Assignment 2: Evaluation of Business Operations

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Assignment 2: Evaluation of Business Operations

Scenario

You are the human resources (HR) manager for a public organization and you are conducting a New Hire Orientation session for all new employees. Last week, you analyzed the organization, including its strengths and weaknesses, as well as its mission, vision, goals, and objectives. This week, you have been asked to give a presentation on the business operations of the organization.

Instructions

Refer to the report you prepared on the organization for M1: Assignment 3.

Develop a PowerPoint presentation that accomplishes the following:

  1. Create a diagram of the organizational structure showing the hierarchy and chain of command.
  2. Develop a flowchart that analyzes the steps of the organization’s business processes.
  3. Conduct a capacity analysis of the location(s) and logistics. Your capacity analysis should address both short- and long-term implications regarding all aspects of the business process, including storage, production, processes, costs, and accessibility.

Develop a PowerPoint presentation. In addition to the slides, include a detailed outline in the speaker notes section explaining the content on each slide. Be sure to support your responses using at least two scholarly sources from the Argosy University online library resources or the Internet. Cite the sources for your information.

Make sure your presentation adheres to the following Presentation Guidelines:

  • Create a presentation that is professional and visually appealing.
  • Include a combination of text and graphics.
  • Do not write out your entire presentation on the slides. Use bullet points of keywords and short phrases instead of long sentences and paragraphs.
  • Create your presentation (slides and speaker notes) using language that can be easily understood by the intended audience.
  • Use APA formatting for your slides and Speaker Notes (outline).

ANALYZING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (PPT)

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I have chosen Apple Inc. as a publicly traded company and found their annual report. Now that I’ve their financial information I would like you to perform a ratio  analysis on the financial statements. Focus on the financial statement  analysis chapter (PDF attached) you are reading this week. You will want to  compute ratios for your company for the last two years. Do not compute  each ratio you learned about for your company. There may be some that  are not relevant. Rather focus on those eight ratios that you feel are  the most important and relevant to analyze how your company is doing.  Make sure to justify the ratios that you choose for your analysis.  Compare how Apple company has done to the industry averages. Do you  notice any trends that are positive or negative? Does anything look good  or bad that is notable? Do you have any suggestions on things they  could be doing to improve these ratios? Please analyze what you found  for each of the eight ratios. Then organize your findings into a 15  minute presentation. Be sure to include some background on your company  in your presentation.

Submission Details: 

  • 12 Slides presentation
  • Please use PowerPoint for your presentation, include tables or graphs etc. avoid lengthy text in each slide.
  • No Plagiarism 

Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected

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Scenario for Assignments

Please note, the assignments in this course build upon one another.

For these assignments, you will take on the role of a consultant for a government agency. Your consulting firm has been asked by the agency to conduct background research, interview agency representatives, compile a report, and provide recommendations for improvement of their personnel management system. The first role of the consultant is to become familiar with the agency, its departments, and key actors. You will develop the assignment in four parts, submitting each to your supervisor (your professor) who will review and grade your efforts.

Selecting an Agency

The agency you select in this first assignment must be used for all remaining assignments. Before selecting your agency, review the directions for each of the assignments to ensure that your selected agency will address the requirements for each of the assignments.

Explore one federal, state, or local government organization, and then select a department within that agency. Usually, you can find contact information on their website. You may want to consider these government websites.

