The Challenge Of Human Cloning: Pros And Cons

The Challenge Of Human Cloning: Pros And Cons Nowadays, due to cloning disobeys human beings moral value, it has become a thorny issue even though it can benefit human beings and our society in lots of areas. Specifically, it is generally thought that it is immoral and unethical to clone human beings for various reasons, but the morality of human cloning cannot be reached yet since it is still a new technology. Additionally, attitudes toward it differ widely. Critics argue that cloning can be a risk factor of affecting human beings uniqueness, cause psychological and physical effects on human beings, result in the potential harms to the society and create strange kinship, and instability of cloning technology; however, advocates claim that cloning also can advance biomedical technology, improve the medical standards, and protect our environment. Moreover, it is undeniable that potential danger exists in human cloning which may cause serious consequences, but we cannot ignore the huge benefits that human cloning could bring such as the medical science improvement. Hence, it is essential to show the pros and cons of cloning. Some people argue that cloning of human beings is unethical because it deprives human beings uniqueness and brings social issues. Life is a creation, not a commodity, said President Bush, Our children are gifts to be loved and protected, not products to be designed and manufactured. No human life should be exploited or extinguished for the benefit of another (President par. 15). President Bush is carrying out a prohibition order; he believes that human cloning is unethical and immoral. In addition, cloned people may lose some special values each person should have. In this world, every person is unique, but human cloning would break this situation. However, cloned people are non-natural products and it is unfair for the people who are cloned. Imagine if there are two exactly same Brad Pitt, will he still be the unique actor as before? Furthermore, cloning technology can promise the same appearance, but not able to guarantee to clone peoples personalities since characters are related with peoples growth environment and are formed in the process of human growth. Thus, President Bushs speech reveals that why it is unacceptable for human cloning. To demonstrate, in article Medical Research, it shows that human cloning technologys instability is a big issue for peoples safety and human morality. In article Science, it mentioned about an experiment of creating hybrid embryonic stem cells, which is a new creature by combining a human cell with a cow egg. It challenges human ethnic theory in a brave step, but it is also intolerant for human morality. Therefore, since human cloning technology offends our social morality, article Medicine and Health provides a new way of thinking article Science by emphasizing its immorality and unnatural. Human cloning prompts a series of social problems, and it also causes complex family issues. Moreover, it could make the cloned people suffer psychological blow, and complex family relationships of cloned people will bring future negative impact on both survival and growth. According to my interview with Professor Peter Cherbas, who works in Biology department in Indiana University Bloomington, Human cloning is a process of copying others, so compared to the normal laws of human society, it is an unnatural product, says Professor Cherbas, and a cloned person would not have a father and a mother just like we have, and it appears that they will have awkward position in the family which is hard to accept by cloned people. Cloning is the creation of cells or whole animals using DNA from a single parent, by passing the normal reproductive process (What is Cloning par. 2). This means a cloned child is the descendant of a single person, while usually the proliferation of human needs the com bination of opposite sex. In this case, cloned children will only have one single biological related mother, which could result in some psychological trauma since it is impossible for them to have a complete family and they have to accept the truth of their mothers have the exactly same appearances with themselves. We need to respect life, and it is worthless to risk mankinds future and it is also unfair for the cloned people to suffer something that normal people do not have to face. Human cloning could lead some complex family relationship and unethical kinship. Furthermore, it is unethical that cloned people are separated from parents relationship and other human relationship. Moreover, it would be awkward that the cloned child can be the mothers child or her twin sister. Due to the cloned person only has one single parent, the family relationship is abnormal and it will be a big challenge for the cloned people to build their family relationship or kinship. Specifically, the cloned person will be in an embarrassing position in the family. For a man, the cloned child could either be his son or his twin brother; for a woman, the kid can be her daughter or her twin sister. Moreover, the mother or the father has to face a person who has exactly same appearance with themselves which is awkward. Someone might desire to clone their dead family member. However, there is no substitute for humans life or an individual person. Cloning might bring back the body of the lost family member, but it absolutely will not be the dead one you know since science cannot guarantee the same characters and thoughts. For instance, CC, the cloned cat mentioned above, does not quite look like its mother, Rainbow, a calico tri-colored female. At one year CC also has a different personality from her mother, being much more playful and curious (Lauritzen 458). Therefore, even though it may have chances to bring the dead back to life, he or she will not be the same person you know before. Human cloning technology is still limited significantly, and its