Educating Essay Example for Free

Educating Essay â€Å"Individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles but may also gain significant rewards†. â€Å"Do you agree with this perspective?† In your response, refer to your prescribed text and atleast one other related text of your own choosing. Individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles but may also gain significant rewards. This is present in the text ‘Educating Rita’ written by Willy Russell and the film ‘The Help’ written by Kathryn Stockett. In this text we see a fairly un-educated woman blossom and find herself through education; the obstacles she faces on her way to knowledge are the stepping stones in finding herself and entering the new world of education. Rita is a typical uneducated woman; her life is already planned out for her consisting of children, cooking/cleaning, pub trips and the overall expectation to be content with this life and not expect any more. However throughout the text we see Rita break away from this lower class/restricting stereotype to blossoming and finding herself in the world of education. The opening scene portrays to us the two completely different worlds in which Rita and Frank live. Rita has enrolled in an Open University course as she sees education as a way of moving out of her world; she feels out of step with her working class background and wants to discover herself first before having a baby and tying herself down for life. Rita’s constant desire to ‘know everything’ makes Frank feel that he is an appalling teacher because he feels he has nothing to offer her. Frank is Rita’s course tutor; he is a very negative and dismal man who is heavily reliant on alcohol to dull his boredom and frustration. Although being a jaded alcoholic he is also a very precise, formal and educated professor who is just on a downward spiral in his life. Throughout the text we see Rita and Frank’s relationship grow as Rita makes him feel as if he has hope again, therefore his drive comes back. In scene one we observe Rita struggling to open the door into Frank’s office; this symbolises her struggle to enter that world, it’s a barrier, however she’s determined to get what she wants – in this case education – therefore almost breaks the door in order to get in. â€Å"You’re the first breath of air that’s been in this room for years† quoted by Frank symbolises the opening up of a new world for him, he’s now got someone new and different to experience. This is a good change for Frank. Scene two beings with Rita oiling Frank’s office door, then handing the oil to Frank. This is symbolic of giving him the key/tool to open up to another world. Rita still doesn’t portray herself as a ‘proper student’ and her self esteem/confidence is still very low. She doesn’t think she is capable of achieving the great essays that the other students write and doubts herself that she will even finish the course. This scene really reveals the cost that trying to change herself is likely to have on Rita. She is dissatisfied with her life and has a desire to change it, yet it would be easier in her opinion to simply stay as she is and continue her boring life of hairdressing and different flavoured beers. Frank assigns Rita 3 novels to read as her hunger for knowledge is starting to grow extremely. The slow change in Rita is starting to become evident as she can read/take on any book presented to her, â€Å"it feeds me inside†. Her hunger is growing and making her slowly discover who she is, â€Å"it makes me stronger comin’ here†. Although Rita feels as if she’s finally accepted in the university and has a place/fits in with the ‘proper students’, she still has barriers to face in her personal life that are important determining points in her progress and choices as an individual. Rita’s husband Denny isn’t accepting nor happy about her doing this ‘whole learning thing’ and forces her to choose between him and education as he doesn’t understand that this is the first time she’s happy and felt a sense of purpose in her life. Denny has made her constantly feel stupid for even considering getting an education and therefore burns all of her books. The burning of the books is symbolic of Denny trying to prevent Rita from moving away. â€Å"You’d think I was havin’ a bloody affair the way he behaves† â€Å"And aren’t you?† symbolises Rita’s affair with education. Although she may not be cheating on Denny, she still desires to educate herself more than spend time with her husband and is happy with this choice as it is her own choice and no one else’s. In scene six we start to see a notable change in the relationship between Rita and Frank. When Rita bursts into Frank’s office excited to tell him that she saw one of Shakespeare’s plays â€Å"it was bleedin’ great†, Frank thought that something serious had happened – which indicates that he is beginning to care for her. After inviting Rita to a dinner party at his house Frank feels closer to Rita – this invite symbolises the change in the basis of their relationship from teacher and student to a more personal one. Throughout the text we have seen Rita grow and shape herself as an individual, no matter what obstacles and new experiences she has encountered with on her way she has got through them with determination and strength, and as a result has been great personal gain. Towards the end of the text Frank presents Rita with a dress; this is symbolic of a dress for an educated woman, she is now one and can wear the dress with pride. Frank decides to leave the university, as he does not feel it is the right career for him anymore and would prefer to spend his time doing something else. Rita and Frank have both grown and found themselves throughout this text which is also evident in the film ‘The Help’ written by Kathryn Stockett. The Help is set in Mississippi during the 1960s, main character Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends lives and the Mississippi town upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of the richer upper class families. Davis, Skeeters best friends housekeeper, is the first to open up and be interviewed to the shock of her friends in the close black community. Despite Skeeters life long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Davis continue their partnership and soon more women come forward to tell their stories and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unsuspectingly/unwillingly caught up in the changing modern times. This is relevant to the text Educating Rita as the women find the co urage and self confidence to venture into new experiences to help better either themselves or their community.

Released From The Grip Of What He Carried: Freedom Birds :: essays research papers

Released From the Grip of What He Carried: Freedom Birds "They dreamed of freedom birds. At night, on guard, staring into the dark, they were carried away by jumbo jets. They felt the rush of takeoff. Gone! They yelled. (286). "Freedom bird" an appropriate term for the jumbo jets that take the soldiers from their tour because it gives them the freedom from what has been holding them back. Throughout the story, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross has his mind everywhere but on his infantry he is supposed to be leading on the tour. The story shows how even the smallest memory, letter, or picture can draw anyone from reality. It shows several men's struggle to overcome their predisposed conscience and deal with reality. It has become one of the most common occurrences in any war. Grandfathers, uncles, and even brothers have told how they would recall as they were fighting, they themselves carried the unnecessary on a tour. The seemingly innocent picture, the numerous letters sent, and even thoughts of what it was like to be home, all of a loved one is now shown to have an impact. As seen with Jimmy Cross, some men even went to a profound obsession. As mentioned early in the work, Jimmy Cross carries letters and two pictures from a friend named Martha. The story tells how "he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters and photos, hold them with the tips of his fingers, and spend the last hour of light pretending, he would imagine romantic camping trips†¦" (275). One picture is a black and white picture of Martha standing against a brick wall. It is told how Martha has an apparent neutral look to her, and Cross can't help but notice the shadow of the person taking the picture. Cross knows she has boyfriends, knows she is closer to men other than himself. The other picture that Cross has is one of Martha clipped from a yearbook. It is a shot of Martha playing volleyball for her school. In the picture, Martha is "bent horizontal to the floor, reaching, the palms of her hands in sharp focus†¦the expression on her face taut and competitive" (276). The usual glance at a picture isn't enough for this man. It becomes an obsession for him to do this every night, sometimes he "licks the envelopes knowing that her tongue touched the paper" (275). O'Brien gives the impression that Cross has the deepest thoughts for Martha throughout the story. He mentions on numerous occasions that Cross is thinking about her, and imagining being with her.

