Website Development on Product Price

Elements Determination Sample Preparation Conclusion _ Recommendations The problem of getting exact price information on several stores is quite a big concern towards middle income citizen, and much for lower, especially during the economic crisis which caused the increase of goods price as a whole. The presence of big retail stores drowns the smaller stores in terms of discount, advertising, and convenience of the building. But actually the price is more or less the same or the price at smaller stores and eventually cheaper than the big retail stores.Small retail tores seem to be camouflaged by big company, and at the end of the day, the small stores will shut down. On the other hand, people who really concern about money, everything to purchase needs to be calculated precisely, so that they do not over budget. The above phenomenon seems to cause this group of people having no choice, but to purchase at the so-called big convenience store at higher price. Besides, those who are more energetic, they might visit one store to another, Just to do the price comparison.Thus, this study provides solution by developing website on goods price and information from several retail stores. This will be done by gathering and publishing price information from participated retail stores in selected area into the integrated service broker website. This website will act as a service broker by connecting the businesses with the people. This study believes that by providing information of goods to the people through website, this will make people's life easier and effective, and cost saving.

Merck vs Pfizer

Evaluating Merck & Co. , Inc vs. Pfizer, Inc. Amy Lan Lan Liu Connor Buestad Raghul Subramanian Natalia Cosa ACCT 831 March 16, 2011 Table of Contents: Part 1: History, Background and Core Business †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 a. Merck & Co. , Inc. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 b. Pfizer, Inc. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 c.Core Business †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Value Chain †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Porter’s Five Forces †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 SWOT Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Part 2: Financial Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 a. Profitability Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 b. Liquidity Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 18 c. Solvency Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 19 Part 3: Valuation Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. .. 20 a.Residual Income †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 20 b. Cost of Equity †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 c. Valuation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 22 d. Sensitivity analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 23Part 4: Recommendations †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 23 Appendix: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 25 Appendix A: Profitability Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 25 Appendix B: Liquidity Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 25 Appendix C: Solvency Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Appendix D: Residual Income and Cost of Equity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 26 Appendix E: Sensitivity Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 27 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 28 Part 1: History, Background and Core Business a. Merck & Co. , Inc. : History and Background Information Merck is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. According to its website, the company was originally established in 1891 as a US subsidiary of the Merck KGaA German company. Merck became an independent company in 1917.In 1963 Merck launch the first measles vaccine, and, in 1967 launched a mumps vaccine. In 2009, Merck acquired Schering-Plough and now represent the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical company by market share. Today, the company has over 94,000 employees worldwide (2012). Merck is the third largest global healthcare company in the world. The company specializes in prescription medicines, vaccines, animal health, and consumer care products, that are marketed directly and through its joint ventures. The company operates four segments namely Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Consumer Care, and Alliance segments (merck. om, 2012). Starting 2011, in order to drive future growth, Merck started focusing on reducing costs, making strategic investments in new product launches, and improving its research and development pipeline. Merck’s sales worldwide reached $48 billion in 2011, which was a 4% increase from 2010. With two dr ugs under review with the FDA, the company has 19 other drugs in the Phase III of development. b. Pfizer Inc. : History And Background Information Found by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in 1849 Pfizer, Inc. is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.Their main goal was to discover new drugs that would help improve the healthcare around the world. Both Pfizer and Erhart were born and raised in Germany before descending upon Brooklyn, New York, where Pfizer first opened its doors as a fine-chemicals business. The first product launched by Pfizer was used to intestinal worms, a disease that was prevalent in mid-19th century America (Pfizer. com, 2012). According to their website, in 1880, Pfizer shifted its focus to manufacturing citric acid which was the raw material for soft drink products such as Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi-Cola.In 1944, Pfizer succeeded in producing penicillin with was also called â€Å"the miracle drug. † By 1980, Pfizer was manufacturing a n anti-inflammatory drug called Feldene (piroxicam), which was the first product to generate revenue of one billion dollars from sales around the world. Today, Pfizer is known for its creation of drugs such as Lipitor used for cholesterol, Viagra used for erectile dysfunction, and Celebrex used as an anti-inflammatory (2012). The range of products sold by Pfizer has many applications in the health industry that serves in wellness prevention and treatment of a wide variety of diseases.Some of its promises drugs that are under review are potential cures for Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. c. Core Business: Merck and Pfizer share the same core business model of researching, developing, and marketing pharmaceutical products. As with any business, Merck and Pfizer are facing increasing competition and challenges, not the least of which is the expiration of patent protections on key products. There are three tools that are increasingly useful in analyzing the core business and econ omic characteristics of an industry. These include the value chain analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Model, and the SWOT analysis.The Value Chain The first tool, the value chain analysis, represents the chain of activities involved in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of products and/or services of a company. The value chain of pharmaceutical companies usually consists of research and development of drugs, drug approval by government regulators, manufacturing of drugs, creation of demand for drugs, and marketing to consumers. The analysis of each stage of the value chain can reveal the central focus and competencies of the firm, and can point to the activities that drive profit.According to Fortune 500, the leading pharmaceutical firms in 2011 were Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Abbott Laboratories (CNN. com, 2011). The two companies we discuss in this paper, Merck and Pfizer, have similar value chains. Merck and Pfizer position themselves as companies that provide innovative and effective drugs and medical solutions globally. Due to the increasing threat of patent expiration and generic drug competition, both pharmaceutical companies focus extensively on research and development and new drug approval value chain activities.Both companies devote considerable internal resources on R&D, and continue to expand through acquisitions or by entering into agreements with other companies that focus on the discovery and development of new drugs. In 2009, Pfizer acquired Wyeth for $68 billion, an acquisition that is considered the largest pharmaceutical merger in nearly a decade (Hoover's Company Records, 2012). In addition, Pfizer acquired Excaliard Pharmaceuticals in November 2011, and in September 2011 it gained 70% ownership of the outstanding shares of Icagen, Inc.Merck is also constantly seeking out collaborations, licensing, and outsourcing agreements in the area of Research and Development (Datamonitor, 2011). In November 2009, it acquir ed Schering-Plough for $41 billion (Hoover's Company Records, 2012), and in May 2011 it acquired Inspire Pharmaceuticals. Pfizer and Merck focus heavily on the new drug approval process. In 2011, Merck had 2 drugs under review by government regulators and 19 drugs in last trial phase, and it also planned to file 5 major products for approval between 2012 and 2013.Pfizer had 19 drugs submitted for FDA for approval, and 5 already approved for 2011. Both Merck and Pfizer benefit from using sophisticated and efficient manufacturing and supply chains. Both companies create, move and sell tremendous amounts of product each year and therefore must rely on a dependable manufacturing system. Their manufacturing network consists of numerous manufacturing sites and distribution networks around the world. In addition to their internal manufacturing, pharmaceutical firms work with networks of external partners to produce lines of product, packaging, and active ingredients.To create demand for th eir products, both companies market extensively in multiple media outlets and encourage consumers to ask their doctors about different drugs. Merck markets its products in over 140 countries through direct sales forces and international distributors. Its customers are drug wholesalers, retailers, government agencies, and healthcare providers (Hoover's Company Records, 2012). Pfizer sells its products through wholesale distributors like McKesson and Cardinal health and it markets its products directly to doctors, hospital, nurses, employer groups, and patients.Porter’s Five Forces The pharmaceutical industry is a highly dynamic with new technologies emerging in the market quite often. Michael Porter’s Five Forces model can be used to study and verify the factors affecting the market performance of Merck & Co and Pfizer. This model focuses on the external forces that the companies must pay attention to in order to maintain their profitability. The five forces of the phar maceutical industry are analyzed below. 1. Threat from new entrants is predicted to be low in this industry due to the following reasons.The pharmaceutical industry is a high-tech industry and involves high capital costs. Economy of scale is required to keep the costs down and the established firms (Merck & Co and Pfizer) are well known for excelling in this area. The existing drugs are safe-guarded by patents at least for a particular period of time before the generic drugs hit the market. This gives companies like Merck and Pfizer a considerable leg up on competitors. However, these patents do eventually expire, thus opening the door to more competition from generic drug makers. Product differentiation is necessary in order to attract new customers.In the field of pharmaceuticals, it is very hard to bring a differentiated product to market. New drugs undergo extensive testing by the FDA before entering the market. The drugs by the established firms get easily passed when compared to new entrants whose credibility is still uncertain. 2. Rivalry among established firms is high in the industry among players like Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories etc. The pharmaceutical industry is high revenue industry and there is a tough competition to obtain more market share. No company owns more than 6-10 % of the market share.In addition, high costs of R and marketing are incurred by all the firms involved in this competition. 3. Buyer power would be classified as low to moderate in this industry due to the following reasons. The concentration of buyers relative to overall industry size is low. The demand for chronic and lifesaving drugs is high due to the ageing baby-boom population. The buyers have little knowledge about the industry cost structure and hence the pharmaceutical companies use this advantage to price their products higher. The patents protect the drugs from lower priced competitor drugs, but many patents are expiring. . Supplier po wer is considered medium to low in the industry. The supplier switching costs incurred by pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Pfizer is low. The threat of forward integration by suppliers is low due to lack of knowledge and expertise. Differentiation of the supplier products is low because they have a wide range of applications, with the biotech firms being one of them. 5. Substitute products always present a challenge to companies operating in the pharmaceutical industry. This can be attributed to the following factors.Biotech firms like Amgen are beginning to market their own products, unlike the traditional method of selling them to pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Pfizer. This presents a new segment of competitors that can provide substitutes. Increasingly, patients can use medical alternatives such as surgery, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture and herbal medicines. The overall healthcare industry is very dynamic and always changing. New products and healing methods a re constantly being developed, some of which could serve as substitutes to existing treatments offered by Merck and Pfizer.SWOT Analysis Merck & Co. SWOT Merck is the third largest healthcare company in the world. Over the years, a large investment in R has enhanced the company’s top-line growth. However, new competitors and large cost of drug development could affect their revenue growth. | Strengths |Weaknesses | |Leading market position; third largest healthcare company in |Generic brand competition | |the world. High litigation cost | |Successful launches of new products | | |Merger with Schering-Plough strengthens their industry | | |position | | |Opportunities |Threats | |Cost savings from internal restructure |US regulatory setbacks | |Expansion in emerging markets |Healthcare reform of US | |Strong pipeline | | Strengths Leading Market Position; Third Largest Healthcare Company in the World Merck is a well-known and respected company worldwide. One of their great est strengths is their leading market position. Merck’s worldwide sale totaled $48 billion in 2011, an increase of 4% compared to 2010.The increase of revenue is mainly due to the company’s signature products such as Singulair, Januvia, Remicade, Zetia, Vytorin, Janumet, Isentress, Nasonex, Gardasil, and Temodar (Datamonitor, 2011). Successful Launches of New Products Merck has a proven success record for launching new products. Since 2006, it has successfully launched 10 new therapeutics, including Victrelis, a treatment for chronic hepatitis C (2011), Elonva, a corifollitropin alpha injection (2010), Janumet, a treatment for diabetes, Isentress, an HIV integrase inhibitor (2007), Gardasil, a drug that could prevent diseases caused by HPV, and Januvia, a cure for type 2 diabetes (2006) (Datamonitor, 2011). Merger with Schering-Plough Strengthens Their Industry Position The merger with Schering-Plough has certainly strengthened Merck’s industry position.Schering -Plough owned many popular pharmaceutical drugs such as allergy drugs Claritin and Clarinex, anti-cholesterol drug Vytorin, and a brain tumor drug Temodar. Schering Plough had 1. 