In early January 2010, you purchased $12,000 worth of some high-grade corporate bonds. The bonds carried a coupon of 7 6/8% and mature in 2024. You paid 94.643 when you bought the bonds. Over the five years from 2012 through 2014, the bonds were priced in the market as follows: Coupon payments were made on schedule throughout the 5-year period.

a. Find the annual holding returns for 2010 through 2014. (HPR formula)

b. Use the average return information in the given table to evaluate the investment performance of this bond. How do you think it stacks up against the market? Explain.

For the following independent situation for an individual taxpayer. Item Use (Personal or Business) Business Basis $25,000 FMV before the casualty $17,000 FMV after the casualty None Adjusted gross income (before any allowable casualty loss) $50,000 Insurance proceeds $10,000

The starting point for the calculation of the loss deduction is:

The amount of the deductible casualty loss is:

A clinical trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of a drug for treating insomnia in older subjects. Before​ treatment,

20

subjects had a mean wake time of

101.0

min. After​ treatment, the

20

subjects had a mean wake time of

92.4

min and a standard deviation of

21.1

min. Assume that the

20

sample values appear to be from a normally distributed population and construct a

99%

confidence interval estimate of the mean wake time for a population with drug treatments. What does the result suggest about the mean wake time of

101.0

min before the​ treatment? Does the drug appear to be​ effective?

Construct the

99%

confidence interval estimate of the mean wake time for a population with the treatment.

_ min < u < min

The confidence interval

▼

the mean wake time of

101.0

min before the​ treatment, so the means before and after the treatment

▼

This result suggests that the drug treatment

▼

a significant effect.

First blank: DOES NOT INCLUDE or INCLUDE

Second blank: ARE DIFFERENT or COULD BE THE SAME

Third Blank: HAS or DOES NOT HAVE

1. The Federal Aviation Administration wants to determine the effect of alcohol on reaction time (apparently, they really want to know how much booze a pilot can have before flying an airplane carrying hundreds of people). They conduct reaction time tests (measured in milliseconds, ms) on 10 pilots before and after consuming alcohol. Does alcohol affect reaction time? Data are seen below.

1. Conduct a hypothesis test and construct a 95% C.I. for the pre/post test difference in reaction time.

1. The Federal Aviation Administration wants to determine the effect of alcohol on reaction time (apparently, they really want to know how much booze a pilot can have before flying an airplane carrying hundreds of people). They conduct reaction time tests (measured in milliseconds, ms) on 10 pilots before and after consuming alcohol. Does alcohol affect reaction time? Data are seen below.

1. Conduct a hypothesis test and construct a 95% C.I. for the pre/post test difference in reaction time.

1. The Federal Aviation Administration wants to determine the effect of alcohol on reaction time (apparently, they really want to know how much booze a pilot can have before flying an airplane carrying hundreds of people). They conduct reaction time tests (measured in milliseconds, ms) on 10 pilots before and after consuming alcohol. Does alcohol affect reaction time? Data are seen below.

