Finance analysis of Whitbread Financial Ratios Assignment

Fund examination of Whitbread Financial Ratios - Assignment Example Proportion investigation is one of the strategies used to do an organization monetary examination to decide the exhibition of the organization being referred to comparable to different organizations in the business in which such an organization works and furthermore according to its own tasks after some time. The past exhibition of the organization as appeared by the proportion investigation just as different techniques that can be utilized in the organization budgetary examination can be utilized as a pointer of the company’s future execution as far as the company’s liquidity, productivity, working capital administration, resource the board, proficiency of the company’s the board, money the board just as financial specialist valuation proportions so as to help in arranging and evaluation of the company’s procedures just as for use by speculators to settle on a choice on whether to put resources into the organization or not.... assess the company’s execution against one of its rivals which is called Restaurants Group Plc lastly offer a suggestion on the company’s execution over the multi year time frame between year 2010 and year 2011 and furthermore according to the contender Restaurants Group Plc. Depiction of the business The United Kingdom Restaurant industry has been exceptionally energetic throughout the most recent three years regardless of the downturn that incredibly influenced the worldwide markets inside the period between year 2008 and year 2010 and the obligation emergency in the Euro Zone in year 2011. In light of Oxford Writers, eateries are an indispensable piece of the way of life of the individuals of the United Kingdom (Oxford Writers 2012). The business is involved lodging administrators, cafés, bars and bar eateries among different administrations that go connected at the hip with the food business. The business is for the most part influenced by the occasional food busin ess because of the way that the horticultural produce in the majority of the agrarian regions in the United Kingdom is occasional in nature. Furthermore, the visitors in these cafés are additionally occasional. For example more individuals eat out during summer that during winter along these lines demonstrating that lodging business will blast in summer and decrease in winter. Then again, occasions, for example, Christmas, Easter and so on likewise increment the quantity of clients in eateries hence expanding gainfulness. As at 27th April 2012, Whitbread Plc was the biggest organization in the cafés business by advertise capitalization with a market capitalization of ?3.39 billion followed by Greene King Plc with a market capitalization of ?1.1 billion, trailed by Mitchells and Butlers Plc with a market capitalization of ?1.08 billion, trailed by Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland Plc with a market

More than a Change of Heart free essay sample

â€Å"I’m not identified with you!† My twelve-year old independent this slant flawlessly obvious to my dad over the kitchen table. I needed literally nothing to do with his half of my family tree. I would have been embarrassed on the off chance that anybody had discovered that my Uncle Jeff would before long become â€Å"Aunt Joanne†. The news couldn't have come at a more awful time. I was going to enter center school, the greatest change I would make since beginning kindergarten. Presently I needed to make sense of how to deal with this family circumstance also. Couldn’t Jeff have planned this better for the wellbeing of I? Was that actually an excessive amount to inquire? He was going to destroy the family with this news, also his marriage with Barbara, my preferred auntie. Throughout the following hardly any weeks these irate contemplations took an unparalleled view in my psyche, bringing about hurried scrawls in my diary about how loathsome and impolite Jeff was and sudden upheavals at loved ones. We will compose a custom article test on In excess of a Change of Heart or then again any comparable subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page In the coming months this adolescent indignation died down and my interest in thesituation developed. Since Jeff and Barbara lived in Boston, I couldn’t watch the little physical changes that my uncle was experiencing. Rather, numerous progressions were tossed at me at the same time. During one visit, his pierced ears and the absence of his trademark facial hair were the main signs this was a big deal; he was really going to proceed with turning into a lady. Now I began to recognize that I would some time or another approve of this choice. That came sooner than I foreseen. A couple of months subsequent to seeing Jeff with his pierced ears, I met Joanne. She was a similar stature as Jeff, wearing size 11 women’s shoes and a short brunette wig. Her voice was higher than his, yet her grin was likewise more extensive and her embrace more tightly than Jeff’s had ever been. She was truly upbeat and agreeable as a lady. That day I amazed myself by turning into the first in my family to start tolerating that the individual who remained before me was a similar individual I had known and cherished a mind-blowing entirety. Nowadays I see my auntie Joanne all the more consistently. I am OK with the lady she is today and the certainty with which she conducts herself. She is the main transgender individual from the sheets of Point Foundation and of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, just as a feature writer for â€Å"The Advocate†. Joanne’s receptiveness about her change has helped me to be open to addressing others about transgender individuals and my encounters with them. Of the numerous things her contribution in the LGBT people group has shown me, the most significant has been to grasp everyone’s contrasts, regardless of whether it be race, religion, sexual character, or in any event, something as basic as someone’s taste in music. My gratefulness is a lot more prominent now for the extraordinary characteristics that every individual brings to a relationship. Living in my extremely homogenous network, had I not experienced this with Joanne, I would have been badly arranged for collaborations outside of my town with individuals of totally various foundations and encounters. My reality has been exponentially extended, and I’m more willing than any other time in recent memory to meet new individuals and grasp our disparities. I know now that having a transgender auntie will never characterize me, however that my aunt’s change assisted with bringing out positive attributes in me that all the more precisely characterize my character. I am genuinely more grounded, I support what I accept is correct, I am faithful to my loved ones, and I am a progressively tolerant, tolerating individual. I am glad for myself for getting one of Joanne’s greatest fans and supporters. The greater part of all, I am appreciative that Joanne and I could set out on our excursion into womanhood together.

