Spirituality,Religion,and Social Work Research Paper

Spirituality,Religion,and Social Work - Research Paper Example The relationship between religion, spirituality and social work, however, is not a recent phenomenon, but in fact has existed historically and share a consistent relationship. Such a positive and co-dependent relationship between religion, spirituality and social work, can be attributed to the Postmodernist society we live in today, where there has been a steady and systematic increase in the introduction of new social work policies, which assimilate religion and spirituality; and where the social workers, are known to have a more positive approach towards the inclusion of religion and spirituality within the spheres of social work. There have been various studies which have documented the effect, introduction, assimilation and impact of religion and spirituality within the domains of social work (Furman, Benson, Canda, & Grimwood, 2005; Sheridan & Amato-Von Hemert, 1999; Sheridan, Bullis, Adcock, Berlin, & Miller, 1992). This paper, discusses the various signifcance of the problem, and the impact of such an inclusion on social work and workers. Definition and Meaning of Terms: Religion and Spirituality These terms are defined in various ways by different authors, and research literature on the subject implies that there is no one clear or specific definition for either of these terms. Hence defining the terms in a precise manner has been a challenging task for the authors, since it encompasses a wide area of subjects and concepts. However for the purpose of this study, a general and commonly used definition is taken into consideration. Spirituality is defined as: "a complex, intrapsychic dimension of human development† (Derezotes, 1995, p.1) â€Å"the relationship of the human person to something or someone who transcends themselves† (Bullis, 1996, p. 2), â€Å"devotion to the immaterial part of humanity and nature† (Barker, 1995, p. 363), â€Å"the human search for purpose and meaning of life experiences† (Sheridan & Amato-von Hemer t, 1999, p. 129), â€Å"a relationship to force greater than oneself† (Netting, Thibault & Ellor, 1990), and â€Å"the essence of the individual† (Carroll, 1997, p. 27), or â€Å"one’s basic nature† (Carroll, 1998, p. 2). Religion on the other hand is defined as: â€Å"the external de?nition of faith† (Joseph, 1988, p. 444), â€Å"a search for the signi?cant in ways related to the sacred† (Pargament, 2002, p. 169), â€Å"an organized set of beliefs and practices of a faith community† (Furman & Chandy, 1994, p. 21), â€Å"believing† (Gotterer, 2001, p. 188), and the â€Å"acceptance of a particular set of beliefs and ethics† (Cascio, 1998, p. 524). Thus, the definitions of spirituality and religion in general, are more or less focused on the general meaning of the terms and the areas it encompasses. There is however a subtle difference between the two, as observed from the literature. The concept of spirituality may also include a special reference to the relationship between individuals, the environment to which they belong, their traditions, customs or heritage or any higher power in which they believe (Canda, 1988; Dudley & Helfgott, 1990; Furman, Benson, Canda, & Grimwood, 2005; Joseph, 1988; Krieglstein, 2006; Hodge & McGraw, 2006). Religion on the other hand, is comparatively a narrow term, albeit more structured with regard to the beliefs, or rules followed by a community or an organization. However, there is a slight difference of opinion among various researchers and practitioners with regard to the difference between the two terms while yet others do not believe in such differences. According to some religion is more focused on communities while spirituality is an individual thing, while yet others question the

Big Brothers, Big Sisters Essay Example for Free

Big Brothers, Big Sisters Essay Big Brothers, Big Sisters is a prevention program, which enhances the socialization of children through paying attention to their psychological and physical development and increasing their feeling of â€Å"being included† into community and school environment. Due to the fact that the project is mostly directed to planning interesting leisure and education-related activities for minors, it can be interpreted as prevention program, as it creates a friendly and harmonious environment which encourages and reinforces the child’s self-esteem through establishing a symmetric communication between the minor and adult and teaching important social skills. As for me, I believe that the program is effective, as it deals mostly with three important predictors of deviance and crime – absence of developing and diversified pastime, lack of engagement with community activities and academic failure (and the consequent loss of interest in education) in schoolchildren. In addition, the relevant study, provided by the website, demonstrates the following results: â€Å"Researchers found that after 18 months of spending time with their Bigs, the Little Brothers and Little Sisters were: 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 27% less likely to begin using alcohol; 52% less likely to skip school; 37% less likely to skip a class; more confident of their performance in schoolwork; one-third less likely to hit someone† (at http://www. bigbrooc. org/html/our_impact. html, 2007). There are three major curriculums, designed within the program. First of all, there is a set of community-based activities, which take place once a month. The community volunteers encourage the participants to do sports, play intellectual games, have meals together or simply take walks in the park. Group-based mentoring program includes monthly meeting of Big and Little Brothers and Sisters and learning new and unusual types of sports, associated with team playing. For instance, the participants do kayaking, play miniature golf or team bowling. All these sports are aimed at improving the children’s concentration, dexterity, ability to plan and make joint decision within