Fin 571 Week 5 Problem Set Essays

Fin 571 Week 5 Problem Set Essays Fin 571 Week 5 Problem Set Essay Fin 571 Week 5 Problem Set Essay Chap 17, Prob B1 A. Bixton’s objective is to achieve a credit standing that falls, in the words of the chief financial officer, â€Å"comfortably within the ‘A’ range. † What target range would you recommend for each of the three credit measures? To remain within the A range the following is recommended Fixed Charge Coverage 3. 00–4. 30 Funds From Operations/Total Debt 45%–65% Long-Term Debt/Capitalization 22%-32% So to be comfortably within the range A the company should try to maintain higher fixed coverage ratio (near to 4. ), higher Fund from operation/total debt ratio (near to 65%) and maintain a lower long-term debt to capitalization ratio (near to 22%). B. Before settling on these target ranges, what other factors should Bixton’s chief financial officer consider? Bixton CFO should take following into consideration Company ability to fully use non-interest tax credits (foreign tax credits) Issuance cost r elated to Debt and future fixed expense in form of interest payment irrespective of the level of income Company ability to raise debt from the market. Effect on Brand image or goodwill of the company on raising debt C. Before deciding whether the target ranges are really appropriate for Bixton in its current financial situation, what key issues specific to Bixton must the chief financial officer resolve? Before deciding whether the target ranges are really appropriate for Bixton in its current financial situation the CFO of Bixton Corporation should consider the existing amount of RD expenditure and foreign Tax credit. It is possible company may not be able to fully utilize the additional tax saving generated by taking additional debt when RD expenditure and foreign tax credit is taken into consideration. Chap 18, Prob A10 D1 = ADJ [POR(EPS1) – D0] + D0 D1 = 0. 75 [0. 25 x $8. 00 $1. 00] + $1. 00 = $1. 75 D2 = 0. 75 [0. 25 x $8. 00 $1. 75] + $1. 75 = $1. 94 D3 = 0. 75 [0. 25 x $8. 00 $1. 94] + $1. 94 = $1. 985 D4 = 0. 75 [0. 25 x $8. 00 $1. 98] + $1. 98 = $2. 00 D5 = 0. 75 [0. 25 x $8. 00 $2. 00] + $2. 00 = $2. 00 Chap 18, Prob B2 . Over the five-year period, what is the maximum overall payout ratio the firm could achieve without triggering a securities issue? Total discretionary cash flow = $50 + $70 + $60 + $20 + $15 = $215 Total earnings = $100 + $125 + $150 + $120 + $140 = $635 Maximum Payout Ratio = $215 / $635 = 33. 86% b. Recommend a reasonable dividend policy for paying out discretionary cash flow in years 1 through 5. Current dividend = $1. 50 x 20 million shares = $30 million The firm could increase the dividend from $30 million to $50 million. : D1 = $35 / 20 = $1. 75 D2 = $39 / 20 = $1. 95 D3 = $43 / 20 = $2. 15 D4 = $48 / 20 = $2. 40 D5 = $50 / 20 = $2. 50 $35 + $39 + $43 + $48 + $50 = $215, is the total discretionary cash flow and not a discretionary cash deficit. Chap 20 problem A1. 1. Interest Coverage Ratio = EBIT / Interest Expense = $70 million / $14 million = 5 5 4, Dallas Instruments is in compliance. 2. Tangible Assets / Long-Term Debt = $400 million / $175 million = 2. 29 2. 29 1. 5, Dallas Instruments is in compliance. 3. Cumulative Dividends and Share Repurchases = $40 million + $40 million = $80 million $80 million $200 million x 60%, Dallas Instruments is in compliance. Dallas Instruments meets all of the covenants and is therefore in compliance. Chap 21 Prob. A2. a. After-tax cost of secured debt = (1 0. 34) x 12% = 7. 92% NAL = $1,000 $300 / 1. 0792^1 $275 / 1. 0792^2 $250 / 1. 0792^3 $225 / 1. 0792^4 $200 / 1. 0792^5 NAL = $1,000 $277. 98 $236. 12 $198. 90 $165. 87 $136. 62 = -$15. 49 b. Allied Metals should borrow and buy.

