The most obvious cost in a capital budget is the actual cost of the capital expenditure item. We must also consider other costs that will be incurred when we make the capital expenditure (purchase). These costs are important to include because they can be the difference between a successful implementation of the capital expenditure item and staying on budget. After reviewing the textbook readings, provide an example of a healthcare capital expenditure. Explain the rationale behind the purpose of a capital expenditure budget. In addition, include two other cost considerations and explain their inclusion in your capital budget plan. For example, if you are installing an Electronic Medical Records (EMR), you must include future cost for maintenance, software updates, new computers, etc. These are the hidden costs of operation often not considered in a capital budget.

Cost is a big issue with every company, and changing the technology is the biggest cost for most companies, how companies were able to cope with this problem and maintain the level of profit in a very competitive market?

Describe job cost flows and determine the cost of jobs. please explain

Write a program that will calculate the cost of installing fiber optic cable at a cost of .87 per ft for a company. Your program should display the company name and the total cost.

1. Display a welcome message for your program.
2. Get the company name from the user
3. Get the number of feet of fiber optic to be installed from the user
4. Multiply the total cost as the number of feet times .87.
5. Display the calculated information and company name.

You own a boutique store in Lahaina in Maui Island, Hawaii. Your store carries top-of-the-line specialty apparel and fosters a friendly and hospitable environment. You recently attended a marketing conference and listened to several presentations about customer lifetime value (CLV), the total amount a customer will spend from acquisition through the end of a relationship with a brand. You learned that the apparel industry is overhauling to become data-driven and customer-centric. Obtaining the CLV will help you to both decide who to target in advertisement and sales campaigns and assess how effective those campaigns will be at increasing customer value. Consequently, by using CLV metrics, you will be able to segment, profile, and target your customers, understand those customers’ characteristics, and pay them more attention to keep them loyal to your business. After returning home, you were interested in finding out your customer lifetime value so that you could develop promotional campaigns to improve your CLV. In order to calculate the CLV metric, a speaker at the marketing conference suggested that you use data from your company’s books related to four variables. The first variable is average value of sales per year. Your books showed that on average, the average value of sales per year was $750. The second variable is average customer acquisition cost. It includes promotion expenses, sales expenses, and your costs of attracting new customers during the first year, and it was found to be $400. The third variable, average customer retention rate, consists of the percentage of customers that will most probably buy from your store next year, and it was found to be 70 percent. The fourth variable, customer retention cost, is the cost of keeping customers loyal to your business, and it was found to be $100. Now that you have all the figures that you need, you take your notes out of your briefcase to check the formula that you learned at the marketing conference. The version of CLV they presented at the conference was: Customer lifetime value = [1 / (1 – Average customer retention rate)] X (Average value of sales per year) – (Average customer acquisition cost + Average customer retention cost). Using the worksheet below, you will need to input the data and create the formula in the required cell. Replace the variables in the formula above with the appropriate cell. 1. For the above data, what is the current CLV? -$511 $2,100 $511 $2,000 2. You were unhappy with your current CLV, so you conducted a promotional campaign that included advertisements in local newspapers, magazines and TV commercials to increase your customer value. The new data show that acquisition cost = $300, retention rate = 75 percent, retention cost = $150 and customer average value per year = $850. What is your new CLV? $2,950 -$461 $3,000 $461 3. Your new results still fell a little bit short of meeting your business goals. So, you were motivated to develop one more promotional campaign that included several channels of social media. Your updated data show that acquisition cost = $250, retention cost = $200, retention rate = 80 percent and customer average value per year = $2,500. What is your updated CLV? -$482 $12,050 $482 $15,020

4. You were happily surprised with the results. So, you decided to launch a new campaign to provide special attention to and take care of your clientele. You invite your customers to a private dinner party at a fancy French hotel restaurant in Lahaina with your products displayed in the background. After a few months, you notice that your data show that acquisition cost = $200, retention cost = $100, retention rate = 85 percent and customer average value per year = $1250. What is your new CLV?