the team; as one knows from developmental psychology, the progress of physical skills is particularly sensitive to influences at teen age, when the person is actively growing. The complex of school-based activities comprises weekly sessions, during which the minors are assisted in their home assignments. The major advantage of this program, which actually can cause in the jealousy of the similar agencies, is its image of partnership between adults and children, who receive not mentors, but friends, whose role models are more likely to be learned by minors. The typical agencies of this profile (working in the directions of prevention and diversion) more willingly involve competent specialists (in a limited number) than volunteers, so the underage target audience not always receives socialization experience and learn social skills during workshops and training. In addition, the Big Brothers Big Sisters project manages to maintain its focus on the underage audience in all points of its curriculum and stimulates the natural and healthy socialization in minors (through communication and team activities), instead of creating artificial conditions (like those in workshops and purposeful social skills training). The goals of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters project to great extent coincide with the orientation of the whole juvenile justice system. The major priority of the system is prevention of juvenile crimes and recidivism, but this goal is traditionally accomplished through enlightenment and education in the spheres of crime and punishment, drug addiction and alcohol use. The efforts of the program, on the other hand, are directed to improving the minors’ physical and psychological health and helping them establish friendly contact with the environment. This model is often neglected by the juvenile justice system, so it would be beneficial to introduce the program under the management of the network of government institutions, responsible for delinquency prevention, as the idea of healthy and natural socialization is likely to become a new direction in the functioning of the juvenile justice system and the unity of accountability will provide courts will more comprehensive information about the children. In addition, the program will also demonstrate success in the field of diversion. Finally, the program will correct the official and formalized image of the juvenile justice system and break the stereotype of the â€Å"punishing institution†. The major strength of the program is its positivist approach to prevention, which includes strengthening the minors’ social and psychological potential rather than intimidating schoolchildren about the adversities, associated with delinquency and illicit drug use. The project embraces community work, group work and school work, so that the major environments, in which the children operate, are influenced and to some extent altered. The ultimate goal in this sense is the development of the sense of inclusion into all these environments in the participants. On the other hand, the program lacks one important components, which is family-based work. As the website suggests, the underage participants originate from the households, where domestic violence and alcohol use are practiced. With respect to the fact that behavior models, learned in the family, are to certain degree determinative in teenagers’ behavior, it would also be useful to establish a contact between the families and the community and arrange activities, which imply the creation of a large team, consisting of children, their parents and the Bigs. Another weakness is the lack of basic psychological education for children, as at the certain stage of their development they need theoretical knowledge of building relationships and understanding others, so the Big Brothers, Big Sisters can introduce monthly discussions of the achievements and difficulties, experienced by the participants in their relationships with coevals and adults. Reference list Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Orange County. (2007). Official website, at http://www. bigbrooc. org.

The Importance Of The Friendship Literature Essay

The Importance Of The Friendship Literature Essay What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies Aristotle, Lives of eminent Philosophers, (2010) Wikipedia dictionary online. Available from: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle. Accessed 17 July 2010 Nowadays, People live in a new society where often nobody stops what they are doing in order to be worry about the others. People live in a selfish world where the peoples feelings have gone into the background, giving more importance to economic and social stability rather than emotional stability. Although, we believe that for these reasons the friendly relations have been missing; however, this is a serious mistake because people must communicate with others, and they must establish many types of human relationships, but one of the most important is friendship. Friendship is a value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis: the tendency to desire what is best for the other , sympathy and empathy, honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of ones counterpart, mutual understanding and compassion, trust in one another; and, able to go to each other for emotional support Friendship definition.