Below 48

Below 48 MIT classes are assigned a number of units to roughly scale their difficulty: the majority of classes are 12 units[1], which is supposed to refer to the approximate number of hours that class needs of your life per week. (Your mileage may vary: Im looking at you, 6.115.) The median MIT student takes four classes per semester, which means most people walk around taking 48 units. This doesnt cover everyone, though, and its easy to let our dear old friend imposter syndromekick in when you start talking to other people. Youre taking four classes? But So-and-so is taking five! And that kid down the hall is taking six, while also working two UROPs! Am I not doing enough? Maybe I should add a cla Stop. Breathe. Your time at MIT isnt defined by the number of units youre taking. If youre the kind of person who can maintain your sanity or enjoys the light chaos of taking tons of classes, go for it, but the number of classes you take doesnt determine you at all. Above, below, or exactly four per term is your own choice, and you should work where youre happy and productive. Personally, Ive stuck with four classes per semester for most of my time here: freshman spring I took a chance with five classes, and while I made it through it was more stressful than Id normally like. Last year (junior year), there was a class each term which had the curious tendency to absorb all of my time[2], so it felt like I was well above my usual course load. Now, in fall of my senior year (gah thats still scary to write down), I decided that I wanted to try a different approach: below the 48 unit count. The result has been really quite nice for me. Im easily roped into interesting side projects, so the lighter homework load has left more time for all of the brain-crack ideas and projects which I would have normally left untouched during other semesters. Its really, really easy to fall into this trap of Oh well Im not doing as much right now so I should also try to do X as well, and then you end up like me :P First come classes. Im taking three and a half (and happy about that!): 8.902: Astrophysics II (electric boogaloo) Space is, for lack of a better word, neat[3]. Last semester, in 8.901, Professor Scott Hughes kept us on a sprint through a wild variety of topics on the stellar level: stellar atmospheres, stellar evolution, neutron stars, black holes, and so on. This semester, were diving deep into a larger scale, and learning about cosmology and galactic formation. 8.902 is being taught this term by Professor Robert Simcoe, who spends a lot of his time in the realm of observational astronomyso much so, in fact, that he cancelled the first lecture of the semester with a 2AM email. Why? Greetings from Chile, where I am observing with the Magellan telescopes for the next three nights. Oh. Okay then. Turns out Simcoe is just awesome like that. His observational side has poured over into our problem sets, where weve been given actual data files and told to compute the properties of various galaxies found within. Im kind of awestruck at how you can go from this galaxy is this bright over here and this bright over there to this galaxy fits such-and-such a profile, with roughly this many stars of this age, and is flying away from our own galaxy as a whole at X kilometers per second. CMS.350:Topics and Methods in 21st-Century Journalism If nothing else, CMS.350 could be considered interesting for its readings alone, which for each class are all centered around the rise of journalism as a field (especially in the second half of the twentieth century). As a result were working through a long list of required readings which are all pieces Ive been kicking myself to read for a while. That doesnt go for all of the readingsI still havent the faintest goddamn clue whatBaudrillard is talking aboutbut getting to read the likesFrank Sinatra Has a ColdandThe Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depravedhas been fascinating, especially while we also learn about, say, the role Twitter played in covering the Boston Marathon bombings. Its also forcing me to write, an activity which doesnt really come easily to me, and led me to conduct the interview with Smyly the Juggler which ended up as my last blog post. The class is a small one: eleven students and the lecturer, Seth Mnookin, so the conversation is much more informal and personable than you might see if we had triple the enrollment. 