1. In 1986, Scott Stillinger developed the Koosh ball and founded OddzOn Products, Inc. to sell the toy. Assume that the Koosh ball production function is: Q = L*(32-L) Which would make the marginal product of labor equal to: MPL = 32-2L The minimum wage is $7.25 and the price of a Koosh ball is $3.50. a. If Stillinger is a profit-maximizing employer, how many workers will he hire? Show your work and briefly explain why this is the optimal number of workers.

b. Assume that in the long run Stillinger begins employing more capital. If the price of capital is cheaper than workers, what will happen to labor demand? Briefly explain using scale and substitution effects.

Case 1–2: True Religion Jeans: Flash in the Pants or Enduring Brand?

Founded in 2002 by Jeff Lubell, True Religion had become one of the largest premium denim brands in the United States by 2012. Although True Religion made its debut in upscale department stores and trendy boutiques a decade earlier, the company owned 86 full price retail stores and 36 outlet stores in the United States as well as 30 stores in international markets by the end of 2012. The company’s domestic retail store business accounted for about 60% of revenues and 64% of operating profit before unallocated corporate expenses in 2012. Just five years earlier, the U.S. retail store segment generated only 17% of sales and 25% of operating profit before unallocated corporate expenses.

Jeff Lubell’s vision of the company had come true—at least partly. The company had transformed itself from a jeans designer into an apparel retailer with it own brand à la Buckle and Diesel. At the same time, True Religion had managed to shift its product mix so that sportswear accounted for almost 35% of sales in its company-owned stores. Lubell felt these two ingredients were critical to establishing True Religion as a “lifestyle brand.” The ultimate in product differentiation, many companies attempt to create so-called “lifestyle” brands that transcend product category and inspire deep consumer loyalty. Lubell felt becoming a lifestyle brand was the key to insulating True Religion from the inevitable fluctuations in fashion trends.

Moreover, True Religion’s sales had grown at an average annual rate of almost 22% from 2007-2012. The company’s return on invested capital was an impressive 27% and its return on average assets was 12% in 2012. Despite these factors, press articles and analyst reports on True Religion described the company as, “the struggling maker of premium denim.”1 A New York Post article entitled “Escape From Hell for True Religion” described private equity firm, TowerBrook, as the company’s “savior,”2 when the company announced it had been acquired by TowerBrook in 2013. Other denim brands, such as Jeff Rudes’ J Brand, appeared to be usurping True Religion’s position as the “must have” denim brand for young consumers.

What had gone wrong at True Religion? Was the change in ownership the answer to the company’s problems? Was premium denim destined to go the way of Flash Dance legwarmers and Crocs as fast fashion from the likes of H&M became more mainstream? Private equity investors had snapped up stakes in both established and up-and-coming premium denim brands in the past five years—leaving just one publicly traded premium jeans maker, Joe’s Jeans. Should investors stay away from the industry?

CASE 2 – 4 MARKETING - SIMPLY SHOES Founded in 2003, Simply Shoes had grown to six similar sized outlets by 2014, and was headquartered in Winnipeg Manitoba. For the past year, management had been debating the value of the money being spent on advertising and promotions. Mathew Micheli, the controller emphatically stated, “I am of the opinion that we should simply stop advertising altogether.” Mathew stated, “We are facing tough times and all that money would simply go to our bottom line and Bob has not shown us that it really pays for itself.” “Well I don’t know how I can convince you, Mathew,” stated Bob Merlin, the marketing manager, “but I can’t imagine maintaining our market share without advertising. All our major competitors spend about the same percentage of their sales on marketing as we do, as best as we can figure. How would our customers find out about our special sales? No we should not cut our advertising budget – we should increase it by 30 per cent. “That’s a lot more money, about $285,000 if I’m not mistaken,” stated Jasmine Kilby, manager of stores. “Why not put more emphasis on direct mail campaigns or even do a better job on our in store signage and displays”. We’ve got about 53,000 names in our customer data base, and they are almost evenly distributed between our six outlets. It would cost about $1.00 to mail each customer a letter, which would be a lot cheaper than our advertising, and would probably be much more effective as well. Not to mention, our in-store merchandizing can be done for around $28,000 per event, and about $10,000 in production and $2,000 per store to implement. “I’m tired of these disagreements,” stated Janet Jones, president. “It’s time we resolved this issue. We’ve got our big Father’s Day event coming up in six weeks and there are several items that we were going to promote heavily. Then there is the Canada Day sale shortly after that. Let’s try some testing of these ideas around these two week-long events to find out which way is the best to spend our advertising, direct mail, and merchandizing dollars. Now, I know that none of our store managers or buyers will want nothing short of a full ad and promotional effort in their areas. I think we can convince then otherwise if we have a good test design to offer them. We had originally set aside $40,000 for advertising and $28,000 for merchandizing for these two events. Bob, would you please design a couple of effective tests and get back to me by the end of the week.