(2010).Wikipedia dictionary online. Available from: hHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendshipttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship. Accessed 17 July 2010 In this opportunity, I want to focus on the importance of friendship which is reflected in two interesting books of the twenty century: The Great Gatsby and Motorcycle Diaries. However, both books were written at different times, places and facts, but in both the characters created strong bonds of friendship in the book plots. It is very interesting to know how is developed the friendship between the main characters: Gatsby and Nick, and Ernesto and Alberto friendship. This is an interesting plot because without a loyal friend, they would not able to give the sense to their lives and the sense of the plots of the books. First of all, the Great Gatsby was written in the 1920s by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. During this period, people tried to forget the shock lived because of the World War I, so the people wasted their money in trivial things such as going to parties and drinking in a crazy way. In this book, there is an omniscient narrator, who was Nick Carraway. For that reason, The Great Gatsby is narrated from Nicks point of view. The novel started when Nick came from Minnesota and moved to New York to work in the bond business. After that, he rented a house in a popular and fascinating place called West Egg, where new rich people lived. They were a group of people who made their wealth too quickly to interact with the truly rich. In that place, Nick befriended his neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, who was famous for its populous parties. Gatsby was born on a farm in North Dakota; working for a millionaire, he made him dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth. The first time that the fr iends, Nick and Gatsby, met was in a party, but they did not interchange any word. After that, Gatsby sent an invitation to Nick to his home because he wanted to talk with him, so they met and talked. Besides in that occasion, they discovered that they participated in the World War I. Gatsby and Nick had a friendship that grew slowly over the course of the story, where Nick was discovering the mysteries of his friend Gatsby. As the novel progressed, Gatsby and Nick started a real friendship because inside the novel there were many trivial situations such as the populous Gatsbys parties. Also, the people lived a life with lies, and they want to show off their wealth. Nick never showed off other thing, he always said the truth and tried to help to his friend Gatsby while Gatsby hide the truth in the being of the novel. In the Gatsby youth, he knew Daisy, who was Nicks cousin, while he was training to be an army officer. They fall in love, and started a relationship, which they never f orgot. Following that, Nick met with Daisy Buchanan and her husband, who attached to the real group of wealthy and lived in the swanky neighborhood of East Egg. Nick facilitated the rekindling of the romance between her and Gatsby because he invited at his home in some occasions to Daisy, and Gatsby gave the first opportunity to meet with Daisy. In this part of the novel, Gatsby needed Nicks help, and Nick gave his support. In the novel, Nick also learns that Gatsby made his fortune through criminal activity, as he was willing to do anything to gain the social position he thought necessary to get Daisy, thus achieving upward social mobility and settle in a wealthy place. However, Nick knew the truth, he always went with Gatsby because Nick was tolerant, and honest, a person who kept secrets. After many events that took place, Daisy and Jay could not have a relationship because Daisy never loved him really, and also she was married with Tom Buchanan. When she had to decide between Ga tsby and Tom, she preferred to continue her life with Tom. Gatsby was very sad because she was his real love, so Nick was there for him when Gatsby needed. Finally Gatsby was killed by Myrtles husband, and Nick was very worried about his friend, so he decided to go at Gatsby home, and he knew that his friend was died. In the Gatsbys funeral, the only person who attended was his father, a man who lived in his house, and Nick, who was his real friend because Nick was with Gatsby ever in his death day as a good friend. Secondly, we have Motorcycle diaries which was written by Ernesto Che Guevara as a result of his daily trips through Latin America. In 1952, one semester before Ernesto Guevara finished his medical studies, he and his old friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, left Buenos Aires to travel the continent looking for fun and adventure. However, they have different ages they are close friends. They decided to travel because they wanted to intend to work in a leper colony in Peru, but the main purpose was tourism. They have same dreams such as, for example, they wanted to see Latin America for that reason they traveled many months. Initially, transport was the old and scruffy Albertos Norton 500 motorcycle nicknamed La Poderosa II. First, we headed north where they crossed the Andes, and then traveled over that of Chile, through the Atacama Desert and the Peruvian Amazon. In that part of the trip, they suffer many dearths such as they did not have food, water and a warm bed, but they always enjoyed that venture trip because they knew many people. Also, all friends have disagreements, but they passed them because they respect them such as when they had some problems, so they were forced to travel at a slower pace because his transport La Poderosa II could not fixed. For that reason, they arrived in Caracas on July. Ernesto Guevara had health problems, so during this trip Guevara suffered asthmatic problems, and Granado never let him alone because a real friend helps other in problematic situations. When they were traveling to San Pablo leper colony, Ernesto suffered asthmatic attack where Ernesto almost passed away, but he escaped certain death, and because his loyal friend. Alberto was there and applied the medical treatment, so Ernesto survived. Also, the friends encountered the poverty of indigenous people, and knew about the disparity between rich and poor people in Latin America. Both friends could live inside the poverty and they protected themselves as friends m ust do it. In Peru, they worked as volunteers for three weeks in a leper colony in San Pablo. Guevara knew there, the division of society between the working masses and the governing masses. Finally, the friends said good bye, Alberto revealed that his birthday had been on August 8th. Ernesto