The Consumption Of Lynching Images By Leigh Raiford

Leigh Raiford’s piece entitled â€Å"The Consumption of Lynching Images† portrays the horrific truth of what racism looked like in the â€Å"New South† after emancipation. Similar to the film we watched in class: Without Sanctuary, The lynching photographs have the images of postcards that depict lynching and the spectacle these public executions caused at the time with crowds of people coming from all over the state to watch someone be killed. Leigh Raiford claims that through these lynching photographs whites are trying to hold on to their supremacy and identity in this new south after slavery has been abolished. The whites are frightened with the perceived loss of power and economic loss since the slave plantations will no longer be bringing in the income that they had with slaves. The lynching photographs also served as a new wave of technology by using print media for those who came to view the lynching, but were not close enough they could buy a souvenir. I n this article, Raiford says that White on black lynching can be understood as â€Å"The cruel physical manifestations of white patriarchal anxiety over a perceived loss of power in the years following emancipation† (Raiford 268). Another philosopher who writes on race is George Yancy. He wrote on the white gaze, the view that white is the transcendental norm, and whiteness is tied to socially embedded historical power privilege that functions on multiple levels of social life (Yancy). Even though lynching has ceased, the black

Should Sex Offenders Be Treated Fair - 1608 Words

McCartney Malak Ethical Reflection Professor Cox April 1, 2016 The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) recognizes that sex offense and child sexual abuse cause great pain and suffering to victims and their families. (NACDL pg. 1) With the help of probation officers (PO Officers) and the help of Police Officers, both departments play an important role in their communities when tracking down a sex offender. Police officers are able to track down where they are and are able to help a PO officer out, while the PO officer deals with the sex offender and their consequences. It is difficult being in a community where sex offenders are ceased uneasy in a society. This paper will examine closely on if sex offenders can deter†¦show more content†¦The question is, does this policy prevent harm from communities? Well, that would be up to you. Remember, when people come out of prison and transition back to the real world, they face many challenges and have limited resources, and need financial help, and otherwise. Offenders are set up for failure for when they come out. They are put on a list where the public can view them whenever they want too, they can’t achieve anything because they lost their job, get evicted, and some offenders are even threatened to their own death. With trying to survive all with that, it then leads to more stress which then leads to the offenders wanting to commit another sex offense because they tend to feel like they have nothing to live for. I think we need to improve our systems but getting special programs that allow these offenders to get mental help when going into prison, and coming out of it. Maybe, we can get some educational programs on sex abuse so that it can be stopped and demolished. So, therefore, the answer to the question I believe that some policies do more harm than good for sex offense. Are sex offenders treated fairly? If mental illness is defined as a state of mind in which a person causes distress and/or harm to themselves and/or others, then all se x offenders are sick. Also they are, in fact, mentally ill. They have

Misuse of Power How can social worker use their power responsibility Free Essays

string(128) " agency as emphasised my May \(1976\) ‘power with’ that alternative ways of treating S should considered \(Akister, 1996\)\." Introduction This essay intends to demonstrate an understanding of professional authority and the decision making progress and how the social work profession utilises its power.The essay will equally look at the meaning of power and responsibility in social work and will go on to discuss theories of power and of its misuse/abuse which will in turn demonstrate how and to whom power is shared. It will show how this distribution of power applies to social work and the service users. We will write a custom essay sample on Misuse of Power: How can social worker use their power responsibility? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Power and powerlessness go hand in hand as to have one the other must exist. There will always be inequalities both on personal and structural levels since the society is not equal. In order to understand professional power and responsibility in social work, professionals need to understand the theoretical explanation of how power, privilege, prestige and powerlessness are distributed within the society such as class, poverty and social divisions (Thompson, 2007). My placement is a statutory agency.Children and Young Peoples Services (CYPS) and we are involved with pieces of work that have to do with children and families. The agency is one of the 14 locality teams in Cambridgeshire covering the Bottisham, Burwell and Soham areas. The focus of our work is to work with schools and health to identify problems at an early stage and work to resolve them as soon as possible using a range of approaches. The team works with Bottisham and Soham Village Colleges and the 16 primaries that feed into them. The team is made up of Children’s Centre staff, Youth Service, Connexions, Education Welfare Officer, Extended schools co-ordinator, Parent Support Advisor and in school secondary support/Officer. The aim of the team is to ensure that all children aged 0 – 19 years are able to