According to natural law theory, actions are right just because they are natural and wrong just because they are unnatural. The theory has a number of attractions. By grounding morality in human nature, the theory promises to explain both how morality could be objective and why morality applies only to human beings. The theory could also help us to understand the origins of morality and how we can come to have moral knowledge. If, through science, we come to understand our nature and its origin, then according to natural law theory, we will know everything we need to know about morality. If natural law theory is to be plausible, its defenders must specify exactly what sense of “human nature” is supposed to be morally relevant. On one understanding, human nature consists of whatever is innately human. Others take human nature to be whatever all or most humans have in common. Still others understand human nature to consist of whatever we were “designed” by nature to do. The problem for natural law theory is that none of these understandings of human nature seems to provide a sufficient basis for morality. Whether an action or character trait is morally good does not seem to depend on whether it is innate or acquired. The percentage of people who have a given trait does not seem particularly morally relevant, either—even if almost everyone were cruel, this would still not make cruelty morally admirable. Furthermore, on either of the two most common ways of understanding natural purposes, whether an action enables us to fulfill a natural purpose doesn’t seem to tell us whether that act is morally permissible or not. The term human nature can be understood in many ways. Even if we settle on one definition of human nature, however, it is far from obvious that everything natural is morally good, or vice versa. Given that natural laws merely tell us how things will behave whereas the function of moral laws is to tell us how we should behave, it should come as no surprise that nature does not tell us everything we’d like to know about morality.

"Suppose that 'human nature' consists of the set of innate characteristics that all (or most) humans share. Understood in this way, what does human nature tell us about morality? Is it always immoral to behave contrary to human nature?" Write 200 words.

On October 1, 2017, Santana Rey launched a computer services company, Business Solutions, that is organized as a proprietorship and provides consulting services, computer system installations, and custom program development. Rey adopts the calendar year for reporting purposes and expects to prepare the company’s first set of financial statements on December 31, 2017.

Required:
Enter the amount of each transaction on individual items of the accounting equation. Show new balances after each transaction. (Enter decreases to account balances with a minus sign. Enter as per the transaction order provided in the question data.)

Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Assume that a simple random sample has been selected from a normally distributed population and test the given
claim. Use either the traditional method or P-value method as indicated. Identify the null and alternative hypotheses,
test statistic, critical value(s) or P-value (or range of P-values) as appropriate, and state the final conclusion that
addresses the original claim.
1) A large software company gives job applicants a test of programming ability and the
mean for that test has been 160 in the past. Twenty-five job applicants are randomly
selected from one large university and they produce a mean score and standard
deviation of 183 and 12, respectively. Use a 0.05 level of significance to test the claim that
this sample comes from a population with a mean score greater than 160. Use the
P-value method of testing hypotheses.

The following countries’ movie releases in 2010 were, the US with 378, the UK with 386, Germany with 287, France with 182 and Japan with 129. Choosing one new release at random, find the probability that the new release is: (a) European (b) From the US

 Ratio Research: Use the template to analyze the selected ratios (profitability, financial strength, valuation, management effectiveness, dividends, and efficiency) for both of the competitors. To complete this part, you can reference the Morningstar website in the Module Two resources to obtain the ratios. You can also use the SEC EDGAR Company Filings resource from Module One to obtain the ratio from annual reports. Please note: The ratios have to be from the same time period (the same year for both competitors). For training on how to use Excel, visit the Hoonuit training site or search YouTube to find appropriate Excel training videos.  Industry Ratios: To analyze ratios for the companies, you also need to obtain the ratios for the industry that the competitors operate in. Industry values for the ratios can be found in the index column. If no index value is available, put the five-year averages for both companies in the industry column and use these figures for the industry comparison of your ratio analysis.  Ratio Analysis: Compare the two companies based on their ratios. Use the last column in the template to write in detail how each company is doing based on the ratios. Compare the company ratios to the industry and each other

Analyzing Unearned Revenue Disclosures
The following disclosures (excerpted) are from the September 2, 2018, annual report of Costco Wholesale Corporation.

The Company generally recognizes sales, net of returns, at the time the member takes possession of merchandise or receives services. When the Company collects payments from members prior to the transfer of ownership of merchandise or the performance of services, the amounts received are generally recorded as deferred sales, included in other current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets, until the sale or service is completed. The Company reserves for estimated sales returns based on historical trends in merchandise returns and reduces sales and merchandise costs accordingly. The Company accounts for membership fee revenue, net of refunds, on a deferred basis, ratably over the one-year membership.

The Company’s Executive members qualify for a 2% reward on qualified purchases (up to a maximum reward of approximately $1,000 per year), which can be redeemed only at Costco warehouses. The Company accounts for this reward as a reduction in sales. The sales reduction and corresponding liability (classified as accrued member rewards in the consolidated balance sheets) are computed after giving effect to the estimated impact of non-redemptions, based on historical data. The net reduction in sales was $1,394, $1,281, and $1,172 in 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

(a) Which of the following statements best explains in layman terms how Costco accounts for the cash received for its membership fees?

Because Costco does not know how many of its members will continue to the end of the year, cash received from members is recorded as a liability and recognized as revenue only at year-end.

When it receives cash, the company records it as a current liability. Then, it recognizes revenue evenly over the year.

The company records revenue when the cash is received.

Because Costco has a refund policy, the company records revenue when the cash is received, less an allowance for expected membership terminations.