Starbucks Case Accounting

Starbucks Case Part I – Prior to reading Starbuck’s Form 10-K, please answer the following questions. Your answers should be based upon your general knowledge of Starbucks, gained from visiting their stores, purchasing their products and/or observing them in the marketplace. a. Up until the economic downturn (Fall of 2008) what do you believe was Starbucks’ growth strategy? Give three examples of specific actions (growth initiatives) you observed Starbucks execute upon as part of their growth strategy? 1. Saturate the U. S. arket: Based on our observations, it seemed that Starbuck’s primary strategy for growth was to saturate the U. S. market. At one point there seemed to be a Starbucks at every corner, sometimes so close that one had to wonder why in the heck they were opening stores within a couple dozen feet from each other. 2. Expand internationally: We presume that one of their growth goals was to expand abroad, specially if they began to realize they were cannibalizing their own established stores, so they likely had to go outside of the U. S. o keep up their growth targets. 3. Develop complementary products/alternative revenue sources: We also think that around 2006-2007 was when they started to promote downloadable music and also began to sell CDs & books in stores; which means they began to more aggressively add alternative revenue channels, beyond that of coffee/drinks, to their many locations. (Personally, I purchased a bottle of Starbucks coffee liqueur around that time, which I still have because it’s not as good as other coffee liqueurs such as Kahlua. b. How do you believe Starbucks measured their success in executing their growth strategy? Give four specific measures you might use to evaluate the success of Starbucks’ growth strategy. Very likely that they were measuring it against number of new stores opened, and sales growth. We would probably use the following to evaluate the success of Starbuck’s growth strategy: 1. Sales growth. 2. Operating Revenues. 3. Net income. 4. Return on assets. The remaining sections of the case should be completed after you have read Starbucks Form 10-K and any other information deemed pertinent. Part II – Results of the audit by Starbucks’ outside independent accountant, status of Starbucks’ financial reporting controls and industry specific accounting. a. Who is Starbucks’ outside independent auditor? Did Starbucks receive a qualified or unqualified (clean) audit report from their outside independent auditor for the 2010 fiscal year end? a. Deloitte & Touche, LLP. b. Unqualified. b. What was Starbucks management’s conclusion in their report on internal control for financial reporting? What was the outside independent auditor’s conclusion regarding management’s review and assessment of financial reporting controls? . That their internal control over financial reporting was effective as of October 3, 2010. d. That Starbucks maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of October 3, 2010. c. How does Starbucks account for gift cards? What impact do unredeemed gift cards have on the reported operating income in each year? How does Starbucks’ accounting for unredeemed gift cards compare to other retailers? e. Revenues for cards are recognized when tendered for payment, or upon redemption. Outstanding balances are included in deferred revenue on the balance sheet. Balances on cards that are deemed unlikely to be redeemed, get recognized as net interest income. f. Operating income is increased by balances on cards thought unlikely to be redeemed; therefore, it can be argued that operating income is being overstated by the addition of â€Å"unlikely-to-be-redeemed† card balances to net interest income. g. Gift card balances by other retailers are probably carried as a liability (unearned revenue). When gift cards are not redeemed, some retailers return the balances to the state where the card was issued assuming the unclaimed balance to be â€Å"unclaimed property† in some states. As seen above, Starbucks does carry outstanding balances as deferred revenue (a liability) as well, but once the cards are deemed unlikely to be redeemed, it treats the unclaimed balance as an asset. Part III – Trend Analysis of Sales and Earnings Growth During 2006 – 2010 Review Starbucks income statement and common size income statement for the years 2006 through 2010. Identify and comment on the major trends in the growth in Starbucks sales and earnings, including: a. Sales growth – was Starbucks’ sales growth consistent or inconsistent over the above five year period? Do you see signs of acceleration or deceleration in Starbucks’ historic growth rates? How does Starbucks’ sales growth compare to its industry averages? Are same store sales or the opening of new stores the more important factor in driving Starbucks’ sales growth during this period? Do you believe Starbucks sale trends over the past few years will continue over the next two to three years? Please provide rationale for your belief. Starbucks’ sales growth was inconsistent over the above 5 year period. Data from the last 5 years suggests that Starbucks’ growth rate is actually decelerating. Starbucks’ sales growth was below the industry sales growth. The industry has average 9. 25% over the last 5 years while Starbucks averaged 7. 5% only. The opening of new stores is vital to Starbucks’ sales strategy. During 2006, 2007, and 2008, Starbucks added 2199, 2571, and 1669 net stores. During the same years, sales grew by 22%, 21%, and 10% respectively. During 2009, Starbucks reduced 45 stores and their sales dropped by 7%. In 2010, Starbucks added 223 stores and not surprisingly their sales increased by 10%. In our opinion, Starbucks’ sales will continue to grow but at a decreasing rate over the next 2 to 3 years. This projection is based on historical sales data from the last 5 years which suggest a deceleration of sales growth. Starbucks’ average sales growth for the last 5 years is 11%. In 2006, Starbucks’ sales grew by 22%. This suggests a deceleration of sales growth. b. Gross margins – did gross margins expand, contract or hold steady over the period? What major factors account for the trend you’ve identified? The gross margin has held steady over the last 5 years ranging anywhere from 55% to 59%. Gross margin is affected by sales and cost of sales. c. Operating expense – make sure you look at operating expenses in both absolute dollar terms and as a percent of sales. Did operating expenses grow slower, faster or at the same rate as revenues? Would you expect to see more leverage on Starbucks’ cost base, given their growth history? (Note: operating leverage is demonstrated when a company’s operating expenses grow at slower rate than its sales, thereby resulting in operating earnings growing faster than sales. ) Do you believe Starbucks’ cost base is mostly fixed, mostly variable or an equal mix of each? What implication does the structure of Starbucks cost base (i. e. % fixed / variable) have on the relationship between the growth rates of revenues and earnings? Make sure you present information to support your conclusion. Operating expenses have grown at a higher rate than revenues over the last 5 years. Revenues grew at an average of 7% while operating expenses have grown at an average of 11. 34%. Based on these numbers, we expect to see less leverage on Starbucks’ cost base as operating expenses are growing at a higher rate than revenues. The fact that Starbucks’ operating expenses are growing at a higher rate than its revenues shows that Starbucks’ cost base is mostly variable. This is also proven by the income statement as most of Starbucks’ operating expenses are Cost of Sales and Store Operating expenses. Most of these are usually variable. Having more variable expenses usually means that earnings will not necessarily grow at the same rate as revenues. This is demonstrated by the income statement from the last 5 years. Starbucks’ revenues and earnings have grown at different rates over each year of the last 5 years. The average earnings growth per year over the last 5 years is 12. 62% as compared to an average sales growth per year of 7. 5%. d. Operating income – have operating earnings grown at the same rate, faster or slower than sales? What factors (e. g. gross margins, operating expense/charges) account for the trend you’ve identified? Be specific and provide support for your answer. Operating income has grown at a faster rate than sales on a per year basis over the last 5 years. Sales growth has averaged 7. 5% per year as compared to an operating income growth of 11. 75% per year during the same period. The reason that operating income has grown so fast is because Starbucks recently made changes to its cost structure that made it more efficient. As per the 10-k statement filed with the SEC, Starbucks decreased its Cost of Sales by 260 basis points by making their supply chain process more efficient. This resulted in lower food, beverage, and paper packaging costs. Because of its sales leverage, Starbucks was also able to decrease its occupancy costs. Because of the reduced costs, Starbucks was able to have a higher operating income in 2010. This caused the 5 year average to jump up to 11. 75%. Also contributing to this growth was the fact that sales increased at a higher rate than operating expenses. Therefore, operating income also went up at a higher rate than sales. e. Net Income – has net income grown at the same rate, faster or slower than sales? What factors (e. g. gross margins, operating expense, non-operating items) account for the trend you’ve identified? Be specific and provide support for your answer. Net Income has increased at a higher rate than sales also on a per year basis for the last five years. In fact, Net Income has pretty much mirrored Operating Income in growth. The factors tied to Net Income are Sales, Operating Expenses, Interest, and Taxes. Taxes remained relatively proportionate EBT each year. During each of the 5 years, Starbucks experienced a positive interest income for 3 years and a negative for 2 years. This helped Starbucks increase their Net Income. However, the factor that affected Net Income the most was Operating Expenses. Operating expenses grew at a slower rate than sales from 2006 to 2010. This resulted in Starbucks having a higher Operating Income which in turn resulted in a higher net income. Starbucks’ net income grew by 142. 2% in 2010 from the previous year. This big change resulted in the average net income growth rate to increase to 12. 62%. During the same period, Sales has grown by 7. 5% and operating expenses grew by 7%. All of this contributed to the Net Income growing at a higher rate than sales. f. Earnings per share – Does Starbucks’ earnings per share increase/decrease at a rate consistent with revenue and net income. Why is this? Do you expect this relationship to continue into the future? Starbucks’ EPS increases and decreases at a rate consistent with net income but not sales. This is because earnings per share are calculated by taking the net income and dividing that into the number of shares outstanding. As a result, there is a direct correlation with net income and not sales. We expect this relationship to continue in the future as long as the number of shares outstanding doesn’t change drastically each year. Part IV – Analysis of Operating Efficiency, Liquidity and Solvency Using data included in the Form 10-K analyze Starbucks’ operating efficiency and liquidity. That is, answer the questions below. The ratio definitions used to calculate the figures in the Ratio Analysis table are described in the text and lecture notes. a. Operating efficiency: Turnover ratios. In one paragraph, explain what the values of turnover ratios reveal about Starbucks. That is, for each ratio, discuss the trend, compare Starbucks’ ratio to the industry average (for receivables, inventory turnover and asset turnover only) and discuss whether the trend indicates improvements or deteriorations in operating efficiency. Can you think of any other measures that would be useful to assess Starbucks’ operational efficiency? Turnover ratios reveal that in 2010, Starbucks’ sales increased. Receivables turnover jumped up slightly from previous years to 37. 31. The industry’s 2009 median receivables turnover is significantly higher than Starbucks’ at about 98. 64. This trend indicates that Starbucks made less sales on credit in 2010. It could also mean that Starbucks improved collecting on its accounts receivables; however, since Starbucks’ average collection period ratio has not changed in the last three years (holding steady at about 11 days), there is no indication that collection on receivables has improved. The inventory turnover ratio of 7. 