Vision Resort is a five-star resort and spa founded in 2012. Vision believes in offering authentic services to every customer by fulfilling and catering the needs of their guests efficiently. Facilities and services include spacious rooms, banquet halls, gardens, restaurants, a wide range of food with delicious cuisines. All its employees are well trained and provide high customer satisfaction.
Vision resort focuses on premium pricing strategy for its products as they cater to high profile business class and upper class of the society. The value provided through the luxurious experience to the customers during their stay in the resort and the first class royal service explains the high prices of the resort packages. However, in light of the current economic condition in the world due to the Coronavirus, the resort is currently trying to provide a combination of high quality and service while also providing fair prices.
Also, Vision resort is the owner and operator of the franchise system. They are present in 20 countries prominent ones being in Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Dubai Chicago, Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, San Francisco, and Tokyo. It is noteworthy that the prices of the resort packages differ based on the geographic location. Also, prices fluctuate during different times of the year, as they tend to increase during the weekends and Eid holidays and decrease during the low seasons.
Regarding the promotion strategy, vision resort has built and maintained positive awareness, and brand value by word of mouth. This has been achieved by gaining high customer satisfaction and providing excellent customer relationship management. They reward loyalty to regular clients by their signature membership cards known as Vision Gold Passport accepted globally which fetches them extra discounts and additional perks. Due to the social distancing, vision resort adopted advertising via TV broadcasting. Moreover, digital marketing tools such as instagram sponsorship allowed reaching target customers through a click of a button.
Recently, a new global disease has spread rapidly among people and the resort decided to open its doors to the passengers arriving into the country by air and border crossings and were taken to stay for free in a 14-day coronavirus quarantine. This initiative shows the social responsibility that the resort holds towards the community.

Answer the following questions:
1. What is the major pricing strategy vision resort follows and why?
2. What is the price elasticity of demand for rooms in the resort and why?
3. What is the price adjustment strategy followed by the resort management?
4. Give examples of the promotion mix?
5. The hotel resort management is planning to open a new shop in the resort, a brain storming session was held with the hotel employees where they suggested the following ideas: A coffee shop, diving equipment shop, gifts shop. Explain the process (steps) undertaken by the resort management to introduce a new product.

Tony and Jeannie Nelson are married and file a joint return. They have four children whose ages are: 12,15,19 & 23. The three youngest live at home with their parents and qualify as their dependents. The oldest Roger got married on 5/5 2019 and lives with his wife, Jane. The 19-year old Tabitha is studying Fine Arts at Savannah College of Art & Design. During the summer she helps her mother put together the art exhibits. They provide you with the following information regarding their 2019 upcoming tax return:

1) Tony Nelson is an aerospace engineer he runs an engineering firm, Nelson Engineering (NE), as a sole proprietorship since 2010

. a) NE has very lucrative contracts with numerous aerospace companies and during 2019 it earned $702,000.

b) NE rents an office downtown where they meet with clients and conducts business. The rent includes all utilities. NE paid $38,000 in rent expense in 2019. In December 2019 the landlord offered to maintain the same yearly rent cost and Tony could receive an additional month's rent for free if he prepaid his 2020 year rent in advance. Tony agreed and paid an additional $38,000 on December 1, 2019 to cover January 2020 through January 2021 rent.

c) NE obtained a business loan from SunTrust Bank and paid $2,400 in prepaid interest for June 1, 2019 through May 30, 2020.

d) NE has a few employees, including an electrical engineer, a part-time engineering intern and an office manager. The combined wages for these employees is $196,000. Payroll taxes including for these employees is $15,000.

e) Tony took different business clients to see several home Miami Heat games followed by dinners at nearby restaurants where business was discussed. The meals were not considered lavish. The total cost for the Heat tickets and accompanying meals were $1,200 and $800, respectively.

f) In March 2019, Tony flew to a two-day engineering convention held in Phoenix, AZ requiring a two-night hotel stay. While there, Tony noted that the convention dress code was formal when he thought it would be casual. Tony immediately purchased a business suit for $300 (not considered lavish) at a nearby department store. All food costs were covered by the convention organizers. Other trip costs that Tony paid were airplane ticket $400 and hotel lodgings cost $200/night.

g) The depreciation for the year on the fixed assets owned by NE are estimated to total $3,400. Exam 2 – Take Home 2 h) All of NE’s business transactions are properly documented and supported by receipts/invoices. In addition to deductible portion of the items listed above the business will have an additional $4,400 of deductible other expenses.

