Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marks and Spencer - Essay Example Additionally, they employ over 78,000 people all over the world (Marks and Spencer, 2012a). Financial Analysis of M&S: Despite global recession the company has managed to increase its revenues from its UK and international operations. An important point to make here is that M&S is a UK based brand with 50% of its stores being in UK. Its revenue generation is mostly derived from UK operations which accounts for 90% of the total revenue of the company. Profitability: The company has shown steady increase in the revenues in the last three years. In 2011 the revenue increased by 2%, followed by the same in 2012. However, the operating profits in the last two years have not increased in the same line. In 2011, the operating profit was ?836.9m which fell to ?746.5m, resulting in operating profit margin of 9.53% in 2011 and 8.84% in 2012. This clearly shows that company’s cost control is weak and the cost of goods sold has not increased in the same line as revenues. The reason for su ch instability in profits for 2012 is the expansion and improvement plan the company is implementing till 2013 which will result in increased sales and satisfied consumers in the future. Because of the very reasons the company has experienced increased cost of sale, interest expense, administrative and selling expenses. Similarly, the company’s net profit margin has also decreased from 8.13% in 2011 to 7.54% in 2012. The company’s return on capital employed (ROCE) has been increasing at a slow pace from being 17.24% in 2010, 19.0% in 2011 which declined to 18.8% in 2012. The reason for declining ROCE can be linked to decline PAT of the company accompanied by an increase in the total assets. (Marks and Spencer. 2012a) Liquidity: The company’s gearing ratio has decreased in last three years. In 2010, the company had a gearing ratio of 108.6% which was a lot, in year 2011, the company reduced it long term liabilities and the ratio fell to 76.91% which further was d ecreased to 74.54% in 2012. The reason of falling gearing ratio is the decrease in the total liabilities of the company, which is beneficial as it will reduce in lower interest payments. However, company’s liquidity/cash flow position might get affected in order to pay off liabilities. The company’s interest cover has remained steady over the past 3 years. Despite decreasing profits, the company is able to maintain an interest cover of average 6 times. This is because the company has shown good planning here regarding the payments of interest and has reduced the liabilities accordingly with the fall in profits. The company’s current and quick ratios have decreased over three years. The company had a current ratio of 0.8 times in 2010 which has decreased to 0.73 times in 2012. This shows the instability in the liquidity position of the company. The biggest reason of the fall in the current assets of the company is the decrease in the cash in hand and bank which h as fallen to ?196.1m in 2012 and was ?470.2m in 2011, though the other current asset of the company, i.e., the stock has increased. Additionally, the company’s current liabilities have also increased tremendously which was ?2955.5m in 2011 and increased to ?3126.8m in 2012. These factors have contributed to the company’s low current and quick ratios. It seems that company’s management aimed to payoff its long term liabilities to save the interest payments and improve the profitability. This has caused a

Does the Color of Paint Deter Insects Essay Example for Free

Does the Color of Paint Deter Insects Essay Is it possible that paint is capable of insect control? Determine if painting the ceiling of a porch sky blue will fool wasps into thinking it is the sky and keep them from building nests under the eaves or on the ceiling? Hypothesis: By painting the inside roof of the porch sky blue we can prevent wasp from making a nest in the eaves of the porch. Prediction: If painting the roof sky blue prevents wasps from making nest, and then the inside of the roofs of all porches should be painted sky blue. Controlled Experimental Method: The beginning of April when things usually start to bloom and make nest here in Colorado I painted half the ceiling of by back porch sky blue and the other half the original dark green. Checking to see rather or not there are new nests every day. Results: In week 2 there no signs of nest in the back corner of the dark green side, 3 days later I checked again not only are there no sign of nests. Conclusion: It has been 6 months and there is no sign of any nests, and the ceiling is actually cleaner. I have concluded that the paint has actually deterred the insects from creating nests. I think anybody that has a problem with insects on their porch should paint the ceiling blue.