4% market share in the U. S. , 17th in the top 20 pharmaceutical corporation by sales (Datamonitor, 2011). Weaknesses Generic Brand Competition Merck pharmaceutical products have traditionally accounted for most of their total sales. One weakness is the competition Merck faces with generic brands. Due to the current economy, we tend to estimate people will shift to more inexpensive and generic brand products. This can cause sizable losses for Merck’s total revenue. High Litigation CostsMerck continues to face litigation related to their Vioxx recall, a drug that is used to cure arthritis and acute pain. In 2004, Merck withdrew Vioxx off the market because it cased potential cardiac attacks among the patients who took it regularly for a period of 18 months or longer. During 2010, Merck was forced to s pend around $140 million in legal defense costs (Datamonitor, 2011). Opportunities Cost Savings from Internal Restructure Merck has emphasized the idea of decreases costs in order to drive greater efficiencies within the company. According to Datamonitor’s SWOT analysis, Merck hopes to reduce costs by $3. 5 billion annually beyond 2011 (2011). Expansion in Emerging MarketsMerck has strengthened its international market share by signing exclusive agreements with other established companies to co-promote and distribute a number of products. For example, Merck and Johnson & Johnson agreed to govern the rights to distribution of Remicade and Simponi. Remicade is a treatment for nasal allergy and Simponi is an asthma treatment for patients above the age of three. According to the agreement with Johnson & Johnson, Merck is allowed to market Simponi and Remicade in Asia, Canada, Africa, The Middle East, and Central and South America as of July 1, 2011. In addition, Merck exclusively markets these products in Turkey, Russia, and Europe.These two products brought in 70% of Merck’s revenue from 2010 (Datamonitor, 2011). Strong Pipeline Datamonitor expects that Merck’s 20 new products will add combined annual sales of more than $7 billion to its top-line by 2015 (2011). â€Å"While Merck retains its internal focus on pipeline productivity, half of its new launches were obtained in the company’s merger with Schering-Plough. Recently Merck has had considerable success with a number of new launches since moving into its core portfolio. It will look to replicate this success with the pipeline programs it has inherited from Schering-Plough as well as with those it has been developing prior to the merger. † Threats US Regulatory SetbacksUS regulatory setbacks include terminations of Merck’s treatments such as for Tredaptive for atherosclerosis, and Taranabant for obesity. The potential for further setbacks and termination can be a conc ern for Merck’s brand image during the drug development stage. There could also be threats for the clinical and regulatory failures with developing Saphiris (schizophrenia), boceprivir (hepatitis C) and TRA (Datamonitor, 2011). Healthcare Reform of US The recently enacted US Healthcare Reform could decrease Merck’s profit margins. According to Datamonitor, Merck incurred additional expenses from increases in Medicaid rebates, which increased from 15. 1% to 23. 1% for the branded prescription drugs.Being in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, Merck was required to pay a 50% discount utilization required by law in 2011. In addition, Merck expects to Also, beginning in 2011, Merck expects that it will pay an additional annual health care reform fee, which will be calculated as a percentage of the industry’s total sales of branded prescription drugs to specified government programs. The fee was $2. 5billion for 2011 (2011). Pfizer Inc. SWOT Pfizer is the world's large st research-based pharmaceutical company and still remains the strongest industry player in terms of sales and marketing capability. However, Pfizer relies on a large-scale M&A structure and lacks some key aspects of an organic sales growth model. Strengths |Weaknesses | |M&A to gain economies of scale |Difficulty in gaining market share due to already | |Strong advertising capabilities |established position in the market | |Acquisition of Wyeth in 2009 |Heavy reliance on Lipitor franchise | |Opportunities |Threats | |Acquisition of King in 2010 |Difficulties in achieving organic sales growth | |Enhancing established products in emerging markets |Development setbacks of Sutent and Chantix/Champix | |Decreasing cost structure | | Strengths M&A to Gain Economies of Scale Pfizer has used large-scale acquisitions to establish and maintain its position as the biopharmaceutical industry's leading player. Since 2000, Pfizer acquired four big pharmaceutical companies: Warner-Lambert, Pharma cia, Wyeth, and King Pharmaceuticals. Pfizer acquired Wyeth in 2009. Wyeth was known for manufacturing over-the-counter drugs such as Robitussin and Advil, around $3 billion in sales annually. The acquisition of Wyeth enhanced Pfizer’s position as the industry's largest prescription pharmaceutical manufacturer.According to an article from MarketWatch, Pfizer’s large economies of scale growth also enhanced the company's ability to implement restructuring programs designed to reduce costs and drive profitability, while maintaining a steady increase in R expenditure (2012). Strong Advertising Capabilities According to MarketWatch, Pfizer has a strong marketing and sales infrastructure that helps grow sales for new products as well as mature product that face strong competition from generic competition. According to MarketWatch, â€Å"The most visible illustration of Pfizer's sales and marketing capability is the significant revenue stream recorded by Pfizer attributable to third party products marketed under-license in selected geographic markets. In short, Pfizer remains a marketing partner of choice for many medium and smaller sized prescription pharmaceutical players† (2012). Acquisition of WyethThe acquisition of Wyeth gives Pfizer an immediate access to many well-known biologic and vaccine products such as Enbrel, an anti-inflammatory product and Prevnar, a vaccine. Pfizer’s financial statement 2011 stated the worldwide revenues from biopharmaceutical products in 2010 were $58. 5 billion. This was increase of 29% from 2009, primarily attributed to the addition of operational revenues from Wyeth products of approximately $13. 7 billion (Datamonitor, 2011). Weaknesses Difficulty in Gaining Market Share Given Pfizer’s current market share (world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company), it will be difficult for the company to continue to grow at the historical rate of sales without further use of large-scale M&A .According to MarketWatch, â€Å"Pfizer's 15 established blockbuster products in 2010, only a few products, including the neuropathic pain therapy Lyrica (pregabalin), are forecast to deliver a positive sales growth contribution through to 2015 (2012). All other products, including Lipitor, will deliver net negative sales growth, primarily due to generic exposure. † Heavy reliance on Lipitor franchise According to the analysis of MarketWatch, â€Å"Pfizer's blockbuster portfolio is dominated by the Lipitor franchise, which generated global sales of $10. 7 billion in 2010 (2012). However, Lipitor revenue growth slowed substantially since mid-2006 due to the ‘indirect generic impact' of therapeutic substitution via loss of patent exclusivity for Merck & Co. ‘s rival statin Zocor.With the Lipitor patent expiration set to occur in mid-2011, exposure of this one product to generic competition will have a significant impact on the overall performance of the company. â €  Opportunities Acquisition of King in 2010 Pfizer acquired King Pharmaceuticals on Oct 12, 2010, the world's 39th largest pharmaceutical company that focuses on pain management. Its product includes Altace for heart attack prevention, and Sonata, a sleeping aid. According to MarketWatch, â€Å"the acquisition of King represents the latest stage in a diversification strategy implemented by Pfizer over the past two years, as it seeks to prepare for the loss of patent exclusivity on its best-selling prescription pharmaceutical product Lipitor (atorvastatin) in late 2011.King is a leading developer of analgesics and its integration will broaden Pfizer's pain offering to include opioid drugs with anti-abuse technologies (2012). Datamonitor currently forecasts that King's total revenues will increase at a CAGR of 11. 3% during 2010-15, from $1. 2 billion to $2 billion† (2011). Enhancing Established Products in Emerging Markets Pfizer established two independent business units, one focused on established products and the other focused in emerging markets. The goal is to bridge emerging markets with established products. Pfizer, like Merck, plans to expand to the emerging markets by collaborating with local players to source branded generic products. Decreasing Cost StructurePfizer’s aim to grow profit will be depending on its continued use of a decreasing cost structure. According to MarketWatch, Pfizer forecasted the acquisition of Wyeth will save $3 billion by the end of 2012 (2012). Pfizer’s reason for the large-scale M&A is to cut cost substantially (by not having to invest in R&D and the development of new drugs) to drive increased profitability (by leveraging what other companies have developed). Threats Difficulties in achieving organic sales growth Pfizer success relies heavily on large-scale M&A and lacks organic sales growth. Datamonitor believes that further large-scale M&A activity will be undertaken by Pfizer because of growing competition of generics (2011).Pfizer's own R operations will find it difficult to keep up with the historical M for its organic growth. Development setbacks of Sutent and Chantix/Champix Sutent, a treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma, experienced development setbacks. Sutent’s revenue growth depends partially on approval in additional tumor types; the termination of clinical trials in both colon cancer and breast cancer indicates that the product's performance in the marketplace could suffer. In addition, Pfizer also experienced setbacks in Chantix/Champix, smoking cessation therapy. Revenue declined mainly due to the updated labeling to warn of neuropsychiatric symptoms.As DataMonitor pointed out, â€Å"further failures in clinical trials of Sutent and other products could significantly affect Pfizer's sales growth† (2011). Part 2: Financial Analysis a. Profitability Analysis (Appendix A) Using return on assets (ROA), return on common equity (ROCE), and earning s per share (EPS), one can properly illustrate the profitability of Merck and Pfizer. Merck’s ROA decreased significantly from 2009 to 2010, dropping from 16. 8% to 1. 29%. This decrease was attributed to a decline in net income and profit margin. After their acquisition of Schering-Plough, Merck was left with higher costs, such as an 88% increase in R expense and a 55% increase in Marketing and Administrative Expenses. Total costs increased by 265%, while sales increased by only 67%.Net income also decreased in 2010 due to an increase in Other Expenses attributable to the Schering-Plough merger, an exchange loss of $200 million due to two Venezuelan currency valuations, and a $950 million charge for the Vioxx Liability Reserve. The disaggregated ROA showed a decrease in profit margin as well, from 48. 9% in 2009 to 3. 06% in 2010. A year after the merger, Merck’s ROA bounced back to 6. 7%, which is closer to the industry average of 11% (CNN. com, 2011) by decreasing s ome expenses (R, Materials & Production) and an increase of $2 million in sales. Pfizer’s ROA shows a similar decreasing trend for 2010. Its ROA decreased from 9. 03% in 2009 to 4. % in 2010 due to deductions related to asset impairment charges that were $1. 3 billion higher in 2010 than in 2011, due to the Wyeth acquisition in 2009 and litigation related to their subsidiary Quigley Company, Inc. The ROA has increased in 2011 to 5. 83% because the costs and expenses decreased by $3 million. The disaggregated ROA shows both the decrease of asset turnover and profit margin from 2009 to 2010, and the increase in both for 2011, showing that the operation profitability is getting stronger. However, we believe that both firms’ profit margins are healthy when compared to the industry average of 16. 7% (yahoofinance. com, 2012)After comparing the Asset Turnover, Profit Margin, and ROA for both companies, we can conclude that both are starting to improve in regards to profitabi lity, after their acquisitions in 2009. However, Merck seemed to be using its assets more efficiently to generate sales than Pfizer in 2011. Merck also had a higher ROA. However, both companies are below the industry average ROA of 11% and below the ROAs of competitors (Johnson & Johnson ROA is 8. 5% and Abbott is 7. 8%) (CNN. com). Return on common equity helps to explain how well a company uses its investment dollars to generate profits. ROCE can be very important to shareholders as it informs common stock investors how effectively their capital is being reinvested.Merck’s ROCE decreased significantly in 2010 due to the acquisition of Schering-Plough, which led to a decrease in Net Income due to the cost of acquisition (increase in R, and increase in marketing, administration, materials and production expenses), and an increase in Shareholders’ Equity. Pfizer’s ROCE declined marginally in 2010 as well, due to the acquisition of Wyeth. However, both companies w ere back to normal operations in 2011 and had similar ROCEs, around 11%, which is considered the average percent for publicly traded companies in the US. This means that both companies have healthy ROCEs and are generating healthy returns to shareholders.The desegregated return on common shareholders’ equity reveals a decrease in the financial leverage of Pfizer from 2. 29 in 2010 to 2. 25 in 2011. Merck’s financial leverage is constant, 1. 92 in 2010 and 1. 