**PLEASE USE THE AGENCY: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY**

Instructions

  1. Select a federal or state public agency.
  2. Research the literature regarding issues that involve the selected agency and public administration in general.
  3. Interview one representative of the agency’s department for the different sections of the paper. (Interviews can be conducted in person, by phone, or by an electronic method such as email or your favorite video conferencing app.) See Guidelines for Interview Assignment at Strayer University (below).
  4. Write a 3–4 page paper, titled “Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected.” Complete the following:
    • Provide background information about the agency’s key historical events, mission, and goals/objectives (title this section “Introduction”).
    • Describe at least three functions of this agency, highlighting the public it serves (title this section “Agency Functions”).
    • Analyze at least two current events involving the agency that might have implications for personnel management (title this section “Agency News”).
    • Explain your rationale for selecting this agency with at least two justifiable reasons (title this section “Rationale for Selecting Agency”).
    • Appropriately incorporate at least four quality sources. A quality source can be either popular, such as a news article, or scholarly, such as peer-reviewed works. In the case of public administration, government websites are appropriate quality resources. Note: Wikipedia, SparkNotes, and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources

PSY101: dis

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Display rules for different types of emotions were discussed within this chapter. It is also notable that display rules are different among various cultures. Compare and contrast display rules for ONE emotion when compared to American culture. You can use your individual culture or a culture that interests you as a reference for comparison. There is NO need to define display rules in your post, anyone who read for this week will know what a display rule is and it will be redundant to list it here,.

Good posts for this assignment will include:

– A statement regarding which emotion you are describing

– An example of a display rule for the emotion you chose

– Comparing statements regarding the display rule and another culture

– Contrasting statements regarding the display rule and another culture 

You are required to make at least two comments on the responses posted by you classmates with a minimum of 50 words. Make sure you design your response with your own words. Your responses to your classmates must be of substance; not just “I agree” or “Good Post.” The purpose of the responses is to convert the discussion forum into a quality academic environment through which you improve your knowledge and understanding. Read and review all assigned course materials and chapters before you start working on your assignments.

Social Impact of Technology

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Directions: Be sure to make an electronic copy of your answer before submitting it to Ashworth College for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four (4) pages in length; refer to the “Assignment Format” page for specific format requirements.

In your course, turn to Lesson 8. Skim through it to refresh your memory. Next, carefully study and review the section titled “Approaches to Measuring Technological Progress.” Next, relying solely on the material in your course, use your own words to write a short compare-and-contrast essay that defines and explains three distinct perspectives on the evolution of technology. As you write, imagine you are talking to a friend who has no knowledge of this topic. In short, write the way you speak, using a conversational tone. Also, try to alternate short sentences and longer sentences to make your writing more readable.

Be sure to create a title and cite yourself as the author. For example:

A Comparison of Three Perspectives on the Evolution of Technology
Mei Quoran

Your essay should include five paragraphs, as follows:

  • Paragraph 1 is your lead paragraph. It will contain an overview of what you have to say in comparing and contrasting the perspectives of Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White, and Alvin Toffler with respect to the evolution of technology.
  • Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4, are your body paragraphs.
    • In your essay, use paragraph 2 to describe the perspective of Gerhard Lenski.
    • In paragraph 3, you’ll write about the perspective of Leslie White.
    • In paragraph 4, you’ll describe and discuss the perspective of Alvin Toffler.
  • Paragraph 5 is your summary and conclusion. Here, you’ll compare the three perspectives to show how they are, or may be, similar. You’ll contrast the three perspectives to describe how they’re different. You’ll end this process–and your essay–by expressing your view as to which of these theorists (one or more) offer the most useful insights into the evolution of technology, in your opinion.

It’s permissible to use direct quotes from your reading, but don’t use too many. One to three such quotes should be your limit. Be sure to put a direct quote in quotation marks. For example: According to Smith, “Carbon dioxide is both our friend and our enemy.”

“A” WORK POWERPOINT IN 18 HOURS or LESS

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You have been hired as the manager for a new clinical lab company in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The lab is a nonprofit that serves low-income patients in the downtown area. The lab is in the process of setting its fees-for-services on individual services. The clinic director has estimated fixed costs of $436,000, a volume of 18,500 tests, and variable cost rate of $19.

She has asked you to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the lab’s board of directors, explaining variable and fixed costs for healthcare services in the lab. Prepare a ten (10 slide) PowerPoint that explains the following items.