(b) Use the balance sheet information on Costco's Deferred Membership Fees liability account and its income statement revenues related to Membership Fees earned during fiscal 2018 to compute the cash that Costco received during fiscal 2018 for membership fees.
Total cash received (in $ millions) = $Answer

(c) Use the financial statement effects template to show the effect of the cash Costco received during fiscal 2018 for membership fees and the recognition of membership fees revenue for fiscal 2018.

Use negative signs with answers, when appropriate.

(e) Complete the following sentences:
Costco recorded sales of at least $_____ from the Company’s Executive members, during fiscal 2018.

Patagonia

Patagonia sells rugged clothing and gear to mountain climbers, skiers, and other extreme-sport enthusiasts. The company is also well known for its environmental stands and its commitment to product quality. Patagonia has never owned a fabric mill or a sewing shop. Instead, to make a ski jacket, for example, it buys fabric from a mill, and zippers and facings from other manufacturers, and then hires a sewing shop to complete the garment. To meet its own environmental standards and ensure product quality, it works closely with each partner to make sure the jacket meets its rigid standards.

As a result of these standards, Patagonia does as much business as it can with as few partners as possible and chooses its relationships carefully. The first thing the company looks for in a partner is the quality of its work. It doesn’t look for the lowest-cost provider, who might sew one day for a warehouse store such as Costco and try to sew the next day for Patagonia. Contractors that sew on the lowest-cost basis, the company reasons, wouldn’t hire sewing operators of the skill required or welcome Patagonia’s oversight of its working conditions and environmental standards. What Patagonia looks for, more than anything, is a good fit between itself and the companies it partners with. It sees its partners as an extension of its own business, and wants partners that convey Patagonia’s own sense of product quality, business ethics, and environmental and social concern.

Once a relationship is established, Patagonia doesn’t leave adherence to its principles to chance. Its production department monitors its partners on a consistent basis. The objective is for both sides to prosper and win. In fact, in describing the company’s relationship with its partners, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard says, “We become like friends, family—mutually selfish business partners; what’s good for them is good for us.”

Build-A-Bear Workshop

A similar set of beliefs and actions describe Build-A-Bear Workshop. Build-A-Bear lets its customers, who are usually children, design and build their own stuffed animals, in a sort of Santa’s workshop setting. Like Patagonia, Build-A-Bear is a very socially conscious organization, and looks for partners that reflect its values. Affirming this point, Maxine Clark, the company’s founder, said, “The most successful corporate partnerships are forged between like-minded companies with similar cultures that have come together for a common goal, where both sides benefit from the relationship.”

Also similar to Patagonia, Build-A-Bear thinks of its partners as good friends. Reflecting on her experiences in this area, Clark said, “I tend to think of partners as good business friends—companies and people who would do everything they could to help us succeed and for whom I would do the same.” In a book she wrote about founding and building Build-A-Bear into a successful company, Clark attributes having good partners to careful selection. She also likens business partnership to a marriage, which has many benefits but also takes hard work: “Good business partnerships are like successful marriages. To work, they require compatibility, trust and cooperation. Both parties need to be invested in one another’s well-being and strive for a common goal.”

Both Patagonia and Build-A-Bear make extensive use of partnerships and are leaders in their respective industries.

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. 1. To what extent do you believe that Patagonia and Build-A-BearWorkshop’s ethical cultures drive their views on partnering?

2. 2. Assume you were assigned the task of writing a code of conduct for Patagonia. Write the portion of the code of conduct that deals with business partnership relationships.

3. 3. What similarities do you see between the partnership philosophies of Patagonia and Build-A-Bear Workshop?

4. 4. Spend some time studying Patagonia by looking at the company’s website and its Facebook page, and via other Internet searches. Describe Patagonia’s general approach to business ethics, social responsibility, and environmental concerns. What, if anything, can start-ups learn from Patagonia’s philosophies and its experiences?

You expect the price of CEMENCO stock to be US$59.77 per share a year from now. Its current market price is US$50.00, and you expect it to pay dividend one year from now of US$2.15 per share.

1. What are the stock’s expected dividend yield, rate of price appreciation, and expected holding – period return?

2. If the stock has a Beta of 1.15, the risk – free rate is 6% per year, and the Expected Rate of Return on the market portfolio is 14% per year. What is the Required Rate of Return on CEMENCO stock?

3. What is the intrinsic value of CEMENCO stock?

Big Al’s Athletic Apparel annually sells 20,000 University of Florida branded cotton T-shirts through distributors who then sell the shirts for $15 to retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods who then sell them on to consumers for $25 each. Big Al’s costs of goods are $5 per shirt and they are required to pay a licensing fee to UF for $1 for every shirt that they sell via distributors. This fee is only charged on those shirts sold to the distributors. The distributors’ margins are 20%.

1. Create a Value Chain for the shirts by filling in the blanks (10 points each)

2. After a very disappointing football and basketball season for the Gators, Big Al’s is considering lowering the price to increase T-shirt demand. If Big Al’s decided to reduce its price on the T-Shirts by $2.50, how additional units would it need to break even?

Multiple Choice (Mark the correct answer 10 points each)

1. Big Al’s new contribution margin after the price discount is:

1. $6
2. $4.50
3. $3.50
4. $2.50
5. None of these

2. What is the incremental number of units that Big Al’s needs to sell to break even on the price discount?

1. 20,000
2. 14,286
3. 34,286
4. 50,000
5. None of these