Cadbury | Marketing Analysis

Cadbury | Marketing Analysis Cadbury, the global leader in the chocolate confectionery market, began in 1824 when a young Quaker named John Cadbury opened up a shop in Birmingham. He sold tea, coffee and drinking cocoa and chocolate and one of the main causes of poverty was alcohol, he hoped that his product would prove to be a suitable alternative for it and so he maintained high quality standards for all of his products. Quakers was not allowed to attend university at that time and his anti-military thoughts also kept him away from the military, so he devoted his time towards business related activities or to other social reforms. John was selling 11 different types of cocoa and 16 different kinds of drinking chocolate by 1842. His brother, Benjamin also joined the company and they formed Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. They got the Royal Warranty from Queen Victoria in 1854 and opened their office in London. The partnership failed after six years when Johns wife died and due to his deteriorating health. The business was handed over to George and Richard, Johns sons and they operated the business later on. The two brothers continued to expand their business and were earning profit now. Cadburys Cocoa Essence, which was advertised as absolutely pure and therefore best, was an all-natural product made with pure cocoa butter and no starchy ingredients. Cocoa Essence was the beginning of chocolate as we know it today. They moved their business to South of Birmingham and the area became popularly known as, Bournville. Due to profitable business, the brothers also started selling tea in 1873. Master confectioner Frederic Kinchelman was appointed to share his recipe and production secrets with Cadbury workers. This resulted in Cadbury producing chocolate covered nougats, bonbons delices, pistache, caramels, avelines and more. In 1897, they manufactured their first milk chocolate and two years later, they were incorporated as a limited company and had hired 2600 people in their factory. Cadbury supported World War I and sent books, chocolates and clothes to the soldier. Around 2000 of their employees joined the armed forces. These people were allowed to work in the factory after taking educational courses once they were back from the war. During this period trade overseas increased, and Cadbury opened its first overseas factory near Hobart, Tasmania. The next year Cadbury merged with JS Fry Sons, a past market leader in chocolate. Cadbury also extended their support in the Second World War. Their factories were used for the manufacturing of arms and ammunitions. Their growing fields were used as runways for the airplanes used in wars. Cadbury St. Johns Ambulance unit helped people during air raids and chocolate were provided to soldiers through out the war. In 1969 Cadbury merged with Schweppes (a brand famous for manufacturing carbonated soft drinks and mineral water) to form Cadbury Schweppes. These two merged companies went on to acquire Sunkist, Canada Dry, Typhoo Tea and more. Schweppes Beverages was created, and the manufacture of Cadbury confectionery brands was licensed to Hershey. Today Cadbury Schweppes is the largest confectionery company in the world, employing more than 70,000 employees. In 2006 the company had over $15 billion in overall sales. Cadbury Product Timeline A history of Cadburys sweet success à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1824 John Cadbury, the son of Richard Cadbury, opened his shop in Birmingham and sold tea, coffee,hops, mustard, cocoa and drinking chocolate. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1866 The Cadbury brothers introduce a new cocoa process to produce a much more palatable Cocoa Essence the forerunner of the cocoa we know today. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1897 First milk chocolate manufactured by chocolate. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1904 George Cadbury Junior perfects a new recipe for milk chocolate. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1905 Cadbury launched Dairy Milk into the market contained more milk than any other chocolates. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1913 Dairy Milk became Cadburys best-selling line. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1915 Cadbury Milk Tray was introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1920 Cadbury Flake was introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1923 Cream filled eggs, the forerunner of Cadburys Creme Egg, were introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Mid-1920s Cadbury Dairy Milk gains its status as the brand leader in the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1928 Fruit and Nut was introduced as a variation of Dairy Milk and Cadbury introduced the glass and a half advertising slogan. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1933 Cadbury added Whole Nut to the Dairy Milk family. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1938 Cadbury Roses were launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1956 Cadbury supplied Roses for a Royal tour of East Africa. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1958 Picnic was launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1960s Chocolate Éclairs were launched by London confectioner, James Pascall. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1971 Halls joined the Adams family and Cadbury Creme Egg was launched. Pascalls was bought by Cadbury, with Eclairs becoming the second largest brand in the company (at that time). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1974 Cadbury Eclairs were launched only in the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1976 Cadbury Caramel was launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1979 New advertising idea of saying thank you with Cadbury Roses was introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1980-96 Cadbury Eclairs became an international brand. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1985 Cadbury Creme Egg launched a new campaign called, How do you eat yours? . à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1987 Cadbury Twirl was launched and Cadbury Roses became the leading brand in the twist-wrap market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1998 Cadbury Dairy Milk was relaunched only in the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1999 Cadbury Eclairs were relaunched as Cadbury Choclairs in important markets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 2000 Cadbury Snowflake was launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 2005 Cadbury Schweppes acquires Green Blacks, the UK premium chocolate brand. