Retailing Market Value in the UK Free Essay Example, 2250 words

According to Raphael Moreau, Retailing Analyst "Diversifying into convenience stores is on the agenda for the UK s top hypermarket chains because this retail format offers good growth prospects (Anonymous, 200). Convenience stores have increased their share of the UK food retailing market from 20% to 21.9% between 1999 and 2003. Clearly, these stores are appealing to UK consumers, thanks to their convenient locations and extended opening hours. Hypermarket retailers want to make sure they don t miss out on this growing area of the UK market. " High Street convenience stores are also particularly attractive to hypermarket retailers, due to strict planning rules restricting the opening of new out-of town hypermarkets. Euromonitor International believes that this trend is likely to intensify in the next five years. The Competition Commission, which considers convenience retailing to be a separate sector from supermarket retailing, has also encouraged this trend since supermarket chains can diversify into convenience retailing without facing inquiries from the Commission about the market s level of concentration (Raphael Moreau, 2004). Looking to the future, Euromonitor International s latest research forecasts that UK retail sales will increase by just over 11% in real terms between 2004 and 2008, a moderate increase resulting from strong downward pressure on prices, especially within food retailing, combined with rising interest rates leading to higher debt levels. We will write a custom essay sample on Retailing: Market Value in the UK or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now This would represent a slowdown compared to the strong performance recorded in 2003 and 2004, of 3.8% and 3% respectively, even though growth could be maintained by the dynamism of convenience stores/small grocers (Raphael Moreau, 2004). Gap (originally The Gap) is a San Fransisco-based apparel and accessories retailer founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher. The Fishers opened their first shop because they had been frustrated with the lack of decent customer service and fashionable styles at other retailers.

River Island in Kings Lynn UK Example

Essays on River Island in Kings Lynn UK Essay Financial Analysis of River Island in Kings Lynn UK Financial Analysis of River Island in Kings Lynn UK Part Calculating the Gross Profit Margins, Operating Profit Margins and Net Profit Margins 2006: Gross Profit Margin = Gross profit/Revenue = 180,362,050/670, 538, 155 = 0.27 Operating Profit Margin = Operating Profit/Revenue = 153,645,793/670,538,155 = 0.23 Net Profit Margin = Net Profit/Turnover = 156,539,550/670,538,155 = 0.23 Cash Conversion Circle = Average Inventory/Cost of goods sold per day = 178,814,944.5/(490,176,105/365) = 178,814,944.5/1,342,948.233 = 133.15 2007: Gross Profit Margin = 155,053,275/652,257,262 = 0.24 Operating Profit Margin = 131,765,867/652,257,262 = 0.20 Net Profit Margin = 137,863,013/652,275,262 = 0.21 Cash Conversion Circle = 239,664,760/(497,203,987/365) = 239,664,760/1,362,202.704 = 175.94 2008: Gross Profit Margin = 165,588,865/677,359,466 = 0.24 Operating Profit Margin = 132,012,406/677,359,466 = 0.19 Net Profit margin = 137,875,559/677,359,466 = 0.20 Cash Conversion Circle = 270,423,151.5/(511,770,601/365) = 270,423,151.5/1,402,111.236 = 192.87 2009: Gross Profit Margin = 168,785,159/735,570,248 = 0.23 Operating Profit Margin = 130,341,526/735,570,248 = 0.18 Net Profit Margin = 130,564,174/735,570,248 = 0.18 Cash Conversion Circle = 227,280,118/ (566,785,089/365) = 227,280,118/1,552,835.86 = 146.35 2010: Gross Profit Margin = 156,152,209/720,328,095 = 0.22 Operating Profit Margin = 113,885,312/720,328,095 = 0.16 Net Profit Margin = 110,793,773/720,328,095 = 0.15 Cash Conversion Circle = 148,097,542.5/(564,175,886/365) = 148,097,542.5/1,545,687.359 = 95.81 2011: Gross Profit Margin = 131.1/720.7 = 0.18 Operating Profit Margin = 84.7/720.7 = 0.12 Net Profit Margin = 81.6/720.7 = 0.11 Cash Conversion Circle = 152,650,000/ (589,600,000/365) = 152,650,000/1,615,342.466 = 94.5 2012: Gross Profit Margin = 139.3/739.7 = 0.19 Operating Profit Margin = 95.6/739.7 = 0.13 Net Profit Margin = 93.3/739.7 = 0.13 Cash Conversion Circle = 229,300,000/(600,400,000/365) =229,300,000/1,644,931.507 = 139.40 Part 2: Financial Performance River Island Clothing Company has recorded a steady rise in its annual turnover in the six-year period documented in this report. In 2006, the turnover was  £670, 538, 155, a figure that is above the turnover reports shown in 2012 ( £739.7). This reflected a 0.001% increase in turnover value. The gross profit margin in 2012 was 18%, a representation of a significant decrease by 9% compared to 2006 (the gross profit margin was 27%). However, the cash conversion circle in 2012 increased to 139.40 compared to 2006 (133.5). Comparing the performances between 2006 (turnover was  £670, 538, 155) and 2007 (turnover was  £652,257,262); the company realized a decrease in the annual turnover and a decrease in profit before tax. This was a negative growth considering the fact that the company refitted 15 shops, relocated 11 stores to larger outlets, and opened 12 new outlets. In 2006, only 2 shops were refitted, 12 were relocated to larger outlets, and 14 new ones were opened. This explains why there was a decrease in turnover and a decrease in net profit margin by 2.8% and 2% respectively in 2007. Turnover performance in 2008 was better than 2007 with an increase in the turnover by 3.7% ( £677,359,466 in 2008 and  £652,257,262 in 2007). Net profit margin decreased by 2% (19% in 2008 and 21% in 2007). The amounts spent on refitting, relocation and opening new stores in 2008 was less compared to 2007. Only 7 shops were refitted, 15 relocated to larger outlets, and 14 new stores opened. The marketing strategy of River Island Clothing Company contributed to the rise in turnover and, revenue, and profit before tax throughout the period. There is a constant increase in the annual sales revenue starting from 490,176,105 in 2006 to 600,400,000-a representation of 22.5% increase. The rise in stock value also indicates growth in the company’s