said that he had always known it. Also, Ernesto never judged his friend. People think that who establish a positive connection in a relationship of friendship, or other positive bonding, they fell emotions that affect positively their immune systems. In both books there are clearly strong connections of friendship between the characters. On the one hand, The Great Gatsby has a relationship of friendship that grew slowly over the course of the story, where Nick was discovering the mysteries of his friend Gatsby. On the other hand, in the book Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto and Alberto were already old friends but there were more precise in execution by living each of the experiences presented in their journey. Even though, today people live in a selfish society where nobody is worried about what happens with the others, or peoples feeling. There are people who think emotional stability is more important than social stability. People must communicate with others, and they must establish many types of human relationships, but one of the most important is friend ship. There are a number of theories that attempt to explain the link, including that: 1) Good friends encourage their friends to lead more healthy lifestyles; 2) Good friends encourage their friends to seek help and access services, when needed; 3) Good friend enhance their friends coping skills in dealing with illness and other health problems; and/or 4) Good friends actually affect physiological pathways that are protective of health Friendship definition. (2010).Wikipedia online dictionary. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship. Accessed 17 July 2010

True Lust Essay -- Essays Papers

True Lust Romantic love is both an inward and an outward admiration and investment in another person. When a person loves another person, he or she displays admiration and respect for that person’s body, personality, emotions, and desires. On the other hand, when a person’s only admiration for another person is for their body, such desire cannot be defined as love. For example, a rich, middle-aged man may truly admire and enjoy his prostitute’s body, but his investment in her aesthetic beauty does not equate to love for her as a person. His fixation is purely visual and tangible, yet his regard for the prostitute’s personality and emotions is, most likely, almost non-existent. Final diagnosis: the rich man does not love his prostitute, but lusts for her. Vladimir Nabokov’s novel, Lolita, portrays this distinction between love and lust through a morally complicated and controversial story. The story consists of many layered themes, which a reader must first sort through in order to make sense of the question of love. The subject most explicitly present in Lolita is pedophilia. Because we live in world of pre-conceived and ingrained societal norms regarding what is â€Å"morally acceptable† and â€Å"kosher,† and because pedophilia is generally considered one of the most heinous and immoral of crimes, many readers cringe at the very mention of such a topic and, therefore, fail to recognize the underlying and essential question of love verses lust present in the novel. In order to achieve a true understanding of Lolita, a reader must set aside such societal norms and pre-conceived notions. Gaining a true understanding of Nabokov’s novel requires an open and unbiased mind. Through objective eyes, then, pedophilia is nothin... ...sely acquainted with Dolores Haze by the end of the novel, despite the lengthy descriptions offered about her. Humbert never offers the reader a true portrayal of Dolly as a person with life and feelings, but only a distorted physical portrait of the nymphet, Lolita. Aside from the controversial pedophilia issue, Lolita still remains a lust story. Nothing proves this point more effectively than Humbert’s own statement: â€Å"You see, I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight† (Nabokov 270). Works Consulted - Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. New York: Random House, 1997. - Ostermiller, Marcus. â€Å"Love: a disguise for Lust.† 2005. - Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1996. - Warner, Jennifer. â€Å"Is there a ‘Gay Gene’?† WebMD Medical News. ONLINE. http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/100/105486.htm.

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Overview Before Warren Edward Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway was a textile company. Buffet acquired stocks and before long he was the largest shareholder (1963). He became part of the board and appointed the chairman so he would have someone he trusted running the company. With the funds from Berkshire Hathaway coming in, Buffett used it to invest in National Indemnity. The company was bought but he left it the way it was: left previous Ringwalt in charge, kept current employees, shareholder benefits and so on. Insurance companies are a perfect way to get a lot of capital up front because you can then use this money to purchase other companies or stocks, like what Buffet did. Buffet was involved with several companies and bought GEICO(Jayanti), General Re and other manufacturing and service companies. Today Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest holding companies in America. It owns different companies from retail to jewelry to electric companies. These companies run separate from Berkshire Hathaway. It does not produce the goods or provide the services but serves as an umbrella that owns shares or the whole of the companies that are underneath it. Many of these companies were purchased by the company’s many insurance options. Big names include GEICO, Borsheim, PacifiCorp and Vanity Fair. (Jayanti). Porter Five-Force Model Porter’s Five-Forces Model of Industry Competition pertains to the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products and services, and the intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry. These five forces can determine the stature of a market. In