6.858: Computer Systems Security Have you ever seen the movie Hackers? This class isnt really like that, but youll still find it surreal as you learn about various ways computer programs have been exploited historically, and discover that the reading youre using to complete the lab is written by someone who goes by a l33t haxx0r name like Aleph One. (Seriously.) There are a lot of holy crap people are geniuses moments when you learn how various attacks and patches work, and there are a roughly equal number of nothing I use is secure oh god why moments as well. My favorite part of the class so far has been the labs: were running a web server off of a virtual machine, and as weve learned in class about issues and attacks, weve taken steps to exploit them within the virtual machines environment and then patch them accordingly. Its hands-on, and has me rethinking a lot of my own older projects. Theres someone weirdly terrifying about it all, and Im particularly excited for the classs final project section, where we write our own security whitepapers on assorted bugs in existing programs/protocols, or develop new systems altogether. Even looking at last years final projects gives some idea of where were going with this. 11.S941: Understanding MIT A 6-unit seminar class on what makes the Institvte tick. I didnt even know this class existed until a few days into the semester: a couple of my friends excitedly recommended it, and I added it before the first class. It meets on Tuesdays for two hours, and each week we have a special guest with a unique perspective on how MIT works. That weeks visitor speaks directly to around twenty students about her job, her experiences, and how she contributes to keeping this place running. I have, in the past, heard of MITs administration referred to as an octopus: lots of arms, not always working in sync or clear on who controls what. Weve been getting samples each week from different parts of that octopus, in the hopes of clarifying its operation. Our first guest of the semester was John Reed, the outgoing Chair of the MIT Corporation. Turns out, from a legal perspective, MIT refers not to the school we know and presumably love, but instead to a body corporate by the name of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (as written in MITs charter), and John Reed is the guy at the helm of that corporation. Everything builds down from the Corporation, so getting to have a chat about the direction of and changes at MIT was fascinating. Other guests have included Allen Marcum (Director of MITs Treasury) Christine Albertelli (Director of Budget, Financial Planning Analysis) who came to explain the intricate world of MITs finances. A lot of the numbers around how money at MIT works can be found in the recently-released 2014 Treasurers Report (PDF). We talked about the endowment, tuition, financial aid, maintenance, debt, century bonds, and more. I was somewhat disappointed that no one provided evidence that MITs financial decisions are decided by secret cabal meetings around an obsidian table hundreds of feet beneath Lobby 10[citation needed]. Oh, and Stu Schmillcame by a few weeks ago to talk about some weird project Admissions started ten years ago: So that happened. Thanks for coming by, Stu! It was really interesting to learn about REDACTED and this one weird trick to get into MIT. Together, these classes are 42 units. Its nice to finally have a semester where I can breathe a bit more, and Ive found that the #1 way to fight self-doubts about not taking enough classes is to fill your time with friends, adventures, and crazy projects. More on those next time. Onward! Footnotes: [1] By my count, the Registrar has 4,796 classes (!) listed for the 2014-2015 academic year, and 2,649 of those are listed as 12-unit classes. This doesnt count however many of the 1,052 special classes are 12-units, but we know that at least 2649/4796 = 55.2% of MITs current classes have twelve units. [2] I had 8.13 Physics Junior Lab in the fall, and 6.115 Microcontroller Project Lab in the spring. Each was unbelievably awesome, and Ill make a point to blog about my experiences in each in the future :) [3] This fact was recorded for posterity on February 12, 2014, among my 8.901 notes.