93 in 2011. We conclude that both companies are not heavily leveraged by short and long term debt, which shows that they are less risky financially. The disaggregated ROCE also reveals low asset turnover ratios for both companies and this is not uncommon for companies with high profit margins in the pharmaceutical industry. Finally, Earnings per Share is also used to assess a company’s profitability. EPS allow us to compare the companies’ power to make a profit. This means that Merck’s Price Ea rnings Ratio performs better than that of Pfizer’s.Whereas Pfizer’s EPS has been constant for the last three years (around 1), Merck experienced a significant decrease in 2010 to 0. 36 for diluted. The notes of their financial statements list the following reasons for the decrease: R impairment charges, restructuring and merger with Wyeth (had to recognize a full year of amortization of intangible assets and inventory set-up), legal reserve deductions related to Vioxx, and the US healthcare legislation reform. Non GAAP results were evaluated as well, and we believe these results give a better understanding of the performance of the company as they exclude the non-recurring costs mentioned above. b.Liquidity Analysis (Appendix B) The following section analyzes the short term liquidity risk of Merck and Pfizer. The Current Ratios for both companies are healthy, above 1, which means that they both have substantial cash and near-cash assets available on their Balance Sheet to repay their obligations within the next year. The Quick Ratios for both companies is also healthy, above 0. 5, which means that both companies have liquid assets on hand to repay their short term obligations. The Operating Cash Flow ratio is similar for both companies, above 0. 4, which means that both companies generate enough cash flow from operations after funding working capital needs.According to the notes of the financial statement, Pfizer’s lower rate in 2010 was attributed to certain tax payments made in connection with the increased tax costs associated with the Wyeth acquisition and therefore, the decrease in net cash flow from operations. From analyzing the Revenue to Cash and Days Revenue Held in Cash ratios, it is noticeable that Pfizer has less cash on hand. Pfizer has less cash because they are more focused on M. Pfizer spent 3. 3. billion on acquisitions in 2011, while Merck spent just 3. 7 million. Merck has a healthy ratio for accounts receivable turnove r. Merck’s accounts payable turnover is almost double that of Pfizer.These findings show that Merck is paying their supplier twice as fast as Pfizer. Pfizer’s lower ratio might be due to the fact that its creditors allow more time to pay off its debt. The Accounts Receivable and Inventory Turnover ratios are also pretty high and pretty similar for both companies. This means that both firms are selling inventory and turning accounts receivable into cash relatively quickly. However, it looks like Merck is collecting money from customers faster and turns inventory over quicker than Pfizer. Overall, we believe that both firms have healthy short term liquidity. c. Solvency Analysis (Appendix C) The following section analyzes the long term solvency risk of Merck and Pfizer.The Liabilities to Asset Ratio reveals that both Merck and Pfizer finance their companies with approximately 50% debt and 50% equity. However, Merck’s ratio is a little lower, with around 45% debt a nd 55% equity financing. As can be noticed in the table, the Liabilities to Shareholders’ Equity, Long Term Debt to Long Term Capital, and Long Term Debt to Shareholders’ Equity ratios are healthy, which means that both companies will have no problems meeting long term obligations and are not heavily financed by debt. The Interest Coverage ratios for 2011 reveal that both companies are able pay interest on outstanding debt and can carry additional debt as well.Therefore, their credit risk is considered low. The Operating Cash Flow to Total Liabilities ratios are around 20% or higher, which means that both firms generate enough cash flow from operations to service debt. Both firms experienced a lower ratio in 2010 due to increased tax costs for the acquisition of Wyeth for Pfizer and due to increased costs associated with the Schering Plough merger and the Vioxx impairment charges for Merck. The liquidity and solvency analysis revel that both firms are not experiencing any financial distress. However, we consider Merck less risky that Pfizer because Merck relies less on debt and more on equity financing. Part 3: Valuation AnalysisAs outlined above, profitability, liquidity, and solvency all go a long way in providing analysts with viable information used to measure the performance of a firm. In addition to these measures, residual income, cost of equity, and valuation can also be used when analyzing companies such as Merck and Pfizer. a. Residual Income (Appendix D) We started our valuation analysis by calculating the residual income for both Merck and Pfizer. In order to achieve this, we used the companies’ 10K reports from 2009-2011 to project the forecast for 2012-2016, a five-year time frame. The method we used for this forecast was the same method used to project the residual income. Pfizer’s residual income for 2012 was $82,621million while Merck’s was $54,517million.Please note that all numbers in our calculations are i n millions. Our valuation was based on the assumption that both companies will grow by an average rate in the following years. We took into consideration three factors: the current growth rate, past growth rate and macroeconomic factors. Both Merck and Pfizer are in the maturity phase of their growth cycles and show steady growth figures. Residual income growth for Merck was negative for 2010, however we believe this was due to Merck’s merger with Schering-Plough Corporation. In 2007 and 2008, Merck showed a positive double-digit growth. In 2011, residual income growth was virtually flat, at 0. %, however we believe this is also due to the Plough acquisition. For Pfizer, residual income growth figures for the previous three years averaged approximately 3%. Based on these values for residual income, we choose to be conservative and assume a 1% long-run growth rate for residual income for years 2012 to 2016 for both Merck and Pfizer. We chose this modest growth number because b oth companies are still adjusting to recent large-scale M activity. On a macroeconomic level, both Merck and Pfizer’s growth may be stunted by an overall down economy, the health care policy restructuring in the United States and the expiration of long-standing patents. b. Cost of Equity (Appendix D)After determining the 5 year forecast for each company, we next calculated the cost of equity. The capital asset pricing model was used to calculate the cost of equity. We used the yield on a ten-year Treasury Bill as the risk free rate which was 1. 98% (US Department of Treasury, 2012). The betas we used to calculate these numbers were retrieved from a financial website index (yahoofinance. com, 2012). The beta for Pfizer was 0. 71 and for Merck it was 0. 8342. The return on market was set at 14. 50% for both companies (NYSE, 2012). Using the Camp Model, the cost of equity for Pfizer was determined to be 10. 869%, while for Merck it was 12. 424%. Therefore, stockholders of Merck require a larger return than stockholders of Pfizer.Given that Pfizer is the number one pharmaceutical company in the world, it is implied that investors require more return from Merck than from Pfizer. c. Valuation (Appendix D) Using the growth rate of 1%, we forecasted 2012’s residual income by multiplying the growth rate by 2011 residual income. We performed the same calculation for the next five years until 2016, and then discounted it to get the present value. From 2016 on, we assumed a perpetuity growth rate, which means we assumed this company would grow forever. Therefore, we needed to calculate the current value for the company as if it were to grow at a rate of 1%, forever. We first calculated next year’s residual income by multiplying 2016’s residual income by 1%, then dividing by 2.The reason we divided by 2 was to account for the fact that the firm might not grow at a rate of 1% forever. In fact, in some cases, there might be negative growth, as Mer ck experienced from 2009 to 2010. Therefore, to be conservative, we divided the residual income in half, and then we discounted the value by the discount factor to get the present value. After we calculated the present values, we added all the values together and divided by the current number of shares outstanding to obtain the value per share. For Pfizer, the value per share was $79. 39 and for Merck $114. 93. The value we calculated is three times the amount of what the stock is currently trading at.We believe this number is high, but not unreasonable. Around the year 2000, Pfizer was trading near $50 and Merck was trading near $100. We think the current low share value is due to the overall weak economy and we believe that the share price will grow in the future. Please note that all the values of the calculations are in millions except for value per share and current share value. d. Sensitivity Analysis (Appendix E) We performed a sensitivity analysis based on changing horizon g rowth factors and discount rates (cost of equity) to show the value per share. This gives investors the value per share for a different discount rate or growth factor. Part 4. RecommendationsAfter a thorough analysis of both Merck and Pfizer based on profitability, liquidity, and solvency evaluations, we found that both companies are preforming well financially. We found that both companies use assets and investments effectively to generate profit and their profitability growth seems to be steady. The analysis of short term and long term liquidity of both firms shows no risk in their ability to generate cash to meet working capital needs, and satisfy short term and long term debt. From the valuation analysis, we can predict that the future share values of both Pfizer and Merck seem to grow at a steady rate, assuming that both companies grow at a rate of 1% each year.From an investor’s point of view, we consider that the earning per share, the price/earnings ratio, and the lev erage are important factors to consider before making an investment. |Company |EPS |Price/Earnings Ratio |Leverage | |Pfizer |2. 14 |10. 47 |2. 25 | |Merck |3. 25 |11. 95 |1. 93 | After analyzing both companies, on the basis on earning per share, the price/earnings ratio, and the leverage, we have the following recommendations for potential investors. Comparing these values for both companies (table above), we found that Merck outperforms Pfizer marginally.We believe that investment in both companies is safe, however, investment in Merck will bring a higher earnings return than a similar investment in Pfizer in the future. In addition, the financial leverage shows that the financial risk investment in Merck is lower than Pfizer’s, which makes it an even better choice for investment. However, the investor should keep in mind that the pharmaceutical industry involves high risk due expiring patents and threats from generic drugs and their profitability can be highly impacted by these events. According to a recent article on Dailyfinance. com, we found that the patents for major drugs like Pfizer’s Lipitor and Protonix, and Merck’s Singulair, which make up a large portion of the companies’ revenues, are about to expire(2011).These patent expirations cause uncertainty in the future growth of the companies and might have a substantial impact on their stock prices. Appendix A |ROA |Pfizer |Merck & Co | | |2009 |2010 |2011 |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Asset Turnover |0. 46 |0. 32 |0. 35 |0. 34 |0. 42 |0. 45 | |Profit margin |19. 50% |14. 60% |16. 50% |48. 90% |3. 06% |14. 70% | |ROA |9. 03% |4. 80% |5. 38% |16. 80% |1. 29% |6. 70% | ROCE |Pfizer |Merck & Co | | |2009 |2010 |2011 |2009 |2010 |2011 | | |10. 28% |9. 21% |11. 53% |33. 47% |1. 73% |11. 74% | |EPS |Pfizer |Merck & Co | | |2009 |2010 |2011 |2009 |2010 |2011 | |GAAP |$1. 24 |$1. 09 |$1. 10 |$5. 65 |$0. 36 |$2. 01 | |Non GAAP | | | |3. 77 |3. 42 |3. 25 | Appendix B Pfizer | |Merck | | |20 11 |2010 | |2011 |2010 | |Current Ratio |2. 0566461 |2. 1306398 | |2. 0425362 |1. 8581932 | |Quick Ratio |1. 438099 |1. 4454533 | |1. 4301631 |1. 2496004 | |Opr. CF to Current Liab. |0. 7210802 |0. 399986 | |0. 7622653 |0. 6918995 | |Revenue to Cash |19. 051992 |38. 649568 | |3. 5508832 |4. 2189908 | |Days Revenues Held in Cash |19. 158102 |9. 438314 | |102. 79133 |86. 51358 | |Accounts Payable Turnover |1. 67 |2. 11 | |3. 77 |3. 89 | |Days Accounts Payable |218 |173 | |97 |94 | |Outstanding | | | | | | |Accounts Receivable Turnover|5 |4. 79 | |6. 16 |6. 59 | |Days Receivable Outstanding |73 |76 | |59 |55 | |Inventory Turnover |1. 88 |1. 53 | |2. 78 |2. 4 | |Days Inventory Held |194 |238 | |131 |138 | Appendix C | Pfizer | |Merck | | |2011 |2010 | |2011 |2010 | |Liabilities to Asset Ratio |0. 560 |0. 540 | |0. 458 |0. 463 | |Liabilities to Shareholders'|0. 583 |0. 555 | |0. 300 |0. 290 | |Equity Ratio | | | | | | |Long Term Debt to Long-Term |0. 297 |0. 303 | |0. 220 |0. 220 | |Capi tal Ratios | | | | | | |Long Term Debt to |0. 422 |0. 435 | |0. 284 |0. 84 | |Shareholders' Equity Ratio | | | | | | |Interest Coverage Ratio |8. 600 |6. 180 | |10. 900 |3. 480 | |Operating Cash Flow to Total|0. 190 |0. 099 | |0. 300 |0. 120 | |Liabilities Ratio | | | | | | Appendix D | | |10 year |Merck's Beta|Merck's Rm | | | | | |Treasury Bill | | | | | | | |1. 98% |0. 8342 |14. 50% | | | | |CAPM |12. 2% | | | | | |Merck |2012 |2011 |2010 | | | | |Beginning SE |54,517 |54,376 |59,058 | | | | |Comprehensive Loss |3,132 |3,216 |2,767 | | | | |Income Available to Com. |57,649 |57,592 |61,825 | | | | |Shareholders | | | | | | | |Required Income |-222 |-222 |-221 | | | | |Residual Income |57,427 |57,370 |61,604 | | | | |Changed in Residual Income | |0. 10% |-6. 7% | | | | | | | | | | | | | |2012 |2013 |2014 |2015 |2016 |CV | |Projected Residual Income |57,427 |58,001 |58,581 |59,167 |59,759 |30,178 | |Discount Factor |1. 12424 |1. 2639156 |1. 420944 |1. 5974826 |1. 795954 |0. 2051731 | |Present Value |51,081 |45,890 |41,227 |37,038 |33,274 |147,086 | | | | | | | | | |Total Value |355,596 | | | | | | |# of Share Outstanding 3,094 | | | | | | |Value per Share |114. 93 | | | | | | |Current Share Value (5/4/12) |38. 84 | | | | | | | | |10 year Treasury|Pfizer's |Pfizer's Rm | | | | | |Bill |Beta | | | | | | |1. 98% |0. 71 |14. 50% | | | | |CAPM: |10. 7% | | | | | |Pfizer |2012 |2011 |2010 | | | | |Beginning SE |$82,621 |$87,813 |90,014 | | | | |Comprehensive Loss |-4,129 |-3,440 |552 | | | | |Preferred Dividends |45 |52 |62 | | | | |Income Available to Com. |$86,705 |$91,201 |89,400 | | | | |Shareholders | | | | | | | |Required Income |3,142 |4,520 |4,510 | | | | |Residual Income |$89,847 |$86,681 |84,890 | | | | |Changed in Residual Income | |3. 65% |2. 1% | | | | | | | | | | | | | |2012 |2013 |2014 |2015 | |CV | | | | | | |2016 | | |Projected Residual Income |89,847 |90,745 |91,653 |92,569 |93,495 |47,215 | |Discount Factor |1. 10869 |1. 22919352 |1. 3627 |1. 5109 |1. 6751 |0. 1653 | |Present Value |81,039 |73,825 |67,254 |61,267 |55,813

