Examine and comment on Christian and Hindu beliefs about life after death Essay Example for Free

Examine and comment on Christian and Hindu beliefs about life after death Essay Death is the most fateful experience of each individuals life. Whether it is the end of ones life, or the beginning of a new life, no one knows. Death for the Hindu is merely transition, simultaneously an end to a new beginning. Death for the Christian is destined and is a time of judgement that is made from their former performances in life. These are very different views from two major world religions that both question the different events that may take place after ones death. The Christian faith believes that the body is resurrected at death and the soul of an individual is immortal and continues after death. The doctrines of the church teach Christians that after one dies, they will rise before God and be judged. They believe that Christians who have been faithful throughout their life by worshipping Christ and helping other who are less fortunate. A quotation from Matthew 25: 31-46, One day we shall be called to account for the way we have used our gifts, our opportunities and our energies. Above all, we shall be required for the way we have behaved in relation to the poor, needy and the marginalised, supports the belief of the Christian faith and continues to teach these beliefs to mankind. This judgement that is made by God determines whether a persons soul will spend eternity in heaven or hell. Based on Jesus teachings and other sources of revelation, Christians believe that heaven is a place of eternal life, extravagance and luxury, The best and sweetest flowers of Paradise God gives to his people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven, a key to let us in to Paradise, There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4), these quotations show Christians believe that heaven is a place for those who have worshipped God and have followed the teachings of Jesus. The bible has portrayed heaven as the kingdom of heaven, where kingdom refers to a place of monarchy and sovereignty, where people will be reunited with God. However, Christians can not just enter heaven when they die, but will have to show that they are worthy of entering heaven, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-20), this quotation alternatively states that a person who thinks of themselves as higher than God, will never enter heaven. The question that then arises is, where do the unworthy of entering heaven, go after death? The complete alternative of heaven is hell, where people who have carried out immoral acts, such as murder and rape which are forbidden according to the sacred doctrines of the bible, along with people who do not believe in God and have not followed the Christian faith will live eternally in the brutal conditions that hell facilitates, The sword which shall pierce them with the greatest sorrow will be the thought of having lost God, and of having lost Him through their own fault, this quotation gives us a small insight of what hell is portrayed as by Christians. St. Augustine says that in Hell, the damned will be forced to think of nothing but God and that will cause them terrible torment. Biblical quotations such as and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42) and In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, show that Jesus talks about hell as being a place of fire and where souls are burnt and tortured for eternity. Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon which was titled Sinners in the hands of an Angry God. This contained a passage with a quotation There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery, stating that if a person enters hell, there is no turning back, and they will suffer in the fiery flames of hell. The bible also describes hell as an endless torture scene, with angels and Jesus present either as observers or as officials who are directing the torture of the victims in hell. However, there are two different concepts about the duration of the torture, Annihilationism and traditionalism. Annihilationism is the belief that unsaved individuals will be punished in hell for only a period of time that is appropriate to pay for the nature and frequency of their sins which they were alive on earth. Annihilationists also believe that when a persons punishment has finished, and they have paid the full penalty for their sins, they will be exterminated and their soul will cease to exist in any form. This mean that the soul will not be tortured for any longer, however, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven, which consequently means that at that point, their life has come to an end. In contrast, traditionalism is simply a belief that unsaved individuals will be punished in hell not only for a year, or a decade, but for eternity without any hope of relief, moderation or cessation of the pain. There are many passages and quotations that appear to describe punishment in hell as lasting forever such as the fire that burns them will never be put out (Isaiah 66:24) and And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12.2). These quotations from the bible clearly support the view of traditionalism which shows that even though Gods wish is for all to be saved, the ones who are not will be punished forever. Although this is the view for many Christians, others including Skeptics, Humanists, Atheists, Agnostics generally believe that there is no afterlife and accept that after death, there is personal annihilation. Roman Catholic Christians also have alternative but similar views as they believe that in between heaven and hell, there is purgatory. This is where people who have sinned within their lifetime, but have not sinned to the extent that they must enter hell and be tortured for eternity, are punished for their bad deeds until all penalties have been paid. This enables them to be cleansed from sin and can potentially enter heaven where their soul will rest for eternity. Roman Catholics also believe that people who have