How John`s attitude toward the narrator in ‘’The...

How John`s attitude toward the narrator in ‘’The Yellow Wallpaper’’ mirrors social attitudes regarding mental illnesses The diagnoses, treatment, and overall understanding of mental illnesses have progressed greatly from when â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was written. In those times the classification of a mental illness for a woman was madness. Women were treated accordingly, and not just by their doctors, but by their families and communities. Today, many facilities and medications exist to help individuals recover from a mental illness as best they can, and there are trained physicians and psychologists who can properly identify their illnesses. The only aspect that has not been completely altered since then is the way someone†¦show more content†¦In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, John takes the narrator to a different town and tells their families that she is not as bad as she really is. This is something they clearly do not do ofte n. This is apparent because the narrator says â€Å"It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and [the narrator] secure ancestral halls for the summer† (page 1). Also the narrator had just had a baby, so if they were going just out of town for a summer vacation, it would be an odd time. In her article, Quawas noticed that John not only kept his wife from her family and friends, but he chooses the room farthest away from Jennie and the servants as well: ‘’He isolates his wife in the upstairs nursery, a room with barred windows and hideous yellow wallpaper’’ (n.p.). In the BBC adaptation, Charlotte waits until she is sure that John is in a good mood and then says â€Å"John, [the narrator] must ask you a serious question, won’t allow [her] to pay a visit to Hendry and Julia†. Charlotte tells us John spends most days in town, so obviously she is lonely. John does not seem to make this connection and immediately shoots her ques tion down. He tells her â€Å"[her] improvement is the result of keeping to the cure†. Charlotte had not been getting better, but worse, so John must have known that what he said was a lie. John does invite one of their mothers down for a weekend, but she already knew about Charlotte being ill. This is

The Eyes Of Propensity - 1646 Words

Through the Eyes of Propensity Gasoline prices are a fast, never-ending rollercoaster in the middle of the night: unpredictable, wavering and impactful. With control of these prices through future market contracts, the petroleum industry seems to have significant influence on the U.S. economy. Private corporate oil companies yield some of the greatest power on the planet, but will face a major dilemma in the near future when the last of this finite, nonrenewable resource left on earth is gone. Oil is the most valued commodity across the world and has been for decades. Yet, this precious resource is far from satisfactory in meeting moderate standards for eco-friendliness and efficiency. The burning of crude oil produces dangerous levels of†¦show more content†¦Americans are generally unmindful of a crisis at hand, until the mass media voices their opinion onto a public platform. The media controls and manipulates our viewpoints, values, and actions, so that individuals confor m to their bias. They construct and constrict language to accomplish a specific goal or motive, so it is important for people to not blindly accept information at its face value. When it comes to interpretation of the oil famine and alternative energy, there is less public discourse than one would expect to inform individuals on a precarious, worldwide problem. It has been well-documented throughout the ladder half of the twentieth century that fossil fuels are likely to run out within the lifetime of baby boomers and most certainly be gone in the span of Generation Y. Likewise, scientists have noted the detrimental cost of burning these fuels to the environment, which include increasing greenhouse gases and polluting the world’s air. A disproportionate amount of oil is discovered compared to the amount consumed each year. Supply cannot keep up with the ever growing demand. Yet, oil companies still claim they will never run out of oil. It is in the best interest for these cor porations and the media to keep this information classified, in order to â€Å"milk† oil for as much capital as possible for as long as possible, with no regard to the well-being of earth and its inhabitants.