Question: Prepare an executive summary of this case study

CASE 2 – 4 MARKETING - SIMPLY SHOES

Founded in 2003, Simply Shoes had grown to six similar sized outlets by 2014, and was headquartered in Winnipeg Manitoba. For the past year, management had been debating the value of the money being spent on advertising and promotions.

Mathew Micheli, the controller emphatically stated, “I am of the opinion that we should simply stop advertising altogether.” Mathew stated, “We are facing tough times and all that money would simply go to our bottom line and Bob has not shown us that it really pays for itself.”

“Well I don’t know how I can convince you, Mathew,” stated Bob Merlin, the marketing manager, “but I can’t imagine maintaining our market share without advertising. All our major competitors spend about the same percentage of their sales on marketing as we do, as best as we can figure. How would our customers find out about our special sales? No we should not cut our advertising budget – we should increase it by 30 per cent.

“That’s a lot more money, about $285,000 if I’m not mistaken,” stated Jasmine Kilby, manager of stores. “Why not put more emphasis on direct mail campaigns or even do a better job on our in store signage and displays”. We’ve got about 53,000 names in our customer data base, and they are almost evenly distributed between our six outlets. It would cost about $1.00 to mail each customer a letter, which would be a lot cheaper than our advertising, and would probably be much more effective as well. Not to mention, our in-store merchandizing can be done for around $28,000 per event, and about $10,000 in production and $2,000 per store to implement.

“I’m tired of these disagreements,” stated Janet Jones, president. “It’s time we resolved this issue. We’ve got our big Father’s Day event coming up in six weeks and there are several items that we were going to promote heavily. Then there is the Canada Day sale shortly after that. Let’s try some testing of these ideas around these two week-long events to find out which way is the best to spend our advertising, direct mail, and merchandizing dollars. Now, I know that none of our store managers or buyers will want nothing short of a full ad and promotional effort in their areas. I think we can convince then otherwise if we have a good test design to offer them. We had originally set aside $40,000 for advertising and $28,000 for merchandizing for these two events. Bob, would you please design a couple of effective tests and get back to me by the end of theweek.”

qqquQuestion: Prepare an executive summary of this case study

Q

Venice InLine, Inc., was founded by Russ Perez to produce a specialized in-line skate he had designed for doing aerial tricks. Up to this point, Russ has financed the company with his own savings and with cash generated by his business. However, Russ now faces a cash crisis. In the year just ended, an acute shortage of high-impact roller bearings developed just as the company was beginning production for the Christmas season. Russ had been assured by his suppliers that the roller bearings would be delivered in time to make Christmas shipments, but the suppliers were unable to fully deliver on this promise. As a consequence, Venice InLine had large stocks of unfinished skates at the end of the year and was unable to fill all of the orders that had come in from retailers for the Christmas season. Consequently, sales were below expectations for the year, and Russ does not have enough cash to pay his creditors. Well before the accounts payable were due, Russ visited a local bank and inquired about obtaining a loan. The loan officer at the bank assured Russ that there should not be any problem getting a loan to pay off his accounts payable—providing that on his most recent financial statements the current ratio was above 2.0, the acid-test ratio was above 1.0, and net operating income was at least four times the interest on the proposed loan. Russ promised to return later with a copy of his financial statements. Russ would like to apply for a $120,000 six-month loan bearing an interest rate of 10% per year. The unaudited financial reports of the company appear below. Venice InLine, Inc. Comparative Balance Sheet As of December 31 (dollars in thousands) This Year Last Year Assets Current assets: Cash $ 107.1 $ 230.0 Accounts receivable, net 85.0 75.0 Inventory 260.0 180.0 Prepaid expenses 40.0 68.0 Total current assets 492.1 553.0 Property and equipment 425.0 250.0 Total assets $ 917.1 $ 803.0 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 261.0 $ 180.0 Accrued liabilities 25.0 15.0 Total current liabilities 286.0 195.0 Long-term liabilities .0 .0 Total liabilities 286.0 195.0 Stockholders' equity: Common stock and additional paid-in-capital 150.0 150.0 Retained earnings 481.1 458.0 Total stockholders' equity 631.1 608.0 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 917.1 $ 803.0 Venice InLine, Inc. Income Statement For the Year Ended December 31 (dollars in thousands) This Year Sales (all on account) $ 680.0 Cost of goods sold 422.0 Gross margin 258.0 Selling and administrative expenses: Selling expenses 83.0 Administrative expenses 142.0 Total selling and administrative expenses 225.0 Net operating income 33.0 Interest expense – Net income before taxes 33.0 Income taxes (30%) 9.9 Net income $ 23.1 Required: 1a. Based on the above unaudited financial statement of the current year calculate the following. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.) 1b. Based on the statement made by the loan officer, would the company qualify for the loan? Yes No 2. Last year Russ purchased and installed new, more efficient equipment to replace an older heat-treating furnace. Russ had originally planned to sell the old equipment, but found that it is still needed whenever the heat-treating process is a bottleneck. When Russ discussed his cash flow problems with his brother-in-law, he suggested to Russ that the old equipment be sold or at least reclassified as inventory on the balance sheet because it could be readily sold. At present, the equipment is carried in the Property and Equipment account and could be sold for its net book value of $99,000. The bank does not require audited financial statements. a. Calculate the following if the old machine is considered as inventory. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.) b. Based on the 2a above would the company qualify for the loan? Yes No c. Calculate the following if the old machine is sold off. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.) d. Based on the 2c above would the company qualify for the loan? Yes No