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 2010 Company accepted takeover bid from US food giant Kraft. Interesting Facts about Cadbury Instead of printing texts on chocolate boxes, Cadbury became the first company to include pictures as well. George Cadbury emphasized on mother-children relationship and whenever any woman worker had a baby, she was asked to leave the job and take care of the baby. Cadbury became the first company offering kitchens with dining tables and food for sale in 1886. A miniature metal animal (elephant, penguin, owl, fox, duck, squirrel, rabbit or turtle) was given away with specially designed cocoa tins in 1934. In the same year, Cadburys tokens, which came with packs of cocoa, could be redeemed for lamps, kettles and saucepans. Many children joined Cadburys Cococub Club in 1936. Cadburys World Visitor Center opened in 1990, welcoming 400,000 visitors in its first year. A Get Active program was launched by Cadbury in 2003, helping 10,000 teachers get in shape. Cadbury a leader in the global confectionery market Cadbury is one of the worlds leading confectionary firms, selling chocolate, gum and candy under its own name in addition to other brands such as Halls and Green and Blacks. It also produces a range of beverages and functional and health foods. The organization now operates in more than 60 countries, with the United States, New Zealand, Turkey and Canada among the nations in which its various products are sold. It has approximately 45000 employees and works with around 35000 direct and indirect suppliers. The firm earned a 7 percent rise in their revenue recently. Key categories and brands Cadbury is operating in a number of markets at the same time, including the functional and health foods and beverages sectors. It also sells a wide range of confectionery throughout the world both under its own brand and a range of other names. Among these are Green and Blacks chocolate ( UKs leading premium chocolate product). Other confectionery products include Cadbury Roses boxes of individually wrapped assorted chocolates and the Cadburys Creme Egg. Flake, Eclairs and Dairy Milk are the chocolates that are sold under Cadburys brand name. Other products that are offered by the firm within the confectionery sector include Freddo, Caramilk, Old Gold and Wendel Mieszanka Wedlowska. Cadbury is also a major player in the gum market, with Bubblicious bubblegum among the range of such products. Bubblicious is the number one bubblegum in Canada and the second-most popular in the United States. It comes in a variety of flavours including Watermelon Wave and Strawberry Splash. Stride is also among the gums available on the US market, while First a sugar-free gum launched in Turkey in 1995 has a number of sub-brands such as Neogum Lava. Among this particular product range is First Duo which contains a number of herbal active ingredients such as parsley, sunflower and extract of green tea aimed at providing clean and fresh breath. The firm is also active within the beverages sector, with its leading brands here including Bournvita a cocoa-based drink that can be mixed with water and/or milk which is particularly popular in India and Nigeria Cadbury Bournville Cocoa and Cadbury Drinking Chocolate. Cadburys Halls brand has a major stake within the functional and health foods sector. The range of mentholated products which includes Halls Defense, Fruit Breezers and Maxair provide nose and throat relief for those suffering from colds, coughs and other ailments and has a 22 per cent share of the medicated confectionery market. It also accounts for more than half of all cough drop products sold throughout the world and has licensed medicated status in northern hemisphere countries including Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. In other parts of the world particularly in hot, dry countries Halls products tend to be purchased for the purposes of mouth refreshment. The confectionary market was booming as many multinational firms were entering. Till the mid 80s, chocolate market was small and almost dominated by Cadbury only. It made chocolate for a distinct category with an identity of its own. So chocolates carried a only for kids tag ad and kept the adults away. Cadbury had 80% of the market share by mid 80s. Other categories like Amul and Campco tried to break into the market and reduce Cadburys market share, but failed. By now chocolate were categorized as luxury and were reserved for special occasions and for rewarding and reinforcing the positive behavior. Later on Cadbury also dominated the market because it not only focused on children, but on adults also. While its competitors thought and made chocolates only for children, due to which Cadbury had an upper hand in the chocolate market. Trends in the Industry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Changes are rapidly taking place these days, so everyone (including the young and the elderly) will change according to the new lifestyle and will adapt to chocolate eating. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Population and family incomes as well as urbanization are increasing in the industry. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Approximately 6 million people have upgraded to the middle class. On February 2, 2010, Cadbury became part of Kraft Foods as both of them merged. Some fast facts on the combined company of Cadbury and Kraft are: Our Global Reach  · Approximately $50 billion in revenues  · 25%+ of global revenue from emerging markets  · #1 in global confectionery  · #1 in global biscuits  · More than 50% of global revenue from snacks and confectionery Our Brand Portfolio  · 11 brands with more than $1 billion in revenue  · 70+ brands with more than $100 million in revenue  · 40+ brands over 100 years old  · 80% revenue from #1 share positions Explanation Cadbury is considered in the market structure of Monopolistic Competition. All the firms in the industry face a lot of competition from each other and Hersheys and Nestle are some of the major competitors of Hersheys, to name a few. There is no collusion between such firms and so each firm determines its own pricing policy without considering the possible reactions of rival firms. They all are producing products with slightly different physical characteristics, offer varying degrees of customer service, providing various amounts of locational convenience or proclaim special qualities, real or imagined, for their products. Product differentiation may also be created through the use of brand names and trademarks, packaging, and celebrity connections, for example, Cadbury included Amitabh Bachan in their advertisements. It shows that the demand for Cadbury products is highly elastic. Entry and exit of firms in monopolistic competition is relatively easy as economies of scale are few and capital requirements are low and nothing prevents an unprofitable monopolistic competitor from holding a going-out-of-business sale and shutting down. The expense and effort of the firms would be wasted if the consumers do not know about the product, so the firms often advertise heavily and the goal of product differentiation and advertising is nonprice competition, which is to make price less of a factor and make product differences a greater factor. If it becomes successful, the demand curve of the firm shifts towards the right and becomes less elastic. ADVERTISING SALES PROMOTION Advertising and Sales promotion are very essential for a business to prosper and to generate revenue. As Cadbury has many substitutes as well like Hersheys and Nestle etc., so it is in a stage of great competition. It needs to focus a lot on advertising to capture the market share because all of the firms in the industry are selling differentiated products, due to which they are heavily focusing on advertising. Slogans of advertising are the tools of sales promotion are very important as they persuade the customer to purchase the product. Following are a few advertising slogans used by Cadbury for introducing the product to the customers:- THE REAL TASTE OF LIFE (DAIRY MILK ) THODI SI PET POOJA KABHI BHI KAHI BHI (PERK) WHEN EVER ON HUNGER STRIKE (PERK) TAN KI SHAKTI, MAN KI SHAKTI (BOURNVITA) KUCH ZADA HI SOLID (PICNIC) YEH CHOCOLATE KHAE AAP INHE KHAE (ECLAIRS) Along with great advertisements, these slogans are beautifully used by Cadbury so they can persuade the consumer to buy the