The Notion of Prophethood in Islam

Only when times are at their most turbulent, when the people of Earth reach a point of living that is considered to be sinful and discordant, is there a need for a change or reform back to a virtuous lifestyle. It is evidenced in the thoughts and traditions of many different faiths of the world that this change, this revolution as it may also be referred to, is brought about by a message. Of course, a message, especially one that is meant to bring about reform and revolution, will not be heard without scrutiny on the deliverer of the message, the messenger. In the monotheistic religions of the world, Islam in particular, emphasis is placed on these messengers as bringers of truth in times of untruth or darkness, a divinely inspired human who acts as an intermediary between God and the people to whom the message is brought. Such messengers are called Prophets. This piece will discuss the notion of Prophethood in Islam, what it means to be a Prophet, and the similar traits amongst the circumstances of the Prophets. Islam places an importance of the highest degree on the monotheistic message it delivers, that there is only one God and no other. Thus, special emphasis is placed on the ones to deliver this message, the Prophets. However, for a person to be considered a Prophet in Islam, there are certain stipulations that they have to meet. The notion of a Prophet is generally a divinely inspired human who acts as an intermediary between God and other people, but more to it is that each and every Prophet receives their message directly from God and not from other people, not even from other Prophets. However, despite not learning of the message from other Prophets, the message being delivered is the same between each and every Prophet. This ensures the authenticity of the message that each Prophet receives and clearly displays the link between the Prophet and God to the recipients of the message. However, there is even further divergence underneath the title of Prophet. In Islam, there are generally two degrees of Prophethood, Nabi, and Rasul. The difference between a Nabi and a Rasul is mainly that a Rasul not only receives message from God, but is charged to propagate it. A Rasul may also be a Prophet that brings God’s scripture and they are to restore Divine Law or Sharia as well. A Nabi on the other hand is a human who brings news of the message, but the message that each brings is not necessarily universal. Both a Nabi and a Rasul has to be a pure and worthy person in order to hear God’s message, thus it can be observed that each and every Prophet is a Nabi by default, where a Rasul is a Prophet of more responsibility than that of a Nabi. Thus, it easily observable that all Prophets have similarities, but there are a few that stand out amongst others. Of the 25 Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an, there are 5 major Prophets that stand out amongst others. These Prophets are the Prophet Noah (AS), the Prophet Abraham (AS), the Prophet Moses (AS), the Prophet Jesus (AS), and the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). While their names appear in several passages in the Qur’an, there is a particular passage that mentions all of them: He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah [AS] and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad (SAWS)], and what We enjoined upon Abraham [AS] and Moses [AS] and Jesus [AS] – to establish the religion and not be divided therein†¦ The Holy Qur’an, Translated by Sahih International, 42:13 This verse addresses the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) in particular. It equates the message that was brought to the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) to the messages that were brought to the Prophets Noah (AS), Abraham (AS), Moses (AS) and Jesus (AS), establishing that the religion each Prophet was trying to propagate was the same for all of them: Islam. For example, the message that the Prophet Jesus (AS) had brought were brought to a people that had lost their way, but that message was not entirely original either, having been expressed before in some form. It was also said that Jesus (AS) did not so much preach a message as he was a message. In a similar manner, the conducts of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) were said to contain a message themselves: There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah [SWT] an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah [SWT] and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah [SWT] often. The Holy Qur’an, Translated by Sahih International, 33:21 This verse advises those who believe in Allah (SWT) of the patterns or the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the message that can be found herein. It can therefore be observed that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) would be the next in line as an Abrahamic Prophet due to his