African American Oral Tradition Essay

Modern African American Literature was formed under a stressful time for Africans, slavery. The only way the stories of the indigenous people of Africa were passed down was through oral recollections, or stories of the events. In America this was especially difficult for the slaves because of laws preventing them from learning English. By not being allowed to learn English, the slaves had to learn English solely on auditory purposes. This essentially made the slaves illiterate. When the slaves transferred the language that they heard to paper, a new style of language was formed which was referred to as dialect. Dialect is what the slaves thought they heard and the correct spelling of those words, not standard English. Dunbar, who wrote fluently in both standard English and dialect was praised by white critics only for his dialect poems, and not praised for his poems in standard English. His literacy works are still alive today, however the dialect works were attached with a stigma. Usually whites despised the African’s dialect. Therefore, the slaves would not try to publish any type of work with dialect because the slaves did not want to be associated with the stigma. In all, by creating a unique dialect gave the slaves a bilingual type of style. By not being able to write, slaves also made Genres such as, spiritual, folk songs and gospels. Songs such as these were ways of passing down stories to the next generation. These songs also contained secret messages. These messages may have contained information about escape routes or even the underground- railroad. However most of the songs were spiritual in nature. The songs also progressed through the years. The originals slave folk songs, spirituals, and gospels are now prevalent in modern day jazz and the blues. Martin even gives the example of Hayden, who mixes his song ideas with the ideas of Bessie Smith. Even though African are allowed to read and write, this is a form how their culture is still expressed today. Martin made the emphasis that the oral tradition is part of the African Americans distinct culture.

