Financial Information for Business Decisions Essay

Financial Information for Business Decisions - Essay Example The global economy has undergone a drastic change due to recession and economic slowdown in different parts of the world, so on the basis of volatile economic condition, the companies have also changed their strategies and business models to survive in the market, and retain their position among the other players. In order to identify the repercussions of turbulent economic environment, and effects industrial factors on Wal-Mart, an overall analysis of the operations of Wal-Mart over five years would be done. Further, the competitors of Wal-Mart would also be analysed to gauge the position of the company, globally, in terms of market share. The financial analysis of the company would also reveal the financial stability of the firm, which would assist in deriving a conclusion regarding the effect of financial information on the business decisions of Wal-Mart. Company Overview Wal-Mart Store, Inc. is a multinational company which was established in the year 1945 and is headquartered at Bentonville Arkansas, United States (Yahoo Finance, n.d.). It is a publicly listed company and its shares are traded in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the ticker symbol â€Å"WMT†. The company’s stocks were first traded at NYSE on August 25, 1972 (Wal-Mart, 2012a). Wall-Mart is engaged in retail or supermarket business in various formats around the world. Wal-Mart operates restaurants, retail stores, supermarkets, discount stores, hypermarkets, supercenters, apparel stores, warehouse clubs, etc. The products offered in the stores of Wal-Mart include frozen foods, meat, dairy products, bakery products, baby products, beverages, grocery items, electronic goods, household items and so on. Presently the business operations of Wal-Mart are divided into three broad segments, namely: a) the Wal-Mart International segment, b) the Wal-Mart US segment, and c) the Sam's Club segment. Retail stores of various formats are run by Wal-Mart in all the 50 states of US. Along with this it also operates its retail operations online through walmart.com. The international segment of Wal-Mart has its presence in 26 countries of the world and is also in the business of operating its retail operations in all those countries outside US. The Sam's Club segment of Wal-Mart includes membership based warehouse clubs that are operated in 47 states of US along with Puerto Rico (Wal-Mart, 2012b). The US business segment of Wal-Mart operates its business activities which are divided into six strategic merchandise units. They are: a) Grocery, b) Entertainment, c) Hardlines, d) Health and wellness, e) Apparel, and f) Home. All these six merchandise units offer different categories of merchandise products through its various types of retail stores located in different parts of US. In the recently published Fortune-500 list Wal-Mart has been ranked second, just after Exxon Mobil. Business Model Analysis of Wal-Mart After getting an overview regarding the operations of Wal- Mart, its business model would be studied in a comprehensive manner in this section. The current business model would be scrutinized and the changes that have taken place in the last five

HEALTHCARE ETHICS AND END OF LIFE DECISIONS Essay

HEALTHCARE ETHICS AND END OF LIFE DECISIONS - Essay Example There are also several factors that the court needs to look at as there comes a time when the court has to decide what type of treatment can be administered, withdrawn or withheld from a patient. Most important factors include whether a patient is competent or incompetent (Cohen-Almagor, 2001). A competent patient is seen by the court as an individual who is able to give informed consent or otherwise refuse treatment while incompetent patient is unable or lacks the capacity to do the same. In regard to individual autonomy the court is obliged to honor the consent of a competent patient in regard to their medical attention. When it comes to incompetent patient for example one that is in a comma, he or she cannot make an informed decision therefore an â€Å"advance directive† may be required in order to make a decision such as termination of life sustaining care and treatment. In the case quinlan, 70 N.J. 10, 355 A. 2d 647 is an example of a case where death is defined. Karen Ann Quinlan was in a vegetative state whereby she was brain dead and relied on mechanical respirator and artificial nutrition to sustain her. The courts were right to rule that a patient’s guardian and parents have the legal right to have a right of privacy on behalf of the patient. In so doing patients who are in an incompetent state can be safeguarded from suffering by their legal guardians or parents. The above definition however cannot be used as the universal definition as there are several definitions for the death. Some of the most common definitions are as follows: The common traditional meaning has always been adopted from Black’s Law Dictionary. The dictionary states that death is the â€Å"termination of respiration, heartbeat, and some of the central nervous system functionality, such as pulsation and respiration† (Pozgar, 2012). Most medical journals also define death as the end of life and dying as the process