family and friends to pray for them after they die will be released from purgatory sooner than those who dont. This is why many Roman Catholics have an overwhelming fear of death as they feel they will certainly suffer, whether it is in hell or purgatory. Pope John Paul issued a piece entitled Incarnationis Mysterium which suggests that Roman Catholics visit certain holy sites to try and reduce the amount of time they will have to spend suffering after death. In this, there is was an appendix called Conditions for Gaining the Jobilee Indulgence which suggested ways for Roman Catholics to attempt to reduce the amount of time spent suffering after they die by carrying out good deeds during their lifetime such as visiting the elderly who live along, the sick, the handicapped etc. Some Roman Catholics carry out these deeds, but the question that has to be asked is, is this being done from the goodness of their heart, or for the goodness of themselves? It is clear that different Christians have different views on life after death, but are similar and can be linked together in some sense, for example, annihilationism is vaguely similar to purgatory in the way that people who have sinned are not punished eternally. However, can this be said for the views on life after death for Christianity and Hinduism? Certainly not, as Hindus have a completely different perspective of afterlife. For Hindus, death is referred to as mahaprasthana which means great journey. Hindus believe in reincarnation, which is the cycle of death and rebirth after a while in spiritual spheres into a new physical body, this is where the soul, which is the true self, remains the same, while the vehicle of the soul to make the needed learning experience changes. Death means nothing else but the loss of a vehicle the soul was using during its many reincarnations, which is a physical body. Saint Tiruvalluvar wrote that death is like falling asleep, and birth is like awakening from that sleep, this quotation shows that no Hindu should really fear death, as an individual is not the body in which they live, but the immortal soul which inhabits many bodies in its evolutionary journey. Samsara is the term referred to by Hindus and means wandering. They believe that the soul wanders from body to body in one lifetime to another. The Bhagavad Gita, which is the holy text for Hindus, teaches that death should not be feared and there is no reason to grieve, For sure is the death of all that is born, sure is the birth of all that dies: so in a matter that no one can prevent, you have no cause to grieve (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 verse 27). This quotation states that all are born again so there is no point grieving over something that cannot be avoided. However, the reason why all living things are continually reborn is based on the Hindu belief in karma. Karma means action and the law of karma is the law of cause and effect. Hindus believe that the life they are living may not be the first one, and they may have been born many more times before that. The law of karma states that any good or bad deeds than have been carried out in ones life will give an impression and will be carried over to the next life, for example evil and selfish actions will consequently results in a life of suffering. Therefore, it is said to believe that everything has a cause and purpose, What a man becomes in his next life will depend upon his karma (Brihad-aranyaka Upunishad. IV. 4.verse 3). For a Hindu, this belief could provide a strong incentive to live a good, moral life so the fear of suffering in their next life is overcome. The law of karma can also explain the differences in circumstances and inequalities between people around the world. Although many Hindus aspire to a good rebirth, the ultimate goal of any Hindu is for the atman (soul) to escape Samsara altogether and this is known as Moksha. Moksha can be described as perfect peace and happiness, or as the soul losing itself in Brahman. Brahman means God and moksha is a spiritual state of existence in which there is a union with God, When all desires that rest in the heart are liberated shall a mortal man become immortal and attain Brahman, which shows that when all thoughts are put to rest and when the atman is truly identified as the equivalent of the reality of Brahman, an individual will be able to make moksha their goal and achieve it. Yoga may be considered as a way of exercise to keep the body healthy and fit where as the true meaning of yoga is unity and integration, and is the means, methods and discipline that will enable an individual to bring union with a personal God, Brahman. There are three recognised ways of doing this and they are karma yoga, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga. By carrying out these, and using them as a guideline, moksha can be gained. Hindus see their religion as a way of life and many Hindus apply themselves and live their lives wanting to act to the best of their potential in hope that when they die, they will be released from samsara and gain moksha. Christianity and Hinduism are two major religions that are followed worldwide. They also have very contradistinctive views on life after death. However, both Christians and Hindus turn to their religion to find answers for existence along with death. They also hold tenaciously to the beliefs taught by their particular denominations as a way of comfort. One thing that Christians and Hindus have in common is that they both portray religion as a way of life and use scholarly teachings to influence them on which rightful path to follow in life. Death has been questioned for a very long time and no one has been able to answer the question What happens after death?, which means no one really knows what events will take place after we die, where we will go or what will happen to us. Although we try and answer all of these questions with religious beliefs, until one experiences death, the question that has caused distress to people for over 2 millennia still remains, is there an afterlife?