product. PRICING POLICIES ADOPTED BY CADBURY Although there is intense competition among different chocolate firms for market share and new products, it has been seen that the prices of chocolates has risen since the last one year. Prices of important brands like Nestles Kitkat and Cadburys Dairy Milk have rose by 25 per cent each and prices of brands like Cadburys Eclairs have also rose. Cocoa is one of the most important inputs of Cadburys chocolate and accounts for 45% of the total cost of chocolate production. Since its domestic production (estimated at 4500 to 5000 tonnes for the current year) is not increasing in India, so they have to import it at a higher price. More than half of the cocoa used in production is being imported. This is one of the major reasons why a rise in prices of Cadburys chocolate can be seen. Along with it, the Indian rupee is also depreciating, so it makes the company worse off. Another reason is that internationally the prices of cocoa has risen, so the production cost of firm increases which compels the firm to rise its prices. The excise duties have imposed a heavier charge on imports by increasing the tax paid on excise duties from 8% to 18%.Maximum retail prices have been introduced in the budget which adds to the cost of production. All these factors have risen the cost of production of the firm and it is unlikely that the prices will recede in the near future. FACTORS INFLUENCING PRICING OF CADBURY Internal Factors Corporate and marketing objectives of the firm. The image sought by the firm through pricing. The characteristics of the product. Price elasticity of demand of the product. The stage of the product on the product life cycle. Use pattern and turn around rate of the product. Cost of manufacturing and marketing. Extent of distinctiveness of the product and extent of production differentiation practiced by the firm. Other elements of the marketing mix of the firm and their interaction with pricing. Composition of the product line of the firm. External Factors Market characteristics. Buyers behavior in respect of the given product. Bargaining power of major customers. Competitors pricing policy. Government controls regulations on pricing. Other relevant legal aspects. Societal (or social) considerations. Understanding, if any reached with price cartels. Cadbury objective of pricing Profit maximization in the short-term. Profit optimization in the long-term. A minimum return (or target return) on investment. A minimum return on sales turnover. Targets sales volume. Target market share. Deeper penetration of the market. Entering new markets. Target profit on the entire product line irrespective of profit level in individual products. Keeping competition out, or keeping it under check. Fast turn around and early cash recovery. Stabilizing prices and margins in the market. Cadbury vs Kraft Confectionery Market Value Share by Region 2008 The Kraft/Cadbury strategic fit It is the end of 3 years turnaround plan and its redeveloped growth strategy is strongly based on selected primary categories, such as chocolate, biscuits and coffee. It has secured a leading position after the attainment of DANONEs biscuit and cereals division in the global market with 18.4% value share, the company seems to follow the same policies in order to gain a leading position in confectionery market. The joint value share of Kraft and Cadbury in the global confectionery market will be 14.9%, it captures the top position from current leader Mars (14.5%). Krafts further expansion in confectionery market is dependent on its current reforms strategies and its aim is to become a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals. It is expanding its activities in confectionery which will fully complement the Danone biscuits and cereal product operations. Even though Krafts market share is higher in all region except for the smallest Middle East, Africa and Australia is comparatively higher than Cadburys, in confectionery Cadbury has a noteworthy lead over Kraft, except for Eastern Europe where Kraft was one of the first multinational movers to enter the market. With this attainment Kraft will gain a strong value share and leading position in many major developing markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific, such as India As well as wider geographical reach, Kraft will also benefit from Cadburys brands meeting its own chocolate and sugar confectionery portfolio as well. Attaining Cadbury Kraft will get leading position in global confectionery and it helps it expand it geographical coverage in meeting regions. However, even confectionery is expected to perform below overall packaged food growth over the 2009-2014 period, with a 1.5% CAGR compared to a 1.7% CAGR, respectively. Asia Pacific and Latin America are most relevant set, gains of Kraft. As their confectionery market of 2009 and 2014 are expected to post CAGR of 2.3% and 2.6% respectively DANONEs biscuits and Cadbury are Krafts latest acquisitions and are revealing the companys strategic direction of establishing strong growth platforms in categories in which it can benefit from complementary operations and significant economies of scale. Revenue Performance by Category Throughout the year there was a good demand for chocolates and bagged candies the expected beneficiary of stay at home culture. At the same time, regardless to a softer start to the year, the more functional or activity related product, like medicated gums and candies delivered a positive growth from the end of second quarter. Chocolate (46% of revenue in 2009) delivered revenue growth of 7%, reflecting strong performances in the UK, India and South Africa. India and South Africa benefited from continued investment behind affordable products, supporting chocolate growth in emerging markets of 11%. Australia delivered progressively good growth, benefiting from the relaunch of the core Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) brand in the second quarter of the year. Similarly, our business in Poland benefited from the relaunch of Wedel in the second half, leveraging the experience of the UK relaunch of CDM in 2008. Gum (33%) revenue growth improved strongly in the second half (up 5%) more than compensating for the weak first quarter. As a result, Gum was up 2% for the year as a whole. Despite weak market conditions overall, our businesses improved market share in nearly all key markets, including the US where the launch of Trident Layers in the second half re-established strong growth momentum in the category. Candy (21%) revenues grew 5% for the year as a whole reflecting strong second half growth of 9% with significantly improved performances from Halls, Éclairs and other mainstream candy brands. Halls benefited from product innovation and a good start to the cold and flu season. Innovation drove strong growth in other focus brands, including Éclairs (up 29%) and The Natural Confectionery Co (up 24%). Revenue Performance by Market Our performance by market reflected some local market share performances, even though weak economic conditions in many developed markets, in addition to the different mix between chocolate, gum and candy. Generally, based on the markets for which we have recent share data available, that represent 90% of our revenue, market share, progress has been very good. Cadbury has generated over 70% of our revenue. In emerging markets (38% of revenue in 2009), revenue growth was again very strong for the year as a whole, up 9% (up 7% in the first half and up 10% in the second half), led by strong performances