similarities to the Prophet Jesus (AS). However, despite the numerous similarities between the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the Prophets that were his predecessors, there is one fact that sets him apart from the others, and that is that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) is consider ed to be the Khatam al-Anbiya, or the Seal of the Prophets. In the Holy Qur’an, it states the following: â€Å"Muhammad [SAWS] is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah [SWT] and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah [SWT], of all things, Knowing† (The Holy Qur’an, 33:40). It is well known that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) did not leave any surviving male heirs, his three sons with Khadija (RA) as well his son with Mariya (RA) having passed away young, and his four daughters also having passed away in infancy (Textual Sources for the Study of Islam, p47). The verse relates that fact by acknowledging that there could be no direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS), thus no one could claim to be a Prophet by claiming to be descended from him. Even more so, the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) described his own status as the Seal of the Prophets: My likeness among all the Prophets is like the likeness of a man building a house. He is proficient at it, he does it well, and he leaves a single brick out. Then the people begin to go around the building, marvelling at it, and say: â€Å"It would be complete if not for this brick†. Indeed, in the building, I am the place for that brick. Textual Sources for the Study of Islam, p48 This quote puts forth more inclinations that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was not only another Abrahamic Prophet (the other two being Prophet Jesus (AS) and Prophet Moses (AS)), but the final Prophet after whom there would be no other. Thus, the notion of Prophethood in Islam is clearly defined and differentiated, with all Prophets being a Nabi and a select few being a Rasul. The Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) has also been clearly established as an Abrahamic Prophet and the Seal of the Prophets in the Qur’an.

Core Business Skills

1. 0 INTRODUCTION This particular assignment's aim is to discuss the application of the strategic management process in a retail industry. I have chosen Starbucks Coffee as my food and beverage industry to research on, and to thoroughly explain the strategic management process implied by them. Starbucks Coffee Company was founded by English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker back in year 1971 Seattle, Washington. Starbucks Coffee Company is known as the world's leading coffee retailer, roaster and last but not least brand of specialty coffee.Apart from providing only coffee, Starbucks Coffee also cater light snacks like sandwiches, delicious pastries, healthy salads and etc. Since Starbucks Coffee is the world's leading brand in coffee, they serve up to 35 million customers from all over the world weekly. Because of their great reputation, they have successfully opened up to 17,000 stores worldwide. The company's mission statement is to ‘ inspire and nurture human spirit'. Firstly, Starbucks Coffee focus to provide a ‘great work environment' to their members so that they are treated with ‘respect and dignity'.Secondly, Starbucks Coffee also believes that conducting business ethically is the main key to be successful in a business. As a worldwide and leading-brand company, Starbucks Coffee insists strongly on upholding a culture where diversities are well valued and respected. These diversities include ‘inclusion: human connection and engagement', ‘equity: fairness and justice', ‘accessibility: ease of use and barrier free' so that employees with diverse background are fairly treated and respected to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable workplace (www. starbucks. com 2011). . 0 Strategic Analysis 2. 1 Internal Analysis 2. 1. 1 Strength: One of the main strength possesses by Starbucks Coffee is the strong brand image they have. In terms of the coffee industry, they are considered to be most reputable compared to Coffee Beans, Gloria Jeans, and other competitors among the industry. Starbucks Coffee manage to prove themselves as a highly resorted brand by getting rated as the top 100 most seeked after brand. Apart from having a high brand value, Starbucks Coffee has managed to globalise their target market in to all parts of the world.This opens up the opportunity for Starbucks themselves to monopolise the foreign market as well. 2. 1. 