Consultancy Report Essay Example for Free

Consultancy Report Essay As a subsidiary of one of the largest cosmetics organizations in the world, you are in a position to dramatically increase your potential and further capitalize on your brands recognition. My hope is that you will establish and maintain a broader, more diverse customer base and increase your overall profitability. Based on an in-depth analysis and research conducted on your organizations behalf, I have identified several problematic areas in need of immediate attention. The following document will serve to provide valuable information to address these issues accordingly. One such issue and perhaps one of the most crucial is that of the organization’s brand awareness levels in the United Kingdom. This is due in part to the fact that Mary Kay U.K. is not as widely recognized in the United Kingdom as it is in the Americas. I recommend increasing your presence to reach potential customers who would otherwise be unaware of your organization. We will seek to address the significant growth of new potential competitors while developing a means of competing effectively against already established competitors. You will learn of new methods in which to remain relevant and a viable global contender in the cosmetics industry. New products will serve to provide your organization with a competitive edge and differentiate your organization from all its competitors. New policies and changes in the organization’s infrastructure will increase employee satisfaction an important factor for employee retention. These enhancements to the organization’s current dealings can ultimately increase profitability, improve customer satisfaction levels, and increase employee productivity. As Mary Kay U.K. adopts these changes and once in effect, there will be a need to take on additional employees to tend to the day-to-day operations and supplementary qualified/experienced executive-level professionals, allowing for a more focused approach on the management aspects of the organization. Effective documentation of the organization’s financials will allow for more educated and informed decision-making procedures. Adequate fiscal records serve as effective management tool for predicting future success, identify problem areas and to make decisions that will assist in the organization’s overall effectiveness. In addition to significantly changing the inner workings of the organization in the United Kingdom, substantial changes to the organizations image and frontend interfaces may be required to assist with the issue of brand awareness. The organization must become a well-oiled machine internally as well as an aesthetically pleasing entity for potential customers, future investors and for those considering strategic business alliances. Creating a more convivial atmosphere with which your organization would then be associated will give these interested parties a respectable first impression. It is apparent that lacking presentation and unfocused management gives rise to the decrease or stagnation of profitability and employee retention. Changes to policy, organizational image, and infrastructure will not only prove beneficial but may in fact be necessary for the success of the organization and its future viability within the United Kingdom. In addition, there must be changes in customer behavior to increase the probability of the organization’s adoption. The organization needs to appeal to a broader customer base after shifting consumer views of cosmetics to match that of American consumers. Thus, by implementing novel, eye-catching, and feeling invoking imagery or advertisements, people will in turn be more inclined to purchase Mary Kay products. In order to be more successful, I recommend the transformation of current marketing strategies. Implementation of a marketing plan that encompasses the arguably successful word-of-mouth strategy in addition to overt and persistent adverts by way of social media will benefit the organization’s image. Because a constant stream of information pertaining to the actual products will allow the consumer to easily recall the information and develop a need for the product as presented by the advertisement. In addition, there must be a vested interest in appealing to the variety of potential consumers within the United Kingdom. Mary Kay U.K. would be wise to capitalize on United Kingdom’s ever-growing and diverse population, via the translation and representation of the multitude of languages spoken within the target areas of operation. This will allow for a more comfortable customer experience and personalized identification with the Mary Kay brand. Brand Awareness is at an all-time low as target populations fail to recognize the Mary Kay Brand. The organization must increase its visibility in the growing cosmetics market in the United Kingdom. This is possible with improved advertising and re-imagined brand association. Increased brand recognition will assist with declining profits. The proposals presented in this consultancy report, should Mary Kay U.K. opt to adopt them will serve to promote the organization’s business aptitude and increase overall profitability and effectiveness. My hope is that this educated and informed counsel will effectively navigate the organization into a state of increased viability and the optimization and growth of Mary Kay U.K. business operations and clientele. INTRODUCTION This consultancy report will serve to provide the Mary Kay U.K. Ltd. Subsidiary of Mary Kay Cosmetics with informed suggestions to increase the organization’s revenues and improving the day-to-day dealings of the organization from a management perspective. Following extensive research of the organization’s operations, I have prepared a comprehensive examination of the organization in its entirety. This research has been comprised of a thorough analysis of the organization’s fiscal and promotion facets. This report also takes into account the consumer aspect of the organization, and the organizations image as viewed by the public. In addition, it will serve to demonstrate the manner in which the target audience does or fails to accept this image. Crucial organizational issues have been identified and addressed accordingly, supplemented with recommendations for minimizing or eliminating potentially negative effects. These suggestions may prove insightful for the achievement of further profitability and consumer satisfaction should the organization choose to implement any or all of the changes proposed in this report. The information provided in this report comes via thorough research and analytical dismantling of data and industry trends and its reassembling in the form of a well-formulated business plan. Suggestions provided will seek to address Mary Kay U.K.’s organizational structure, the organization’s inclination to incorporate a corporate social responsibility element, consumer satisfaction, employee turn-over rates, decreasing or non-existent profits, brand recognition and awareness among target consumers and product quality, to name the most imperative of organization’s issues. In all, if implemented, these changes could ensure a significant turnaround for the Mary Kay U.K. entity. Numbers will rise to the status of or potentially rival those of its American contemporary. The organization would hold a strong position before its global competitors and open the door for future business strategic affiliations. The organizational redesign will prove beneficial for Mary Kay’s United Kingdom division as an organization, for the consumers now receiving increased quality services, and for the leveling of the cosmetics industry in the United Kingdom. ANALYSIS OF CLIENT BUSINESS Company Description and History Mary Kay Inc. is one of the largest cosmetics companies in the world to date. Headquartered in Addison, Texas at 16251 Dallas Parkway Addison, TX 75001 in the United States, it has manufacturing plants located in Dallas, Texas, Hangzhou, China and La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland for its European market. Mary Kay Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Mary Kay Holding Corporation. Founded by Mary Kay Ash in 1963 and based on personally established values that guided her everyday life she sought to help women live the life of their dreams. Company values include integrity, honesty and a belief in the Golden Rule; â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.† The mission, to assist and provide the vehicle that would allow prospective independent beauty consultants to have their respective dreams come true via the distribution, promotion, and retailing of a handful of products. Mary Kay Inc. identifies itself as a â€Å"Generation Everything† organization, meaning it serves everyone from all walks of life and of all ages. The organization recently posted that its revenues are up to 3 billion due to sales in its 35 + markets globally. All made possible by its 25 million global independent sales force.