in India, the Middle East and Africa and South America. While trading in European emerging markets was challenging, Russia and Turkey improved toward the end of the period, and both countries delivered growth for the year. In developed markets (62%), revenue grew 2% with an improved second half (up 3%) offsetting the slow start to the year. The impact of weak market conditions in developed Europe was mitigated by strong growth in the UK and significantly improved performance in the US and Canada. V I S I O N The governing objective for Cadbury is to deliver: Superior Shareholder Value Cadbury in every pocket The company believes this requires: Broadening our consumer appeal and extending their reach to newer markets Sustained growth of their market share through aggressive product development Striving for international quality in their products and processes Focusing on cost competitiveness and productivity in their operations and innovative utilisation of their assets Investing to develop people. Developing a product which would gain a permanent place in the companys product portfolio is not an easy task. It take minimum 58 new product ideas in order to come up with on successful new product and some researchers estimate to a 100 ideas. Majority of the ideas fail even before they are made to the consumers, a rest major portion fails during the marketing test process and do not make it to national distribution. With the enormous investments needed to fund such projects it becomes essential that the entire project is carefully researched. Successful new product development is mainly team work research and development, marketing and sales, market research, production, engineering and finance. At Cadbury, the marketing role is fulfilled by the Product/Brand Manager , function is to coordinate and mastermind the project through from the initial brief to national launch, until the largest sales capacity has been achieved. The initial incentive for embarking on a New Product Develop ment project can be: Changes in consumer lifestyles Technology developments where new processing techniques have been devised The need for market extension abroad, particularly into Asia Pacific, and the demise of trade barriers. However, products cannot be simply transferred from one market to another without review and possible adaptation to suit differing expectations and cultures. Whether the product strategy is: Existing product improvement New product development within the current range of activity Production diversification. Situational factors when designing market planning and analysis of environment is serious as it would allow Dairy Milk to capitalize on organizational strengths, minimize any weaknesses, exploit market opportunities and avoid any threats. Strengths Cadbury would realize several possible advantages in going abroad. By penetrating a foreign market the company could: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Maintain a stable growth of a company by maximizing the use of its production capacity and thus increase economies of scale and scope. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ With its brand name, Cadbury could counterattack the competitors it faces in the domestic market by attacking their domestic market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Keep up with the financial strength by increasing its sales and profit, indeed the foreign market could present higher profit opportunities than the domestic products. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Acquisition rules in UK reduce its dependence on the UK market and therefore diversify its market specific risks. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Overall, Cadbury has been successful through the new products (development) it has to offer. Weaknesses Overall, Cadbury has a weak position in the US market; therefore, need to change its target to a different location. It lacks of distribution network, it also has a small total of market share altogether. Therefore in order to market the product in France successfully, Cadbury has to find out how it should improve, in order to have great performance. It should also find out, what are the situations they can avoid in order to be successful. In order to market products the following issues should be considered: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Total French production of chocolate bars and confectionary, which has increased by 24.5 % between 1988 and 1991, has slowed down in more recent years, partly due to the economic fall. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Intake of chocolate products, which has been growing since 1991, remained properly still in 1992, causing a fall in demand due to the gloomy economic situation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sales of milk chocolate bars, which account for 24% by volume of total sales of chocolate bars, came down by 3.7 %. Opportunities Through its confectionary product line, least to mention is to build feasible positions in focused markets through biological growth and acquirement. Besides what is mention above, Cadbury has opportunities to have developed market in Russia and China. The Timeout Candy Bar market is growing worldwide. This company is also at the same time distributing its products through the internet Develop Gourmet Line. Besides developing the Low Calorie variety of chocolates and sweets, they also offer the Sugar Free sweets variety. This has therefore completely opened a Cadbury world in US. In order to get the product into a new foreign market, France, Cadbury would have good opportunities in store for them. Opportunities are as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In terms of political issues, France has advanced parliamentary democracy and is highly stable politically. The political power is nationalized in the parliament, the Prime Minister and the President. The country specific risk is insignificant. France is a member of the European Community and has excellent relations with the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economically, France has the fourth largest GDP in the world. It has an advanced market based economy. Despite a recent recession, its economy is very strong and also highly relaxed in line with European Union policies. France represents a very large potential market with a high standard of living and purchasing power. The economy is highly open internationally and conducts a high percentage of trade within its European partners. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ With regards to its social situation, France has a broadly central/southern European culture which has many similarities with the UK. However cultural differences do exist and these must be considered when planning for the market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ France has a high technological level and a lot of industries are based in the technological sector. This technological base constitutes one of Frances competitive advantages. Threats Due to its confectionary products, it is very important for Cadbury threat that is present or eminent. The company should take note of the changes in the consumers buying trend. It is perceived that consumers might shift from chocolates to Healthy snacks. If this were to happen, there might be a poor product development which would stain the Cadburys name. Useless to talk about price wars would occur between its competitors like Mars, Hershey and Nestle. Due to the abovementioned, there would be seasonal sales slumps all year round which will reflect to an increase in cost of the raw materials needed. Cadbury would then have to be prepared for growth of small local gourmet chocolates and regional candy manufacturers. However if Cadbury were to market its products in France, the company has to be aware of the risks it could meet. It might: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Not understand foreign customer preferences and fail to offer a competitively attractive product; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Not understand the foreign countrys business culture or know how to deal effectively with foreign nationals; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Underestimate foreign regulations and incur unexpected costs. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Threat of entry due to the competition growing through acquisition. Although the company has come up with a few current products, it is targeting to a new market. Despite the competition against the rest (Hersheys, MM Mars and Nestle), Cadbury needs to have a bargaining power of the buyers in order to be competitive in the market. The company even needs to know that substitutes are not a major concern. Finally, to conclude that Cadbury is in the Market Development, they would have to have the bargaining power of suppliers as they are not in power position due to commodity like nature. And also to be aware of the cost of packaging materials as it has increased over time. There are a few strategic recommendations that Cadbury could come up with in order to market its products not only in the region of France, but also to market it products successfully. After much discussion on the position of the product Urban Poverty in Canada: Political Analysis Urban Poverty in Canada: Political Analysis Submitted to: Professor. Nugent Submitted by: Nadia Haidar Introduction Urban poverty in Canada has become one of the major factors that require consideration in a political perspective to arrive at a solution. This problem took its foothold in the country between the year 1990 and 2000. According to a report by the urban poverty project, in the year 2012 about half of Canada’s population an amount totaling to 15.3 million people lived in just four of the urban areas among them Toronto. This makes the country of Canada one of the most urbanized countries with a population of 25 million people living in the urban areas. Among these people about one of every six people lived in Poverty. In the year 2000, about 3.3 million people who are poor Canadians had their residence in the Census Metropolitan areas. As the population of the people in the Metropolitan area grow, the rate of poor urban dwellers increases at a faster rate. Among the major city of Canada, the City of Toronto has the largest number of low earning people with a population of about 77 1530 and has a poverty rate of about 16.2%. (Katherine, 2007) Abstract With the upcoming elections of the Ontario provincial election, a city election, and a federal election, this paper tries to focus on the election in terms of the impact it would have on the geographical urban poverty. It also focuses on the platforms and candidates take on the various ideologies that they advocate for in their campaign in relation to the urban poverty. The paper also focuses on the debates and the effect of quality on the people as per the decision they make in voting for the leaders. One of the parties in with fighting for the poor urban people is the Communist party. The party which in the provincial elections due to happen on June the 12th, is running 11 Candidates has on its website encouraged people to vote for the program in which the working class were fighting for. According to the 1990 to 2000 report, about 45% of people living in the urban area contribute to the GDP of Canada. Yet among these people, the poor have quite a good percentage. According to one of their candidates Elizabeth Rowley she promises to put the needs of the people first before cooperate greed. The party intends to achieve this by offering good jobs to its people, affordable renting and housing controls among others. (Rowley, 2014 ) In the communist party campaign they are pointing out clear that, there is a gap between the rich and the poor, pointing out that the poverty level is on the rise and unemployment is quite as high as well. As the provincial leader of the communist party Ro wley points out that what they fear most is not the liberal party that has failed the people of Ontario, but the conservative party led by Tim Hudak. The conservative party is laying the facts clear that if elected they will lay down about 10000 people working in the public sector. According to the communist, this attempt would demolish the public sector. In attempt to slash the wages arguably, the conservative party would be contributing to the rise in the poverty level, greatly affecting the urban poverty negatively making it grow rather than decrease. Contrary to what the communist party is offering, with the likes of a quality public service with better health care and hospitals being one of their promises to the people. According to the NDP, they have an economic plan, which involves a raise in the minimum wage rate to $12 per hour and later tying it to the inflation. This move of increasing the current paltry by a dollar per hour as it is currently at $11 per hour will help the poor in the province to make more money to live off well. (Stockton, 2014) This comes from the leader of the NDP Andrea Horwath. Asking the employers to pay more however, would result to the workers losing their jobs. The Capitalists aim of cutting off operation costs and raising the price of the goods, acting in the disfavor of the poor. According to the campaign of the NDP party, their argument is that increasing the minimum wage gives the poor people a chance to have a hold of the money, which they spend, putting it in the circular flow of the economy thus experiencing growth. To dispute this however, looking at a place where it has been in application, in the United States of America, a study after comparing the geograph ical contiguous regions whose minimum wage was different found that a high minimum wage rate related to the unemployment rate in the region. (Debra Burke) Looking at the facts on the ground it is also important to identify the people who are working below the minimum age, only 4.6 % of the people of Ontario that works below the minimum wage rate. While this seems like quite a good idea, the minimum wage rate raise may not be the solution to most of the problems. The liberal party of Canada policy resolutions: Most of Toronto seems to ignore the local politics, with the current mayor Rob Ford still running for office. There are a number of other candidates among them Ashok Sajnani, Morgan Baskin, a dentists and a student who are considered as long shots for the job. Arguably, they should start the city hall politics serving as a councillor but not in their opinion. The Conservative’s party candidate however John Tory deemed as one of the most likely candidate to topple Rob Fords leadership idea as per his fiscal strategies include lowering taxes especially property taxes which to some extent is in the favor of the poor. (Powell, 2014) The debates of the parties in the Ontario representatives seem to carry weight on the people of Ontario based on their influence. The big parties do have a great say in the debates and the emphasis is majorly in them. The parties presented in the debates mostly are; the Liberal Party, the Progressive Conservative