Development of automobile safety :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nowadays, along with the development and increase of economical level, the automobile has become an essential and important transport. Also, it leads to another problem: traffic accident. Over the last century, there were more crashes in U.S than the number of the wars that Americans have been through. Therefore, people started to notice that they need the automobile safety to protect themselves. Over the last 100 years, the automobile safety has changed a lot to give out the best protection that we’re using today. Below are 3 major features: safety glass, air bag and seat belt. Today safety glass, which will not splinter when exposed to shock, is in windshields for cars. Essential as it is, safety glass was the result of a clumsy mistake. In 1903, Edouard Benedictus, a French scientist inadvertently knocked a glass flask to the floor when fetching reagents. He heard the glass shatter, but later, he saw the broken pieces of the flask still hung together, more or less in their original contour. Then he learned that the flask had recently held a solution of cellulose nitrate, a liquid plastic, which had evaporated, apparently depositing a thin coating of plastic on the flask’s interior. He experimented with coating glass with liquid plastic, then shattering it and it was not broken. When Benedictus read that most of the drivers seriously injured had been cut by shattered glass windshields, he knew that his unique glass could save lives. Unfortunately, automakers were uninterested in the costly safety glass for windshields. It was not until the outbreak of World War I that safety glass found its first application: as the lenses for gas masks. After automobile executives examined the proven performance of the new glass under the extreme conditions of battle, safety glass’s major application became car windshields. It was very dangerous when something hit your car, the glass was broken and as a result, you would be sore and even dead. But with this unbreakable glass, now you don’t have to worry about this because nothing can touch you from the outside. An air bag is a high-speed inflation device hidden in the hub of the steering wheel or in the dash on the passenger’s side. Today they are installed on all new passenger cars sold in the United States. Some automobiles have side-impact air bags, located in doors or seats. The inflated bag creates a cushion between the occupant and the vehicle’s interior.

Procurement plan Essay

Procurement plan The procurement plan for the NHS hospital development may be undertaken through the following steps and processes: 1. Procurement guidelines: a) Goods and services shall be procured under and in accordance with NHS guidelines and provisions outlining the functioning and operation of such procedures. b) Outsourced services, consultants, off-branch goods and services are to be procured in accordance with the requisite NHS guidelines and project specifications. c) Standard bidding documents/ Proposals/ bidding paper etc will all be finalized as per NHS guidelines and will adhere strictly to NHS quality and safety requirements (Fewings 2010) 2. Selection of goods and services: The current project is one of re-development and upgrading the current capabilities of the Southmead hospital project. In keeping with that goal there are certain target areas that have been determined as priority areas these can be enumerated as: a) Infrastructure: The re-developed institute is one that is seeking to combine the two institutions of Southmead and Frenchday into one overarching institution for providing the best quality healthcare to the people of that particular county. b) Services: In addition to traditional healthcare services the facility will also host a significant parking facility, concourse, catering facilities and a variety of similar commercial interests that will fill the seven story structure. The facility will also feature a helipad that poses its own unique problems in terms of special infrastructural needs and requirements. C) Accessibility and environmental compatibility: One of the main issues facing the institution prior to the redevelopment of the institution was one of accessibility i.e. the acute and non-acute service centers where spread over the various sites reducing accessibility for the clients and patients, thus reducing effective service time and severely affecting patient care. Another issue that was identified as a core  issue was that of the environmental integrity of the institution, specifically in regards to energy wastage and infection containment. The existing infrastructure was one of wasteful energy leakages and un-contained infection that resulted in the spread of hospital diseases and led to severely compromised patient care and health infrastructure. Consideration of all the above variables and factors needs to be taken into consideration while considering the infrastructural needs of the institution. 