the case of Berkshire Hathaway there is a low threat of new entrants for the multi-businesses in one industry. It is significantly hard to own various different companies, have them operate to full potential and still remain a leader on the industry board. Although competitors cannot directly compete with Berkshire Hathaway, they still take a nice chunk from its potential market. As a matter a fact, there are only two direct competitors in the industry that are above Berkshire Hathaway, it is Motors Liquidation Co and Ford Motor Co. As more self-made businesses(which is what Warren Buffett likes to acquire) open competition is created through price, increase in advertisement, and suppliers. This competition benefits buyers by giving them more options or bargaining power in where they choose to shop. For Instance like what happened to Berkshire’s textile business, after a while competition increased prices dropped and textile had simply became another commodity. So as you can see from the example, this affects Berkshire directly because of their higher quality products but premium prices makes it hard to compete with low cost leaders. This takes valuable time and effort away from internal operations because in cases like these the opposition has to be constantly analyzed. Consequently, if neither competitor decreases their prices to a consumer’s expectation this may result in the consumers going to the suppliers directly; once again giving the bargaining power to the buyer. As far as bargaining power to the suppliers, they wouldn’t really have any edge in increasing their prices or power unless it is a scarce resource and demand is high. Substitutes on the other hand, limit the potential returns of an industry by putting a ceiling on the prices industries can profitably charge. Finally, the only reason why rivalry is intense is because when you have large companies like Motors Liquidation, Ford and Berkshire rivalry heats up and everyone fights for the number one spot, and usually does whatever it takes to get it. The rivalry forces a constant close monitoring of competitors, which entails unnecessary excessive expenditure. For example, they would have to ask and analyze questions such as, where are they opening their stores? Are they using the same criteria in choosing locations? How much are they charging for similar products? And can we compete with their price? In Summary, Berkshire needs to be aware that intensive rivalry will increase costs, such as constantly competing with prices, having to offer bargains which will lead to high exit barriers. In the end if the company is doing everything right and it is focusing on their company and how to improve it then it is a win-win situation because the biggest edge any company has is that: NO TWO FIRM ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. SWOT Analysis â€Å"Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of business activities. Co. ‘s key businesses are its insurance businesses, which are conducted on a primary and reinsurance basis. Co. s insurance businesses provide insurance and reinsurance of property and casualty risks world-wide and also reinsure life, accident and health risks world-wide. At Dec 31 2008, Co. ‘s insurance and reinsurance activities were conducted through about 60 domestic and foreign-based insurance entities. Co. also owns and operates other businesses, including utilities and energy businesses, manufacturing, service and retailing, as well as finance and financial products businesses†. (mergent online, business synopsis) S trengths |Weaknesses | |Top management reputation & leadership |Over dependence on Warren Buffett's leadership | |Strong capital position and superior financial ratings |Slower growth in certain investments (Coke, P, Shaw industries) | |Diversified portfolio ranging from property and casualty insurance and|Diversification – McLane accounts for almost 1/3 of Berkshire's | |reinsurance, utilities, energy, finance, manufacturing, services and |revenues and 1/3 of McLane's business is tied to one single company | |retailing |(Wal-Mart) | |Strong and consistent top and bottom line growth |Company's stock inaccessible to most people | |Integrated Insurance Operations |Volatile Investment Portfolio | |Distinct Business Strategy |Declining Investment Returns | Funding Resources |Decline in Profitability | |Diversity of Businesses | | | | | | | | | | | |Opportunities |Threats | |Acquisitions – given current market conditions the company has |Financial & economic ma rkets turmoil | |identified areas of investment (ie Goldman Sachs) |Potential capital requirement changes both in the US and Europe | |Alternative energy investments |Worldwide weak consumer environment | |Favorable Phase for Life and Annuity Market |Unstable Political Conditions in Certain Regions | |Growing MidAmerican Business Identity |Governmental Investigations | |Opportunity for Acquisitions |Competition in the Insurance Industry | | |Impact of Economic Slowdown | Industry Property and Casualty Insurance – ? Through its 51 subsidiary companies, it engages primarily in insuring and reinsuring property and casualty risks business. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. It invests in the United States and Canada’s public equity markets. Competition Berkshire Hathaway’s top competitors, based on its insurance businesses are: ? The Blackstone Group L. P. (BX) – a company with subsidiaries as well that was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York. ? HM Capital Partners LLC (Pvt1) is a privately held company with diversified investments located in Dallas, Texas. ? KKR & Co. L. P. (Pvt2), also a privately held company located in New York, New York. |DIRECT COMPETITOR COMPARISON |   | ? | | ? | |BRK-A | |BX | |Pvt1 | |Pvt2 | |Industry | | | |Market Cap: | |158. 43B | |3. 90B | |N/A | |N/A | |885. 31M | | | |Employees: | |246,000 |1,340 | |N/A | |N/A | |718 | | | |Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): | |-1. 60% | |14. 80% | |N/A | |N/A | |2. 