operations for the six-year period. Stocks were valued at  £36.5 million in 2006 and  £63.8 million in 2012. From these figures, it is evident that the company has tripled its stock value. The rise in stock between this duration is 73.4%. Value of stock is attributed to refitting stores and opening new ones once the market has been established. In addition, closing several stores that are not performing as required by the board and other stakeholders also helped the company to record better performances. River Island Clothing Company’s decision to launch new products in the market has also enabled it to improve on its operations. The financial statements and opinions of the customers and the board indicate that the company is focused on improving its performance and profit acquisition in the competitive market of fashion merchandise. The decision to increase its production has resulted to an increase in consumables and raw materials over the years. Firstly,  £2,224,262 million of the consumables and raw materials were recorded in 2007 while  £484,575 of the same materials was available in 2006. To manage the competition in clothing industry in the UK, the manager of River Island Clothing Co. notes that the company has to offer exclusively designed products at fair prices, but of high quality and by ensuring that the customers are provided high level services. Another area of great significance in the company’s development lies in the debt amounts due in a single financial year. By December 2012, the company reported debt amounts of  £251.9 million. In 2011, the debt was valued at  £194.4 million. The company directors noted that credit risks are the primary contributors to trade defaulters, most of which are categorized under credit card costs used a few days before end of financial periods. The company’s performance focus based on factors such as trends in costs, margins and turnover indicates that there will be growth in future. The constant fall and rise in turnover also affected the profits. In addition to the ratios used in analyzing the performance of River Island Clothing Co., the ‘Cash Conversion Cycle’ also a better insight in the company’s ability to ensure that cash is available in its accounts. Cash conversion cycle determines the amount of time needed to sell inventories to get enough cash for other business processes. Looking at the three-year range-that is, 2006, 2009 and 2012-it is notable that the company’s cash conversion cycle is not steady. In 2006, the conversion was 133.5, 2009 and 2012 had 146.35 and 139.40 respectively. It means that the conversion rate in 2006 was better than the other years within the six-year period. The gross profit margin has also not been steady comparing the figures reported in all the six years. There is a significant drop, probably due to the increasing number of competitors and the introduction of cheaper merchandise. Gross Profit Margin in 2006 was 27%, in 2009, it was 23%, and 19% in 2012. Despite the constant rise and fall in turnover, the company’s performance in terms of gross profits and sales revenue needs revision. Part 3 a) The business rate = multiplier Ãâ€" ratable value = 122000 Ãâ€" 870 = 106,140,000 b) Source: VALUATION OFFICE AGENCY (2013, p1) c) It is located near the ferry crossing and train station References RIVER ISLAND. Store Locater. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.riverisland.com/how-can-we-help/store-locator VALUATION OFFICE AGENCY. My valuation. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.2010.voa.gov.uk/rli/en/basic/find/valuation/2010/14805140000/14896765000 RIVER ISLAND. Annual Reports. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.riverisland.com/

Birth Weights of New Born Babies

Question: Describe about the Birth Weights of New Born Babies. Answer: I. Introduction The data to be analyzed was derived from a randomly selected sample of 116 observations of new born babies in the Local Health District in 2002. In this report, the birth weight of new born babies was recorded and analyzed where the weight was recorded in grams. These 116 observations represented a sample size derived from a population of births from the Local Health District. It was assumed that the sample size was adequate to represent an outcome that could reflect the situation in the population. According to preliminary results obtained (see table 1 below) indicate that the average birth weight new born babies was 3,393.66 grams that was associated with a standard deviation from the average weight of 537.89 grams. This indicated that the birth weights in the sample were scattered away from the average weight. The histogram below shows a wide distribution of the birth weights due to a large standard deviation. The standard error was small at 49.94 grams. The standard error indicates how reliable the average weight is in relation to the population. It represents the standard deviation of the population average. The sample size of 116 observations was adequate to estimate the average weight of new born babies in the population since it was far below the standard deviation of the sample. The minimum birth weight obtained from the sample was 1,644 grams while the maximum birth weight was 4,649 grams. The median, that is also referred to as the 50th percentile was 3,430 grams. The median represents the middle observation when the data is arranged in ascending order. From a statistical standpoint, we can be 95% confident that the average weight of new born babies in the Local Health District will fall 98.92 grams of the average recorded weight. That is, between 3,294.73 grams and 3,492 grams given a sample of 116 new born babies. Table 1: Summary Statistics of the Birth Weight of New Born Babies Figure 1: Histogram for New Born Babies' Birth Weight Figure 1 above shows a large deviation from the average birth weight. The average is between 3300 and 3600 and it can be seen from the graph that it is bell-shaped or almost symmetrically distributed on either side of the average recorded weight that is, it has one peak. The highest peak of the distribution represents the mode (3629). That is, weight value that occurs more often than any other in the sample data does.