2 Weaknesses: No matter what industry a firm is in, they will face certain weaknesses that they have to always try to improve on. As for Starbucks Coffee, one of their main weaknesses is the product price. In many countries, Starbucks Coffee is considered as a premium product where the prices of their products are higher compared to other coffee shops (Lee S, 2007). Another weakness that Starbucks Coffee has is that they are too focused in their domestic market which is the United Stated of America.This will lead Starbucks Coffee into a vu lnerable position where it is hard for them to predict unforeseen changes in the industry's market at other countries. 2. 2 Stakeholders in Starbucks Coffee: Stakeholders in Starbucks Coffee includes all the workers which are known as partners. This is because Starbucks Coffee wants to create an environment where all their employees would feel comfortable and relaxed (Kembell B, 2002). The second stakeholders for Starbucks Coffee Company would be their highly valued customers. These customers play an important role in Starbucks Coffee because they are the ones who visit the coffeehouse almost everyday.In order to feel connected to Starbucks Coffee, customers can easily hear and engaged with the employees and products of Starbucks anytime, anywhere (Hanft A, 2005). The other crucial stakeholder in Starbucks Coffee will be their coffee farmers. These coffee farmers are actually the backbone to Starbucks Coffee because Starbucks rely mainly on coffee products. In order to uphold the so cial and economic well-being of their coffee farmers, they have decided to pay a premium price for high quality coffee beans from them (Robertson H, 2006). 2. 3 Core Competencies:As we all know, core competencies in any industry is actually their comparative advantage. As for Starbucks Coffee, one of their core competency is human resource. Firstly, Starbucks Coffee is a company that values their employees greatly. Starbucks shows their appreciation to their employees by giving them the opportunity to receive full healthcare benefits, stock options/discounted stock purchase plans (Weber G, 2005). Starbucks Coffee's tangible resources will be their high-quality coffee beans called the Narino Supremo Beans. The Narino Supremo Beans have the highest quality and is the largest bean in Columbia (www. melita. om, 2011). In a recent report, it is said that the president of the Columbia;s National Federation of Coffee Growers have confirmed the purchase of 6 to 7 percent of Starbucks shares (Castaneda S, 2009). This shows that Starbucks Coffee has sole ownership over the high quality beans which is an advantage for them. Starbucks Coffee has a good reputation and is well accepted throughout the world. This reflects on their intangible resources to attract customers. Having a good brand name, friendly employees and high quality coffee beans are the main traits possessed by Starbucks Coffee. 2. 4. 0 External Analysis 2. 4. 1 OpportunitiesStarbucks has always use their opportunities to expand their business in to a whole new level. Firstly, Starbucks has created an opportunity for themselves to expand their brand name to foreign countries. It is reported that Starbucks are planning to open up to 15,000 new stores across the world in the years to come (Datamonitor, 2005). Apart from that, Starbuck's technological advancements has given them a good opportunity to conveniently distribute products to customers through the internet. Starbucks has also equipped all their loung es with WiFi services to accommodate their valued-customers to boot (Elgan M, 2008). . 4. 2 Threats One of the threats that will be faced by Starbucks coffee is the price fluctuation of diary and coffee products. The price of theese products can also be affected by the income levels of customers in upcoming or developing country as goods over there are highly inflated (Pinkasovitch A, 2011). In every industry that we are in, there will always be competitors trying to penetrate the market . Competitors for Starbucks Coffee would be other coffehouses that sells coffee. Coffeebean, San Francisco Coffee, and Gloria Jeans are direct competitors for Starbucks. 2. 5 PEST Analysis 2. 5. 1 Political Factor:One of the political factors that posses as a major issue for Starbucks is the unstability of political issues that would directly affect the growth rate of Starbucks Coffee. From a recent report, it says that up to five Arab states have decided to boycott American goods with their primary target being Starbucks Coffee shops (Antievil, 2008) 2. 5. 2 Economic Factor: Apart from that, Economic factor is also a very important matter to look into when executing a strategic analysis. One of the economical problems that affected Starbucks was the recession in Switzerland, Japan and Germany in the early 2000s.In a more recent report, the Company had revealed a 70% drop in their quarterly profits to only $64. 3m. Apart from that, they are also planning to close down up to 300 stores (Clark A, 2009). 2. 5. 3 Social Factor: Starbucks has always prioritise on their social issues and responsibilities. Starbucks always participated in upholding the importance of the environment. A move by Starbucks to create a partnership with the Conservation International, mainly to put their attention on environmental protection such as waste reduction and energy and water saving programs (David, 2009).A move like this proves that Starbucks are cautious about the social responsibilities. 