Awakening the Role Model Free Essays

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna Pontellier continuously struggles with breaking the social norms that are imposed upon her by the people around her including her own friends and husband. Throughout the novel, Edna is able to detach herself from the lifestyle that society appoints her by emulating Mademoiselle Reisz, an independent woman who has lived her life without conforming to society. Mademoiselle Reisz is not only a model for Edna’s awakening, but she also represents the freedom and individuality that Enda wishes she could attain. We will write a custom essay sample on Awakening: the Role Model or any similar topic only for you Order Now Through imitating Reisz, Enda realizes the woman she is capable of becoming, but later learns that she cannot truly be an independent woman because of her differences from Mademoiselle Reisz. The relationship between Edna and Reisz is constructed on the artistic connection between the two character’s. Enda, a painter, is very fond of Reisz’s musical talent. Edna specifically likes one of Reisz’s songs that she calls â€Å"solitude. † Chopin writes, â€Å"The name of the piece was something else, but she called it ‘Solitude. When she heard it there came before her imagination the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore. He was naked. His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him† (38). This is what the relationship between Edna and Reisz is built on. Not only is it the artistic connection, but it is also the desire to be an individual that brings the two together. The song portrays an almost a vivid painting in the mind of Enda, the form of art that she enjoys. This particularly touches her because even though it is a different form of art, Edna still is able to understand and interpret it. In her mind, Reisz’s song leaves her with the sensation of being alone and free, a feeling that Edna longs to have for herself. The sea, which resembles freedom and knowledge throughout the novel is placed as an obstacle for the man who can only look at the bird that can go the other way and fly over the water. The â€Å"resignation† that the man and Edna feel are both in response to the way that they cannot free themselves completely from the land they are on, which can be understood as society itself, unlike the bird that they have to watch simply fly the other way. From this interaction between the two, it is apparent that Edna’s relationship with Mademoiselle Reisz is based on the two understanding each other through them both being artists. Alongside of their artistic connection, Edna Pontellier looks up to Mademoiselle Reisz as the woman she aspires to be. Enda wants to be an independent artist that is a maverick among the conventional people in the society just like Reisz is. This is evident in how the two characters interact. Chopin writes, â€Å"When Mademoiselle Reisz came and touched her upon the shoulder and spoke to her, the woman seemed to echo the thought which was ever in Edna’s mind; or, better, the feeling which constantly possessed her† (69). Edna is figuratively and literally touched by Reisz in this moment. Edna wishes to be free and give up the all of the responsibilities she has a a woman. She does not want to be in the â€Å"habit† of doing all the social responsibilities that are placed upon women. Reisz echoes the freedom that Edna wishes she had by touching her and almost giving her that independence she yearns for. We can see how Edna struggles on the inside with wanting to be free and independent from how the narrator refers to it as a â€Å"feeling which constantly possessed her. † The possession shows how Edna does not have control over this feeling and she will always want to be a free individual. Reisz communicates to Edna that it is possible break the social standards by touching her and telling her that it is possible to be different because Reisz has done it herself. The connection between the two in this passage is one that is very much one that is mutual and close. Mademoiselle Reisz provides Edna with enlightenment that â€Å"possesse[s] her,† while Edna gives â€Å"the most disagreeable and unpopular woman† a true friendship in a society that is bias against independent women who defy the social convention. Reisz once again touches Edna similarly to how she had earlier on in the novel. Chopin writes, â€Å"She put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. ‘The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth† (p. 127). Similar to the man from the song that wishes that he had wings like the bird to be free. Edna’s wings that she can use overcome the tradition and prejudice of society are being checked by Mademoiselle Reisz to see if she is strong enough to fly on