1) Figure the price breakeven for the clinic.

2) List and explain fixed costs that the lab will have.

3) List and explain variable costs per visit that the lab will encounter.

4) The board will need to be aware that pricing may change if estimated costs are not accurate. If fixed costs end up being $397,500, how will the price breakeven change?

5) Explain how these pricing or volume changes may affect the lab.

Use your imagination or do whatever research is necessary to come up with some of the fixed and variable costs to present to the board. Feel free to use any graphics or images in your project that you feel would enhance the presentation. You are required to use the Notes section of PowerPoint to explain information on the slides to the board. 

Be sure to cite any sources used and include a reference slide with proper APA formatting.  

CH 1000 CH 2 HW

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  • Chapter 6 HomeworkShow all work. Not showing how an answer was calculated may result in a reduction of points even if final answer is correct.
    1. Review Question #1 on page 115.
    2. Review Question #7 on page 115.
    3. Paired Exersises Question 2 on page 116.
    4. Paired Exersises Question 7 on page 116.
    5. Paired Exersises Question 13 on page 116.
    6. Paired Exersises Question 16 on page 116.
    7. Paired Exersises Question 17 on page 116.
    8. Paired Exersises Question 20 on page 117.
    9. Paired Exersises Question 22 on page 117.
  • AssignmentChapter 7 HomeworkShow all work. Not showing how an answer was calculated may result in a reduction of points even if final answer is correct.
    1. Paired Exercises # 2 on page 139.
    2. Paired Exercises #4 on page 139.
    3. Paired Exercises #6 on page 139.
    4. Paired Exercises #16 on page 139.
    5. Paired Exercises #26 on page 140.
    6. Paired Exercises #29 on page 140.
    7. Paired Exercises #31 on page 140.
    8. Paired Exercises #38 on page 140.
    9. Paired Exercises #42 on page 141.
    10. Paired Exercises #44 on page 141.
  • AssignmentChapter 8 HomeworkShow all work. Not showing how an answer was calculated may result in a reduction of points even if final answer is correct.
    1. Review Question #6 on page 163.
    2. Review Question #7 on page 163.
    3. Paired Exercises #1 on page 163.
    4. Paired Exercises #4 on page 163.
    5. Paired Exercises #8 on page 163.
    6. Paired Exercises #12 on page 164.
    7. Paired Exercises #16 on page 164.
    8. Paired Exercises #20 on page 164.
    9. Paired Exercises #24 on page 164.
  • AssignmentChapter 9 HomeworkShow all work. Not showing how an answer was calculated may result in a reduction of points even if final answer is correct.
    1. Paired Excercises #8 on page 183.
    2. Paired Exercises #12 on page 184.
    3. Paired Exercises #14 on page 184.
    4. Paired Exercises #24 on page 185.
    5. Paired Exercises #32 on page 185.
    6. Additional Exercises #47 on page 186.
    7. Additional Exercises #55 on page 187.

FINANCE PAPER

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Using either Yahoo Finance or Google, select a publicly traded company and examine its financial statements in a paper of between 750 and 1475 words (3 to 5 pages). You should present an overview of the company, answering the following questions from the financial statements:

  1. What were the company’s total assets, total liabilities, and total stockholders’ equity amounts at the end of the fiscal year?
  2. What was the company’s total noncurrent liabilities for the fiscal year?
  3. What was the company’s total operating expenses?
  4. What was the company’s current ratio for the fiscal year?
  5. For the fiscal year, did the company have a cash inflow or cash outflow from investing activities? How much?
  6. For the fiscal year, how much was the company’s cash flow from operating activities?
  7. Compute the company’s total asset turnover for the fiscal year.
  8. What was the company’s net income for the year?
  9. What was the company’s earnings per share (basic only)?
  10. Compute the company’s net profit margin.
  11. How much cash and cash equivalents did the company report at the end of the fiscal year?
  12. Compute the debt ratio.