2. 5. 4 Technology: In terms of technology, Starbucks has always been up to date. All of Starbuck's outlets are fitted with Wi-Fi services. Another move to be technologically involved will be the creation of music CDs that will suit the specific moods of customers. They are available for purchase at any Starbucks outlet (Lodi K, 2006). 2. 5 Porter's Five Forces Framework: The Porter's Five Forces framework is applied to go in to a more in depth analysis of an industry.The five forces usually includes industry competitors, new entrants, suppliers, customers, and substitutes. In all industries, companies will have to face strong competitors in order to dominate the markets. For Starbucks, their main rivalries would be Coffee Bean, San Francisco Coffee, and other coffee lounges that falls into Starbuck's category. They do not only compete domestically, but also internationally. Sometimes, rivalry from other industries can also be a threat. For example, McDonalds could pose as a threat to St arbucks because they are a fast-food chain yet they still provide coffee in their menu.They could be one of the strongest competitors for Starbucks to face (Gregory S, 2009). Another forces that Starbucks faces is the emergence of substitute products. Because Starbucks is a premium product, therefore their prouct prices are usually very high. During a recession, there is a high possibility that customers from Starbucks look for a substition to lower down their expenditure. Products like Coca-cola or Pepsi-cola could be one of the substitues for high quality coffee beans. However there is a big difference in the taste and smell when it is being consumed. Therefore the main substitute for Starbucks will be basic coffee.This will be a threat to Starbucks because they are an organisation that caters to high-income earners. One other factor that might affect an industry will be the customer's buying power. However, this depends on the organisation itself. If they are an attractive organi sation then the bargaining power of buyers will be low and poses no threat to the company. For Starbucks, the bargaining power of its buyers are low. Althought prices of Starbucks are high, customers still buy it because of its differentiated and outstanding products. The other forces that will directly affect an industry is the supplier's bargaining power.The supplier's bargaining power will rise when there is a rise in demand of the product that they supply. Starbucks could be facing this threat because they rely on central american to produce the coffee traded. Since there are more demand in high-quality beans, main suppliers will naturally have a stronger bargaining power. â€Å"An over-crowded market will give the coffee suppliers bargaining power. There are no substitute products for the coffee beans Starbucks must buy. This is a potential threat to the company,† (Hanft A, 2005). 3. 0 Strategy Formulation 3. 1 BusinessLevel StrategyFor all the industries, they have to c hose a business strategy that can successfully dominate the market. The formulation of this strategy is very crucial in a busines because it helps to find customers. One of the tools that can be used to formulate an industry's business level strategies is the porter's generic strategies. Starbucks uses the focused differentiated strategy derived by Michael Porter to run their business. As we all know, Starbucks is known as a food and beverage company. But to be specific, Starbucks is a food and beverage company that focuses on coffee brewing.They are well known for their high-quality beans and comfortable lounges. Starbucks chooses a segment to market their products to. This includes coffee fanatics and people who are looking for a place to relax. However, Starbucks caters their products to mostly high-income earners because their products are expensive. This shows that the focused differentiation strategy is used to seek their competitive advantage in the market through uniqueness of their products (Campling J, 2007). The advantage of Starbucks' focus on a single market can give them the chance to handle all managerial, financial, technological, and capabilities in one business.Starbucks has always been trying to come out with more creative and innovative products to be differentiated among their competitors. This has certainly made them the biggest winner in the coffee based industry (Guarriello T, 2008). Although the prices are high in Starbucks, they are very differentiated in terms of the coffee beans they use and they way the serve. This shows that the focus differentiation startegy that Starbucks uses is an effective way to attract customers since they are the world leading brand in its industry. Another way to formulate a business-level strategy in an industry is to apply the product life cycle method.The first stage of a product life cycle is introduction, followed by growth, maturity, and decline (Campling J, 2007). 