The new CEO of Sena Manufacturing company ltd, with a labour force of 250 workers and six
functional departments, had undertaken scoping operational assessment of the company in the
third week of his resumption and in his initial assessment and view, he argues that maintaining
both Cost Accountant and Financial Accountant amount to duplication of functions and waste
of scare resources of the company. You are required as the current Cost Accountant with
the company for over seven (7) years, submit in a memo, strategic role you are discharging
in the company.
A

The new CEO of Sena Manufacturing company ltd, with a labour force of 250 workers and six
functional departments, had undertaken scoping operational assessment of the company in the
third week of his resumption and in his initial assessment and view, he argues that maintaining
both Cost Accountant and Financial Accountant amount to duplication of functions and waste
of scare resources of the company. You are required as the current Cost Accountant with
the company for over seven (7) years, submit in a memo, strategic role you are discharging
in the company.
A

Elaine has just received an insurance settlement of $25,000. She wants to save this money until her daughter goes to university. If she can earn an average of 6.5%, compounded annually, how much will she have saved when her daughter enters university eight years from now?

With a number of new orchards coming into production, Australia is expecting a bumper crop, with volumes up 9% from last year’s, says Avocados Australia CEO John Tyas. Based on the industry’s latest quarterly forecasting, the nation is set to produce 95,000 metric tons (MT) for the April 2019 – March 2020 period. Australia’s avocado supply for January, February and March of 2019 increased by 20%, compared to the same three-month period last year.

Source : Australia expects bumper avocado crop, plans export growth

(a) Explain any two possible (2) factors/scenarios which could possibly result in an increase in demand (NOT quantity demanded) for avocados.

(b) Besides a bumper crop, explain any two possible (2) factors/scenarios which affect the supply of avocados.

(c) Describe how a market equilibrium “clears” the market of avocados.

(d) Describe how a government intervention such as price controls (price ceilings or price floors) may not always lead to a desirable market outcome.

QUESTION: Mr. Horwell is unsure that NOBU has the resources to support the entire IMC you suggested in Q3(advertising, personal selling, public relations, social media marketing, sales promotion). Please rank the promotional mix tools (1= highest priority to 4= lowest priority) and justify.