her own. In addition, Edna s reached out to by Reisz and is comforted by her knowledge on how to be an individual. Edna wants to be free and is happy to relieved by the fact that Reisz is there to help her. Although Reisz is there to help Edna, Reisz also does think it is a shame if Edna were to fail in obtaining her independence. Mademoiselle Reisz calls it a spectacle which makes those who fail look ridiculo us or like a fool. She is also telling Edna if she doesn’t succeed that she will make herself a spectacle that the entire tradition on the ground, society, is going to see her fall as she makes herself look like a fool. We can also see that Edna does enjoy the presence of Resiz although it may be hard on her at times. Chopin writes, â€Å"There was nothing which so quieted the turmoil of Edna’s senses as visit to Mademoiselle Reisz. It was then, in the presence of that personality which was offensive to her, that the woman, by her divine art, seemed to reach Edna’s spirit and set it free† (p. 120). At this point, Edna Pontellier feels as if the personality of Reisz, which she seems to envy because of its complete freedom, is the only thing that â€Å"reach[es] Edna’s spirit and set[s] it free. Edna’s world that is filled with struggle to be independent can only be calmed by the presence of her role model and deity, Mademoiselle Reisz. Since the relationship between Edna and Reisz is clearly one based on being independent women in a society that is prejudice against those whom that contravene the societal laws, the Edna’s life and suicide can be understood w ith more lucidity. Edna’s life through the novel is incontrovertibly a mimic of the life of Mademoiselle Reisz. Since Reisz is the independent and free woman Edna strives to be, Edna simply follows all the things that Reisz does. Edna returns back to painting{what does she want from painting}, she no longer â€Å"go[es] through the daily treadmill of the life which has been portioned out to us,’ and she no longer let’s society command her what to do. Even though Edna is a free and independent woman by following the lifestyle of her counterpart, Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna struggles to be completely free. She still has to deal with the return of her husband and most importantly living with her children. This struggle makes the seemingly independent woman, Edna, ultimately commit suicide. Although Edna is fulfilled by her ability to initially take flight, gain freedom, Edna is just like â€Å"weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth† (p. 127). Because Edna’s wings are weak she is unable to fly and be free. This is because of the burden on her placed by her family. With Robert’s return, Edna again begins to feel the societal pressures that were absent while Robert was in Mexico. Edna is pressured into falling backing into â€Å"the daily treadmill of life† because of her husband. This is one reason that she deicides to discontinue her life. Unlike Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna has a spouse whereas Reisz does not have a spouse that pressures her into conforming to society. Therefore Edna’s independence is challenged in her own home unlike Reisz whom is free to do as she wishes. Alongside of not having a spouse, Reisz does not have to worry about children dissimilar to Edna. This is key in understanding Edna’s suicide because of the extent to which he children were a major component in her deciding to give up her life. Reisz does not have to worry about children so she is much more capable of being a free woman. On the other hand, Edna has to take care of her children. This makes a major difference for Edna because her children will most likely be affected by society’s thoughts and opinions on their mother. Her children, the only people who should be able to love her unconditionally, will have to ultimately ostracize their mother if she was to be an independent woman. Edna also gives her life because she does not want to burden her own offspring with society’s judgement and beliefs of their own mother. In conclusion, Edna is weak considering that she is unable to remain an independent women and that she decides to end her life instead of taking power over her life. By submitting to death, Edna loses to society and ends her life for the interest of her children. Because she conforms in the end to what society wants her to do, take care of her children, Edna’s death can be considered as a defeat. Mademoiselle Ratignolle, the prime example of someone that conforms to society expectations and beliefs, says that women should give their lives for their children. Edna does exactly that and therefore is not only weak, but dies as a woman with no independence or freedom. How to cite Awakening: the Role Model, Papers

