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Harley-Davidson Performance Analysis Essay

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Harley Davidson Performance Analysis There are many ways to analyze the performance of a company, some more popular than others. According to the Barney text the accounting method is the most popular way of measuring a firm's performance (Barney, 2002). Some of the reasons for the popularity could include the fact that accounting measures of performance are publicly available on many firms and they communicate a great deal of information about a firm's operations. Other methods of performance analysis include firm survival and the multiple stakeholder approach. The first method we will review is the accounting method. Through this accounting approach we will analyze specific ratios and their possible impact on the company's …show more content…

Accounts receivable turnover measures the average time it takes for a firm to collect on credit sales. Harley Davidson's accounts receivable turnover rate is 6.75 times for 2001 and 8.74 times for 2000. This accounts receivable turnover rate seems low and would indicate that Harley Davidson is able to turn their receivables into cash quickly. Another ratio we will look at is total asset turnover rate. Total asset turnover rate measures how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate sales. In 2001 the total asset turnover rate was 1.079 and in 2000 it was 1.193. The fixed asset turnover ratio is similar to the total asset turnover ratio but includes only fixed assets. The fixed asset turnover rate measures the capacity utilization and the quality of fixed assets and was 3.771 for 2001 and 3.854 for 2000. The final ratio we will analyze is the average collection period which measures the time it takes a firm to receive payments after a sale has been made. The average collection period was 55 days for 2001 and 42 days for 2000. While these numbers seem to be very high the reader needs to remember that they are dealing with a large ticket item and financing is usually arranged and payments from the finance company could take more time than cash payments that are normal in the traditional retail marketplace. While the accounting method is popular and widely accepted it does have some limitations. There are three

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