5 Keys to Creating a Social Media Strategy for Your Book

5 Keys to Creating a Social Media Strategy for Your Book Five Keys to Developing a Solid Social Media Strategy Andrea Dunlop is a Reedsy social media and marketing consultant with over ten years in the publishing business and the author of the novel Losing the Light. In this post, she reveals what it takes to create a great social media strategy and begin to use social media like a pro.When I see authors using social media- whether I’m on the clock with a client or just perusing- I often see them using social media in a very ad hoc way. This leads to the ever-popular refrain â€Å"social media doesn’t sell books†- which it doesn’t unless you use it correctly. As an author, your aim on social media is to interact with influencers and to expand your reach to as many potential readers as possible.Here are five keys to building your social media strategy so that you can make the best of the time and energy you spend marketing your work:1. Know Your Audience I always encourage authors not to get too caught up in the numbers on social media. Much of the magic comes from the serendipity of being able to connect with people you wouldn’t otherwise meet or connect. That said, there’s no point in spending a lot of time and energy (and possibly money) on something if you’re not going to measure the results.I have a social media dashboard where I track everything from Twitter followers to Amazon rank on a weekly basis. The point of this is not to obsess over the data but to recognize what’s working and what isn’t so that I can feel free to abandon the ineffective strategies and double down on what worked best.For more tips on using social media as an author, check out this charming infographic!Is there a social media strategy or platform that has worked wonders for your books? We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments below.

HUMAN RESOURCE PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

HUMAN RESOURCE PAPER - Essay Example This is because studies in organisational theories put emphasis on a number of interrelated fields of study such as communication, management and sociology, out of which the idea of behaviour can be studied. But because organisational theories are focused on organisations, the kind of behaviour that is studied as part of these fields is generalised and termed as organisational behaviour (Gumusluoglu and Ilsev, 2009). In principle therefore, organisational be said to be the study of how the behaviour of individuals, groups and corporate structures influence an organisation. Organisational behaviour is often undertaken as a study, in which case involves a number of qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis and data collection to take decisions on ways of improving organisational effectiveness (Bollen, 2009). It is therefore a very valid argument to make that organisational behaviour is directly related to organisational effectiveness. But for there to be organisational effective ness, there are key components of organisational behaviour that must come to play, two of which are critically analysed below. Adaptive leadership theory and its influence on organisational effectiveness Adaptive Leadership and its role on Organisational Behaviour An organization without a leader may best be likened to a snake without a head. In such a situation, the organization becomes as powerless and the snake with its head cut off (Coad and Berry, 1998). This is because just as the head of a snake does for the snake, the leader is there to determine the direction that the organization will take in all its endeavours and corporate dealings (Bessant and Buckingham, 2003). It would however be noted that just as there are several forms of snakes, there are also several types of leaders, using different styles and forms of leadership. In recent times, one of the commonest forms of leaderships that are used in both the academia and in practice is the adaptive leadership. Adaptive lea dership is very influential as a component of organizational behaviour, just as leadership in general is (Homburg, Krohmer and Workman, 1999). This is because from the definition of organizational behaviour, it is realized that organizational behaviour generally makes reference to how the organization reacts in intra-personal and inter-personal manner (Guns, 1996). Meanwhile, this sense of response is triggered by the leader, who determines how the organisation must behave. There are several ways in which leadership influences or determines organisational behaviour. In the first place, the leadership style and leadership phenomenon used at the workplace determines the kind of interactions and relationships that will exist among employees, between employees and employers, and between employees and customers (Bueno et al, 2010). Meanwhile, the nature of interactions and relationships that are in place within an organisation is a very instrumental part of organisational behaviour (Kant er, 2003). A typical example of this can be cited with Toyota Motor Corporation where the type of leadership practiced, which is adaptive leadership makes it possible for all employees to be freely part of organisational level decision making. Because of this, there is constant interaction and exchanges between employees, making it easier for employees to understand each other and thus create a more friendly and hospitable organisational behaviour among themselves and among other clients of the organisation. Another role of leadership on organisational behaviour is that leadership is very instrumental in the setting of organisational goals (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). Meanwhile, Garcia (2008) stated that the goals, aims and visions of an organisation determines the response of the organisatio

Neo-Conservatism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Neo-Conservatism - Essay Example This new policy was also, in some ways, ineffective – as unions failed, blue-collar workers felt let down by the system and turned to neo-conservatism. The lack of contradictory political ideologies also played its part, giving dissatisfied Democrats the terrible choice of sticking with a disappointing party or turning to the right. As the century wore on, event after traumatic event shook the American culture, fatally dismantling people's faith in the current leftist governments. The Vietnamese war, the Watergate scandal, and the Iranian hostage crisis (amongst others) generated a pervasive sense of cynicism and alienation (WBA 695) which made neo-conservatism strangely more attractive. The culmination of such events combined with the inefficacy of the Democratic government to become a deathly blow to leftist politics. Many American people, particularly the working class and poor who had previously identified with the Democratic party, felt let down by a system which appeared to not care about them. This led to a massive drop in the amount of people going to the polls, meaning even before the results were in that a significant change in contemporary politics was almost guaranteed.

