Operations and Legacy of the Dell Corporation Essay -- Business, Compu

Portfolio Project – Dell, Inc. Dell, Inc.’s origins date back over 25 years ago when it was founded under the company name PC’s Limited (Edwards, 2007). This once small company got its start when founder Michael Dell began building personal computers for students at the University of Texas. Today, Dell has developed its product line to offer more than computers; they also sell entertainment and office equipment. Dell’s leadership, guided by the corporate code of conduct, has shown a clear commitment to environmental matters and frequently publicizes the ways in which the company has developed new techniques to reduce the company’s energy use and product waste (â€Å"Latest update,† 2010). The main reason for Dell’s success is their ability to manage the financial health of their company. This success is reflected in the firm’s financial statements. There are three main financial statements that should be evaluated to understand the financial status of a firm – the balance sheet, the income statement, and the firm’s statement of cash flows (Keown, Martin, & Petty, 2011). The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the firm’s financial position on a particular date and includes information about the firm’s assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity. This particular financial statement is an overview of what the firm owns and what the firm owes (â€Å"Beginners’ guide to financial statements,† 2007). An analysis of Dell’s current balance sheet shows that they have approximately $40 million in assets - of which $29 million are current assets. This means that the firm expects to turn this amount of current assets into cash within the next 12 months (Keown, Martin, & Petty, 2011). Further analysis of Dell’s balance sheet reveals that the fir... ...1087&p=irol-reportsAnnual Keown, A. J., Martin, J. D., & Petty, J. W. (2011). Foundations of finance: The logic and practice of financial management (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Latest update on Dell corporate responsibility progress. (2010, October). Retrieved from http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/corp-comm/cr-newsletter.aspx Loan rates. (n.d.). Omniglot. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/info- articles/chicago/loans-rates.html Ogg, J. C. (2011, January 27). 2011†²s new dividend candidates from giant companies. 24/7 Wall Street. Retrieved from http://247wallst.com/2011/01/27/2011s-new-dividend- -from-giant-companies-amgn-brk-a-dell-ebay-emc-kss-csco-aapl/2/ Peavler, R. (n.d.). Use profitability ratios in financial ratio analysis. About.com. Retrieved from http://bizfinance.about.com/od/financialratios/a/Profitability_Ratios.htm