Party, and New Democratic party their leaders are Kathleen Wynne, Tim Hudak. The other parties, such as the communist party of Canada do not seem to get an equal platform with these two. The quality of the debates may be quite good since they are a great determinant of the polls; the politicians try their best to lay it out for the people the actions they are going to take once in their government. In a recent call from the doctors, they asked the four on the province political parties to engage in a debate involving health care. (CBC News, 2014) The poor people being among the great number of the 700000 Ontarians who do not have the primary access to such care needs clarifi cation. The Liberal leader take on this through their leader Kathleen Wynne promised of primary access to a health care provider by the year 2018. According to Kathleen, this would cost less than $20 million. In the opinion of the Progressive Conservative party through their leader Tim Hudak, he suggested demolishing the existing health service and focusing on the employees like nurses as the frontline. The New Democratic Party leader Andrea Howarth plans to reduce the time by half that ER wait times take. Adding another 250 nurse practitioners in the emergency rooms was a further suggestion as well as 50 new family clinics working on a 24-hour system. Despite this suggestion, the request to have a formal debate that involves the four leaders would help the citizens make an informed decision. The health care anticipated debate is a good example of showing the quality of the debates since they greatly affect the decision of the voter. In a study that was carried out by Ipsos, show th at the majority of the Ontarians whom were undecided about the leader they were going to support were going to make their decision based on the June 3rd debate. Thirty eight percent of the people make their decision on whom to vote for on the day after the debate. Thirteen percent of them wait until the last debate while fourteen percent will wait until the last week of the campaign, and eleven percent of the people make the decision on the day of the election. However, this is significant to the quality of the debate and how convincing they can be, the study also shows that sixty two percent of the Ontarians make the decision long before the elections begin with forty one percent of them not changing their decision throughout the campaign. Twenty-one percent of the Ontarians however might change their mind. (Ipsos, 2014) An issue reported with the debates is about the inaccessibility to the debate by candidates of the provincial election of Ontario. On May, 29th 2014, a debate was held in Cambridge Ontario and was inaccessible to the people with disability. The event organizers did not put into consideration that the disabled people too would want to attend the all candidates’ debate. In this event, the local advocator of the people with disabilities Lyn McGinnis was not able to access the all candidate debate. Having an accessible venue is important to have a barrier free debate that all willing to attend can do so. Conclusion Conclusively, the results of the election will greatly determine the state of the urban poverty since the policy that the party that will win by a majority will determine the future of the people. Different people hold different opinions in the parties’ and have a strategy to make their condition better. The liberal party may, to majority of these people, see that they have been failed by the party since in their rule, unemployment has not been solved, greater disparity of the poor and the rich, and the greedy capitalists have not made it better for the people. The political debates are of great significance to the election of the country. The quality of these debates is therefore required to be high to influence the voters to make their decision based on the policy that the different provincial parties make. Many families, including my own, have suffered through poverty decade after decade. It is up to us citizens to make this vote count, vote for the right party, and help end this vicious cycle of poverty so many Ontarians continue to suffer through. WORD COUNT: 1990 References CBC News. (2014, May 30). Ontario election 2014 :Doctors Want Parties to Debate . Debra Burke, S. M. (n.d.). Minimum Wage and Unemployment Rates :A study of Contiguous Counties . Ipsos. (2014, June 2). Whats Riding on the Ontario Election Leaders Debate. Retrieved from Ipsos News and Polls: www.ipsos-na.com Katherine, F. G. (2007). A Lost Decade: Urban Poverty in Canada 1990 to 2000. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development. Powell, B. (2014, March 15). Toronto Mayoral election Profile: John Tory. Toronto Stars. Rowley, E. (2014 , May 19) Communist Party of Canada. Retrieved from www.communistpartycanada.ca Stockton, M. W. (2014, May 24).Minimum Wage in the Ontario Election and Canada. The True North Times.

Essay --

Even though the American Revolution constituted represented a tremendous strike against the old social order, its founding ideals could not be realized within the socioeconomic framework that existed in colonial America. Power was placed in the hands of the moneyed class, which utilized federal, state, and local governments to consolidate its political and economic control. Small farmers, artisans, the working poor, and slaves faced injustices. Combating injustice is a long process and any relief is slow coming. Election campaigns require tremedous financial resources, so bought-and-paid-for politicians are servants of a financial aristocracy and not rather representatives of the American people. powerful interests—whether industrial, financial, or agricultural—that predominated in each state whose wealth and power far surpasses the European ruling classes so despised by the Founding Fathers. noble dream that the United States was founded on could not be fully realized within, was belied by the development of capitalism and the resulting exploitation of an emerging working class and the dispossession of small farmers. social inequality inequality and injustice still remaining privilege United States to seize control of the key strategic regions of the world In order for the American ruling class to impose its deeply reactionary agenda of austerity and imperialist expansion, it is dispensing with democracy and resorting to ever more repressive forms of rule. the winner will rule, not with the consent of the people, but at the bidding of Wall Street, which, with the rest of corporate America, is financing their $3 billion presidential campaigns. each state would have two senators, regardless of population, thus effectively dep... ...Constitutional Convention against â€Å"Insufficient checks against democracy† Thus, a tax on whiskey had a direct impact on income. And the fines for tax violation could exceed most people’s yearly earnings. Moreover, the tax was organized so smaller distillers would pay by the gallon, while larger distillers, who could produce in volume, could take advantage of a flat fee. The net effect was that big producers could undersell smaller ones. Hogeland states, â€Å"The goal was industry consolidation† more direct and extreme form of democratic expression to the demands of the popular classes. progressive tax on wealth diplomacy political cover† for the military operation power runs bottom-up rather than top-down unfulfilled ideals exploitation and social inequality against entrenched wealth and power to build a society based on the rule of law rather than rank and privilege.