$315

$8,033

-$315

-$8,033

5. As a marketing manager, which element of the formula do you think is the most important to obtaining a higher CLV?

customer retention rate

customer average value per year

customer acquisition cost

customer retention cost

1. In 1980 France had a GDP of $325 billion francs and a population of 11.78 million. In 1980 the exchange rate was 1 US dollar was equal to 1.67 francs. In 2010, France had a GDP of $435 billion euros and a population of 21.75 million. In 2010 0.8 euros was equal to 1 US Dollar. The GDP deflator was 51 in 1980 and 125 in 2010. By what percentage did France’s Real GDP per capita rise between 1980 and 2010 in U.S. dollars?

2. Identify the most commonly cited measure of inflation in the United States and explain how it is calculated. Identify and briefly discuss the some of the problems that statisticians have paid considerable attention to in recent years (your answer needs to be thorough).

3. Describe the relationship between inflation levels in prices and inflation levels for prices, wages and interest rates with respect to their ability to affect people's economic status and business outcomes (again, here be thorough and explain what happens when wages, etc. does and does not keep up with inflation).

4. Explain the differences and similarities between the GDP deflator and the CPI. Be thorough in your answer and write in complete sentences.

5. What is Hyperinflation and what are some reasons it may occur and persist? What is deflation, when does deflation usually occur, and is deflation a good or bad thing? Give examples of when each scenario happened in history as well. Again, be thorough in your answer.

6. In an imaginary economy, consumers buy only hot dogs and hamburgers. The fixed basket consists of 15 hot dogs and 8 hamburgers. A hot dog cost $2.25 in 2006 and $5.40 in 2007. A hamburger cost $5.75 in 2006 and $7.86 in 2007. Calculate the CPI for both years and then find the inflation rate.

7. In an imaginary economy, consumers buy only sandwiches and magazines. The fixed basket consists of 25 sandwiches and 40 magazines. In 2006, a sandwich cost $4.50 and a magazine cost $3.99. In 2007, a sandwich cost $5.75. If the inflation rate in 2007 was 21 percent, then how much did a magazine cost in 2007?

8. When Anders took out his first two-year membership with Maxima Gym in 2004, the fee was $525.00. He renewed his membership three times; in 2006 for $580.00, in 2008, for $600.00, and again in 2010, for $699.00. What is the OVERALL rate of inflation for Anders' gym membership?

9. In 1949, Sycamore, Illinois built a hospital for about $500,000. In 1987, the county restored the courthouse for about $2.4 million. A price index for nonresidential construction was 12 in 1949, 96 in 1987, and 117.5 in 2000. Calculate the value of the courthouse in 2000 dollars and the value of the hospital in 2000 dollars and compare your answers. Which one cost more?

10. Ruben earned a salary of $60,000 in 2001 and $80,000 in 2006. The consumer price index was 156 in 2001 and 227.25 in 2006. What is Ruben's 2006 salary in 2001 dollars? What does this mean about how his purchasing power increased or decreased?