Relation Between Matrix And Descartes Meditations Philosophy Essay

Relation Between Matrix And Descartes Meditations Philosophy Essay Renà © Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician who were really famaous with his philosopical works, especially with Meditations on First Philosophy. His ideas in Meditations have been important source of inspiration for considerable number of movies. One of the most significant movie that reflects Descartes ideas is Matrix in which Keanu Reeves Thomas Anderson is a computer programmer for a well known company and also has another life as a hacker Neo. He starts to get mysterious messages on his computer and after meeting with Morpheus, is told that reality is totally different from what he and other people perceive it to be. Within the scope of this assignment, I search for relations between the movie and the Descartes ideas by referring to significant quotations from a translation of Meditation on First Philosophy which was written by Christopher Biffle and specific scenes from the movie. In the movie, the reality that most people perceive is actually a dream that is created by a powerful being to deceive humanity. People think that they live in a city, breathe air and the year is 1999. However, in reality, the year is approximately 2199, there is no air and the world is in a bad situation like is attacked by war. As it is indicated in Meditation I (Biffle, 2001) : This would be perfectly obvious-if I werent a man accustomed to sleeping at night whose experiences while a sleep are at least as far-fetched as those madmen have while awake. How often, at night, Ive been convinced that I was here, sitting before the fire, wearing my dressing gown, when in fact I was undressed and between the covers of my bed! But now I am looking at this piece of paper with my eyes wide open; the head that I am shaking has not beel lulled to sleep; I put my hand out consciously and deliberately and feel. None of this would be as distinct if I were asleep. As if I cant remember having been tricked by by similar thoughts while asleep! When I think carefully about this, I see so plainly that there are no reliable signs by which I can distinguish sleeping from waking that I am stupefied-and my stupor itself suggests that I am asleep! People live in a dream and can not distinguish it from reality. It is obvious from some scenes of the movie that Neo also has doubts about it. In one of them, agents take Neo to interrogate and convince him to work for them to defeat Morpheus. Agent Smith made Neos lips be locked in order not to make him speak and put a transmitter in him which is like a spider. Then the other scene stast with Neos waking up. The first thing that he does is to check his mouth and it is normal. However, the transmitter is in him and he gets rid of it my the help of Trinity who is one of the characters in the film. If all the things he has seen are a dream, then why is there a transmitter in him? In addition, if all the things are real, then why is there anything with his mouth? This is why the world that people live is a computer simulation called matrix. Some events can occur in matrix and in order to make people believe everything that they perceive, some impossible things that are hard to believe c an be seen as dreams. Descartes mentions that there are no certain differences between a dream and reality. When someone dreams about something, he is not aware of doing it exactly, thus there is an impossibility in ignoring that what people perceive as reality is not a dream. Descartes has doubts about being aware of whether you are in a dream or in real which is the dream argument and in another scene of the movie, Morpheus concludes the sme doubts as he asks: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream and the real world? In another scene, Morpheus asked Neo what reality really is. Are there the things that we comprehend? If we think about the movie, people believe that the world that they live is real and most of the things that they have leraned are coming by the help of the senses. According to Descartes (Biffle, 2001) , Of course, whatever I have so far accepted as supremely true I have learned from the senses or through the senses. But I have occasionally caught the senses deceiving me, and its prudent never completely to trust those who have chetaed us even once. Things that we get by our senses are the impulses that are conveyed to brain by the nerves and interpreted by it. There is no exact way that we can know that someting real is created by our experiences or knowledge or it is just a general idea that we believe. Our brain may deceive us and it may just dream by itself. I can give an example from the scene that Neo sees the woman in red. His senses trick him and when he turns back to see the woman again, he faces with an agent. On the other hand, there is another thing said by Descartes (Biffle, 2001), Similarly, while things like eyes, heads, and hands may be imaginary, it must be granted that some simpler and more universal things are real-the real colors from which the true and false images in our thoughts are formed. According to Descartes, I can say that the images that the matrix created or the woman in red exist, and in their creation, there are some bases on the production of them. Even if the images are imaginary, their bases are real. The human figure or especially a woman figure, the color red are all real. Thus, we can tell that Descartes ideas about senses are supported in the film by this scene. . Descartes continues and further states that since deception exists, there must be some evil responsible. However, rather than attributing this evil to God himself, he blames some malevolent demon. This demon in this movie is obviously the artificial intelligence responsible for the creation of the matrix. The Matrix was created to control humanity for the intelligences own gain, so it is inherently evil. Descartes proceeds to talk about how in order to truly be free, one must do his best to resist deception and know what can truly be known. Neo and the rest of the ships crew are doing their best to free humanity, but humanity in general continues to be deceived by what appears to be so real. The Matrix simulates reality so well, that it never occurs to humanity to doubt what they see. Even Neo, the character the story centers around is clueless at the beginning. Only once he is confronted with the truth does he begin to doubt, but even then he attempts to deny it. Descartes ponders this in his meditations as well. He reflects on humanitys tendency to believe the uncertain based on comfort with the idea. Once someone is used to an idea, they tend to resist letting it go because it is so ingrained in them. He continues to state that one should treat any idea that can be doubted as being absolutely false so that no belief is built upon an uncertain foundation. However, some choose to go back to the comfort of believing that which is not true, such as Cypher deciding to go back to the Matrix. He chooses the comfort of the deception over the harsh truth, and opts to prolong his deceit. He conspires against humanitys freedom for his own personal gain. Obviously, there is a much deeper side to this movie than the action scenes and special effects. There are some very noticeable parallels with the first meditation of Descartes as well as other works not mentioned. It revives an interest in a topic that has been pondered for quite some time. Thus encouraging a new generation to ponder what can truly be known. This movie, when viewed in the correct light, really brings into question what deceptions truly exist in our lives. Spoon thing