instability is likely to lead to a series of new infectious diseases and thus cause the loss of humans various genes. Ultimately, it could lead to an uncontrollable disaster around the whole world. During the process of researching organ cloning, it is really easy to develop some new diseases which may cause huge consequences. So far cloning animal organs is still a new technology, and new technology often has limitations and safety issues. If cloned animal organs were transplanted into human bodies, I personally think the consequences would be disastrous, says Professor Peter Cherbas, after all, animals and humans are different species, so genes will be different for sure. You know, there is no 100% guarantee in the world. It shows that the uncertainity of human cloning can make people exposed to all kinds of diseases easily and can lead the whole human beings to extinction ultimately. Thus, human cloning has potential danger and it lacks stability as well. On the other hand, others hold that human cloning can bring huge benefits to medical treatments such as organ cloning and fertility problems by promoting scientific progress. Particularly, organ cloning provides great chances for those people who need organs. According to a recent survey conducted by COLUMBIA, Missouri (CNN), At the moment, approximately 75,000 Americans, awaiting organ transplants. Many people died of shortage of organs. Meanwhile, large amounts of organs are in need, but the offers of human donor organs still keep steady. However, researchers say they have taken a major step toward cloning pigs whose hearts, lungs and kidneys could be safely transplanted into humans (Research). With the development of the cloning technology, scientists could clone human organs instead of using animals organs. Secondly, cloning can help infertile couples to have their own children so that they do not have to use other peoples sperm or eggs. Furthermore, even lesbians and gays can ha ve children of their own as well. For example, if the male or husband is sterile, or does not produce sperm, DNA from one of his cells could be inserted into a de-nucleated egg from the female or wife who would also bear the child. Both would then be contributing to the make up and birth of the child. If the woman is infertile, another womans egg could be used along with the DNA of the infertile woman or her husband or partner (Lauritzen 456). It shows that people have rights to get a bright future since human cloning will benefit many people and widen the modern medicine worlds horizon. Therefore, human cloning technology can improve medical improvements, and huge potential strengths of human exist in cloning technology. Another benefit of cloning is that it could be used to treat many incurable disease so that many patients can regain health. Moreover, cloning technology covers diseases such as cancer, the Parkinsons disease, and other disease. Additionally, cloning technology can also prevent genetic disease to some extent, and this would greatly improve the population fitness. In article Medical Research, it illustrates specific points and detailed examples to explain human cloning technology can provide chances to cure various diseases. To illustrate, It was thought that embryonic stem cells had the potential for a great number of medical applications, including the development of laboratory-created organs for donation, and treatments for ailments including heart disease, diabetes and Parkinsons disease, among many others (Medical). Specifically, it helps better explain how human cloning cures diseases. However, because of the governments complete ban on it, human cloning technology cannot bring its advantage to medical area. However, advances in technology are always built on the basis of risk. Thus, if human cloning is delayed, it will be a loss of scientific success and a torture for many unfortunate suffers because the diseases could have been prevented. Besides the advantages of human cloning mentioned above, another huge benefit is that it could be used to protect environment and increase the amout of endangered wildlife. Luckily, scientists have successfully cloned some endangered ones. The recent report surprising success in cloning mouflon (a species of wild sheep) is notable for several reasons. The success rate was much greater than when the domestic sheep, Dolly, was cloned. It is also noteworthy that the donor nuclei were obtained from dead donor mouflon (Ryder 372, 373). The success of cloning a mouflon proves that cloning could be used to collect endangered wildlifes gene data. The activities of humans have led to the extinctions of many species. If we have a gene database of endangered species, we can maintain the ecological system by saving endangered plants and animals. According to a video of Sky News, British scientists are using a pioneering form of cloning to help save the northern white rhino from the brink of exti nction. There are only nine of the animals in captivity and even fewer out in the wild (Sky News). It proves endangered wildlife could be protected by the technology of cloning and thus to maintain the ecological system. Therefore, maybe after several years, pandas can be seen in every country around the world. In short, cloning technology plays an important role in fighting diseases and it can help people stay healthy as well. Simultaneously, cloning still needs some improvements because it is not absolutely safe at the moment, and it has the possibility that it might lead to a lot of harms and disasters. Personally, I am of the opinion that cloning should be encouraged in a right way because I think its advantages are greater than its disadvantages. There is an old saying that goes No pains, no gains. Technology is improving, and social is making progress as well. Finally, it is true that social morality is important, but the projects which are beneficial to mankind cannot be measured based solely on the standards of morality.