reach their potentials. The team work very closely with other county council staff, also the voluntary and independent sector who provide services for children and young people, such as Social Workers, Education/Teachers, Psychologist, Special need Officers, Police, Youth Offending Service, Health/School Nurse and Health Visitor and Family Support services. The fact that my agency operates under the statutory sector requires it to work under strict legislation and policy guidelines. One of the most important frameworks of the agency is the code of ethics which all professionals should abide by. It is our duty to treat service users with respect and dignity and also as individuals with rights as stipulated in the Human Right Act 1998 (DoH, 1998). It is equally our duty to be anti-oppressive in our practice and as well as to uphold the rights of service users. At my agency, there is a strict respect of the Data Protection Act 1998 regarding the confidentiality of information held on children and their families (DoH, 1998). This information can only be accessed by staff that has access to OneVision where all information are stored and this can only be accessed by having a password. Akister (1996) defines power as the ability to bring about change which can take many forms and be measured in many ways. She added that power can be perceived as an ability to interpret within the given guidelines and responsibility, choosing between giving and not given, duties and approach and to have information and knowledge. As a social worker it is important to understand different kinds of power, who has it, who doesn’t, and how those who doesn’t can have it. According to Thompson, (2002) the social work profession possesses a lot of power thus making academics believed that the profession is conditioned by some existing inequalities resulting to a limited capacity on the part of the service users to make their own decision which is in contrast to those who have the capacity to make decisions about their own lives. Northouse (2010) argues that those who actually possess power have the capability of affecting other people’s beliefs; attitudes and also t heir course of action and also the ability or possibility to influence. Similarly, responsibility can be defined as the act of professionals being responsible, accountable, or answerable; to themselves, their colleagues and the service users to expose discrimination and oppression (Akister, 1996). Theories of power and of its misuse/abuse Akister (1996) suggests that there are many theories of power a social worker should know of and be able to apply to her practice such as French and Raven (1959), Max Webber (1974) and Rollo May (1976). I will be using May (1976) theory of power to analyse my work with S and also be making references to French and Raven (1974) theory of power in the process. I reflected on May (1976) power dynamics while working with S which Akister (1996) categorised in four different ways namely; power against, power over, power for and power with. May (1976) considered Power against to be oppressive and damaging to service users which thus takes a form of a punishment. Smith (2008) pointed out that this theory is similar to French and Raven’s coercive power which is always in a position to punish. During my work with S I realised that my agency used power against by refusing S to attend the youth group activities stating that they want to minimise risk to himself and others. I could c hallenge this concept by suggesting to my manager that I do appreciate the concern of risk and safety however, I think S should be given the opportunity to make his own decisions, that is, if he wants to attend the group activities or not. I further said that his decision to attend the group activities should be his understanding of why he should attend and not being ‘forced’ or ‘turned down’. I could challenge this concept constructively as it is against the social work ethics and values to work in discriminatory and oppressive manner. The Human Right 1998 stipulates that service user’s right should be respected and professionals should avoid being discriminatory and oppressive (Brayne and Carr, 2008). I proposed to my agency as emphasised my May (1976) ‘power with’ that alternative ways of treating S should considered (Akister, 1996). You read "Misuse of Power: How can social worker use their power responsibility?" in category "Essay examples" May (1976) ‘power over’ was also considered as this power can be used to control individuals (Akister, 1996). ‘Power over can also be oppressive as a professional, I had the power to discuss S’ behaviour with my agency as well as the outcome which was his exclusion from group activities. This power is similar to French and Raven (1959) coercive power that places a professional in a position to punish which is also similar to their ‘Reward Power’ giving the capacity to reward or remove bad consequences (Akister, 1996). During my work with S, I realised that I had to look at different options that could be beneficial to him such as proposing a referral to undergo CBT sessions to. I made it clear to him that this was just a proposal and that he has the power to accept or reject it, to which he accepted. This practice showed that I had empathy for S and was there to make sure that he is supported and treated with respect and dignity in addressing his behaviour rather than just punishing him. May (1976) refer ‘power for’ as when social workers disempower service users by doing things for them. This was not evident in my practice as I empowered S to speak to the psychologist with regards to his appointment for CBT sessions. Even though S was of mixed parentage, he could speak English very well so there was no need to arrange for an interpreter. I made sure that my practice was anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive. I also made sure that I worked in partnership with him by not taking over all of the responsibilities. May (1976) ‘Power With’ is referred as power which is shared through partnership service users. This power was demonstrated while working with S’ mother when she had expressed her wish to move away from their present house. She had told me to assist her by filling the application for a new house stating that their present house was uncomfortable and unsafe for her and the children. S’s mother told me that she ha d previously made several applications to the housing association but nothing has been done. I thought that it was my responsibility to assist her since I am accountable for my work and it is part of my professional identity to be competence, responsible and to respect the codes of ethics and values (Brayne and Carr, 2008). I thought there was a misuse of here as I started filling the forms for her. However, I stop and let her continue and could support her by explaining to some bits she did not understand. If I had not stop filling the forms, it could have resulted in power not being shared and also not encouraging her to do things for herself or taking control over her life and this would have been disempowering and oppressive practice (Akister, 1996). Power should be shared by involving service users as much as possible. Power as argued by Burke and Harrison (2002) is a key theme of discrimination as long as long as discrimination is seen as a result of power-imbalance. It is thus important for social workers to recognise that oppression linked with discrimination can either be intentional or unintentional abuse of power with intention to act against service users. For example, I could easily concluded that the case of S and his family is one of an intentional abuse since they have made several applications to the housing association and no action has been taken. When I informed my manager about the situation, she advised me to use the law which I will discuss below to help the service users. French and Raven (1959) ‘Legitimate Power’ was considered during my assessment with S. This power comes from the official roles within the agency and requires social workers to take on certain task such as undertaking an assessment (Akister, 1996). S’s assessment was carried out under Section 17 of the children act 1989. By following and recognising the policies, procedures, guidance and also by respecting S’s human rights meant that ‘legitimate power was considered during the assessment to enable him and his family have all the services they deserve. Misuse of power So many people think that social workers are in the position to misuse their powers because they are not familiar with power theory, (Wilding, 1982 cited in Akister, 1996). Wilding (1982) further suggested ways that power can be misused by professionals such as making excessive claims about services that can be provided which always occur during an assessment. During my work with S, I made sure not to guarantee any services just to make him happy. I explained to him that after the assessment, I will complete the assessment form and contact my manager and services will be provided based on the assessment. In reflection, I noticed at my agency that the file of a service user went missing because a colleague forgot to put it back in the cupboard after using it. We were due to meet with the service user as I was shadowing my colleague. We were not able to get the service user’s historical information as a result of not reading his notes. I thought this was misuse of power a s the service user’s information and dignity was not respected. Several Social workers judge power as an aberration of their intentions to empower service users and to make agencies more caring.Akister (1996) argues that social workers must increase their power and their understanding of its dynamics and adopt a wider range of means of influence than they do at present. Safeguards designed to prevent the misuse/ abuse of power Understanding how power may be misused or abused was central to my practice with S and his family and it provided me with the basis of developing professional competence. Freire (1970) pointed out that professionals require a moral and ethical attitude towards equality to enable them to empower service users. He argued that if only people from oppressed groups can take on their responsibilities, there is little hope that professionals will ever achieve their vision (Freire, 1970). Safeguards designed to prevent misuse/abuse of power used within my agency include; working together, agency’s policies and procedures, supervision and complains procedures. In my agency, partnership working is one way of safeguarding against the abuse of power. Most of our work requires working with other professionals, effective communication, sharing of information appropriately and ensuring that service users are involved in the assessment process (Adams et al, 2009). While working with S, I made sure that I collaborated with other professionals and agencies appropriately and also that S was put centre of stage. According to Akister (1996) policy is an authoritative statement that is produced by a body which guides the practice of social workers. Policy acts as a safeguard to abuse of power because it legitimise, regulate and guide the practice of social workers during intervention in service user lives. When I realised during my work with S that there was concern regarding substance misuse, my initial thought was to contact the social services since as a student substance misuse was quite new to me. My lack of knowledge of substance misuse as a social work student only goes on to confirm Goodman (2007) who argues that social work profession have eventually ignored to acknowledge substance misuse