The Prevalence of COVID-19 Pandemic has compelled many businesses all over the world to request that their employees work from home. You have been asked by your boss, Mr. Arit Pandey, to write a report urgently for him, to assist your company manage the record keeping with respect to employees' work hours during this period of emergency. Your company has operations and workers in the USA, Italy, UK and Mexico. In your report, describe several technologies that can deployed for producing the time and attendance file of workers in a modern business with telecommuting employees working from multiple locations. Your report should be as detailed as is possible to assist Mr. Pandey decide on what should be done. You should also recommend which of the available alternative technologies you prefer, stating why.

Q. Assume a basket that costs $100 in the U.S. would cost $120 in the United Kingdom. (18 pts)

a) What is the U.S. real exchange rate, qUS/UK, with the United Kingdom? Intuitively, what does this real exchange rate imply? (5 pts)

b) Does PPP hold true here? Why? (5 pts)

c) Instead, let’s assume that a basket that costs $100 in the U.S. would cost also $100 in the United Kingdom. For the next year, the Fed is predicted to keep U.S. inflation at 2% and the Bank of England is predicted to keep U.K. inflation at 3%. Does PPP hold true here? If so, use relative PPP to predict what will happen to the dollar’s value against the poundin one year’s time. (8 pts)

Triple Z, is providing car maintenance services for their customers in England, The Company is aiming to expand their business in the UK by establishing car services stations in Scotland. This project will cost the company £50 million. Triple Z decided to establish a separate company for this project and to name it Z Highlands. Z Highland plans to finance this project using 40% equity and 60% debt. T-bond annual rate 6.0%. Expected return on FTSE500 is 15%. The Variance of FTSE500 returns is 2. The covariance between FTSE500 and Triple Z is 1.6. Triple Z has had no debt for the last 5 years. (i.e. Debt/Equity = 0). The tax rate is 40%. Required: a) Calculate the following:

i) The Beta and cost of equity the Triple Z.

ii) The levered beta and the cost of equity for Z Highlands.

Imagine you are opening a Mint, a manufacturing company that produces coins and medals. You have been commissioned to make, from start to finish, a new copper/nickel coin (you can use the UK 50p as an example). Explain the process of producing the coin. Your answer should include:

The initial sheet metal working and what temperature it will be performed at. (Including the pros and cons of working at that temperature as it relates to the overall coin making process and the economy of the factory).
The process of producing the initial blanks for the coin.
The creation of the coin dies (stamps), including what methods would be used to prolong the life of the die.
The stamping and finishing of the coins.
How you would improve the economy of the Mint to minimise waste and maximise production.

Word count: 1000 words (+/-10%)

1 You are appointed as a Contract Manager for an Employer who will be inviting competitive
tenders for a new project. You have been asked to assist the Tender Team in
terms of Contract Structure and documentation.
You have been requested to prepare PRELIMINARY ENQUIRY FOR INVITATION TO TENDER
as this is applicable where the JCT Standard Form of Building Contract, Intermediate Form
of Building Contract or Agreement for Minor Building Works is to be used. You are
required to follow principles of NJCC (the National Joint Consultative Committee for
Building UK) and CIB (Construction Industry Board) Code of Procedures for single stage
selective tendering.
You have included the necessary questions or tile for required information, but the replies
have been received in a different format.. What action do you take, and why?

1. A zero-coupon British bond promises to pay GBP 100,000 in one year. The current exchange rate is USD 2.00 / GBP and inflation is forecast at 5 percent in the US and 2 percent in the UK. The appropriate discount rate for a bond of this risk would be 10 percent if it paid in USD. What is the appropriate price of the bond today in USD?

2. A US-based manufacturer is considering an international investment opportunity that will produce the following cash flows in EUR. The current spot rate is USD 1.50 / EUR. What is the NPV of this project in USD if inflation in the US is expected to be 5 percent and inflation in Europe is expected to be 10 percent, and the required rate of return is 10 percent in USD?

Thank you for your help!

Amazon, originally, was an online book seller, started in a garage in a Seattle suburb. Then they entered strategic alliances to expand products offered. Amazon now sells 50 times the number of items sold by Walmart and they even established country-specific sites such as UK, China, France, India, Japan, and Germany. Amazon is a widely diversified technology company, having products and services in the areas of music, movies, and TV shows. They also acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017, allowing them to compete with Walmart and other grocery stores. Also, Amazon is the largest cloud computing service provider globally. Amazon now continues to grow and be innovative.”

Based on what we learned, what is Amazon’s core business? What is their main corporate strategy? Please based your answer on the concepts we learned and justify why that is.

Sandra and Michael Wilson are the parents of Rory who just turned 5 years old (coincidentally on the same date that primary, secondary and university academic years commence). They own a four-bedroom home in Edinburgh. Sandra is a partner in a local dental practice and Michael is a stay at home dad. Sandra earns £100,000 a year (after tax).

Now that Rory is starting primary school, thoughts have turned to saving for his education. Rory is enrolled to attend a state (i.e. non fee-paying) primary school. The Wilsons plan to send Rory to a private secondary school (when he turns 11). The school is prestigious and its fees are set accordingly. Currently tuition is £20,000 per school year and are projected to rise at the rate of inflation. Currently around 2% per annum.

The Wilsons hope that Rory will subsequently attend their alma mater, Oxford University when he turns 18. Most undergraduate courses at Oxford have a four academic year duration. Undergraduate fees at Oxford are currently £9250 per annum and are projected to rise faster than inflation, at a rate of 4% per annum. In addition, as Rory would be living away from home if he attended Oxford, his parents envisage that his living costs (primarily student accommodation and food) would amount to £10,000 per annum (expressed in today’s prices). These living costs are projected to increase at the rate of inflation, 2% per annum.

Using a discount rate of 7%, what is the present value of the combined projected spend on Rory’s private school fees, university tuition and living costs? (Assume that all fees and living costs are incurred at the beginning of each academic year e.g. Rory’s first school fee invoice will arrive in exactly 6 years which coincides with his first day at secondary school when he turns 11).

The Wilsons plan to fund the expenditure on private school fees from Sandra’s income. They would however like to start investing today in a fund that would be used to pay Rory’s university fees and living costs. They would like to make an equal annual payment into that fund every year (starting in one years’ time) with a view to accumulating £120,000 by Rory’s 18th birthday. This £120,000 would then be drawn down over Rory’s time at Oxford to meet expenses as they come due.

How much money would they have to deposit into the fund every year (with the first payment one year from now) to meet that target assuming a conservative fund return estimate of 3% a year. Will the accumulated amount be enough to cover the joint fees and living costs during Rory’s time at Oxford?