Max’s Restaurant Research Paper Essay

1.FRANCHISENAME: Aguillon Ventures, Inc., 2.BRAND AND TRADEMARK: Max’s Restaurant 3.BUSINESS CONCEPT: Max’s Restaurant is a Philippine-based restaurant serving fried chicken and Filipino dishes. What started out as a small cafà © in the Philippines has successfully transitioned into a proud Filipino tradition that is also making waves in the global front as an international brand. Today, â€Å"the house that fried chicken built† has expanded to 123 local and 10 international branches. Max’s is more than just a food brand. It takes after characteristics that are innate to Filipinos – hospitality, generosity and passion for good food. The recipes have been intricately developed for 66 years and given a modern twist to cater to the increasingly discriminating tastes of customers from all over the world. To a lot of people, Max’s is a nostalgic place that reminds them of countless memorable experiences with their family, friends and loved ones. It is a place to nurture relationships, and â€Å"a home away from home.† 4.TARGET CUSTOMERS: Their target customers is high class family 5.TERM: The term of the Max’s Restaurant franchise is six (6) years with the right to renew 3 additional terms; total of 24 years. 6.SITE/LOCATION/ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: Our Business Development Department can create a detailed site plan indicating the specific location of a desired prototype facility based on specific information and requirements provided by the franchisee about the proposed site. In addition, the department can prepare building plans and specifications detailing the requirements for overall design, furnishings, store layout, equipment, fixtures and interior decor specifications. Max’s Restaurant currently has over 127 branches in the Philippines. The chain also has branches in the U.S. states of California, Hawaii, and New Jersey, and its first Canadian branch in Toronto, Ontario. A store opened in Vancouver, British Columbia in March 2012. More branches will open soon in Sydney, Australia , and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Queens, New York. PRODUCT & SERVICES: It’s signature dish is its fried chicken—Max’s dubs itself â€Å"the house that fried chicken built†. It’s often served with rice and/or kamote (sweet-potato) fries. Other items on Max’s menu are Filipino dishes like pancit, kare-kare, nilagang baka, sinigang na baboy, lechon kawali, pork adobo, bicol express, and crispy pata among others. Service is generally good, but the usually high volume of customer traffic at its mall  locations doesn’t lead to the cleanest or most relaxing of environments at those branches. Max’s is a casual dining restaurant leaning more towards fast food rather than fine dining. Pre-packaged caramel bars accompanying some meals and Max’s bakery kiosks at some restaurants drive the point home. Some services: Takes Reservations Walk-Ins Welcome Good For Groups Good For Kids Take Out Delivery Catering Waiter Service Outdoor Seating 8.PRICING STRATEGY: Max’s Restaurant pricing strategy is based on these costs: Direct costs. These are the ingredient costs associated with the food item itself. This involves the purchasing food, portion sizes, food waste from spilling, overcooking or spoiling. Indirect costs.   Indirect costs are those that do not include the actual ingredients that make up a dish, but the aspects of your restaurant that add perceived value or quality. These provide significant basis upon which to charge higher prices. Preparation and labor. The labor to prepare a menu item is considered an indirect cost. Menu items that require time, effort, artistry or talent to prepare merit a higher menu price than something that simply requires heating and plating. Overhead expenses. Overhead costs for items such as dà ©cor, product presentation, amenities and marketing efforts. Although slightly less common, these can create added value and validate higher menu item prices. Volatile food costs. Many raw commodity food items, or basic ingredients with minimal quality  variance, may fluctuate as often as daily. In a case such as this you have two easy options: raise your prices or work with a seasonal menu. Seasonal menus allow flexibility for buying crops in season, or in supply, to keep costs down. Service type. Prices will undoubtedly change depending on whether your restaurant is a fast-casual restaurant or a fine dining restaurant. Be sure your prices represent the service value your customers receive. For instance, full service restaurants can always charge more for their hamburgers than quick-service joints, because full service restaurants are also providing greater ambience, better service and often better ingredients than the quick-service alternative. 