Scotland at the time of Robert Burns :: essays research papers

Burns was born just before George III came to the throne in 1760. America declared her independence when Burns was 17 and the Paris mob sacked the Bastille to start the French Revolution in 1789, when the poet was 30. Revolutionary ideas were in the air during the life of Burns and he was affected by this trend. Scotland and England had only finally joined through the Union of the Parliaments in1707 and there was still a resentment against the loss of independence which has continued to the present day. The years after the Union had not been quiet ones and rebellions had taken place in 1715 and 1745 ending in the disaster at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 which effectively destroyed the Jacobites and the clan system is in the Highlands, But by the second half of the eighteenth century things had begun slowly to change for the better in Scotland. Agriculture, industry and trade began to expand in the first stages of the Industrial Revolution which was to transform Scotland over the next hundred years. Around the time of Burns birth the average Scot lived in the country and worked the land. This average person would travel no more than 20 miles from their own birthplace in the course of their lifetime. When Burns wrote about the land described experiences that were real for the vast majority of the Scottish People who still struggled to make a living from it. At the time, from around 1740 onwards, Edinburgh became famous throughout Europe as a centre for philosophy, medicine, science and publishing during what came to be known as the "Scottish Enlightenment". Burns may have been born into a humble family but he wasn’t uneducated. He was well read in literature and politics, knew something of foreign languages and the classics and had a keen ear for music.