3. 2 Corporate-level Strategy The corporate strategies are used by industries to direct their organisations towards a sustainable competitive advantage (Campling J, 2007). The main purpose for the use of this strategy is to set a target and control resources allocation for an enterprise. The first approach to formulate a corporate strategy is the portfolio planning approach. The portfolio planning approach are designed to help managers to decide on investing scare organisational resources among competing business opportunity.This straregy is very useful for multibusiness enterprises like Starbucks. Growth strategy can be used as one of the corporate level strategy to effectively expand and increase the size of a company's operations, through store expansion and global market penetration. In order for Starbucks to successfully expand their stores, it is required for them to have full concentration on their products (Campling J, 2007). Starbucks has been very aggressive in store expansion, this includes them opening u p to a dozen of stores in China in year 2007 (Yan Z, 2008).In addition to that, Starbucks has also put their main focus on diversifying their growth to other products. 4. 0 Strategy Implementation 4. 1 Organisation Structure: An enterprise's organisation structure is the mixture of task and reporting relationships that allows the company to control its lines of authority and communication at the same time allocating rights and duties. There are three types of organisational structures, the divisional structure, matrix organisation and hybrid structure. Starbucks has adopted the matrix organisation structure to focus on.All the employees in this firm would report to both a functional and divisional manager and lastly to a project manager. Failures of strategic planning happens most of the time. The most common strategic planning failures are failures of substance and failures of process. Failure of substance happens because there is inadequate attention being paid to major strategic planning elements. Failures of process will be caused by poor handling of strategy implentation like lack of participation error and goal displacement error. Therefore, the organisational structure in a company is very important to avoid unwanted uprising problems. . 2 Corporate Governance: The corporate governace is the system of control and performance monitoring of top management (Campling J, 2007). This task is usually done by the boards of directors, and other major stakeholder in the company. For Starbucks Coffee, they currently have 9 directors including the CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz. These directors of Starbucks are responsible for ensuring goals and objectives in the company are met. The directors are well aware of their responsibility to provide a stable managing process so that the company's goalds are met (www. starbucks. com). 4. Strategic Leadership Strategic management is a leadership responsibility. Whereas strategic leadership is the capability to prepare othe rs with the ever-changing strategies in the market. Michael Porter says that the strategic leader of an enterprise has to be the CEO of an organisation (Campling J, 2007). One of the most crucial task for a strategic leader is to be a guardian of trade-offs. Countless commitment and disipline has to be put in by a strategic leader in order for the business the be successful. Another trait that a strategic leader must posses is the ability to create a sense of urgency.By having a sense of urgency, the strategic leader is able to give out a strong message to its organisation and their members that the need for consistent improvementwill always persist. A strategic-chief will also have to ensure that everyone related to the organistion understands the strategy that they are using. Leaders in an organisations will have to keep their members updated with their latest business strategy. Furthermore, the task of a strategic leader also includes being a teacher and a good communicator. 5. 0 Conclusion 5. 1 Importance of Strategic Management In conclusion, strategic management involves many processes.This includes identifying the mision, objectives and strategies of an industry. Strategic management is very important for a business as it is used to derive the main strategy for your business. With good strategic manangement skills, leaders are able to adopt to the sudden change in the market and they can also prepare themselves to the different needs and wants of their customers. An industry with a good strategy will always be succesful. Strategic management can also be applied to analyse the internal and external environment of an industry which can give leaders of an industry a better understanding of the market.