Of Mice and Men Compare and Contrast

The book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is about two men named George and Lennie who are living in the time of the Great Depression. They travel together and after they get themselves into trouble in the city of Weed, they moved to work on a ranch. There is also a movie, â€Å"Of Mice and Men,† that is based off of the book. There are many themes in the story, one of them being power. The movie differs slightly from the book in the fact that it has fewer examples showing the importance of power, unlike the book where there are many instances of power. First off, power is shown, or in some instances not shown, in the characters. In both the book and the movie, George has a certain power over Lennie. He acts as his father: reprimanding him, protecting him, and telling him what to do for his own good like a normal father would have. A second character that supports the theme of power in the book and movie is Lennie. Although he doesn’t have a lot of logical power, he is a very physically powerful person in the movie and book. He’s tall, strong built, and just all around a big guy that can do a tremendous amount of physical labor. Another similarity between the book and movie relating to power is Curly, the boss’s son. He’s a very small man that likes to order people around and has the reputation of beating up bigger guys. Even though there are multiple examples of characters showing power in both the book and movie, there is an example of when the movie makes the theme less relevant to the story. In the book, Lennie has the power to remember to go to the brush, where George told him to go if he got into any trouble. But, in the movie, it was so that Lennie was lost and couldn’t find the brush. It made Lennie seem more vulnerable and with less logical power than in the book where he proved himself, aside from his challenges. The second subject that the theme is shown in is events. The events are both alike and different within the book and movie. In both the book and movie, George talks for Lennie in front of the boss when they first arrive at the ranch. He’s worried that Lennie will say something to reveal that he isn’t the smartest person and that it might prevent them from working there. A similarity is also the fact that when George and Lennie were ran out of Weed, they were being chased for no reason other than the word of the girl that Lennie accidentally scared. He had no intension of hurting her and never did, yet she still had the power to manipulate everyone to think that she was assaulted by Him. The last similarity of events that illustrate power is when Lennie accidentally kills the mice, the puppy, and Curly’s wife. He had so much physical power and didn’t know his own strength that he would kill living things before even realizing what was happening. This got him into a lot of trouble eventually. A significant difference in events that proves the importance power is that in the book, Curly’s wife who was originally looked at as a feeble, vulnerable woman with no power over anyone, all of a sudden demonstrated a great deal of authority over one of the black workers, Crooks. This was a very sudden turnaround in authority and changed the reader’s view about her. This happening never occurred in the movie and tremendously changed the outlook of power from the book. The last topic that displays the value of power is the details of the story. The first thing is that in both the movie and book Curly’s wife does not have a name. This may have been to imply that her name had little importance or power over the story. Her impact of getting Lennie killed from him accidentally killing her had nothing to do with her name. Another detail is that the stable keeper was African-American. This shows a lack of power in the movie and book because he was forced to live by himself and had no impact on the decisions or thoughts of the other men simply because of his race. A third detail is that George was much smaller than Lennie in both portrayals of the story, yet he had power over Lennie as if he was his father. This shows that even though one may be very powerful in a certain way like Lennie, they can still be controlled by someone that possibly had more confidence. All in all, the movie weighs the importance of power to some extent less than the book does. Both the book and movie’s characters are generally the same, except the book shows Lennie with more logical power than the movie does for when Lennie runs back to the brush to meet George. The events are very much alike also. But, the movie is lacking the event of Curly’s wife showing power over Crooks in his own cabin, which dramatically impacts the atmosphere of the story. The book and movie also have similar details showing power like Curly’s wife not having a name, Crooks not having a lot of power because of his race, and little George having power over Lennie. All these subjects help communicate how the movie and book relate to each other for showing power.

