18

Which of the following statements is most correct?

Provide a full paragraph biography on each top/key executive for General Motors (Do not include the CEO) Include pictures if possible. The company website is a good source. Based on the photos and backgrounds, how diverse do you feel the make up of the top executives is? Consider the female/male makeup, the ethnic make up and the different races of board members.

Provide a few strategies companies should consider to better cope with climate change disruptions.

Loop and Function

You are asked to develop a compensation calculator application for a department store. At the department store, the compensation of sales staff consists of a base salary and a commission. The base salary is $5,000, and the commission rate is tiered based on sales amount as following:

Sales Amount, commission rate
$0.01 – $5,000, 8%

$5,000.01 – $10,000, 10%

$10,000.01 and above, 12%

For example, if the sales amount is $12,000, the commission is calculated as following: commission = $5,000 * 8% +

($10,000 - $5,000) * 10% + ($12,000 - $10,000) * 12%. You can start with a few specific amounts first to help you figure out the general representation for commission calculation.

Requirements: (1) Define compute_commission function that computes the commission, using the above commission scheme. This function receives one parameter representing the sales amount and returns the corresponding commission.

(2) Define a print_commission function, which receives three parameters representing the beginning sales amount, sales increment, and ending sales amounts, and has no return. This function uses a for-loop to display a sales and commission table. For example, if the beginning sales amount is 10000, sales increment is 5000, and the ending sales amount is 100000, then this function will print out the following table:

Sales Amount | commission

10000 | 900.00
15000  | 1500.00

...

95000. | 11100.00

100000. | 11700.00
Note: this function must call the compute_commission function to determine the commission column.

(3) Next, define a target_sales function, which receives one parameter representing a desired salary and returns the corresponding sales amount that generates the desired salary. For example, if a staff’s desired salary is 30000 (which consists of base salary + commission), then this function will return a sales amount of 210834, which is the minimum sales amount that the staff must generate to earn the desired 30000 salaries. Note: this function must use a while-loop, and it must call the compute_commission function whenever you want to calculate the commission. In addition, it must start with an initial sales amount of $1 and increases the sales amount only by $1 in each iteration until it finds the sales amount needed to generate the desired salary.

(4) Define the main function, which will call the print_commission function to display a sales-commission table with 10000 as the beginning sales amount, 5000 as the sales increment, and 100000 as the ending sales amount. Then, ask users to enter their desired salary and use it as the argument to call the target_sales function. Lastly, display a message informing user the sales amount needed for the desired salary.

(5) Call the main function. Fix any syntax errors and test your code if you can.

A bond portfolio named DEX, comprises four bonds (face value=$1000):

1)50 semi-annual bond, 5-year maturity, a coupon rate of 4%.

2)100 annual bonds, 30-year maturity, 8% coupon bond.

3)150 zero coupon bonds, 10-year maturity.

4) 200 zero coupon bonds, 20-year maturity.

YTM/discount rate: 6%

Considering DEX’s convexity, if each bond’s convexity is given as follow:

Bond 1 (semi-annual coupon bond): 23.19

Bond 2 (annual coupon bond): 212.40

Bond 3 (zero coupon bond): 98.97

Bond 4 (zero coupon bond): 107.00

Given DEX’ convexity, when the interest rate increases from 6% to 7%, the DEX’s market value should fall by?

ABC has just issued a $1,000 par value bond that will mature in 10 years. This bond pays interest of $45 every six months. If the annual yield to maturity of this bond is 7%, what is the price of the ABC bond if the market is in equilibrium?

The Taylors have purchased a $310,000 house. They made an initial down payment of $30,000 and secured a mortgage with interest charged at the rate of 7%/year on the unpaid balance. Interest computations are made at the end of each month. If the loan is to be amortized over 30 years, what monthly payment will the Taylors be required to make? (Round your answer to the nearest cent.)
$

What is their equity (disregarding appreciation) after 5 years? After 10 years? After 20 years? (Round your answers to the nearest cent.)