Business Prof & Career Management

Question: Discuss on the process of the report. Answer: Discussion on the process of the report: Meeting Room number BC12 Date 27/05/2016 Time 12.30 p.m Meeting facilitator Sasanka Meeting attendees Maith Kanishka Nipuna Objective To discuss several factor of the process about the report on work life balance (WLB) Agenda for discussing the process of the report: Serial Number Topics Action Planning Responsible 1 Review the whole scenario of WLB 10 minutes discussion Entire group 2 Face-to-face discussion Brainstorming session of around 30 mints to develop ideas about WLB Entire group 3 Team norms discussion Take down the norms Entire group should contribute 4 Agenda Page Mainly developing the issue that have to be discussed in the next meeting Maith 5 Minutes of meeting Not every minutes of the meeting and post it on the google docs within 4 days of the meeting Kaniska 6 Research Page Need to complete before deadline. Sasanka 7 Taking pictures and video Illustrate on the day of presentation. Nipuna 8 Google Docs Each and every details need to be articulated on the google docs before the day of presentation Entire group Discussion on the product about the report on WLB: Meeting Room BC15 Date 31/05/2016 Time 4.05 p.m Meeting facilitator Nipuna Meeting attendees Sasanka Maith Kaniska Objective of the meeting To have an in-depth discussion on the product regarding the report on WLB Agenda on the product about the report on WLB: Serial number Topic Action Planning Responsible 1 Face-to-face discussion Discussion on the important points (10 min) Entire group 2 Introduction Part Identifying and defining the problems in the organization before 1 week of the presentation Maith 3 The body part Evaluation of the best practices on WLB and discuss disadvantages and advantages of each strategy. Both of them should contribute at least 2 strategies before the due week of presentation Sasanka And Maith 4 Conclusion part Implementation of evaluated processes Kanishka and Sasanka Discussion for finalizing the report: Meeting Room BC12 Date 03/06/2016 Time 3.00 p.m Meeting facilitator Maith Meeting attendees Nipuna Sasanka Kanishka Objective To finalize the report Agenda on finalizing the report: Serial Number Topic Action Planning Responsible 1 Face-to-face discussion Final assessment for checking any need for the correction Entire group 2 Assignment finalization Including table of contents and providing page number for making the google docs more appropiate Kanishka 3 Presentation Developing MS-PowerPoint presentation Sasanka and Nipuna 4 Finalizing the entire assignment Segregation the total slides among all members for presentation Nipuna Minutes of meeting: Date: 27/05/2016 The meeting started at 12.30 PM in the room number BC12. The chairperson of the group was Sasanka. In the meeting, the whole group was present. The meeting focused on the kind of steps that have to be taken. At the time of meeting, Sasanka suggested the way to creatively start the presentation which agreed by everyone. In the meeting, the role of every member within the team discussed so they can able to complete their task within the deadline. The meeting had 30 minutes of brainstorming session. At the latter part of the meeting, the whole group discussed about the team norms in details. The norms were noted down to the sheet by Kanishka who is in the charge of writing down the team norms discussed in the meeting. Sasanka takes charge of the research page and Nipuna was given the responsibility of taking photos and videos for developing the presentation. The entire team took the responsibility of articulating all the important information on the google docs. Then the meeting was adj ourned. Date: 31/05/2016 This meeting was conducted at 4.05 PM in the room number BC15. The chairperson of this meeting was Nipuna. All members are present in this meeting as well. The primary objective of this meeting was to plan a report on WLB. As a leader of this meeting, Nipuna clarified the reason for conducting the meeting at the very beginning. In this meeting, 10 minutes session of brainstorming conducted. While Nipuna has made arrangement for videos and photos for the purpose of presentation. Each and every member of the group contributes to complete a set of task mentioned in the report. Sasanka was given the opportunity to complete the introduction part of the report. Maith and Nipuna was considered for the development of the body of the report. They also handed with the responsibility to develop presentation slides. The body of the report includes strategies of overcoming challenges of work life balances (Noon, Blyton Morrell, 2013). Kanishka was given with the responsibility to develop the con clusion part of the report. The further details were described in the meeting before the meeting comes to end. Research page: In present competitive situation, companies are trying to utilize all its resources to its fullest. Therefore, work life balance has become one of the major issues that the company has to develop in order to minimize the employee turnover. According to Adcroft Taylor (2013) work life can be balanced if the organizations can able to develop trustworthy work culture, promote open-door policy, train managers to handle stress situation. As per the article by Shanafelt et al. (2012) developing flexibility in the work culture has the major positive impact on the on the work life balances of the employees. Jones, Burke Westman (2013) mentioned a recent case where an FMCG company has able to improve the satisfaction level of the employees by allowing them to manage their work time so that they effective plan their performance of responsibility to increase the level of work life balance. Collaborative communication page: Sasanka: Hello everyone, please mention the time when you all can able to meet for meeting? Maith: I am available on next Monday, Tuesday or Friday Nipuna: I can join the meeting on Wednesday, Friday or Saturday Kanishka: Please conduct the meeting on Friday Sasanka: Okay, then I am fixing Friday for the meeting at 12.30 PM on the room number BC12 and I am sure that all of you will be present on the given time and place Kanishka: I have no issue with date and time Nipuna: Okay then we will meet on Friday and I also have