Financial Reporting HSBC Bank Essay

HSBC bank is a branch of HSBC Holdings plc and has its headquarters based in London. The bank provides a wide range of financial products and services to individuals, governments, non-governmental organizations and companies. It provides banking products and services in the domestic as well as the international market (Gianaris, 2001). HSBC group of banks is one of the organizations of its kind that offers the largest banking and financial services all over the world. The company has 8,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, Hong Kong, Asia, Middle East, North America and Latin America. The company has been listed in the stock exchange markets of London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, and Bermuda (Jao, 2001). The company has about 220,000 shareholders in 119 countries and territories. The company provides a wide range of products to its over one hundred million customers. The company has four categories of customer groups and businesses: Personal Financial Services, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets and private Banking (Gardener & Versluijs, 2001). Financial reporting is the process of compiling the formal records of the financial activities of an organization or an individual. It involves preparing the financial statements of a company. The organization aims at finding out its financial position in the short run or in the long run period. The HSBC bank prepares its financial reports according to the generally accepted accounting principles of Canada (Mcmenamin, 1999). Financial Reporting History The company prepares financial reports annually, semi-annually and quarterly. The company files interim reports after every three or six months, that is, semi annual and quarterly financial reports. These reports reveal the financial performance of the company for the stipulated period of time (Das, 2004). The companies linked with HSBC bank are required to prepare semi-annual reports. On the other hand, quarterly reports are not compulsory for all countries. Regulations regarding the format of interim reports differ in each country. The interim reports may be short or long depending with the country. The date for filing the interim reports also vary with the different countries (Pietrobelli, Ffrench-Davis, Zamagni, & Ocampo, 2000). The history of preparing interim reports by the bank can be traced back to the mid-year of 2002. The quarterly reports started being in operation with the first quarter of year 2003. The financial reports are essential to the researchers and that is why the company requires adequate filing of all financial statements of the bank (Mcmenamin, 1999). The company maintains timely preparation of its financial reports. It uses web crawler technology to track and update the financial records. The system of preparing financial reports is very functional since it uses PDF format. This computer program allows the documents to be searched easily and can be copied into other documents more easily. The size of the PDF documents allows them to be downloaded more easily. The financial reports are presented in full-color native PDF for ease in reading them. The interim reports are easily obtained through the Global Reports Library on Research and Markets (Pietrobelli, Ffrench-Davis, Zamagni, & Ocampo, 2000). The accounting policies of the HSBC bank comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards. The interim consolidated financial statements are prepared according to IAS 34, according to International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the European Union (EU) (Das, 2004). The bank has abandoned the IAS 32 since March 2009 since this standard required the bank to offer its shareholders rights so that they could be identified as derivative financial liability. This was done to ensure that the reports presented position of the bank as being true and fair, also, to ensure that the reports give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the company (Jao, 2001). The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) endorsed by the IASB may differ with those endorsed by the EU. But recently there have been no amendments on the standards endorsed by IFRS and those endorsed by the EU. The IFRSs make up the standards provided by IASB and the interpretations provided by International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC). The interim consolidated financial statements must include comparative information. This is a requirement by the IAS 34, UK Disclosure and Transparency Rules and the Hong Kong listing rules (Gianaris, 2001). Estimates and assumptions about the future state of financial affairs are used when preparing financial information. The estimates are prepared from the information available as well as use of judgment of the people preparing them. However, the real results might be different from the estimates in the future (Pietrobelli, Ffrench-Davis, Zamagni, & Ocampo, 2000). The interim consolidated financial statements of the bank consolidate the financial statements of HSBC Holdings and its subsidiaries. The company adopts the revised and amended standards of IASB and endorsed by the EU. The application of the revised standards is done as per the acquisition date of the business or after the beginning of the first annual financial period of the year (Pietrobelli, Ffrench-Davis, Zamagni, & Ocampo, 2000). Accounting Policies Interest income and expense- This refers to all financial instruments except for those classified as held for trading or designated at fair value in the income statement using the effective interest method. Through the effective interest method, the financial liability is calculated and interest income is allocated over the relevant period (Gianaris, 2001). Non-interest income- This comprises the Net trading income which is composed of all gains and losses from changes in the fair value of financial assets and financial liabilities held for trading as well as the related interest income, expense and dividends. Net income from financial instruments designated at fair value and dividend income also comprises the non interest income (Jao, 2001). Segment reporting- The HSBC holdings conduct its businesses in several countries and offer a wide range of consumer products. Segment income and expenses must be transferred accordingly. Gains and losses for each segment must be accounted for separately so as to achieve the profitability of each (Das, 2004). Determination of fair value. Fair value of financial liabilities is determined using the quoted market prices where available or using valuation techniques. The fair values include assessment of market participant concerning the appropriate credit spread to apply to the liabilities of the company (Gianaris, 2001). Loans and advances to banks and customers- These include loans and advances initiated by HSBC which are not grouped as either held for trading or designated at fair value. Loans and advances are recognized when cash is advanced to borrowers (Gardener, & Versluijs, 2001). Impairment of loans and advances. Losses for impaired loans are recognized when there is objective evidence that the loans have been impaired. Impaired loans are recorded as charges to the income statement. Losses expected from future events are not recognized (Jao, 2001). Corporate Governance Analysis The bank has established commitments to maintain high standards of corporate governance. Over the last financial year, the bank has maintained compliance with the Combined Code on Corporate Governance released by the Financial Reporting Council. It has also complied with the Code on Corporate Governance Practices in Appendix 14 to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Pietrobelli, Ffrench-Davis, Zamagni, & Ocampo, 2000). The management of HSBC bank has appointed several committees to deal with several corporate activities of the bank. The board committees consist of directors, group managing directors and co-opted non-director members. The principal committees are Group Management Board, Group Audit Committee, Remuneration Committee, Nomination Committee and Corporate Sustainability Committee (Das, 2004). The directors have the duty to conduct internal control within the bank. They also review how effective the internal control system is operating. Controls have been designed to safeguard assets from unauthorized use and disposal. These controls ensure that proper financial accounts are maintained and that the financial information contained in the records is reliable. The system of internal control is designed to prevent frauds, errors, material misstatement or losses in the business. The system also ensures compliance with rules set up by the Financial Services Authority, which is the body which regulates the activities of HSBC (Jao, 2001). There are corporate policies to safeguard the bank against operational and Reputational risks. The bank has set up procedures to ensure that the risks are minimized. These risks are concerned with the issues relating to the environment, social and governance activities. The bank follows guidelines provided by the Association of British insurers concerning the best response to the issues affecting the company and its stakeholders (Das, 2004). The company aims at managing the risks associated with the health and safety standards of its operations. The bank is responsible to get rid of risks concerning fire, injury and accidents that may affect its workers and visitors. Group Corporate Real Estate sets up the rules concerning health and safety of the company. The implementation of these policies is done by Health, Safety and Fire Coordinators who are located in every country the bank operates. The bank has remained prepared to protecting its employees from terrorists. There are security review functions which have been set up to assist manage health and safety of the staff, assets and buildings of the company (Gianaris, 2001). The bank maintains a good communication network with its stakeholders. Individual and institutional customers are regularly informed about the operations of the bank. Timely response to the customer needs is given a priority to ensure good relationship is maintained. Annual general meetings are held to ensure that all stakeholders are informed of all activities of the bank over a given period of time (Gardener, & Versluijs, 2001). Conclusion The general organization of HSBC company stands no doubt that it will remain successful in the future. The corporate governance ensures that the mission and vision of the company are achieved. The accounting policies of the bank are in compliance with the international standards. The accounting policies ensure that the accounting procedures are carried out in a professional manner. The company has performed well in the market and if it continues with these strategies it will achieve much. References Mcmenamin, J, 1999, Financial Management: An Introduction. Routledge. London. Pietrobelli, C, Ffrench-Davis, R, Zamagni, S, & Ocampo, J, A, 2000, Financial Globalization and the Emerging Economies, United Nations. Santiago. Jao, C, Y, 2001, The Asian Financial Crisis and the Ordeal of Hong Kong. Quorum Books. Westport, CT. Das, D, K. 2004, Financial Globalization and the Emerging Market Economies. Routledge. New York. Gianaris, N, V, 2001, Globalization: A Financial Approach. Praeger Publishers. Westport, CT. Gardener, E, P, M, & Versluijs, P, C, 2001, Bank Strategies and Challenges in the New Europe. Palgrave. New York.