South Africa is emerging as a profitable production and export base for some of the world’s big auto manufacturers, despite the country’s remoteness, its reputation for labour militancy and political uncertainties. South Africa has also become a key supplier of motor industry components. With massive platinum and palladium deposits, South Africa has emerged from nowhere to take nearly 10% of the world’s production of catalytic converters, which is set to increase to 25%. This did not happen by accident. It is the result of a deliberate strategy by the government to draw the world’s best car manufacturers into South Africa, and drag the domestic industry from behind protectionist barriers into the highly competitive global market for cars and components. ‘When we started, the South African auto industry was in ruins,’ an economist from the government’s Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), said. ‘Domestic production could not even compete with imports, which faced duties in excess of 115%,’ he adds. MIDP has kick started South Africa’s ailing motor industry by attracting the world’s big car makers with many financial incentives. The new factories have had the benefit of generating thousands of new jobs and forcing hundreds of small and medium-sized local suppliers to improve quality and productivity or face extinction. Exports of fully built cars have increased to 5 billion rand, and are expected to double within two years. At the same time, exports of components have trebled to 12 billion rand. German car manufacturers have been the first to take advantage of MIDP’s export credits and investment allowances, although Italian and French companies, such as Fiat and Renault are rapidly following. DaimlerChrysler has just announced that it is switching its entire production of right-hand drive C-class Mercedes Benz cars from Bremen in Germany to the Eastern Cape in an investment project worth 1.3 billion rand, which will create 800 new jobs at the plant and 3000 new jobs in the supply industry. Mercedes’ East London factory in South Africa is now exporting C-class models to the USA, the biggest car market in the world. BMW has invested 1 billion rand upgrading its Rosslyn plant near Pretoria, which will export 75% of the 40 000 3-series cars produced each year to Britain, Germany, Japan, America, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan and Iran. Daily output has increased five-fold since creating 900 new jobs at the Rosslyn plant, and an estimated 18 000 jobs in the car component industry. The Eastern Cape remains one of the poorest regions in the country. Average black disposable income stands at a low 5000 rand a year, compared with the white population’s 45 000 rand a year. When Volkswagen were looking for 1300 workers to replace those who were sacked for participating in an illegal strike, 23 000 turned up outside the factory gates in the hope of being chosen. The extra incomes created by the industry help to boost other local industries such as retailing and house construction. The success of MIDP ‘has been a huge confidence booster for us,’ the MIDP spokesperson says. ‘It has enabled us to bring about big productivity improvements, stabilise employment, reduce the real cost of new vehicles, and give consumers more choice.’ Questions: Q1. List four multinational companies that have invested in South Africa. Q2. Using the case as well as your own knowledge, explain three reasons for these manufacturers setting up factories in South Africa. Q3. Analyse the benefits South Africa appears to be gaining from such investment. Q4. Evaluate whether the government of South Africa should continue to support investment by multinational businesses in its economy.

Marty’s Mask produces a variety of masks used in industrial and healthcare settings as well as plastic masks used in costumes. Due to the current pandemic, Marty is going to produce only masks that are useful in a healthcare setting and will focus on three models – N95, disposable surgical and plastic shields (simple retooling and changing of the material allows the plastic masks machines to make the shields). Marty is limited by the number of machine hours available and has a higher demand for the masks than can currently be met. Current production capabilities are limited by the 200,000 machine hours per week. Following is information for each of these products:

*20% of the fixed costs are unavoidable regardless of how many of each unit is produced

A. In order to maximize the company’s total contribution margin, in what sequence should Marty fill orders?

B. How many of each should Marty produce?

C. What are three other possible criteria/issues Marty should consider besides maximizing contribution margin when evaluating the order in which to produce the masks?

Part II

Question 2:

Wood World manufactures many wooden products. One of its popular product lines is the wooden crate line. It currently produces 100,000 crates monthly and this production volume represents 80% of capacity. These crates are sold in their unfinished form (no paint or stain) and are used by individuals and businesses in various ways. College students often stack them to make shelves and storage areas. Wood World is considering adding paint, various stains and even decoupage to 25% of the crates and selling them as their “designer crate line.” A single unfinished crate consists of $7 in direct materials, $12 in direct labor, $3 in variable manufacturing overhead $5 in fixed manufacturing overhead and sells for $40. The designer crate line would add the following: $4 in direct materials, $8 in direct labor, and $2 in variable manufacturing overhead and $1 in additional fixed costs. Market studies indicate a designer crate can be sold for $55.

A. Should Wood World sell all the crates in the unfinished form or should it process them further into designer crates? Why? (be sure to back up your explanation with numbers)

B. Would your answer change if Wood World was operating at capacity? Why or why not?

C. What are three non-quantitative issues Wood World should consider in making this decision?

Part II

Question 3:

Louis Luggage produces many different types and sizes of luggage. Their best seller, the Weekend Warrior, sells for $140. Louis has been asked by Macrosoft, Inc. to produce 2,000 of the Weekend Warrior with a specially designed fingerprint security lock and with the Macrosoft company logo. These will be given to Macrosoft employees who must travel frequently for work. Macrosoft has offered to pay $120 per suitcase. Louis’ costs related to the Weekend Warrior consist of variable costs per unit of $50 and fixed costs per unit of $35 of which $9 are unavoidable. In addition, Louis will encounter additional variable costs of $10 per unit for the security lock component and $4,000 as a one-time fixed cost for the Macrosoft label.