Negotiable Instruments and Bankruptcy - Secured loan in Saudi Arabia Essay

Negotiable Instruments and Bankruptcy - Secured loan in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Saudi Arabia appreciates suretyship from individuals or companies to reduce the liability of the debt. Most importantly, according to the law guiding commercial mortgages a pledge to have a movable asset as a security for a debt related to a mortgage is regarded as a commercial relationship with the debtor (ARTICLE 1). This implies that a movable asset and all the parties, whose rights and commitments are attached to it can be used to act as a surety against a mortgage. It is imperative note that, a mortgage asset is that one that is saleable and outlined into detail in a current of future mortgage contract. On equal measure, all the properties that have not been acquired cannot be assumed to be mortgaged (ARTICLE 2). This is because there no substantial certainty that the intended plans of acquiring will materialize and in the event that, the properties are not acquired the mortgage contract becomes obsolete. This study finds out that, a mortgage becomes a debt if the amount of the secured debt is established in the mortgage contract. Lien as an option in a mortgage contract A lien is a right offered to another by the owner of a property to secure a debt. Notably, a lien can be the creation of the law for specific creditors. The lien is an option in Saudi Arabia and the mortgaged property can be used as collateral. ... This situation requires the real owner or mortgagee creditor to assert is authority to a substitute mortgage. In inapplicable cases, the mortgagee creditor may annul the contract. For reliability and functionality of this concept, the mortgage and the secured debt must remain indissoluble or enjoined. This is because; the concept of the validity and satisfaction of the mortgage will be only relevant if and only if, the secured loan is valid and satisfactory (ARTICLE 5). For example, if the mortgagor is a different entity other than the debtor, then he shall be entitled to assert the defenses that relates to the debt and he is required to sustain this right even after the relinquishment of the debtor. Sustenance of this right is fundamental in reclaiming the property because e is the real owner. The procedure of enforcement The enforcement procedure depends on the possession rights. For instance, the mortgage shall not be imposed against third party unless the possession rights of the mortgage asset are transferred to the mortgage debtor. This is to ensure that the third party continues to enjoy benefits as he continues to repay the loan. On the other hand, in case of the absence of the mortgage creditor an escrow, who is an individual designated by the mortgage creditor to be in possession of the mortgaged assets and the interest is accruing to him on behalf of the mortgage creditor. The overall essence in this scenario is to allow the mortgage debtor to possess the property until the mortgage is satisfied. On equal measure, the escrow or the mortgage creditor designated by two contracting parties shall assume the ownership rights of the mortgaged asset if the property is put at his disposal through the provision of deeds indicating transfer

Michael Jackson Biography Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Michael Jackson Biography - Term Paper Example With a lot of and zeal for entertainment, he astounded people with his potential reliance and determination. It is due to his actions that the world finds him iconic, and within us, his miraculous deeds dwells. African-Americans, Joseph Jackson together his wife Katherine gave birth to Michael Jackson while living in Gary, a place in Indiana on the 29th day of August 1958 (7). Michael was born to a not so stable family as his father operated a crane in a steel mill company. His father had to sacrifice his musical ambitions in order to be there for his family. Michael was born number seven in a family of nine. He had three sisters and five brothers who all crashed in one house with only two bedrooms. Surprisingly, his father realized that his children had talents and immediately started nurturing it by bringing them together to form a musical group in the beginning of 1960s. Five years after Michael was born, he commenced his music career. He joined the group of his siblings and later became their group’s lead vocalist. Due to his talent, he portrayed huge enthusiasm for music with his remarkable and in-depth performance (21). As a younger performer, he impressed his audiences by use of his capability to portray diverse and complex moves and emotions. His parents raised him together with his siblings as Jehovah’s Witness whereby they practiced door-to-door gospel evangelization. Even after rising to fame, he continued to evangelize but at this time disguised himself and later left the church in 1987 after friction brew within the congregation elders because of his flamboyant style brought about by his career. Passion for music continued evolving within the Jackson 5. ... Although those who wrote about Michael Jackson’s family report that his father became violent and abused them, their combined efforts started paying off when Motown label founder Berry Gordy got impressed by their performance and signed them to his label in 1968. After they signed label with Gordy, Michael and his brothers had to relocate to Los Angeles where they would work as musicians and dancers. At this time, his father was their manager and with Gordy together with Supreme singer Diana Ross in 1969. Jackson 5 delivered their first album ‘Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5’ in the same year that hit charts during December holiday. In January 1970, Michael released his first single ‘I Want You Back’ and hit number one on Hot 100 billboard. This served him as a breakthrough as his other songs like ‘ABC’ followed. First Work Analysis and Description Up to this time, his work received description of an icon yet to make the world of entert ainment a transitional world. In addition to his work, Michael launched solo career at the age of 13. In 1971, charts received more of his work that included ‘Got to Be There’ and in 1972, his album, Ben, stormed the music industry becoming the first solo No. 1 of the Jacksons’. Apart from singing, Michael wrote songs too. With great dancing moves coupled enlightenment, he helped his group become so popular to an extent that they even produced their cartoon show bearing their own title. The cartoon show ran for three years between 1971 and 1973. The Jacksons’ achieved a lot individually. Wrangles erupted, as they wanted to control their recordings more. As a result, their relationship with Motown broke in 1975. They moved to Epic Records, signed a new recording deal, and started

Os Claim Against VC for Outstanding Freight Coursework

Os Claim Against VC for Outstanding Freight - Coursework Example Secondly, it must be determined, if no breach of contract was found to have occurred, whether or not the contract was completed once the ship sailed from Piraeus. The underlying determining factors in both instances are seaworthiness on the part of the transporting vessel (Costa Lotta) and/or negligence on the part of Costa’s captain and crew. Generally seaworthiness refers to the state of the ship and places upon the ship owner a duty to provide a seaworthy vessel.1 Since O owns the Costa, it can be assumed that the ship itself is seaworthy in terms of structural soundness or â€Å"fit for purpose†2 otherwise the ship would not have chosen for the journey. The crew’s competence is relevant in determining the seaworthiness of the vessel. It was held in Wedderburn v Bell that whether a ship’s construction is sound or not is irrelevant if the ship’s crew is incompetent or lacks the skills necessary for navigating the ship for the duration of the chart ered journey.3 In other words, the seaworthiness of a ship will also depend on the competence of the crew. It was held in Standard Oil v Clan Line that â€Å"a ship may be rendered unseaworthy by the inefficiency of the master who commands her.†4 Based on the facts of the case for discussion however, there is no evidence that the captain or his crew lacked the necessary skills to navigate the ship. There is also no evidence of negligence. The fact is, the Costa came across unusual weather and unanticipated delays which ultimately resulted in the loss of freight. By all accounts the master acted promptly and responsibly. The main question is therefore whether or not the contract for the delivery of the freight was completed once the ship sailed from Piraeus. The leading case on the issue is Bank of Boston Connecticut v European Grain & Shipping Ltd (The Dominique). In The Dominique the ship owner entered into a charterparty with the defendant in which payment for freight was d ue after the signing of the bills of lading. The bills of lading were signed and the ship was subsequently arrested and thus failed to complete the journey. It was held that the ship owner had a right to claim the freight once the bills of lading were signed. Thus the ship onwer’s right accrued prior to the ship’s arrest and the chaterparty’s termination. Therefore not only was the ship owner entitled to claim the freight, the chaterer was not entitled to offset damages arising out of the breach of a charterparty relative to the freight claim.5 The facts of The Dominique are entirely similar to the facts of the case for discussion. Payment for the freight was due once the ship sailed from Piraeus. Therefore O’s claim predates the perils at sea and the subsequent salvage operations. In this regard, O can successfully pursue a claim against VC for the outstanding freight. The action may be commenced by filing an action is rem. An action is rem is an action not against a ship, although it impacts the ship’s owner.6 The ship in question is the Jolly Roger owned by VC and purportedly arriving in the UK, which is the only asset that VC will have in the UK. The jurisdiction for filing an action in rem is facilitated by Section 20(2) of the Supreme Court Act 1981. In this regard, Section 20(2) of the 1981 Act provides that actions in rem may be pursued in any of the two following circumstances: (g)  any claim for loss of or damage to goods carried in a ship; (h)  any claim arising out of any agreement relating to the carriage of goods in a ship or to the use or hire of a ship.7 In addition, the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court may be invoked relative to an action in rem when: (a) the claim arises in connection with a ship; and (b) The person who would be liable on the claim in an action

Career action plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Career action plan - Coursework Example It will also have a detailed analysis of the skills/knowledge and experience that would be expected from the particular candidate aspiring for a job. The report further progresses with the development of the CV and the covering letter preparation that would be prepared to demonstrate the skills/knowledge and experience in order to apply for a graduate level job. After that the report will exhibit the gap analysis where the current knowledge and the skills of the applicants will be matched with the requirement that has been identified in the research. At this stage, an attempt will be made to identify the areas where the candidate lacks. The preparation of the career action plan will be carried out where the candidate will show his commitment in order to plug the lacuna. At this section, personal development planning and career related activities will be undertaken. A short conclusion of the overall report will be presented to the reader in order to reflect the feeling on completion o f the overall assignment and exhibit an understanding of the intention to use the career action plan. Since several years the marketing job has been extremely competitive. The marketing industry is growing which is good news for those aspiring to make their careers on marketing. In order to overcome the tough times such as the recent economic slowdown, the companies seek people who can help them to get through this kind of situations. In this case, utilising money for marketing seems to be viable. However, there are certain drawbacks about these marketing jobs as well. Although the job profile seems to be attractive, the candidates have to face tough competition in this field. If the candidate seems to be incredibly hardworking and seeking challenges, then he can get involved into the marketing jobs. As the industry is growing there seems to be greater demand for

Death Penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death Penalty - Essay Example While some arguments are about moral judgments, others are disagreements about empirical trends, such as whether the death penalty is a more effective deterrent than life imprisonment. Ethical debate of the death penalty can be split into two main philosophical contexts, a deontological (a priori) context and a consequentiality context. A priori argument can be further subcategorized into a right argument and a virtue argument. Legal debate also generally falls into prior argument based on legal text. Consequentiality argument can be largely reduced to utilitarian formula through what amount to costs or benefits of the death penalty in terms of human lives and welfare. The deontological objection to the death penalty asserts that the death penalty is totally not correct by its nature, mostly due to the fact that it amounts to the violation of the right to life, which should be universal. In philosophical debate, however, the virtue school tends to argue that the death penalty is also "wrong" on the ground that the process is cruel and inhumane. It brutalizes the society at large and desensitizes and dehumanizes participants of the judicial process. In particular, it extinguishes the possibility of rehabilitation and redemption of the perpetrator(s). Deon tic justification to the death penalty, on the other hand, argues that the death penalty is "right" by nature, mostly on the ground that retribution against the violator of another life or liberty is "just". It naturally follows that not applying death penalty to heinous murder would be unjust. In the context of virtue, they point out that without proper retribution, the judicial system further brutalizes the victim or victim's family and friends, which amounts to secondary victimization. Moreover, the judicial process which applies the death penalty reinforces the sense of justice among participants as well as the citizens as a whole, and might even provide incentive for the perpetrator to own up to their crim e. Many argue that there are advantages of looking at capital punishment from a utilitarian perspective, that is, one which looks at costs and benefits for human welfare. The deontological debate helps to clarify the respective positions of the debate, but offers no way to reach consensus because each argument stands on different a priori ground. Similarly, legal argument can clarify a priori legal or constitutional grounds of the death penalty. However, it offers no insight over whether such law or constitutional clause can be justified on its merit. A utilitarian approach is attractive because the issue is more easily resolved through the examination of empirical evidence, such as evidence about the penalty's effectiveness as a deterrent. Opponents of the utilitarian approach argue that it is flawed for the very reason that it does not take into consideration the complicating ideas which deontology considers, such as the right to life or just retribution. The death penalty is often opposed on the grounds that, because every criminal justice system is fallible, innocent people will inevitably be executed by mistake, and the death penalty is both irreversible and more severe than lesser punishments. The supporters of the death penalty point out that lesser punishments, including life imprisonment, can also be imposed in error and incarceration is also irreversible if the innocent dies in prison. Moreover, whether money is an acceptable compensation for long period of incarceration is a matter of