9.QUALITY CONTROL METHOD: Prior to the commencement of operations, the corporate training department will provide the franchisee and eight members of the management team with hands-on training that spans 4 months. This training will incorporate classroom content and applied in-restaurant developmental modules that will extensively cover subjects ranging from administrative and operational matters to marketing. Regular refresher and developmental training programs will also be given as needs arise. Max’s is a firm proponent of su stainable continuous training of all Max’s franchises and employees to closely align our business model and company values and enrich the integral bond between store staff, guests and restaurant profitability. Each franchise store can expect holistic support and servicing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A dedicated Franchise Area Manager will be assigned specifically to assist the franchisee in running the store. The key aim of the operations team is to create sales-building efforts and to ensure that Max’s high quality and safety standards are maintained across all store operations. FAMs will see to it that the store meets its sales targets and increases its profitability. FAMs conduct staff meetings, regularly make store visits and conduct training for procedural updates and rollouts for new programs and menu items. 10.MARKETING SYSTEM: Max’s firmly believes that marketing is the driving force that propels the restaurant brand forward. Our team is composed of marketing professionals and will provide each and every store with the best marketing service available to ensure brand loyalty and saliency in the market. The marketing group will provide support for new  product launches, sales-driven in-store promotions, above-the-line advertising efforts, and viable media planning. You can also expect dynamic local store marketing projects and exceptionally designed merchandising collaterals. Strategic brand mapping, intensive competition analysis, new product development and consumer-based research comprise the marketing support extended to all Max’s stores. 11.ADVERTISEMENT: In earlier television and cinema advertisements, the restaurant usually marketed itself as a place for Filipino families to get together. It also established its slogan â€Å"Sarà ¡p to the bones!† (â€Å"Delicious to the bones!†). More recently, a popular series of television advertisements told the story of a Max’s employee who was the childhood love of a popular TV celebrity, played by Piolo Pascual. The series showed the two characters as children, then as adults accidentally meeting at Maxâ €™s. The denouement of the story is when the celebrity recognizes the employee from their childhood. This commercial became so popular that it launched the showbiz career of Isabel Oli, the model who played the employee.

Informative Essay Busting Myths About Race - 1312 Words

Jordan Bradley Anth 300 Prof. Paskey April 26, 2016 Fuentes Short Responses Busting Myths about Race 1. The idea of race is real, but it is not biologically reality. Race is based on cultural perspectives that we as human beings use to identify persons around the world. â€Å"Science would favor Du Bois. Today, the mainstream belief among scientists is that race is a social construct without biological meaning† (Gannon) Meaning that there is nothing biologically real about race. And that it is strictly culturally developed. 2. Race is important because it is not biological, it’s a social construct that humans beings formed years ago. The social construct is racial classification for individuals would remain constant throughout the world. By grouping individuals through cultural or social practice. And can also socially group people into categories based on shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors. Also race, as a social construct, is a group of people who share similar and distinct physical characteristics. Such as bigger/smaller noses, head, lips or other varies body parts. The social construction of human beings can be made out on a human taxonomy that define essential types of individuals based on certain traits that they have in that region. 3B. Dr. Loring Boring and Dr. George Gill fall on the opposite sides of the argument about race. Dr. Brace view is one that say’s â€Å"There is no such thing as biological entity that warrants the term race.† (Brace) While Dr. Gill