Your paper should:

· Demonstrate your familiarity with each financial statement and its importance.

· Discuss the interrelationships among the statements.

· Provide an overall evaluation of the financial health of the selected company based on the statements.

· Speculate how these statements might be used by the business for data-informed decision making.

· Be properly documented in APA style, showing the sources of all outside information.

Be sure to:

· Follow accepted research approaches and citation format (APA style).

· Convey your understanding of the readings and concepts and their application to the topic.

· Write in an organized and coherent way.

· Check for and correct spelling, sentence structure, and grammatical errors.

· Demonstrate graduate-level analytical skills. [MO1.2, MO1.3]

week 2 discussion 2

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Week 2 – Discussion 2

11 unread reply.11 reply.

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Cost Drivers Scenario [WLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4] [CLOs: 3, 6]

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapters 4, 5, and 17 in your textbook.

Write: Make sure your response addressing the following question is more than 200 words and include an in-text citation from the reading material where appropriate.

Determine the difference between a cost object and a cost driver by giving an example of each within the context of a manufacturing plant of your own choosing. Be specific. Explain why this differentiation is important in activity-based costing (ABC).

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates by commenting on their posts. Do you agree with your peers’ explanations? Why or why not? Though two replies are the basic expectation for class discussions, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. Continuing to engage with peers and the instructor will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with the discussion topics.

5 PARTS

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THERE ARE 5 PARTS TO THIS ASSIGNMENT  

  

APA FORMAT WITH REFERENCES & IN TEXT CITATIONS. REFERENCES MUST BE VERIFIABLE

1. Due Date:   Wed, 10/09/18 

10–15 slides with 150–200 words in the notes page

Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas.

Mary Francis comes into your office later that morning.

“Good news! I think we’ve got strong potential investors!” Mary announces.

“That’s great!” you reply.

“And now, they are asking for financial information” Mary states.

“Ok, I could provide a 50-page analysis for them!” you say.

“That’s exactly what they don’t want. I’m beginning to notice that some of the investors don’t have a strong finance background, and the last thing we want to do is scare them off with too many financial figures” Mary explains. I would like for you to complete a presentation. However, I want you to keep it simple and clear. Using all 3 Financial Statements(BELOW), please provide an analysis on Apix’s assets, liabilities, cash, and profit. As well, choose 2 additional components on each of the sheets, and provide your initial impression on the company financial situation. Do you think you could handle this?” 

Apex Printing Balance Sheets As of December 31, 2013 and 2012 

000$ 000$  

Assets 2013 2012 Cash 6,000 5,700 Accounts Receivable 2,350 2,300 Inventory 12,100 6,500 Total Current Assets 20,450 14,500 

 Land 25,000 20,000 Building & Equipment 300,000 300,000 Less: Accumulated Depreciation – Building & Equipment (187,850) (160,000) Total Long Term Assets 137,150 160,000 Total Assets 157,600 174,500 

 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity Accounts Payable 4,600 3,500 Salaries Payable 0 2,100 Interest Payable 1,500 0 Short Term Notes Payable 12,000 0 Taxes Payable 0 5,600 Total Current Liabilities 18,100 11,200 

 Mortgate Payable 54,950 100,000 Total Long Term Liabilities 54,950 100,000 

 Common Stock 60,000 60,000 Retained Earnings 24,550 3,300 Total Stockholders’ Equity 84,550 63,300 Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity 157,600 174,500 

Apex Printing Income Statements

For the Periods Ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 000$ 000$ 

2013 2012 Revenue: 450,000 475,000 Less: Cost of Goods Sold (324,300) (374,500) Less: Depreciation Expense (27,850) (26,000) Gross Margin 97,850 74,500 Selling, General & Administrative Expenses (29,100) (32,000) Income Before Interest & Taxes 68,750 42,500 Interest Expense (7,500) (6,000) Income Before Taxes 61,250 36,500 Income Taxes (35,000) (30,000) Net Income 26,250 6,500 