Case Study: P.F. Chang serves its workers well Essay

It is suggested by various text books and management tutors alike, that the mastering of the four functions of management; Planning, controlling, organising and leading along with developing technical, human and conceptual skills, should go some way to allowing a manager some degree of success in the field of management. Of course, having skills is just part of being an effective manager, these skills and functions must be communicated in a way that fellow managers and workers can understand and act upon. The case study of P.F. Chang, a U.S based chain of ‘Asian Bistros’ and ‘contemporary Chinese diners’ â€Å"P.F. Chang serves its workers well†, indicates a number of systems in place by the company that allows its managers to plan, organise and lead their workers and control the final product. The communication process is also aided by processes in individual restaurants. Of course, any individual is responsible for their own behaviour and young mana gers develop their own ‘style’ over time, but for a P.F. Chang manager certain skills need to be mastered to assimilate themselves with the culture and values of the company. Of the four management functions that a manager at P.F. Chang would require to manage a restaurant effectively, it could be argued that leading is the most important. The ‘Leadership Grid’ of Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (Schermerhorn, et al., p246) illiterates a scale of ‘concern’ for both people and production. The case study of P.F. Chang restaurants shows the company’s concern for its people, (‘P.F. Chang serves it’s people well’). It can, therefore, be assumed that on the Blake and Mouton scale, the concern for people is ‘high’. As both restaurant managers and workers achieving the ‘shared purpose’ of customer satisfaction. A P.F. Chang manager, would according to the Blake and Mouton grid, be required to adopt the management style of a ‘Team Manager’. As noted in the case study, most the workers are ‘typically young’ and that could present challengers. Developing a ‘hu man’ management skill would be very beneficial for a P.F. Chang manager due to the make up of the most of workers at each restaurant. In a recent study of Generation Y hospitality workers, it was concluded that even though there was a desire by the respondents to work less hours to ensure a positive work/life balance, â€Å"employee engagement can mean high commitment in recruitment, retention and performance.† (Axwell, 2010). Further reading into the management of the members of Gen Y (those born after 1980 and the most likely the age group that makes up the staff members at P.F. Chang’s) show that certain styles of leadership are called for. Eisner suggests that â€Å"Gen Y workers tend to have unbridled energy, endless enthusiasm, and the skills and experience of those much older [and] they should be managed with a coaching style† (Eisner, 2005). Obviously, not all workers at P.F. Chang will be Gen Y, and of course, not all Gen Y employees will respond to the same style of management. So the effective P.F Chang restaurant manger would need to have an awareness of how different style of manag ement would motivate each worker. Each manager at P.F. Chang’s may bring their own beliefs on what makes them effective as a manager. This could prove to be a hindrance if the individual manager is not open to learning (and putting into practice) a different style of management, subsequently re-evaluateing their approach to how they manage their restaurant to bring themselves in line to P.F. Chang’s corporate values. Emphasising that different generations may require different management strategies, Axwell explains that â€Å"Compared with other generations, Gen Y tends to have less respect for rank and more respect for ability and accomplishment. Expectations should be explained to Gen Y from the outset, including the big picture and how they fit into it.† (Axwell, 2010) Along with many other businesses operating in the current economic environment, P.F. Chang’s business relies on customers discretionary spending and P.F. Chang makes a point of putting their customers’ satisfaction at the forefront of their business. This position is illustrated in the 2010 financial report of P.F. Chan g which stated that the company’s aim was to â€Å"strive to create a loyal customer base that generates a high level of repeat business in our restaurants and translates to interest and trial of our retail products [however] Our business is highly sensitive to changes in guest traffic and our operators concentrate on consistent execution of superior customer service while also focusing on additional opportunities for operating efficiencies† (P.F. Chang, 2011). Some workers may struggle with the concept of ‘exceptional customer service’ and a P.F. Chang manager must find ways to organise those workers to meet the companies expectations while upholding the companies values of openness and respect. The case study mentions that ‘restaurant managers face the challenge every day of putting the right person in the right job, creating a team that works well together’. At P.F. Chang, staff meet before every work shift where the manager is able to organise staff, reminding them of them of their duties for which ever role they may occupy. This meeting could also give the manager an insight into which member of the team may be feeling unmotivated and time could then be made to talk to the team member and discuss any issues. By delegating tasks from a manger to an employee it conveys a sense of trust in the worker, and sense of empowerment. Furthermore, it gives the manager more time to complete other tasks. This delegation is evident at P.F. Chang. The case study notes that by giving servers authority to replace meals and the ‘freedom to make decisions’ there is a reported positive impact on staffs attitude and performance. Regional