3) Goods and services: In terms of goods the following generic categories of products need to be stocked up on surplus levels of inventory: Sanitary products Dressing Equipment Laboratory consumables Emergency consumables Disposable syringes Saline solution Theater equipment (Gloves, scrubs, gowns, masks etc) Generic medication (Antibiotics, coagulants, local anesthetic etc ) The above detailed equipment is one that is used in copious amounts and regularly in all major health institutions and healthcare providers need to be well stocked on the above goods and the like. There are certain other kinds of good which form the median range of products to be kept in stock, to be stored at optimum levels: Bed-sheets and related supplies (pillows, blankets etc) General anesthetic and specialty medicinal supplies (insulin, adrenalin etc) Housekeeping supplies (bed pans, cafeteria supplies etc) In keeping with the same classification of goods, there is a third level of classification of products and goods that a healthcare institute requires that may be classified as critical products such as: Specialty equipment (Physiotherapy, patient recovery etc) Specialty medicine (Epinephrine, methamphetamine etc) The above equipment (especially drugs ) are to be kept on a strictly controlled basis and require to be carefully monitored and controlled, thus  these are kept at levels that are closely calculated on a need of use basis. D) Services: From time to time the institution may require specialty services in order to aid in its smooth functioning and operation. The different services required may be classified as below: Healthcare services: These include services related to the medical nature of the healthcare institution, most commonly related to consultative services and operational guidance in the forms of outside medical consultants for specialized medical care for patients in case of ailments that are not routinely treated at the center; secondary healthcare services such as those relating to early infant care and patient outgoing also fall under this category. Non-Healthcare services: These include services related to the commercial aspect of the institution, for example: independent contractors to handle the catering aspect of the institution, or construction consultants to aid in the different infrastructural needs and requirements of the institution. For example: contractors and outsourced services to handle the IT infrastructure of the institution and other secondary and tertiary aspects associated with the facility. 3) Procurement methods: In keeping with the classification of the different procurement requirements of the institution as outlined above, there can be different procurement methods adapted to each category of product: Category A products: These include products that are consumed in large bulk in the daily operation of the institution such as; sanitary products, dressing equipment, etc. As these are required to be replenished in continuous cyclical repetition the best procurement method for these kinds of products would be to request competitive quotations from interested parties and entering into long term contractual obligations with the selected parties in order to ensure continuous supply of the said products, bulk buying is required and contractual terms and conditions may be changed to reflect the cost benefit  acquired due to the economies of scale achieved through bulk buying. Category B products: These include products that are used on a somewhat daily basis, products that may be reused and put into the operational cycle over a medium period of time such as: bed sheets, pillows, cutlery etc. A similar procedure as for category A products may be used for these kinds of products except the period of contract for such products should be short to medium-term periods of time i.e. 1-2 years to provide for changing market conditions and to accommodate favorable, more cost effective offers from different vendors. Category C products: These generally include highly restricted and seldom used products, mostly in use for highly specialized medical procedures, such as: radioactive isotopes, scheduled drugs, restricted materials etc. These kinds of products are kept under strict control by the medical advisory bodies and are used only in cases of strict and extreme medical necessity. The procurement method for these kinds of products should be as per use and consists of a strictly formalized approach to the governing and regulatory bodies. Generally use of such products comes with strict guidelines and benchmarks that determine the level of competence of the institution to handle such materials, special care should be taken to ensure strict and absolute adherence to such standards and guidelines before initiating the procurement method for said substances. Services: Non-medical services: These kinds of services are procured by the fixed and sealed tender method wherein fixed tenders are invited from interested parties and the lowest bidder wins the contract for providing the said services to the institution. Medical services: This category of services is available only from a limited pool of resources and as such traditional methods of procurement give way to new, innovative forms of contracts and agreements such as having a visiting specialist, or