Apex Printing Statement of Cash Flows For the Period Ended December 31, 2013 

000$ Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

Net Income 26,250 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities Depreciation Expense 27,850 Increase in accounts receivable (50) Increase in inventory (5,600) Decrease in salaries payable (2,100) Increase in interest payable 1,500 Decrease in taxes payable (5,600) Increase in Short Term notes Payable 12,000 Increase in accounts payable 1,100 Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities 55,350 

Cash Flows from Investing Activities: Cash paid to purchase land (5,000) Net Cash Flow from Investing Activities (5,000) 

Cash Flows From Financing Activities: Cash paid for mortgage (45,050) Cash paid for dividends (5,000) Net Cash Flow from Financing Activities  (50,050) 

Net Increase in Cash  300 

Plus: Cash Balance at December 31, 2012  5,700 

Cash Balance at December 31, 2013  6,000

“Of course! I’ll get started on this right away.”

Mary also indicates that she would like between 10–15 slides with 150–200 words in the notes page.

2. Due Date:   Wed, 10/15/18

Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas.

In anticipation of Mary’s request for comparative analysis, it will be useful at this time to do some research. You know that you can obtain the financials of companies within the same sector or Standard Industry Code as Apix Printing (e.g., commercial printing), and that the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Standard Industry 2012 code for Apix Printing is presently 323111. Use the FINC615 Library Guide to search for two other companies in the same industry as Apix Printing. 

When you get to work the next day, you see the following e-mail from Mary:

Here is the list of financial ratios you asked for. I need you to explain the computation of each and compute these for Apix’s results for the financial statements you are using for the PowerPoint presentation. Also, compare Apix’s 2-year trend results to that of two other firms in the sector. Indicate how each of Apix’s ratios differ, and indicate whether the two other companies’ ratios or Apix’s ratios are indicative of better performance. 

Explain the computation for each of the following, and compute each for Apix and two other companies in the same industry as Apix Printing:

  • Current ratio 
  • (Long-term) debt    to equity ratio 
  • Gross margin    percentage 
  • Net profit margin    percentage 
  • Return on equity    percentage 

Present your findings of the above data in a table. Add a paragraph that summarizes your results, indicating whether investors would find the financial analysis results of Apix competitive as compared to rivals in the sector. Be sure to include both positive and negative trends in your analysis.

3. Due Date:   Wed, 10/20/18

Deliverable Length:   750–1,000 words

Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas.

Mary Francis has just returned to her office after attending preliminary discussions with investment bankers. Her last meeting regarding the intended capital structure of Apix went well, and she calls you into her office to discuss the next steps.

“We will need to determine the required return for our intended project so that we have a decision criteria defined for the project,” she says.

“Do you have the information I need to describe capital structure and to calculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC)?” you ask.

“I do,” she smiles. “We can determine the target WACC for Apix Printing Inc., given these assumptions,” she says as she hands you a piece of paper that says the following:

  • Weights of 40% debt  and 60% common equity (no preferred equity) 
  • A 35% tax rate 
  • Cost of debt is 8% 
  • Beta of the company  is 1.5 
  • Risk-free rate is 2%  
  • Return on the market  is 11% 

“Great,” you say. “Thanks.”

“Be sure to indicate how these costs of capital might be used to determine the feasibility of the capital project,” Mary says. “I want your recommendation about which is more appropriate to apply to project evaluation, too. Let me know what you think.”

“One more thing,” she says as she stands up to signal the end of the meeting. “You did a good job with the explanations that you provided Luke the other day. Would you have time to define marginal cost of capital for me so I can include it in my discussions with investors? You seem to have a knack for making things accessible to nonfinancial folks.” 

“No problem,” you say. “I’m glad my explanations are so useful!” 