1. Conduct a hypothesis test and construct a 95% C.I. for the pre/post test difference in reaction time.

= 195.6 ms

S_d = 230.53 ms

N_p = 10

= 195.6 ms

S_d = 230.53 ms

N_p = 10

= 195.6 ms

S_d = 230.53 ms

N_p = 10

NIKE: Associating Athletes, Performance, and the Brand Nike is the largest seller of athletic footwear, athletic apparel, and other athletic gear in the world, with about 30-percent market share worldwide. Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Air Jordan, Team Starter, and subsidiaries, including Bauer, Cole Haan, Hurley International, and Converse. As of 2011, the company sells its products through a mix of independent distributors, licensees, and subsidiaries in approximately 120 countries worldwide. Nike has grown from an $8,000 company in 1963 to a company with revenues of $19 billion for the year ended May 31, 2010. In 2010, Nike spent an enormous amount of money, more than a billion dollars, on advertising, endorsements, social media, and sales promotion. In order to make sure that this money is being spent properly, Nike relies on marketing research. It has shown a history of innovation and inspiration in its marketing and is quick to adapt to the changing consumer and the world of sports. Nike has used marketing research in understanding where the future growth lies. A recent example is Nike’s shift from marketing in the more traditional sports (basketball and running) to other sports (golf and soccer), where it has not been as strong. Marketing research surveys revealed that the awareness of Nike among soccer and golf players was low, and Nike decided to work on increasing these numbers. Nike has decided that the money needed for licenses in its strong areas can be better spent in other areas where Nike does not have the brand awareness. Today, the Nike Swoosh is recognized around the world. This is the result of more than 40 years of work and innovation. It signed the first athletes to wear its shoes in 1973. Early on, Nike realized the importance of associating athletes with its products. The partnerships help relate the excellence of the athlete with the perception of the brand. Through focus groups and surveys, Nike discovered the pyramid influence, which shows that the mass market can be influenced by the preferences of a small group of top athletes. After it realized this effect, Nike began to spend millions on celebrity endorsements. The association with the athlete also helps dimensionalize the company and what it believes in. With Nike, this was, and remains, extremely important. It wants to convey a message that the company’s goal is to bring innovation to every athlete in the world. Nike also uses the athletes to design new products by attempting to meet their individual goals. Explaining Nike’s strategy of celebrity endorsements, Trevor Edwards, vice president of U.S. Brand Management, says that the sports figures, such as Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods, who have endorsed Nike brands, all have represented excellence in some way. Nevertheless, the athletes also have a personal side, such as their drive to win or their ability to remain humble. All these qualities speak something about the Nike brand; this not only benefits the brand, but also helps to define what the Nike brand is and what it stands for. The company also realized that in order to achieve its lofty growth goals, it must appeal to multiple market segments. Based on marketing research, Nike divided the market into three different groups: the ultimate athlete, the athletics participant, and the consumer who is influenced by sports culture. The first segment is the professional athletes. The second constituency is the participants, those who participate in sports and athletic activities but do not see themselves as athletes or as being part of the larger sport. The third segment comprises those who influence others and are influenced by the world of sports. These three different constituencies form three different consumer segments, and Nike uses very different strategies for each. Nike has always been an aggressive user of marketing research and this has been shown in its attack on the European market. It decided to concentrate on different sports in order to reach European consumers. Americans love baseball. And football. And basketball. But Europe’s favorite game is soccer. Nike placed its focus on major sporting events (World Cups and Olympics) and celebrity athletes that are relevant to the European consumer. Marketing research in the form of focus groups and survey research revealed that the best positioning for Nike shoes was one that enhanced performance in the sport. Through massive advertising campaigns, it has been able to change the perception of its products from fashion to performance, and in the process increase sales dramatically. Another technique Nike has used is to specifically design a product line for a certain market. Nike uses marketing research to determine the lifestyles and product usage characteristics of a particular market segment and then designs products for that segment. An example is the Presto line, which was designed for a certain youth lifestyle. Nike focused on the lifestyle and designed the products around this group. It also used marketing research to determine the most effective media to communicate with the target market. Nike launched its “Write The Future” Campaign in 2010 that made extensive use of social media in partnerships with YouTube, QQ.com, and Facebook. It celebrated football’s pivotal moments and allows fans around the world to connect with their heroes. It featured an action-packed film that brought together some of the world’s greatest players to inspire football lovers and sports fans around the world. Footballers could then use this creative to build their own Facebook campaign and be eligible for rewards. Because of these methods, the Nike logo is recognized by 97 percent of U.S. citizens, and its sales have soared as a result. However, Nike faces a new concern: that it has lost its traditional image of being a smaller, innovative company. It also faces future obstacles in maintaining brand equity and brand meaning. Continued reliance on marketing research will help Nike to meet these challenges, associate its brand with top athletes and performance, and enhance its image. Conclusion Nike used marketing research to build its brand into one of the most well-known and easily recognized brands in the world. Nike’s strategy of celebrity endorsements, its expansion into Europe, and the resulting stronger association with soccer are some of the steps taken by Nike to grow its brand. In the coming years, as Nike expands to newer markets and capitalizes newer opportunities, it will have to continue its reliance on marketing research and continue to associate athletes, performance, and the brand.

Questions

1. Nike would like to increase its share of the athletic shoe market. Define the management-decision problem.

2. Define an appropriate marketing research problem corresponding to the management-decision problem you have identified.

3. Develop a graphical model explaining consumers’ selection of a brand of athletic shoes.

4. How can qualitative research be used to strengthen Nike’s image? Which qualitative research technique(s) should be used and why? How can Nike make use of social media in this context?

Nursing Leadership Class

Week One Discussion: Change & Innovation in Nursing

Initial Post:  

1. Obtain a scholarly nursing journal on Innovation and Change in Clinical Nursing Practice or Nursing Education. Download the article (you will post it for your peers to review)

2. Write your Literature Review (almost like an abstract), summarizing the key concepts presented in the article (you do not need to report statistical findings or elaborate on the type of research conducted). Make sure to identify the problem/need for change/rationale for change, the setting (practice or education) identified, and how the results/findings could be implemented in the identified setting. Limit to 1-2 paragraphs- quality over quantity!

3. Attach the article to your discussion post

Respond to at least ONE peer, and include the following:

1. After reviewing the article, identify 3 salient (relevant) points presented in the article in terms of the change proposed and the setting for the change, include a rationale/evidence for each point. For example, if you review an article about the implementation of simulation in nursing education to simulate clinical preparedness, you might conclude that: According to __________ (year), 65% nursing students in the study reported that simulation helped them learn psychomotor tasks better than the classroom environment and they felt more prepared when performing those skills in the clinical setting. When the simulation has been included in the curriculum at Stratford, it helped me feel better prepared and more confident during the clinical for the course.

2. Develop a research question (not a PICOT question) based upon the findings/results of the article.  For example, if you review an article about the implementation of simulation in nursing education to stimulate clinical preparedness, your research question could focus on the implementation of simulation in new grad unit-based orientation programs.  Reference: Writing a Research Question (click the link to go to the web page).

Make a detailed trace of the execution of the following program fragment, giving the contents of all the registers, and memory locations involved. Assume that before execution begins the SS register contains 0410h, and the SP register 0100h, and that the contents of AX, BX, CX, and DX are 789Ah, 0020h, 2000h, and 1234h respectively.