having a ‘guest specialist’ who visits the institution regularly or on  demand whenever a situation arises requiring the specialists unique skill sets. Procurement issues: Post-tender negotiations: There are several situations wherein changing market conditions and various environmental variables necessitate the re-negotiation of contracts after the finalization of tenders. One such example may be in the drop in the prices of raw materials required; change in the immigration policy may flood the market with more affordable labor creating the requirement for new terms of contract with longstanding contract partners. However NHS does not permit post tender negotiations. (NHS, Barnet, 2009:37). This creates significant levels of problems in negotiating contract details after the issuance of tenders (Morris et al., 2007). Fund Management: Typically there are several differences in how the funds allotted to a particular project are managed in respect of public and private interests, for instances privately managed projects have more flexibility in regards to funds allocation and consumption and are subject to less paperwork, therefore are consequently subject to greater independence. However, being a public project, it would require better and more efficient management of public funds. This translates into tighter controls, apprehension in fund allocations, delayed fund usage and general financial disarray. This is a very real, very serious issue facing most all government institutions and not necessarily limited to just the NHS. Environmental issues: In recent years renewed attention has been paid to environmental concerns emanating from organizational operations. Medical institutions have traditionally been highly inefficient in terms of energy usage and According to a research conducted by Torbay NHS Care Trust, (2010, p. 10), 60 of the total carbon footprint of NHS originates from the procured goods and services. Implementing IT infrastructure: The business model for a lot of the modern healthcare facilities has integrated the need for a comprehensive IT support framework that supports the operational activities of the organization. Ensuring compatibility with modern standards of IT infrastructure and implementing modern IT concepts like e-commerce etc in the procurement plan is a major challenge for the managers. Procurement strategy: Core strategic priorities: To establish a process of sourcing contracts and frameworks to ensure the delivery of best value. To implement and fully utilize efficient on†line procurement systems and processes that move away from a paper based system and reduce the transaction effort within the Trust. To implement a set of standard policies and processes to ensure that all staff understand and comply with the mechanisms for purchasing goods and services. To implement a range of management information systems that allow for the results of current procurement patterns to be analyzed to ensure that best value is secured. To develop a materials management structure to allow efficient and effective delivery and stockholding. Establishment of accurate assessment centers catering directly to the diagnostic needs of patients from various medical need backgrounds. Aesthetic and functional design of the hospital interiors, compensating for the needs of special requirement patients involving senior citizens as well as early childhood care. Combination of easy access as well as synergistic design based construction that combines the best of functionality, environmental friendliness and ease of use. Strategic principles: The strategic principles on which the procurement strategy will be based can be enumerated as follows: Strive for continuous improvement in quality, price and processes by researching and developing a detailed understanding of potential products and services. Encourage environmentally advantageous products and services by, where appropriate, working with providers to minimize the environmental and social impacts associated with products and services. Strategic Model: The strategic model which will ensure the application of the strategy formed is described as follows: 1) Control: Performance: The various parameters of healthcare deliverables, measurable service outputs, and performance indicators etc will be used to measure performance efficiency and effectiveness. Governance: Formulating executive level strategies and policies to guide the procurement process and strategy. Risk: Acceptable parameters of different procurement components such as inventory levels, service delivery time, turnaround time etc. 2) Process: Sourcing: The activity of determining and defining business demand and the subsequent engagement with the supply market to acquire or fulfill that demand in the most cost effective way for the hospital is to be determined and executed by a central procurement department. Financial management: The allocation, budgeting and consumption of funds is to be managed in accordance with NHS guidelines and undertaken by the executive level governing body overseeing said functions of the hospital. Data Management: The use of above mentioned IT infrastructure to enable efficient data forecasts and effective material management. References: Bower, Denise 2003, ‘Management of procurement’ Pearson Publishing Fleming, Quentin 2003, ‘Project procurement management’ SUNY press Zaman, Nadeem 2011, ‘Procurement Management Process’ Toronto Press Sherman, Stanley 1985, ‘Government Procurement Management’ Penguin Publishing England, Wilbur 2009, ‘Modern procurement management’ Harvard Press Ukalkar, Sanjay 2000, ‘Strategic Procurement Management’ Abrahms Publishing Nelson, Clarence 2001, ‘IT use in Procurement Managament’ SUNY press