which have created a gap. However, bringing this up during supervision with my manager made me understand that I could have potentially misuse my by jumping into conclusion of wanting to contact the social services. I realised that having supervision was very important as we were able to address the issue and I could learn from it. Jumping into conclusion or making assumptions can be discriminatory which result in being oppressive in one’s practice. Reflecting on this circumstance reminded me of my own personal beliefs towards service users who misuse drugs. Beckett and Maynard (2005) pointed out that we consider our personal values and that of our agency when working service users.However, I made sure that my practice did not add to the oppression the service users were already experiencing. To avoid unfair and abusive practice in my work with the young person and his family, I needed to examine the body of my values, which guided me throughout my work and it enabled me to move towards a more cultured and involving approach as suggested by Freire (1970). My agency works with other professional groups. It is thus important to know that there can be conflict resulting from individuals that differ in attitudes, beliefs, values and needs. Conflicts usually occur due to lack of effective communication, failure to share information appropriately, conflict of value and lack of effective leadership. Conflict can be managed using the following five strategies; stepping aside, working together, co-operating, challenging and collaborating. Using supervision to develop my practice This section will look on supervision and how important it was for my practice and professional development. Ford and Jones (1991) defines supervision as a planned and regular periods of time that the student and supervisor spend together to discuss and review the student’s work and progress whilst in placement. Holloway (1997) added that supervision is a relationship where the supervisor shows knowledge of an expert who can make a decision on the worker’s performance and also acts as someone who upholds the profession.Akister (1996) points out that supervision takes three different forms which are; accountability, learning, and support. Kadushine (1992) model of supervision also brought a similar idea such as education, supportive and managerial or administrative supervision. At my agency the manager takes a monthly supervision with staff members. While I was on placement, I undertook supervisions sessions both my Practice Teacher and On-Site Supervisor fortnightly.This was an opportunity for us to discuss my case load, reflective skills, professional development, relevant theories, and ethical dilemmas which are relevant to my practice. During supervision, we also discuss challenging and complex issues that may interfere with my practice. For instance, based on my assessment with S I identified the flowing concerns; substance misuse, truancy, aggressive behaviour and poor relationship with family members, I had to use the relevant theories such as attachment, person-centred and ecological theories to find out how S was doing emotionally, intellectually as well as behaviourally and how best my agency could support him and his family. Throughout my placement supervision has been a reflective tool used to evaluate my professional development and practice. Work in accordance with orders of the court or statutory requirements Work in accordance with orders of the court or statutory requirements can have an impact upon the work of agencies and professionals who work with children, young people and their families/carers in both the statutory and voluntary sector. The aim of the court is to strike a balance between the rights of children to express their views on decisions made about their lives, the rights of parents to exercise their responsibilities towards the child and the duty of the state to intervene where the child’s welfare requires it (www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/co-volume1-court-orders-other-legal-issues.pdf). Payne and Littlechild (2000) expressed their experience in court as gruelling and hair-raising but they confirmed other professionals may have different experiences. Based on her experience as a professional witness and of her reading Payne and Littlechild (2000) questioned whether the present confrontation of the judicial system fosters the welfare of children which they conclude that the re can be an abuse of power in social responsibility if the outcome of many court cases involving children is taken into consideration. The managing and taking down of records and reports as required by my agency is very important when conducting an assessment with service users. These records and reports are usually discussed with my manger and she often made recommendations and suggestions regarding my involvement with service users. These records are also shared with other agencies with the concern of service users; all these put together create a kind of co-operation within the different multi-disciplinary teams and networks. During my work S, I was able to record accurately all information received. All visits and contacts made with S, his family, college and other professionals are recorded as soon as possible in order to be factual and also to enable other professionals who have access to this information to see it. Social workers take on a large range of responsibility; the nature of the work is such that the demand of services can be endless. It should thus be acknowledged that having to manage and pri oritise workloads is very important in social work. Whilst on placement, I was able discuss this situation with my manager and also managed to prioritised situations as effectively as possible (Thompson, 2005). Conclusion I will conclude by saying that it is important for social workers to increase their power and their understanding of its dynamics and adopt a wider range of means of influence as clearly stated by Akister (1996). I have attempted during the essay to look at possible ways in which social workers can develop conceptual and practical frameworks for addressing the task of making sense of and reframing power relationships between the worker and service user. How to cite Misuse of Power: How can social worker use their power responsibility?, Essay examples

