Morning Sky, Inc. (MSI), manufactures and sells computer games. The company has several product lines based on the age range of the target market. MSI sells both individual games as well as packaged sets. All games are in CD format, and some utilize accessories such as steering wheels, electronic tablets, and hand controls. To date, MSI has developed and manufactured all the CDs itself as well as the accessories and packaging for all of its products.

The gaming market has traditionally been targeted at teenagers and young adults; however, the increasing affordability of computers and the incorporation of computer activities into junior high and elementary school curriculums has led to a significant increase in sales to younger children. MSI has always included games for younger children but now wants to expand its business to capitalize on changes in the industry. The company currently has excess capacity and is investigating several possible ways to improve profitability.

MSI is considering outsourcing the production of the handheld control module used with some of its products. The company has received a bid from Monte Legend Co. (MLC) to produce 18,000 units of the module per year for $25.00 each. The following information pertains to MSI’s production of the control modules:

MSI has determined that it could eliminate all variable costs if the control modules were produced externally, but none of the fixed overhead is avoidable. At this time, MSI has no specific use in mind for the space that is currently dedicated to the control module production.

Required:
1. Compute the difference in cost between making and buying the control module.

2. Should MSI buy the modules from MLC or continue to make them?

3-a. Suppose that the MSI space currently used for the modules could be utilized by a new product line that would generate $28,000 in annual profit. Recompute the difference in cost between making and buying under this scenario.

3-b. Does this change your recommendation to MSI?

Part 1 :

Compute the difference in cost between making and buying the control module.

Part 2

Should MSI buy the modules from MLC or continue to make them?

Part 3 A :

Suppose that the MSI space currently used for the modules could be utilized by a new product line that would generate $28,000 in annual profit. Recompute the difference in cost between making and buying under this scenario.

Part 3B:

Does this change your recommendation to MSI?

1. You find a zero coupon bond with a par value of $10,000 and 17 years to maturity. If the yield to maturity on this bond is 4.2 percent, what is the price of the bond? Assume semiannual compounding periods. (Do not round intermediate calculations and round your answer to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

2. Union Local School District has a bond outstanding with a coupon rate of 2.8 percent paid semiannually and 16 years to maturity. The yield to maturity on this bond is 3.4 percent, and the bond has a par value of $5,000. What is the price of the bond? (Do not round intermediate calculations and round your answer to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

Case Study #4

Becky Stevens, Judy Alcott, and Eric Wilson were talking after their pinning ceremony the night before graduation about the professional nursing careers they planned to pursue. Becky said, “Well, I am not sure exactly what I want to do, but I know that I loved our occupational health clinicals. I am not sure where I want to work, but I think I would like to do something like Debbie Strong, RN, who was our preceptor at the First National Bank. She had such an interesting job planning car seat safety programs and breast screening programs for the female employees at the bank. I will be moving back to South Carolina after graduation, so I guess I will have to wait to see what openings there are for occupational health nurses there. I wish I could find out more about the exact responsibilities most occupational health nurses have and what types of businesses usually hire such nurses.” Eric said, “Why don’t you check the Occupational Health Nurses Association website? I bet you could find lots of information there. Judy, where do you plan to work?” Judy responded, “I want to work in the same hospital where my mother and aunt worked for years. I am just not sure what I want to do though, because I am not sure what positions are available. What about you, Eric?” Eric replied, “Well, I have been thinking about flight nursing, but I bet they would want me to have some critical care experience first. I am also considering applying to a graduate program to become a nurse anesthetist, so I need to check on admission requirements.” Becky said, “I sure am glad to hear that none of you already knows where you will work. I thought that most of our class had already interviewed and had job offers.” Judy said, “I am just glad that we have a lot more options than my mother and my aunt, who graduated from nursing school 30 years ago and worked at the same hospital on the same floor for their entire careers.”

Questions

1. In what ways can new graduates investigate career options?

2. How can new graduates decide about the nursing roles they would most enjoy?

3. How should graduates view their first position in nursing?

4. How can Eric find out the admission requirements for a nurse anesthetist graduate program? A flight nursing program?

To what extent have you built your own brand? Is this something that you have ever considered before?

Networking has the potential to open doors and create possibilities for jobs and partnerships. Networking establishes connections between individuals and access to information that one might not normally have access to. Reaching out to strangers can be an intimidating and nerve-racking experience. In business, the more central you are, the more power you have. Creating connections and ties to other people affords you the opportunity for power and the ability to more closely control your future, so while at times networking might feel awkward and uncomfortable, it is a necessary and important part of establishing and maintaining a career.

Online social networking sites play an important role in this networking process for individuals both professionally and personally. With 1,200 employees in 2010, Facebook has 350 million users around the world, and LinkedIn has over 60 million members in over 200 countries. A new member joins LinkedIn every second, and about half of the members are outside the United States. These online sites have created new opportunities for networking and allow individuals to branch out beyond their normal world of industry, school, and business. The key is to avoid costly missteps as employers have begun to search online for information about prospective and current employees. In 2009, 8% of companies reported that they had fired an employee for misuse of social media.

