Federal Express (FedEx) was founded about 50 years ago. It handles on an average of 3 million package-tracking requests on a daily basis. To remain ahead of its competitors, FedEx strives on customer service by keeping a comprehensive website, FedEx.com. It increases customer service and reduces costs. For example, each request for information which can be retrieved from the website rather than by the call centre help FedEx to save an estimated $1.87. The costs for FedEx have been reduced from more than $1.36 billion per year to $21.6 million per year by customers using the website instead of the call centre calculating each package-tracking request costs Federal Express 3 cents.

Another know-how that improved its customer service is Ship Manager, an application installed on customers’ sites so users can determine shipping charges, weigh packages, and print shipping labels. Customers can also tie their invoices, billing, accounting and inventory systems to the application, Ship Manager.

Nevertheless, Federal Express still spend almost $326 million annually on its call centre to reduce customers’ annoyance when the website is down or when customers have difficulty using it. It uses CRM software called Clarify in its call centres to ensure customer service representatives’ job easier and to speed up response time.

Answer the following questions:

a)     What is the importance of technology to ensure high-quality customer service?

b)    Can you estimate Federal Express’ annual savings from using information technology?

c)     Can you give a few examples of information technologies used by Federal Express?

d)    What is the role of the application ‘Ship Manager’?

e)    Your overall observations and learning from the above case study.

Q-Cells exemplifies the successes and challenges of global importing and exporting. Founded in Germany in 1999, the company became the largest manufacturer of solar cells worldwide. By 2010, however, it was experiencing losses due, in part, to mistiming some of the entry strategies.

First, it is important to know that Germany is a high-cost manufacturing country compared to China or Southeast Asia. On the other hand, Germany is known for its engineering expertise. Q-Cells gambled that customers would be willing to pay a premium for German-made solar panels. The trouble was that solar cells aren’t that sophisticated or complex to manufacture, and Asian competitors were able to provide reliable products at 30 percent less cost than Q-Cells.

Q-Cells recognized the Asian cost advantage—not only are labour and utility costs lower in Asia, but so are the selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs. What’s more, governments like China provide significant tax breaks to attract solar companies to their countries. Therefore, Q-Cells opened a manufacturing plant in Malaysia. Once the Malaysian plant is fully ramped up, the costs to manufacture solar cells there will be 30 percent less than at the Q-Cells plant in Germany.

Then, Q-Cells entered into a joint venture with China-based Lightweight Devise Co. (LDC), in which Q-Cells used LDC silicon wafers to make its solar cells. The two companies also used each other’s respective expertise to market their products in China and Europe. Although the joint venture gave Q-Cells local knowledge of the Chinese market, it also locked Q-Cells into buying wafers from LDC. These wafers were priced higher than those Q-Cells could source on the spot market. As a result, Q-Cells was paying about 20 cents more for its wafers than competitors were paying. Thus, in the short term, the joint venture hurt Q-Cells. However, the company was able to renegotiate the price it would pay for LDC wafers.

To stay cost competitive, Q-Cells has decided to outsource its solar-panel production to contract manufacturer Flextronics International. Q-Cells’ competitors, Sun Power Corp. and BP’s solar unit, also have outsourced production to contract manufacturers. The outsourcing has not only saved manufacturing costs but also brought the products physically closer to the Asian market where the greatest demand is currently. This has reduced the costs of shipping, breakage, and inventory carrying.

Case Exercises:

1. Explain the framework that help an organization to choose a country-entry mode.

2. Do you think Q-Cells could have avoided its current financial troubles? How?

3. Do you see import or export opportunities for entrepreneurs in the solar industry?

4. What advice would you give small entrepreneurs when they try to enter foreign markets?

Ragan, Inc. was founded nineteen years ago by brother and sister Carrington and Genevieve Ragan. The company manufactures and installs commercial heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) units. Ragan, Inc. has experienced rapid growth because of a proprietary technology that increases the energy efficiency of its units. The company is equally split between the two siblings. The original partnership agreement between them gave each 500,000 shares of stock. The company has since gone public. At that time, the siblings retained their shares and 1,000,000 shares of new stock were issued.