P4-4B Allesnik Advertising Agency was founded in January 2017. Presented here are both the adjusted and unadjusted trial balances as of December 31, 2017.

ALLESNIK ADVERTISING AGENCY

Trial Balance

December 31, 2017

Instructions

(a)Journalize the annual adjusting entries that were made.

(b)   Prepare an income statement and a retained earnings statement for the year ended December 31, and a classified balance sheet at December 31.

Venice InLine, Inc., was founded by Russ Perez to produce a specialized in-line skate he had designed for doing aerial tricks. Up to this point, Russ has financed the company with his own savings and with cash generated by his business. However, Russ now faces a cash crisis. In the year just ended, an acute shortage of high-impact roller bearings developed just as the company was beginning production for the Christmas season. Russ had been assured by his suppliers that the roller bearings would be delivered in time to make Christmas shipments, but the suppliers were unable to fully deliver on this promise. As a consequence, Venice InLine had large stocks of unfinished skates at the end of the year and was unable to fill all of the orders that had come in from retailers for the Christmas season. Consequently, sales were below expectations for the year, and Russ does not have enough cash to pay his creditors.

Well before the accounts payable were due, Russ visited a local bank and inquired about obtaining a loan. The loan officer at the bank assured Russ that there should not be any problem getting a loan to pay off his accounts payable—providing that on his most recent financial statements the current ratio was above 2.0, the acid-test ratio was above 1.0, and net operating income was at least four times the interest on the proposed loan. Russ promised to return later with a copy of his financial statements.

Russ would like to apply for a $120,000 six-month loan bearing an interest rate of 3% per year. The unaudited financial reports of the company appear below:

Required:

1-a. Based on the above unaudited financial statement of the current year calculate the following.

Current ratio

Acid-test ratio

Ratio of net operating income to loan interest

1-b. Based on the statement made by the loan officer, would the company qualify for the loan?

2. Last year Russ purchased and installed new, more efficient equipment to replace an older plastic injection molding machine. Russ had originally planned to sell the old machine but found that it is still needed whenever the plastic injection molding process is a bottleneck. When Russ discussed his cash flow problems with his brother-in-law, he suggested to Russ that the old equipment be sold or at least reclassified as inventory on the balance sheet because it could be readily sold. At present, the equipment is carried in the Property and Equipment account and could be sold for its net book value of $79,000. The bank does not require audited financial statements.

a. Calculate the following if the old machine is considered as inventory.

b. Based on the 2a answer would the company qualify for the loan?

c. Calculate the following if the old machine is sold off.

d. Based on the 2c answer would the company qualify for the loan?

Complete this question by entering your answers in the tabs below.

• Req 1A
• Req 1B
• Req 2A
• Req 2B
• Req 2C
• Req 2D

Based on the above unaudited financial statement of the current year calculate the following:

Current ratio

Acid-test ratio

Ratio of net operating income to loan interest

(Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

Show less

Last year Russ purchased and installed new, more efficient equipment to replace an older plastic injection molding machine. Russ had originally planned to sell the old machine but found that it is still needed whenever the plastic injection molding process is a bottleneck. When Russ discussed his cash flow problems with his brother-in-law, he suggested to Russ that the old equipment be sold or at least reclassified as inventory on the balance sheet because it could be readily sold. At present, the equipment is carried in the Property and Equipment account and could be sold for its net book value of $79,000. The bank does not require audited financial statements. Calculate the following if the old machine is considered as inventory. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

Show less

Last year Russ purchased and installed new, more efficient equipment to replace an older plastic injection molding machine. Russ had originally planned to sell the old machine but found that it is still needed whenever the plastic injection molding process is a bottleneck. When Russ discussed his cash flow problems with his brother-in-law, he suggested to Russ that the old equipment be sold or at least reclassified as inventory on the balance sheet because it could be readily sold. At present, the equipment is carried in the Property and Equipment account and could be sold for its net book value of $79,000. The bank does not require audited financial statements. Calculate the following if the old machine is sold off. (Round your answers to 1 decimal place.)