to share some important information relevant to the objective of the meeting Maith: See you guys on Friday Sasanka: In the meeting, we will go through a brainstorming session for the purpose of developing an effective strategy. So please prepare well before come to the meeting Introduction: About the company: Unilever is a consumer goods manufacturer company. The company headquarter is present in the United Kingdom and Netherlands. However, Unilever has its presence all over the world, which makes it third largest consumer goods manufacturer of the world ("Unilever Sri Lanka", 2015). Revenue wise, Unilever is only after PG and Nestle. However, the company recently facing several issues related to work life balances in Sri Lanka. The company has lose some of its potential employees in Sri Lanka due to the over stress work atmosphere. Major problem faced by Unilever: Raw material issue: As a consumer goods manufacturer, availability of raw material is extremely crucial for the success of the business. However, the company has faced several challenges to get high quality raw material at reasonable price (Sirgy Wu, 2013). It makes the operation of the Unilever much more difficult. Therefore, the company is actually facing issue with the high operational cost in Sri Lankan region. High import-export duties: High import-export duties also created several challenges for the Unilever. As mentioned earlier, shortage of raw materials already created huge amount of challenges for the company, which left no other option for Unilever to utilize import-export services to have high quality raw materials (Erdogan et al., 2012). However, high level of import-export duties has minimized the positive impact of this business operation. Competition: Like any other company, Unilever also has to face huge amount of challenges from the competitors in the Sri Lankan market, which creates huge amount of stress for the employees to develop strategies that can actually help the company to gain competitive advantage in the market (Harvey Allard, 2015). Importance of WLB: All these mentioned issues actually put huge amount of pressure in the employees, which increases the employee turnover rate of the company at extremely high position. This plays a huge role in creating a negative environment at the workplace, which affects the productivity of the company (MarafI, 2013). Hence, WLB is necessary not only to increase the satisfaction level or minimize the employee turnover rate but also improving the productivity of the company. The Body: WLB strategies: Supportive management style: Many studies have mentioned that work life balance is directly associated with the satisfaction level of employees (Bakker, Oerlemans Ten Brummelhuis, 2013). Therefore, Unilever have to develop a management style that will induce employees to share their views and thoughts can actually help them to achieve a higher level of satisfaction (Robbins et al., 2013). This can play a crucial role in balancing work life of the employees. Flexible corporate culture: This will help the employees to manage the time for performing its organizational responsibilities (Raisiene Jonusauskas, 2013). However, to implement this strategy the company has to develop a trustworthy organizational culture in which every employee will be dedicated to perform their entire task within the given period of time. Advantages of WLB strategies: It help the employees to manage and minimize the present level of stress It induces all the employees of the organization to give their best at the workplace It helps to improve the satisfaction level of the employees It minimizes employee turnover rate for the company Disadvantages of WLB strategies: Sometime WLB strategies can actually create confusion among the employees regarding the way of performing their responsibilities at the workplace. It also demand employees to have skill by which they can able to perform their tasks on their own Conclusion: Implementation process: For successful implementation WLB strategies, the management of Unilever has to focus on the physiological needs of the employees. The implementation of the strategy will have to be conducted in such a way that it could able to fulfill the needs of both employers and employees. Evaluation process: Evaluation process of the WLB strategies will have to focus on the stress level of the employees. The company will have to follow closely on the factors like employee turnover, production efficiency, health of the employees in order to evaluate the kind of impact that the WLB strategies have made on the organizational developmental process. References: Adcroft, A., Taylor, D. (2013). Support for new career academics: an integrated model for research intensive university business and management schools.Studies in Higher Education,38(6), 827-840. Bakker, A. B., Oerlemans, W. G., Ten Brummelhuis, L. L. (2013). Becoming fully engaged in the workplace: What individuals and organizations can do to foster work engagement.The fulfilling workplace: The organizations role in achieving individual and organizational health, 55-69. Erdogan, B., Bauer, T. N., Truxillo, D. M., Mansfield, L. R. (2012). Whistle while you work a review of the life satisfaction literature.Journal of Management,38(4), 1038-1083. Harvey, C. P., Allard, M. (2015).Understanding and managing diversity. Pearson. Jones, F., Burke, R. J., Westman, M. (2013).Work-life balance: A psychological perspective. Psychology Press. MarafI, H. (2013). Perception of Work Life Balance-An Investigation of Education Sector of East and West.Asian Journal of Business Management,5(1), 174-180. Noon, M., Blyton, P., Morrell, K. (2013).The realities of work: Experiencing work and employment in contemporary society. Palgrave Macmillan. Raisiene, A. G., Jonusauskas, S. (2013). Silent issues of ICT era: impact of techno-stress to the work and life balance of employees.Entrepreneurship and sustainability issues,1(2), 107-115. Robbins, S., Judge, T. A., Millett, B., Boyle, M. (2013).Organisational behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU. Shanafelt, T. D., Boone, S., Tan, L., Dyrbye, L. N., Sotile, W., Satele, D., ... Oreskovich, M. R. (2012). Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population.Archives of internal medicine,172(18), 1377-1385.