Vice President, Roxanne Pronk says that those freedoms extended to employees have ‘a huge impact on their attitude and performance’. Some research, however has found that not all employees actually want extra freedom to decisions. A front line service worker in a 2008 survey of the empowerment made the comment that they were not paid to make decision, stating â€Å"that’s a supervisor’s job, that’s not my job† Other respondents mentioned they wanted extra money for doing extra things, and they see it (empowerment) as extra things to their work (Ueno, 2008). Conversely, it is suggested that some employees are more likely to improve their behaviour when given added responsibility while others may resent it. A manager should be aware that a ‘one size fits all’ approach where the assumption is that every member of the team wants added responsibility is unfair, not just on the individual worker who is happy with their current work load and level of responsibility, but also for any particular worker who desires increased responsibility, but does not get it. As noted in Chen et al â€Å"managers need to make judgments regarding whom to empower and to what extent† (Ford, Myron, Russ, & Millam, 1995) Ueno concludes that â€Å"empowerment can improve both customer satisfaction and employee attitudes and behaviour† but also â€Å"that high empowerment does not necessarily represent high service quality while low empowerment does not inevitably correspond to low service quality† (Ueno, 2008). Information such as this could help the P.F Chang manger in organising workers, assigning roles that the employee feels comfortable with, acknowledge that while some employees will enjoy extra roles and increase their engagement, some may not and the encouragement of taking on more responsibility may actually be detrimental to the business. Being able to master the managerial functions and skills is, of course, only one part of the process for a P.F. Chang manger. How the information is conveyed to the staff of the restaurant is another set of skills that would need to be achieved. Good leaders tend to be good communicators who find ways to overcome barriers to effective communica tion. Restaurants by their nature of being a place where many people gather can be nosy places, the kitchens that serves the talking customers can be even noisier and servers waiting on tables do not generally have access to work stations with computers where they can regularly check email or other forms of electronic notifications. It would be important for the manager to establish systems for effective communication with the staff. One such system seems to have been established, as the case study mentions â€Å"every work shift †¦. begins with a staff meeting†. As noted in the case study, this meeting is used primarily â€Å"to motivate workers to head into their shifts with an upbeat outlook†, and as noted earlier, serves as a function for managers to organise staff according to their strengths. From a communications perspective, this meeting would also be the perfect opportunity for managers to disseminate information that could be useful for front line staff members to pass on to customers, for example, changes to menu items. P.F. Chang’s also places emphasis on respect and open communication between its managers and staff. As noted in the case study, managers sit down and discuss if and how workers external issues may be affecting their performance at work. Part of developing this ‘human skill’ which is essential for a task such as this is ‘active listening’. Schermerhorn, et al. state that â€Å"when people ‘talk’, they are trying to communicate something. That ‘something’ may or may not be what they are saying† (p 462). Further to this, Schmerhorn et al also show that different ways of communicating are more effective than others. This ‘channel richness’ or â€Å"the capacity if a communication channel to effectively carry information† (pg 456) argues that face to face meeting can be much more effective in conveying information than ‘hard copy’ like postings or bulletins. In addition to P.F. Chang managers conducting staff meetings before every shift, they also are engaged in discussions with their staff regarding performance issues. With these meetings being face to face, they would be ‘personal and two way’ and thus, ‘high in richness’. Any outcomes and possible agreements made between the manger and employee to meet a specific target to improve performance is more likely to be understood by the employee. Conversely, by sitting down and having a chat, the manager would gain a broader understanding of any issues that may be resulting in the change of behaviour or lack of engagement on the employee. Having open communication between the manager and employee also seems to have benefits for the business. Authors of a study which looked at service worker behaviour found that â€Å"conformance to service standards [are] more likely to be met if service standards are communicated and understood by all members of the organization, including line employees. Thus, open communication between frontline employees and managers is important for achieving service quality† (Chen, 2010). Developing skills for effective communication for the P.F. Chang manager is of course the key to this communication process being effective, along with having an awareness of barriers to effective communication. Age, gender or generational differences can also prove to be a barrier. Returning to a broad example of younger employees â€Å"Gen Y workers tend to look for instant gratification [and] tend to be constant negotiators and questioners, ‘how’ meetings become ‘why’ meetings† (Axwell, 2010) The afore mentioned poor channels of communication like bulletins along with the more subtle areas such as negative body language and other non-verbal communication and a lack of active listening skills may be covered in the training that P.F. Chang’s