The firm anticipates needing to raise a large amount of capital $10 million in the coming year to facilitate further expansion and are evaluating several financing options. The first option is to issue zero-coupon bonds that mature in 20 years. Similar zero-coupon bonds currently have a YTM of 4.5%. The second option is to issue 4% coupon bonds that mature in 20 years. Similar bonds have a YTM of 4%. The third option is to issue preferred stock with a fixed dividend of $0.85 per share. These preferred stock would have a required return of 7.5%. The firm currently has no preferred stock outstanding. The fourth option is to issue common stock.

The stock is currently trading on the market for $20 per share. The firm most recently paid a dividend on common stock of $0.50 and plans to increase that dividend by 25% per year for the next five years. After that, the firm will level off at the industry average of 5% per year, indefinitely. Carrington and Genevieve estimate the required return on the stock to be 15%.

1. What would the shares of preferred stock sell for and how many would they have to sell? How would this impact the firm’s dividend expenses going forward?

2. Based on the information about the common stock dividends, what should the value of the stock be today?

3. What do you think about the estimate of a 15% required return? What does the current stock price suggest about the required return?

Please show all steps. Thank You.

QUESTION 9

1. A major recommendation for combating sexual harassment is to

   		post any sexually-toned comments you hear on the company Web site.
   		keep a running log of incidents against you.
   		embarrass anyone who tells a sexually-oriented joke by posting his or her photo and the comment on a blog.
   		wear a button that says, "Not me, not now."

5.00000 points (Extra Credit)   

QUESTION 10

1. A key purpose of the diversity umbrella is to

   		provide legal protection of people who have been discriminated against in the past.
   		ensure that everyone in the organization is welcome.
   		protect lower-ranking workers from harassment by managers.
   		provide legal safeguards against the organization being charged with discrimination.

5.00000 points   

QUESTION 11

1. A person with high cultural sensitivity is likely to

   		regard people from different cultures as pretty much the same.
   		be too sensitive to criticism from people from different cultures.
   		recognize nuances in customs among cultures.
   		overlook nuances in customs among cultures.

We are a new Cell Phone Service Company from Argentina. We have done well there, because we help out locally and charitably. We are going to expand worldwide. We will be able to offer free cell phones to everyone who buys our service. Our Cell Service will be 50% cheaper than all of the top brands like Verizon and AT&T. We cannot get a contract with Apple so we will not be able to offer the Iphone. Create a SWOT analysis on our company and the idea of moving forward in this market.

a] Using information on the drivers for international business, and by researching information from the Internet, present examples of three Canadian companies that are entering or expanding their role in international business.

b] For each, identify: Who is the company? Is it a large, medium, or small enterprise? What is the primary good or service it markets? Where does it do business?

c] Conduct a preliminary analysis of these three companies’ international business entry modes, identify advantages they may be enjoying, and evaluate which globalization forces may be supporting their success. Defend your statements with evidence company reports, or other literature.

