• Case Study

Read the following case study and answer the questions that follow:

Grace Speak is a fourth-year student at Best University. She and her fellow classmates are working hard in their final courses and preparing for exams. Inspired by the teamwork that the healthcare profession espouses, Grace gets an idea for a study group. She thinks it will really help to share case experiences, course notes, and study tips. Unfortunately, several members of her peer group live out of town, which makes it difficult for them to participate fully. Grace is torn, as she does not want to exclude them from the study group. When she voices her concerns to a classmate, her friend suggests using social media tools as the primary medium for sharing information.

Questions

1. Two required elements that a single social media site must have to meet the needs of her study group are the ability to share ideas and experiences (chat), and share information (store documents). Research several social media sites that meet both of the required elements for Grace’s group. Select one social media tool, include its website, and explain your rationale for selecting that tool.

Selected Social Media Tool (and website)

[Write your response here.]

Rationale

[Write your response here.]

2. Grace discovers that not all of the members of the group use the social media tool she selected. In your own words, create a set of simple instructions that other members of the group could follow to ensure full group participation.

[Write your response here.]

3. Grace decides to establish a set of “ground rules” from the outset when she forms the study group. Create a set of “ground rules” that will help to create a group with full participation by all members and that will not place members of the group at risk, for either privacy or academic (plagiarism) concerns. Provide your reasoning for the “ground rules” you established.

Ground Rules

[Write your response here.]

Rationale

[Write your response here.]

4. In a specific week, the assignment is particularly challenging. One of the students in the study group offers to post the “answers” he received from a student who completed this same assignment last year from the same instructor. Grace knows that one of her close friends in the study group is at risk of failing if she does not do well on this assignment. Describe how Grace might handle this situation to reduce the academic risk of plagiarism for herself, her friend, and other members of the study group.

[Write your response here.]

Select and analyze current news article covering calculation and usage of interest rates and discuss your findings. You will be discussing at least ONE news article/video by yourself. Discussion Post Resource List CNN Money: www.money.cnn.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Yahoo! Finance: www.finance.yahoo.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Bloomberg Business: www.bloomberg.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Forbes: www.forbes.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Seeking Alpha: www.seekingalpha.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. This is Money (UK): ww.thisismoney.co.uk (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Street: www.thestreet.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. MarketWatch: www.marketwatch.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Harvard Business Reviews: https://hbr.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Choose a news article or news video from the list of resources provided. You will provide a link to the article or video within your post so that others may view/read the same material as you. Briefly summarize the major aspects of the news item and then take a side; either oppose or support the view of the article(s).

Working from home (or WFH) has an undeservedly bad reputation, says Stanford economist Bloom. Based on research comparing the productivity of those who are “home working on their couches or in their pajamas” with those commuting and sitting in a cubicle 8 hours a day, Bloom says no one should be afraid to tell their boss they are working at home. Here is the evidence you need to convince your supervisor to let you give it a try. Nicholas (Nick) Bloom is the William Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow of SIEPR, and a Co-Director of the Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses on management practices and uncertainty. He previously worked at the UK Treasury and McKinsey & Company. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of awards including an Alfred Sloan Fellowship, the Bernacer Prize, the European Investment Bank prize, the Frisch Medal, the Kauffman Medal and a National Science Foundation Career Award. He has a BA from Cambridge, an MPhil from Oxford, and a PhD from UCLA.

So what do you think? Do you want to work from home? Why or Why not? If you are the boss, how would you manage employees working from home?

Recently, it has conducted a further analysis of the trousers line of product, using ABC. In the study, eight activities were identified, and direct labor was assigned to the activities. The total conversion cost (labor and overhead) for the eight activities, after allocation to the trousers line, is as follows:

Determine the profit margin for trousers using ABC. Please show all calculations step by step

Metallica Bearings, Inc. is a young start-up company. The current gearing ratio of the company is 35%, and Fitch rated the bonds issued by Metallica Bearings as BB with a face vale of £1,000 per bond. The company has £1.5m of ordinary 50 pence stocks in issue. For following five years, the UK spot rates are estimated as follows: ??1 = 0.50%, ??2 = 0.65%, ??3 = 0.70%, ??4 = 0.75%, ??5 = 1.00%. Required: a) Discuss the differences between corporate bonds and stocks.

b) Calculate the PVs of the following bonds assuming annual coupons: i) 5%, two-year bond ii) 5%, five-year bond iii) 10%, five-year bond.

c) Define YTM (yield to maturity) of bonds and evaluate the YTM on a five-year zerocoupon bond. Furthermore, explain intuitively why the yield on the five-year bonds described in part (b) must lie below the yield on a five-year zero-coupon bond.

d) In order to cope with the growth of company, no dividends will be paid for the next 5 years. The company will pay a £2 per share dividend in Year 6 and will increase the dividend by 5% per year thereafter. If an investor requires the expected return of 20% per annum on this stock, what is the share price?

In Unit 2, you have learned about three different types of distributions: Normal, binomial, and Poisson. You can take data that you collect and plot it out onto graphs to see a visual representation of the data. By simply looking at data on a graph, you can tell a lot about how related your observed data are and if they fit into a normal distribution.

For this submission, you will be given a series of scenarios and small collections of data. You should plot the data or calculate probabilities using excel. Then, you will create your own real or hypothetical scenario to graph and explain.