gives it restaurant managers. As with a lot of large chains, the overall di rection of the business would come from senior management. Planning as a function of the business as a whole, would therefore not be within the gambit of specific P.F. Chang restaurants managers. Of course, a degree of planning would be required and an awareness of this process would be important to the successful management of the restaurant. Schermerhorn, et al. describe planning as â€Å"the process of setting objectives and determining how to accomplish them† (p20). Referring back to the case study, a P.F. Chang manger may set objectives based on the engagement of their staff. For example, reducing absenteeism on days of the week when the restaurant is busiest. The achievement of this objective may be helped by the attitude adopted by the company in dealing with staff whose’ performance does not meet the company standards – an initiative directed by head office, but implemented at restaurant level. Ultimately, the managerial function of control is important to ensure the final product meets the required standard, in the case of P.F. Chang, the experience of diners – from the service to the food. As Merchant points out â€Å"the need or controls over any particular behaviour or operation within an organization depends very simply on the impact of that area on overall organizational performance. Thus more control should be exercised over a strategically important behaviour rather than over a minor one, regardless of how easy it is to control each† (Merchant, 1982). There are many issues that a restaurant manager must contend with on a day to day basis that will have no direct relation to people management, but due to the importance that the restaurant staff have to the overall business, this is the area that the most time should be devoted too. It can be assumed that controls for managing customers satisfaction would at first managed at restaurant level, indeed, the case study highlights that â€Å"the server has the authority to replace a meal†. Should this not be enough to satisfy the complaint of the customer, it may be escalated to the restaurant manager. Since all employees receive â€Å"extensive training† and their employee hand book, it could be assumed that managing customer complaints would be included in this. Once again, the control function would be lead by directives from further up the management chain, but the restaurant manager (and server) would be equipped with the skills and expectations on how to engage with dissatisfied customers. Schermerhorn, et al states that â€Å"the task of a manager is to bring the organisations resources into alignment with its purpose in a way that is sustainable in the organisations operating environment† (p 19). The case study ‘P.F. Chang serves its workers well’ highlights some of the processes that are established throughout the company that can assist the restaurant manager in effective management of a restaurant. For a restaurant manager at P.F. Chang, the goal of maintaining the motivation of the team of restaurant workers is the skill that would most need to be mastered – the function of leading – through a thorough understanding the workers being lead, how they might be thinking and how they wish to be managed, along with a healthy dose of leadership theory. Similarly, by knowing the personalities of the team, they can be organised to ensure a more productive work business. Those who are facing issues outside of work and those who want more responsibility (and those who don’t) can be managed accordingly. The P.F. Chang restaurant manager has surport from head office by way of systems in planning, but should know that control over staff and how they interact with the customers is of paramount importance. And finally, the P.F. Chang manager must acquiesce effective communication skills lead and motivate in the most effective way, and organised the team with the members that are willing and able to perform varying tasks assigned them and manage discuss in respectful and constructive way when controls in place to ensure performance targets are not met. Bibliography Axwell, G. (2010). Generation Y’s Career Expectations and Aspirations: Engagement in the Hospitality Industry. Journal Of Hospitality And Tourism Management , 60. Chen, H. R.-J. (2010). Empowerment in hospitality organizations: Customer orientation and organizational support. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 422, 424. Eisner, S. P. (2005). Managing Generation Y. SAM Advanced Management Journal . Ford, R. C., Myron, F. D., Russ, D. E., & Millam, E. R. (1995). Empowerment: A Matter of Degree. The Academy of Management Executive . Merchant, K. A. (1982). The Control Function of Management. Sloan Management Review , p. 48. P.F. Chang. (2011, Febuary 16). Form 10-K for P F CHANGS CHINA BISTRO INC . Retrieved January 18, 2012, from Yahoo Finance.com: http://biz.yahoo.com/e/110216/pfcb10-k.html Schermerhorn, J. R., Davidson, Poole, Simon, & Chau, W. &. (2011). Management. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia. Ueno, A. (2008). Is empowerment really a contributory factor to service quality? The Service Industries Journal , 1329.

Wal-Mart’s Unfair Labor Practices in “Down and Out in Discount America