Families whether in Cambodia, India, Angola, Haiti, Peru, or Fiji are faced with different health care challenges unique to their communities’ conditions and resources. Approximately, thirty percent of the children in the global community don’t have access to adequate nutrition and hence experience stunting, while forty percent of women have anemia.   Nutrient deficiencies of iron, vitamin A and iodine affects close to two billion people, majority of whom live in the lesser-developed countries of Africa, eastern Mediterranean, south and Southeast Asia, and western Pacific. Food insecurity, defined as inaccessibility to sufficient and safe food for nutrient needs continues to be a major challenge for families. In times of natural disaster and economic downturn families with limited resources are most affected by food insecurity and pursuing health care conditions.

Although, the challenges of today’s global health care may seem insurmountable, a positive outlook is necessary. Current technology is supporting the search for new therapies based on human genomes, while children and adults are living longer. For instance, in 2000, the average life expectancy at birth in the US, an economically developed country, was 79.5 years for women and 74.1 years for men (Arias, 2002). Meanwhile, as we work to support the overall goal of health, which is the state of wellbeing, we need to reflect on the current challenges that require consideration from the individuals, families, communities and nations. Today, as societies develop economically they seem to experience higher rates of chronic diseases, while others who struggle with poverty continue to experience devastation from infectious diseases. The rise in violence and infectious disease along with the cost of chronic diseases, which is far beyond the resources of many countries and families, poses the need for a more global solution. For instance, obesity increases the risk of mortality for many causes of death. It is a risk factor for coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and some musculoskeletal disorders. Most of the increased risk is related to cardiovascular causes (National Institute of Health, 1998). In addition, obesity exacerbates many other health conditions. The financial burden of obesity in the US is $99.2 billion annually (Wolf & Colditz, 1998) comparable to the 1999 Gross National Income for Israel (World Development Indicators, 2001). The direct cost is estimated at $51.6 billion or 5.7% of the US health expenditure and the indirect cost is $47.6 billion. Today, there are no countries even the more economically developed ones with resources that can adequately treat chronic diseases. While, the current political and economic policies are not addressing the global burden of disease, families and individuals are less inclined to have the solutions, rather they just develop strategies to cope with the burden of the problem.