The Golem. Selected Stories Review Essay Example

The Golem. Selected Stories Review Paper Essay on The Golem. Selected Stories Outside of Russia, there are two cities where I would like to visit in the first place this is Paris and Prague. If Paris attracts me, so to speak, the overall image of the city, the desire to go to Prague, I shall, first of all Meyrink. I want to walk the streets of the old city late at night, only to hear the echo of my footsteps. And certainly among this echo I hear a heavy and threatening pace of mysterious and terrible creatures will lively Jewish rabbi. The pace of the Golem. The sooner I go, the closer the sound of his footsteps, and when I stop, then steps Golem calm down he waits may be out of the turn. He does not breathe and I can not be calculated by the sound of breathing. What to do? Run? No, this is not an option, it is necessary to calm down, you have to pull yourself together, because the Golem is not necessarily after me, his goals are unknown. I hold my breath, so that he could not find me on the basis of the eternal living being Ran seconds. Why do I need these gifts if I can not understand their own destiny? Pointless to lay tarot cards, I do not know which card represents me Ran seconds. No, no, hes not the devil incarnate, and not the embodiment of evil, because it is just an old junk dealer, perhaps too greedy and evil, but no more. Why is it so the network will inevitably fall on me and others, so that his shadow overshadow shadow Golem? .. Ran seconds. We will write a custom essay sample on The Golem. Selected Stories Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Golem. Selected Stories Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Golem. Selected Stories Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer She lives next to me, but who is she? Is there a way out of this dismal cycle of events, whats in this room with a window but no door? .. Ran Wait no more forces, wooden walk stiffly I approach a turn, a man jumps out from behind a corner , nearly colliding with me, and I have time to notice his pale face, before he rushes off, losing his hat. Nerves can not stand, and Im running down dale Not really remember how I ended up in the hotel, but it does not matter, you have to sleep, you just need to sleep. I slept long and I woke up late in the afternoon by the receptionist call. From the handsets voice with a strong Polish accent: Sir, theres a man brought your hat »

Physical Security of Arms, Ammunition Essays

Physical Security of Arms, Ammunition Essays Physical Security of Arms, Ammunition Essay Physical Security of Arms, Ammunition Essay Physical security of arms, ammunition. The importance of securing weapons comes down to maintaining accountability for operation security, mission success, and a soldier’s over all readiness. The habits of exercising security and accountability of a soldier’s items allow the soldier and their team to operate to the highest standards or have items be accessed by an opposing adversary creating loss of overall mission success. Any time anything happens or you are preparing to go to the field or deployment of course you have to have accountability and order. Without that there would be chaos. Accountability is not an abstract concept, it is actually really simple. Accountability means saying what you mean, meaning what you say, and doing what you say you are going to do. In short, accountability is taking responsibility for your words and actions. I have compiled a long list of strong reasons why weapons accountability is critically important, but I believe they boil down to three central issues: First, I am ineffective without my weapon; Second, an unmonitored weapon puts all of us in danger; and Last, a lost weapon will prompt many undesirable bureaucratic consequences. Finally, I will conclude this essay with a look at why I joined the military and what I hope to personally gain from this experience. What’s the worst that could happen? The worst that can happen is for a bad guy, either foreign or domestic, to take your weapon and use it against you or your buddies. It is bad enough to lose one’s life with one’s own weapon. It is even worse, in my opinion, to live with the knowledge that your weapon was used to take the lives of others. Thus proving not only is one ineffective without their weapon but it puts everyone else in danger. Why does it happen? It seems that weapon accountability is something we take for granted. There will be many times when a soldier is not within arms length of his weapon. Whether he or she is eating, working on a vehicle, or just hanging around the living quarters, their rifle is not likely to be in hand or slung behind their back. Another fact of why weapons can get left unattended is complacency. Soldiers will get in the habit of thinking their firearm as something you have to carry around all the time and less as an actual weapon that is used for the protection of themselves and their comrades. Lastly, distractions can play a key role in why weapons are left unattended. Different situations can bring their own share of distractions which makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. What can we learn from it? So what does this teach us? It teaches us that even if your in a place where you would think that your weapon is the most important thing you would think about, it is not. Being only human, highly trained, intelligent soldiers will forget where their weapons are. How do we ensure that this never happens to us? To ensure that this never happens to us, there are some common sense steps to take. First, team leaders must stress accountability. Each team member should be able to answer for where every important item they own is at any given time of day. When a team goes out for training, the team leader must make certain that every person in the team can account for their weapons and other important pieces of gear. The team leader can perform inspections, make sure that sensitive items are placed in a standard location when not in use, develop standard loading plans for vehicles, have weapon racks inside tents or buildings, and even stacking arms. The habit must be formed by each team member to always be conscious of where their weapons are. And the buddy system is great because buddies can watch out for each other. They will supervise and check each other, which can save the team leader a lot of headache. It is always good practice to keep your weapon within arms distance at all times. If I was to forget my weapon in a combat situation, I would have no way to defend myself or my fellow service members. Then I would have to live with that for the rest of my life. The repercussion of my actions could have fallen back on my platoon sergeant and my squad leader and cause embarassment for the entire platoon and company. That is not something I would want to happen as a result of me being complacent. One example of the dangers of leaving weapons unattended takes place in northeast Philadelphia. A police officer left a loaded gun on a table and a neighbor used it to accidentally kill his host. Another incident is a hunting accident. A twenty-one-year old male was killed while hunting when a shotgun accidentally discharged. The loaded weapon had been lying on the ground with the safety off and discharged when a dog stepped on the trigger. As important as it is to remember where your weapon is at all times, it is equally important to remember a few gun safety tips: Always treat every gun as if it were loaded. Never point a gun at something you would not want to shoot, hurt, or destroy, even if the gun is empty. When you are not shooting, always keep the muzzle of your weapon pointed in a safe direction. Never leave a loaded weapon unattended. Always keep your trigger finger outside of the trigger guard until the moment you’re going to fire. Always know what you are aiming at. Besides keeping weapons safe for the obvious reason of accountability, it is also important to remember your guard duties and responsibilities as a soldier. Guard duty is a very important job as a soldier serving in the US Army. When you are selected for this task, you are required to follow the Three General