Preparation of Financial Decision Making

Question: Discuss about the Preparation of Financial Decision Making. Answer: Introduction Financial management is very much important for an organization to manage all its funds. The financial statements of a company include income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. The income statement shows revenues, expenses, profit or loss of the company. The cash flow statement shows the inflow and outflow of cash. Balance sheet shows the assets and liabilities of the company. The main aim of the report is to analyze the financial resources of Woolworths (Atrill, 2006). Woolworths is the largest supermarket chain in Australia and operates more than 950 stores all across the country. The main aim of the company is to provide high quality products to their customers and relies on 121000, team members in support offices, distribution centers and stores in order to provide customers with superior value, range, service and convenience. Vision statement The vision of the Woolworth Company is to improve the stock returns and optimising the efficiency with ensuring the serving for the customers. Mission statement The mission statement of the Woolworth Company helps in the formation of the community with the consideration of best loved retailer. Core values The core values of the company depict the provision of the best values to the shoppers values with bringing variations in the products. The product consists of the suppliers product which is sold at the best prices with providing the best values for the consumers. The management of finance is very much important to plan for future development as well as achieving long term goals. Woolworths is the most innovative and fast growing retailers in Australia. It is important for the company to generate profits in order to provide maximum returns to their shareholders (Woolworths Online, 2016). Capital structure Woolworths has managed its capital structure with the aim of enhancing the long term value of the shareholders through its weighted average capital cost while retaining flexibility to undertake and pursue capital management initiatives. The company has maintained and achieved its strong long standing investment credit ratings grade (Helbk, Lindest and McLellan, 2010). The capital structure should be managed by appropriately utilizing its funds and choosing sources of finance. The company will generate maximum return for their shareholders with the help of appropriate capital structure. The company has long term policy of debt financing that involve: A bias towards the long term debt from capital market in order to match the long term assets Minimizing the risks of re-financing by staggering the debt maturities and utilizing diversified debt sources (Hillier, 2010). Foreign currency exposure and fully hedging rate of interest to provide certainty around the funding costs. The board of directors considered the advantages of increased certainty in funding costs and liquidity to outweigh the benefits of increased exposure to the financial markets. It may result in the weighted average costs of funding at any point being lower or higher than current spot rates of funding. WASS is the return rate that an organization must earn using all its current assets so that the company can be able to satisfy and pay its shareholders (Holton, 2012). The above discussed long term finance should be used by Woolworths. Sources of finance The long term finance refers to requirement of capital for a period more than five to ten years. Woolworth should invest in their fixed assets like land and building, plant and machinery etc. The long term finance sources that can be used by Woolworth are as follows: Equity Shares or Share Capital Equity shares are common finance source for large organizations. It is sharing of rights of ownership and considered as costly in comparison to the debt finance. It also requires los of legal formalities and the investors invest into the company through equity shares (Berk and DeMarzo, 2007). Woolworths should issue equity shares for the shareholders to increase its capital investment. Preference stock Preference share includes both debt and equity stocks. Preference shares have got priority over equity shares in terms of dividend payment and capital at the time of the liquidation. Woolworths should use appropriate mixture of investment by issuing both debt and equity shares. Debentures Debentures are considered as the cheaper source of finance in comparison to equity. The company has to pay interest to the debenture holders and requires legislation while offering to common public (Choi, 2003). Retained Earnings Retained earnings are the amount of earnings that are not paid to the shareholders but retained by the organization to reinvest in its core activities. The retained earnings should be used by Woolworths to increase their capital investment. Loan The nature of loan is very similar to the debentures except it does not involve too much issuing cost as because it is given by financial institutions or bank. It is considered as one of the most important sources of long term finance (Elliott and Elliott, 2008). Loan is considered as long term finance for Woolworths to increase its capital. Venture capital Venture capital is same as the equity shares. Woolworths can