In addition to the burden of health care cost, families in many parts of the world are experiencing social stigma associated with certain diseases. For instance, with regards to HIV/AIDS individuals may not want to be tested because they don’t want to know that they have been infected with the virus. Once they know they have the disease, they would then have to hide it from their families, because it would bring shame to the family.   Such families are judged by the community because they are seen as having a family member who is either sexually promiscuous or drug user. In many parts of the world HIV/AIDS is associated with promiscuity or drug use. Also, since families don’t understand the disease, they may ostracize their members and even isolate them. They may have misconceptions; such as breathing the same air might result in getting HIV/AIDS. In regards to HIV/AIDS, the cost of the drugs may make it inaccessible to the families. In some countries due to the cost of the management of the disease, parents are not treated resulting in their death and orphaned children who become a burden to the extended family. Another stigmatized health care disease is tuberculosis (TB). Issues associated with TB for families are similar, in that TB is feared and dreaded disease. Historically, although severe chronic coughing indicated TB, it was known as “consumption”, because over time it gradually sapped all of the body’s energy, causing weight loss, consuming the victim, and resulting in death. In the old days if someone had TB they would be put in an asylum or shipped to an island. That was the only way a community could contain the disease. In many countries today, the older generation has memories of this experience. A number of these individuals today may be affected, but may not want to let their family know, so their family does not get ostracized resulting in them being removed from society or dying because of all the treatment.   People with active TB usually feel sick and are away from work for periods of time, affecting economic productivity. The challenge facing TB eradication is not the cost of therapy, because the drugs are inexpensive and readily available, but rather the method in which the drugs are prescribed and given to patients. If several drugs are administered in combination for 6-9 months then the cure rate is extremely high. If not, relapses occur and the TB becomes resistant. Resistant TB, especially in AIDS patients is very difficult to treat. The most successful treatment programs are to give the medicine in clinics or by trained health personnel and to actually observe and record that the patients are taking their medicines. These programs are called “Directly Observed Therapy” (DOT) programs. Today, lesser-developed countries have access to the medicines, but may not have the political will to effectively establish DOT programs. Also, practitioners who don’t understand TB are providing partial therapy and inaccurate diagnosis making the problem worst for the governments who seem to have great difficulty in controlling the private practitioner. In general, TB has to be controlled and monitored by a health authority. When diagnosed, managed, treated inappropriately, and not reported to authorities, a country cannot control it. When field workers are themselves affected, they also don’t want to report their TB. Non- reporting and mismanagement of cases are the major challenges of TB control today. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death of any infectious disease in the world. Thirty-percent of the world’s population is affected by TB. HIV/AIDS is a growing concern with 40 million infected cases as compared to TB with 2 billion affected. Although, the relative number of HIV/AIDS cases is smaller than the number of TB or malaria cases, HIV/AIDS is devastating because it kills people in the prime of life, a time when they are most productive to society and are often caring for children. Malaria, like other chronic infectious diseases such as HIV and TB, also impacts productivity. Recurrent fever, body aches, anemia, and fatigue associated with malaria often lead to loss of work. Children and pregnant women are particularly at high risk for severe disease. For children, recurrent fevers, anemia and anorexia lead to malnutrition and stunted growth. This in turn makes them more susceptible to other diseases. Today, the combination of malnutrition, malaria and diarrhea is a major cause of mortality in children.

In-Class Participation Assignments

Ghanaian Case study

In Ghana, West Africa in a rural community 50 miles from Accra, the capital city, a family from the Akan tribe lives with their 5 children in a home with no electricity and water from a nearby well. The youngest child who is two-years old is on his third bout of malaria and his belly is swollen because his liver and spleen are enlarged. He has not been eating well and has had recurrent fever. His last visit to the medical center indicated severe weight loss, which caused real concern for the mother whose one-year old niece had recently died. The mother worries about her son not eating well. With the rainy season he has had a bad case of bloody diarrhea and feeling very lethargic. The health center is 50 miles away and with 4 other children at home, she can’t take him back again to treat his bloody diarrhea. The danger of the disease is unknown to this family, especially since malaria can kill within 24 hours if it is not treated. Although health care officials in Ghana realize that malaria is more deadly than HIV/AIDS, because it can kill people faster, families tend to downplay it because they have lived with it for many years. The Ghanaian health authorities report on average more than 40% of all outpatient visits in Ghana are from malaria, with about 10% being hospitalized. In addition, 22% of all mortalities in children less than five years of age and 13% of all mortality cases are due to malaria with impact on families (http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,50591.jsp). According to Dr. Carol Baume of Academy of Educational Development (AED) "More than one million people die each year from malaria, most of them children in Africa. Controlled field trials show use of treated nets can reduce childhood mortality by 25 percent." These nets, which are treated with insecticide, have a high cost to the public sector in Africa (estimated at $450-$600 million/year) and so far it has prevented its accessibility to the families such as the family in Ghana (http://www.aed.org/news/news_release_NetMarkMalariaStudies.html).