A. What is the operating income generated by the special order?

B. Should the special order be accepted? Why or why not?

C. What are three other considerations that Louis, or any company, should think about when choosing whether to accept a special order?

Part II

Question 4:

Cassie’s Clowns produces clown costumes and other party favors and supplies and has three divisions – Funny, Scary and Sad. Based on the latest information presented to the CEO by the controller, a discussion has ensued as to the fate of the Scary division. The division is operating at a loss. The manager of the Scary Division, Vam Pire, argues that his division is profitable and that the company will be worse off it they close the Scary Division. Here is the latest information for Cassie’s Clowns:

Of the fixed S&A costs, 15% represent common costs that have been allocated equally to each product line. In addition, 25% of Scary’s fixed production costs are unavoidable as these are fixed costs associated with facilities and equipment shared by all three divisions.

A. Is Vam Pire correct – should the Scary Division be kept or eliminated? Why or why not?

B. What would be total corporate income if Scary Division is eliminated currently?

C. What are two areas Cassie and in particular Scary’s management should look at to improve Scary’s bottom line?

D. What are three qualitative things that Cassie should consider when deciding if a division is eliminated?

Part II

Question 5:

Ace Acting Co. is a professional actor training group that trains stage actors and is headquartered in Los Angeles. The CEO of the company, Allen Ace, is considering expanding and opening an office in New York City but he just received an interesting business opportunity in the San Francisco area to partner with a movie production company located there. Mr. Ace knows he can only accept one of these opportunities at the current time. He has already purchased his non-refundable ticket to New York for $525 however the ticket can be exchanged for a voucher for a future trip. To ensure that he was able to stay in the appropriate location within each city, he has already made hotel reservations. These reservations are cancelable except for a 5% cancellation fee. The hotel in New York is $650 total for the two nights and the San Francisco hotel is $500 for the length of the stay. If he goes to New York, Mr. Ace plans to purchase a ticket to see Hamilton on Broadway at a cost of $400. He will also incur taxi fees of $100 and expects to spend $200 for meals in New York and $300 in San Francisco. Since he would be able to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco, he would get reimbursed $250 for mileage. Mr. Ace will pay for all costs and will be reimbursed by his company for business expenses.

Required:

A. What are the relevant costs of each trip?

B. What are the incremental costs (and what is the total incremental cost)?

C. Without considering qualitative factors (thus use numbers to analyze), which alternative should Allen choose? Why?

D. What are three qualitative factors that Allen might consider?

E. Why is it important to use relevant costs and revenues when evaluating decisions?

As the winter passes, the Earth spins as usual around the Sun. On a cold February night just past midnight, a lone astronomer spots an unusual object in the starlit sky. Near the far end of the constellation of Draco, north of the star HD 91190, there appeared a faint reflective anomaly. After careful observation over the next few hours, the astronomer noticed that the object was very close to Earth. Jotting down the coordinates and times, the astronomer came up with spherical coordinates (astronomers use a different type of coordinates, but is ok for this lab):

Feb 28^th -> (x,y,z) = (1.16 x 10⁸ km, 6.05 x 10⁸ km , 38.54 x 10⁸ km )

After many days of careful observation, the astronomer found that the object was indeed moving! By the middle of May, the astronomer was observing the object at:

May 15^th -> (x,y,z) = (1.05 x 10⁸ km, 5.73 x 10⁸ km , 38.28 x 10⁸ km )

Now, with this information, we must decide if this object will come close enough to Earth that it could collide. There are some other equations that are needed, in particular, the orbit of Earth:

r = 1.52 x 10⁸ / (1 + 0.0167 * cos(θ)) km

where θ is in degrees, found from Earth's rotation around the Sun. Thus, 0⁰ is Dec 21^st, the Winter Solstice, and 180⁰ is June 21^st, the Summer Solstice.

Find a set of parametric equations, using the Earth's position as the origin for each of the object's observations (it will change for each date).

Given this information, and assume near-linear travel for the unknown object (linear travel does not happen in space, but is ok for this lab)

1. How fast is the object moving?

2. In what direction is the object moving?

3.All of the planets in the Solar System are moving in on a nearly flat plane. How long until this object enters into that plane?

4. Does it seem like this object will hit Earth? Why or why not?