide whether the training will be theoretical or in the field. The entire training schedule should be segmented into appropriate segments based on availability of resources to the trainees like machines and tools available during practical training. The trainees should be continuously assessed to measure the effectiveness of the training programme. The successful implementation of the training initiatives in the real life job place depends on government policies and laws. TCL should create the best competitive environment, which will allow the employees to apply their newly applied skills and bring about their own development (Lisbon et al., 2016). Evaluate and Revise Training: Training is provided to employees to enhance their skills, which will better their performance. The trainer should assess the trainees to measure their ability to take trainings and improve their efficiency. Trainers should make the employees more target oriented and productivity concerned (Lasrado, Gomiseck Uzbeck, 2017). Evaluation of Training Process: Companies need to evaluate the training programmes and examine the outcomes of them. They are able to assess the improvement in the skills of the trainees and estimately the probable and expected increase in their productivity (Konings Vanormelingen, 2015). Donald Kirkpatrick developed the four level model for evaluation of training methods. The four levels of evaluating training programmes are reaction of the students, the learning of the trainees, behaviour of the trainees after the programme and the results of the programme (Pierre, 2014). They help the both thebtrainer and the trained to measure the outcome of the training and need of any further training. Reaction: Every training programme is aimed at enhancement of the skills of the trainee employees in order to better their productivity. The trainer should ask questions to trainees regarding the training programme, whether they feel that they have profited by the programme and to what extent were they able to participate in the training session. The reactions of the trainees act as the parameter to measure the success of the training sessions. The trainees can also give idea about the requirements of the future training needs and the potential benefits they would derive from the training programmes. It has been founded that this level of evaluation actually records more than seventy percent of the training programme (Schminke et al., 2014). Challenges will allow the trainees to apply their newly earn skills and make them feel the need for further trainings. It will lead to innovations, new products and more employment (Narula, 2014). Learning: The companies hold training sessions to enhance the performance of the employees to increase the productivity of the companies as a whole (Konings Vanormelingen, 2015). Trainings are important because they instil new capabilities in the employees, which allow them to perform even in the face of stiff competitions. The learning of the trainees tells the success of the training sessions and the trainer. The trainer can test the increase in the productivity of the trainees by assigning realistic assignments to them and check their performance in terms of marks or grades. The HR department can use these marks or grades from several training sessions and the superiors while appraisal of these employees. The outcomes of the training programmes by this level can also be used to determine future training sessions. Behaviour: This level tests the behavioural changes in the employees after the training and the enhancement of the level of their productivity. This level measures how the employees perform by applying the newly acquired skills. It can be pointed out that employees change their behaviour only when the conditions are more favourable to apply the newly gained knowledge. The learning and reaction of the trainees are positive only when they are able to apply their new skills and advanced knowledge when the environment allows the same. For example, when the sales staffs are subjected to the marketing conditions, which challenge their marketing skills, they apply their newly learnt marketing knowledge. However, extreme pressure and target hinders application of new skills and the employees keep away from applying them, as they are not sure about the outcomes of the application. The trainer might think that the trainees have not learnt anything but that is not the fact. Result: Companies conduct training sessions to enhance the productivity of their employees so that the company is able to deliver more and earn more revenue. The results of the training sessions are measured on the grounds of the quantitative increase in the employee productivity. TCL uses flexible training method to train its employees for the various posts. The methods are designed to make the employee capable of taking responsibilities along with an optimistic attitude towards the economically developing nation of Maldives. The employees belonging to the managerial levels are expected to show increase in managerial skills and improved objection handling. Training teaches employees to face and adapt to their ever-changing microeconomic and macroeconomic changes. The managers should be able to frame strategies in various fields like production, pricing, investments and staffing keeping the market situations in view and be mentally ready to change or modify the existing strategies to take advantage of the future conditions. Recommendations/Suggestions: The biggest challenge of TCL is to develop Maldives as a favoured destination by competing with the other Asian nations like India, China, Sri Lanka and Malaysia who have more business friendly environment and already have companies like PG, Microsoft, ThyssenKrupp and Coca Cola in their