An Emerging Threat: Ransomware

The attack, expertly planned, was insidious. For six weeks or more, cybercriminals purportedly from either North Korea or Russia wormed their way into Monroe College’s computer systems, maneuvering undetected as they sought out weak points. Then, in July 2019, they pounced. Using an IT staffer’s pilfered password across platforms, hackers infected every server on Monroe’s two New York City-area campuses with a virus, effectively locking down administrative files, email, learning management systems, and website. “The college was a big house we were all locked out of,” says Marc Jerome, president of Monroe, a for-profit institution with 8,000 students. What’s more, as the campus reeled, hackers held Monroe’s tech infrastructure for ransom. They would restore it, they told the college’s leaders, in exchange for the Bitcoin equivalent of $1.6 million.
As Monroe students became instantly reacquainted with turning in assignments on paper, campus officials sprang into action, working feverishly to restore damaged systems. But without a policy for dealing with such attacks, Monroe was faced with few choices. After a couple weeks of failed attempts to use backup systems (which had also been infected) and with little hope of restoring its online presence, college officials decided to contact the college’s insurance company, as well as hire a law firm and a tech expert to negotiate with the attackers. In the end, Monroe paid them a considerably lesser sum than had been demanded in order to obtain the
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decryption keys needed to eliminate the virus and bring the campus’s tech services back online. Monroe had been victimized by a ransomware attack — and it isn’t the only college that has had to face off with international criminal enterprises that have perpetrated such disruptions in recent years. Most attacks start with “phishing” expeditions. Cybercriminals send virus encoded emails in the hope that someone at a college — a professor, a staff member, a student — will open one and set in motion the virus or malware contained therein. The virus then replicates itself throughout a network. Some institutions have fended off ransomware incursions with security software or with the help of enhanced computer-safety training, while others have seen their systems disabled and their daily operations threatened. Some have devised policies for dealing with attacks, while others are in the process of considering them. Several institutions report that they have created policies but are not making them public. Doing so, they argue, might encourage such attacks or give cybercriminals an angle from which to start one. Such secrecy is far from rare. Many ransomware attacks are not reported. Colleges may not want the public to know that they have been successfully targeted. IT experts say such reticence leads some college officials to underestimate the threat. Because criminal enterprises, usually originating in China, Eastern Europe, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam, typically demand payment in cryptocurrency to protect their anonymity, it has proved difficult to track them down or slow the rate of attacks. Law-enforcement agencies generally offer few answers. The onus on preventing ransomware attacks and policing tech systems falls on the institutions themselves. This, too, can prove difficult, given that colleges provide faculty members and students with wide access to their networks and content. The very openness that many institutions point to with pride can often become a security headache. While there is some question as to whether the threat of ransomware at colleges and universities is growing or flattening out, there is evidence that more higher-ed institutions are stepping up protection. More colleges now carry
insurance policies designed to pay them for the lost revenue and repairs that can result from cyberattacks. Several institutions have stepped up training of computer users and shored up security to forestall invasive tactics. And some have invited outside experts to look for potential vulnerabilities in their systems. Facing their seemingly built-in disadvantages, many colleges are devising policies that will make their campuses and systems safer, experts say, whether by preventing attacks, dissuading criminal enterprises from attempting them, or protecting themselves against loss. This Trends Snapshot outlines the latest efforts.   
The very openness that many institutions point to with pride can often become a security headache.
“No-Pay” Policies The FBI, among other law-enforcement agencies, urges colleges to refuse to pay ransoms. Many institutions, especially larger ones, have heeded the advice, devising a “just say no” strategy to deter criminals and make themselves less of a target. At the University of California at San Diego, two recent ransomware incidents did some temporary damage. But the university refused to cave in to demands for cash. Three years ago, the university lost access to its data during an attack, but because it had backed up both its data and its systems, it was able to recover them on its own within a week. About 18 months ago, a targeted breach centered on the work of one research faculty member. The researcher lost some data, though the loss wasn’t considered catastrophic. San Diego has since made strong efforts to persuade its research faculty members to back up their data in a safe place. The university created a website with instructions on how to do that. It also started a separate datamanagement plan for researchers to follow. Still, officials at some institutions who
an emerging threat : ransomware 3
have promised never to pay criminals admit that there may be some circumstances in which that stance becomes less absolute, such as when students’ medical information has been stolen and a threat has been made to publish it online. Even among institutions that have pledged never to give in to demands, there is a belief that there might, one day, be a particular case that offers a reason to pay out, especially if a college lacks insurance against ransomware attacks.