Creativity in the Urban Environment

Creativity in the Urban Environment Creative and cultural spaces Jana Sorel Introductie The creative industries determine the future of our region by ensuring a flourishing creative and cultural climate. – Flanders Creative Industries Platform (2011) Today, the knowledge and experience economy has expanded towards an economy which recognizes the importance of cultural and now also creative industries (Evans G., 2009). Creative industries are something of the 21th century, but creativity itself has been used since the 70’s to improve the development of a city. During that period, cities were empty because the process of suburbanization was going on. Then there was the awareness in the heads of policymakers that this process leads to a drain of the city centres and they tried to attract people to the city centre again by creating a space filled with artists (and other creative people) who used educational background to produce small, high-tech businesses or start-ups. It was picked up by policymakers as the way to turn the process into growth and prosperity of the cities again (Vanneste D., 2015). Bottom-up regeneration of those abandoned areas was stimulated by the creative class (Florida, 2002). Creativity took an importan t role in the cities but they didn’t talk about creative cities/hubs yet. Now, since the late 90’s creativity becomes linked with creative industries in which they focus on production and consumption of so-called creative products. Creativity is now linked with innovation and economic growth but what is a creative city exactly? According to the paper of Evans G. (2009), creative industries are now seen to comprise â€Å"those industries that have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property† (DCMS, 1998/2001, p. 5). Different researchers state that there’s a growing evidence that cultural and creative industries are good sources of growth and jobs, benefiting local communities, regions and states (EY, 2014). The aim of this paper is to identify the influence of creativity clusters (â€Å"creative hubs†) on the urban e nvironment, both urban neighbourhoods and communities. Influence of creativity on the urban environment Scientific research states that the cultural and creative industries play a crucial role in the development of the regional economy. Figures illustrate the growing employment and the share of these sectors in the Gross National Product (GNP) (Evans G., 2009 ; Martens B. et al., 2014). The creative industries determine a region’s future by ensuring a flourishing creative and cultural climate (Flanders Creative Industries Platform,2011) and a focus on the creative economy therefore represents the latest wave of interest in culture as a post-industrial urban revitalization strategy. However, some places are more successful than others. The importance of creativity in a place is namely not only about production but also about consumption. It’s the government that invests money in places where a lot of people and as a consequence a lot of voters live, so cities are privileged, but why†¦? Creative hubs maintain collective order through social and cultural capital in combination with distinctive institutional infrastructure. Educational institutions, trade unions and a lot of other institutions (such as museums, galleries,†¦) are present in those hubs (IPoP, 2011). Creative hubs are not only places of cultural production, but also act as places where creative know-how and competences are being preserved, interchanged and combined. In this way, fresh affluxes of new talented individuals can be assured (IPoP, 2011) and creativity and culture are now seen as knowledge-based innovation strategies. Since creative hubs go for high educated and skilled activities, research often poses that the economic factor is the most important aspect for the creation and development of creative industries. Artists’ centres make important contributions to regional economies, but also to the social, cultural and commercial lives of their neighbours. First of all, cultural and creative industries are among the EU’s biggest employers and have experienced sustained growth even through recession. Today, around 3.3 percent of the active population in Europe is (in)directly employed in creative industries (figure 1). Job creation in cultural and creative industries is still growing at a rate of 0.7% (between 2008 and 2012), even as the number of jobs in the rest of the economy fell 0.7% (EY, 2014). In most cases they are thus relatively small, but when you look at specific sectors not directly associated with cultural or creative industry sectors