use venture capital in order to invest in new organization and do analysis continuously that will help to take decision for further investment. Gearing Ratio Gearing ratio is the general classification that compares the equity of the owner to funds borrowed by the firm. It measures the financial leverage that shows the degree to which the activities of the company are funded by the owner and creditors (Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield, 2007). Gearing Ratio = Total Liabilities/Total shareholders equity Woolworths Liquidity/Financial Health 2014-06 2015-06 Gearing Ratio 2.36 2.34 The gearing ratio of Woolworths has decreased from 2.36 to 2.34 from the year 2014 to 2015. Higher value indicates that the company has higher leverage degree ad higher degree of risk. The gearing ratio of Woolworths has decreased which means that the leverage degree has decreased (Leonard, 2007). Higher leverage indicates high level of debt in comparison to the equity of the shareholders. Therefore, organizations with higher gearing ratio have higher amount of debts to service. Capital Structure Theories The capital structure theories help in depicting various types of proportions with the consideration of the financial leverages and henceforth the equity, debt and the preferences are described. A capital structure theory focuses on the maximization of shareholders value and thereby the financing mix is created. MM Theory The MM theory is a part of the capital structure theory in which irrelevance proposition is assumed that consists of no taxes and no bankruptcy costs. The weighted average cost of the capital seems to be remaining constant with thereby considering the changes in the capital structure. Pecking Order Theory The Pecking Order Theory is defined on the basis of three sources of funding which are seemed to be available for the firms that are the earnings, debt and the equity. In this part the retained earnings creates no adverse problems and thereby the debt is seemed to be creating a small amount of the selection problem. Trade off Theory The trade off theory refers to the idea that the company chooses how much debt and equity finance is used for balancing the costs and the benefits. It basically helps in entailing the offsetting costs of the debts which is seemed to be created against the benefits. It primarily deals with the two concepts that are the cost of financial distress and the agency costs. Agency Theory The agency theory in terms of finance is defined as the relationship or the bonding created for the management of the organisation or the company. Corporate executes and the shareholders of the company become the main examples for describing the agency theory. It also helps in describing the main challenges revolving round the agency relationships and thereby the personal goals are fixed. Risk Characteristics Woolworths can use long term finance sources in order to increase its finance and investing into its core activities. Equity share can be used for fianc but is more costly in comparison to debt finance and not easy to increase the company as it requires lot of legal formalities (El-Masry, 2007). The risk associated with debenture issue is that the company has to pay fixed interest to shareholders even if the company suffers losses. Taking loan from banks or financial institutions is also considered as fixed liabilities as because the company has to pay interest and principle loan amount. The payment of preference shares can be delayed for some reasons but cannot be ignored as because it has more priority over equity shares (Fischer, 2010). However, Woolworth has to raise its finance with the help of long term finance in order to achieve the future goals. It is important for the finance department to determine and evaluate the sources of finance in order to achieve the companys object ives. The major drawback of the long term debt is that it restricts the monthly flow of cash which also increases the risk for the company. The increase in liabilities imposes major threats to the companies that should be kept in mind while using the long term sources. Liquidity Management The management of liquidity is very much important for a company in order to operate its business without any risks. Managers, lenders investors look into the financial statements busing the liquidity ratios to determine and evaluate the liquidity risk. Liquidity Ratios Liquidity/Financial Health 2014-06 2015-06 Current Ratio 0.95 0.84 Quick Ratio 0.21 0.23 Debt/Equity 0.4 0.28 The current ratio and quick ratio of Woolworths is below one which shows negative sign for the company. The ability of paying off its obligations has decreased in both the year 2014 and 2015. The debt to equity ratio is below one which means that the debt level of the company is not so high. Working Capital Management Working capital management refers to the accounting strategy of a company designed and to utilize and monitor two components of the working capital, current liabilities and current assets to ensure that the company is operating efficiently. The main objective of working capital is to ensure that the form always maintains sufficient flow of cash to meets its short term obligations and short term costs. It involves monitoring of flow of cash, liabilities, and assets through ratio analysis (Moles, 2011). The ratio analysis includes working capital ratio, inventory turnover ratio and collection ratio. It is important for the management department to manage working capital as it helps to improve financial operation of the company and also helps improve the profitability and earnings. The working capital management includes inventory management, account receivable management and account payable management. Therefore, it helps to manage flow of cash, current assets and current liabilities o f