The issue of homelessness is relevant to both Microeconomics, Econ 10 B, and Macroeconomics, Econ 10 A. In Micro we discuss at great length the market for rental housing: supply, demand, price and quantity. Many families in America BECOME homeless as a direct result of “free market” forces: their rent rises beyond their ability to pay. In Macro, we discuss the national picture: the millions of jobs involved on a national scale in the construction and sale of residential units: homes, condos, apartments, and ADUs (accessory dwelling units). The San Jose Mercury News reported on June 17 that the city of San Jose is dismantling a temporary homeless site after spending more than $1.3 million repairing dozens of dilapidated state-owned trailers. The article states that “nearly 6,200 people in San Jose don’t have a place to call home and county health officials believe that at least 2,500 of them are at high risk of infection.” Some experts believe the total is much higher than that. San Jose has announced plans to build hundreds of ‘dorm-style’ modular and prefab housing units to serve its homeless population on three locations in the city: A site at Monterey and Bernal roads, a second at Evans Lane, and a third at Rue Ferrari and Highway 101. In EACH AND EVERY CASE, opposition from neighbors has been INTENSE. ‘NOT IN MY BACKYARD!” The city of San Francisco had been spending over $300 million PER YEAR (before March, 2020) to house homeless people and provide other services. Yet, the number of homeless keeps rising. Given the incredible drop in tax revenue---hotel taxes, sales taxes on restaurant meals-----since March, 2020, it is almost impossible to imagine that level of funding staying level. San Francisco has suffered a greater drop in tax revenue than San Jose or Oakland. Obviously, it is not a contest. So, here goes: Question 1. In early March, 2020, our state government announced tentative plans to move homeless people in to college dorm rooms. A. In your opinion, is this idea a good idea? Or a bad idea? Why? B. Would you make this program voluntary for homeless people? Or mandatory? Why? C. How vigorously would you enforce this program? Why? D. What penalties, if any, would you impose on homeless people for non-compliance? Why? E. In theory, what could ‘go wrong’ with the enforcement of this program? What other support services do homeless people require, in addition to housing? F. Moving homeless people into hotel rooms, (combined with support services), which our state has done on an unprecedented level, may be a better idea than moving them into college dorms. Why? G. In your opinion, what more should we be doing as a society to address this issue? Why?

17. Which of the following would appear on the statement of financial position as a current liability?

22. Dietz Inc. sells merchandise on credit. If a customer pays its balance due within the discount period, what is the effect of the payment on Dietz’s accounting equation, assuming the sale has already been appropriately recorded?

a) Use the Student's t-distribution to find the t-value for each of the given scenarios. Round t-values to four decimal places.

• Find the value of t such that the area in the right tail of the t-distribution is 0.01, if the sample size is 89.
  
  t=
  
• Find the value of t such that the area in the left tail of the t-distribution is 0.0005, if the sample size is 134.
  
  t=
  
• Find the value of t such that the area in the right tail of the t-distribution is 0.005, if the sample size is 142.
  
  t=
  
• Find the two values of t such that 95% of the area under the t-distribution is centered around the mean, if the sample size is 71. Enter the solutions using a comma-separated list.
  
  t=

b) A forester with the National Park Service was tasked with estimating the average age of the bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) in Big Cypress Swamp - a region in Everglades National Park. The forester extracted core samples from 32 randomly selected bald cypress trees in Big Cypress Swamp. The mean age of the sample was 253.5 years with a standard deviation of 13.2 years.

Using a 95% confidence level, determine the margin of error, E, and a confidence interval for the average age of all bald cypress trees in Big Cypress Swamp. Report the confidence interval using interval notation. Round solutions to two decimal places, if necessary.

The margin of error is given by E=.

A 95% confidence interval is given by ____

c) Each year, researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) administer the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). Researchers estimate the average amount of time Americans spend on daily activities, such as working, housework, and leisure activities. In particular, one activity that is of interest is the average amount of time Americans spend watching television each day.

A researcher complied a random sample of 16 Americans and asked each person how much time they spent watching television each day. The results are given below.

Determine the point estimate, x¯ and the sample standard deviation, s. Round the solutions to four decimal places, if necessary.

x¯=

s=

Using a 98% confidence level, determine the margin of error, E, and a confidence interval for the average time Americans spend watching television each day. Report the confidence interval using interval notation. Round solutions to two decimal places, if necessary.