Financial Reporting & Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Reporting & Analysis - Coursework Example The researcher of this coursework describes the subject of the conceptual framework in financial accounting as well as on an evaluation of whether the criticism, that is leveled on the conceptual framework for failing to fulfill its main objective depends on outlining the main objectives of conceptual framework and comparison with what is undertaken in the field by the practice. The analysis depends on actualizing that the conceptual framework financial accounting concurrently reflects, represents, mirrors, or measures the normal feature of the pre-existent economic reality. The conceptual framework can further be analyzed in terms of the evaluating the accounting principles, inherent concepts and enhanced or entailed focus of general function financial reporting elaborated in the Conceptual framework. The main idea behind the introduction and development of the conceptual framework lies in the provision of the structure for creating accounting standards that act as the main or sole center for resolving emergent accounting disputes. In conclusion, the researcher sums up his study and opinions and states that the criticism of a conceptual framework for being a failure and not satisfying its purposeful roles is hence notable and real. Lack of certain rules in the frameworks denies the essential regards desired for control of the professional. The framework, hence requires a streamlined approach aimed to mend the framework that would create a real economic approach that is healthy for the accounting profession in entirety

Organizational Politics slp Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational Politics slp - Assignment Example In this case, six individuals wanted to be selected as the new sales manager, as a result, leading to a political battle. Political behaviour might be due to individual and organisational factors (Nair, 2010). Personal factors include the need for power, incremental reward, increase in scope of control and Machiavellianism. Organizational factors may be situational or organisational culture. Situation factors encompass performance evaluation, promotion seeking and resource allocation. In this case, there was a situational cause for the political behaviour as the workers were seeking promotion to the vacant position. Politicking arises because of the organisation culture whereby it is practised from the top management to the subordinates that was the case in the company. Some of the prospective staff members to the position went ahead tarnishing the other party’s credibility. It was through trying to reveal fraudulent activities that were they took part in the past. It led to some of the candidates getting disqualified and some were dismissed as well from the organisation after commission of enquiry set up found them guilty. If someone substantially invested in an organization, both emotionally or financially is likely to employ political behaviour due to care of the organisation’s destiny. Although politicking within the organisation is healthy, it also has its adverse effects as rift between employees’ increases. In this case, the working relationship within the organization became poor hence ultimately affecting the overall performance of the organisation In 2002, during the merger between HP and Compaq there was politicking within the board as some were opposed to the merger. The infighting was so bad that some of the board members leaked secretive information to the public. One of the main reasons for the conflict was the appointment of the CEO of the merged grouped. It led to

British Fiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

British Fiction - Essay Example Both of them are distinctive, and in many ways ground-breaking plays written by playwrights who are , in their way, regarded as quintessentially 'English' or 'British' in nature: if such as thing as British literature exists, it would be found within their work. First of all is there such a thing as "being British" At the most basic level "being British" would be someone who is born, raised or who hold British nationality. In this case both Pinter and Stoppard meet this crude "British" definition. Being British is also essentially an idea rather than a reality. It can be seen as adherence to a number of supposed national norms that the British display. Eccentricity, independence, an indomitable nature, reserve, politeness, intelligence, genius, empire, arrogance are all characteristics which can be said to be 'British', and thus it can be seen to be a number of often contradictory things. 'Contradiction' is one of the hallmarks of Absurdist Theatre and thus it is apt that The Caretaker is one of the first works of drama to be written within the genre called The Theatre of the Absurd. What can be said to be particularly 'English' about this work. ... mixture of threat, comedy, hopelessness and an ironic commentary upon working class lives that are based often upon endless combative exchanges of words. The characters make fun of their situations in a manner that is both vaguely threatening and funny. For example, Mick gives an exaggerated description of what the hopelessly run-down house could be: MICK: We could turn this place into a penthouse. For instance this room. This room could have been the kitchen. Right size, nice window, sun comes in. I'd have I'd have teal-blue, copper and parchment linoleum squares. I'd have those colours re-echoed in the walls. I'd offset the kitchen units with charcoal-grey worktops. Plenty of room for cupboards for the crockery. We'd have a small wall cupboard, a large wall cupboard, a corner wall cupboard with revolving shelves. You shouldn't be short of cupboards. You could put the dining-room across the landing, see Yes. Venetian blinds on the window, cork floor, cork tiles. You could have an off-white pile linen rug, a table in... in afromosia teak veneer, sideboard with matte black drawers, armchairs in oatmeal tweed, a beech frame settee with a woven sea-grass seat... (sits up) it wouldn't be a flat it'd be a palace. (Pinter, 1998) Mick is making fun of his brother's (as well as the tramp's) ridiculous plans for the house, and goes from the reasonable to the absurd in his descriptions. Take the description of the cupboard, which soon turns into a "large wall cupboard" and then on to the absurdly ambitious "cupboard with revolving shelves" (Pinter, 1998). Pinter is also commenting upon the pretentious of the English middle-class, and those such as his brother and new 'caretaker' who would want to be one of them. The details of this pretension, seething with sarcasm as they

UV-vis works Essay Example for Free

UV-vis works Essay Even though I accidentally spilled most of my product while pouring it into the separatory funnel, the product left was identical to everyone elses by comparison of the UV-vis spectrum.  Discussion  One possible source of error in this experiment occurred when I spilled the product. Although a small amount of it remained in the beaker, I decided to pipet the  spilled product off the desk to save as much as I could in order to complete the experiment. At first I thought this might cause my product to be somewhat impure, but after looking at the UV-vis spectra, it was obvious this had no effect on the outcome. My spectrum looked perfectly fine. Conclusion UV-vis can be very helpful in finding out how pure your product is and what the components are by looking where the absorption bands are and the extent to which the components were absorbed. UV-vis works by electrons moving from the ground state to a higher excited state. The types of transitions possible are. The sigma to sigma star transitions take place at 200-700 nm and are usually not seen in UV-vis spectrum. N to sigma star transitions require less energy than sigma to sigma star transitions and occur at 150-250 nm. The last type of transitions occur between 200 and 700 nm and are the type which occur in the Cu(TTP) spectrum. Peaks that are shifted to shorter wavelengths caused by transitions are named blue shifts. The peaks that are shown in our Cu(TTP) spectrum are caused by transitions and are classified as red shifts. This is caused by attractive polarisation forces between the solvent and the absorber, which lower the energy levels of both the excited and unexcited states. This effect is greater for the excited state, and so the energy difference between the excited and unexcited states is slightly reduced resulting in a small red shift. This effect also influences   transitions but is overshadowed by the blue shift resulting from solvation of lone pairs (UV-vis Absorption http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sci/chem/tutorials/molspec/uvvisab1.htm) Questions and Answers 1. Why does Cu(TTP) elute before H2TTP? The copper would elute first. The reason for this is because of the acidity of the hydrogen atoms. Since the hydrogens are acidic, they want to hold onto the silica gel, which will cause them to elute after a longer time period.  2. The rates at which compounds elute from a silica gel column depend on any pretreatment of the silica gel. In which case would a compound elute faster: down a column made of silica gel that had been previously heated at 150 degrees Celsius under vacuum for 8 hours, or down a column made of silica gel that had been sitting open in the laboratory for a few days? Explain. When you heat silica gel, water evaporates off the gel leaving open sites where polar molecules can bond. When you let silica gel out in the open, it will collect water molecules on it. Compounds would elute faster down a column that has been heated at 150 degrees for 8 hours because the gel would be dry.  3. A mixture of cis and trans isomers of the neutral complex Cr(CO)4[P(C6H5]2 is loaded onto a silica gel and eluted with CHCl3. Which isomer would elute first, and why? The trans isomer would elute first. References Skoog Douglas; Holler F. James; Nieman Timothy A., Principles of Instrumental Analysis, fifth edition, Thompson Learning: 1998.  Quinn 6  UV-Vis Absorption Spectroscopy-Theory. http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sci/chem/tutorials/molspec/uvvisab1.htm.