Traveling in Nobu Style: Converting Restaurant Patrons to Hotel Guests The name “Nobu” is synonymous with an exceptional Japanese dining experience, perfected by chef Nobu Matsuhisa over a more than 30-year career. Matsuhisa, together with actor Robert De Niro and restaurateur Drew Nieporent, opened the first Nobu restaurant in 1994 and to date, there are now 38 Nobu restaurants worldwide. But if you talk to Trevor Horwell, the CEO of Nobu Hospitality, Nobu represents much more than just a restaurant experience. It’s a true lifestyle brand that also encompasses a relatively small, but growing portfolio of luxury hotels, too — eight of which are open now, and eight more are in the pipeline. Horwell’s primary focus as CEO is to continue to grow the Nobu Hotels brand and as he opens up diners’ eyes to the fact that cannot only eat at a Nobu but stay at one, too, he hasn’t forgotten the brand’s origins in the process. “We don’t normally do a hotel unless we think that a Nobu Restaurant can do well in that location,” said Horwell. “That’s very important because what we want to do first and foremost is to make sure there is a draw for locals, and that really comes down to the Nobu Restaurant.” Horwell said the majority of his Nobu hotel restaurant diners — 80 percent on average — are local residents, not hotel guests. “It’s not like a tourist restaurant. We like to attract the locals. We want that built-in customer.” “We are defined by the restaurant, in a way,” he said. “We play to our strengths. If you look at the hotel business today, the majority of hotels are suffering because they don’t lead with food and beverage. don’t have strong food-and-beverage concepts, and a lot of hotels are losing money. Today, we play to our strengths because that is one area that we do very, very well, and we bring in locals.” The idea to launch Nobu Hotels, he said, came from the fact that when Nobu Restaurants were located inside of a hotel, they “were the draw for the hotel and we were bringing in customers.” “If I only convert 5 percent of my customers in Nobu Restaurant to stay in our hotels, then at the end of the day, we’re filling out hotels. It’s not a tall order to do that, and you can do that very well and very quickly if you offer the right product.” Nobu Hotels has the advantage of having built its brand over a 24-year period with its restaurants first, followed by the first Nobu hotel that opened within Caesars Palace Las Vegas in 2013. “The first focus for us, really, is to expose the brand to our restaurant customers,” Horwell said. “We touch all types of Nobu customers. And we also provide instant identity. If you put ‘Nobu Hotel’ on a hotel, the word ‘Nobu’ says something and it attracts a certain type of customer.” Horwell said that, for example, when the first Nobu opened, the hotel had “more than one billion media impressions.” So, what’s next for the brand, and how does Horwell plan to grow Nobu Hotels? He explained, “We’re not driven by reservations systems because we’re small. It isn’t as if we need a huge reservations system to fill a 400-room hotel. That’s why a lot of these corporations do well, because they have the reservations platform to fill the big hotels.” Nobu Hotels, by comparison, average anywhere from 100 to 150 rooms generally. “The reason why those young lifestyle brands have emerged is because they’re like us. They are entrepreneurial, they’re unique because it’s a concept that’s come from the heart, from whoever is the original founder. But when it’s absorbed by a corporation, the whole thing changes. At the end of the day, the specialness is lost because then the corporation’s running it, and then, I think you lose what your original concept was all about. I think that’s the biggest issue.” Horwell also doesn’t necessarily think of Nobu Hotels as occupying a place in luxury hospitality, instead referring to the brand as “special.” “I look at our hotels not as luxury,” he said. “I look at them as special. I like us to be special, in each location we’re in. ‘Luxury’ is a word that’s used too much in terms of ‘everything is luxury today.’ For us, we’re ‘special.'” “That’s why I’m saying, from a company perspective, we’re very entrepreneurial. Today’s evolving luxury traveler is seeking “youthfulness” no matter what age they are, and they are “very curious and very adventurous. Because of that, it’s important for hospitality brands, Nobu included, to not just say they’re unique but to really offer unique experiences. He pointed to Nobu Ryokan Malibu in California as an example. The 16-room retreat overlooks the beach and is right by the ocean, and right next door to the Nobu Restaurant in Malibu. It becomes a destination, and that’s something Nobu wants to offer. It’s also a different concept from what the other Nobu Hotels have. While Nobu Hotels are places where there’s an emphasis on bringing in the locals, the Ryokans are meant to be more private. “The Ryokan is actually a place where people don’t want to necessarily be seen,” Horwell explained. “It’s a hideaway, a retreat. You can only book through a general manager and it’s a special place.” He added, “We will do more Ryokans, definitely, in locations that we think is right.” A major focus for Nobu Hotels is to grow the company and the brand with the right talent and partners, as well as make sure that the Nobu Hotels brand is reaching the right consumers. “The most important thing, from our perspective, is to build a relationship with our existing customers,” he said. “It’s about, first and foremost, on digital, working our databases. We like to do that through email, through a lot of channels. We just brought on a new head of digital. Capturing data is very, very important now, and that’s something that is a main focus and her team.” “I think the main thing for us is the customer relationship management (CRM) because you can do so much with it,” he said. “You can know your customer. It’s one part of the business that we are heavily focused in in and we can extract a lot of information from that.” In addition to beefing up its customer relationship management system, Nobu is also testing out a loyalty partnership, of sorts. The Nobu London Shoreditch joined Design Hotels last year, giving the property access to distribution on Design Hotels’ site, as well as a connection to the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program. Three Nobu hotels are also members of Leading Hotels of the World. “A lot of our customers aren’t driven by points,” he said. “When I travel, I don’t go for points. I want to stay in a hotel where I enjoy the staff, the food and beverage, the products — all of that — and I will pay a premium for it.” Appendix A Additional Information about NOBU Nobu Hotels "A Place to go and be seen" By “wrapping” the concept of a luxurious boutique hotel around energized public spaces, Nobu Hotels creates powerful stages for shared experiences of excitement and escapism. Featuring the best of everything with imaginative new restaurants, high- energy bars, relaxing rejuvenation, distinctive service, remarkable retail and an air of celebrity, Nobu Hotels will afford guests and privileged owners the most exclusive entry into unparalleled experiences that lay at the crossroads of innovation and imagination. Source: Excerpted from ‘Nobu Hotels CEO on a Restaurant-First Approach to Hospitality’ by D. Ting. Skift – March 22, 2018. +Experts and image from Nobu restaurant and hotel website

QUESTION 1

Read the two cases of Barbican Bank and Intermarket of Zimbabwe and answer the questions below:

Barbican Bank (BB)