Karl Heinrich Marx Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Karl Heinrich Marx - Essay Example Marx’s theories argue that all societies advance through the language of class struggle: a disagreement between the class that is in charge of controlling the society’s production (ownership class) and the lower class responsible for labor input. He called capitalism â€Å"dictatorship of the bourgeoisie† while criticizing the society’s then-current socio-economic status which the wealthy classes were running purely for their own interest (Mehring 47). He predicted a replacement of the socio-economic system with socialism system after its destruction brought about by an internal tension. In the â€Å"dictatorship of the proletariat†, the working class would govern the society under socialism. He also believed that socialism would be replaced by communism eventually, a society that is stateless and classless. Despite strongly believing in socialism and communism, Marx fought for the implementation of socialism with the argument that both the underprivileged people and the social theorist are accountable for bringing about transformation in the socio-economic form by getting rid of capitalism. Marxist concepts were adopted by various revolutionary socialist in different countries by the 20th century. This resulted in the emergence of socialist states, for example, the Soviet Union (1922) and the People Republic of China (1949). His ideas also influenced various workers’ parties and labor union all over the world. Marx is one of the most prominent figures in the history of human. However, since 1989, Marx’s influence went down after some of his predictions got nullified by the revolution of 1989 (Wheen 29). The philosophy of Marx has various interpretations both from Marxist interior and exterior movement. Some philosophers have separated the work of Marx into a â€Å"young Marx† and â€Å"mature Marx†. Other philosophers have classified Marx’s work as purely economical work, philosophical works, historical and political intervention. Therefore, Marx’s philosophy is inextricably connected to his workers’ movement historical i ntervention. An example of this is the ‘Communist Manifesto by Engels’ and the â€Å"critique of political economy†. The philosophical roots of Marxism resulted from three sources: the French republican and extremism, English political economy and the philosophy of German idealist. Even these three sources model is oversimplified as it still holds some truth. During his early career as an intellect and an activist, Marx created an ample theoretical understanding of reality in politics by radical and critical adoption of the thought categories of a German idealist from 18th and 19th century, the most significant one being the Appropriation of Aristotle’s Organicist and Essentialism by Hegel (Wheen 18). Marx analyzed four contributions that Hegel made towards people’s philosophical understanding. They include Aristotelian Essentialism and organicism, the progressing of the world through stages, the difference existing between historical (dialectical) and natural change and finally the thought that historical change is brought about by the thing contradicting itself. Marx polemic with his fellow thinkers was mostly through critique which made him popular as the first to implement critical method into social science. He criticized philosophical

Environment policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environment policy - Assignment Example Initiatives to better preserve this planet, adopting a â€Å"greener† perspective, and taking steps to research and beneficially slow the damage we contribute to the planet is a good thing. There are several things that tend to stand in the way of solid government policies and interventions on this issue. Firstly, many people do not take the concern seriously. They often disregard the topic’s discussions to the ramblings of paranoid conservationists and â€Å"tree huggers.† Others disregard the concerns, founded or not, because the potential, consequential, repercussions of environmental issues will, likely, not culminate into anything serious enough to affect day to day living for generations to come; which, overall, could be considered rather selfish and definitely short-sighted. Politically, it is harder to get full support on initiatives because different states have a differing level of economic loss and gain when it comes to environmental policies. Both, Democrats and Republicans, representing states that have heavier fossil fuel productions dispute any legislature and are far less likely to support environmental interventions.("New York Times") Sev eral states have taken upon themselves to implement their own policies and initiatives to encourage a more environmentally conscious and beneficial approaches. Environmental issues are very real, they do matter, and they are worthy of taking seriously in order to preserve this planet that we all live on. In the end, however, it is not an issue simply of states, or individual countries, it is a global issue. But America’s policies, often, set an example for others around the world, perhaps greater action on our part would result in greater responses worldwide. I respect your opinion and I have to say that I agree with you that not everything that leads to planetary damage can be laid solely on the actions of humankind. However, human beings readapt their environments to suit their

Can a self-serving leader become a servant leader Essay