Many of these online sites have become a tool for business. For example, LinkedIn targets working professionals and provides them a way to maintain lists of business connections and to use those connections to gain introduction to people using mutual contacts. Unlike other social networking sites, LinkedIn is almost entirely used by professionals. The power of social networking flows in both directions. Employers can screen applicants through their online accounts and recruiters more than ever are using these sites to view background information, individual skill sets, and employment history, which can be cross-referenced with submitted applications. Job seekers can review the profiles of those at top management firms and search for mutual contacts. LinkedIn also provides statistics about firms, which can be useful information for individuals looking at potential employers.

Networking is about building your brand and managing relationships. Using social networks as a vehicle to market one’s self and make professional connections is becoming increasingly common, as well as using loose ties or connections through others to open doors and land jobs. In an increasingly high-tech and digital world, it is important to be aware and conscience of the digital footprint that we create. But with careful cultivation these online networks can present many opportunities.

The Task: Your job is to act as an advertising agency and develop a 30 or 60-second radio ad. You are the creative team, the copywriter, and the producer! On page 358 of the book, you will find an example of what a script for a radio ad looks like. Follow that script for an outline, being sure to include the name of your client, agency, length of the commercial, etc. As far as sound effects go, assume you would have access to any you would need. For your information, SFX stands for sound effects; V/O for voice-over; and AVO for announcer voice-over. Include a script, written in good form, of the commercial.

Also, include an explanation of your rationale for creating the ad. Use the following ad review questions to get you started. Your rationale should be no less than one (1) page. This is mandatory and worth 5 points!

• Inform vs persuade vs to remind?
• Narrative vs autobiography vs drama?
• B2B vs B2C.
• Who is the ad aimed at?
• What do you think the objective of the ad is?
• Do you think it will be effective?
• Target market? Placement? Duration?
• Use of colors, music, pictures etc.

Remember, you are an agency trying to get hired, so "sell" your work and ideas!

The Client: You should choose one of the clients below to work for. The information contained about them is for some background. You may choose to utilize some, all, or none of the information for your commercial. You make all of the decisions, but remember, you’re commercial must pass your clients approval and the only way it will is if they believe it will satisfy their objectives.

Client #1 – Partnership for a Drug-Free America -- This organization is looking for an anti-drug commercial to run on pop-music stations. They are targeting the ages from 12 to 28. They are particularly concerned that the use of the drug “Ecstasy” is rising. They are a non-profit organization and have a low budget.

Client #2 – Anyone Ford -- This group is a long-time retailer of new and used Ford automobiles in the Wichita area. Their commercials in recent years have been “over-the-top” and tried to attract attention as well as lure people into their location, regardless of income level. They are open Monday through Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and are located at 7700 E. Kellogg in Wichita.

Client #3 – Snooty Furniture, Inc. -- This company is new to the Wichita area. They specialize in very expensive, custom made furniture. They are located at 2450 N. Rock Rd in Wichita and cater to the highest income levels. They are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

Client #4 – Butler Community College -They are looking to increase enrollment and increase the reputation of the school. More info can be found at www.butlercc.eduLinks to an external site.

Remember two important things: 1) your client and 2) your audience.

Requirements Specification (this is a fictional scenario)

A large business, with several medical practices, contacted your company to create a database design. You received the task to investigate if there is a need for a hierarchy based on the specifications below, and to create the hierarchy analysis if needed. You must not create the entire analysis but only the aspects related to the hierarchy as described in the instructions, class lectures and sample examples. This is the relevant fragment from the requirements specification related to your task.

In the practice we have medical doctors, nurses, staff and other employees (e.g. cleaners for which we just keep contact information: name, SSN, phone).

For the doctors we keep the name, SSN, phone, email, main specialty, medical school. A doctor may have appointments and write prescripions. For nurses we keep the name, SSN, phone, and nurse program they completed. A nurse will prepare the patient during the visit and may collect various data. For staff we keep the name, SSN, phone and their role (e.g. receptionist, scheduler, accountant). Based on the practice policies, a nurse will not be allowed to perform staff duties.

The company wants to keep a log with who was working daily, between what hours and in which role. The company also wants to fast identify the role of a person in the organization (e.g. doctor, nurse, ...), based on the last name or id.