markets. These countries themselves are home to several multinational companies, which advertise the profitable and competitive vast market. The recommendations in the next section will further help the TCL in its vision and mission. TCL aims to industrialize Maldives, which requires it to bring about certain positive changes to attract big global companies. The following are the recommendations which can be incorporated in the training sessions to make them more fruitful and aligned towards long term goals of the company: Understand the international laws and incorporate them in the legal framework of the country as a whole. This will allow the multinational companies to operate with greater ease. Train the top managers to frame policies, which will allow the probable multinational companies to view Maldives as profitable and conductive a market for entering as India or China. TCL should follow the suit of the more powerful and developed Asian nations to attract foreign capital. The central government owns TCL and it can use this status to achieve diplomatic relations with the neighbouring countries. It can enter into more trade agreements with these countries to gain access to their resources. This can allow it to strengthen its position as it is poor as far as natural resources like iron and coal are concerned. Train its employees to incorporate International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which will allow them to transact with the big and powerful economies as they follow IFRS while accounting. The training should aim to empower the employee to deal with the international and national environmental conditions, not demotivate them. Trainers should encourage the trainees to embrace changes rather than eyeing them as obstacles. A more proactive industrial policy and globalization can enforce better competitive market. A more competitive market provides more employment opportunities and provides higher mobility of the human resources (Sahu et al., 2014). This allows the labour force to get international exposure allowing them to explore the infinite opportunities in the international market. This automatically brings out a more positive behaviour from them in areas of job productivity, corporate conduct and so on (Cahuc et al., 2014). The training objective of TCL should be towards training the employees to increase productivity. Lack of foreign competition in the economy in strategic sectors and the influence of Muslim laws on the industrial laws can also held responsible for the deficit in balance of payments. Increasing employee productivity should be made one of the most important training objectives. TCL should also train the employees to nurture the supply chain management in their country to enable smooth flow of resources, goods and services which is indispensible for globalization of Maldives (Forsgren Johanson, 2014) Commonwealth is a group of fifty-two nations of which Maldives was a part in the past. However, it left the group and should join it back. It will allow the government of the country to approach the other members and also strengthen bilateral ties with them. The global companies follow the International Financial Reporting Standard, which is followed by most of the big and emerging economies like the United Kingdom, Australia, India and China. The apex bodies in these countries like their central banks and security market regulatory bodies require them to comply to the IFRS while reporting and auditing. Maldives should also follow IFRS and try to decrease effect of Muslim laws in the accounting and trade policies. Summary with Conclusion: The above clearly show that TCL is designed to facilitate industrialization in Maldives by encouraging domestic industries and attract foreign companies. The organization provides its employees with training every year to sharpen their skills and increase their productivity. The training methods and the Kirkpatricks model deal with the training steps and their evaluation methods respectively. The recommendations are based on the study and aim towards a more industrialized and advanced Maldivian economy. It can be pointed out that no training programme can be successful without industrial and legal structure, which encourages globalization and entry of global companies. The Maldivian government should enact laws which will facilitate participation of global companies. Global companies will generate more employment and give more avenues to TCL to expand is operations. TCL can also train its employees better to confirm to the international standards. The main vision of TCL is to industrialize Maldives and attract foreign investment. The employees of TCL should be able to deal with the legal frameworks of the other foreign countries and provide a strong support to the multinational companies to enter the Maldivian economy. Globalization provides with more avenues for the application of newly learned skills. The employees can learn new things and gain international exposure. The Maldives industrial laws need to be amended to match up to the international standards. References: (2017). Retrieved 14 February 2017, from https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/g332_e.pdf The Role of Human Resources in the Age of Globalization.Global Journal of Finance and Management,6(9), 977-982. Auditor General's Office - Official Website. (2017). Audit.gov.mv. Retrieved 14 February 2017, from https://www.audit.gov.mv Bank, T. (2017). Maldives - Public sector accounting and auditing : a comparison to international standards. Documents.worldbank.org. Retrieved 14 February 2017, from https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/250891468282288114/Maldives-Public-sector-accounting-and-auditing-a-comparison-to-international-standards Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., Zylberberg, A., McCuaig, W. (2014).Labor