For this assignment, complete the following:

  • Describe capital  structure. 
  • Determine the WACC  given the above assumptions. 
  • Indicate how these  might be useful to determine the feasibility of the capital project. 
  • Recommend which is  more appropriate to apply to project evaluation. 

  • Define marginal cost of capital.  

4. Due Date:   Wed, 10/25/18

Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas. 

Over lunch, you and Mary meet to discuss next steps with the expansion project. 

“Do we have everything we need on sales and costs?” you ask. ”It must be time to compute the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) of the Apix expansion project.” 

“We have the data from James and Luke regarding projected sales and costs, respectively, for the food packaging project,” says Mary. “It is feasible to project that we will receive a tax break from this implementation. I have information from our audit firm that indicates that future depreciation methods for taxes will be straight-line; however, the corporate rates will be reduced to 35% as we assumed in our weighted average cost of capital (WACC) calculation.”

“That sounds good,” you say.

“Right,” says Mary. “You can use a WACC of 10% for the computation of the NPV and comparison for IRR.”

“I’ve got the information I need from Luke and James,” you say. “Does this look right to you? Here’s what they gave me,” you say, as you hand a sheet of paper to Mary. 

“Let’s look at this now while we’re together,” she says.

The information you hand to Mary shows the following:

  • Initial investment outlay of $30 million, consisting of $25 million for equipment and $5 million for net working capital (NWC) (plastic substrate and ink inventory); NWC recoverable in terminal year 
  • Project and equipment life: 5 years 
  • Sales: $25 million per year for five years 
  • Assume gross margin of 60% (exclusive of depreciation) 
  • Depreciation: Straight-line for tax purposes 
  • Selling, general, and administrative expenses: 10% of sales 
  • Tax rate: 35% 

You continue your conversation.

“It looks good,” says Mary. “Use this information from Luke and James to compute the cash flows for the project.”

“No problem,” you say. 

“Then, compute NPV and IRR of the project using the Excel spreadsheet I sent earlier today,” says Mary. “Use the IRR financial function for the computation of IRR.” 

“Okay,” you say. “I’ll submit my Excel file showing the computation of cash flows, NPV, and IRR by the end of week so you can look at it over the weekend.” 

“Thanks,” says Mary.

Complete the above worksheet for this assignment.

            

          NPV and IRR calculations          

          Cost of   Capital 10.00%                   t

          Time/yr 0 1 2 3 4 5     

          Cash flow Input   here                 

          Discounted CF 0 0 0 0 0 0         

          NPV 0 =cf1/((1+n)^1) =cf2/((1+n)^2) =cf3/((1+n)^3) =cf4/((1+n)^4) =cf5/((1+n)^5)     

                   PV factor  0.909090909 0.826446281 0.751314801 0.683013455 0.620921323   

          IRR #NUM!            

5. Due Date:   Wed, 10/30/18

Deliverable Length:   6–12 slides with 150–200 words in notes sections with in text citation

Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas. 

Apix is considering coffee packaging as an additional diversification to its product line. Here’s information regarding the coffee packaging project:

  • Initial investment outlay of $40 million, consisting of $35 million for equipment and $5 million for net working capital (NWC) (plastic substrate and ink inventory); NWC recoverable in terminal year 
  • Project and equipment life: 5 years 
  • Sales: $27 million per year for five years 
  • Assume gross margin of 50% (exclusive of depreciation) 
  • Depreciation: Straight-line for tax purposes 
  • Selling, general, and administrative expenses: 10% of sales 
  • Tax rate: 35%

Assume a WACC of 10%.

Should the coffee packaging project be accepted? Why or why not? Compute the project’s IRR and NPV. 

In addition, answer the following questions: 

  • Do you believe that there was sufficient financial information to make a solid decision on what to do? 
  • Was there further financial information that you required that was not provided to you? 
  • What financial figure do you believe was the determinant to your decision and why? 
  • How would you be able to apply this particular financial information to other situations? 
  • Discuss risk methodologies used in capital budgeting.