Biography of Simon Bolivar - 792 Words

Simon Bolivar was born July 24th, 1783 in Caracas, Venezuela. His family consisted of a slew of wealthy Creoles, or those born in America but of European decent. However, early on in his life he was faced with tragedy when first, his father died when he was three and then his mother soon followed as he neared the age of only six. Although his parents’ deaths seemed untimely and tragic but, because of the wealth of the family, Bolivar had great access to two very important tutors who would mold his later ideals of independence. First was Andres Bello, who taught Bolivar about science and exposed him to Enlightenment ideas. Next was Simon Rodriguez, a devote follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher who greatly influenced the French†¦show more content†¦He went on to achieve rank as Colonel, then aided Miranda in the raid of Valencia in 1811. Soon after this achievement he published his first book, Memorial to the Citizens of Nueva Granada by a Caraqueno, which set forth his political views. Next, leading a small army, he cleared the Magdalena River of enemies, then in February of 1813, he took the Villa de Cucuta and the liberation of Venezuela began in May. However, in May of 1815, Bolivar resigned his command to prevent the outbreak of a civil war due to the authority change and political struggles in Caracas. While in Carupano, Bolivar issued a decree of freedom to grant all slaves liberty. Then in 1817, Bolivar returned to Europe where he created the State Council, the Government Council, the Superior War Council, the High Court of Justice, the Trade Council, and created a newspaper. On August 5th, Bolivar moved again to Angostura where he set up the Second Venezuelan Congress and made a famous speech that outlined all his political beliefs. As well as a thought out speech, he presented a written draft of the Constitution. Next, Bolivar made plans to liberate Nueva Granada. His army fought a violent battle in Pantano de Vargas and Gameza where he then won the battle on the Boyaca. When Bolivar returned to Angostura days later, Congress issued the Fundamental Law of the Colombian Republic in December 1819. This created â€Å"The Great State† which encompassed the republics of Panama, Venezuela,Show MoreRelatedSimon Bolivar Essay examples2205 Words   |  9 PagesLatin American his tory forever. This particularly important early nineteenth-century leader was named Simà ³n Bolà ­var. Simà ³n Bolà ­var as a leader stood out from all the other leaders, because he played a crucial role in Latin American Independence. He was a revolutionary, an intellectual, and a visionary man that made Latin American independence successful during the nineteenth century. 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