Orders. First General Order: I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved. Second General Order: I will obey my special orders and perform all of my duties in a military manner. Third General Order: I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions to the commander of the relief. Besides being on guard in a constant state of readiness, you are also obligated to perform various secondary tasks, such as verifying and maintaining one hundred percent accountability on personnel, weapons, and other equipment essential to the mission. When mission essential equipment is involved, special care and supervision is to be taken to make sure these items do not just â€Å"walk away†. Sometimes guard duty can result in a long amount of time with no relief, even temporary, such as a break to utilize the latrine. These situations happen, but under NO circumstances are you allowed to leave without proper relief. If proper relief, such as a soldier who was briefed on the same mission and is authorized to relieve you happens to be available, then he or she may relieve you. You are to make sure to report back in a timely manner. If you are on guard duty and an emergency issue, such as missing or damaged personnel or sensitive items, arises, you are to immediately report this to your relief and/ or your non- commissioned officer in charge. Should you fail these actions, you can and probably will ultimately be held responsible for these incidents or losses. Falling asleep on guard duty is highly discouraged. Falling asleep on guard duty can result in an Article Fifteen. Leaving weapons unattended is also punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which falls under the category of punitive orders. This order is described as leaving any tools, keys, weapons or any other work related materials necessary to perform your mission unattended or within the reach of persons unauthorized to possess them, or bringing any materials not necessary for the performance of the mission into a sensitive area or detainee area. A person who violates this order either negligently or intentionally may be punished under Article ninety-two for violating a lawful general order, or receive adverse administrative actions, or both. Consequences of violating this order could result in an Article Fifteen, which can result with loss of rank, pay, extra duty, or even jail time. The U. S. Army values are as follows Loyalty bear true faith and allegiance to the U. S. constitution, Army, your unit, and other soldiers. Duty, fulfill your obligations. Respect; treat people how you want to be treated. Selfless service put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own. Honor live up to the Army values. Integrity Do what’s right legally and morally, And Personal Courage, face fear, danger or adversity (physical and moral. Loyalty†¦ Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause. I’m sure my trust with my NCOs support chain is all but gone. What I did was wrong and not loyal to the trust and respect you once had placed in me. When I took my oath on the day I joined I swore to serve the United States of America both honestly and faithfully. After the 27th of October I believe I have a lot of work to do before I am a responsible adult and soldier. I come a long way since I joined the army, but I still have a bit to go. Duty†¦ is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment to someone or something. The moral commitment is the sort that results in action, and it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone recognizes a duty, that person commits himself/herself to the cause involved without considering the self-interested courses of actions that may have been relevant previously. This is not to suggest that living a life of duty precludes one from the best sort of life, but duty does involve some sacrifice of immediate self-interest. By not being where I said I was going to be, I in no way fulfilled my obligations to the army, the company, or any of my NCOs. The formation I missed was important because I missed information that was prudent to me alone, which in fact I only hurt myself by having to miss even more time to take care of what I should have been doing on Monday. RESPECT†¦ Respect is esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability. Along with the trust that I need to gain back from not only my NCOs but everyone else in my company, I also lost and have to gain the respect back from all the people who I lied to and hurt by my actions. I totally disrespected all soldiers and have no excuse for my actions. Selfless service†¦ Selfless Service is a commonly used term to denote a service which is performed without any expectation of result or award for the person performing it. I didn’t put the welfare of anyone in front of my own. Instead of selfless service I was only selfish and need to mature a lot but I have time to do it I believe. Honor†¦ honesty, fairness, or integrity in ones beliefs and actions . What I did was a great dishonor to me and most of all to my platoon in the eyes of the 1st Sergeant Syndnor. I made it to where the 1st sergeant now doesn’t trust the word of my platoon sergeants, and now she is second guessing them and making them double check everything. Personal courage†¦ Personal courage isnt the absence of fear; rather, its the ability to put fear aside and do whats necessary. It takes two forms, physical and moral. Good leaders demonstrate both. I believe that I showed some personal courage in finally telling the truth and facing what I had coming. Physical courage means overcoming fears of bodily harm and doing your duty. Its the bravery that allows a soldier to take risks in combat in spite of the fear of wounds or death. Physical courage is what gets the soldier at Airborne School out the aircraft door. Its what allows an infantryman to assault a bunker to save his buddies. In contrast, moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on your values, principles, and convictions, even when threatened. It enables leaders to stand up for what they believe is right, regardless of the consequences. Leaders, who take responsibility for their decisions and actions, even when things go wrong, display moral courage. Courageous leaders are willing to look critically inside themselves, consider new ideas, and change what needs changing. Accountability is a concept in ethics with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as answerability, enforcement, responsibility , blameworthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving. As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in both the public and private worlds. Accountability is very important because it allows for your chain of command to know where you are at the moment, It is also important because it ells the unit commanders also the none commissioned officers how around how many personnel are available to perform certain tasks, If a leader does not know around how many troops are available then he/she will not know who is available to do what, Everything must be accounted for, from food, rounds, troops, vehicles, fuel, and so on. Discipline and accou ntability to your unit is a must, so they know where you are and that you are safe and the military is run off discipline without it we wouldn’t be the greatest military/army in the history of the world. Also the U. S. rmy values imply that soldiers are accountable for their actions. Being accountable means being dependable-arriving to work on time and appointments on time, meeting deadlines, being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing at the right time. Morning formation is the most important formation of the day. It is made to get accountability of everyone and put out any information that there needs to be dealt with. Without having accountability there is no knowing of where everybody is or whats going on. As a result of me showing up late and not calling in or lying I am pending U. C. M. J action under article 15. Knowing and realizing the severity of what I have done, I have realized that is an important asset always showing up on time at the right place of duty. Not only does accountability matter in formation it is also imperative