Cvs Annual Report Essay Example for Free

Cvs Annual Report Essay Executive Summary/Company History/Products and Services CVS/Pharmacy has shown a consistent growth for the last three years. Three years ago CVS/Pharmacy has merged with Longs Pharmacy and Caremark to form the largest retail pharmacy chain in the United States. CVS/Pharmacy- CVS/Pharmacy began operations in 1963, and added the pharmacy department in 1967. In 2007, CVS merged with Caremark Rx, Inc. Finally, in 2008, CVS bought the Longs Drug Store chain. CVS has over 7000 stores(Cvs.com, 2010). At the end of 9 months of 2010, the company has lost 9. 25% against 2009 net income. However, the company has increased their assets and liabilities by .1% against 2009 figures(Cvs.com, 2010). As the company stands now in trends, Net revenues for this 7,100-store drugstore retailer were $23.9 billion for Q3 2010, down 3.1% from $24.6 billion in the prior years period. Poor performance by the companys Pharmacy Services segment—its revenues dropped 8.5%, to $11.9 billion—was a major contributor to the companys woes. CVS Retail Pharmacy segment revenues actually increased 4.1%, with total same-store sales climbing 2.5%(Trendwatch, 2010). CVS/Pharmacy is in the process of transitioning their leadership at CEO. Tom Ryan will be stepping down at the end of the year as CEO, and Larry Merlo will be promoted to CEO. Tom Ryan has been the CEO of CVS/Pharmacy Inc. since 1994, and it has been the consistency at the top that has lead to the expansion of CVS/Pharmacy as being largest retail pharmacy chain in the United States. Now that Toms tenure is coming to a close, a new dawn is  occurring for the corporation with Larry Merlo taking the helm. Competitor Analysis In the retail pharmacy industry, there are only three pure pharmacy firms: CVS/Pharmacy, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid. Pure pharmacy firms are pharmacy retailers whose business is built around the pharmacy. Wal-Mart, Kroger, and local grocery stores have pharmacies as an extension of their business plan, but it is not the focus of their company. CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens have been battling over the top position for years, and Rite-Aid has been ranked at a steady third in the market place. Walgreens- Walgreens is CVS/Pharmacys chief competitor. Founded in 1901, Walgreens is considerably older. Unlike CVS/Pharmacy, Walgreens began with the pharmacy department. With 6000 stores, Walgreens is smaller than CVS. In 2010, Walgreens has increased sales against last year by 6.4%, and net earnings by 4.2%(Walgreens.com, 2010). Moreover, they have posted 36 straight years of sales gains, and 35 straight years of dividend payments(Walgreens.com, 2010). Finally, Walgreens has posted net earnings for 5 consecutive years. Despite Walgreens smaller size, it has a bigger market share at 31.2% compared to CVS/Pharmacys 25%(Wikinvest.com, 2010). The last 10 years has been the first decade that a Walgreens family member was not at the helm of the Walgreens Pharmacy chain. Charles Walgreens retired from the CEO position in 1998, but stayed on a member of the board of directors. Mr. Walgreens will officially retire for the company this year. Gregory D. Wasson is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wasson has worked with Walgreens for 31 years. In conclusion, Walgreens CVS/Pharmacy are the giants in retail pharmacy. Their strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures have brought them to a virtual dead heat. The purpose of this research is analyze the financial strength of both to determine which is in the best financial health. Common Size Statements We will first compare CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens through common size financial statements. Commons size financial statements allow for comparisons to be made between companies of different sizes and volumes in order to see the true performance. CVS/Pharmacy has over 7000 stores, and Walgreens Pharmacy only has 6000 stores. The difference in size will have an  impact on expense, revenue, and income. Every company plans to get the most out of every dollar spent. Consequently, we will be comparing the their financial performance from 2007-2009. From the beginning, Walgreens has yielded a better gross profit by an average of 8% over CVS/Pharmacy. Gross profit is the amount left over after cost of goods sold is taken from revenue. Although, both have been steady with their percentage gross profit, CVS/Pharmacy 21% Walgreens 28%, Walgreens has gained more. However, Walgreens celebration is short lived because the balance statement is more than gross profit. In fact the 8% edge in gross profit they gave back in operating expenses. Walgreens operating expenses took, on average, 22.5% away from their total revenue. CVS/Pharmacy operating expenses took only 14.5% away from their total revenue. Moreover, other indicators of return on investment to the company are higher for CVS/Pharmacy than Walgreens. CVS/Pharmacy has had a higher operating income than Walgreens since 2007. For the last two years CVS/Pharmacy has posted higher income before taxes than Walgreens. Finally, the biggest trend difference between the two firms is that CVS/Pharmacys net income has increased three years in a row, while Walgreens net income has steadily decreased three years in a row. As a company, CVS/Pharmacy received a 20% gross profit margin. The next biggest payment went to operating expenses at 14.12%. After the expenses, income before taxes and operating profit account for 13% and net income accounts for nearly 4%. In 2009 alone, Walgreens gross profit and operating expenses nearly cancel each other out. There is only a 4% variance between gross profit and operating expenses for Walgreens. Operating profit and income before taxes accounts for only 10% of the revenue, while Walgreens net income accounts for barely over 3%. On the key financial statements, Walgreens performance has been diminishing over the last three years, and CVS/Pharmacys performance has risen. The reason behind the growing strength of CVS/Pharmacy has been the general, consistent financial growth. This will be illustrated by the financial ratios. Liquidity is the firms ability to meet its current obligations(Marshall, McManus, Vielle, 2010). Working capital is the excess of a firms current assets over its current liabilities(2010). In this case, Walgreens has higher working capital than CVS/Pharmacy. On other tests of liquidity,  Walgreens out performs CVS/Pharmacy. Walgreens has a higher current ratio, acid test ratio, and they turn over their assets 8 more times a year than CVS/Pharmacy. Although Walgreens has yielded their lowest net income in three years, they have a high comparable liquidity. Moreover, the higher net income for CVS/Pharmacy has not translated into higher liquidity. However, the increased in income has translated into a higher inventory turnover for CVS/Pharmacy. Conclusion The findings of this paper are illustrating the transition in the marketplace between CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens. For the last 20 years, these retail pharmacy firms have battled for supremacy in the industry. Over the last decade, CVS/Pharmacy has had one Chief Executive Officer, Tom Ryan. However, since Tom Ryan took over in 1999, Walgreens has had 3 CEO changes. The result of inconsistency in their leadership has translated to a lower return on investment. Walgreens has higher liquidity, but they have shown three years of decreasing net income. As a result, they are getting weaker as an organization. However, CVS/Pharmacy has shown consistent growth over the last three years. Their increasing strength has been represented by their purchases of Longs Pharmacy and Caremark. It is my conclusion that this trend will continue

