Credit & Lending Decisions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Credit & Lending Decisions - Assignment Example It was listed back in 1985 on the stock exchange and at that time changed its structure from being a cooperative to become a public corporation that now has about 450,000 widely-dispersed shareholders. It operates supermarket chains such as K-mart and Target; it also operates the largest Australian hardware chain of stores. It grew big and fast through a strategy of acquisitions with the latest being the Coles Group that was the second-largest retailer in the country after Woolworths Limited. In total, it is engaged in about nine different industries (Wesfarmers.com, n.d.). As a publicly-listed limited corporation, the Wesfarmers adheres strictly to the corporate governance principles and standards prescribed by government regulatory authorities. In addition, to further inspire investor confidence, it has also voluntarily adopted a Board of Directors code of conduct and a separate code of ethics and conduct for all its employees. It has likewise adopted a Whistleblowers policy to pro tect people who report on anomalies within the company. Overall, Wesfarmers has put into place safeguards such as risk management controls and is fully committed to transparency. In general, Wesfarmers is engaged in the retailing business, insurance, energy (its coal and mining operations to include gas and energy interests) and industrial products with minor interests in other industries such as corporate finance and sawmill operations. Wesfarmers is a notable exception in terms of its financial performance when conglomerates are now out of favour because it was able to grow at a 30% compound rate (Walsh, 2002:1) and transformed itself from a former farmers cooperative into a real business giant. Its mining operations is a major contributor to the local economy and provides nearly 50% of the electricity grid in the states south-west region (Richards,