to have accountability of all your weapons and sensitive items. The obligation imposed by law or lawful order or regulation on an officer or other person for keeping accurate record of property, documents, or funds. The person having this obligation may or may not have actual possession of the property, documents, or funds. Accountability is concerned primarily with records, while responsibility is concerned primarily with custody, care, and safekeeping. Accountability can be is a responsibility anyone can have at any time. The accountability usually goes to the higher ranking that is in charge at that time. I have been in charge many times to keep accountability on things that were sensitive items. The importance of keeping accountability of your weapon, and other equipment you may have, is very high because if in the wrong hands it can be used against us. It can be used against us in war. It also can be used against us on our own streets. Whether we leave it around for a couple minutes or a half an hour, someone can take our equipment with us not realizing it. Leaving your equipment or weapon around can not only be bad for you, but for your buddy next to you. Your buddy might also get into trouble if he was there with you when you lost track of that equipment or weapon. In order to be a good soldier, and a good leader, you have to understand how important it is to keep accountability of your equipment and weapon. If your are in a position to take care of other soldiers or you are higher ranking of other soldiers, you can not be messing up. Soldiers will follow what you do and think that it is okay to slack off. Meaning that if you are not accounting for something that you should be accountable for, you do not care about your job or the ones around you. If you do not keep accountability of your weapon, your are not following the Soldiers Creed. In the Soldiers Creed, you swear to always maintain your arms, your equipment and yourself. This is a very important part of the Soldiers Creed. If you do not do this, you can not complete your mission to the standards you are required to meet. Not completing your mission can and will cause the lives of you or other soldiers. So you can see that losing or not keeping accountability of your weapon will not just have one effect on you or others, but many more beyond that. We all know the worst that could happen-that’s easy. The worst that could happen is for a bad guy (here or at home) to take your weapon and use it against you or your buddies. Frankly, I don’t know which is worse; losing one’s life to one’s own weapon, or living with knowing that your buddies are dead through your carelessness. What’s this teach us? Very simply, it teaches us that even in a place where you would think your weapon is the most important thing you think about, it ain’t. Highly trained and intelligent soldiers, being only human, will forget where their weapons are. No sense denying it. It happens here and can happen to you or me at home. Now what do we do to minimize the likelihood of this happening to us? There’s no one foolproof system. As a former co-worker of mine back home used to say that there’s no such thing as foolproof†¦the best you can hope for is ‘idiot-resistant. ’ There are common-sense steps to take, though, and they must be scrupulously observed. Team leaders MUST stress accountability. Every team member must be able to answer where every important thing they own is at any given time of day. This doesn’t happen overnight, it must be trained. Whenever a team goes out for training, the team leader must ensure that everyone can account for their rifles and other important pieces of gear at all times. The team leader has a number of tools at his disposal to ensure this is done. He can perform inspections. He can ensure that sensitive items are placed in a standard location when not in use or carried (as when bivouacking). He can develop standard loading plans for vehicles. He can have weapon racks inside tents or buildings. Even stacking arms in a bivouac site has merit; there’s a very good reason soldiers are still taught to stack their assault rifles, just like their great-great grandfathers stacked their muskets. Team members must get in the habit of always being conscious of where their weapons are. I have only a few places I keep my rifle at any given time, and I put it in the same place every time. While at work, my rifle is stored in a rack, in the same slot every time. At the mess hall, it’s at my feet. When I’m in my living quarters, it’s next to the same corner of my cot every time. I never have to think about where it is, because I’ve learned to leave it in the same place every time. Buddies have to look out for each other. Buddy teams are great. When they work, they save the team leader tons of headache and indigestion, because buddies will supervise and check each other, if for no other reason than to keep from getting in trouble with the team leader. The bottom line is for everyone to understand that people WILL misplace their weapons, and must train themselves into simple, common-sense habits that minimize the possibility of it happening to them. Team leaders must also understand this, and make accountability an important part of everything their team does. The other day, when I left my weapon back at work, I not only ruined my image more, but I showed everyone in the platoon that I still have some work to do when it comes to my accountability skills and my attitude. By the end of this paper I hope I have shown those who’ve read this that I do understand the seriousness of maintaining accountability of not only my personally assigned weapon, but all of my sensitive items and everything else I’m personally responsible for. After taking some time to think and brainstorm about what I wanted to get across with this essay, I think weapons accountability simply comes down to three basic concepts. First is the fact that I am pretty much useless in battle without my weapon. Second is that a weapon left alone is a weapon begging for the enemy to pick it up and use it against us. And third, a lost weapon or lost anything really, shows a lack of self discipline and a ‘I don’t really give two shits’ attitude. Accountability, in some way, shape, or form, has something to do with pretty much everything we do in the rmy, from everyday formations, to field exercises, to combat deployments. I also feel that sometimes something as simple as weapons accountability is taken for granted. I should never go anywhere without it and it is always good practice to keep it within a arms distance at all times. If i was to forget it in a combat situation i would have no way to defend myself or my fellow service members. Then i would have to live with that for the rest of my life. If the company had done one hundred percent accountability the repercussion of my actions could have fallen back on my platoon Sgt. nd my squad leader and cause embarrassment for the entire platoon and company. That is not something i would want to have happen as a result of me being complacent. And although it may have been a simple oversight, this simple oversight could have compounded into a massive issue. The army gives us the M9 to defend ourselves if the situation arises and I would not of been able to do that so instead of helping the situation I would have been hurting it. I would never intentionally hurt or set up my battle buddies for failure. Keeping your rifle on you is just as important as keeping it clean or count of the ammo that goes with it. This equipment is critical to our war fighting capability and highly desired by criminal and terrorist elements. It is imperative that commanders and leaders at all levels of command manage the control of sensitive items. While on base, weapons and sensitive items will be centrally controlled by a designated individual. Hand receipts will be utilized during training events where weapons or sensitive items are needed and will be signed out to the individual soldier. Weapons and sensitive item not being accountable, is a very big mistake on who is supposed to keep track of these items. Equipment accountability is crucial to completing any and every mission placed before a soldier, a