Corporate Strategy free essay sample

Diversification is even more prominent in other parts of the world †¢ Grupos, chaebol, business houses, keiretsu, and so on – Poor corporate strategy is common â€Å"Excite, one of the leading Internet services companies, yesterday [received a] takeover offer from Zapata, a Texas-based group with holdings in marine protein and food packaging companies. Citing the â€Å"excellent fit with Zapata’s new strategic direction,† Avram Glazer, Zapata’s chief executive officer, said the proposed transaction â€Å"makes sense for Excite’s shareholders because of the capital resources that Zapata can bring to Excite. † Financial Times, May 22, 1998 2 What diversified corporation did this become? 3 Decomposition of Variance in Profitability: Evidence from the United States Year 2% Industry 18% Corporate parent 4% Transient 46% †¢ In the U. S. corporate strategy is typically the icing on the cake, not the cake itself – Business units must be competitive on their own merits – †¦in attractive industries †¢ But the icing can make the decisive difference between a good cake and a bad one Business segment 30% Note: Ignores covariance terms; based on 58,132 observations of 12,296 business segments in 628 industries in the United States Source: Anita M. We will write a custom essay sample on Corporate Strategy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page McGahan and Michael E. Porter, â€Å"How Much Does Industry Matter Really? † Strategic Management Journal, 1997 4 Decomposition of Variance in Profitability: Evidence from 14 Emerging Economies †¢ In much of the rest of the world, corporate strategy is more prominent †¢ Membership in a diversified entity has a larger effect on profitability †¢ The effect on profitability is more likely to be positive Source: Tarun Khanna and Jan W. Rivkin, â€Å"Estimating the Performance Effects of Business Groups in Emerging Markets,† Strategic Management Journal, 2000 Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey Litmus Test of Corporate Strategy †¢ Is the combination of all businesses of the firm worth more than the sum of how much each business is worth individually? – The answer could be less, e. g. J. C. Penney telemarketing division was worth 3X the market value of the entire firm †¢ When deciding whether or not to acquire another business, you need to decide BOTH – whether you have a competitive advantage running that business – AND how it will contribute to the fit among the other 6 businesses you are running Acrobat Document 7 The Walt Disney Company: Stock Price vs. SP 500, 1984-1994 8 The Walt Disney Company: Stock Price vs. SP 500, 1995-2005 9 Two big problems 1. Growth at all costs: †¢ This is an example of what happens when a solid corporate strategy meets an aggressive growth goal 2. Mismatch between strategy and organizational structure: †¢ You can have a corporation with businesses that are closely connected like the classic Disney businesses and then run the businesses together in a tightly integrated way. That can work. †¢ You can have a corporation with the broader scope of later Disney and run them in a loosely coupled way. That can work. †¢ But if you have a corporation with the broader scope of later Disney and run them like the classic Disney, with heavy-handed management from the top, searching for synergy that doesn’t really exist†¦then you get into trouble. – In 2005, ABC President Robert Iger replaces Eisner 10 The Walt Disney Company: Stock Price vs. SP 500, 2005-2012 11 The Walt Disney Company: Take-aways Core lessons of corporate-level strategy †¢ Competition occurs at the level of the business unit †¢ Corporate strategy is a success or failure to the extent that it enhances business unit competitive advantage – Is the relative gap between WTP and cost larger than it would be otherwise? †¢ Two tests: – Better-off: Does the presence of the corporation in a given market improve the total competitive advantage of business units over and above what they could achieve on their own? (What’s the added value of the corporation? – Ownership: Does ownership of the business unit produce a greater competitive advantage than an alternative arrangement would produce? †¢ A corporation is more likely to pass the tests when it has some shared resource that (a) creates competitive advantage for the business units and (b) is difficult to trade efficiently via the market – E. g. , access to animated characters – Making business units â€Å"better off† sounds easy, but it typically requires sophisticated structures, systems, and processes, plus cultural supports 12 Corporate strategy entails trade-offs Either focus on†¦ or focus on†¦ Guidance on the Projects Overall Grading †¢ The project must cover all three components of the class – Human and Social Capital – Strategy – Multinational Management Components of Grade (NOT equally weighted) †¢ Use of frameworks (most important issue) †¢ Quality of research †¢ Innovativeness/Insight of analysis †¢ Integration of different components of class †¢ Quality of communication 14 †¢ ? of grade will be based on presentation; ? on final project write up †¢ We will also use a peer assessment to adjust the grade for effort put in by each team member