The Great Houdini :: Free Essays Online

The Great Houdini  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The performer known world wide as Harry Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest. Although Houdini often claimed to be born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Houdini actually came to the United States when he was four years old. To this day many connected with the small town of Appleton still claim the untruth that Houdini was born there strictly to attract tourists. Houdini's father was Mayer Samuel Weiss. Houdini's father was a Rabbi. His mother's name was Cecilia Steiner Weiss. His parents spoke little English, and the family was quite poor so most of the children began to work at an early age. From the age of eight young Ehrich Weiss sold newspapers and worked as a shoe shine boy. At the age of 12, young Ehrich left home to make his way in the world in an attempt to help support his family. Young Ehrich traveled the country for about a year, always sending money home when he could. Finally he joined up with his father in New York City. The family moved to New York in the hope of find ing a better life there. In New York, Houdini worked as a messenger and as a cutter in a garment center sweat shop, to help support his family. Houdini began performing magic as a teenager first calling himself Eric the Great. Ehrich acquired the name Houdini from a book he read, "The Memoirs of Robert-Houdin," the autobiography of one of the greatest magicians of the day. Influenced by what he read and learned about the internationally known magician Robert Houdin, young Ehrich changed his name to Houdini, hoping to be in some way like his new found mentor. Houdini's first magic shows consisted of card tricks and other simple magic. Soon Houdini began experimenting with hand cuffs and using them in his acts. Houdini performed with another young man who worked with him in the factory in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. Soon Houdini's younger brother Theo took the place of the boy from the factory. Together with his brother Theo, they tried to succeed as the Houdini Brothers. Their first performances included shows at amusement parks, beer halls, "dime museums," and at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. In 1894, Houdini met Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who was singing and dancing as part of the Floral Sisters.