the company. The collection ratio estimates how efficiently the organization manages its account receivable. It estimates average number of days that the company takes receive payment or covert its sales into cash (Moretto, 2008). In order to operate with efficiency and maintaining a high working capital level it is important for the company to balance carefully inventories and also meeting the needs of the customers. The capital cost utilized on the working capital should be minimized in order to achieve high profitability. The cost of capital can be minimized by using long term finance in an appropriate mix. The investment return made in the current assets should be more than weighted average capital cost in order to ensure maximum returns for the company (Smart, Megginson and Gitman, 2004). Working Capital Ratio = Current Assets/Current Liabilities Woolworths Liquidity/Financial Health 2014-06 2015-06 Working Capital Ratio 0.95 0.84 The working capital ratio is also known as current ratio that helps to measures the ability of the organization to pay off its obligations with its current assets. It is more important to the creditors as because it shows the level of liquidity of the firm. Current assets helps to pay off the current liabilities efficiently as because it can be easily converted into cash. The working capital ratio of Woolworths has decreased from 0.95 to 0.84 from the year 2014 to 2015. The higher the ratio is more favorable. The ratio below one is considered risky by investors and creditors because it shows that the firm is not operating efficiently and will not be able to cover its debt (Spiceland, Sepe and Nelson, 2011). The working capital ratio below one shows negative performance by the company as it is referred to as the negative working capital. Therefore, the company is not appropriately managing its operations. The company has to manage its short term finance in order to increase its effici ency. The short term finance that should be managed is as follows: Bank overdraft The financial institutions provide bank overdraft facilities in which a company can withdraw amount in excess of their available balance (Stittle and Wearing, 2008). It will help the company to finance its operating activities in short run. Trade Credit Trade credits are provided by the suppliers to their customers. It is referred to as the number of days that the seller would allow before due payment. Lease Woolworth can use assets on lease which means that the company can use the assets without purchasing it (Vance, 2003). The sources of short term finances should managed by the managers of Woolworths in order to operate its activities efficiently and effectively. An efficient management of working capital is very much important for a company to operate its activities efficiently (Wolf, 2008). Key Ratios - Efficiency Ratios Efficiency 2014-06 2015-06 Collection period 35.85 39.91 The collection period is the time period that the company takes to receive payments from the debtors. The collection period of Woolworths was 35.85 in the year 2014 and 39.91 in the year 2015. The management of cash is very much important for a company. It is the process to collect and manage cash which ensures financial stability of the company. It involves not only avoiding the insolvency but decreasing the account receivables, choosing appropriate short term investment and increasing cash to improve position of the company. Dividend Policies Dividend polices plays a vital role in distributing the retained earning obtained from the overall sales and other key activities of the company. Dividend polices is primarily signifies to the explicit and implicit decision of the shareholders related to the retained earning which should have distributed or divided to the shareholder of the organization (Wood and Sangster, 2005). The primary objective of the dividend policy is share the relationship between the organization dividend policy and the overall market value of the basic stock Date Dividends 3/2/2016 0.6286 9/9/2015 1.02857 3/18/2015 0.9571 9/10/2014 1.02857 3/17/2014 0.928571 9/9/2013 1.01429 3/18/2013 0.885714 9/10/2012 0.957143 3/19/2012 0.842857 9/12/2011 0.928571 3/21/2011 0.814286 9/13/2010 0.885714 3/22/2010 0.757143 9/7/2009 0.8 3/23/2009 0.685714 9/1/2008 0.685714 3/20/2008 0.628571 8/31/2007 0.557143 3/22/2007 0.5 9/4/2006 0.442857 3/27/2006 0.4 9/1/2005 0.385714 3/24/2005 0.342857 8/30/2004 0.342857 3/22/2004 0.3 9/4/2003 0.3 3/27/2003 0.257143 9/4/2002 0.257143 3/27/2002 0.214286 9/6/2001 0.214286 3/29/2001 0.171429 9/8/2000 0.185714 3/30/2000 0.142857 9/9/1999 0.142857 3/30/1999 0.114286 9/7/1998 0.128571 3/26/1998 0.114286 9/11/1997 0.128571 3/25/1997 0.1 10/10/1996 0.114286 3/28/1996 0.1 10/18/1995 0.114286 4/3/1995 0.085714 11/2/1994 0.085714 3/29/1994 0.085714 11/1/1993 0.085714 Graphical representation Dividend is considered to be a significant part of the company retained earning distribution. The board of director of the Woolworth confirmed and assures a final dividend per share of 72c outcome in the overall total dividend of 139c for the financial year 2015 with an average increase of 1.5% on the given fiscal year (Hafer and Hein, 2007). The overall payment of the April 2015 and October 2015 dividends will have the expected return on around 1.8$ billion and $0.8 billion in the overall franking credits to shareholders. Woolworth Limited expected to get a return of around 1.9$billion of franking credit which is available for the key future distribution. Profitability of the company Profitability 2014-06 2015-06 Tax Rate % 30.06 30.33 Net Margin % 4.02 3.53 Asset Turnover (Average) 2.62 2.46 Return on Assets % 10.56 8.66 Financial Leverage (Average) 2.36 2.34 Return on Equity % 25.43 20.35 Return on Invested Capital % 18.79 15.4 Interest Coverage 13.65 13.04 Profitability ratio help