8, which slightly increased from 2009, also suggests a decrease in inventories, which is supported by the drop of inventory assets shown on the balance sheet. This trend supports the observation that sales have increased significantly for Starbucks in 2010 which is always an improvement for any business. PP&E Turnover ratio of 4. 32, whi ch increased from 2009, again, demonstrates higher sales since PP&E remained at similar levels as previous years per the balance sheet. Total asset turnover, 1. 79, remained very close to last year, and is slightly less than the industry average, 1. 3. This shows Starbucks continues to generate sales at a level of almost twice as much as they carry assets on their books. The fact that their asset turnover is slightly less than that of their competitors suggests that Starbucks may have more assets than their competitors. b. Liquidity: In one paragraph, explain what the liquidity ratios (current ratio, quick ratio and cash from operations ratio) reveal about Starbucks. Include an explanation of how the cash flow from operations ratio differs from the current and quick ratios. What is your conclusion egarding Starbucks’ liquidity position? With significant increases in 2010 in current ratio, 1. 55, and quick ratio, 0. 99, Starbucks is very liquid. Quick ratio shows they have 1. 5 times current assets on the books as they do current liabilities. Likewise, the quick ratio shows they would be able to cover current liabilities with their current assets. The cash from operations ratio is . 96, which states that Starbucks’ cash from operations would not be enough to cover its current liabilities. This ratio differs from the first two in that it compares a cash flow item to a balance sheet item. It is an indication of a firm’s ability to pay off its current liabilities; however, it is the most conservative liquidity ratio since it excludes all current assets except for the most liquid: cash and equivalents. It tells that Starbucks would not quite be able to pay off all of its current liabilities with just its cash and equivalents, although it does come close. c. Solvency: Interpret the values of the relevant ratios and provide a conclusion regarding Starbucks’ ability to service its debt and risk of future insolvency. Does your conclusion change if you include â€Å"off balance sheet debt†. How much off balance sheet debt does Starbucks have as of the end of the most recent fiscal year? Starbucks’ solvency ratios suggest that it is in a strong position and would likely be able to service its debt as it shows low risk of future solvency. It’s debt to equity ratio for 2010 of 0. 73 is at the lowest it has been in the past five years. From 2009 Starbucks had a big increase in retained earnings, this pushed all solvency ratios including interest coverage, return on assets, and return on equity up. ROA and ROE were doubled from 2009 to 0. 16 and 0. 28 respectively. Likewise, interest coverage also had a big jump due to a significant increase in earnings before interest and taxes. If we include â€Å"off balance sheet debt, Starbucks debt to equity ratio increases a bit, but the trend still shows that this ratio has decreased significantly in 2010. The increase would not be enough to state that Starbucks runs a high risk of insolvency. Starbucks has $4,084. 2 in off balance sheet debt as of end of most recent fiscal year. (We assume that the numbers provided are in millions). Part V – Analysis of Cash Flow Refer to Starbucks’ cash flow statement: a. During the past three years, what was Starbucks’ largest source of cash? What were Starbucks’ two largest uses of cash? a. For the past 3 years, the largest source of cash for Starbucks was Net earnings including non-controlling assets from its operating activities. Starbucks’ two largest uses of cash were additions to property, plant and equipment, as well as purchasing available for sale securities. It is stated in the 10-k that the major components of the PPE spending were remodeling and upgrading equipment in stores, as well as updating the IT infrastructure of the retail network. b. For the past three fiscal years, has Starbucks’ CFO been adequate to fund its growth initiatives? If no, how has Starbucks funded the CFO shortfalls to fund growth? a. As stated in the 10-K Starbucks’ believes that cash flows generated from operations and existing cash and short term investments should be enough to support their core business activities. However, it is also stated that new business opportunities, joint ventures, and acquisitions would have to utilize outside funding sources. Starbucks has augmented to their cash flows by heavily investing in available for sale securities, and purchasing US Agency and investment grade bonds. These investments, and outside financing, can be used to fund growth initiatives while CFO can be used to support Starbucks’ core retail business. The 10K also mentions that the issuance of commercial paper and its proceeds can be used for working capital needs, capital expenditures, and other corporate purposes, including acquisitions and share repurchases. c. Based on your review of Starbucks’ cash flow statement, has Starbucks’ growth been driven by organic growth or acquisitions? Provide support for your answer. a. Starbucks growth has been driven organically, with strong, steady growth in net earnings including non-controlling interests, and investing a large amount of cash in property, plant, and equipment by opening new retail locations and upgrading existing stores and information systems. By utilizing CFO and short term investment earnings to support their core business, Starbucks’ has maintained a high growth, very successful retail operation. Acquisitions play a minor role compared to the growth and earnings from operating activities. d. If Starbucks continues to grow at its historic rates, does it appear that Starbucks’ CFO can fund this growth? If CFO isn’t sufficient, how might Starbucks fund its future growth? a. Yes, it does appear that Starbucks’ CFO can fund its historic growth. This is stated in the 10k; CFO and short term investments, as well as any potential future borrowings and the commercial paper program can support the existing core business as well as related marketing support, product innovations, and new business opportunities related to the core business. If CFO is not sufficient to fund the historic growth, Starbucks can utilize channels within the investment and finance sections of the cash flow statement. Particularly, Starbucks can invest more heavily in short term investments, and utilize the commercial paper program. Additionally, Starbucks purchases available for sale securities heavily – these could be sold in the future to fund any growth where CFO is not adequate to support the core business. e. During the past three fiscal years, what dollar amount of common stock did Starbucks repurchase and what dollar amount of dividends did they pay? Why would Starbucks repurchase their own stock and/or pay a dividend? How does this impact Starbucks ability to fund future growth? How did Starbucks’ strategy with regard to share repurchases and dividends change during the past few years? Why did it change? a. In 2008, Starbucks repurchased $ 311. 4 million in common stock. In 2009, Starbucks did not repurchase any stock. In 2010, Starbucks repurchased $ 285. 6 million in common stock. Starbucks may want to repurchase their own stock so that they can increase their earnings per share ratio. This is especially true if Starbucks shares were perceived as undervalued, as Starbucks can repurchase the shares and hold them in the treasury for future reissuance at a higher price. Starbucks may be able to obtain more financing and loans with better earnings per share ratio as well. Dividends can be paid to shareholders to increase the value of their shares, and encourage other interested parties to purchase Starbucks shares. Paying dividends is a way to help impact positive future growth by making the purchase of Starbucks stock more profitable – more people will want to buy it providing more cash for Starbucks to utilize. In the 10-k, it is stated that Starbucks had 1. 7 billion in CFO for 2010 compared to 1. 4 billion in fiscal 2009, and capital expenditures were approximately 440 million in both fiscal years. This left roughly $460 million for stock repurchases and dividends. Starbucks had to repay short term borrowings in 2008 and 2009, but did not have to use cash for repayment in 2010. The cash that would have been used to payback short term borrowings could instead be used to repurchase stock and pay dividends. Thus, the strategy changed because Starbucks was able to operate without short term borrowings in 2010, and was able to pass on the excess case to shareholders. Part VI – Market Valuation a. What is Starbuck’s net book value as of the end of the most recent fiscal year? What was Starbuck’s market capitalization as of that date? Why is there a difference in these two amounts? What specific items do you think comprise the difference? Starbucks’ net book value as of the end of 2010 fiscal year was $3,611,500,000 while its market cap was $19,270,826,000. The reason that the two numbers are different is because the net book value is calculated by taking the total assets of Starbucks and subtracting its intangible assets and total liabilities, while the market cap is calculated by multiplying the outstanding shares into the stock price. Because each is calculated using 5 different numbers, there will almost always be a difference in the two numbers. b. Do you believe the difference between Starbuck’s net book value and market capitalization will increase or decrease in the future? What specific factors or trends identified in Starbucks’ financial information (or identified elsewhere) support your view? We believe that the difference between Starbucks’ net book value and market capitalization will decrease in the future. One of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that Starbucks restructured its Supply Chain process to lower costs. As a result, net income grew by 142% in 2010. This was a huge turnaround by Starbucks in one year and it can be attributed to the fact that leadership identified and implemented this cost saving mechanism. Another trend that indicates that Starbucks is on its way back is the fact that they opened more stores than they closed in the last 2 years. This strategy is key to Starbucks succeeding. Third, Starbucks’ gross margin has remained constant in the last 5 years despite the down years. This shows that management knows how to cut down on costs when times are rough, or that despite financial downturns, people are still willing to pay for expensive coffee. Conclusion Refer to your responses in Part 1: How do the results of your analysis in Parts II through VI support or contradict your original thoughts regarding Starbucks growth strategy and the success or failure of the three action areas (growth initiatives) you identified? Our assumption on their strategy to saturate the U. S. Market by building as any stores as possible is supported by our discussion on sales growth, which shows that there is a direct correlation between sales revenue growth and net new stores opened. Likewise, in analyzing the CFO, we concluded that Starbucks has grown organically through their investment in PP&E, which corroborates our original thoughts. Although they probably realized they were overdoing it with having a Starbucks on every corner, their growth strategy of increasing store numb ers has been a success for the company as sales have also increased. Going forward, the challenge will be to maintain high sales rates while being able to cover its large PP&E/overhead expenses. Although we didn’t really analyze the impact of international expansion in our analysis above, according to the company’s 10-K, operating income from international activities more than doubled from 2009 to 2010; however, this increase was mostly due to foreign currency translation among other things. Therefore, our original thoughts are not necessarily proven by the data that we analyzed. Finally, we stated that one of Starbucks’ growth strategies was to develop alternative revenue sources. As we looked deeper at the reasons for sales growth, we noticed that licensing and food service both were strong contributors to the increases in net revenues. Our discussion on sales growth indirectly supports this hypothesis, since the increase in net revenues was affected by an increase in average value per transaction (as stated in the 10-K). This means that customers are not just buying coffee at the checkout stand because Starbucks is being successful at selling other complimentary goods along with their drinks. Therefore, this is definitely being a successful growth strategy for Starbucks.