The Welding Manufacturing Process Engineering Essay

The Welding Manufacturing Process Engineering Essay Welding is an attractive topic to be researched because it is used in the majority of industrial fields and manufacturing processes. The next figure shows that the shield metal arc welding process represents about 42% from the whole welding processes. The welding theory depends on the joining between two parts whether metals like aluminium, steel, copper, or cast iron or plastics like polypropylene. Welding specially is different from the normal joining where the aim of welding is to obtain a strong joint between two or more parts to be as a single part and to minimize number of parts. For example, the mechanical joints used to assemble pipe lines is limited to specific values of pressure and temperature and when those values exceed those limits, the welding takes place in the assembly process The main concept of fusion welding is the partial melting and fusion of the joint between two members and a filler metals may be used. In the arc welding process, the heat required is obtained from electrical energy. An arc is produced between the tip of the electrode and work piece to be welded, by using an AC or a DC power supply. Shield metal arc welding (SMAW) is one of the oldest, simplest, and most versatile joining processes. About 50% of all industrial and maintenance welding at present is performed by this process. The electric arc is generated by touching the tip of a coated electrode with the work piece or the sample and moving back it quickly to enough distance to maintain the arc. The heat generated melts a piece of the electrode tip, its coating and the base metal in the immediate arc area and this mixture forms the weld when it solidifies. 1.2 Aims objectives The aim or goal of the research is a broad statement of the problem which I intend to solve and what I intend to achieve. Objectives  set the realistic targets to achieve during the research and I should use best practice in project management. Objectives are derived from the aim, but are more specific and measurable. Aims: Investigate/research solutions to reduce cracks occurring in carbon steels during shield metal arc welding process Objectives: Investigate/research shield metal arc welding process in carbon steel metals Investigate/research parameters affecting shield metal arc welding process in carbon steel metals Investigate/research reasons of cracks in shield metal arc welding process in carbon steel metals and methods to reduce them. Literature review Many researches were done to investigate welding processes from many points of views and in the next pages these examples will be shown below: First example:- In the research done by G. B. JANG, H. K. KIM AND S. S. KANG, It was discovered that in the steel bridge manufacturing, there are many differences in dimensions caused by weld deformation often happen because multi-pass welding is used mainly to join thick plates. It repeatedly produced that root openings are out of tolerances at place of butt joints. Second example:- In the research done by G. B. JANG, H. K. KIM AND S. S. KANG, It was discovered that there is a new innovative method for estimating the actual cooling rate in a welded section is existed. This method is depended on applying a weighting factor to the Rosenthal* analytical solutions for thick and thin plates. The factor is calculated from the heat affected zone (HAZ) width obtained from carved sections and reflects the actual response of the plate to the heat flow condition. The formulations used in the literature of this research are depended on the assumption of thin plate and thick plate conditions while most actual conditions not real somewhere between the two extremes. Limited experimental measurements of cooling rate performed by instrumented welding presented good agreement with predicted values. The model was further used to get the peak temperature profile across the HAZ. 2.1 Methodology: As shown in the literature review, the previous two researches concentrated on the problems related to weld deformation and cooling rate.In this research the study of shield metal arc welding will be concentrated on the parameters affecting cracks appearance and the methods used and available to reduce and eliminate them. To achieve objectives, first, a study will be done to previous researches in the same field through the internet and reading different types of books to study the Methodology Block Diagram: SMAW process in carbon steels.the next step is to focus on cracks appeared and how to reduce them. Also Libraries, internet, will be used as a statement of method. The internet usage will give powerful to the research to get data now because it is fastest, cheapest, and most widely in getting data and information that needed in any section of science. Different search engine will be used as www.google.com www.yahoo.com In addition, the forums will be used to discuss results with other engineers to have learning from their experts. Libraries: from reading books you can know the theoretical part and the analysis of the welding parameters. In this study, there is no practical work but if there was a similar one in the future it must take into considerations the ensure that the final product must be safe to the environment by taking into consideration to prevent any harmful fumes. Conclusion:- After this brief proposal it can be said that this project will concentrate on three main categories:- Shield metal arc welding process in carbon steel metals Parameters affecting shield metal arc welding process in carbon steel metals Reasons of cracks in shield metal arc welding process in carbon steel metals and methods to reduce them. Also, it can be guessed that the weakness of this proposal is not mentioning many problems related to this process and a try will be done overcoming this point in the next stages of the project. This proposal takes its strength from the variety and spread of SMAW process in the industrial field as shown in the beginning of the proposal. Time Table: Completed proposal 9TH of October Initial project proposal word 3rd 11th of November Start collecting information and data 1st December-6th Start following chapter 25th December Prepare slideshow 1st January-5th Complete interim report 18th of January Work on following chapters 10th of February Project should almost be complete 10th of march Prepare for presentation 7th of may Chapter 3 Arc welding concept Arc welding is a process of the fusion welding processes which contains:- 1 Arc welding processes (non consumable electrodes) Gas tungsten arc welding Plasma arc welding Atomic hydrogen welding 2 Arc welding processes (consumable electrodes) Shielded metal arc welding Submerged arc welding Gas metal arc welding Flux cored arc welding Electro gas welding Electro slag welding 3 Electron beam welding 4 Laser beam welding The main concept of fusion welding is the partial melting and fusion of the joint between two members and a filler metals may be used. In the arc welding process, the heat required is obtained from electrical energy. An arc is produced between the tip of the electrode and work piece to be welded, by using an AC or a DC power supply. Shield metal arc welding (SMAW) is one of the oldest, simplest, and most versatile joining processes. About 50% of all industrial and maintenance welding currently is performed by this process. The electric arc is generated by touching the head or the tip of a coated electrode against the work piece and withdrawing it quickly to a distance sufficient to preserve the arc. The heat start generating from the electrode tip, its coating and the base metal in the immediate arc area and this mixture forms the weld when it solidifies. 3.2 Classification of arc welding The arc welding classified into many types used in the industrial field each one have advantages and defects different from the other type, So that the user select the required type according to the requirements and the economy aspects. In the below figure we show for the classification of arc welding which appear in the industrial (3.1) Arc welding PAW ESW MIG TIG SAW SMAW Carbon arc welding Figure 3.1 arc welding classification Chart key SMAW: shield metal arc welding SAW: submerged arc welding TIG: tungsten inert gas arc welding MIG: metal inert gas welding PAW: plasma arc welding ESW: electro slag welding The above chart list for the types of the arc welding which used in the industrial fields. Advantages of arc welding There are some characteristic for the arc welding rather than the another methods to joining metals which it represent the advantages of the arc welding listed as below 1- Strong and tight joining 2- Cost effectiveness ( arc welding have low capital and running costs) 3- Simplicity of welded structure design Figure 3.2: arc welding usage in the industry (http://64.78.42.182/sweethaven/BldgConst/Welding/lessonmain.asp?lesNum=4modNum=1) 3.2.1 Principals and definition Shield metal arc welding (SMAW) consider as process in which coalescence of metal produced by the heat which generated from the electric arc that it maintained between the tip of the consumable electrode and the base metal in the welding region. The next figures show the circuit used in the shield metal arc welding Figure 3.2: SMAW system, http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/guidelines_smaw.pdf Figure description: the above figure illustrate the main parameters used in the SMAW process Power supply The shield arc welding power source provides constant current (cc) it may be alternative current (Ac) or direct current (DC) depending on the electrode being used, but the best welding usually used the direct current (DC) as power supply for the circuit. The amount of power required to welding process calculated from the relation (P= IV) Where I represent the current V represent the voltages In the selection process for the power supply we notice that the voltage equal to constant value so that the current is the main parameters in the selection process which discussed in the next section 3.2.2 Current setting The amount of current needed to melt the work piece and the electrode tip depends on several factors as 1- Type and position of the joint 2- Work piece type and its thickness 3- Electrode type and its diameter In facts most of welder select the current depending on the diameter of the used electrode which it measured from the inner section without the coated diameter as showing in the below figure: No Code Usage and properties 1 6010 all welding positions result in deep penetration weld work on rusted, dirty, or painted metals 2 6011 used with ac and dc currents all welding positions result in deep penetration weld work on rusted, dirty, or painted metals 3 6013 used with ac and dc currents result in medium penetration weld give superior weld bead appearance 4 7018 low hydrogen electrode can be used with dc or ac can result in welds of x-ray quality with medium penetration must be kept dry 1 80LV Red used in AC/DC straight or reverse polarity all positions with low voltage machines 2 275 high yield and tensile strength 3 24 AC/DC ac/dc all position electrodes join dissimilar metals 4 309 L AC/DC high corrosion resistance high strength all position electrodes Table 3.3: Examples of electrodes usage and properties A basic guide of arc welding electrodes by Bruce Bauerlein http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/weldrod.html http://www.weldershop.info/282/types-of-welding-electrodes/ 1. Electrode The electrode used in (SMAW) process consist from metal rod coated in metal mixture called flux which gives off gases as it decomposes to prevent weld contamination , introduces deoxidizer to purify the weld , causes weld- protection slag and to provides alloyelements to improve the quality of weld. There are three types from the electrode used in (SMAW) process which discussed below. Fast fill electrode: this type from electrode is designed to melt very fast so that means the welding speed should be maximized. This type used when we weld in the normal case in vertical welding so we can weld with high speed so we use this electrode type. Fast freeze electrode: this type from electrode designed to solidify quickly making welding in different positions by preventing the weld pool from shifting. Intermediates electrodes : the commonly used type and it intermediate in two case melting and in freezing but if we weld with high speed with using this type we get poor quality so that this type is not suitable in case of high speed. The American welding society established system that used to assign electrodes by using four or five digital number. Covered electrodes made of mild steel or low alloy steel carry the symbol of (E) followed by special numbers. The first two or three digits of the number of the electrode specify the tensile strength of the weld metal. The mid digits generally identify the welding positions allowed with the electrode normally using the values 1 (normally fast-freeze electrodes, implying all position welding) and 2 (normally fast-fill electrodes, implying horizontal welding only). The welding current and the type of the electrode casing are specified by the last two digits together. Example for electrode serial number E7018 E indicates electrode 70 indicates 70,000 psi tensile strength 1 indicates use for welding in all positions 8 indicates low hydrogen 2. Cables: there are two cables work cable which connected the base metal and the electrode cable which connected to the electrode one of them represent positive and the other represent the negative side this according to the polarity of the welding process 3.2.3. Welding trouble shooting This section discuss to the trouble shooting may faced it during the welding speed as 1-Porosity: small cavities or holes resulting from gas pockets in weld metal. Fig 3.4: porosity of welding www.miller.com.pdf The porosity in welding it may be caused by the dirty on work piece and the corrective action to face it by Remove all grease, oil, moisture, rust, paint, coatings, slag, and dirt from work surface before welding. 