In â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America,† writer Liza Featherstone (2004) exposes the dirty tactics and unfair business practices that fuel Wal-Mart’s success as a giant retail company, and suggests effective strategies to defeat corporate crime. According to Featherstone, Wal-Mart is one company that literally profits and grows from the presence and worsening of poverty situations, as shown by the results of a study conducted by economist Andrew Franklin which revealed that â€Å"Wal-Mart operated primarily in poor and working-class communities.†Most of the retail company’s customers are â€Å"overwhelmingly female, and struggling to make ends meet. † Featherstone argues that Wal-Mart ensures that its market in the low income segment continually expands by â€Å"creating more bad jobs worldwide. † She also points out that Wal-Mart routinely employs illegal and unethical business practices to maintain its competitive edge over other compani es, including violating wage and labor laws that deprive workers of their living wage and health benefits.More importantly, this set-up â€Å"contribute to an economy in which, increasingly, workers can only afford to shop at Wal-Mart. † The biggest brunt falls on Wal-Mart’s overwhelmingly female workers. As a result, the company has been the subject of â€Å"the largest civil rights class-action suit in history† which â€Å"charges the company with systematically discriminating against women in pay and promotions.† The company has also been cleverly using public funds to subsidize its low wages by encouraging its workers to apply for welfare assistance. Despite the company’s glaring offenses, however, poor women continue to patronize Wal-Mart because it is all they can afford. Featherstone therefore contends that the success of a concerted action against the giant company lies in the ability of stakeholders such as labor unions to go beyond the co nsumer mentality, constructed by big business, in creating avenues of resistance.The author notes that â€Å"to effectively battle corporate criminals like Wal-Mart, the public must be engaged as citizens, not merely as shoppers,† in order to form a movement with enough social and political power to challenge Wal-Mart and to advance the interest of the poor and the working class. Arguably, Featherstone’s article is one of the most convincing and informative pieces there is that provides a balanced and level-headed discussion of an issue that is as inflammatory as â€Å"the â€Å"Wal-Martization† of American jobs.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Down and Out in Discount America† is clearly intended for a wide spectrum of audience. Featherstone assumes that her readers know Wal-mart but they do not know about its unfair practices and illegal activities. Through the clever use of rhetoric and data, the author delivers an essay that is both incisive and engaging. Featherstone u ses both academic data and well-placed personal narratives of the workers of Wal-Mart to build her case.In the process, she does not need to explicitly state that Wal-mart profits from injustice and deepening income divide, this is already substantiated by the real-life cases and hard statistics that speak about the way the company â€Å"profits not only on women's drudgery but also on their joy, creativity and genuine care for the customer† and conditions its consumers to be heavily dependent on the â€Å"relief† brought by Wal-Mart discounted prices. It is interesting to note that Featherstone incorporates contrary ideas into her piece—such as the welcoming attitude towards Wal-Mart held by poor women—to illuminate and strengthen her stance.Thus, Featherstone avoids taking the â€Å"boycott† stance that would have been too simplistic an answer to as big a problem as Wal-Mart. â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America† also does not have the d epressing tone that most articles dealing with serious social issues are often infected with; this is not to say that the article does not evoke an emotional response from the reader but that it presents an image of women workers, who, despite their desperation and sad circumstance, manage to lend their anecdotes to show the multi-dimensionality of the Wal-Mart experience. One therefore finds it hard not to take Featherstone’s side against Wal-mart.The writer undoubtedly presents a well-informed case that explores the Wal-Mart’s labor issues in both a personal and social angle, and attempts to convince the audience on the logic and soundness of why the poor should stop shopping at Wal-Mart (which Featherstone has already conceded is an exercise in futility) but on why there should be more stringent policies to safeguard the poor from unfair labor practices and why there should be adequate legal measures to punish corporate criminal activities that prey upon the despera tion of the poor and the working class.Featherstone is also right in pointing out the need for a political and social movement that would leverage the interest of the poor and the working class above corporate interests. This movement must be a powerful enough presence to generate political pressure on the government and on big businesses to fulfill their social obligations.Clearly, â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America† is a searing portrayal of what happens when citizens literally put their souls out for a â€Å"bargain† with big businesses, which has transformed them into mere consumers whose participation in political and social decision-making is limited to individualistic shopping and purchase decisions. Fortunately, writers like Featherstone are there to remind consumers that they are, first and foremost, citizens and workers with stakes not only in payday discount sales but in the future and direction of labor and living conditions in the community and the cou ntry.