Visas EB-5 green card para inversionistas en USA

La visa EB-5 se concede a inversionistas extranjeros que invierten un mà ­nimo de medio millà ³n de dà ³lares, obteniendo a cambio la tarjeta de residencia para ellos y su familia. Para los que no tengan esa cantidad de dinero: 8 opciones para conseguir una visa y crear una empresa en EEUU. Esta residencia permite vivir y trabajar en Estados Unidos y se emite, en principio, con carà ¡cter temporal. A los dos aà ±os se transformarà ¡ en una tarjeta permanente. Tipo de inversià ³n segà ºn la estructura del proyecto Puede hablarse de tres clases: Centros Regionales. Son entidades aprobadas por el Servicio de Naturalizacià ³n e Inmigracià ³n de Estados Unidos (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) para atraer dinero de distintos inversionistas para desarrollar uno o varios proyectos. Inversià ³n directa en un proyecto propio. En este caso el inversionista desarrolla su propio plan de negocios y se compromete a gestionar directamente su proyecto. Inversià ³n directa en un proyecto ajeno. Aunque esta opcià ³n no es muy conocida, sà ­ que es posible. En este caso uno o varios inversionistas realizan una inversià ³n pasiva en un proyecto que no es propio. En este caso y al igual que ocurre con los Centros Regionales, los inversionistas no gestionan el proyecto ni tampoco tienen que vivir en el estado en el que à ©ste se desarrolla. A la hora de articular jurà ­dicamente la inversià ³n, tener en cuenta las diferencias entre los 10 tipos de empresa que existen en Estados Unidos y cuà ¡l es el mejor para el tipo de negocio que se desea emprender. Tipos de inversià ³n segà ºn cantidad de dinero a invertir A partir de $500,000. Cuando se trata de una inversià ³n en un à rea Enfocada en el Empleo (TEA, por sus siglas en inglà ©s).. Es el gobierno federal quien designa a a un estado, ciudad o condado como un TEA y tiene que ser o bien una zona rural o bien una con tasa de desempleo superior al menos en un 150 por ciento a la media en todo Estados Unidos. A partir de $1,000,000 en cualquier otra parte de Estados Unidos que no ha sido calificada como TEA. Tanto las inversiones en Centros Regionales como las directas (en proyecto propio o ajeno) pueden darse en un TEA o en una zona no designada como à ¡rea enfocada en el empleo.   Tipo de inversià ³n segà ºn el nà ºmero de empleos que se deben crear Esta es una gran diferencia y sumamente importante entre los Centros Regionales y las inversiones directas (en proyecto propio o ajeno). En los Centros Regionales se permite computar los empleos indirectos que se creen con el proyecto. En los casos de inversiones directas tienen que ser tambià ©n empleos directos: como mà ­nimo 10 empleos de ciudadanos americanos que deben ser creados en los primeros 21 meses del proyecto. Ademà ¡s, tienen que ser sostenibles y reales. Respecto a esto à ºltimo resaltar que el USCIS no va a permitir que se creen trabajos no necesarios para el proyecto simplemente para cumplir con este requisito de empleo. Es decir, no se puede tener, por ejemplo, tres jardineros si sà ³lo se precisa uno. Este requisito de crear 10 empleos directos para el caso de las inversiones directas hace muy difà ­cil en la prà ¡ctica que se apruebe una EB-5 con inversiones de sà ³lo $500,000, aunque el proyecto prevea crear el negocio en un TEA. Esto es asà ­ porque en la situacià ³n econà ³mica de hoy en dà ­a es casi imposible desarrollar un negocio que pueda mantener de manera sostenible 10 puestos de trabajo con tan poca inversià ³n. Por este motivo, si el dinero con el que se cuenta ronda esa cantidad es conveniente explorar las posibilidades de los Centros Regionales. Otras consideraciones a tener en cuenta Algunos tipos de negocios se ajustan mejor a la forma de operar de los Centros Regionales, como por ejemplo, inversiones en construccià ³n o en hoteles. Por el contrario, otras, como las franquicias en varios estados, se adaptan mejor a las inversiones directas. (Estas son las 10 mejores franquicias en Estados Unidos). En todo caso, una mera inversià ³n inmobiliaria, aunque sea una de mucho dinero, no es suficiente ni para obtener la residencia a travà ©s de la visa EB-5 ni para obtener la visa no inmigrante E-2. En ambos casos se requiere que se trate no de una mera inversià ³n, sino de un negocio real y activo. El tipo de documentacià ³n que hay que presentar al USCIS es un poco diferente segà ºn el tipo de la estructura de la inversià ³n. Asà ­, en el caso de inversià ³n directa en proyecto ajeno o de Centros Regionales el abogado del proyecto proporciona el plan de negocios. Por el contrario en la inversià ³n directa en proyecto propio hay que desarrollarlo y debe de ser uno de los elementos de la aplicacià ³n a los que se le presta mayor atencià ³n. Un mal proyecto serà ¡ denegado. Por à ºltimo, a la hora de determinar el tiempo que dura la aplicacià ³n hasta que es aprobada o rechazada, las peticiones con inversiones directas suelen aprobarse mà ¡s rà ¡pidamente, especialmente en los casos en los que se trata de franquicias cuyo modelo de negocios ya es conocido por el USCIS. Beneficiarios de la visa para inversionistas EB-5 Pueden obtener la green card mediante una inversià ³n econà ³mica no sà ³lo el inversionista per se sino tambià ©n su cà ³nyuge y sus hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os. Serà ¡ preciso aportar los correspondientes certificados de matrimonio y de nacimiento, prueba de fondos econà ³micos suficientes y pasar un examen mà ©dico. Si se tienen nià ±os, es importante antes de viajar familiarizarse con los fundamentos del sistema educativo de los Estados Unidos. Asimismo, para recibir esta visa es necesario no tener antecedentes penales ni ser inadmisible para recibir la green card. Por otro lado, para recibir esta visa no se pide tener ninguna nacionalidad en concreto, ya que pueden recibirla personas de todos los paà ­ses del mundo. Tampoco se exige ningà ºn nivel de educacià ³n ni prueba de conocimientos bà ¡sicos de inglà ©s. Sobre los Centros Regionales En la actualidad hay mà ¡s de 700 Centros Regionales aprobados por Inmigracià ³n para captar inversià ³n extranjera a cambio de tramitar la green card. El negocio puede ser de naturaleza muy distinta, desde prà ©stamos para choferes de camiones de larga distancia, a hoteles, bienes raà ­ces, granjas, etc. Sin embargo se han dado problemas con este programa por lo que antes de invertir a travà ©s de à ©l es conveniente conocer cuà ¡les son los 5 errores serios a evitar en las inversiones a travà ©s de Centros Regionales. Proceso de aplicacià ³n para la visa EB-5 Se solicita la visa mediante el formulario I-526. El procedimiento a seguir es distinto segà ºn el lugar fà ­sico en el que se encuentre el inversionista. Ademà ¡s, hay que presentar mà ¡s documentacià ³n sobre el proyecto, sobre el solicitante y sobre el dinero con el que se sufraga la inversià ³n. Si se encuentra ya en Estados Unidos se debe pedir un ajuste de estatus, cumplimentando el documento I-484, y asà ­ se obtendrà ¡ una residencia temporal o condicional. Si se haya en el extranjero, el proceso se llevarà ¡ a cabo a travà ©s de la oficina consular correspondiente y habrà ¡ que esperar un tiempo hasta que haya visas de este tipo disponibles para emitir. Puede tardar en tramitarse hasta 12 meses. Existe un mà ¡ximo de 10,000 visas EB-5 que se pueden aprobar por aà ±o fiscal, es lo que se conoce como el cap. Si se supera el nà ºmero de peticiones anuales, hay que esperar al inicio del nuevo aà ±o para que se asigne la aprobacià ³n. Debido a su complejidad, esta es una visa que requiere contar con un buen abogado de inmigracià ³n experto en este tipo de trà ¡mites y, a poder ser, con experiencia probada en visas EB-5, tanto en inversiones directas como a travà ©s de Centros Regionales. Tener presente que se han dado casos de fraude y de proyectos mal llevados tanto en Centros Regionales como inversiones directas por lo que se ha acabado perdiendo el dinero invertido y la tarjeta de residencia. Por esta razà ³n es muy importante analizar detalladamente la viabilidad del negocio. Y tener presente que es precisamente eso, un negocio, por lo tanto no se puede asegurar la inversià ³n. Cabe destacar que a partir del 15 de octubre de 2019, embajadas y consulados pueden negar la visa a cualquier solicitante que pueda ser considerado carga pà ºblica, tenià ©ndose en consideracià ³n factores como salud, edad, historial laboral, etc. Por otro lado, a partir del 3 de noviembre todos los solicitantes de visa de inmigrante deberà ¡n probar que pueden adquirir seguro mà ©dico en los 30 dà ­as siguientes a su ingreso a EE.UU. o recursos econà ³micos suficientes para hacer frente a gastos mà ©dicos previsibles. Quitar la condicionalidad de la green card Inicialmente se recibe una tarjeta de residencia (green card) condiciona por dos aà ±os.  Noventa dà ­as antes de que se cumpla el segundo aniversario de la obtencià ³n de la tarjeta de residencia permanente, debe rellenarse el formulario I-829 y enviarlo debidamente cumplimentado al USCIS. Si se siguen manteniendo todos los requisitos para la obtencià ³n de la visa EB-5, el Servicio de Inmigracià ³n concederà ¡ la residencia permanente definitiva al inversor y su familia (cà ³nyuge e hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os). Esta condicionalidad de la tarjeta de residencia es diferente a la de las personas que la reciben por contraer matrimonio con un ciudadano americano. Sà ³lo se parecen en que debe cancelarse la condicionalidad antes de que se cumplan los dos aà ±os a contar desde su concesià ³n. Pero el procedimiento a seguir, las condiciones a demostrar y el formulario a rellenar son distintos. Por lo que no conviene confundir estos dos procesos. A tener en cuenta: opciones a la EB-5 Para las personas interesadas en hacer una inversià ³n mà ¡s moderada a la que requiere la EB-5 existen las visas E2 que permiten a inversores crear un negocio o comprar uno ya existente vivir y trabajar en EU junto a su familia inmediata. Otra opcià ³n, en el caso de negocios de importacià ³n/exportacià ³n, es la visa E-1 para comerciantes bajo tratado. Asimismo, otra posibilidad si ya se tiene una empresa creada fuera de Estados Unidos, la L-1 para transfer de empleados puede ser una buena opcià ³n. De interà ©s Estas son las 10 nacionalidades de hispanos en Estados Unidos mà ¡s exitosas econà ³micamente y cuà ¡nto ingresan. Ademà ¡s, a la hora de crear un negocio conviene saber cuà ¡les son los estados en los que se pagan mà ¡s o menos impuestos  y cuà ¡les son las ciudades mà ¡s caras y las mà ¡s baratas. Estos datos pueden ser de gran interà ©s para determinar si el negocio va a dar dinero o lo va a tener complicado. Y como se trata de un negocio que va unido a la tarjeta de residencia otro punto a tener en cuenta antes de decirse a invertir es el de conocer cuà ¡les son los estados mà ¡s pro-negocio y aquellos en los que es mà ¡s dificultoso establecerse. Entre los 50 estados hay enormes diferencias a la hora de regulacià ³n, disponibilidad para encontrar empleados, obligaciones de los emprendedores, calidad de vida, etc. Finalmente, si lo que se està ¡ haciendo es explorando diferentes posibilidades para mudarse a otro paà ­s pero todavà ­a no està ¡ decidido que los Estados Unidos es el paà ­s elegido, es conveniente informarse sobre estos  20 paà ­ses en los que es posible comprar la ciudadanà ­a (pasaporte) y/o residencia. Distintos precios, diferentes condiciones. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Finance analysis of United Utilities and Bristol Water - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3452 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Title: A comparative financial analysis of United Utilities and Bristol Water to determine who is in the financially healthier position focusing on the interpretation of the figures (what they mean now and in the future) and interpretation (what they mean now and for the future) of key ratios applied. Financial Health Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Finance analysis of United Utilities and Bristol Water" essay for you Create order A companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial health is defined as the state of its finances at a particular time. It is measured by taking a snapshot of its assets and liabilities at one moment in time, usually at the end of a reporting period. . Financial statements ate the best indicators of financial health of a firm. Balance sheet is the financial summation of all activities performed by the company till date. Balance sheet analysis helps in understanding whether a company can wither durations of economic pressures. Balance sheet in conjunction with profit and loss statement gives a picture of how efficiently a firm is using its assets and how much returns it is generating for equity holders. Additionally, financial health relates not only to the past performance of the company but also to its ability to competitively sustain future profitability. Profit and loss statement shows how much a company earned in a period. Latest profit and loss statement indicates current profitability of operations. Assessing financial health is not just looking at absolute numbers. It is also about how much return a company generates on its capital, how efficiently it employs working capital. Cash statements are more of a confirmation of financial health signals obtained from above two analyses. It throws additional light on the quality of information in PL and balance sheet statements. Financial health of Bristol Water and United Utilities The first place to analyse financial health is a balance sheet of a company. Appendix I gives highlight of the Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s balance sheet. Its total fixed assets have increased significantly mainly due to  £47m investment in one of the group companies. The current assets have also increased by 39% leading to a 30% increasing in total assets. On the other hand, current liabilities have decreased and company had positive current assets as compared to negative current assets in the previous year. This shows that the liquidity of the company has increased and is a good sign of improving financial health. Long term liabilities have increased to finance investment in a group company. After paying dividends, the shareholders funds increased by  £3.8m. Increase in shareholders funds shows the healthy state of the company. In case of United Utilities, the total fixed assets have increased by more than 10% to  £7,958m. This growth is mainly driven by increase in tangible assets, an indicator of higher value of assets. Another sign of improvement in companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial health is the increase in its current assets and decrease in current liabilities. This has increased the current net assets, a sign of improving liquidity. The increase in net debts is more than countered by increase in assets and this reflects in massive improvement in shareholders funds at over 21%, which is higher than growth in Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s shareholders funds. A higher shareholders fund indicates that United Utilities is in good financial health. Appendix II shows the highlight of last two profit and loss statements of Bristol Water and United Utilities. Bristol Water sales increased by just 1% to  £70.7m in 2004. The cost of sales also increased by 1% which means gross margin à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" ratio of operating profit to sales has remained same. The earnings before tax decreased due to significant increase in interest in 2004. But this was countered by reduction in tax by about 60%. It resulted in profit after tax increased by 30% to  £11.5m in 2004. 30% increase in profits is a good signal of increasing profitability and value of the company. In case of United Utilities, its sales increased by 10% to  £2,115m in 2004. This increase is much more significant when we compare to 1% increase in case of Bristol Water and indicates that United Utilities growth is top driven. On the other hand, the cost of sales increased by just 8.9%, which is a good indicator of increasing profitability. Lower percent increase in costs as compared to sales means that additional sales were achieved at higher profits. The above two scenarios should have led to even higher % increase in earnings before interest had there not been a significant profit from the sale of operations in 2003. Also lower per cent increase in earnings before tax means percent increase in interest was higher than percent increase in earnings before interest and taxation. The profit after tax was  £361m in 2004. It increased by 30% due to exceptional  £85m tax charge in 2003. Overall both Bristol Water and United Utilities are profitable businesses. Profit after tax is what investors are looking for and both the companies increased it by 30%. While the increase in case of Bristol Waters was due to massive reduction in taxation, the growth was more sales driven in case of United Utilities. This indicates that profit after tax growth pattern is more sustainable in case of United Utilities as compared to Bristol Waters. Cash flow statements are the third part of financial health analysis. Appendix III gives the highlight of cash flow statements of the two companies. Both companies had positive net cash inflows from operations. The primary earnings of a company comes from its operations and if cash flows from operations itself are negative than a company has got very less chances of survival unless it turns the operation cash flows into positive. Cash flows from investment and financing are only secondary. A company that finances its operations and investments without external financing is in very strong financial health. Business performance measures Business performance is best measured by analyzing various financial ratios. Ratios allow companies to be compared on current versus past performance and also with different companies. By comparing its ratios to those of other businesses of the same size within the same industry, firms can better determine areas in which they are competitively advantaged or disadvantaged. Ratios present both the strengths and weaknesses of a business, but they are only indicators targeting areas that require further research. Operating profit margin Operating profit margin is the first and most primary indicator of companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance. All other indicators are dependent on other things which could be separated from basic business. Operating Profit Margin = Operating profit / Sales Appendix IV shows operating margin calculations. Both Bristol Water and United Utilitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ operating profits margins have remained same over both the years and it is 27 % in both the cases. This is because both businesses are regulated by government and can only charge a certain amount for their services and products. It is clear from above that profits increase can mainly be achieved by increase in sales rather than by reduction in costs. The chances of higher organic growth are limited due to inelastic nature of water consumption. Companies can achieve substantial growth either by acquisitions or by diversifying into other businesses. Fixed asset turnover Higher fixed asset turnover indicates that a firm is making better use of its assets. Fixed asset turnover = Turnover / Fixed Asset Appendix V shows fixed asset turnover ratio of the two companies. Bristol Water is able to better employ its fixed assets by generating higher sales per unit of fixed assets. While United Utilitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ fixed asset turnover has remained same, Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ratio has come down due to significant increase in investment in group companies. On the question of which of these two companies is able to generate higher operating margin per unit of fixed assets, we multiply fixed asset turnover and operating margin. Since operating margins of both companies are same and Bristol Water has higher fixed asset turnover ratio, Bristol Water has higher operating margin per unit of fixed assets. Bristol Water is in better financial health and will remain so because of its ability to generate higher operating margin per unit of fixed assets. Return on capital employed The most important ratio describing financial health of a firm is return on capital employed. Capital employed is the finance provided either as equity or debt net of cash. The income used for measuring is earning before interest and tax to take care of the funds provided by net debt. Return on capital employed = EBIT / (Shareholders funds + Net debt) Appendix VI shows return on capital for both the companies. Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ROCE has decreased from 13.5% in 2003 to 9.3% in 2004. Unitedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ROCE has also decreased but only marginally from 9.4% to 9.0%. Significant drop in Bristolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ROCE is because of massive increase in denominator. Net debts increased to  £140m from  £74m. The increase in net debt was not matched by the corresponding increase in earnings and hence ROCE decreased. Bristol Water is a more efficient user of capital even though the gap in ROCEs of Bristol Water and United Utilities is quite less now. Higher ROCE means that Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial health is better than that of United Utilities. If Bristol Water is able to generate higher earnings from its investments made in the last year, its ROCE will increase. Return on equity While return on capital employed shows how much firm earned, return on equity shows what is left for ordinary shareholders. Return on equity = Net income after minority and preference dividends / Average book equity, excluding minority and preference shares Appendix VI shows return on equity calculations. Preference shareholders are more like debt than ordinary shareholders. They have higher ranking than ordinary shareholders and get a fixed return. So we have excluded preference dividend from total earnings to obtain amount available to ordinary shareholders. Similarly we have also excluded minority interest from total shareholders to obtain equity shareholders funds. Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s return on equity at 17.6% is much higher than United Utilitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ return on equity at 11.7%. Also Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ROE increased significantly from 14.0% over the year. The use of lower interest rate preference shares has increased returns to ordinary shareholders. Dividend cover Dividend cover is expressed as ratio of profit after tax to dividend. Dividend Cover = Profit after tax / dividend Appendix VII shows dividend cover calculations. A company with higher dividend cover ratio is in better financial health as it can safely keep up dividend payments even if there is downward movement in income in future. Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial health, when viewed with respect to dividend cover has improved in the last year. In 2003, it paid dividend higher than its profit after tax meaning dividend was funded from previous profits. A company canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t sustain that for long. Latest dividend cover of 1.52 means that Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s can easily pay dividends from its current earnings and hence it is better financial shape. United Utilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s dividend cover ratio has also increased to 1.14. Though it is not as high as Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s dividend cover ratio, it still indicates stable financial condition. Interest cover Interest cover is useful in assessing the survival of a business. Many business fail because of their inability to pay interests and debts. A higher interest cover means a business can easily meet its interest payments without facing financial distress. Interest cover = EBIT / Interest payable A ratio of less than 1 would mean that company is having problems in generating enough earnings to meet its interest payments. Appendix VIII shows interest cover calculations. Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interest cover has decreased from 3.7 to 3.1 due to significant increase in interest costs. The company took  £70m of additional loans in the last year and this has increased interest costs. Bristolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interest cover is higher than 2.4 interest cover in case of United Utilities. Bristolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interest payments would probably increase next year when it will have to pay one year full interest on additional loan. Nonetheless both companies appear in good financial health with respect to their ability to pay interests in future. Cash flow interest cover Cash is the king. Lenders are interested in cash generating capacity of the business. Though earnings are a good measure of strength of a business, it is ultimately cash that counts during financial distress. Cash flow interest cover = Net cash inflow from operating activities / Interest payable Appendix VIII shows cash flow interest cover ratio. Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ash flow interest cover ratio at 5.2 is much higher than 3.7 in case of United Utilities. Though both companies generate high amount of cash to repay interest, Bristol Water is in superior financial health due to higher cover. Due to higher safety of margin, lenders would feel more comfortable in giving Bristol Water debt as compared to United Utilities. Cash from operations to net income ratio A companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s quality of earnings can be judged from the ratio of its operating cash flow to net income. Higher cash flow to net income ratio means indicates higher quality of earnings as accrual earnings carry a risk, howsoever insignificant. It also shows less use of accounting gimmicks in manipulation of earnings. Appendix IX shows net cash flow from operations to net income ratio. Both companies have high net cash flow from operations to net income ratio indicating the solid nature of earnings. Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s higher ratio at 2.96 means that it is in better financial health than United Utilities. Financing measures Trade debtor days It reflects how much of a companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital is blocked in running its operation. Clients take time to pay and the higher time they take, the more capital is required to finance operations. The company with lower trade debtor days is more efficiently using its working capital. Trade debtor days = Trade debtors / Sales * 365 Appendix X shows the trade debtor days for both companies. If we look at individual levels first, Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trade debtors days have increased by 27% while that of United Utilities have decreased by 8%. This means that Unitedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s management has reduced the capital required to run operations and it is a sign of improving financial health. But when we compare two companies, we find that United Utilitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ trade debtor days are still higher than those of Bristol Waters. So though Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s efficiency in working capital management has slipped in the last year, it is still better than that of United Utilities. Trade creditor days Trade creditor days represent on average how much time the company takes to pay its creditors. The higher the time a company takes the lesser capital it would need from its investors and would use creditorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ capital to finance its operations. Trade creditor days = Trade creditors / Sales * 365 Appendix X shows trade creditor calculations. Bristolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trade creditor days have decreased whereas Unitedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trade creditor days have increased. This means that now United is funding more of its operations form the money owed to its creditors whereas Bristol is funding operations with more of shareholders money. When we look at both trade debtors and creditors, United has improved the efficiency of its working capital management whereas it has slipped in case of Bristol Water. Additionally, comparing absolute trade creditor and trade debtor days, it appears that the companies are converging. This is not unexpected given the regulatory control and mature state of the business. Structure of assets and claims Analysis of funding structure is almost equally important as analysis of performance. Funding structure will impact how much shareholders will obtain for each pound of total assets. Book gearing Book gearing measures how a firm funds itself or how much of each pound worth of asset is financed through debt or equity. Book gearing = Net debt / capital employed Appendix XI shows book gearing calculations. Almost two-thirds of Bristol Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets are funded from debts whereas the figure is about half in case of United Utilities. Cost of debt is lower than cost of equity. The advantage of high gearing is that the company can obtain cheaper sources of capital and use financial leverage to increase share holders returns. The disadvantages occur when debt levels are very high and it may lead to bankruptcy due to a company not meeting debt covenants. It is difficult to judge what is the dangerous level of debt for a business. Looking at the characteristics of Bristol Water and United Utilitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ business and there strong profit and cash generation ability, these companies can sustain higher levels of debt than normal businesses. Higher return on equity in case of Bristol Water is because of increase in profit and higher debt levels. So Bristol water is not only in financially good state, but also efficiently employing various sources of capital to generate higher returns for its shareholders. Current ratio A large factor determining a companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial health is its liquidity. Liquidity is best measured by current ratio. Current liabilities are the immediate concern of any company and the higher liquidity of current assets makes it a perfect candidate to satisfy current liabilities. Current ratio = Current assets / current liabilities Appendix XII shows the current ratio. It is almost same in both the companies and also moved in tandem over the last year. Also increase in current ratio signifies better financial health of the companies. Any ratio more than 1 means that company can easily meet it current obligations without having to liquidate anything more than current assets. Acid or Quick ratio Acid test or quick ratio is a conservative approach towards current ratio. Inventory sale would normally be at lower than cost price and may not be as liquid as cash or short term investments. Acid test or quick ratio = (current assets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" inventory)/current liabilities Appendix XII shows acid ratio calculations. Because of the nature of business of Bristol Water and United Utilities, inventory is very less. So there is almost no difference between current ratio and acid ratio. Conclusion Both Bristol Water and United Utilities are in strong financial health. Their have good mix of assets and liabilities. United Utilities is better when it comes to sheer size of numbers. Bristol Water on the other hand is more efficient user of capital. Both companies are earning a good return on their assets and have high chances of survival in the long run. Appendix I à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Balance Sheets of Bristol Water and United Utilities Bristol Water United Utilities  £m 2004 2003 % change 2004 2003 % change Tangible Assets 193.8 184.6 5.0% 7,769.4 7,087.3 9.6% Intangible Assets 0.0 0.0 116.1 69.2 Investments 47.0 0.0 73.0 59.6 Total Fixed Assets 240.8 184.6 30.4% 7,958.5 7,216.1 10.3% Current Assets 37.7 27.1 39.1% 1,560.9 1,174.9 32.9% Total Assets 278.5 211.7 31.6% 9,519.4 8,391.0 13.4% Current Liabilities -31.2 -40.8 -23.5% -1,374.8 -1,424.1 -3.5% Net current assets/(liabilities) 6.5 -13.7 -147.4% 186.1 -249.2 -174.7% Long term liabilities -150.8 -77.7 94.1% -4,702.0 -4,070.6 15.5% Deferred Income -8.4 -8.4 0.0% 0.0 0.0 Provision for liabilities -18.7 -19.2 -2.6% -339.7 -345.0 -1.5% Total long term liabilities -177.9 -105.3 68.9% -5,041.7 -4,415.6 14.2% Total shareholders fund 69.4 65.6 5.8% 3,102.9 2,551.3 21.6% Source: Bristol Water Annual Report 2004 (www.bristolwater.co.uk) and United Utilities Annual Report 2004 (www.unitedutilities.com) Appendix II à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Profit Loss statement of Bristol Water and United Utility  £m Bristol Waters United Utilities 2004 2003 % change 2004 2003 % change Sales 70.7 70.0 1.00% 2,115.5 1,920.5 10.15% Cost of Sales 51.1 50.6 0.99% 1,489.9 1,368.8 8.85% Operating Profit 19.6 19.4 1.03% 583.7 524.9 11.20% EBIT 19.4 19.0 2.00% 585.6 558.9 4.78% EBT 13.5 14.6 -7.53% 337.5 327.5 3.05% PAT 11.1 8.5 30.59% 361.0 277.8 29.95% Source: Bristol Water Annual Report 2004 (www.bristolwater.co.uk) and United Utilities Annual Report 2004 (www.unitedutilities.com) Appendix III à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Cash flow statement Bristol Water United Utilities  £m 2004 2003 % change 2004 2003 % change Net cash flow from operating activities 32.9 29.7 10.8% 923.5 851.5 8.5% Return on investment servicing of finance -7.1 -6.7 -151.8 -218.9 Capital expenditure -71.2 -16.1 342.2% -1018 -697.9 45.9% Financing 72 -3.4 922.9 613.8 50.4% (Decrease)/Increase in cash -1.6 2.4 -166.7% 9.6 10.3 -6.8% Source: Bristol Water Annual Report 2004 (www.bristolwater.co.uk) and United Utilities Annual Report 2004 (www.unitedutilities.com) Appendix IV à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Operating Margin  £m Bristol Waters United Utilities 2004 2003 % change 2004 2003 % change Sales 70.7 70.0 1.00% 2,115.5 1,920.5 10.15% Cost of Sales 51.1 50.6 0.99% 1,489.9 1,368.8 8.85% Operating Profit 19.6 19.4 1.03% 583.7 524.9 11.20% Operating Margin 27.7% 27.7% 27.6% 27.3% Appendix V à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Fixed Asset Turnover Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 Sales 70.7 70 2115.5 1920.5 Fixed Assets 240.8 184.6 7958.5 7216.1 Fixed Asset