Custom Snowboards Inc. Essay Example for Free

Custom Snowboards Inc. Essay The following is a summary report is an analysis of the current financial statements of Custom Snowboards Inc. The company wishes to be considered for an extended long term loan for a European expansion. We have arrived at a selection of key financial statement line items, conducted a risk assessment, and ratios and if the loan is granted, analysis on how to track the progress of the company’s ability to repay the loan. Financial Statement Analysis Income statements and balance sheets were reviewed to summarize the following key points that could impact the loan decision. Horizontal, vertical, trend, and ratio analysis were also reviewed to provide a solid understanding of the financial highlights of Custom Snowboards in the areas of profitability, liquidity, and solvency. Revenue. Revenue includes net sales, cost of goods sold, and gross profit. Gross profit continues to grow at 30.4% with .23%/ $4,900 from year 12 to 13, and .93%/ $19,600 from year 13 to 14. Net sales also showed the same growth at 100%. The company expects continued growth over the next three years and according to the trend analysis, has the ability to do so. This demonstrates the company’s ability to keep overhead under control and maintain constant margin in relation to sales, consistent year after year. The expenses are variable in relation to the sales. Higher gross sales leads to higher operating income available to service debt in the form of interest payments. Operating Expenses. The increase in utilities and other general and admin  expenses should not fluctuate as they are fixed expenses. This should be reviewed to determine if the increase was due to faulty equipment, temporary increase in market costs, or permanent increases. The compensation parts, administration salaries as we as executive compensation increased as well. Overall, the operating income declined from year to year which impacts Custom Snowboards ability to service debt. Net earnings also declined as a result impacting earnings per share. This reflects the company did not manage these expenses well however, Custom Snowboards Inc. has grown as well so the increase could be due to hiring of more employees, or higher quality employees, or awarding those doing well within the company already. This could also impact moral and welfare of employees who become happier and more productive. The trend analysis shows continued growth to balance this bottom line. Assets and Liabilities. Overall, liabilities decreased, assets increased. Although current assets show a decline in year 14, the total assets continue to rise. Cash and cash equivalents have gone up, short-term show a slightly distorted view as the company took out an investment in year 12 which lowered cash and raised investments but then did the opposite as the investment was cashed in. Over the three years, the company shows it had sufficient liquidity to pay current liabilities owed. Increased assets and decreased liabilities shows the company’s ability to pay its long term debt and interest. Current ratio of 7.06 in year 13 and 6.56 in year 14 reiterates the ability to pay debts while maintaining daily operations. This higher current ratio also indicates Custom Snowboards should be taking more risks and investing money back into the company. This loan and consequently the expansion to Europe will deliver exactly that. The company is showing a steady increase in retained earnings as well. Financial Risks The most prevailing financial risks the bank loan officer may take note in is the general and administrative expenses continued increase. The company should review the reasons for the increase as well as the specific area in  which is causing the issue and try to address the issue to lower the expenses. Processes should be developed to eliminate the excess expenses and decrease the risk associated with remaining items. The other risk is the increase in compensation. Maintaining highly qualified and trained staff may be what the company needs. Custom Snowboards will need to ensure employees stay motivated to produce inventory and drive sales. A commissioning program could be implemented in addition to salaries or awards based on performance and higher net sales. Custom Snowboards can minimize risk by continuing to grow sales and reinvesting into the company. Expansion to Europe is one way. Another is to invest money into research and development, and marketing. No increase in research and development happened in the past three years and could prove beneficial to the company. Website create and maintenance can also be used to mitigate risks. A well working website can bring in more sales and possible reduce the compensation budget as employees leave through natural attrition. Another way the company can impact liquidity and mitigate risk is by paying debts on time and as soon as possible. This lowers