African American Literatury Essay

African-American literature can be defined as writings by people of African descent living in the United States of America. The African-American literary tradition began with the oral culture long before any of the materials in it were written on. Throughout their American history, African-Americans have used the oral culture as a natural part of black expressive culture. They are very powerful voices that give fuller meanings to words on a page. The America South is an important landscape in African-American literature. The South was a primary port of entry for slaving vessels. Most black slaves remained in the Southern states. The South was an important place for the African-American literature because the South was served as the site of hope and change for the black slaves but there were also horrors. The majority of African captives entered the New World from the Southern ports and remained in the Southern states. They relied heavily on the African cultural heritage and belief systems familiar to them. During their 300 years of slavery and servitude, black slaves and their descendants developed a complex relationship with the South. Amiri Baraka concluded that the South is a part of the scene of the crime, a land that is about the site of hope and the scene of the crime. For many African Americans, the South serves as the site of hope and change. The South has given birth to many African-American cultural practices, such as literature. This is the spiritual and ancestral home for African Americans and plays a dominant role in African-American literature. Before the American Civil War, African-American literature primarily focused on the issue of slavery, as indicated by the subgenre of slave narratives The most noted authors were all incited and inspired by the goings on in the south. Frederick Douglass was one of the most important African-American authors from the literary landscape in the South. He chronicled his life from bondage to freedom in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845), which helped the American public to know the truth about the institution of slavery and dismiss the myth that slaves were happy and treated well. He said, the South was not only a notorious site of slavery, it was also a landscape of racial terror and widespread violence. The biggest crime the South ever committed is the institution and perpetuation of slavery. But the Southern landscape is more than just the â€Å"scene of the crime† in African-American literature. It has multiple personalities that demand multiple treatments. Many 20th-century African-American writers, whether born and raised in the South or not, have used the southern landscape in their works to explore the complex relationships African-American communities have with the South. In her poem â€Å"Southern Song,† Margaret Walker (1915 – 1998) sings a praise song to the southern suns and southern land despite the â€Å"mobs† and â€Å"a nightmare full of oil and flame. † Southern Song I want my body bathed again by southern suns, my soul reclaimed again from southern land. I want to rest again in southern fields, in grass and hay and clover bloom; to lay my hand again upon the clay baked by a southern sun, to touch the rain-soaked earth and smell the smell of soil. I want my rest unbroken in the fields of southern earth; freedom to watch the corn wave silver in the sun and mark the splashing of a brook, a pond with ducks and frogs and count the clouds. I want no mobs to wrench me from my southern rest; no forms to take me in the night and burn my shack and make for me a nightmare full of oil and flame. I want my careless song to strike no minor key; no fiend to stand between my body’s soutnern song–the fusion of the South, my body’s song and me. Margaret Walker’s poem characterizes the complex literary representations of the South in a great deal of African-American literature, for the speaker at once basks in the beauty of her homeland (â€Å"I want my body bathed again by southern suns†). Yet at the same time experiences a homecoming complicated by the threat of Southern violence (â€Å"I want no mobs to wrench me from my southern rest†). The theme of the southern home and its layered history is a prevalent one throughout the tradition of African-American literature. In conclusion, 90 percent of African-Americans lived in the South, it is no wonder that this landscape has taken on a great deal of cultural and historical significance. Literature from the South is complex and often absurd, as the region emerges repeatedly as a site of home.