Analysis of four FTSE 100 stocks Stocks and shares - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1456 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Analysis of four FTSE 100 stocks Introduction Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Analysis of four FTSE 100 stocks: Stocks and shares" essay for you Create order This paper looks at the share price performance of four FTSE100 listed companies. The four companies randomly selected for analysis are GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Prudential (PRU), Tesco and Vodafone Group (Vod) representing pharmaceutical, financial, retailing and telecommunication sectors. Share price series analysis Appendix I shows the average monthly share prices of the above companies for the period July 2001 to December 2003. Table 1 below shows the summary of share price analysis for the four companies. Table 1 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Analysis of Share Price GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE % change -36.25% -44.36% -0.51% -9.01% Average price, p 1435.09 552.52 224.91 125.80 Highest price, p 2001.09 871.06 258.10 180.75 Lowest price, p 1117.71 327.46 167.89 90.64 Diff 883.38 543.60 90.21 90.11 Diff as % of Avg. 61.56% 98.38% 40.11% 71.63% St.Dev 273.30 164.40 25.71 23.21 St. dev as % of avg. price 19.04% 29.75% 11.43% 18.45% All four companies had negative return over the period meaning that share prices of all four companies declined in the 30 months to December 2003. Prudential had the highest negative return at -44.3% and Tesco had lowest negative return at -0.5%. GSK lost about one-third of its value while Vodafone lost about 9.0% of its market value over the period. The table also shows the highest and lowest values of shares of all the four companies. The difference between highest and lowest values is highest for GSK and lowest for Vodafone. But difference as a percent of average is highest in case of Prudential and lowest for Tesco. Such is the vast difference between percents that Tesco difference percent is only about 40% of that of Prudential. This shows that the percent movement in Prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price was highest. Standard deviation is a better indicator of movement of a stock. Again standard deviation in absolute numbers was highest in case of GSK and lowest for Vodafone. Even though Vodafoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s average share price is about 56 % of average price of Tesco, the difference in their standard deviation is not much. Further when we compute standard deviation as a percent of average, we see that Tesco has lowest percent at 11.43% while Vodafone has higher percent at 18.45%. Prudential has highest standard deviation to average share price percent at 29.75%. The above data shows that Tescoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price is least volatile among the four companies. Let us also analyse the companies from return point of view. Annexure II shows the monthly returns of four companies. Table 2 shows the key results of monthly returns. Table 2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Monthly returns GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE Average monthly return -1.31% -1.48% -0.07% -0.28% Highest monthly return 9.18% 13.87% 11.55% 18.01% Lowest monthly return -13.60% -21.46% -10.52% -18.26% St. Dev. 5.24% 8.84% 4.58% 8.28% Avg. monthly return / st. dev -0.25 -0.17 -0.01 -0.03 As absolute return over the period is negative for all four companies, so are the four average monthly returns. In line with table 1 results, Tesco had highest average monthly return at -0.07% while Prudential had lowest average monthly return at -1.48%. The highest monthly returns at 18.01% were recorded in Vodafone while lowest monthly returns of -21.46% were recorded for Prudential. Even the absolute highest and lowest monthly returns are almost same for Tesco and Vodafone whereas the absolute negative monthly are higher for Prudential and GSK. We now look at standard deviation of monthly returns. Tesco had lowest standard deviation of monthly returns and Prudential had highest. These are in line with standard deviation of share prices seen in table 1. An interesting observation here is that the standard deviation on monthly returns for Prudential and Vodafone are almost same. This means that the two companies have high volatility. Correlation Analysis While we saw the individual performance of four companies, it is important from a portfolio point of view to analyse how they would impact a portfolio of stocks. The important thing to analyse is the correlation between stocks. Ideally a portfolio should have totally negatively related stocks to reduce standard deviation of the portfolio. We have done the correlation analysis on monthly % returns rather than on share prices. Table 3 shows the correlation between monthly returns of different companies. Table 3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Correlation between monthly returns of different companies GSK Prudential Tesco Vodafone Average GSK 1.00 0.52 0.48 0.41 0.47 Prudential 0.52 1.00 0.48 0.47 0.49 Tesco 0.48 0.48 1.00 0.04 0.33 Vodafone 0.41 0.47 0.04 1.00 0.31 The highest correlation is observed between GSK and Prudential but it is 0.52 only. The movement in GSK monthly return is only matched 52% by the movement in Prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share monthly returns. Each % movement in GSK monthly return will be matched by 0.52% movement in monthly returns of Prudential. When we classify the four companies as either growth or value stocks, GSK and Prudential are probably the most closely related. GSK is a pharmaceutical company with decent growth. Prudential is a financial services firm. They are neither value stock nor growth stock in true sense. Tesco is in retailing of consumer goods whereas Vodafone is on the edge of telecommunication and technology. The lowest covariance of 0.04 was observed between Tesco and Vodafone. This low correlation means that there is almost no similarity between the returns of Tesco and Vodafone. This could be explained on the basis of their different business segments. Tesco can be seen as a value stock whereas Vodafone was then seen as a growth stock. During boom periods, growth stocks show higher returns and during lower growth or recession investors shift their focus to value stocks. That is the reason for almost unrelated movement in the share prices of Tesco and Vodafone. We now look at the average correlation of all four companies. Prudential has the highest average correlation of 