interest and saves the company money it can be investing in short-term investments. Collecting outstanding debts is also an important way to mitigate risk. Custom Snowboards can maintain its accounts payables increase without increasing portion of long-term debt. The company can mitigate the risk of accounts receivable not paid on time by ensuring products are delivered on time, properly invoiced, and accurate goods. Accounts receivable should be paid under 30 days but accounts payable lengthened to 60. Inventory should remain stable so assets are higher than liabilities. Excess inventory uses capital that should be used in other investments in the company. The company can accurate and strict inventory records to make sure it knows what it has on hand, and what needs to be ordered. Matching billing cycles to production will optimize assets. Building good rapport with vendors and being loyal customers who pay their bills on time could  afford the company certain vendor discounts to lower cost. Ratios Custom Snowboards’ Ratio Analysis was reviewed to determine the company’s ability to repay the principle and interest on the five year loan. The current ratio as discussed previously, shows the company’s ability to pay for its current liabilities, with its current assets. The current ratio shows the company can do just that. Since Custom Snowboards has the ability to pay for its current liabilities 6 times over, that should be a strong indication to the bank that the company has the ability and will pay its short-term loan. The higher number also indicates the company needs to start placing money in profitable investments such as expansion. The acid test ratio, or quick ratio tells the same story as the current ration, without inventory. The debt ratio shows how much of the company’s assets are financed unveiling any hidden debt management issues as well as a long term solvency indicator. In this case, Custom Snowboards debt ratio is a little high with industry standards at about 40%. However, Custom Snowboards’ debt ratio has decreased in year 14 indicating the company is gaining a better handle on its debt management. The average collection period is the amount of days the company waits before payments on received on accounts receivable. Collecting monies creates cash that can be used to make payments on the company’s own debts. Custom Snowboards is receiving payments in 11 days. Winter sports set the bar at a high 32.5 days which shows that Custom Snowboards does a much better job at managing account receivable. Gross profit margin is monies remaining subtracting good sold costs. Gross profit margin pays additional expenses and should not fluctuate. The steady 30.4% shows the bank that Custom Snowboards is consistent and their gross profit is enough to sustain future operations. The operating profit margin includes all expenses. This ratio should be going up as it measures the company’s pricing strategy and operating efficiencies however, Custom Snowboards operating profit margin is declining and will need to be addressed. Net profit margin shows how the company turns revenues into profits from sales. At less than 2%, Custom Snowboards is not doing well in this are either. Winter Sports is well above Custom Snowboards with 5.1%. The bank will not look upon the idea that the company cannot turn sales into profits as a positive. Earnings per share (EPS) indicates profitability for the shareholders. At .10 and .15, Custom Snowboards has proven it can create wealth for its investors. The company is doing better than Winter Sports in this area but should take note of the decline and take steps to ensure this is not a trend. The company’s return on total assets is at 5%. Although dropping from 7.3% the year before, it is still higher than its competitors. As with the earnings per share, Custom Snowboards should take care in ensuring the decline is not a trend. The return on total assets shows the bank that the company can use their assets to create income. Income that can be used to pay loans. The price earnings ratio is the market value of how much an investor is willing to pay for $1 of current earnings, indicating future growth. Custom Snowboards’ price earnings ratio is a higher 30.59 while the competitions is at 29. The bank however, may see the investors were more hesitant in year 14 as the price earnings ratio dropped from 66.22 to 30.59. Finally, times interest ratio measures the company’s ability to pay its interest on debts, pre-tax. Custom Snowboards times interest earned is nearly half Winter Sports 5.10, at 2.65. Failure to pay interest rates could result in financial failure, including bankruptcy. This number indicates that the company can only pay its interest a little over twice  with pre-tax earnings. This leaves little room for error. The bank may see this as a gauge that Custom Snowboards should find ways to increase this number prior to adding more debt.