Many colleges have gotten the word out that, no matter how far down in the tech hierarchy staff members or students might be, they should be on the lookout for nefarious online schemes.
Training and Communications At several colleges, IT staffers run tabletop exercises for academic department members and students as well as administrators. The goal is to learn how much they know about the threat of ransomware, and to test their reactions to simulated ransomware-borne denial-of-service attacks. The websites of the University of Michigan and Pennsylvania State University offer examples of phishing expeditions, so that students know what to look for and how to respond. The Penn State site also includes videos of what people on campus can do to avoid allowing ransomware hackers to enter a system. Many colleges have gotten the word out that, no matter how far down in the tech hierarchy staff members or students might be, they should be on the lookout for nefarious online schemes. A chain of communication following an attack is also important, and has become a part of many institutions’ hacker-response strategies. Some colleges maintain an “escalation policy” that lays out in detail which campus officials should be contacting others, who receives certain kinds of messages, and in what order. Colleges
have also made contingency plans for when their email is down, such as using automated phonecalling, text alerts, and social-media blasts to reach staff members and students when a campus system is held hostage by ransomware.
Improving Security Several institutions report working harder to make their IT systems safe from attacks. At the University of California at Berkeley, a virtual private network was created with several safeguards. To remotely access it, Berkeley users must authenticate their credentials to get through several firewalls. Such measures, the university hopes, will make it much tougher for attackers to get through. Other colleges are doing something similar by expanding requirements that people on campus use multifactor authentication to gain access to networks. Larger universities frequently employ system patches, antivirus software, and common decryption keys that can free a system from ransomware. Others are beefing up their backup systems so they can replicate their main systems if ransomware takes them down. Many institutions report that they regularly test their systems against attacks. And some have taken the step of removing their campus directories, or at least parts of them, from webpages to make it harder for ransomware attackers to send infected emails en masse. Still, IT experts warn that many colleges, particularly smaller ones, aren’t availing themselves of modern cybersecurity solutions. Tech offices at institutions with budget trouble are especially vulnerable — something that could intensify as Covid-19 forces colleges to cut costs further, including by eliminating some security personnel.
Insurance While not protecting institutions against attacks, insurance policies typically can offer institutions a way back after one. After a college uses money from an insurance claim to pay off ransom demands, attackers usually remove the virus, freeing up an institution’s network. By law, if an insurance policy covers damage by
an emerging threat : ransomware 4
ransomware, insurers must respond to a college’s claim, even if that means paying it for damages. Cyber insurance companies have mushroomed in the past decade, according to one IT expert, who adds that more than $2 billion has been paid out in ransomware claims of all types (including colleges) in recent years. Purchasing a cyber insurance policy is the most common way colleges deal with possible ransomware, according to a survey of chief information officers and chief information security officers conducted by the Leadership Board of CIOs (LBCIO). The survey also found that 76 percent of higher-ed institutions now carry insurance against ransomware disruptions, up from 63 percent in 2018. Though such policies can offer a way out of danger, some experts worry that they also bring some peril. Cyberattackers who learn that an institution is insured might see it as a better opportunity. Buying insurance presents other caveats as well. For one, there is no guarantee that paying a ransom will result in the full return of an IT system. Colleges that negotiate with criminal enterprises are relying on them to be honest about the delivery of decryption keys, or the extent to which such keys will actually restore control of their original systems.
Outside Audits While most colleges rely on their chief
information officers and chief information security officers to make the technical calls to fend off ransomware attacks, some have opted to invite outside experts to assess their systems or provide continuing oversight. While on-campus professionals can develop plans and policies that make it harder for cybercriminals to commandeer a college’s computing and data systems, issues of campus culture can prevent those officials from creating and enforcing rules on how faculty and staff members and students should behave online. Some CIOs are regularly frustrated by faculty members who download unsafe software or who don’t report such actions to the IT office. Having an outside check on the system can lead to stronger, more enforceable policies, some college leaders believe. Outside experts can feel freer to monitor weak points in a system and make suggestions as to how to keep stakeholders in line with IT-security goals. In the past decade, the proportion of college-IT officials who have contracted with outside tech auditors has grown from 55 percent to 71 percent, according to the LBCIO survey. Among those institutions now planning to make third-party IT audits a regular part of their security regimen is Monroe College, which will soon retain an outside vendor in the hope that it can avoid the embarrassment and expense it suffered one year ago.