crazy Eddie fraud case - 1875 Words

Crazy Eddie, Inc. financial fraud case Crazy Eddie was an American retail store chain run by the Antar family, which was established as a private company in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar. The fraud at Crazy Eddie was one of the longest running in modern times, lasting from 1969 to 1987. Crazy Eddie became a known symbol for corporate fraud in its time, but has since been eclipsed by the Enron, Worldcom and Bernie Madoff accounting scandals. Commencement of fraud The fraud began almost immediately, with the management of Crazy Eddie underreporting taxable income through skimming cash sales, paying employees in cash to avoid payroll taxes and reporting fake insurance claims to the companys carriers.†¦show more content†¦Crazy Eddie limped along for another year before being liquidated to pay creditors. Eddie Antar, the CEO of Crazy Eddie, was charged with securities fraud and other crimes, but fled to Israel before his trial. He spent three years in hiding until he was eventually tracked down by authorities in 1992 and extradited back to the U.S. to face criminal charges. Antar and two other family members were also convicted for their role in the fraud. In 1997, Antar was sentenced to eight years in prison and paid large fines. He was later released in 1999. Crazy Eddie Red Flags The red flags in the Crazy Eddie, Inc. financial fraud case which could notify the potential fraud were as follows:- The tight knit Antar family ruling Crazy Eddie had virtual absolute control over all aspects of the business. Very poor audit trails and documentation. Major self-dealing transactions and related party transactions by family members. Substantial increases in wages from below market wages before the company went public. In 1985, an attempt was made to falsify certain store inventories which was uncovered by the auditors. The auditors accepted an excuse that it was not sanctioned by management. Substantial increases in gross margins, profits, inventories, debit memos etc. from prior periods for no logical reason. Significant volume of outstanding deposits in transit at fiscalShow MoreRelatedCrazy Eddie Case Analysis Essay722 Words   |  3 PagesIn Crazy Eddie Case, a former CPA, Sam E. Antar, was a key individual who helped Eddie Antar mastermind one of the largest securities frauds uncovered during the 1980s. Sam admitted that he had no empathy whatsoever for investors because he never concerned about morality or the suffering of those victims. Next I’ll analysis Crazy Eddie Case from ethical perspective and use Ethical Decision Making Model to evaluate Sam’s possible behaviors. 1. Frame the ethical issue: Should Sam join his cousinRead MoreCrazy Eddie Case1147 Words   |  5 PagesKatherine Bokovsky Wai Shan Leung Auditing – Crazy Eddie Case The main critical issue in the Crazy Eddie case is the incompetence and lack of professional skepticism of the company’s audit team and their inability to successfully comply with the standards of GAAS. The auditors failed to exercise the fundamentals of the substantive audit plan which would have uncovered at least some of the fraud. Furthermore, this inability and lack of knowledge on how to properly execute an audit threatenedRead MoreCrazy Eddie Case1455 Words   |  6 Pagescrazy eddiCase 1.8 Crazy Eddie, Inc. Term A2/Spring 2013 March 19, 2013 Table of Contents Issues†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...3 Facts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.4 Analysis and Conclusions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 Conclusions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.9 Issues 1. Compute key ratios and other financial measures for Crazy Eddie during the period 1984-1987. Identify and briefly explain the red flags in Crazy Eddie’s financial statements that suggested the firm possess a higher-than-normalRead MoreCrazy Eddie, Inc1040 Words   |  5 Pages2009 Crazy Eddie, Inc. Crazy Eddie Inc. was a retail consumer electronics store in New York City. By 1987, Crazy Eddie Inc. had 43 retail outlets, sales exceeding $350million, and outstanding stock with a collective market value of $600 million. Doubling in the four-year period from 1981 to 1984, sales in the consumer electronics industry exploded. Eddie Antar, the owner of the Crazy Eddie, Inc. converted his stores into consumer electronics supermarkets. Antar stocked the shelves of Crazy EddiesRead MoreThe Case Study Analyzes Crazy Eddie2010 Words   |  9 PagesThe case study analyzes Crazy Eddie. Crazy Eddie was convicted of white collar crime through fraud triangle. Crazy Eddie involved in fraud through incentives, opportunity and rationalization. Crazy Eddie reported lacking rationalization but confirmed that incentives and opportunity were working. The company also reported lacking morality and excuses. Crazy Eddie executed its business without taking into account moral implications of doing busine ss. Crazy Eddie illegally adjusted returns to avoidRead More1.8 Crazy Eddie, Inc. Essay1381 Words   |  6 Pages1) The following table provides key financial ratios for Crazy Eddie during the period 1984-1987: | |1987 |1986 |1985 |1984 | |Current Ratio |2.41 |1.4 |1.56 |0.93 | |Quick Ratio |1.4 |0.6 |0.77 |0.15 | |Debt Ratio |0.68 |0.66 |0.64 |0.83 | |Debt-to-Equity |2.16 Read MoreKnapp Case 1.8972 Words   |  4 PagesEden Mims Case 1.8 Crazy Eddie, Inc. 1) The following table provides key financial ratios for Crazy Eddie during the period 1984-1987:                                                    1987             1986             1985             1984       Current Ratio                2.41             1.4                1.56             0.93       Quick Ratio                  Ã‚      1.4                0.6                0.77             0.15    Debt Ratio                         0.68             0.66             0.64             0.83   Debt-to-Equity   Ã‚            2.16             1.98   Read MoreThe Public Perception Of A Company1994 Words   |  8 PagesMany cases of fraud begin when there is an image to keep up. The public perception of a company is important, especially when said company is publicly traded. When something within the company goes wrong, and the good image is threatened, that is often when the fraud comes into play. They attempt to cover up the problem by inflating revenues, evading taxes, or showing misleading information on their financial statements. Although Crazy Eddie, an electronic retail business in the 70-80’s, did employRead MoreCrazy Eddie1931 Words   |  8 PagesCrazy Eddie, Inc. Common Size Balance Sheets March 1, 1987 March 1, 1986 March 1, 1985 May 31, 1984 Cash 3.17% 10.47% 33.99% 3.76% Short-term investments 41.36% 21.14% 0.00% 0.00% Receivables 3.68% 1.77% 4.18% 7.12% Merchandise inventories 36.99% 47.16% 40.51% 63.83% Prepaid expenses 3.61% 1.86% 0.98% 1.41% Total current assets 88.81% 82.40% 79.66% 76.12% Restricted cash 0.00% 2.64% 10.77% 0.00% Due from affiliates 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 15.69% Property, plant and equipmentRead MoreRed Flags Of Crazy Eddie s Financial Statements777 Words   |  4 PagesThere were several red flags in Crazy Eddie’s financial statements, and then more were shown through calculating key ratios. The balance sheet showed that inventory increased from $23 million to $109 million in four years. This could have been a sign to the auditors that inventory was being misstated. Later on we learned that it was, as Crazy Eddie had a huge overstatement of the company’s inventory and personnel destroyed incriminating documents. It also showed accounts payable decreasing from