0% | | | |Revenue (ttm): | |104. 91B | |-320. 00M | |N/A | |N/A | |808. 84M | | | |Gross Margin (ttm): | |11. 6% | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | |18. 38% | | | |EBITDA (ttm): | |7. 06B | |-4. 3B | |N/A | |N/A | |40. 44M | | | |Oper Margins (ttm): | |3. 86% | |1,375. 92% | |N/A | |N/A | |16. 0% | | | |Net Income (ttm): | |2. 94B | |-1. 15B | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | | | |EPS (ttm): | |1893. 645 | |-4. 48 | |N/A | |N/A | |0. 95 | | | |P/E (ttm): | |53. 94 | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | |13. 6 | | | |PEG (5 yr expected): | |4. 14 | |2. 82 | |N/A | |N/A | |0. 97 | | | |P/S (ttm): | |1. 9 | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | |0. 94 | | | Company Financials Balance Sheet (in the thousands) from 2006 – 2008: Total Assets: 248,427,000273,160,000267,399,000 Total Liabilities: 137,756,000149,759,000153,820,000 Total Stockholders’ Equity: 108,419,000120,733,000109,267,000 The retained earnings were at a loss: 58,912,00072,153,00078,172,000 Assets and Liabilities has separate sections for Insurance & other businesses, Utilities & energy, and Finance & financial products Income Statement (in the thousands) from 2006 – 2008: Income Statement has separate sections for Insurance & other businesses, Utilities & energy, and Finance & financial products. Total Revenues: 98,539,000118,245,000107,786,000 Total Costs and Expenses: 81,761,00098,084,000100,212,000 Earnings before Income Taxes: 16,778,00020,161,0007,574,000 Net earnings (loss): 11,015,00013,213,0004,994,000 Total number of Stockholders: 19,10018,50018,100 Common Stockholders are split into 2 groups: class A and class B Class A Stockholders: 5,1004,6004,200 Class B Stockholders: 14,00013,90013,900 Earnings per Share (at a loss): 7,1448,5483,224 Statement of Cash Flows (in the thousands) from 2006 – 2008: Cash from finances has separate sections for Insurance & other businesses, Utilities & energy, and Finance & financial products. Net Cash from Operations: 10,195,00012,550,00011,252,000 Net Cash from Investments: (14,077,000)(13,428,000)  (32,066,000) Net Cash from Finances: 2,607,0001,366,0002,286,000 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year: 45,018,00043,743,00044,329,000 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year: 43,743,00044,329,00025,539,000 Financial Ratios from 2006 – 2008: Profitability Ratios:200620072008 Return on Assets: 4. 93%5. 07%1. 84% Return on Equity:11. 02%11. 53%4. 33% Loss Ratio:61. 28%71. 72%70. 91% Debt Management: Debt to Equity Ratio:0. 290. 270. 34 Asset Management: Asset Turnover:0. 440. 450. 4 Property, Plant, and Equipment Turnover: 4. 833. 42. 64 Cash & Cash Equivalents Turnover: 2. 232. 693. 08 Industry/Market comparison data from 2008: CompanyIndustry MedianMarket Medium Net profit margin:2. 37%–5. 53% Price/Sales ratio:1. 483. 416. 55 Price/Earnings ratio:62. 50(11. 98)23. 81 Price/Book ratio:1. 521. 466. 30 Price/Cash Flow ratio:12. 4724. 9440. 65 12-Month EPS growth:(62. 3%)–(50. 0%) 36-Month EPS growth:(16. 5%)–(14. 7%) Bibiliography: Source Berkshire Hathaway pda file from Harvard Business School Mergent Online Hoover’s Online Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Overview Before Warren Edward Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway was a textile company. Buffet acquired stocks and before long he was the largest shareholder (1963). He became part of the board and appointed the chairman so he would have someone he trusted running the company. With the funds from Berkshire Hathaway coming in, Buffett used it to invest in National Indemnity. The company was bought but he left it the way it was: left previous Ringwalt in charge, kept current employees, shareholder benefits and so on. Insurance companies are a perfect way to get a lot of capital up front because you can then use this money to purchase other companies or stocks, like what Buffet did. Buffet was involved with several companies and bought GEICO(Jayanti), General Re and other manufacturing and service companies. Today Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest holding companies in America. It owns different companies from retail to jewelry to electric companies. These companies run separate from Berkshire Hathaway. It does not produce the goods or provide the services but serves as an umbrella that owns shares or the whole of the companies that are underneath it. Many of these companies were purchased by the company’s many insurance options. Big names include GEICO, Borsheim, PacifiCorp and Vanity Fair. (Jayanti). Porter Five-Force Model Porter’s Five-Forces Model of Industry Competition pertains to the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products and services, and the intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry. These five forces can determine the stature of a market. In the case of Berkshire Hathaway there is a low threat of new entrants for the multi-businesses in one industry. It is significantly hard to own various different companies, have them operate to full potential and still remain a leader on the industry board. Although competitors cannot directly compete with Berkshire Hathaway, they still take a nice chunk from its potential market. As a matter a fact, there are only two direct competitors in the industry that are above Berkshire Hathaway, it is Motors Liquidation Co and Ford Motor Co. As more self-made businesses(which is what Warren Buffett likes to acquire) open competition is created through price, increase in advertisement, and suppliers. This competition benefits buyers by giving them more options or bargaining power in where they choose to shop. For Instance like what happened to Berkshire’s textile business, after a while competition increased prices dropped and textile had simply became another commodity. So as you can see from the example, this affects Berkshire directly because of their higher quality products but premium prices makes it hard to compete with low cost leaders. This takes