Turnover 0.29 0.38 0.27 0.27 Appendix VI à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Return on Capital Employed and Return on Equity Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 Return on capital employed EBIT 19.4 19.0 585.6 558.9 Net debt 140.3 74.8 3,438.4 3,373.9 Shareholders funds 69.4 65.6 3,102.9 2,551.3 Total capital employed 209.7 140.4 6,541.3 5,925.2 Return on capital employed 9.3% 13.5% 9.0% 9.4% Return on equity Profit after tax 11.1 8.5 361.0 277.8 Preference Dividend -1.1 -1.1 0.0 0.0 Net income to ordinary shareholders 10.01 7.41 361 277.8 Total shareholders funds 69.4 65.6 3,102.9 2,551.3 Minority interest -19.6 -17.7 Preference shares -12.5 -12.5 Equity shareholders funds 56.9 53.1 3,083.3 2,533.6 Return on equity 17.6% 14.0% 11.7% 11.0% Appendix VII à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Dividend Cover Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 Profit after tax,  £m 11.1 8.5 361.0 277.8 Dividend,  £m 7.3 16.9 315.3 264.8 Dividend cover 1.52 0.50 1.14 1.05 Appendix VIII à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Interest cover and cash flow interest cover Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 EBIT,  £m 19.4 19.0 585.6 558.9 Interest payable,  £m 6.3 5.2 248.1 231.4 Interest cover 3.1 3.7 2.4 2.4 Net cash inflow from op. activities,  £m 32.9 29.7 923.5 851.5 Interest payable,  £m 6.3 5.2 248.1 231.4 Cash flow interest cover 5.2 5.7 3.7 3.7 Appendix IX Net cash flow from operations to net income ratio Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 Net cash inflow from op. activities 32.9 29.7 923.5 851.5 Net income 11.1 8.5 361.0 277.8 Cash flow to net income ratio 2.96 3.49 2.56 3.07 Appendix X à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Trade debtor and trade creditor Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 % 2004 2003 % Sales 70.7 70.0 2,115.5 1,920.5 Trade debtors,  £m 8.6 6.7 317.4 313.6 Trade debtors days 44.4 34.9 27.09% 54.8 59.6 -8.12% Trade creditors,  £m 2.6 3.5 72.6 61.2 Trade creditors days 13.4 18.3 -26.45% 12.5 11.6 7.69% Appendix XI à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Book gearing Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 Net debt 140.3 74.8 3,438.4 3,373.9 Shareholders funds 69.4 65.6 3,102.9 2,551.3 Total capital employed 209.7 140.4 6,541.3 5,925.2 Book gearing 66.9% 53.3% 52.6% 56.9% Appendix XII à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Current and Acid Ratios Bristol Water United Utility 2004 2003 2004 2003 Current Assets,  £m 37.7 27.1 1,560.9 1,174.9 Current Liabilities,  £m 31.2 40.8 1,374.8 1,424.1 Current Ratio 1.21 0.66 1.14 0.83 Stocks,  £m 0.7 0.6 17.1 20.6 Current Assets Stocks,  £m 37.1 26.5 1,543.8 1,154.3 Acid Ratio 1.19 0.65 1.12 0.81

The Plague Of The Bubonic Plague - 975 Words

The Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, was a severe outbreak of disease that spread in Europe in the 14th century from 1346-1353. The disease spread faster then originally expected of killing only twenty or thirty percent but killed 60 percent of Europe s population ( Benedictow). It is believed the population of Europe was around eighty million and that would add up to be fifty million deaths. It was a horrific death for one to experience and can still be found in the world today. The Black Death was a tragic disease that spread through Europe vigorously killing fifty million people and changed European history. The Bubonic plaque was one of the most rapidly spreading diseases in European history. Starting in August it slowly began spreading throughout the South-East, however by the next spring it escladed up to the North causing people to catch the disease within a matter of days. 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Nursing Cardiac Arrhythmia

Questions: 1 Discuss the holistic care of the patient provided by the registered nurse. Critical thinking must be evident throughout the paper and discussion should cover the criteria/identification of arrhythmia, causative factors, presentation and relevant treatment modalities or options.2.The use of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) and thrombolytic has been shown to have benefits for patients being treated for ST Elevated Acute Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Discuss the nursing care associated with thrombolytic drug therapy and PCI including rationale and evidence based practice.3. Select a cardiac medication category (i.e. beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, etc.) and critically discuss the relevant nursing management of patients being treated with these medications. Discussion should involve medication action, adverse effects and relevant nursing care to ensure patient safety and effective treatment (desired effects).4. Cardiac Rehabilitation has been shown to improve patient outcomes post cardiac event. Critically review and discuss the literature to support or refute this statement. Answers: 1. Arrhythmia can be defined as the disorder, which is characterized by the alteration of the normal sequence of electrical impulse that flows through the heart. Under normal condition this electrical impulse order to pump blood effectively to every organ of the body so that each works in a rhythm. When the impulses happen too fast or too slow or in abnormal motion, the heart also pumps fast or slow or also in abnormal manner ultimately affecting the blood flow to lungs, brain and different organs, resulting in complete shutdown of the organs or may lead to the damage (Daniels, 2014). Cardiac arrhythmia can be classified in different domains; atrial fibrillation is the condition that is characterized through rapid and irregular beating. Often this condition shows no or mild symptoms, making it difficult to be diagnosed. As the diagnosis of this condition is difficult, proper monitoring and assessment is very important for identifying atrial fibrillation by a nurse to prevent any sort of organ damage and similar hazardous effects. A person having heart diseases need to be regularly monitored by healthcare nurse to determine the condition of the patients heart but those who do not have heart diseases should immediately report if they have symptoms like heart palpitations, fainting, breathing shortness, chest pain or lightheadness. There are many types of congenital disorders during births that can make one patient prone to arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation in his life. This can be explained by examples like there are many instances where babies are born with incompletely developed cardiac conduction systems, which may result in heart blocks or bradycardia. It is also seen that those people who are born with extra conduction pathways remains prone to a number of disorders where reentrant supraventricul ar tachycardia can be noted as the primary one. Other factors that may also lead to the occurrence of arrhythmia include different chemical agents that may result in high blood pressure. Moreover, tissue concentrations of a large number of minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium can result in occurrence of the disorders. Often other substances of addiction like cigarettes and recreational drugs as well as alcohols can instigate the chance of occurrence of the arrhythmias or specifically atrial fibrillation (Vacca et al., 2014). Mutation of lamin AC gene is associated with the fibrosis of atria, thereby leading to atrial fibrillation. It leads to loss of atrial muscle mass as a result of RAAS activation, atrial remodeling and fibrosis. However, it is not limited to atrial muscle loss; rather it occurs in SA and AV node, correlating with sick sinus syndrome. Once the registered nurse identifies the type of arrhythmia has been developed by the patient, i.e. atrial fibrillation, the nurse should assess the risks associated with the intensity of the disorder in that particular patient. She should try to restore the normal heart rhythm of the patient if possible by treating the actual area of the abnormal impulse generation. The nurse should try to prevent the advanced stage of the disorder and prognosis with any blood clots to reduce stroke risks. Controlling the heart rate to normal is the primary intervention followed by the treatment of the disease that is leading to arrhythmic conditions. Associated risk factors for stroke and other heart diseases should be prevented and proper monitoring of the patients vital signs and medications would be suggested to the patient (Nayak et al., 2016). Atrial fibrillation is the most common health condition that causes serious heart rhythm. Causes may be genetics or due to environmental risk factors. I nherited arrhythmic syndromes, familial and non-familial AF is associated with other genetic cardiac disorder like congenital long QT syndrome. The Nurse should closely monitor the symptoms of the patient to make a correct diagnosis. She can confirm the diagnosis by conducting electrocardiogram known as ECGS that help to identify the electrical impulse of the heart (Daniels, 2014). In addition, transthoracic echocardiogram, complete blood count and serum thyroid stimulating hormone level test can be used for specific diagnosis of AF. The nurse can identify different forms of Arrhythmia and it would be only possible for her if she has a good knowledge, a keen eye and good theoretical knowledge (Liu, Cheng Lin, 2013). AF shows narrowed QRS complex in ECG, which in turn help the nurses to identify which part of the heart is facing an issue due to abnormal impulse generation. This helps the nurse to take necessary steps accordingly. Echocardiography, chest X-ray, exercise stress testing are also significant diagnostic tests. 2. Formation of thrombi is important for major as well as minor injuries in the vascular system and usually remains confined to those particular injured areas. Under normal condition it does not obstruct any blood flow and does not interfere with the circulation of blood to different important tissues and organs. However, thrombolysis process works in a better way in thrombi that are formed recently but fail to act on the older thrombi because they have extensive polymerization of the fibrin. As a result, they get resistant to thrombolysis and hence need the requirement of thrombolytic drug therapy. This condition results in the formation of artherosclerotic plaque which when rupture causes blood clot formation in the artery that may ultimately result in partial or complete occlusion of the arteries. This gives rise to a situation when heart attack or myocardial infarction takes place. These problems are assessed from the ST segment of the ECG and hence the name. Thrombolytic agents in the thrombolytic drug therapy mainly include the serine prtoteases that mainly work by conversion of the plasminogen into the naturally occurring fibrinolytic agent plasmin. This compound is essential for lysing the clots. This mainly helps in restarting the blood flow to the heart and thereby prevents further damage to the heart muscles. In this way thrombolytic agents may help in the stoppage of the heart attack, which may otherwise could have lead to the death of a particular patient. The blood flow that has been restarted may not be completely out of danger. Therefore, further therapies like cardiac catheterization with angioplasty and stenting needs to be followed after thrombolytic drug therapy. They can be both Fibrin-specific agents and Nonfibrin-specific agents. The former containsalteplase(tPA),reteplase(recombinant plasminogen activator [r-PA]), andtenecteplase that helps in limited production of the plasminogen conversion