in ‘creative occupations’ (such as car design) numbers will be much higher, for example in the Netherlands this counts for 47% of the employment (Evans G., 2009). Figure 1: employment distribution between the different sectors in thousands 2012 (source: EY, 2014). Secondly, income can be generated for housing and local shopping, sometimes amplified by drawing tourists and visitors from surrounding areas. Money is spent in the stores and restaurants (Markusen A. Johnson A., 2006). In association with the occupation and beautification of vacant buildings, rent rises and property regenerates (Evans G.,2009). Next, according to da Cunha I.V. and Selada C., the environment of a so-called creative hub tends to be diverse, multicultural and vibrant, with the presence of foreign talents too. People are attracted to places which combine different functions such as residential, working, learning, shopping and entertainment functions. Such places foster the emergence of a good place to live, work, learn and play. In addition, â€Å"informal arts† play a critical role in building social networks and connections across communities. Studies show that for example Mexican immigrants in Chicago â€Å"use artistic and cultural practices to break down social isolation, create new social networking relationships, strengthen bonds among group members, and create local and transnational ties with [outside] institutions† (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). Creative hubs build a bridge between different social classes, ethnicities,†¦ . Mutual exchange within these creative hubs improves bot h innovation and competitiveness, but reduces social inequalities as well. Creating a common space is probably the most challenging collaboration. In the same article, it’s argued that the engagement in cultural activities increases life quality of the inhabitants of a community because of the reinforcing social diversity. Creative activities construct and reinforce shared cultural identities among different groups of people such as immigrants, refugees, and people of colour (Grams D. Warr M., 2003). Likewise, diverse neighbourhoods house more cultural programs, cultural participants and artists because of the â€Å"open door mentality†. According to Markusen A. and Johnson A. (2006) â€Å"anyone who expresses an interest may become a member, have access to events and services at an affordable price, and apply for merit-based mentorships, funding, and exhibitions†. Nevertheless, competition and tensions can tax the energy of people inside the creative hub (Mark usen A. Johnson A., 2006). The creation/development of cultural and creative hubs is sometimes seen a possibility to draw tourists too. Researchers found a direct connection between culture and revitalization of a community (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). Creative hubs are located in places where economic and social as well as cultural assets are available. Creative activity complements and stimulates the creation of other artistic, commercial, and community venues. As mentioned by Jacobs (1961) â€Å"mosaic of unique cultural destinations that encourage city residents to cross porous borders to visit distinctive neighbourhoods†. However, this is criticized by Evans G. (2009): â€Å"it is clear that these are judged and celebrated by their proponents in cultural, heritage and local ‘endogenous’ terms such as property and local trade (Jayne and Bell, 2004), rather than in macroeconomic market terms†. Externalities Although the development of creative hubs is stimulated and one of the main focuses is of policy makers, gentrification and the possible expansion of inequality remain the most common fears. Of particular relevance to the creative hubs is the emergence of â€Å"winner-take-all† labour markets (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). The increased inequality can be explained by the requirements of jobs within these industries. The creative industries are namely dominated by jobs with high educational requirements (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). This increases the opportunities for high skilled workers, but for people with less educational qualifications, the opportunity to find a job will decrease. Conclusion In this paper, different aspects are listed of how a creative hub can influence the urban environment. In many cases creativity is used as a synonym of culture, but culture doesn’t cover everything. We have to understand that culture also includes non-profit, public, and commercial organizations as well as independent artists. In addition, we have learned to recognize the importance of strong