• Which is the supertype?
• SUPERTYPE_ENTITY_NAME (it might be in the current model or it might be a new entity)
• Which are the subtypes?
• SUBTYPE_ENTITY_NAME, SUBTYPE_ENTITY_NAME, SUBTYPE_ENTITY_NAME... (they might be in the current model or some might be new entities) Do not include subtypes that are not needed. You must have a justification why you need a subtype to be in the list. Including a subtype that does not store anything specific (attribute or relationship) will be considered a mistake.
• List the common attributes for the supertype and its PK:
• SUPERTYPE (PRIMARY_KEY, ATTRIBUTE, ATTRIBUTE, ....)
• [Composite/Simple/Surrogate] Primary Key: PRIMARY_KEY
• List the specific attributes for the subtypes and their PKs/FKs:
• For each subtype provide:
• SUPERTYPE (PRIMARY_KEY, ATTRIBUTE, ATTRIBUTE, ....)
• Primary Key: PRIMARY_KEY
• Foreign Key: FOREIGN_KEY references primary key ... in ...
• List the hierarchy relationships:
• ENTITY relation ENTITY (repeat as needed)
• Analyze the completeness constraint:
• The hierarchy has complete/partial subtypes, because ...
• Analyze the disjoint constraint:
• The hierarchy has disjoint/overlapping subtypes, because ...
• Do you need a subtype discriminator? Explain.
• The hierarchy needs (does not need) a subtype discriminator because ...
• Describe the subtype discriminator (if needed):
• The subtype discriminator is: .... with the values ...
• Entity Relationship Diagram
• After you finished the hierarchy analysis you must draw the ERD in MySQL Workbench and include in your report a signed screenshot. (to sign a screenshot you write your name in a text object visible in the screenshot; crop the image to show only the ERD and the text object)
• Draw the hierarchy using 1:1 relationships, add the correct constraints symbol and the subtype discriminator if needed.

In what follows, use any of the following tests/procedures: Regression, multiple regression, confidence intervals, one-sided t-test or two-sided t-test. All the procedures should be done with a 5% P-value or a 95% confidence interval.

Upload the data HeartRate_Exercise. These data are based on 45 randomly chosen high school students.

SETUP: It is believed that high school students who do not exercise have a heart rate (at rest) above 70. Given the data your job is to confirm or disprove this belief.

1. What test/procedure did you perform?

a. One-sided t-test

b. Two-sided t-test

c. Regression

d. Confidence interval

2. What is the P-value/margin of error?

a. 1.56075E-45

b. 3.1215E-45

c. 6.149555

d. 8.065421

e. None of these

3. Statistical interpretation

a. Since the P-value is very small, we are confident that the average heart rate is above 70.

b. Since the P-value is very small, we are very confident that the averages are different.

c. Since the P-value is very small, we are confident that the slope of regression line is not zero.

d. We are 95% certain that the confidence interval is [70.268, 86.399].

e. None of these

4. Conclusion

a. Yes, I am confident that the above assertion is correct.

b. No, we cannot claim that the above assertion is correct.

weekly exercise (hours) Heart Rate at rest
16      55
2       76
3       78
17      46
19      76
3       68
19      61
12      68
15      48
2       71
4       72
2       81
10      64
9       61
0       73
0       84
5       72
16      58
0       77
19      54
4       79
8       73
6       85
17      57
2       75
7       85
13      73
3       75
8       84
6       52
5       60
18      69
1       66
19      90
19      64
5       65
0       74
2       55
18      67
2       78
0       71
18      76
11      76
13      84
0       91

Brad and Jen are husband and wife. Five years ago, Brad and Jen, together with their friend, Angie, set up a company called Organics Farm Pty Ltd (Organics Farm) to operate an organic farming business in Queensland. The three of them met at the University where Brad and Jen were each completing a degree in agriculture and Angie a degree in commerce. All three have a passion for organic produce. When they set up the company after completing their university studies, it was agreed by the three of them that they would have equal shares in the company and that they would all be directors. It was also agreed that Brad and Jen would be responsible for the day to day running of the farm whilst Angie would be responsible for the finances and the marketing and sale of the organic produce. The business has been running successfully and it now has a strong market presence throughout Australia. During one of Organic Farm’s board meetings, Angie proposed that they look towards expanding into the Asian market. Angie explained that she had done some research and that her investigations showed there was a demand for organic produce. She suggested using the company’s surplus funds to conduct further market research into the export market. Brad and Jen voted against this proposal because they wanted to use the surplus funds to donate to the local school to build a swimming pool which Brad hoped would be named after his grandfather. Angie queried whether this was an appropriate use of corporate funds given that the demand for organic produce was just starting to grow in Asia and that Organics Farm could really capitalise on this growing demand. But Angie’s concerns were dismissed by Brad and Jen. Shortly after this board meeting, Brad and Jen called a general meeting of Organic Farm’s shareholders and a resolution was passed removing Angie as a director. In the next board meeting, Brad and Jen resolved to increase directors’ remuneration and to stop paying dividends.

(a) What action can Angie take against Brad and Jen in relation to the donation of funds to the local school? Angie believes that there has been a breach by Brad and Jen of their common law and statutory duty to act in good faith, in the best interests of the company and for a proper purpose.

(b) What action can Angie take against Brad and Jen for the non-payment of dividends?