Whole Foods Individual Case, Financial Analysis Essays

Whole Foods Individual Case, Financial Analysis Essays Whole Foods Individual Case, Financial Analysis Paper Whole Foods Individual Case, Financial Analysis Paper This report is written in order to perform financial analysis on Whole Foods Market Inc and its competitor Safeway Inc. This in depth report is both to determine which company is doing financially better and how also how they are doing comparing them to their whole industry. The ratios in this report are going to be used to compare WF to its competitior and also to compare its financial performances to the whole Grocery store industry (SIC: 5411) to see how Whole Foods Inc is doing in regards to the whole industry. It is crucial to compare a company’s ratios with the industry’s, because they may appear good or bad when comparing with the company’s competitors, however, when comparing these ratios to the industry a different conclusion could be drawn. Another purpose of this paper is to show the trends and relationships of this company which will allow us to assess Whole Foods’ weaknesses and strength. In this report, you will come across profitability ratios, liquidity ratios and asset utilization ratios of both companies and also the industry’s. Background Both Safeway and Whole Foods Market are major players in the Grocery stores industry and they are both leading the natural organic food field. from a Wall Street perspective, the highest profile player in natural / organic foods is likely Whole Foods (WFMI). The company’s revenues have increased 18% a year, on average (Value line). The company’s merchandise line of over 1,500 items includes organically grown. he company owns about 287 store locations in 38 states and Washington, D. C. , as well as five stores in the U. K and Canada. From 2010 through 2013, Whole Foods plans to open 53 new stores, including eight relocations(Plunkett research). The original whole foods Market opened in 1980 in Texas with a stuff of 19 only. Safeway Inc opened its first store in 1915 in Idaho. Safeway Stores, is one of the largest food retailers in North America, operating 1,712 stores. The company recently expanded its O Organics line of certified organic foods and beverages to over 300 exclusive products. Exhibit 1: source Industry ratios : retrieved November 4th 2010 from ,Reuters. om | | | |Whole foods | | | | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 |Industry | |ROA |7. 22% |9. 98% |5. 69% |3. 39% |3. 88% |2. 38 | |Profit Margin |2. 90% |3. 63% |2. 77% |1. 4% |1. 83% |1. 8 | Exhibit 1 | | | |Safeway | | | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 | |ROA |3. 56% |5. 35% |5. 03% |5. 52% |-7. 78% | |Profit Margin |1. 46% |2. 17% |2. 10% |2. 9% |-2. 69% | In analyzing the profitability ratios, we see that WF had better profit margin than Safeway ev ery year in the last five years, except 2008. However in 2009, WF’s profit margin was 0. 3%lower than the industry’s average. In 2008, safeway outperformed WF’s profit margins 0. 75%. However, in 2009 Safeway had a negative profit margin due to their net income loss. Looking at both company’s profit margins in 2008 and 2009, we can conclude that both companies are struggling to make high profit margins. WF’s (ROA) suggests a good profitability from 2005 to 2007; however, it started to decline in 2008 and 2009. WF’s (ROA) was 1. 5% higher than the average industry ratio. Safeway’s ROE rations were lower than WF’s every year in the past 5 years, except from 2008 again, where their ROA was 2. 13% higher than WF’s. This shows that WF’s has been doing a better job than Safeway at using its assets to generate a profit. Based on the Profit margin and ROA and we could conclude that WF is doing a better a job than Safeway at managing its assets efficiently in order to generate a profit. Moreover, we could also conclude that WF has been doing really well comparing it to the other compnay’s in the same industry since all its profitability ratios were higher than the industy’s. | | | | whole foods | |Industry | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 |2009 | |inventory turover |26. 09 |26. 78 |24. 42 |23. 90 |23,27 |20. | | | | | safeway | | | | |inventory turnover |9. 92 |10. 58 |11. 08 |11. 72 |11. 