leadership, which is a key element for the success of a region. The artists’ centre must present a face to the neighbourhood and larger community, invite entry, and maintain its attractiveness. The presence of creative hubs is programming are especially important for a community’s cultural vitality. But, can a creative economy ameliorate urban poverty in the world or is the creative hub- development more a winner-takes-it-all-scenario? Sources Flanders Creative Industries Platform (2011). Creative industries in Flanders. Position paper. Florida, R., (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class: And How Its Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life. New York: BasicBooks. Evans G. (2009). Creative cities, creative spaces and urban policy, Urban Studies 46(56): 1003-1040. Vanneste D. (2015). Lecture Economic and financial geography: Creative industries. Martens, B., Dobbels, J., Amez, L., Ysebaert, W. (2014). Cultuur en creativiteit in beeld: opzet van een meetinstrument voor metropool Brussel. EY (2014). Creating growth. Measuring cultural and creative markets in the EU Stern M.J. Seifert S.C. (2008). From Creative Economy to Creative Society. A neighborhood-based strategy to increase urban vitality and promote social inclusion. GIA Reader, Vol 19, No 3. Grams, D., Warr, M. (2003). Leveraging assets: How small budget arts activities benefit neighborhoods. Chicago: Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Da Cunha, I. V., Selada, C. (2009). Creative urban regeneration: the case of innovation hubs.International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development,1(4), 371-386. IPoP Institute for spatial policies (2011). Potentials of creative urban regeneration. Spatial distribution of creative industries in Ljubljana Urban Region. DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) (1998) Creative industries mapping document. DCMS, London. DCMS (2001) Mapping creative industries technical document. DCMS, London. Markusen, A., Johnson, A. (2006). Artists’ centers: Evolution and impact on careers, neighborhoods and economies. 1

Problem of Proliferation :: essays research papers

The Problem of Proliferation There is a controversy as to the meaning of proliferation. Proliferation is the process of deadly weapons being bought and sold in the market place of corruption and greed. Government leaders are playing a deadly game by implementing creation of foreign policies that are set to obtain goals, yet sponsor actions that contradict those goals. The chapter argues that we must be able to evaluate the facts and separate them from our emotions concerning the situation. The Problem of Defining Proliferation Henry Sokolski stated in 1993 that even the intelligence community has not been able to define the term proliferation adequately. The military, intelligence agencies, terrorist organizations and diplomats will all define the term differently because of their different perspectives. Although there is controversy in the exact meaning, I feel that the basic meaning is evident, which is nations who do not possess the deadly weapons of mass destruction attempt to obtain them by illegal methods. The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the most feared form of proliferation, while terrorism is the most feared force that is suspected of having the ideological motivation ant the ways that the knowledge and resources are obtained to make it a real threat. A non-proliferation treaty was signed by a group of nations whom called themselves the â€Å"Nuclear Club.† This group considers themselves as being the arbitrators of the control of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. There are states who argue this saying that they have the right to possess the weapons for their security. Scott Sagan argues this idea fearing that it may cause a chain reaction with other nations obtaining and even making their own nuclear weapons. Proof of this theory was made clear when explosions occurred during testing of weapons by Pakistan and India in May of 1998. The contradictions have been made evident and public in several articles and reports. In in 1995 the United States Department of Strategic Command suggested that the U.S. should give, as part of it’s persona that it will become â€Å"irrational and vindictive if it’s vital interest are attacted†. USA Today, in 1997 contained two articles in the same paper that contradicted each other. One of the articles stated that Chinese Military is developing high-tech weapons to win a war against the United States and the other was the US may sell nuclear technology to China. In 1998 Joseph Douglas Jr.