economics. MIT press. Edirisuriya, P., Gunasekarage, A. (2016). Economic and Financial Integration in South Asia. InFinancial Market Regulations and Legal Challenges in South Asia(pp. 298-315). IGI Global. Forsgren, M., Johanson, J. (2014).Managing networks in international business. Routledge. Investors Opportunity Thilafushi Corporation. (2017). Tcl.com.mv. Retrieved 14 February 2017, from https://www.tcl.com.mv/v2/investors-opportunity/ Konings, J., Vanormelingen, S. (2015). The impact of training on productivity and wages: firm-level evidence.Review of Economics and Statistics,97(2), 485-497. Konings, J., Vanormelingen, S. (2015). The impact of training on productivity and wages: firm-level evidence.Review of Economics and Statistics,97(2), 485-497. Lasrado, F., Gomiseck, B., Uzbeck, C. (2017). Effectiveness of Employee Suggestion Schemesfrom Critical Success Factors to Outcomes.International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences,9(1). Lisbon, D., Allin, D., Cleek, C., Roop, L., Brimacombe, M., Downes, C., Pingleton, S. K. (2016). Improved knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors after implementation of TeamSTEPPS training in an academic emergency department: a pilot report.American Journal of Medical Quality,31(1), 86-90. Luna, D. (2015).The Relationship between Leadership Behavior and Leadership Styles in Health and Human Services Emergency Management(Doctoral dissertation, OUR LADY OF THE LAKE UNIVERSITY). Moore, F. (2016).Transnational business cultures: Life and work in a multinational corporation. Routledge. Narula, R. (2014).Globalization and technology: Interdependence, innovation systems and industrial policy. John Wiley Sons. Overview Thilafushi Corporation. (2017). Tcl.com.mv. Retrieved 14 February 2017, from https://www.tcl.com.mv/v2/overview/ Pierre, K. D. (2014). Evaluating the Implementation of a Training Program for Improving Quality Service: An Action Research Study.ProQuest LLC. Sambajee, P., Dhomun, M. Z. A. (2015). Government and SMEs in the Maldives and Mauritius.International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior Research,21(6), 778-795. Schminke, M., Caldwell, J., Ambrose, M. L., McMahon, S. R. (2014). Better than ever? Employee reactions to ethical failures in organizations, and the ethical recovery paradox.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,123(2), 206-219. Wild, J., Wild, K. L., Han, J. C. (2014).International business. Pearson Education Limited.

News Coverage Of Political Campaigns And Its Negative Affects Essays

News Coverage Of Political Campaigns And It's Negative Affects News Coverage of Political Campaigns And it's Negative Affects Have you ever turned on the TV to watch the news during election year? News programs constantly bombard the public with campaign coverage that negatively affects the way people vote. The most noticeable effect the TV news media causes is a decrease in voter attendance at the ballot boxes. News coverage of political campaigns reduces voter turnout because of the negative campaign tactics used by candidates and their parties; exit polls that predict the outcome of an election; and the public's perception that the media can be bought to influence people to vote for a certain issue or candidate. Voter turnout has significantly dropped from 75 %-85% in during the 19th century to fewer than 55% in modern day elections as written by Pierce Lewis of American Demographics (Page 20). The result of low voter turnout reveals a broad dissatisfaction and unconcerning attitude towards politics from America's citizens. The main cause for this public attitude in current voting is the news media. What better place is there to display all the events of pre-election activities? The first and most effective discouragement to voting is exit polls that predict the outcome of an election or in modern terms electronic forecasting. Exit polling on or before Election Day has become the predominant method used by mass media in American politics for predicting outcomes of elections according to George Bishop and Bonnie Fisher of Public Opinion Quarterly (Page 568). In most recent elections exit polling has grown into an even more complex mass survey medium with institutions such as Voter Research and Surveys (VRS) of New York who provide polling results for massive television networks like ABC, CBS, and CNN. In addition to TV networks, many television affiliates, newspapers, and newsmagazines also use this polled data to inform the public. Since exit polls predict the winners of elections, vast numbers of citizens don't even bother to vote because they already know who's going to win and that their vote wouldn't make a difference (Pages 568-589). Another reason that causes low voter turnout is news media coverage that broadcast negative campaign tactics politicians and their parties use to attack to opposing candidate or party. According to Laurence I. Barrett of Time magazine, presidential candidates are sliding on their word of not using negative campaign tactics; in fact, negative advertising is becoming trendier among those running for election (Page 28). Negative campaigning in the news media is perceived by most as boxing ring where candidates can put on gloves and knock each others ideas or beliefs down. The most affecting aspect of negative campaign to the public is that candidates and parties only point out the opposing side's flaws to uplift themselves and avoiding the issue at hand which often occurs in debates. Since negative campaigning causes a great deal of arguing between candidate and/or parties, a great percentage of the public tends to separate themselves from the political process (voting) because