to provide a clear and precise idea about the company financial position and huts help to throw light on the company profit and loss margin on the basis of the profit and loss statement. Profitability ratio includes tax rate, net profit margin, asset turnover, return on asset, financial leverage, return on equity, return on invested capital and interest coverage ratio. The profitability ratio of the company is measure and calculated on the basis of the profit and loss statement. The ratio calculated over here is compared with the two year 2014 and 2015. The two financial year ratio which helps to throw light on the profitability aspect of the company is considered (North and Caes, 2012). The tax rate of the Woolworth for the year 2014 and 2015 remained constant with mild increase which helps to throw light that the company is making profit. Net margin of the company is expected to be decreasing as the net profit margin of the company is year 2014 is more comp ared to 2015. Asset turnover ratio helps to provide the clear image of the management of the company in managing its resource effectively. Asset turnover ratio and return on asset both seems to be decreasing with a constant rate. Return on equity, return on invested capital and interest coverage ratio seems to be gradually decreasing at a constant rate which signifies that the company inability to manage its asset and other key resource effectively for the year 2015 which resulted in the decline of the all the key ratio of profitability. Minskey Analysis Minskey analysis of Woolworth describes the financial position of the company. Hedge finance shows the flow of income that is expected to meet the financial obligations in each period. Speculative finance states that the company should roll over the debt because the flow of income is expected to cover oly interest costs (Wolf, 2008). Ponzi finance shows that the flow of income wont even cover the interest cost so that the organization should borrow sell off the assets to service its debts. Recommendations The overall performance of Woolworths has decreased from the year 2014 to 2015. Therefore, it is important for the company to take necessary steps in order to increase efficiency and profitability of the company. The investors can invest into the company as the net profit margin of the company is positive and has built its reputation in the market. Conclusion The financial statements of Woolworths help to calculate financial ratios as well as analyzing the financial health of the company. The working capital ratio of the company shows that the company need to steps in order to increase their efficiency. The profitability ratio also shows the profits earned by the company and financial performance in the year 2014 and 2015. The net profit margin has increased which means that the profit of the company has decreased. The asset turnover has decreased slightly which means the company is not utilizing its assets appropriately. Return on equity and return on invested capital has also been decreased which means that the company was not efficient to generate returns on the invested capital. Therefore, overall the performance of Woolworths has decreased from the 2014 to 2015 which imposes major challenge for the company. However, the performance of the company has fallen slightly which need to be focused by the management department of the company . The debt level is not so high and the investors can invest into Woolworths. References Atrill, P. (2006).Financial management for decision makers. Harlow, England: FT Prentice Hall. Berk, J. and DeMarzo, P. (2007).Corporate finance. Boston: Pearson Addison Wesley. Choi, F. (2003).International finance and accounting handbook. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley. Elliott, B. and Elliott, J. (2008).Financial accounting and reporting. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. El-Masry, A. (2007).Managerial finance. Bradford: Emerald Group. Fischer, F. (2010).The application of the controllability principle and managers' responses. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Helbk, M., Lindest, S. and McLellan, B. (2010).Corporate finance. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hillier, D. (2010).Corporate finance. London: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Holton, R. (2012).Global finance. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Kieso, D., Weygandt, J. and Warfield, T. (2007).Intermediate accounting. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Leonard, B. (2007).Managerial finance. Bradford: Emerald Insight. Moles, P. (2011).Corporate finance. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Moretto, E. (2008).Managerial finance. [Bradford, England]: Emerald. Smart, S., Megginson, W. and Gitman, L. (2004).Corporate finance. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western. Spiceland, J., Sepe, J. and Nelson, M. (2011).Intermediate accounting. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Stittle, J. and Wearing, B. (2008).Financial accounting. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. Vance, D. (2003).Financial analysis decision making. New York: McGraw-Hill. Winters, D. (2008).Managerial finance. [Bradford, England]: Emerald. Wolf, M. (2008).Fixing global finance. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. Wood, F. and Sangster, A. (2005).Frank Wood's business accounting 1. Harlow, England: FT/Prentice Hall. Hafer, R. and Hein, S. (2007).The stock market. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. North, C. and Caes, C. (2012).The stock market. New York, NY: Rosen Pub. Steele, J. (2008).The Market. New York: Hyperion. Woolworths Online. (2016).Woolworths Supermarket - Buy Groceries Online. [online] Available at: https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 4 Sep. 2016].