0.49. Vodafone on the other hand has the lowest average correlation of 0.31. This means that Prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price movement was most in line with other three shares whereas Vodafoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price was least in line with three other shares. One interesting thing to note from table 3 is that all correlations are positive. This means that irrespective of low magnitudes, all companies share prices moved in the same direction. This is important from the point of portfolio formation. Portfolio manages would like as diverse stocks as possible to benefit from different movements in markets. Unrelated or negatively related stocks lower the variance of the portfolio and hence offer high return to variance ratio. The fact that all correlations are positive may be because of the size of companies. All four companies selected for this study are large companies. Normally movements in share price of large companies are in the same direction. Also the fact that we are calculating only monthly returns would result in more alignment of returns. Individual stocks GlaxoSmithKline GSK had the second highest negative returns over the period of this study. Its overall share price return was -36%. This is a substantial drop in market value. On this factor alone, GSK is not worth buying. But when we look at return to standard deviation ratio, GSK has highest absolute monthly return to standard deviation ratio. It means GSK offers highest returns for each % movement in variation. Investors look not only for highest return stock but for stock with highest return to standard deviation ratio. This makes GSK a contender for hold. Prudential Prudential had highest negative returns during the period. It also had the highest standard variation among the four companies. In light of the above two, it is better to sell Prudential. There is no point in holding or buying lowest return stock with highest variability. Also Prudential has the highest correlation with other three shares. Forming a portfolio with Prudential will least chance of decreasing the standard deviation of the portfolio as compared to forming a portfolio with any other three stocks. So it is better to sell Prudential. Tesco Tesco had the lowest negative returns among four stocks. This makes it a strong contender to buy. It also had the least standard deviation among four companies. Though its return to standard deviation is not high, its highest performance in terms of returns results in a buy decision. Vodafone Vodafone had second lowest negative returns. But it has a very high standard deviation. On its own, it is better to sell it because of high volatility. But if used in a portfolio, its lowest correlation can reduce the standard deviation of the portfolio most. In light of two diverging views, it is better to hold it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" neither buy nor sell. Appendix I à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Monthly Share Price of Four FTSE 100 Companies In pence Date GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE GROUP 15/06/2001 1977.76 824.57 260.55 164.76 15/07/2001 2001.09 833.59 248.83 150.10 15/08/2001 1902.43 871.06 256.06 138.48 15/09/2001 1779.15 705.80 249.89 138.56 15/10/2001 1895.22 727.74 247.55 159.87 15/11/2001 1855.68 772.00 242.84 179.05 15/12/2001 1736.52 783.07 239.64 180.75 15/01/2002 1715.00 784.37 238.80 166.72 15/02/2002 1728.35 699.07 247.84 136.27 15/03/2002 1681.09 700.79 242.39 136.90 15/04/2002 1638.77 733.18 256.72 118.60 15/05/2002 1589.26 683.00 258.10 105.66 15/06/2002 1373.10 591.07 247.96 94.07 15/07/2002 1226.17 501.04 221.87 91.29 15/08/2002 1300.86 520.64 217.67 100.16 15/09/2002 1205.62 408.90 208.29 90.64 15/10/2002 1291.35 418.24 201.24 96.33 15/11/2002 1240.43 476.24 200.90 113.68 15/12/2002 1164.50 461.11 193.45 115.08 15/01/2003 1170.09 406.16 183.65 117.36 15/02/2003 1129.45 385.25 167.89 114.27 15/03/2003 1117.71 327.46 173.37 113.27 15/04/2003 1220.27 360.00 193.40 122.39 15/05/2003 1277.73 381.59 202.08 122.94 15/06/2003 1250.00 376.45 212.92 124.46 15/07/2003 1199.96 408.86 216.04 117.95 15/08/2003 1209.76 423.51 216.83 118.42 15/09/2003 1271.09 455.33 232.39 121.61 15/10/2003 1276.83 448.37 238.42 123.48 15/11/2003 1329.50 467.97 242.77 129.07 15/12/2003 1275.74 463.84 247.55 136.57 (Source: Data provided by the client) Appendix II à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Monthly Returns Date GSK PRUDENTIAL TESCO VODAFONE GROUP 15/07/2001 1.18% 1.09% -8.90% -4.50% 15/08/2001 -4.93% 4.50% -7.74% 2.91% 15/09/2001 -6.48% -18.97% 0.06% -2.41% 15/10/2001 6.52% 3.11% 15.38% -0.94% 15/11/2001 -2.09% 6.08% 12.00% -1.90% 15/12/2001 -6.42% 1.43% 0.95% -1.32% 15/01/2002 -1.24% 0.17% -7.76% -0.35% 15/02/2002 0.78% -10.87% -18.26% 3.79% 15/03/2002 -2.73% 0.25% 0.46% -2.20% 15/04/2002 -2.52% 4.62% -13.37% 5.91% 15/05/2002 -3.02% -6.84% -10.91% 0.54% 15/06/2002 -13.60% -13.46% -10.97% -3.93% 15/07/2002 -10.70% -15.23% -2.96% -10.52% 15/08/2002 6.09% 3.91% 9.72% -1.89% 15/09/2002 -7.32% -21.46% -9.50% -4.31% 15/10/2002 7.11% 2.28% 6.28% -3.38% 15/11/2002 -3.94% 13.87% 18.01% -0.17% 15/12/2002 -6.12% -3.18% 1.23% -3.71% 15/01/2003 0.48% -11.92% 1.98% -5.07% 15/02/2003 -3.47% -5.15% -2.63% -8.58% 15/03/2003 -1.04% -15.00% -0.88% 3.26% 15/04/2003 9.18% 9.94% 8.05% 11.55% 15/05/2003 4.71% 6.00% 0.45% 4.49% 15/06/2003 -2.17% -1.35% 1.24% 5.36% 15/07/2003 -4.00% 8.61% -5.23% 1.47% 15/08/2003 0.82% 3.58% 0.40% 0.37% 15/09/2003 5.07% 7.51% 2.69% 7.18% 15/10/2003 0.45% -1.53% 1.54% 2.59% 15/11/2003 4.13% 4.37% 4.53% 1.82% 15/12/2003 -4.04% -0.88% 5.81% 1.97% BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES Brealey, R.A. Myers, S.C., à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Principles of Corporate Financeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, Sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Companies.