Howard Hughes Essay

Howard Hughes, one of the most mysterious men in America. He achieved the American dream by not only becoming wealthy but he also built an empire. A businessman, plane designer, movie producer, industrialist, was great in everything he focused in. Had and enormous wealth and intellect, and he also had achievement. He fortune with hard work in any job and with his great influential ideas. Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was born in Houston, Texas on December 24, 1905. He was the son of Allene Gano Hughes and Howard Robard Hughes Sr., who invented the tri-cone roller bit which allowed rotary drilling for oil in previously inaccessible places. He also founded the Hughes Tool Company to commercialize this invention. Howard’s parents died when he was still a child; he inherited a considerable part of his father’s million dollar fortune. Howard’s goals as a child were to become the best golfer, the best pilot, and the best movie producer. Despite the fact that he attended great schools, he never got a diploma. His father arranged for him to attend math and engineering classes at the California Institute of Technology. Then he enrolled in the now-called Rice University. Hughes is best known as an aviation genius, because of all of his the designs, ideas, and invention of airplanes. He is famous for the H-4 Hercules, also known as the â€Å"Spruce Goose†, and is also known because of his eccentric behavior. He set many world records while flying that seemed unreachable in his time. On September 13, 1935, he set a new speed record aboard his H-1 Racer by setting a speed of 566 km per hour, the previous record was 505 km per hour. This H-1 was donated to the Smithsonian Institute in 1975; now it is on display at the National Air and Space Museum. On January 19, 1937, he set a trans-continental speed record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. On 1938 he set a record by flying around the world in 3 days and 19 hours; the preceding record was more than four hours. Hughes also received many awards; some are: the Harmon Aviatrix Trophy (1936 and in 1938) which is given for the most outstanding international achievements, the Collier Trophy (1939) which is the most prestigious award in the aviation field, and the Octave Chanute Award (1940) which is given for engineering innovations. Howard Hughes purchased Transcontinental and Western Air (T&WA) in 1939. This company grew along with his chairman Jack Frye. TWA broke Pan Am’s legal designation as the US sole international carrier, so TWA began transatlantic flights using the new Lockheed â€Å"Connie†, which was used as both a civilian airliner and U.S. military air transport plane. In 1950, the airline changed its name to Trans World Airlines (TWA), because it offered flying routes from Europe to all Asia until Hong Kong. Later with the Transpacific Route Case of 1969, TWA was able to fly in the Pacific Ocean too. TWA and Pan Am were the only U.S. airlines serving Europe. One of Hughes’s most famous designs was the H-4 Hercules, also known as the Spruce Goose. This was a jumbo boat that flew; it was specially designed for carrying soldiers in a war. The idea was to use it in World War II, but unfortunately the Hercules was finished just after the end of the war. This plane was another satisfactory idea of Hughes, because it successfully flew once with Hughes in control. This is why Howard had to testify against the Senate War Investigating Committee, but they failed to file a final report because the government didn’t permit planes made out of aircraft aluminum. So Hughes had to make the plane out of hard close-grained wood so he could accomplish his contract with the U.S. Government. This plane was on display next to RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California for many years, but now it is in McMinnville, Oregon where it is part of the Evergreen Aviation Museum. On July 7, 1946, Hughes was flying a prototype plane of the US Army, made by him, when an oil leak changed the way a propeller had to work. The plane started to drop down and crashed in a Beverly Hills neighborhood. When the plane finally stopped, after destroying three houses, the fuel tanks exploded, setting fire to the plane and a close house. In the accident, Hughes got a crushed collar bone, six crushed ribs and some third-degree burns, but besides this it affected him the rest of his life. With this he turned into a more unusual person because he developed an addiction to opiates because of use of morphine as a painkiller during his rehabilitation. He turned into an isolated person, developing a disease known as hypochondria, which makes a person preoccupied with physical health and body. This person believes, fears or is convinced that he has a serious disease, despite medical reassurance. Hughes became so isolated the he was inside a room for a little over 8 months, only opening the room for food carefully inspected for any germ. The main reason he left the room in 1947 was because he was called to testify. Senator Ralph Owen Brewster opposed the commercial interest of Howard Hughes. He said that Howard had received $40 million from the Defense Department without actually delivering the aircraft he had contracted to provide (which was the H-4 Hercules). Even though Hughes had everything against him, he combated Brewster with