squad, a company, platoon, team, etc. If the necessary obligation of accountability is ignored, a duty, a mission, or aborted due to the lack of cooperation and respect to the rule of equipment accountability. The soldiers creed states the following â€Å"I am physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills, I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself† This can not be done without the proper equipment. The only way to keep track of the right equipment is to write information down, remember the location of the written note or remember which person has the proper information for which duty, drill, or any other assignment. Like weapons, vehicles and round counts, a soldiers ID card is one of the most important elements and pieces a soldier should and must ave on his person at all times, day and night, rain or shine. Without an ID card, military personal may be subject to not only failing to report to work on time, or be unable to buy groceries on base but, also more importantly failing to comply with the soldiers creed. It is an official document used by the military: a way of life to ones life and obligation to our government and the nations families. The ID and the weapon are extremely vital and sensitive article for a soldier. A soldiers ID is not only a picture, it carries personal information from the color of your eyes to ones social security number. It Is kind of like a secret folder that holds all the key information needed by another person to steal ones identity and gain access to personal information for multiple uses. It is expected of the soldier whos picture and social is on the card to care for this item, and to hold it in utmost security. A soldier is one individual. A soldier is one person of one group, in a group to create our army. The army must act as one unit, cooperate with one another, communicate amongst each other, put faith in one another – in all, put one soldiers life in the hands of the army. This is for the protection of our nations people. Therefore, equipment accountability for even one warrior must be held as if he was the highest chain of command. It is so simple: each soldier is one piece to the whole; if one is astray for the pack, then where is the unit? The group? The leadership? None are in existance because of one unaccounted-for-piece of information. This is because there is a hole in the system: a lack that must be repaired immediately to ensure the safety and smooth duties, missions, and every other obligation out military is called upon for. It is very important at all times for a soldier to know where their weapon ,headset or any equipment are. Especially when at war. A soldier without his/her equipment is handicapped, he she can not defend him or herself from enemy fire without having their weapon ready ,nor communicate with people in their convoy without their headset. Having your weapon and headset secure is also a matter of safety. Going out on any mission in the military without necessary equipment is dangerous. A soldier can not be ready to engage the enemy without his/her necessary equipment near and ready. Also when you know where your weapons, headsets, and other equipment are you are providing a good xample to other soldiers on how to always keep track of important items. Keeping track of important items is part of a soldier’s many duties. Accountability in the Army is very important. Whether it be with people or with items and weapons. In the United States Military, losing a weapon is unacceptable. I could write this five thousand word essay and fill it with excuses as to why I forgot my weapon, but the fact of the matter is that there is no excuse. Being accountable is very important. The U. S. Army values Soldiers that are accountable for their actions. Not only does the U. S. Army value Soldiers who are accountable for themselves, they value dependable Soldiers. To be a dependable Soldier you must show your NCO’s that you can arriving to work and appointments on time, meet deadlines, be in the right place at the right time, and doing the right thing at the right time. Morning formation is the most important formation of the day. It is made to get accountability of everyone and put out any information that there needs to be dealt with. Without having accountability there is no knowing of where everybody is or whats going on. Now knowing the severity of my actions, I have realized that is an important asset to always be accountable for my weapons. Not only does accountability matter in formation it is also imperative to have accountability of work and appointments. In case of emergency and something were to happen to myself no one would have any knowing if I was hurt or involved, therefore causing a lot of confusion and drama within my Change of Command. Without accountability the U. S. Army would be unorganized and chaos. Accountability is concerned primarily with records, while responsibility is concerned primarily with custody, care, and safekeeping. A leader takes charge and takes accountability for all those who fall under his or her leadership. Personnel accountability is critical in the event of a disaster or national emergency. Ensuring strict accountability for our military members is relatively easy because they are required to provide supervisors with contact information when they depart on leave even on there off time they are required to be accounted for. One who takes responsibility for those who works under his or her authority needs to have accountability at all times. Being accountable is what the military is all about. Being accountable means being dependable, arriving to work, and appointments on time, meeting deadlines, being in the right place at the right time, and doing the right things at all times even when no one is looking. Being accountable also includes being in the right uniform, and having all necessary equipment, gear, and documents that you might need for that day in order to accomplish that days mission. Accountability is a vital part of all military operations. If one person is late, missing, or doesn’t have the required military equipment or documents then the entire mission is compromised and has the risk of failing.

Critique Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critique - Research Paper Example The book is a natural follow up for the regular readers of Stephen Covey who have already been introduced to his unique life philosophies and ideas on effectiveness and ambition. Covey is famous for his book ‘Seven habits of highly effective people’, which is considered to be the one of the most influential books on personal development and strengthening of the 1990s. Stephen Covey, an MBA from Harvard started his professional life as a college professor at Brigham Young University and during his tenure cultivated, organized and codified his thoughts and philosophies on the ways to achieve the best out of life. These were taught through seminars and conferences and eventually Stephen Covey became the co-founder of the Franklin-covey organization which works towards finding practical solutions to the problems faced by businesses and organization through the application of Covey’s ‘principle-centered’ approach to management and leadership. Touted as one of Times magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, Covey has conveyed his principled life message through his many books and annual seminars; that success in life is achi evable if we adopt central principles of ethics, empathy and resource management in both our personal and professional lives. The books provide a framework for cultivating the frame of mind to allow the adoption of these principles and they have resonated greatly with people in all ages and occupations. Covey’s seven habits have found almost a cult like following in fields as diverse as academia, Church groups and the corporate culture. Subsequently all his follow up books seem to have been directly or indirectly written to support and provide further instructions for his original readers. Titles such as Such as seven habits of highly effective families and living the seven habits provided further insight into the philosophies while the Third alternative is a more thorough