The margin of error is given by E=.

A 98% confidence interval is given by . ____

d) An epidemiologist needs to estimate the proportion of residents of St. Lucie county that have been infected with COVID-19. Determine the most conservative estimate of the sample size required to limit the margin of error to within 0.075 of the population proportion for a 98% confidence interval.

Round the solution up to the nearest whole number.

n=

Parks and Recreation: A Case Study

Pace is a beautiful, peaceful, and rapidly growing county in the heart of the Sunbelt. One winter day, Joseph Andraseli, MPA, an assistant city manager in a northeastern town, decided that he would answer an ad for the position of county manager in Pace. The county commission liked him, and he liked what he saw of the area.

At 9 a.m. on his 10th day on the job, his secretary, Meg, came into the office and said, “Mr. Andraseli, there are five park employees here waiting to see you. They seem angry.” Andraseli had a busy schedule, and besides, he was six organizational levels removed from the park employees. But he reconsidered, as he had interviewed on the notion that he had an “open-door” policy. He asked Meg to send them in.

Parks and recreation workers were among the lowest paid and least skilled workers on the county’s payroll. Their occupation most of the time involved working outdoors. These five workers, all of whom were older employees, wished to complain that their supervisor, who was much younger, always assigned them to the worst parks in the county. The younger employees, who also were “friends” with the supervisor, were able to choose the parks in which they worked. The older employees never were given any say on their assignments, and they wanted this changed.

Andraseli obviously was in a tough position. The grievance had clear overtones of discrimination and had the potential to escalate. Yet he did not want to undermine the authority of the managers and supervisors that stood between him and the five angry men seated across from him. He had not met the supervisor and had only had a limited introduction to the department director.

The union that represented the parks and recreation workers also was a possibility for these employees, but Andraseli did not want the union to represent these workers if he could solve the problem. These workers obviously had not gone through the chain of command, but what could he do to keep this from escalating?

Please answer the following questions thoughtfully on a 2 paged memo.

In this case you are Andraseli. What will you do next?

1. First, diagnose what the specific problem is. Who are the stakeholders, and what roles do they play? What assumptions or attributions are you making about the problem and the circumstances under which it occurs?

2. Second, are there secondary problems? identify the facts and what special considerations must be taken into account. What are the strategic factors that must be satisfied to solve the problem.

3. Third, determine what are the options (recommended procedures, practices, and techniques) for dealing with or solving the problem.

4. Fourth, make a recommendation or decision. These decisions need to be provided with supporting analysis and evidence that explains or justifies why the decision was made.

5. Fifth, focus on the generalizable assessment of the case study or simulation reflecting on the takeaways, lessons and insights derived from it.

Miller Toy Company manufactures a plastic swimming pool at its Westwood Plant. The plant has been experiencing problems as shown by its June contribution format income statement below:

*Contains direct materials, direct labor, and variable manufacturing overhead.

Janet Dunn, who has just been appointed general manager of the Westwood Plant, has been given instructions to “get things under control.” Upon reviewing the plant’s income statement, Ms. Dunn has concluded that the major problem lies in the variable cost of goods sold. She has been provided with the following standard cost per swimming pool:

*Based on machine-hours.

During June, the plant produced 6,000 pools and incurred the following costs:

1. Purchased 29,000 pounds of materials at a cost of $3.05 per pound.

2. Used 23,800 pounds of materials in production. (Finished goods and work in process inventories are insignificant and can be ignored.)

3. Worked 2,400 direct labor-hours at a cost of $7.80 per hour.

4. Incurred variable manufacturing overhead cost totaling $8,400 for the month. A total of 2,100 machine-hours was recorded.

It is the company’s policy to close all variances to cost of goods sold on a monthly basis.

Required:

1. Compute the following variances for June:

a. Materials price and quantity variances.

b. Labor rate and efficiency variances.

c. Variable overhead rate and efficiency variances.

2. Summarize the variances that you computed in (1) above by showing the net overall favorable or unfavorable variance for the month.

Miller Toy Company manufactures a plastic swimming pool at its Westwood Plant. The plant has been experiencing problems as shown by its June contribution format income statement below:

*Contains direct materials, direct labor, and variable manufacturing overhead.

