Company report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company report - Assignment Example The early years of business were focused on serving military and designing and manufacturing aircraft engines, built-in engines and railway vehicle brakes. After ruins of WWII the company had tough time reviving its production plant and it was by 1947 that the company started production of two-wheeler. After rejecting Daimler’s takeover move the company emerged as a strong entity which specialized in manufacturing highest quality motor vehicles. The company has three luxurious brands BMW, Rolls Royce and Mini that remain strong and popular amongst those who wish to experience innovative luxury available across BMW global network (BMW AG). The company has a strong financial position as reported in its annual report 2008 the company has generated revenues of â‚ ¬44,143mn and net income of â‚ ¬384mn in 2008. The company has a healthy dividend payout of 61% which may imply higher shareholders’ confidence in the company’s financial position and its ability to generate cash flow in the future. The company’s total assets are worth â‚ ¬23,316mn in 2008 whereas its current liabilities and long term obligations were â‚ ¬7,974mn and â‚ ¬9,933mn. The company’s equity is â‚ ¬5,338mn and EPS of â‚ ¬0.49 (BMW AG). Despite of the recession in the global economy the company has been able to generate healthy earnings and its share prices have been on the rise in the last 9 months period currently trading at â‚ ¬35.94 on Xetra Exchange after closing at low of close to â‚ ¬18 in Feb 2009 (BMW AG). Group Management Report identified current financial crisis and slowdown in consumer spending as one of the major reasons of company’s financial deteriorating financial performance. The falling revenues within different business segments lead to lower dividend payout than previous year. The company had to pull back its capital expenditures on different upcoming automobile models in

Comparing Two Companies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparing Two Companies - Research Paper Example Having been the fourth time for American Express to receive this recognition shows that there is uniqueness in the corporate ethics of the company. The company has a post known as the Chief Ethics & Compliance Office. The officer in this position is responsible for ensuring that there is a commitment by the company to ethics. This commitment is also ensured from the top administration to every level up to the bottom. The Johnson & Johnson Company has a values-based ethical culture. The company is mainly guided by the credo which is a training and guidance manual. This manual was created by the Josephson Institute of Ethics. The principles that guide the company’s ethics are on a stone at the company’s headquarters in New Brunswick. The values inscribed in the credo lay down the company’s base of operations. This has the implication that staff compliance to the same determines the success of the company. While many companies have a corporate compliance office head ed by the chief compliance officer or the Ethics Officer as exemplified by the American Express, this is not the case at Johnson & Johnson. The reasoning behind the exemption of such an office is that every staff member should value themselves at the sole guardians of the ethical principles as stipulated in the credo. In every meeting or conferencing of the company, time is set aside to discuss the credo. The American Express is guided by an integrity strategy with regard to corporate ethics. This is seen through its promotion of high standards that guide business behavior. It has a sound ethical environment that results in profitability. As observed, there is no ethics compliance office which makes every employee accountable for their code of ethics in all business operations. Profits have been recorded every year due to the fact that every staff member does their level best in a non-conditioned behavior to follow the ethics of the company. It is an integrity strategy because each employee must conduct themselves with integrity under no supervision when it comes to adherence to the code of ethics. The assumption is that when such ethics are leveled regardless of the level of employees, all feel that they have the same responsible in a bid to better the company. The company expects all employees including the executives to adhere to the set out codes of ethics with the same zeal. At Johnson & Johnson, it is more of a compliance strategy. The principles are laid out in the credo which is supposed to be followed religiously. This puts pressure on employees to do everything possible to not only hit the numbers, but to also keep their jobs. This is the reason that Johnson & Johnson has been recording losses and more so, having numerous lawsuits. The lawsuits are a result of products gone back and therefore not effective to customers. Perhaps employees are busy trying to follow the credo and the management pressure to deliver profitability. While the balance betwee n patients and profits is tricky, a compliance-based kind of statement of principles may not work effectively. The observation is that compliance standards do not work well in the pharmaceutical business. The American Express company has a better Corporate Ethics Program compared to Johnson & Johnson. Firstly, it is self-motivating in that employees are their own guardians. Staff members therefore feel a sense of self-responsibility towards bettering the company. The result is that profits are