the same anger, accusing him of being corrupt. Hughes spread rumors about the senator’s close association with Pan Am (Hughes’s rival company), alleging that he received free flights and other things in return for help beating TWA. The senator also passed a bill to remove government approval for TWA flights across the Atlantic. Hughes openly said that Brewster had promised an end to the Senate investigation if he would agree to merge TWA with Pan Am. In reply, the senator, annoyed by the accusations, stood aside from leading the investigation to become a witness before the committee. He denied Hughes’s accusations and made several opposing accusations, but failed to harm Hughes. The senator’s reputation suffered greatly from this incident with Hughes. Howard Hughes died on April 5, 1976, at the age of 70 when he was going on an airplane from his penthouse in Mexico to a hospital in Houston. The autopsy showed that he died because of a kidney failure, plus in his bloodstream it appeared that he had 1.9 micrograms of codeine. This dose of codeine is more than fatal, and together with a good amount of valium it makes it fatal. Hughes was unrecognizable due to his long years of recluse. His hair, beard, finger and toe nails were disgustingly long. Doctors said that malnutrition to his 6’4† body helped him on his death, because he only weighed 90 lbs. Since he was too unrecognizable, the FBI had no other choice than to use the fingerprint identification to identify the body. Howard is buried in the cemetery of Glenwood in Houston. Hughes is worth writing research paper, because he is a genius on mostly everything related to plane designs. It is good to know that thanks to this man we are able to move fast and around the world. Jets are a great innovation on planes; Howard was the one of inventors of the jet propulsion airplanes, but wasn’t able to make the most out of them, because of his illness. I believe he is an inspiration for most of the youths out there wanting to study engineering, I think this is true, because Howard is my inspiration because of the great example he represents. Besides being a plane genius he was also a movie director producer which is also another reason why this man is a good research topic. Bibliography: Johnson, Bobby H. â€Å"Howard Hughes† The World Net Encyclopedia. Ed. Robert O Zeleny. Chicago World Enc. Inc, 1990. PBS Chasing the Sun- Howard Hughes [Online] Available http://www.pbs.org/Kcet/chasing the sun/innovators/hhughes.html, September 9, 2003. Golden Ages [Online] Available http://nationalaviation.org/museum-enshrinee/asp?eraid=3&enshrineeid=302, September 12, 2003. Donald L. Bartlett and James B. Steele, Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes (New York: Norton, 1979). Charles Barton, Howard Hughes and His Flying Boat (Fallbrook, California: Aero, 1982). Michael Drosin, Citizen Hughes (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985). Howard Hughes, My Life and Opinions, ed. Robert P. Eaton (Chicago: Best Books Press, 1972). Robert Maheu, Next to Hughes: Behind the Power and Tragic Downfall of Howard Hughes, by His Closest Advisor (New York: HarperCollins, 1992). Harold Rhoden, High Stakes: The Gamble for the Howard Hughes Will (New York: Crown, 1980). R obert W. Rummel, Howard Hughes and TWA (Washington: Smithsonian Press, 1991). Tony Thomas, Howard Hughes in Hollywood (Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1985)

Significant experience essays

Significant experience essays A significant experience in my life " As we all know life is full of experiences and expeditions. Some of the experiences are really significant where as others remaining unaffecting to our life. Once my friends and I decided our journey on foot in a hilly country. We thought a journey on foot in a hilly country is more exciting and pleasant than a journey by train or plane. I realized the truth of the fact by experience and the pleasure is still green in my memory. In addition to that, the most truthful thing is the lesson I got from there, which has strengthened my character. As we were on our journey we stopped a moment at the foot of the hill for rest when we saw the inexhaustible wealth of nature. The panorama of the country and the contact with its people help to remove false impression about the land and its people. Seen our own eyes we carry with us a true picture of the land and a correct view about its people. At the moment, I could not find out the mood of the nature. How could the people out there be? It was still mystery for me. We were going uphill, but the feast of the eye did not make us feel the fatigue of the trek. Looking back from the peak we had a birds eye-view of the valley and the picturesque scene of the Himalayas kissing the sky. At sunset we reached a small village. We stared in the house of an old acquaintance. The landlady was extremely old and she could hardly recognize the people. We were surprised to see her showing a warm welcome for us. She provided us food made of the best food grains she could have in the village home. But to us it was the coarsest stuff we had ever taken. Even though there was the warmth of the love by the old woman. We couldnt believe the situation; she led us to a small-congested room for rest where she difficultly unrolled some worn out poor beddings for us. We found the old woman exactly opposite ...