valuable time and effort away from internal operations because in cases like these the opposition has to be constantly analyzed. Consequently, if neither competitor decreases their prices to a consumer’s expectation this may result in the consumers going to the suppliers directly; once again giving the bargaining power to the buyer. As far as bargaining power to the suppliers, they wouldn’t really have any edge in increasing their prices or power unless it is a scarce resource and demand is high. Substitutes on the other hand, limit the potential returns of an industry by putting a ceiling on the prices industries can profitably charge. Finally, the only reason why rivalry is intense is because when you have large companies like Motors Liquidation, Ford and Berkshire rivalry heats up and everyone fights for the number one spot, and usually does whatever it takes to get it. The rivalry forces a constant close monitoring of competitors, which entails unnecessary excessive expenditure. For example, they would have to ask and analyze questions such as, where are they opening their stores? Are they using the same criteria in choosing locations? How much are they charging for similar products? And can we compete with their price? In Summary, Berkshire needs to be aware that intensive rivalry will increase costs, such as constantly competing with prices, having to offer bargains which will lead to high exit barriers. In the end if the company is doing everything right and it is focusing on their company and how to improve it then it is a win-win situation because the biggest edge any company has is that: NO TWO FIRM ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. SWOT Analysis â€Å"Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of business activities. Co. ‘s key businesses are its insurance businesses, which are conducted on a primary and reinsurance basis. Co. s insurance businesses provide insurance and reinsurance of property and casualty risks world-wide and also reinsure life, accident and health risks world-wide. At Dec 31 2008, Co. ‘s insurance and reinsurance activities were conducted through about 60 domestic and foreign-based insurance entities. Co. also owns and operates other businesses, including utilities and energy businesses, manufacturing, service and retailing, as well as finance and financial products businesses†. (mergent online, business synopsis) S trengths |Weaknesses | |Top management reputation & leadership |Over dependence on Warren Buffett's leadership | |Strong capital position and superior financial ratings |Slower growth in certain investments (Coke, P, Shaw industries) | |Diversified portfolio ranging from property and casualty insurance and|Diversification – McLane accounts for almost 1/3 of Berkshire's | |reinsurance, utilities, energy, finance, manufacturing, services and |revenues and 1/3 of McLane's business is tied to one single company | |retailing |(Wal-Mart) | |Strong and consistent top and bottom line growth |Company's stock inaccessible to most people | |Integrated Insurance Operations |Volatile Investment Portfolio | |Distinct Business Strategy |Declining Investment Returns | Funding Resources |Decline in Profitability | |Diversity of Businesses | | | | | | | | | | | |Opportunities |Threats | |Acquisitions – given current market conditions the company has |Financial & economic ma rkets turmoil | |identified areas of investment (ie Goldman Sachs) |Potential capital requirement changes both in the US and Europe | |Alternative energy investments |Worldwide weak consumer environment | |Favorable Phase for Life and Annuity Market |Unstable Political Conditions in Certain Regions | |Growing MidAmerican Business Identity |Governmental Investigations | |Opportunity for Acquisitions |Competition in the Insurance Industry | | |Impact of Economic Slowdown | Industry Property and Casualty Insurance – ? Through its 51 subsidiary companies, it engages primarily in insuring and reinsuring property and casualty risks business. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. It invests in the United States and Canada’s public equity markets. Competition Berkshire Hathaway’s top competitors, based on its insurance businesses are: ? The Blackstone Group L. P. (BX) – a company with subsidiaries as well that was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York. ? HM Capital Partners LLC (Pvt1) is a privately held company with diversified investments located in Dallas, Texas. ? KKR & Co. L. P. (Pvt2), also a privately held company located in New York, New York. |DIRECT COMPETITOR COMPARISON |   | ? | | ? | |BRK-A | |BX | |Pvt1 | |Pvt2 | |Industry | | | |Market Cap: | |158. 43B | |3. 90B | |N/A | |N/A | |885. 31M | | | |Employees: | |246,000 |1,340 | |N/A | |N/A | |718 | | | |Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): | |-1. 60% | |14. 80% | |N/A | |N/A | |2. 0% | | | |Revenue (ttm): | |104. 91B | |-320. 00M | |N/A | |N/A | |808. 84M | | | |Gross Margin (ttm): | |11. 6% | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | |18. 38% | | | |EBITDA (ttm): | |7. 06B | |-4. 3B | |N/A | |N/A | |40. 44M | | | |Oper Margins (ttm): | |3. 86% | |1,375. 92% | |N/A | |N/A | |16. 0% | | | |Net Income (ttm): | |2. 94B | |-1. 15B | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | | | |EPS (ttm): | |1893. 645 | |-4. 48 | |N/A | |N/A | |0. 95 | | | |P/E (ttm): | |53. 94 | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | |13. 6 | | | |PEG (5 yr expected): | |4. 14 | |2. 82 | |N/A | |N/A | |0. 97 | | | |P/S (ttm): | |1. 9 | |N/A | |N/A | |N/A | |0. 