Show less

Venice InLine, Inc., was founded by Russ Perez to produce a specialized in-line skate he had designed for doing aerial tricks. Up to this point, Russ has financed the company with his own savings and with cash generated by his business. However, Russ now faces a cash crisis. In the year just ended, an acute shortage of high-impact roller bearings developed just as the company was beginning production for the Christmas season. Russ had been assured by his suppliers that the roller bearings would be delivered in time to make Christmas shipments, but the suppliers were unable to fully deliver on this promise. As a consequence, Venice InLine had large stocks of unfinished skates at the end of the year and was unable to fill all of the orders that had come in from retailers for the Christmas season. Consequently, sales were below expectations for the year, and Russ does not have enough cash to pay his creditors.

Well before the accounts payable were due, Russ visited a local bank and inquired about obtaining a loan. The loan officer at the bank assured Russ that there should not be any problem getting a loan to pay off his accounts payable—providing that on his most recent financial statements the current ratio was above 2.0, the acid-test ratio was above 1.0, and net operating income was at least four times the interest on the proposed loan. Russ promised to return later with a copy of his financial statements.

Russ would like to apply for a $125,000 six-month loan bearing an interest rate of 6% per year. The unaudited financial reports of the company appear below:

Required:

1-a. Based on the above unaudited financial statement of the current year calculate the following.

Current ratio

Acid-test ratio

Number of times of the net operating income to the interest on the proposed loan

1-b. Based on the statement made by the loan officer, would the company qualify for the loan?

2. Last year Russ purchased and installed new, more efficient equipment to replace an older plastic injection molding machine. Russ had originally planned to sell the old equipment, but found that it is still needed whenever the plastic injection molding process is a bottleneck. When Russ discussed his cash flow problems with his brother-in-law, he suggested to Russ that the old equipment be sold or at least reclassified as inventory on the balance sheet because it could be readily sold. At present, the equipment is carried in the Property and Equipment account and could be sold for its net book value of $77,000. The bank does not require audited financial statements.

a. Calculate the following if the old machine is considered as inventory.

b. Based on the 2a above would the company qualify for the loan?

c. Calculate the following if the old machine is sold off.

d. Based on the 2c above would the company qualify for the loan?

Amara Ltd was founded on 1st January 2019. Amara sells bed frames to customers. The company has adopted a periodic inventory system together with the average cost cost-flow assumption (AVCO) to determine the Cost of Goods Sold for the year. The company’s inventory transactions for its first year of operation to December 31st, 2019 are as follows:

Required:

(a) What amount will Amara Ltd report as its Inventory balance in the Current Asset section of its Balance Sheet? What amount will Amara report as Cost of Goods Sold for the year ended 2019 financial year? (Show all workings)

(b) If Amara Ltd had adopted First-In First-Out (FIFO) as its cost flow assumption on 1st January 2019, what Cost of Goods Sold figure would have been reported in its Statement of Financial Performance for the 2019 financial year? (Show all workings)

(c) Management is aware of another cost-flow assumption; Last-In First-Out (LIFO). Which of the three cost-flow assumptions; AVCO, FIFO or LIFO will yield the highest Gross Profit Margin for the 2019 year if 80% of Sales are on credit?

There is no specific methods required.

CenTer Realty is a recently founded commercial and residential real estate company. CenTer grossed $3,000,000 in revenues last year, while incurring $1,000,000 in operating expenses and $300,000 in income taxes. CenTer Realty owned and occupied an office building in downtown Kansas City. The building could have been leased to other businesses for $500,000 in lease income last year. The owner of CenTer Realty invested $4,000,000 of his own money that could have earned a 10 percent rate of return on funds invested elsewhere. He also left a job as a realtor, where he earned $200,000 the previous year. Q 1 Question 1 Last year, CenTer Realty’s total explicit costs of using market-supplied resources are $. Q 2 Question 2 CenTer’s total implicit costs of using owner-supplied resources equals $ last year. Q 3 Question 3 CenTer’s accounting profit was $ Q 4 Question 4 Economic profit last year was