An Infectious Cure Essay

Part 1 Questions 1. The Europeans poured have poured something into the water which sterilized the water and killed the toxins that become disruptive in the digestive system when they are consumed. They Europeans may have poured what are called oral rehydration salts into the well, which quickly works are combatting the cholera, and will prevent further outbreaks from occurring. 2. Ethical issues that are raised by pouring the treatment into the wells without the consent of others is that people should be entitled to choose whether or not they want to chance their lives by consuming a mystery cure. The villagers have no idea what is being poured into the wells, which further down the line could cause different health issues, and in turn people won’t know where to begin to find a cure if they are unsure of what caused it. Bottom line, it takes away the person’s right to choose whether or not they want to accept the â€Å"cure†. For instance flu vaccines are readily available, but people still choose not to receive one out of fear that it will enhance the likelihood of having the flu that season. The only factor that makes it more ethical is the fact that it worked and nobody else became sick, but that should make people more skeptical knowing that their drinking water is 100 percent accessible and easy to tamper with. 3. The Europeans were not justified in imposing their cure on the villagers. Yes the â€Å"cure† may have worked in Europe, but since it had only happened one time, they may not know if their â€Å"cure† was really what helped in their situation. It could have been something completely different that went unaccounted for. They definitely could have taken other steps beforehand that would have made it more acceptable, such as: informing the people of what they were doing and asking for permission. The elder had every right to drain the well out of fear that the Europeans could have been tampering with it and making the situation worse. 4. It is not appropriate to force a cure on a population. It takes away peoples’ choice. As long as people are educated about the situation and their options, they should be able to choose. Like with the Fluoride situation, the water in the area is not their only source of drinking water, families could very easily buy bottled water in order to  prevent ingesting what they fear to be tampered with water. 5. It is clear that whatever the Europeans poured into the well did help the villagers. Since they isolated the drinking water to only one well, and people stayed away from the dyed water it helped to prove their validity much more, since the people did in fact get better after a few days and no new cases had occurred. The results were not scientifically reliable since there is still an amount of doubt since there was only one other trial. I would say the results are more indicative than anything since there was really nothing formal about the process. Part 2 Questions 1. I would say the villagers would needs to drink from the water repeatedly in order to speed up the production of the bacteriophages killing the harmful bacteria. The basis of my answer is that if a villager already displayed the symptoms of cholera and only drank the water once that it would be ineffective. The symptoms of cholera include vomiting and diarrhea which means the newly ingested water with the cure would quickly be expelled from the body. 2. People could see improvement as quickly as a day. They may not be back to 100 percent, but the symptoms will slowly start to go away. It all depends on how many phages are consumed and their rate of production. Very quickly they can multiply. I would expect the effectiveness to increase over time in an individual and then by the time they are better, the bacteriophages will have no more cholera bacteria to feed off of and then the phages will slowly die off because they rely solely on bacteria in order to survive. 3. Yes the process of viral and bacterial co-evolution will continue indefinitely because both will continue to grow, modify, and adapt to changes that the other has made. 4. No the villagers should not be concerned that this virus will cause damage to their intestines because that is solely what cholera targets, and the purpose of the phages are to combat the cholera bacteria, which would in turn help their intestines. 5. The release of a toxin from the cholera bacteria is what causes people to experience the dreadful symptoms. A negative health concern of killing the cholera at a quick rate is that since the phages will prevent symptoms from increasingly becoming worse, the â€Å"dead† cholera in the intestine may sit  there for a longer amount of time instead of running straight through the person which may do more damage to the intestine. 6. Humans should not be concerned about the bacteriophages infecting other cells because each bacteriophage is particular to a certain bacteria. If the bacterial cell exhibits traits that are desirable to the certain bacteriophage, then the phage will chose to bind and infect it, otherwise people have nothing to worry about. 7. If the bacteria became lysogenic, people would see improvements much faster, because more phages are being produced to combat the cholera bacteria. 8. Eventually the bacteriophages will die in the intestine since there will be no more bacteria to combat and live off of. 9. A risk to phage therapy is that the virus and bacteria both evolve over time. Using this method more frequently may cause the virus’s to evolve more quickly. If that is to happen there will be new problems to solve. 10. The next bacterium that is infected will actually produce more cholera and make the symptoms occur even more quickly. The affected human will become even sicker and could possibly die. 11. Given this information I would still try the phage therapy. The symptoms would be awful, and I would be willing to try anything for a chance for the symptoms to get better. I would say this is a safe and effective form of treatment under monitoring. Part 3 Questions 1. The phage treatment had much quicker and effective results than the antibiotics. 2. Factors of the human body that could alter the effectiveness of the phage treatment would be temperature, acidity, and the strength of the immune system. These factors could have different effects on the phages. The results would be different for each person, since the internal environment is different from person to person given the situation. 3. Advantages to antibiotics are that they still work, just not at the fastest rate. You know exactly what is being put into your body and how it is supposed to work. 4. Advantages to phages is that they work at a faster rate than antibiotics, they invade the cell and get right to work whereas the bacteria often has time to adapt and keep reproducing with an antibiotic. Part 4 Questions 1. Advantages to phage treatment: able to reach parts of the body quicker than antibiotics, the rate at which it kills the bacteria is much faster, phage treatment is very individualized which is better for people. Disadvantages to phage treatment: takes longer to create, which may not be quick enough to combat certain diseases, more expensive, requires more testing. Advantages to antibiotics: they are more universal, can be created quicker, cheaper for the consumer, still effective (just not to the same extent as phage treatment) Disadvantages to antibiotics: they take longer to become effective, cannot access all areas of the body like phages can. 2. Yes there are some diseases that lend themselves more to phage therapy such as salmonella and other types of food poisoning that target specific areas of the body. And yes there are some infections that lend themselves more to antibiotic therapy like a simple cold, or an ear infection. Antibiotics are more than capable of handling something simple like that. It is when infections become more serious and detrimental to a persons’ health that other methods of treatment should be discovered. 3. Yes I think restrictions on phage therapy should be loosened. It may cost more, but there are people willing to pay the price for more effective treatments. As long as the phage therapy is being used for the greater good, then I say why not take advantage of it.