The mozart effect Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Mozart Effect Does classical music really help you study better? Many recent research studies show that music idoes in fact improve cognitive thinking. In 1993, researchers at the University of California at Irvine discovered the so-called Mozart Effect - that college students â€Å"who listened to ten minutes of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D major K448 before taking an IQ test scored nine points higher† than when they had sat in silence or listened to relaxation tapes. Other studies have also indicated that it doesn’t matter the artist; people retain information better if they hear classical or baroque music while studying. The most easily influenced stage of human life is early childhood, therefore it is encouraged that children listen to classical music. The researchers at Irvine recently found that preschoolers who had received eight months of music lessons scored â€Å"eighty percent higher on object-assembly tasks† than did other children who received no musical training. It was concluded that students who listened to music had high a greater ability to think abstractly and to visualize. These tasks are necessary to understand difficult theorems and equations in math and engineering. German scientists discovered an amazing difference in musicians who have the ability to recognize notes by ear and who began studying music before the age of seven. The plenum temporal, which is the area on the brain's left side that processes sound signals, mostly language, is three times the average size. The age of the musician matters because the brain generally stops growing after age 10. Besides being beneficial for young children, music is useful to many adolescents, especially to those with learning problems. Exposing music constantly to children with severe learning deficiencies has been known to show positive results. A study was done by the researchers at Irvine on a seven-year-old girl with an autistic condition, which caused her to use gestures and occasional words instead of full sentences. The young girl's speaking ability â€Å"improved remarkably† after she had lessons in a class that combined sounds from a piano with dialect. College students can also benefit from classical music. To test this, college students were exposed to three different types of music and were given standard reasoning tests, each for ten minutes. The research showed that the scores ... ...one energy to work out; listening to a soft, relaxing song might put a person to sleep; and listening to Mozart may enhance â€Å"spatial reasoning† and memory in the brain. Whatever the situation may be, music seems to have a benefiting effect.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography 1. Campbell, Don. The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.: 2001 2. Carroll, Robert Todd. The Mozart Effect available from http://skepdic.com/mozart.html; Internet, accessed April 29, 2004 3. Church, Ellen Booth. Learning Through Play: Music and Movement. New York: Scholastic Inc.: 1992 4. Eliot, Lise. What’s Going on in There?: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life. New York: Bantam Books: 2002 5. Machlis, Joseph and Kristine Forney. The Enjoyment of Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: 2003 6. Ortiz, John M. Nurturing Your Child with Music: How Sound Awareness Creates Happy, Smart, and Confident Children. Oregon: Beyond Words Publishing: 1999 7. Ortiz, John M. Nurturing Your Child with Music: How Sound Awareness Creates Happy, Smart, and Confident Children. Oregon: Beyond Words Publishing 1999

How To Manage Conflict Essay

Managing conflict is never easy, whether you’re trying to resolve a conflict of your own or trying to help two people settle a dispute. The most important thing to know is that the longer you let the situation continue, the worse it’ll be when it’s time to resolve it. So take a deep breath, maintain your cool, and get ready to find a solution that can make everyone (reasonably) happy. 1. Make a plan for meeting. If two people are genuinely in conflict and you want to help them — or they need your help — then you should plan a time to meet that would make everybody happy. Of course, you may just walk into a conflict and have to solve it on the spur of the moment, but hopefully you have some time to plan in advance. If so, pick a time and place that works for both people, and make sure that they are both invested in solving the conflict. If there’s real trouble, then the sooner you can get together, the better. Ad 2. Let each person state his or her side of the story. If you are in charge of managing a conflict, whether it’s because you’re a manager or because you’re helping two people figure out their issues, you have to be an active listener. Let each person express his or her position and listen with compassion and care until each person has stated his or her feelings and desires. Don’t let the people interrupt each other and make it clear that each person will take turns fully explaining him or her self.[1] Make sure that both people are really listening to each other instead of just waiting until their turn to have their say. If necessary, have one person repeat some of the main points the other person made, so it’s clear that they both have an understanding of how each person is feeling. 3. 