of the e xcessive attacks candidates inflict on one another. The public expects a degree of professionalism from running candidates that shouldn't include negative tactics that only discourage the public's outlook on voting participation. Lastly, public perception of a bias and favorable media also contributes to a reduction in the voting population. As early as the 1960's, public perception of a bias media was first noticed; however, current data suggest the American public views the media as increasingly less trustworthy? as stated by Donna Rouner, a journalist for Newspaper Research Journal (Page 41). Partisanship of news factions also discourages people from participating in the political process because news groups may be supportive of one party and their beliefs giving only one side of an issue. More of the American population may be better influenced to vote if news groups would take a neutral position supporting only the facts and produce a non-bias broadcast. In addition to partisanship, the idea of media being bought by candidates or parties to influence the public can also diminish voter turnout. For example, a wealthy candidate can purchase large amounts of airtime trying to earn more of the public's votes or simply a news affiliate that favors a

Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases

Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases The kinetic theory of gases is a scientific model that explains the physical behavior of a gas as the motion of the molecular particles that compose the gas. In this model, the submicroscopic particles (atoms or molecules) that make up the gas are continually moving around in random motion, constantly colliding not only with each other but also with the sides of any container that the gas is within. It is this motion that results in physical properties of the gas such as heat and pressure. The kinetic theory of gases is also called just the kinetic theory, or the kinetic model,  or the kinetic-molecular model. It can also in many ways be applied to fluids as well as gas. (The example of Brownian motion, discussed below, applies the kinetic theory to fluids.) History of the Kinetic Theory The Greek philosopher Lucretius was a proponent of an early form of atomism, though this was largely discarded for several centuries in favor of a physical model of gases built upon the non-atomic work of Aristotle. Without a theory of matter as tiny particles, the kinetic theory did not get developed within this Aristotlean framework. The work of Daniel Bernoulli presented the kinetic theory to a European audience, with his 1738 publication of Hydrodynamica. At the time, even principles like the conservation of energy had not been established, and so a lot of his approaches were not widely adopted. Over the next century, the kinetic theory became more widely adopted among scientists, as part of a growing trend toward scientists adopting the modern view of matter as composed of atoms. One of the lynchpins in experimentally confirming the kinetic theory, and atomism is general, was related to Brownian motion. This is the motion of a tiny particle suspended in a liquid, which under a microscope appears to randomly jerk about. In an acclaimed 1905 paper, Albert Einstein explained Brownian motion in terms of random collisions with the particles that composed the liquid. This paper was the result of Einsteins doctoral thesis work, where he created a diffusion formula by applying statistical methods to the problem. A similar result was independently performed by the Polish physicist Marian Smoluchowski, who published his work in 1906. Together, these applications of kinetic theory went a long way to support the idea that liquids and gases (and, likely, also solids) are composed of tiny particles. Assumptions of the Kinetic Molecular Theory The kinetic theory involves a number of assumptions that focus on being able to talk about an ideal gas. Molecules are treated as point particles. Specifically, one implication of this is that their size is extremely small in comparison to the average distance between particles.The number of molecules (N) is very large, to the extent that tracking individual particle behaviors is not possible. Instead, statistical methods are applied to analyze the behavior of the system as a whole.Each molecule is treated as identical to any other molecule. They are interchangeable in terms of their various properties. This again helps support the idea that individual particles dont need to be kept track of, and that the statistical methods of the theory are sufficient to arrive at conclusions and predictions.Molecules are in constant, random motion. They obey Newtons laws of motion.Collisions between the particles, and between the particles and walls of a container for the gas, are perfectly elastic collisions.Walls of containers of gases are treated as perfectly rigid, do not move, and are infinitely massive (in comparison to the particles). The result of these assumptions is that you have a gas within a container that moves around randomly within the container. When particles of the gas collide with the side of the container, they bounce off the side of the container in a perfectly elastic collision, which means that if they strike at a 30-degree angle, theyll bounce off at a 30-degree angle. The component of their velocity perpendicular to the side of the container changes direction but retains the same magnitude. The Ideal Gas Law The kinetic theory of gases is significant, in that the set of assumptions above lead us to derive the ideal gas law, or ideal gas equation, that relates the pressure (p), volume (V), and temperature (T), in terms of the Boltzmann constant (k) and the number of molecules (N). The resulting ideal gas equation is: pV NkT