Organizational Culture and Behavior in the Age of...

In the age of globalization, an in-depth study and understanding of the organization’s culture and behaviour have become vital as its people comprise of different race, colour and culture. Organizational behaviour basically defines the interaction of human beings in a given organization and analysis of individuals and groups characteristics facilitates better understanding, prediction and improvisation in work place, leading to improved performance. Workers are the pillars of the organization and his responses to other people and circumstances differ widely as per the values and the principles that he follows in his life. Each person develops certain characteristics or attitude based on certain criteria or values which is unique to him and†¦show more content†¦The somewhat high score of (11) of emotional stability and above average score (98) in being proactive implies that though people are vulnerable to organizational politics, changes and developments but they are ready to resolve the conflicts in a composed, eager, and secure way. Proactive people see breakthroughs, show new ideas, take action, and keep at it until significant transformation occurs. This shows a clear emotional stability which enables goals to be achieved in a better and efficient manner. It justifies the observation of Solomon who has stated, ‘knowledge is surely an understanding of our emotions’ (Solomon, 1994). Moods Mood of the persons defines their socio-psychological well being that reflects positively or negatively in their work performance. Social scientists have recognized the importance of psychological well-being of the employees (Cropanzano Wright, 2001). It is a comparatively long-term, emotional situation. Mood is less powerful and less likely to be set off by a particular stimulus or happening. Hence, moods are important aspect of personality traits that has considerable impact on the overall organizational behavior and needs to be addressed with appropriate psychological needs and paradigms. Quick et al. have stressed ‘it is possible that psychological well-being and employee performance are related’ (Quick et al, 1997). The survey shows that people in general do not view others with positive attributes. The mediocreShow MoreRelatedGlobalization and Organizational Behavior1049 Words   |  5 Pagesunderstand globalization and organizational behavior. Globalization is the tendency of businesses, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world, or the process of making this happen. 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