94 | | | Company Financials Balance Sheet (in the thousands) from 2006 – 2008: Total Assets: 248,427,000273,160,000267,399,000 Total Liabilities: 137,756,000149,759,000153,820,000 Total Stockholders’ Equity: 108,419,000120,733,000109,267,000 The retained earnings were at a loss: 58,912,00072,153,00078,172,000 Assets and Liabilities has separate sections for Insurance & other businesses, Utilities & energy, and Finance & financial products Income Statement (in the thousands) from 2006 – 2008: Income Statement has separate sections for Insurance & other businesses, Utilities & energy, and Finance & financial products. Total Revenues: 98,539,000118,245,000107,786,000 Total Costs and Expenses: 81,761,00098,084,000100,212,000 Earnings before Income Taxes: 16,778,00020,161,0007,574,000 Net earnings (loss): 11,015,00013,213,0004,994,000 Total number of Stockholders: 19,10018,50018,100 Common Stockholders are split into 2 groups: class A and class B Class A Stockholders: 5,1004,6004,200 Class B Stockholders: 14,00013,90013,900 Earnings per Share (at a loss): 7,1448,5483,224 Statement of Cash Flows (in the thousands) from 2006 – 2008: Cash from finances has separate sections for Insurance & other businesses, Utilities & energy, and Finance & financial products. Net Cash from Operations: 10,195,00012,550,00011,252,000 Net Cash from Investments: (14,077,000)(13,428,000)  (32,066,000) Net Cash from Finances: 2,607,0001,366,0002,286,000 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year: 45,018,00043,743,00044,329,000 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year: 43,743,00044,329,00025,539,000 Financial Ratios from 2006 – 2008: Profitability Ratios:200620072008 Return on Assets: 4. 93%5. 07%1. 84% Return on Equity:11. 02%11. 53%4. 33% Loss Ratio:61. 28%71. 72%70. 91% Debt Management: Debt to Equity Ratio:0. 290. 270. 34 Asset Management: Asset Turnover:0. 440. 450. 4 Property, Plant, and Equipment Turnover: 4. 833. 42. 64 Cash & Cash Equivalents Turnover: 2. 232. 693. 08 Industry/Market comparison data from 2008: CompanyIndustry MedianMarket Medium Net profit margin:2. 37%–5. 53% Price/Sales ratio:1. 483. 416. 55 Price/Earnings ratio:62. 50(11. 98)23. 81 Price/Book ratio:1. 521. 466. 30 Price/Cash Flow ratio:12. 4724. 9440. 65 12-Month EPS growth:(62. 3%)–(50. 0%) 36-Month EPS growth:(16. 5%)–(14. 7%) Bibiliography: Source Berkshire Hathaway pda file from Harvard Business School Mergent Online Hoover’s Online

Free Essays on Dying to have a Family

Summary of Nancy Gibbs’s â€Å"Dying to have a Family† In â€Å"Dying to Have a Family,† Nancy Gibbs explains her view on genetic screening for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in unborn children. For readers of Time magazine, Gibbs debates if it is just to â€Å"tinker† with the genetics of unborn children in hopes for saving them from the traumatic decline of the brain by their late 40’s. Gibbs also bring up the question if it would be humane to bring a child into the world knowing they aren’t going to be around to see their child grow old. Gibbs view is that it is a persons right to bring another person into the world, and any mother would want their child to live a long and healthy life. If we continue to alter our genetics, what are the limits? The news of a child born with immunity to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease sparked this debate on genetic screening. â€Å"By prescreening her eggs for the defective gene, doctors were able to insert only healthy embryos during in-vitro fertilization†. Gibbs explains that now specialists can prevent a child from a deadly disease, but tomorrow will it be screening embryos for baldness or tone deafness? This is an ever-controversial debate that is based more on ethics than science. Gibbs believes that having a child is one of life’s greatest experiences, but wonders if is it humane to bring a child into the world if the mother isn’t going to be there because she will die at an early age. †Does a shortened life expectancy make a woman more unfit for motherhood?† This is a tough question that needs to be compared to when Saul Bellow was celebrated when he became a father at the age of 84. When children are adopted, there are rules and regulations to become parents, but there aren’t any rules for those who are making the babies. Gibbs stresses that a mother would give anything for the opportunity to bring a healthy baby into the world. The solution to the problem is u... Free Essays on Dying to have a Family Free Essays on Dying to have a Family Summary of Nancy Gibbs’s â€Å"Dying to have a Family† In â€Å"Dying to Have a Family,† Nancy Gibbs explains her view on genetic screening for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in unborn children. For readers of Time magazine, Gibbs debates if it is just to â€Å"tinker† with the genetics of unborn children in hopes for saving them from the traumatic decline of the brain by their late 40’s. Gibbs also bring up the question if it would be humane to bring a child into the world knowing they aren’t going to be around to see their child grow old. Gibbs view is that it is a persons right to bring another person into the world, and any mother would want their child to live a long and healthy life. If we continue to alter our genetics, what are the limits? The news of a child born with immunity to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease sparked this debate on genetic screening. â€Å"By prescreening her eggs for the defective gene, doctors were able to insert only healthy embryos during in-vitro fertilization†. Gibbs explains that now specialists can prevent a child from a deadly disease, but tomorrow will it be screening embryos for baldness or tone deafness? This is an ever-controversial debate that is based more on ethics than science. Gibbs believes that having a child is one of life’s greatest experiences, but wonders if is it humane to bring a child into the world if the mother isn’t going to be there because she will die at an early age. †Does a shortened life expectancy make a woman more unfit for motherhood?† This is a tough question that needs to be compared to when Saul Bellow was celebrated when he became a father at the age of 84. When children are adopted, there are rules and regulations to become parents, but there aren’t any rules for those who are making the babies. Gibbs stresses that a mother would give anything for the opportunity to bring a healthy baby into the world. The solution to the problem is u...