How to win more work with your bids and tenders

How to win more work with your bids and tenders 9 ways to win more work with your bids and tenders In sport, there’s often a fine line between being hailed as the champ or dubbed an also-ran. For every Olympic 10,000m gold medallist there were probably dozens of potential champions. But no matter. Whoever crosses the line first, even by a fraction of a second, takes the spoils. Coming out on top is often about good preparation and the little things your competitors failed to take into account. It’s the same when bidding for work. And you probably know from experience that the competition to edge ahead can be as fierce there as on the race track. So here are nine ways you can get your nose in front to consistently be the champ, and not end up an also-ran chump. 1. Write fewer bids Ironically, it’s sometimes easier to win more work by focusing your energies on fewer bids and tenders. Alarm bells should be ringing if you find yourself winging it when answering half a dozen key questions in an invitation to tender (ITT) or pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). Newcomers, especially, can be tempted to bid for contracts that don’t actually suit their capabilities. So concentrate on the bids and tenders where you are most likely to succeed. 2. Get under their skin †¦ †¦ in a good way, of course. When you do identify a suitable opportunity, ask yourself this crucial question: how can I find out what the potential client really wants? Sometimes it’s obvious. A good ITT will make their priorities clear from the outset. Sadly, the reality is that most are poorly written. For example, you may need to read carefully to spot key needs that aren’t even mentioned in a list of ‘essential requirements’. In any case, always broaden your research beyond the ITT to get the bigger picture of what matters to them right now. Check out their website, news stories about them and blog posts by the CEO. And if you are looking to renew ongoing business with a customer, speak to your sales team or client relationship managers. They’re best placed to give you crucial insights into the challenges the client faces, or their preferred method of working. 3. Put your win themes in the spotlight Once you understand your potential client, focus on the factors most likely to win you their business – your ‘win themes’. For example, your prospect might be an eco-friendly organic food producer looking for a supplier of cardboard packaging. Your win theme here may be that you source all your cardboard products via certified sustainable forest management. Use every relevant opportunity to drive home that message, such as in the executive summary, case studies and even in project team CVs. It’s vital to back up win themes with facts, though. In the case above, this might be how many trees you’ve had planted, or how you helped another client achieve their carbon emissions target six months early. 4. Remember it’s not about you Win themes are firmly focused on the client’s needs. And your entire bid or tender should be, too. It’s easy to come out all guns blazing, singing the praises of your own organisation – but doing thats likely to just alienate the reader. Far better to make it clear, early on, that you understand their issues and needs. And when referring to the features of your product or service, make clear the benefits for that particular client at the same time. So, avoid the old-school, in-your-face sales pitch approach. And adopting the right tone can be crucially important in other ways, too. 5. Keep it positive A delegate on one of our bid-writing courses couldn’t understand why so many of their submissions for event-management contracts met with only a lukewarm response, and ultimately a rejection. He told us: ‘We know we can match our competitors on price. We have masses of experience, too, and plenty of good case studies to back us up.’ A review of their ITT responses revealed the root of the problem – a worryingly negative vibe. Statements such as ‘We believe we can deliver the contract to a satisfactory standard’ were unlikely to inspire confidence. Better to use positive phrases such as ‘We will ensure that †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and a stronger adjective than a mere satisfactory. Likewise, they referred to ‘trying to’ or ‘aiming to’ achieve goals, rather than saying there were ‘confident’ of doing so. And when describing a prospective client, avoid being overly deferential in a way that is likely to make them cringe (‘We would be honoured to build a relationship with your prestigious research establishment ’). It can sound like you feel lucky to even be in with a chance of working with them. They’re going to be putting their trust in you. So its far better to position yourself as an equal or high-level adviser. Remember, too, that referring to competitors is generally frowned upon in bid writing as much as in other areas of sales, and with good reason. For one thing, your response should be strong enough to sell itself, without taking potshots at the opposition. (Plus, do you really want to give over valuable space in your bid to name-checking alternative suppliers?) 6. Favour simple over waffle It can be tempting to include everything you can think of when responding to a question in an ITT, in the vain hope that your singularly comprehensive answer will impress the reader. That’s rarely the best idea. Let’s look at two potential responses from a reader’s point of view. Question: ‘What are your proposed delivery timescales?’ Answer 1: ‘Four months.’ Answer 2: ‘Given the emphasis you have placed on achieving your ambitions within a relatively short timeframe, we have carried out an in-depth assessment of the global effects of leveraging the synergies we can achieve through our involvement in this project. This substantive evaluation has given us the confidence to predict a delivery period of 16 weeks, in line with your expectations.’ The first answer is straightforward and its lack of waffle makes the writer sound more confident. Only give detail that’s helpful to the reader, using clear, concise language that avoids unnecessary jargon. Remember, though, that it can sometimes help to mirror some of the language the prospective client appears comfortable with – they may refer to ‘service users’ rather than ‘customers’, for example. In which case, you should too. 7. Help them to help you Where the bidding process allows it, do communicate with prospective clients. It can help you build a rapport with them. And don’t be afraid to seek clarification on important points, such as budget. Doing so, far from being a sign of weakness, will show your dedication to genuinely fulfilling their needs. It will also give you a chance to build your working relationship even before they hire you. (Note though that in formal tender processes, both questions and responses from the client may well be made public to all suppliers tendering.) 8. Beware of ‘the stupids’ Your submission is finished ahead of the deadline. You’ve even double-checked it against a compliance matrix to make sure you’ve included a solution for everything the ITT asked for. Almost time then to breathe a sigh of relief and get on with all those everyday tasks you’ve had to put off. But not so fast. It’s so easy to blow it in the final stages. First, watch out for silly mistakes that undermine your credibility. Years ago, we were working closely with a key decision-maker whose role at the time was to award contracts to run entire rail franchises. As you can imagine, such decisions are far from simple and involve assessing a huge amount of technical detail. Yet he told us that his first action when assessing any bid was to quickly leaf through it and circle silly mistakes, which he called the ‘stupids’. These could include, say, instances where the writer had made a common spelling mistake in the name of a station. (For example, writing ‘Bridgewater’ instead of ‘Bridgwater’, when referring to the town in Somerset, UK.) Though these might seem trivial, collectively they call into question just how well the supplier knows the area. He and his colleagues would take the total number of silly mistakes into account when weighing up competing bids. In fact, his non-orthodox technique has a sound basis in social psychology. That’s because we are all hard-wired to look for cues that suggest we would be wise not to put all our trust in what we’re reading. The cues we rely on most (even if we do so unconsciously) include those that are easy for the people we’re assessing to get wrong if they don’t know what they’re doing. Failing to spell key place names correctly is a good example. The impact of stupids may be far greater than you think, as they can lead decision-makers to quickly lose confidence in your document and, by default, you and your organisation. So, ensure your document has been edited carefully and then proofread properly. Pay particularly close attention to the executive summary – a stupid mistake there really can make all the hard work of putting a bid together utterly futile. 9. Don’t fall at the final hurdle Finally, presentation. It’s more important than you may think. Your document needs to look approachable and professional – and be sure to check for any specific requirements such as the number of copies they need and whether the bid or proposal should be bound. And if you submit your bid electronically, do make sure it’s been safely received. After all, it’s impossible to win a new piece of business if you actually fail to deliver your bid at all. Try these 9 steps to finish first Its a competitive world out there, and in sales – unlike in sport – theres no prize for coming second. But apply these nine steps to all your bids and tenders, and you will be odds-on for a win every time. hbspt.cta.load(2645537, 'bcc87e53-f3f4-4632-9e9d-ecd393514f70', {}); Image credit: Halfpoint / Shutterstock

Creating Balanced Budget Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creating Balanced Budget - Assignment Example If the taxes are increased, then there will be inflated figures and the imbalance will continue being experienced. One of the ways of implementing this step is that all federal expenditure saves for the payments on the debts need to be frozen to lower levels such as less than 10% of the preceding year (Smith & Hou, 2013). Therefore, reduction of the expenditure as described is deemed the best method of reducing the negative balances in the budget. Areas Requiring Increase and DecreaseFrom an analytical perspective, the greatest problem in the budget starts at the point where expenditures are mentioned. In this case, all the values, both revised and actual are negative (Heun, 2014). That means that this is the section that needs to be seriously trimmed. Strict balanced budget requirements need to be instituted so that excess spending is restrained as much as possible. Consider the total expenditure for the year 2013 operating at -3803.30. It means much of the expenditure was borrowed and this creates more debt year after year which is not good for the future of the country and the citizens. This is realised through the government having a specified rate of expenditure for every department listed in the budget. If 10% cut is imposed on all sections, then it means that all the expenses will be cut by the same rate (Smith & Hou, 2013). The other section that needs to be looked at is the revenues section. In this case, it is worth noting that the entire revenue section depends on taxes and duties.