Q1. As of the date of the case (assume = Jan. 27, 2004): a) What is Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea’s (A&P’s) ‘business model’? A&P is a retail food chain in North America that operates under various trade names (i.e. Super Foodmart, Farmer Jack, Dominion, etc.). The business focuses on sales volume, inventory turnover and effective cost control as the products are sold at low margins in a very competitive market. A&P’s business model focuses primarily on acquisitions and divestitures. As the company has room for growth, it expands by building or acquiring more stores. Once the company is in need of extra cash, it divests assets to include store closings and complete sales of a trade name. b) Which …show more content…
Mitch Goldstein probably drew from this information to state that A&P has no large financial obligations until 2007. Q4. How did A&P get into its current situation (current = as of the time of the case)? In what sense is it not surprising that it is where it is? (1 pt) In FY2000, A&P started into a spiral of negative cash flows which continue and have resulted in negative retained earnings in the first nine months of FY2003. This industry’s high competitiveness and low margins are impacting A&P’s ability to meet its high sales volume target. Wal-Mart’s quick expansion in recent years has contributed to this effect. In response to negative cash flows, A&P launched its asset disposition initiative in order to generate cash to cover expenses. Having just divested several assets through closures or sale of stores, A&P generated proceeds in an attempt to reverse the negative cash flows. Specifically, the sale of Eight O’Clock Coffee business generated proceeds of $107.4 million and a gain of $75.1 million ($43.6 million after tax). Although these sales have generated proceeds and made the 3rd quarter financial statements appear as an improvement over previous quarters (smaller net loss), A&P is still in a state of financial distress. The asset divestiture initiative is only a one time solution as A&P has not actually
John Updike's "A & P" and James Joyce's "Araby" are very similar. The theme of the two stories is about a young man who is interested in figuring out the difference between reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head and of the mistaken thoughts each has about their world, the girls, and themselves. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character has built up unrealistic expectations of women. Both characters have focused upon one girl which they place all their affection. Both Sammy and the boy suffer rejection in the end. Both stories also dive into the unstable mind of a young man who is faced with one of life's most difficult lessons. Their
While many obstacles get in the way of friendship, true friendship still lives, even in silence. In the book, The Chosen , By Chaim Potok, two boys, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, who are very religiously different and both raised in completely opposite ways, develops a deep friendship. Their friendship opens up their worldview to many other different viewpoints in life. The friendship between these two boys is one with great religious significance, starting off with destiny and Gods will. As Danny and Reuven’s Friendship develops, it teaches them to respond wisely to the values of the more complex and secular world. It also teaches the true value of friendship. Because Danny’s father, Reb
Profitability of oil companies declined due to low prices; and most of these firms responded with cost-cutting measures. Many top companies divested their marginal properties, seeking to consolidate and rationalize their productive assets- one of which was Amoco Corporation. Amoco Corporation conducted an extensive review of its cost structure and profitability (p.2), leading to major restructurings to better focus on its core businesses. The result of this was a divestment of the middle section of its assets along marginal curve. Morgan Stanley advised and assisted in the process, creating MW Petroleum Corporation – a new, free-standing exploration and production oil and gas company. MW was offered to a number of targeted international petroleum concerns, but the most attractive offer came from Apache Corporation. Apache Corporation was an independent oil and gas company based in Denver, Colorado engaged in exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. Their strategy, “rationalize and reconfigure” involves acquiring producing properties whose operations Apache could quickly control and make more efficient, producing significant cost-saving opportunities for the company. The sale of MW Petroleum provides such an opportunity for them. However, Apache must first carefully evaluate MW’s value to come up with a proposal that would be attractive for Amoco and profitable for Apache as well. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The short story “A&P” written by John Updike, is about three girls who change Sammy’s life. The three girls came from the beach and are not dressed properly to enter a grocery store called A&P. Sammy, the main character, is a check out clerk, and observes every detail about the girls. Sam even gives each of the girls a name. His favorite is “Queenie.” Sammy is obviously the type of guy who doesn’t get a lot of girls. Sam has a conflict of person vs. society. Because of his dead end job, obsession with Queenie, and his noble act to save the girls from embarrassment, Sammy has a conflict between himself and society.