Can a self-serving leader become a servant leader - Essay Example This perception can change, provided we have the willingness, ability and passion to change ourselves for the good. The book ‘Lead like Jesus’ written by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges serves as an ideal guide for someone who wants to adopt more of a servant leader attitude. In the book, the leadership in not mentioned in just organizational context but personal context as well as the authors have defined leadership as having an ability to influence on other people’s behavior, thinking or development in all or any one dimension of life (personal or professional). They have divided leadership into four parts of which the first two are heart and hand. These are the internal factors of leadership while the other two which are hand and habits refer to the external dimensions of leadership. The component of heart defines where ones focus is and whether an individual pays more attention to Religion, work or relationships. On the other hand, head refers to the fact what ones views, beliefs and ideas are about leadership. Hands refer to how clear a persons goals are and how consistently a person goes for them. In totality, it means how focused a person is towards his principles and values while habits accumulate to the reflection of ones beliefs and how a person puts it into his beliefs and actions (Blanchard and Hodges 2005). In order to be an effective leader all four of these domains have to be aligned towards one common goal. It is clear that a self serving and a servant leader exhibit different characters and hence they have different personality traits. It is all about what kind of personality a person develops and this development can be impacted by counseling, mentoring and reading self motivational books. The most important thing is to have the willingness to change and be flexible about the principals that an individual holds. Furthermore, another very important point mentioned in the book is that leadership transformation is only possible when a

Discuss using an extended example how annual report and accounts can Essay

Discuss using an extended example how annual report and accounts can be used to analyse and - Essay Example Other than the three key statements the annual reports include- Analysis and discussion by the company management; report relating to internal control and report stating the fairness and transparency of the financial statements. Under the management discussion and analysis section there is an explanation with regard to any significant changes in the current year’s performance over the previous years (Warren, et al., 2008, p.785). In the financial statements published by Sony Corporation for the financial year ending 2010 the Sales and operating revenue of the company for the last three financial years has been shown in a comparative way. The operating income of the company for the last three years has also been compared in the form of a bar chart. This shows how this income had dipped in 2009 but recovered, albeit marginally, in the 2010 fiscal. The marginal rise in the revenue is a positive sign for the investors as it signifies that the company has managed to overcome the losses of the previous years. Various other charts relating to Free Cash flow, Capital expenditure and R&D investment have also been shown by the company. These give an idea about the investment practices of the company. Financial ratios can be computed using the financial data of the company relating to net income, sales, financial expenses, debt, equity, assets etc. Using these one can get an idea about the liquidity strength, profitability, debt position, earnings capacity of the company. This is considered to be the most effective tool in assessing the financial soundness of the company (Gibson, 2008, p.452). For the financial year 2010 Sony has prepared a Consolidated Statement of Income where it has depicted the financial data for three years- 2010, 2009 and 2008. Using the sales and net income for this three year period one can prepare the net profit margin

Individual - Videoconference Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual - Videoconference - Assignment Example The manager should be able to define the project success standards by identifying the various stakeholders involved which include those that are directly affected by the project, persons who sponsor the project implementation and the society at large (Journal, 2013). This will aid the business to upsurge its market share, meet the customer targets by attaining specific standards, the firm will also be able to increase its revenues since they can achieve the target sales while maintaining the customer satisfaction and keeping up with the industry and state standards. However the problem exist since some goals will be given more priority than others as there will be a trade-off of the choices. But the business goal must be decided since it is only rational to determine direct issues that will affect sales and improve revenue. Second, project manager should allow degree of freedom, project animators and decide on the restraints. Constraints are the limited resource available while the motivators are those factors that initiates a faster result of the project and freedom allows for adjustments during the project cycle (Charrel & Galarreta, 2007). This factor is advantageous to the company’s projects to be stretchy so that it can be successful. None the less, allowing too much flexibility may lead to wide deviations from the project objectives and should only be allowed at minimum levels. This factor has the rationale that if one direction is bound to fail, the manager can find other alternatives to remedy the situations while maintaining the project desires. Third, the manager should set achievable goals and avoid impossibilities. This is done by negotiations by consumers, managers of the organizations and all the staff members involved on the realistic targets to work on while keeping a good demand and forecast predictions about the future (Kerzner & Learning, 2013). This will enable the company to solve problems