43 | | Source: Industry ratios from Reuters. com, exhibit 1 Inventory turnover: Comparing inventory turnover is extremely crucial especially for the Grocery industry where it all comes down on how fast you sell your inventory. Every year since 2005, Whole food’s inventory turnover is more than twice. This reveals that whole Foods turns its inventory twice as fast as Safeway. This high inventory turnover demonstrates WF’s strong sales. This could explain the company’s revenues that have been increasing18% a year, on average, so far this decade. By comparison, Kroger and Safeway (SWY) have seen their revenues increase at low single-digit rates over the same stretch( Value line. com). WF fast growth could be also explained by the growth in consumption of organic food, it jumped from 5 Billion $ in 1997 to almost 25 billion in 2008( look at exhibit 5). Revenue Growth of Whole Foods. Source  : Retreived Novermber 4th, from plunkettresearchonline. com database [pic] We can see from this charts that sales have been constantly growing over the past decade and that is the best growth in sales in the supermarket industry ( Standard and poors). Advanced dupont method Chart3 , exhibit 1 Metric  : I belive that there are many important metric in the retail industry, but the most important one is sales per square foot. | | | |Whole foods | | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 | |RONA |9. 54% |15. 70% |8. 12% |5. 38% |5. 89% | |Spread |2. 76% |15. 71% |7. 78% |3. 21% |3. 14% | |fin lev |1. 38% |0. 61% |50. 67% |61. 67% |48. 15% | |ROE |9. 98% |14. 52% |12. 3% |7. 60% |9. 02% | | | | | | | | | | | |Safeway | | | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 | |RONA |7. 78% |10. 49% |5. 03% |10. 35% |-7. 78% | |Spread |2. 85% |4. 7% |4. 59% |5. 45% |-16. 53% | |fin lev |109. 83% |88. 88% |69. 50% |69. 27% |88. 16% | |ROE |11. 41% |15. 36% |5. 03% |14. 22% |-22. 19% | Advanced dupont method Chart3 , exhibit 1 [pic] Source : Retreived on November 4th from, netadvantage. standardandpoors. com The advanced Dupont model is used to separate the effects of operating and financing decisions which was not possible with the old dupont version. As shown in the formula above ,the higher the RNOA, Spread and Financial leveraged, the higher the ROE will get. Throughout the last 5 years expet from 2008, WF had a higher RONA and higher spread than Safeway, but they end up with a lower ROE in both years( see chart 3). WF’s higher RONA in those 4 years shows that WF uses its assets more efficientely than Safeway It also reveals that WF controls its costs better than Safeway. Looking at Safeway’s Balance sheets and income statement, we can conclude that Safeway has a low RONA( exibit 2, 3 and 4) and it is due to their low Net Operating profit. This could mean that Safeway has too much fixed assets that is not used efficiently, or it may also indicate that Safeway manages its expenses poorly comparing it to WF. Safeway is planning to reduce the size of its stores when opening new once( Standard Poors),showing they want to improve their RONA. During 4 out of these 5 last years, WF has been having a better spread than Safeway, because they have been getting a better RONA and because Safeway’s net borrowing cost is really high comparing it to their RONA. In 2009, we can see that Safeway had a negative RONA of -7. 8% due to the negative Net operating profit after tax. This affected their spread negatively since it is directly related to the RNOA. We could see from chart 3 that the reason why Safeway were getting higher ROE during in 2005, 2006. And 2008 is because they were using a lot financial leverage. In 2005 and 2006 Safeway’s Financial leverage was 109,83% and 88,88%, against only 1. 38% and 14. 52% for WF. Even if Safeway had a negative ROE in 2009, they used 88. 16% of financial leverage against only 48. 15%. This shows that the reason why Safeway got better ROE in 2005. 006. and 2008 is because they increased it with they increased it with their high leverage. Therefore we could conclude form the advanced Dupont analysis that WF has been doing better in terms of operating performance and that Safeway relies much more on financial leverage than WF. Conclusion. : We can conclude that after analyzing both companies’ ROA, RONA, Sread, asset turnover and Financial leverage, we can infer that Whole is using its assets better than Safeway and that it is growing its sales at a faster pace than Safeway. Comparing WF ratios with its industry, It is apparent to see that WF is doing really well against the average of the whole industry. Bibliography Retrieved November 4, 2010 reuters. com/finance/stocks/financialHighlights? symbol=WFMI. O Retrieved November 4, 2010 valueline. com/ Retrieved November 4, 2010 netadvantage. standardandpoors. com Retrieved from November 4, 2010 mergentonline. com/compsearch. asp Retrieved November 4, 2010 plunkettresearchonline. com .

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