Janet Dunn, who has just been appointed general manager of the Westwood Plant, has been given instructions to “get things under control.” Upon reviewing the plant’s income statement, Ms. Dunn has concluded that the major problem lies in the variable cost of goods sold. She has been provided with the following standard cost per swimming pool:

*Based on machine-hours.

During June, the plant produced 6,000 pools and incurred the following costs:

1. Purchased 29,000 pounds of materials at a cost of $3.05 per pound.

2. Used 23,800 pounds of materials in production. (Finished goods and work in process inventories are insignificant and can be ignored.)

3. Worked 2,400 direct labor-hours at a cost of $7.80 per hour.

4. Incurred variable manufacturing overhead cost totaling $8,400 for the month. A total of 2,100 machine-hours was recorded.

It is the company’s policy to close all variances to cost of goods sold on a monthly basis.

Required:

1. Compute the following variances for June:

a. Materials price and quantity variances.

b. Labor rate and efficiency variances.

c. Variable overhead rate and efficiency variances.

2. Summarize the variances that you computed in (1) above by showing the net overall favorable or unfavorable variance for the month.

You are the financial manager of the Crossrail 1 project in London. The Board overseeing the project, acting on behalf of the UK Government, has asked you to provide a financial analysis of the project for business planning purposes. With two years to go before the commencement of train operations, you have assembled the most recent estimates of the capital investment cost and net revenues, which were forecast 1 year ago. While the user benefits and ticket revenues are assumed to remain the same each year of the 60-year useful life, it is anticipated that maintenance costs will be higher in the final 30 years of the project. They are shown in Table 1.

For projects such as Crossrail 1, the UK Government typically estimates a 60-year useful life and uses a discount rate of 3.5%.

a) What is the net present value (NPV) of the project?                            [ Select ]                       ["£15.04", "£8.83", "£7.36", "£16.76"]      

b) What is the payback period of the project?                            [ Select ]                       ["13.04", "8.22", "17.60", "7.49"]      

c) What is the internal rate of return (IRR) of the project?                            [ Select ]                       ["7.57%", "7.35%", "5.44%", "6.52%"]      

d) Based on your calculations is Crossrail 1 a viable project at the discount rate?                            [ Select ]                       ["Yes", "No"]      

You have been asked by the Board to present an analysis that incorporates more recent cash flow information about the Crossrail 1 project. Before the project becomes operational, the capital investment has been given a worse scenario estimate that is 35% above the forecast in table 1. The Board would like to see the analysis if the net cash inflows will also be 35% below expectation over the 60-year life whether under the existing hurdle rate of 3.5% it would remain viable.

a) What is the net present value (NPV) of the project?                            [ Select ]                       ["-£2.16", "£4.78", "£3.20", "-£1.80"]      

b) What is the internal rate of return (IRR) of the project?                            [ Select ]                       ["2.72%", "3.10%", "1.79%", "0.67%"]      

c) Based on your calculations is Crossrail 1 a viable project at the discount rate?                             [ Select ]                       ["Yes", "No"]      

To finance the street renovation project, the city is considering a couple of options. The first is to impose an "entertainment tax." Because the increased traffic is a result of more people visiting the area, the city would like to charge the visitors for the costs of improving the area instead of forcing the local citizens to pay for all of the improvements. Anything classed as "entertainment" (movies, restaurants, theater, etc.) will be subject to an additional 5 percent tax.

The second option is to require the existing businesses along the street to directly pay for the improvements, because they will be benefiting from them the most. This payment would be in the form of a special tax levied on each business on the street. The tax would be proportional to the square footage of the business—the larger the business, the higher the tax.

I'd like you to critique these proposals, and report back to me with the likely effects of the taxes.

Write a 300- to 500-word report to John Becker. In your report, be sure to

• identify and describe the goals of each tax—that is, what does the city hope to achieve by imposing the taxes?
• identify the beneficiaries of the street improvements
• explain the likely outcome on equilibrium prices and quantity for the local businesses if the entertainment tax is imposed
• describe how much of each tax will be paid by businesses and how much will be paid by consumers. (e.g., how much of the tax will be passed on to the consumer)
• comment on the effectiveness of each tax in terms of achieving the city's goals

Note: When describing the tax incidence, specific numbers are not necessary. Instead, focus on who the city intends to pay the tax and how the tax burden is likely to be distributed among the buyers and sellers. To effectively critique the alternative financing plan, carefully consider the benefits and costs of the plan. Who benefits from the plan, and how much do they benefit? How does that compare with how much the plan costs?