There have been times of ‘boom and bust,’ experienced by everyone on the globe although the UK has managed to perform at a steady average of around 2%, managing times of recession reasonably well. Internationally, the UK has one of the highest GDP per capita. The graph to the left corroborates with this and explains why the UK is involved in the G7 and G8 summits – being one of the most powerful countries in the world. Unemployment, as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor force.
Running head: Dollar General 1 Dollar General Columbia College RUNNING HEAD: Dollar General 2 Dollar General Dollar General is the leader when it comes to discount dollar stores with an annual profit of more than $12.73 billion a year. The major competition in the dollar discount stores for Dollar General in order are Family Dollar and the Dollar Tree. Another key player in discount stores is Walmart, although not a dollar discount store Walmart dominates all markets with $419.24 billion in revenue. 2011 brought on a year of expansion for Dollar General with plans to open up 650 new stores and remodel another 550 creating 6.000 new jobs in additional employees. Dollar General in owned by Koldberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P (KKR) who own more than 79% of all shares in Dollar General.
* Market share today: Out of 2,000 big companies Wal-Mart is at 17 with 201.36 billion in market value and in its industry of retail, Wal-Mart is ranked #1 with Home Depot and Target behind. * Profitability of the company compared to the past: Last year Wal-Mart closed with their net sales at $344.992 billion and as Wal-Mart finishes their third quarter their net sales is at $269.8 billion, this is a positive for them and an 8.6% increase on sales. B. Strategic Posture 1. Mission * The company’s current mission objective is to give their customers what they want.
KINGSFORD CHARCOAL CASE ANALYSIS CASE INTRODUCTION: Kingsford Charcoal is a $350 million company, built and commercialized in 1920 by E.G Ford and acquired by Clorox in 1973. Kingsford represents one of the largest product groups within Clorox's portfolio and represented approximately 9 percent of Clorox's revenue and a substantially higher net income. The company had been enjoying a steady moderate growth since the 1980's achieving 1-3 percent in growth revenues each year. Though it had not raised prices in several years or advertised in any significant way since 1998, Kingsford charcoal enjoyed a higher sales volume over its competitors (Royal Oak and Private Label) in the charcoal industry. In the summer of year 2000 however, the overall charcoal industry including Kingsford charcoal experienced a softening in their growth and revenue.
Disney shares jumped 84 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $34.57 in after-hours trading. The shares gained 44 cents to end the regular trading session at $33.73 before the earnings were announced. Tourists from abroad also took advantage of the weak dollar, increasing park attendance and spending. Resort revenue grew 11 percent to $2.73 billion, and hotel bookings at the resorts through 2008 were trending higher than last year, the company said. "We're definitely benefiting from the dollar weakness ... in two ways," Chief Executive Robert Iger told analysts on a conference call.
Sustaining Growth A key issue facing ECP is sustaining its growth. From a turnover of £50,000 in 1978 ECP has shown rapid growth particularly in recent years defying the downward trend of the UK economy. In 2011 alone ECP increased its revenue by 25% whilst adding 12 new branches and over a thousand new employees to the team. This was a direct result of ECP’s heavy investment in people, infrastructure, technology and marketing. The growth was also aided by a shift in the market of service, maintenance and repair work away from manufacturer’s franchised dealer networks to independent repairers who constitute the bulk of ECP’s customer base.
By1992, its sales were reported to have more than tripled, to nearly $100 million, making Haagen–Dazs the market leader of premium ice-cream in Europe. In the UK, the original launch country, Haagen-Dazs had taken a 19.5% value share of the premium sector (or 28% according to Haagen-Dazs), which represented one-eighth of the total ice-cream market in just two years, according to Warburg Industries. Haagen-Dazs had increased its share of this total market from 0.5% in 1990 to 4.9% in 1991 (Nielsen Frozen Food Service). During the same period, the UK ice-cream market took d dip from ￡763.9 million to ￡762.8 million. The introduction of Haagen-Dazs in the UK-helped by world-beating Mars count line extensions (Mars, Bounty, Galaxy, Milky, Milky Way and Snickers) into the ice-cream market in 1988 – had increased the profile of luxury ice-cream in the UK and Europe, making it the fastest-growing sector of the ice-cream market .
Ratio Analysis From 2006 to 2007 Britvic’s net profit rose by 0.3% while gross profit fell by 1.05%, therefore production cost was reduced, which can be due to the deal with C&C (Magners cider maker) and the acquisition of Ballygowan water which brought a cost saving of €14m. Over the past 5 years, 2010 achieved one of its highest gross profit 55.3% and net profit was never so high at 7%. The deal with C&C also made Britvic’s share prices raise and it reached its highest price (399p) over 2 years period. As many companies, Britvic in 2008 was also affected by the global economic crisis and in that year gross profit fell by nearly 8% but net profit was not affected as much. Britvic’s pubs trade was also affected by the recession, company shares fell to its low in 5 years, reaching 222.25 p, a difference of 165p comparing with previous year.
Today, PPG operates in more than seventy countries around the world. (About PPG, 2013) As of the third quarter 2013, PPG reported their net sales of $4 billion, which was up 17% from the previous year (2112). Their adjusted earnings per share were record breaking at $2.44 per share, up 31% over last year with the recent recovery in the economy. Cash and short-term investments were $2.2 billion at the end of the third quarter. PPG anticipated its full-year share repurchases to be at the high end of what they had originally projected.
Over the next three years, Zappos doubled their annual revenues, hitting $840 million in gross sales by 2007. In 2008, Zappos hit $1 billion in annual sales, two years earlier than expected (one year later, they fulfilled their other long-term goal, debuting at #23 on Fortune’s Top 100 Companies to Work For). Zappos’ primary selling base is shoes, which accounts for about 80% of its business. About 50,000 varieties of shoes are sold in the Zappos store, from brands like Nike, Ugg boots, and Steve Madden heels. They also serve the niche shoe markets, including narrow and wide widths, hard-to-find sizes, American-made shoes, and vegan shoes.