1. You are a consultant in charge of creating a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for UALR. Based on the article what will be your focus, given the prevalent of cyber-attacks at institutions of education. Identify an area that you will focus on to prevent ransomware attacks and devise a plan so that when it happens you have a strategy to recover. Explain the reason for focusing in this area/ Explain why that area is important to institutions of education such as UALR (30 points)

2. Using paper and pen technology to store records and document process poses threats to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) . Identify 2 examples of PII and use the template below to perform a risk assessment of Personal Identifying Information (PII) stored by institutions of education, such as UALR. Using the template provided evaluate, and assess threats, vulnerabilities, risks, and Maximum Tolerable Downtime (when these PII will be inaccessible) (40 Points)
Threats : What an organization is defending itself against, e.g. a natural disaster, man-made disasters.
Vulnerabilities : The gaps or weaknesses in the IT infrastructure that undermine an organization’s IT security efforts, e.g. a firewall flaws that lets hackers into a network. Lack of employee training, ineffective BCP, flawed processes etc.
Risks : Calculated assessment of potential threats to an organization’s security and disruption of operations and the vulnerabilities within its information systems infrastructure.




Risk Assessment Template

Type of PII Threats Vulnerabilities Risks MTD

3. Based on your risk assessment and recommended Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD), make recommendation for Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Alternate Processing Sites ( Cold, Hot, Warm, Mobile) to achieve the RTO . Explain why you selected that alternate processing site

During the current year, Skylark Company had operating profit of $150,000. In addition, Skylark had a long-term capital loss of $10,000. Toby is the sole owner of Skylark Company. Please answer the following. Be sure to label each answer with the identifying number of the question. You can separate each answer with a comma. Type the word none is the amount is zero. Do not enter the number 0 or you will be marked wrong! Scenario 1: Skylark is a single-member LLC reporting on Schedule C, and Toby does not withdraw any funds from the company during the year. Enter None if the answer is 0. a. Toby will show how much ordinary income on his 1040 Schedule C? __________ b. Toby will deduct how much capital loss on his 1040 assuming he has no other capital gain and losses? ______ Scenario 2: Skylark is a regular (C) corporation, and Toby does not withdraw any funds from the company during the year. Enter None if the answer is 0. c. What is the total amount Toby will show on his 1040

the year from Skylark? ________ Scenario 3: Skylark is a regular (C) corporation, and Skylark makes a cash distribution of $100,000 to Toby during the year. Enter None if the answer is 0. d. Toby will report how much income on his 1040 for the year from Skylark?______ e. Skylark Corporation will report taxable income of how much for the year on their 1120? ______ Scenario 4: Skylark is a regular (C) corporation, and Skylark pays a salary of $100,000 to Toby during the year. Show the income reported by Toby on his individual income tax return from Skylark Company. Enter None if the answer is 0. f. Toby will report how much income on his 1040 for the year from Skylark?______ g. Skylark Corporation will report taxable income of how much for the year on their 1120? ______

1. An industrial area has several companies that use similar chemicals. Groundwater in this area has been found to be contaminated, and several companies are disputing who is responsible. (The responsible party must pay for remediation.) Two of the chemicals used by several companies are TCE and dioxane, but the companies often use different ratios of these chemicals. One company uses 3.6 times more TCE than dioxane, and the standard deviation of the TCE:dioxane ratio in its supply drums was 0.3. This company claims it isn’t responsible for remediation, because the ratio of TCE:dioxane in water samples is different from what the company uses. Samples of groundwater from 12 wells in the area yielded the following TCE:dioxane ratios:

3.1       2.6       4.5       6.2       4.2       3.3       1.2       3.6       5.9       2.7       3.7       3.8      

Can the company “prove” that there is less than a 5% chance that they contributed to the groundwater contamination?   Explain your answer using statistical justification.

imagine you are a network engineer who has been hired to design a network for a small company consisting of a headquarters office in Indianapolis, Indiana, and a branch office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company has hired you to design and build the network infrastructure from the ground up.

Following is a brief summary of the business structure: Indianapolis, IN This office is the headquarters for the company. It has 61 employees divided across the following three departments:
• Administration: 19
• Research and Development: 25
• Accounting: 17 Minneapolis,

MN This branch office has 34 employees in the following three departments:
• Administration: 9
• Research and Development: 12
• Advertising: 13
: Following are the design instructions/requirements: • The company locations should be connected to each other via a WAN that supports ALL types of traffic generated at each office. • An IP-based physical security solution should be in place, with all physical security traffic logically separated from all other traffic