Barbican Bank was formed in the late 1990s at the height of a rush into the financial services sector by domestic investors. It was born out of an asset management company. The founder
was a flamboyant businessman who was a public figure in the financial services sector. At formation the bank declared its focus would be the elite market. Its products were therefore
targeted specifically at the top market. The bank also declared an intention to operate a very small branch network, no more than five branches. Barbican started experiencing liquidity
problems in early 2003 and was placed under the curator in March 2003. Before being placed under the curator Barbican had been reporting fabulous profits most of them having come
from non interest transactions. According to the Central Bank, Barbican ‘‘was experiencing serious liquidity problems as a result of imprudent banking behaviours. There was no clear separation between various related entities within the group which led to cross funding of operations and excessive risk taking among other shortcomings.’’ The Central Bank also noted
that the bank was involved in ‘‘questionable cross-border foreign exchange activities.’’ The bank had shifted funds to South Africa from local operations with the object of establishing a
new company in South Africa. During its operation the bank introduced the derivatives (junk bonds) market, which had been non-existent in the country’s financial sector. When liquidity
problems besieged Barbican the Central Bank placed the banking division under the curator and the asset management company under liquidation. At the time of taking these measures
the Central Bank had injected money into the bank as liquidity support but the bank appeared to be on a serious slide. The bank has since failed to repay on time the loan from the Central
bank’s Troubled Bank Fund. On seeing his financial companies in difficulties, the Chief Executive (the founder) skipped the country. Despite problems in the home operations, the
founding chief executive was trying to set up another financial services company in South Africa. During his tenure the Chief Executive is said to have been so dominant the board
appeared clueless and powerless to restrain him. The bank has now been placed into liquidation by the Central Bank. It will be amalgamated into a merger of liquidated banks to form a new bank.

Intermarket (IM)

The founder established Intermarket Holdings during the late 1990s through acquisitions. At the time of inset of financial distress, the founder owned 72 percent of Intermarket Holdings
through an investment company called Transnational Holdings. Transnational Holdings comprised companies in banking and insurance among others. Its influence in the financial
services sector was in every sphere. Intermarket Banking Corporation one of the subsidiaries of the holding company started showing signs of liquidity problems in early 2004. This was
during the period of a cash crisis in the country. Much as all banking institutions were affected by the cash crisis, Intermarket appeared completely outstretched by the crisis. In March 2004
the bank was placed under the management of a curator by the Central Bank when it appeared it could not pay its creditors and depositors on demand. On investigation, the Central Bank
discovered that the Executive Chairman had loaned himself Z$90 billion of depositors’ money and the insider loans were not being serviced. The Executive Chairman was said to have been so dominant he had the veto power on everything that took place in the corporation. Investigations by the appointed curator have led to a rise in the figure for insider loans to
Z$174 billion. The Executive chairman fled the country when authorities appeared to point at him as the main contributor to financial distress in the institution. Intermarket has been trying
to enter into partnership with other banking institutions, in order to shore up its capital, without much success. Instead Finhold, another Zimbabwean financial institution whose banking
subsidiary is owed Z$100 billion is positioning itself to take over major shareholding in Intermarket Bank through a combination of cash and debt swap. Finhold’s strategy is an
attempt to protect possible collapse of Intermarket since it is a major creditor. Intermarket has to raise its capital base to Z$10 billion before 30 September 2004 as per regulatory authority
requirements. Fraud by some IM employees taking advantage of weak management systems has exacerbated financial distress in Intermarket. The curator has however opened the banking division for limited services to depositors.

Questions:

a) The liquidity problems experience by Barbican Bank and Intermarket bank were as a result of poor risk management. Discuss?

b) Identify the speculative risk that was taken by Barbican Bank?

c) Lack of board independence inadvertently creates an epicentre for corporate governance failures. Discuss using the two cases and outline the ideal role of a board in corporate governance and risk management

professional development of nursing professional paper from grand canyon university

The council of higher education wants to compare the percentage of students that score A in two universities. In a random sample of 50 students from university one, 16 received a grade of A; and in a random sample of 40 students from university two, 8 received a grade of A. The 95% confidence interval for the difference in the proportion of students who received a grade of A is:

a. -0.0638 to 0.3038

b. -0.0691 to 0.2983

c. 0.0365 to 0.04302

d. -0.0591 to 0.2991

The semiannual tuition payment at a major university is expected to be $40,000 for the 4 years beginning 18 years from now. What lump sum payment should the university accept now, in lieu of tuition payments beginning 18 years, 6 months from now? Assume that money is worth 9%, compounded semiannually, and that tuition is paid at the end of each half-year for 4 years. (Round your answer to the nearest cent.)