2-Excessive Spatter: scattering of molten metal particles that cool to solid form near weld bead as shown in the below figure. Fig 3.5: excessive spatter www.miller.com.pdf The main causes to excessive spatter is the current too high for electrode and it avoid by decrease current or select larger electrode. 3- Distortion: contraction of weld metal during welding that forces base metal to move. Fig 3.6: Distortion www.miller.com.pdf Distortion in the welding appear as result to excessive heat input. And there is many ways to solve this problem as 1-Use restraint (clamp) to hold base metal in position 2-Make tack welds along joint before starting welding operation. 3-Select lower amperage for electrode. 4-Increase travel speed 5-Lack of Penetration: shallow fusion between weld metal and base metal. Fig 3.7: lack of penetration www.miller.com.pdf The lack of penetration appears as result for many causes as showing below: Possible causes Corrective action Improper joint preparation Material too thick. Joint preparation and design must provide access to bottom of groove. Improper weld technique. 1-Keep arc on leading edge of weld puddle. 2-Reduce travel speed. Insufficient heat input. Increase amperage. Select larger electrode and increase amperage Table 3.8: causes of penetration lack Advantages of shield metal arc welding The shield arc welding have main further that represent the advantages as below 1-Strong and tight joining rather than the other methods 2-Cost effectiveness (have low capital and running cost) 3- The arc welding Simplicity of welded structures design 4- May be mechanized and automated or manual in some duty Disadvantages of arc welding The using of the shield metal arc welding lead to some defects as 1- Internal stresses, distortion and change for the microstructure in the weld region 2- Have harmful effects as radiation and fumes 3.3 Application of the shield arc welding The arc welding it can be used in many applications as: 1-Buildings and bridges structures 2-Automotive, ship and aircraft constructions 3-Pipe lines 4-Tanks and vessels (2.2) 3.4 Polarity: To introduce what the polarity means and the different type of the polarity, first of all the project will show what is the difference between AC and DC? 3.4.1 AC and DC current What is the AC current? It means alternating current. In this current the electric charge flow periodically reverses direction. The electric charge in this case will move for instance backward then it will reverse the direction again to move forward, then backward then forward over and over again. The waveform for alternating current is a sine wave. But sometimes in certain applications the waveform differs like square wave or triangular wave. acFile:Types of current by Zureks.svg triangleRMS_fig_1 Figure 3.9 current and wave types Dc current What is the DC current? It means direct current because the electric charge in direct current moves in a constant direction, and that is the difference between DC and AC. The DC could be produced by such sources like thermocouples, batteries and solar cells. We can use a rectifier which is a current-switching arrangement to obtain direct current from an alternating current. The concept of rectifier is containing electromechanical elements or electronic elements which allow current to flow only in one direction. File:Current rectification diagram.svg Figure 3.10 current rectification diagrams 3.4.2 AC and DC welding machines: The welder or welding machine is the power source that we used in arc welding. There are three basic types of welding  machines used now which are rectifiers, motor- generators and transformers Motor generator welding machines (direct current welding machines): The motor generator could be powered by diesel, electrical or gasoline motor. We can use the gasoline and diesel motors in places where the electricity is not available or hard to reach it like deserts. With these machines we could generate either direct or alternating current. There are new and old machine types of these machines, the older type require reversing the cable connections in order to change the polarity. But in the new machines you can change the polarity from welding in the direct current mode to alternating current mode by turning a switch. The advantages of a (dc) welding generator: The main advantage of a direct-current (dc) welding generator is that you can weld with either reverse or straight polarity. Almost we can weld all ferrous and non-ferrous metals. We can use DC in practically all welding operations so we can consider that DC is most universal in application. The output of generators like rectifier and transformer a sets is not affected by normal variations in power line voltage. Diesel driven generators form self-contained units. Disadvantages of a (dc) welding generator: The initial cost is high The machine operation is noisy The maintenance cost is high AC transformers welding machines: The static-transformer type is the arc welding machines that we used in alternating current. http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14250/img/14250_134_2.jpg The advantages of these types of  machines are lightest, smallest and least expensive welders made. We can use 200, 300, and 400 ampere ratings for manual operation in industrial  applications. But in light industrial, job/shop and garage welding we could use machines with a 150-ampere rating. These types of transforms equipped with arc- stabilizing capacitors. The advantage of a (AC) transformer welding machine: The main advantage of (AC) transformer welding machine is the freedom from arc blow. The arc blow causes the arc to wander while you are using large coated electrodes or welding in corners on heavy metal. The arc blow often occurs when welding with direct current machines. Polarity What is the polarity? Figure 3.12 Straight and reverse polarity in electric welding .Polarity is the direction of the current flow in a circuit. There are two types of polarity reverse polarity and straight polarity. In the straight polarity the work piece is positive and the electrode is negative. The electrons move from the electrode to the work piece. In the reverse polarity the work- piece negative and the electrode is positive. The electrons move from the work piece to the electrode ac and dc current was briefly covered. http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14250/img/14250_141_2.jpg The effect of polarity: The polarity affects the amount of heat which is going to the base metal. You can direct the amount of heat to where it is needed as per the application you working in by changing the polarity. If you want to direct the majority of heat toward the work piece, you must use straight polarity. That type of polarity being used in some welding situations when it is desirable to have more heat on the work piece because of its size to melt the base metal than the electrode. We can use straight polarity for all mild-steel, bare, or lightly coated electrodes. If you want to concentrate the heat on the electrode, you can use reverse polarity because in this type less heat is concentrated at the work piece which allow filler metal to cool faster, giving it greater holding power because of this reverse polarity is being used when you are making vertical and overhead welds. Reverse polarity could be used in the welding of nonferrous metals such as bronze, aluminum and nickel. 3.5 Heat Affected Zone 3.5.1 Heat affected zone definition. The heat affected zone (HAZ) represented by the area of base material subjected to the high heat in order to achieve the welding process. The area which subjected to change in its microstructure and mechanical properties. SMAW process give a highly heat concentration in specified region called (fusion zone), produced in the region of heat affected zone. To calculated the amount of heat in the HAZ the following formula used. Q =60 VI / 1000S Where Q = heat input (kj/mm), V = voltage (V), I = current (A), and S= welding speed (mm/ min). (2.10) The molten occur in the fusion region not in the heat affected zone. So that the HAZ heated to a high enough temperature for sufficient period that grain growth occurred. Heat affected zone is that location of the base metal which in it the mechanical properties and the microstructure have been affected by the heat of welding process. The heat affected zone is subjected to a complex thermal cycle (sudden heating followed by rapid cooling) in which all temperatures from the melting range of the metal down to much lower temperatures are involved and HAZ therefore consists of a series of graded structures ringing the weld bead. HAZ usually contains a variety of microstructures different from the remaining part from the base metal. The width of HAZ varies according to the welding process and technique; in arc welds it extends only a few mm from the fusion boundary, The HAZ in most metal welding process of normal structure welded in one run with coated electrodes that to classify it to four basic region. 3.6 Classification and Designation The classification of electrodes is done by one of the three following categories:images 1 Strength of the deposited weld metal 2 Current (ac or dc) Figure: 3.13 Shield metal arc welding electrodes3 Types of coating The identification of electrodes is by numbers and letters as shown in the next table. Typical coated electrode dimensions are in the range of 150 to 460 mm (6 to 18 in.) in length, and 1.5 to 8 mm (1/16 to 5/16) in diameter. Specifications for electrodes and filler metals (including dimensional tolerances, quality control procedures, and processes) are published by the American welding society (AWS) and the American national standards institute (ANSI). Some specifications appear in the aerospace materials specifications (AMS) by the society of automotive engineers (SAE). Electrodes are sold by weight and are available in a wide variety of sizes and specifications. 3.7 Electrodes types and choices When the choice of a suitable electrode is needed, many considerations are taken such as 1 Quality of weld 2 Penetration 3 Used current whether AC or DC 4 Crack resistant CHAPTER 4 Defects appears in carbon steel welding Carbon steel Carbon steel which it called also the plain carbon steel or the Mild Steel .It does also mean the steel where the main alloying element is carbon. When the carbon steel is specified minimum for copper does not exceed 0.40 percent and when the maximum content is specified for one of the following elements does not surpass the percentages known (manganese 1.65, silicon 0.60 and copper 0.60). The term carbon steel could also be used in position of steel which is actually not stainless steel, so the uses of carbon steel may contain alloy steels. The low carbon steel has some properties similar to the properties of iron. As the content of the carbon going up, the metal becomes with some advantages such as harder and stronger and the disadvantages are less ductile and very hard or difficult to weld. Higher carbon steel usually has the lower the melting point and lower temperature resistance. Carbon steel content effects in yield strength of steel because carbon atoms are fit into the interstitial crystal lattice the places of the body-centered cubic (BCC) collections of the iron atoms. The spaces in carbon steel reduce the mobility of dislocations. To get dislocations to move, a high sufficient stress level should be applied to imbalances for the dislocations to separate them. All this happen because the spaces or the places of the carbon atoms cause in some of the iron BCC lattice cells to deform. Carbon steel is steels whose alloying elements do not exceed the following limits: Element Max weight % C 1.00 Cu 0.60 Mn 1.65 P 0.40 Si 0.60 S 0.05 4.2 Carbon steel properties and classifications: Carbon steels could be specified by chemical compositions, mechanical properties and thermal treatments. The following table shows the typical properties of steels with room temperature in (25 °C). The wide ranges of final the tensile strength, yield strength, and hardness are mostly due to the different between the heat treatment conditions. The different between the heat treatment conditions comes from the wide range of the the tensile strength, yield strength and hardness. Properties Carbon Steels Alloy Steels Stainless Steels Tool Steels Density (1000 kg/m3) 7.85 7.85 7.75-8.1 7.72-8.0 Elastic Modulus (GPa) 190-210 190-210 190-210 190-210 Poissons Ratio 0.27-0.3 0.27-0.3 0.27-0.3 0.27-0.3 Thermal Expansion (10-6/K) 11-16.6 9.0-15 9.0-20.7 9.4-15.1 Melting Point ( °C) 1371-1454 Thermal Conductivity (W/m-K) 24.3-65.2 26-48.6 11.2-36.7 19.9-48.3 Specific Heat (J/kg-K) 450-2081 452-1499 420-500 Electrical Resistivity (10-9 m) 130-1250 210-1251 75.7-1020 Tensile Strength (MPa) 276-1882 758-1882 515-827 640-2000 Yield Strength (MPa) 186-758 366-1793 207-552 380-440 Percent Elongation (%) 10-32 4-31 12-40 5-25 Hardness (Brinell 3000kg) 86-388 149-627 137-595 210-620 www.efunda.com The following groups show the subdivided of the plain carbon steel: Low Medium High Very high Low The low carbon steel has another name which is frequently called mild steels. Low carbon steel has less than 0.30 percent carbon and its one of the most commonly used. They machine and weld nicely and are more ductile than higher-carbon steels. Medium The percentage of medium carbon steel is between 0.30 to 0.45 percent. When the carbon increases thats mean increasing in hardness and tensile strength and decreasing in ductility and more difficult machining. High The high carbon steel contains carbon which starts from 0.45 to 0.75 percent of carbon. These steels can be challenging to weld. Preheating or the post heating (which is useful to control the cooling rate). Heating during the welding process become very important or necessary to produce acceptable welds and to control the mechanical properties of the steel after welding. Very High With more than 1.50 percent of carbon content in very high carbon steel