William Penn was born and raised in England, but he is well known for what he did in the Americas. First and foremost, William Penn was a religious nonconformist and writer: he wrote numerous religious books over his lifetime. Second, Penn is responsible for the “holy experiment”: the colony of Pennsylvania. He was a Quaker advocate, and as a proprietor had the opportunity to practice the Quaker Peace testimony.
John Updike, one of the most forward-thinking and socially provocative writers of the 50s and 60s, is known for his “incisive presentation of the quandaries of contemporary personal and social life.” (Lawn 529) Updike graduated from Harvard University and wrote for one of the more cutting edge publications like The New Yorker- both are notoriously ahead of their time and harbor controversial ideas. In his short story “A&P”, Updike reveals a young man named Sammy in a society on the brink of a social revolution- one in which a group of girls and an innocent cashier will unknowingly lead. Updike, through symbolism and syntax, shows how the girls are leading the revolution, how Sammy is feeling the wrath of this revolution, and
His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave And Conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Dissolved oxygen is oxygen that is trapped in a fluid, such as water. Since many living organism requires oxygen to survive, it is a necessary component of water systems such as streams, lakes and rivers in order to support aquatic life. The dissolved oxygen is measured in units of parts per million (ppm). Examine the data in Table 4 showing the amount of dissolved oxygen present and the number of fish observed in the body of water the sample was taken from; finally, answer the questions below.
As with playing the “What If” game (asking “what if” incessantly to explore each aspect of a situation), so did a chain of events occur that caused this relationship to form.
The short story “A & P” by John Updike is about a young man’s decision to stand up for others or, in the other characters’ opinions, make a foolish decision by abandoning his responsibility. At first he believes his decision is the right thing, quitting his job for how the girls were being treated. Then when he gets outside of the store, he realizes the world he just left behind, regrets his decision, and begins to question his actions. He starts to overthink what the world has to offer him, making his worldview change from underrating to overrating. His “unsure of the world’s dangers” worldview in the beginning changes to overrating the dangers of the future ahead at the end of the story causing Sammy to change throughout “A & P”.
After analyzing Wal-Mart’s annual report for 2010, attention has been brought to several items that require closer examination. A common “red flag” to questionable accounting has been found within Wal-Mart’s statement of cash flows and income statement. There is an increasing gap between the company’s reported income and the cash flow from operating activities. In the year 2008 reported income and cash flow from operating activities differed by $484 million. However the difference increased a considerable $2,249 and $4,183 billion in the years 2009 and 2010 respectively. This increasing gap is a significant warning sign that the company may be changing accrual estimates.
On the other, although the majority of the information shown in the case study presents arguments for the fact that it was inevitable that Woolworths would fail as a business, it is also shown that the company was once a reputable company and generated high levels of consumer demand through the customer being able to buy “pick-n-mix sweets, a DVD, a magnifying headlight and a cheese grater “ in the same store. The revenue generated within the first six months of 2008 was £1107 million, which suggested that the firm was able to sell efficiently to an extent. If the financial department at Woolworth’s had evaluated the balance sheet and income statement from previous years, they would have potentially been able to minimize the risk of the high expenses, reduced profit margins and overall prevent the administration of the company that occurred in 2008. This point therefore indicates that it was not entirely inevitable that Woolworths would fail as a business, as measures could have been carried
Over 30 divestitures in under 20 years in efforts to only keep business that would continue to add value
Starbucks’ shares have grown more than 1500% over the past decade. Financially, it has been an oak tree in an ever changing economy with customers that have ever changing demands. However, there has been increased concern for the financial viability of the coffee shop a recently announced plan to close down over 600 stores that were said to be underperforming domestically. That means that more than 1,000 jobs will be eliminated. As scary as that is on the local front to top management, the executive staff feels that it is the only way to recover from it’s shocking $108.7M loss for the 2nd quarter this fiscal year.