3 Make it clear that you are there to help resolve, not solve. The people who are in conflict must figure out how to move past their problems on their own, not look to you for a magical solution that will make all of their problems go away. You should make this clear from the start so both parties know that they have to work hard and listen actively before they can move  forward. You are there to mediate so the conflict doesn’t get out of control and so that both parties can look at the situation with more objectivity and control, but that doesn’t mean you will provide them with an answer. 4 Maintain your objectivity. Even if you think that Lucy is obviously in the right and Mary is 100% wrong, it is not your position to say so. If you jump in on Lucy’s side, then Mary will feel like you’re both ganging up against her and the conflict will be even further from a resolution. Instead, keep your own personal opinions and ideas out of it and treat each person’s perspective with compassion and respect. Even if one person is more â€Å"right† than the other, they both still have to reach a solution that can reasonably please both of them. If you’re mediating a conflict, then you should pay equal attention to both people. Let each person spend about the same amount of time speaking and make points that support both people instead of just focusing on one person or the other. Maintain a neutral expression, and try not to look put off or skeptical if one person is stating something you don’t agree with at all. 5. 5 Be a calming force. One of your primary tasks is to help both people keep their cool. Manage their stress levels, their anger, and their emotions to the best of your ability. If someone is getting too heated, raising his or her voice, and getting visibly angry or upset, take a five-minute break or ask that person to take a few deep breaths and wait until he or she can speak calmly. You can only find a solution if both people stay calm and can see clearly.[2] If the conversation is not going down a constructive path, and both people have resorted to name calling and cursing and just criticizing each other back and forth without getting anywhere, then you should intervene and get the conversation back on track. You can say something like, â€Å"Let’s focus on what’s important here,† or â€Å"We’re just not getting anywhere with this kind of talk.† 6 Figure out the source of the tension. Once both people have stated their  cases, you can help them figure out what is really at stake. They may think that they are really angry at each other because of financial tension, but they may really be upset because of a lack of communication. Be as specific. Have each person discuss all of the things that are troubling him or her and see if you can really find the root of the problem. Be patient. It may take a bit of digging — and some pain — to get there. If you can put it in simple terms, something like, â€Å"Bob feels that Mary is micromanaging his project† or â€Å"Sara feels like Jim doesn’t spend enough quality time with her,† then you can begin to tackle the problem better than if you just knew that the two people were angry with each other. 7 Work together to find a solution. Once you have all agreed on the source of the tension and the problem that is at hand, you can begin to find a solution. Remember that both people do have to agree about the nature of the real problem to be able to find an effective solution. It may not be readily apparent, and you may need some perseverance and creativity to get there, but eventually, you should be able to find a way to make both people (reasonably) happy. Here are some potential solutions you may find and ways to state them gracefully: â€Å"It seems like both of you are having trouble living together. Sara may be a bit too focused on being neat, while Mary may be a bit careless when it comes to doing chores. To solve the problem, you should set out a list of guidelines for how you can both keep the house clean without running into trouble. If you both agree to do the things on the list, then you can stay happy in your living space.† â€Å"It seems that Bob has been managing Clark a little too closely. To avoid this in the future, Bob and Clark can discuss the objectives of a project in great detail and can decide on times when they can both check in about the status of the project; this will make Bob feel at ease about where the project is going, while giving Clark a little bit of breathing room.† 8 Make a plan. Once you’ve found a resolution for the problem, you can set out specific guidelines for making it happen. Remember that both people have to be invested in finding this solution. You can set a timeline for achieving  these goals and have both people put it in writing so they feel that it will actually happen. Here are some ways it can happen: â€Å"Mary and Sara should sit down and discuss which things in the house have to stay clean at all times, and which parts should be cleaned occasionally for an extra nice touch. Once you agree on the daily chores that really need to be done, you can make a chart of rotating tasks.† â€Å"Bob and Clark should meet for an hour before every new project, taking at least two detailed pages of notes so that Clark has enough direction to go off on his own. They should meet every three days for half an hour to discuss the progress of the project.† 9 If both parties agree to disagree, help them part amicably. Maybe neither person, or one of the people, is unwilling to budge, and after much discussion, you haven’t moved past square one. If that’s the case, then you should still make it so that one person understands where the other is coming from and that they can leave the situation without extra hostility or tension. Maybe Bob can’t help but breathe down Clark’s neck or Sara will always be messy no matter what; if that’s the case, then they have to find a way to coexist or make a smart plan for parting ways. Consider the fact that maybe both people just aren’t ready to resolve the conflict and need more time to cool off. If you feel like the argument is getting nowhere because both people are too heated and emotional, not because they refuse to budge from their positions, then consider asking both people reschedule your meeting for a time when both parties can think more clearly. 