Indian Case Study

Bandhura, meaning pretty, is the name of the oldest daughter of the Dalai family in a small village in the state of Orissa in Central India. Bandhura lives with her four sisters in a poor family who has always subsisted on agriculture. Despite the poverty, Bandhura’s father has the responsibility to obtain dowry for each of his daughters to facilitate their marriage. Historically, dowries were practiced in the Brahmanical Hindu society, however, today even though her family is from the shudra (lower caste), her father is required to obtain dowry to marry his daughters. One day during the dry season, when the rain was scarce and the crop production was low, Prakash arrives in the village to employ girls to work in a craft business in the nearby town. The villagers take Prakash to Bandhura’s father thinking that he might need to send his daughter to raise money for her dowry. Prakash promises Bandhura’s father that his daughter will engage in local craftwork and will surely learn a skill that can support her after she returns home. Bandhura is taken away in the back of a mini truck along with couple of other girls who were in similar situation to the nearby town and prostituted. In this and other similar towns truck drivers stop at the prostitution houses to relieve the stress of their travel by engaging in unprotected sex and transmitting HIV/AIDS at a rapid rate along their journey to young girls. In a short time, Bandhura gets HIV and decides to return to her village. She feels ashamed and does not want to tell her father the reason for her HIV. She along with a number of other women have been trapped in these prostitution rings without control over their destiny. Today, Bandhura is one of 4 million adults in India who are infected by HIV/AIDS.

Case Study Discussion Questions

1.     What are the options for both the West African and Indian family in regards to their health care challenge?

2.        For each case study describe how cultural beliefs and attitudes might influence the family’s response to the health care issue.

3.      Please describe which of these theories (human ecology, family systems, and social construction) might be used to frame the experience of each of these families?

Speedy Sue, driving at 32.0 m/s , enters a one-lane tunnel. She then observes a slow-moving van 175 m ahead traveling with velocity 5.00 m/s. Sue applies her brakes but can accelerate only at -2.00 m/s^2 because the road is wet. Will there be a collision?

A) Yes or No

B) If yes, determine how far into the tunnel and at what time the collision occurs. If no, determine the distance of closest approach between Sue's car and the van and enter zero for the time.

distance

______m

time

______s

Assume you are the logistics manager for fictional StayFresh Grocery Stores, in Cleveland, Ohio. You are responsible for seven stores in the metropolitan area.

*How might you employ cross-docking at your biggest regional warehouse to improve the distribution of goods to each of the stores?

*Identify how cross-docking works and how it could aid in on-time (and fresh) produce deliveries.

Masterson, Inc., has 4 million shares of common stock outstanding. The current share price is $70, and the book value per share is $9. The company also has two bond issues outstanding. The first bond issue has a face value of $75 million, has a coupon rate of 7 percent, and sells for 95 percent of par. The second issue has a face value of $60 million, has a coupon rate of 6 percent, and sells for 107 percent of par. The first issue matures in 25 years, the second in 8 years. Both bonds make semiannual coupon payments.

a. What are the company's capital structure weights on a book value basis? (Do not round intermediate calculations and round your answers to 4 decimal places, e.g., .1616.)

b. What are the company’s capital structure weights on a market value basis? (Do not round intermediate calculations and round your answers to 4 decimal places, e.g., .1616.)

c. Which are more relevant, the book or market value weights?

What is social business? Discuss its advantages using relevant examples.

14. Broussard Skateboard’s sales are expected to increase by 15% from $8 million in 2013 to $9.2 million in 2014. Its assets totaled $5 million at the end of 2013. Broussard is already at full capacity, so its assets must grow at the same rate as projected sales. At the end of 2013, current liabilities were $1.4 million, consisting of $450,000 of accounts payable, $500,000 of notes payable, and $450,000 of accruals. The after-tax profit margin is forecasted to be 6%, and the forecasted payout ratio is 40%. Answer the following questions.
    2. Use the AFN equation to forecast Broussard’s additional funds needed for the coming year.
    3. What would be the additional funds needed if the company’s year-end 2013 assets had been $7 million? Assume that all other numbers, including sales, remain the same. Why is the AFN different in this scenario? Is the company’s “capital intensity” ratio the same or different?
    4. Return to the assumption that the company had $5 million in assets at the end of 2013, but now assume that the company pays no dividends. Under these assumptions, what would be the additional funds needed for the coming year? Why is this AFN different from the one in part a?