Answer the following:

• The mean temperature for the month of July in Boston, Massachusetts is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Plot the following data, which represent the observed mean temperature in Boston over the last 20 years:

  1998	72
  1999	69
  2000	78
  2001	70
  2002	67
  2003	74
  2004	73
  2005	65
  2006	77
  2007	71
  2008	75
  2009	68
  2010	72
  2011	77
  2012	65
  2013	79
  2014	77
  2015	78
  2016	72
  2017	74

  1. Is this a normal distribution? Explain your reasoning.
  2. What is an outlier? Are there any outliers in this distribution? Explain your reasoning fully.
  3. Using the above data, what is the probability that the mean will be over 76 in any given July?
  4. Using the above data, what is the probability that the mean will be over 80 in any given July?
     
• A heatwave is defined as 3 or more days in a row with a high temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Given the following high temperatures recorded over a period of 20 days, what is the probability that there will be a heatwave in the next 10 days?

  Day 1	93
  Day 2	88
  Day 3	91
  Day 4	86
  Day 5	92
  Day 6	91
  Day 7	90
  Day 8	88
  Day 9	85
  Day 10	91
  Day 11	84
  Day 12	86
  Day 13	85
  Day 14	90
  Day 15	92
  Day 16	89
  Day 17	88
  Day 18	90
  Day 19	88
  Day 20	90

Customer surveys reveal that 40% of customers purchase products online versus in the physical store location. Suppose that this business makes 12 sales in a given day

1. Does this situation fit the parameters for a binomial distribution? Explain why or why not?
2. Find the probability of the 12 sales on a given day exactly 4 are made online
3. Find the probability of the 12 sales fewer than 6 are made online
4. Find the probability of the 12 sales more than 8 are made online

Your own example:

• Choose a company that you have recently seen in the news because it is having some sort of problem or scandal, and complete the following:
  • Discuss the situation, and describe how the company could use distributions and probability statistics to learn more about how the scandal could affect its business.
  • If you were a business analyst for the company, what research would you want to do, and what kind of data would you want to collect to create a distribution?
  • Would this be a standard, binomial, or Poisson distribution? Why?
  • List and discuss at least 3 questions that you would want to create probabilities for (e.g., What is the chance that the company loses 10% of its customers in the next year?).
  • What would you hope to learn from calculating these probabilities?
  • Assuming that upper management does not see the value in expending the time and money necessary to collect data to analyze, make an argument (at least 100 words) convincing them that the expenditure is necessary and explaining some dangers the company could face by not knowing what the data predict.

In Unit 2, you have learned about three different types of distributions: Normal, binomial, and Poisson. You can take data that you collect and plot it out onto graphs to see a visual representation of the data. By simply looking at data on a graph, you can tell a lot about how related your observed data are and if they fit into a normal distribution.

For this submission, you will be given a series of scenarios and small collections of data. You should plot the data or calculate probabilities using excel. Then, you will create your own real or hypothetical scenario to graph and explain.

Answer the following:

• The mean temperature for the month of July in Boston, Massachusetts is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Plot the following data, which represent the observed mean temperature in Boston over the last 20 years:

  1998	72
  1999	69
  2000	78
  2001	70
  2002	67
  2003	74
  2004	73
  2005	65
  2006	77
  2007	71
  2008	75
  2009	68
  2010	72
  2011	77
  2012	65
  2013	79
  2014	77
  2015	78
  2016	72
  2017	74

  1. Is this a normal distribution? Explain your reasoning.
  2. What is an outlier? Are there any outliers in this distribution? Explain your reasoning fully.
  3. Using the above data, what is the probability that the mean will be over 76 in any given July?
  4. Using the above data, what is the probability that the mean will be over 80 in any given July?
     
• A heatwave is defined as 3 or more days in a row with a high temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Given the following high temperatures recorded over a period of 20 days, what is the probability that there will be a heatwave in the next 10 days?

  Day 1	93
  Day 2	88
  Day 3	91
  Day 4	86
  Day 5	92
  Day 6	91
  Day 7	90
  Day 8	88
  Day 9	85
  Day 10	91
  Day 11	84
  Day 12	86
  Day 13	85
  Day 14	90
  Day 15	92
  Day 16	89
  Day 17	88
  Day 18	90
  Day 19	88
  Day 20	90

Customer surveys reveal that 40% of customers purchase products online versus in the physical store location. Suppose that this business makes 12 sales in a given day

1. Does this situation fit the parameters for a binomial distribution? Explain why or why not?
2. Find the probability of the 12 sales on a given day exactly 4 are made online
3. Find the probability of the 12 sales fewer than 6 are made online
4. Find the probability of the 12 sales more than 8 are made online

Your own example:

• Choose a company that you have recently seen in the news because it is having some sort of problem or scandal, and complete the following:
  • Discuss the situation, and describe how the company could use distributions and probability statistics to learn more about how the scandal could affect its business.
  • If you were a business analyst for the company, what research would you want to do, and what kind of data would you want to collect to create a distribution?
  • Would this be a standard, binomial, or Poisson distribution? Why?
  • List and discuss at least 3 questions that you would want to create probabilities for (e.g., What is the chance that the company loses 10% of its customers in the next year?).
  • What would you hope to learn from calculating these probabilities?
  • Assuming that upper management does not see the value in expending the time and money necessary to collect data to analyze, make an argument (at least 100 words) convincing them that the expenditure is necessary and explaining some dangers the company could face by not knowing what the data predict.

Stock A has a beta of 1.5, the risk-free rate is 4% and the return on the market is 9%. If inflation changes by -2%, by how much will the required return on Stock A change?

Which of the following is reported on the statement of cash flows?

a.Total assets

b.Changes in retained earnings

c.Total changes in stockholders' equity

d.Cash flows from investing activities