10 End the conversation on a positive note. Whether both parties have reached a healthy conclusion or have agreed to disagree, you should end the situation on an optimistic note so neither person feels defeated. If both parties are feeling friendly, go out for a coffee or a beer; if both parties are still very angry, try to diffuse the situation with a bit of humor and see if they’ll at least shake hands and stay cordial. If emotions are too heated, then it’s time for everyone to back off for a bit, but if the vibe is positive, make the people feel good about having the conversation. Remind both parties that, however unpleasant it may be to discuss a conflict, that  they have been mature and done the right thing by deciding to resolve the situation instead of staying angry or avoiding the tension. Method 2 of 2: Managing Your Own Conflicts 1. Face the conflict head-on. If you’re dealing with a conflict of your own, then the worst thing you can do is run and hide, waiting for the conflict to get bigger and bigger until it’s almost impossible to resolve it. Sure, conflict is no fun, whether you’re butting heads with a co-worker or your long-term boyfriend, but remind yourself that if you brush your problems under the rug, then they are guaranteed to get worse. So take a deep breath and accept that you have to deal with it.[3] That being said, pick your battles. If you feel like your boyfriend has been neglecting you, then speak up; but if you feel like you don’t like the way he loads the dishwater, maybe it’s better to hold off. 2 Don’t tell everyone about it. It’s okay to seek advice from a close friend or another co-worker if you genuinely don’t know what to do. But if you feel the urge to complain to every person in sight about the conflict just so you can gossip or get some anger off your chest, then you’re only getting yourself worked up and possibly putting your relationship in jeopardy if the other person finds out about what you’ve been saying. If you do need advice, then talk to just one or two people whom you really trust so you can have some meaningful direction.[4] Think about it; how would you feel if you heard your co-worker was telling everyone in the office about your problems without talking to you about it? That kind of behavior is guaranteed to make you feel worse. 3 Use â€Å"I† statements. â€Å"I† statements are crucial for solving a conflict as objectively as possible. â€Å"I† statements make your feelings and motives clear and can help the other person see your side of the story without feeling accused or persecuted; â€Å"You† statements make the other party feel like he or  she is on the chopping block and will make him or her feel much more defensive. Here are some ways to make useful â€Å"I† statements: â€Å"I feel like we haven’t been spending enough time together† is more effective than â€Å"You are always neglecting me.† â€Å"I feel like I’ve been picking up the majority of the work on the project,† is more effective than â€Å"You have been making me do all of the work on this project.† 4 Be specific. This doesn’t mean you have to list the 90 things that the person has done to hurt you or to cause the conflict. In fact, this kind of behavior will only make the person feel worse, like he’s being picked apart. Instead, stick to two or three concrete scenarios that can illustrate what you mean to make the person see the situation from your perspective. Here are some examples: â€Å"I was really hurt when you left my birthday party early to hang out with your friends instead of spending more time with me.† â€Å"I spent ten hours on the Roberts report while you only worked on the cover page.†

Importance of Extracurricular Activities

Importance of Extracurricular Activities Many students cannot understand why professors urge them to get involved into different extracurricular activities and how this may be beneficial for them. In fact, they think that this is just another way of making their life more complicated and a way of preventing them from having fun. Of course, it isn’t so, and let me explain why. The matter is, young people have to do everything possible to develop themselves in different spheres. If they pay proper attention to studying, it is not enough for successful academic career. They have to develop their socializing, organizational, analytic and many other skills, for the purpose of which these extracurricular activities are developed. The initial thing that every student has to understand is that he should choose the area, which will be most interesting for him and that he should develop his skills in this field intensively. The sooner he will be able to suit the needs of the given vocation, the better it is for his future career. Of course, it is better to start getting familiarized with all the peculiarities of some subject before you start to seek job with minimum practical knowledge. Students have to realize that teachers and the whole order of life in college are developed not to make his life harder and spoil his most interesting years. Instead, everything is designed to prepare him for the future life, to show him how to stand competition and reach success. Without this basis it is very hard to fit the rapid flow of life and start living completely independently and achieve success.