in the absence of fibrin an d the latter contains streptokinase that helps in catalyzing systemic fibrinolysis (Nonnenmacher et al., 2016). However, this therapy should be conducted within the first 30 minutes after the arrival of the patient at hospital. In nursing interventions, at first the nurse should evaluate the contraindications like whether the patient had a recent surgery or trauma, cerebral vascular accident and many others. This may be because it can result in precipitation intracranial, internal, or peripheral bleeding. Proper discussion should be made with the patient or with his family members about the purpose of the therapy. It should be also instructed that the patient should completely maintain his position during and after the infusion. Vital signs should be continuously monitored during the infusion with gradual increase in time duration of the interval of checks until intravenous catheter is moved. Cardiac monitoring should be continued and emergency preparations for prevention of Ventricular dyrhythmias should be ready (Nonnenmacher et al., 2016). After post infusion, proper assessment of the vital signs, distal pulses and infusion site should be conducted as the client remains at a risk of bleeding after the th erapy. Proper evaluation of the responses should be made like ST segment, relief of chest pain, reperfusion dysrhythmias, early peaking of the CK and CK-MB band and similar other things. Position of the patient should be maintained with head kept below 15 Degree. Peripheral bleeding may occur at puncture sites and hence proper dressing is to be made. Body fluids should also be checked regularly along with proper administration of the platelet modifying drugs (Meyer et al., 2016). In Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), a catheter is inserted and threaded through blood vessels at the site of narrowed blood vessels where a stent with a balloon tip cover is inflated which helps in the compression of the plaque. Once accomplished, the stent stays in artery holding it open allowing proper blood flow. Nurses should be aware of the various risks associated with during or after this treatment. The antithrombotic agents used before the therapy increases the risk of vascular access complications that may include hematoma arterial occlusion, arteriovenous fistula that may harm the patient leading to morbidity and mortality. Therefore, nurses need to be knowledgeable about the complications that may arise from this situation and handle them efficiently (Middleton, Gromley Alexandrov, 2015). Therefore after receiving the patient from the cath lab after the treatment, nurses should have a comprehensive monitoring of the medication administration during the process, correct location placement of the stents, different types of vital signs should be assessed and assessment of the pedal pulses are to be made. The registered nurse should be properly experienced with the sheath pulling activity, as it requires extensive training (Bates et al., 2015). 3. Epinephrine and nor epinephrine are the neurotransmitters which usually bind with the the betareceptors 1 of the heart, eye and kidneys and with the Beta 2 receptors of the lungs, liver and others. Beta blockers are those drugs which when bond with the beta-receptors inhibits the binding of the neurotransmitters with that of the beta receptors and as a result they help in reduction of heart rate and reduce the blood pressure. These are mainly done by diluting the blood vessels (Flather Gollop, 2016). Therefore, in a way it can be said that the flight and fight activities conducted by the activity of the neurotransmitters are prevented. They reduce the workload of the heart and are useful in treatment of angina pectoris or chest pain (Reinstra et al., 2013). Beta cell blockers result in fatigued condition of the body along with drowsiness, dizziness and even weakness. Patients also experience dry mouth, dry skin, dry eyes nausea and even vomiting. Nurses also notice a feeling of coldness in hands and feet in patients. Shortness of breath, sleep disturbances and reduced sex drive are also been reported. Therefore, they are not provided to asthma patients. By blocking the effects of the nor-epinephrine and nor epinephrine, they may constrict the air passage. This is mainly due to the contraction of the muscles surrounding the air passage and thereby causes difficulty in breathing. Other side effects include toxic epidermal necrolysis, raynaud's phenomenon, Lupus erythematosus and Bronchospasm. Serious allergic reactions, Erythema multiform, Steven Johnson Syndrome, Toxic epidermal necrolysis also take place. (Morales et al., 2014). Before administering the beta-blockers the nurse should check whether the patient is suffering from allergies. It should be also known what kind of drugs the patient uses including the herbs if taken to ensure that any other medicines of similar effect are taken or not. The nurse should also check the current BP and the apical pulse rate before the administration. After administration of the drug the nurse should observe the intended effect of the dose. The side effects should be monitored especially like orthostatic hypotension. Older patients should be checked for mental confusion and changes in LOC. Diabetic patients should be handled carefully because there is a chance of hypoglycemic condition that may arise from such disorders and therefore they should be monitored regularly. COPD patient should be handled carefully especially asthma patients for respiratory issues like wheezing and difficulty in breathing (Bolton et al., 2016). Proper information to be also given to the patien ts about the side effects so it would help them to be aware of their physical health 4. Cardiac rehabilitation in a post cardiac event in case of patients have been highly supported by different researchers where they have specifically mentioned cardiac exercise to be a major factor that had decreased the number of morbidity and also mortality in various hospitals and centers. Rise in heart rate during exercise due to parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic activation and subsequent fall in heart rate due to parasympathetic activation takes place in individuals who undergo exercise treatments in rehabilitations. Researchers have identified that failure in the decrease of the heart rate rapidly during exercise is linked with all cause mortality. Exercise training in the rehabilitations improves heart rate variability in the patients along with baroflex sensitivity for patients who suffered coronary artery diseases (Anderson et al., 2016). Altogether, it showed positive impacts on the heart rate recovery improvement of the patients who faced cardiac events (Rutledge et al., 2013). Researchers have shown that cardiopulmonary rehabilitation has not only helped patients to obtain excellent treatment after vascularisation but has also taught patients with benefits of proper secondary prevention (Griffo et al., 2013). When patients underwent good lifestyle and medical adherence taught in the rehabilitations, risks of further harm from cardiac events were found to decrease along with decreased mortality. In case of artial fibrillation, exercise for muscle strengthening, endurance and a range of motions can be helpful. In rehabilitation centre, walking is being focused as an aerobic and safe exercise. In the later phase, jogging is recommended for increasing HDL or good cholesterol. Cycling can be helpful to AF patients for managing stress of blood pumping by heart. In addition, swimming, yoga and strength based training can be helpful with a alternative day schedule, as these can help to prevent the risk of blood clot and stroke rate (Dunlay et al., 2014). References: Anderson, L., Oldridge, N., Thompson, D. R., Zwisler, A. D., Rees, K., Martin, N., Taylor, R. S. (2016). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the American College of Cardiology,67(1), 1-12. Bates, E. R., Blankenship, J. C., Ellis, S. G., Moussa, I. D., Guyton, R. A., Mukherjee, D., Kushner, F. G. (2015). 2015 ACC/AHA/SCAI Focused Update on Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: An Update of the 2011 ACCF/AHA/SCAI Guideline for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and the 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction. Bolton, N. (2016). Perioperative beta-blockers for preventing surgery-related mortality and morbidity.Journal of perioperative practice,26(3), 30-31. Daniels, D. (2014). Role of the Clinical Nurse Specialist in Multidisciplinary Care Planning for an Obstetric Patient with Cardiac Arrhythmia.Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, Neonatal Nursing,43(S1), S93-S93. Dunlay, S. M., Pack, Q. R., Thomas, R. J., Killian, J. M., Roger, V. L. (2014). Participation in cardiac rehabilitation, readmissions, and death after acute myocardial infarction.The American journal of medicine,127(6), 538-546. Flather, M. D., Gollop, N. D. (2016). Understanding Mechanisms of Action of Beta-Blockers in Heart Failure With Reduced and Preserved Ejection Fraction.JACC: Heart Failure,4(2), 150-151. Griffo, R., Ambrosetti, M., Tramarin, R., Fattirolli, F., Temporelli, P. L., Vestri, A. R., ... Tavazzi, L. (2013). Effective secondary prevention through cardiac rehabilitation after coronary revascularization and predictors of poor adherence to lifestyle modification and medication. Results of the ICAROS Survey.International journal of cardiology,167(4), 1390-1395. Liu, S. H., Cheng, D. C., Lin, C. M. (2013). Arrhythmia identification with two-lead electrocardiograms using artificial neural networks and support vector machines for a portable ECG monitor system.Sensors,13(1), 813-828. Meyer, G., Vicaut, E., Danays, T., Agnelli, G., Becattini, C., Beyer-Westendorf, J., ... Dellas, C. (2014). Fibrinolysis for patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism.New England Journal of Medicine,370(15), 1402-1411. Middleton, S., Grimley, R., Alexandrov, A. W. (2015). Triage, Treatment, and Transfer Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Recommendations and Models of Nursing Care for the First 72 Hours of Admission to Hospital for Acute Stroke.Stroke,46(2), e18-e25. Morales, D. R., Jackson, C., Lipworth, B. J., Donnan, P. T., Guthrie, B. (2014). Adverse respiratory effect of acute -blocker exposure in asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.CHEST Journal,145(4), 779-786. NAYAK, C. G., Seshikala, G., Desai, U., Nayak, S. G. (2016). Identification of Arrhythmia Classes Using Machine-Learning Techniques.International Journal of Biology and Biomedicine,1, 48-53. Nonnenmacher, C. L., vila, C. W., Mantovani, V. M., Vargas, M. A., Echer, I. C., Lucena, A. (2016). Cross Mapping Between the Priority Nursing Care for Stroke Patients Treated With Thrombolytic Therapy and the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC).International Journal of Nursing Knowledge. Rienstra, M., Damman, K., Mulder, B. A., Van Gelder, I. C., McMurray, J. J., Van Veldhuisen, D. J. (2013). Beta-blockers and outcome in heart failure and atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis.JACC: Heart Failure,1(1), 21-28. Rutledge, T., Redwine, L. S., Linke, S. E., Mills, P. J. (2013). A meta-analysis of mental health treatments and cardiac rehabilitation for improving clinical outcomes and depression among patients with coronary heart disease.Psychosomatic medicine,75(4), 335-349. Vacca, A., Meune, C., Gordon, J., Chung, L., Proudman, S., Assassi, S., ... Matucci-Cerinic, M. (2014). Cardiac arrhythmias and conduction defects in systemic sclerosis.Rheumatology,53(7), 1172-1177.