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Storage Area network V/s Network Attached Storage
$7.50Provide a 8-10 slide with high level presentation to include text and graphics concerning your proposed design for the SAN and NAS with the following items as requested by management:
- Title Slide
- Introductory or Topics of Discussion Slide
- The goals of a SAN project
- Primary benefits of the SAN project
- The goals of a NAS project
- Advantages and Disadvantages of each solution
- Graphical depictions of each solution given the components mentioned above in need of attaching to the storage solution
- Overall recommendation for the storage solution and justification
- Considerations to integrate those solutions
Hobson’s Choice, False Dilemma, Morton’s Fork, Buridan’s Ass, and Mumpsimus
$7.50Locate the meaning of the following terms:Hobson’s Choice, False Dilemma, Morton’s Fork, Buridan’s Ass, and Mumpsimus.What do these terms have to do with strategic management, or strategic decision-making?APA 6th format, 2 pages and references.
Power as stuff
$10.00On page 28 of the textbook, James Arvanitakis talks about power as “stuff” and power as “relational”. What do you think he means by that? Discuss this statement from Professor Arvanitakis by considering the work of philosopher Michel Foucault referred to in the textbook.
Two geographical regions in the world where energy demand is growing
$7.50Identify two geographical regions in the world where energy demand is growing. Analyse how the different energy sources supply this demand. Evaluate which region will be able to adequately supply their demand internally versus importing energy sources.
Pages: 2, double spaced
Ethical Consumerism
$25.00Write an analytical business report on what ethical consumerism means for businesses.
Choose a company and explain and analyse how they operate ethically. This must take into account the ethics and values of the company you choose to focus on.
The report must be written in business report format and include the following six numbered sections:
· An executive summarywhich gives a brief overview of the argument in your report including key findings and conclusions.
· An introductionwhich gives an overview of the structure of your report.
· A brief overview and analysis of ethical consumerism,identifying the examples of some of the products which fall into the ethical category. You must include a definition of ethical consumerism and arguments as to why it is a good strategy for businesses to adopt.
· A detailed review of one company claiming to operate ethically. Discuss the approach(es) they have used to become a more socially conscious business, linking this with their ethics and values.
· The results of a short opinion surveyon what influences consumer buying behaviour, carried out by you from a small sample of 10-15 students at GSM London. You need to conduct primary research for this section.
· A conclusionwhich includes critical evaluation of ethical consumerism based on the evidence that you have gathered both from your primary and secondary research, focusing on the company you have chosen for detailed review.
· Recommendationsas to how your company could become more ethical.
· You must include a references list after the main body of the report. Remember to use Harvard referencing where appropriate.
· A copy of your opinion survey should be included in an appendix.
Supporting material will be posted on Blackboard, but you will be expected to undertake research using newspaper/magazine/web articles, journals and text books. There will also be input in class time to assist you with the topic.
Word limit: Not more than 2000 +/- 10%
A suggested word count for each section is given below.
Executive summary
100 words
Introduction
200 words
Ethical consumerism
400 words
Company review
600 words
Opinion survey
400 words (not including survey/tables etc)
Conclusion
200 words
Recommendations
100 words
A brief introduction to ethical consumerism
On April 24 2013, a building known as the Rana Plaza collapsed on top of garment workers inside its factories, killing more than 1,100 people and injuring 2,500. It would be known as the worst ever accident in the garment industry anywhere in the world.
It was later discovered that 28 brands that sourced clothes from the plaza included Primark, Benetton, Mango, Matalan and Bonmarché, prompting public concern about the working conditions of garment factories around the world which contribute to western high street fashion stores.
Ethical consumerism encourages people to think about how the products they buy are sourced and produced and which arenot harmful to the environment and society. This can be evidenced through simply purchasing eggs that are free-range or boycotting goods/companies which promote child labour or unsavoury working conditions.
The range of product areas which fall into the ethical category includes:
· Banking and finance
· Energy
· Fashion
· Food and drinks
· Travel and tourism
Ethical consumerism is a growing market; a recent report from the Co-operative Bank showed a third of UK consumers claiming to be concerned about ethical consumption, with a large number of the public willing to challenge and boycott companies which do not comply with ethical standards.
Muckrakers Under the Microscope
$5.00Muckrakers were investigative journalists who exposed corruption in business or government, or examined serious societal issues. Several of the most well-known muckrakers worked for McClure’s Magazine, where they wrote exposés on large companies, meat slaughtering houses, and city governments. These prominent and influential reporters included Ida M. Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair, and Ray Stannard Baker.
Now suppose that you, too, are an investigative journalist. Instead of choosing a business or government, you have been asked to write a piece on one of the muckrakers. Which muckraker will you investigate? And how much information will you be able to provide?
(100 points)
Score 1. Write a well-constructed article on one muckraker using the outline you created during your website research. Keep the following points in mind as you write your essay:
- Include important biographical information about the individual’s life.
- Give specific examples of articles and books that were written. What businesses or government offices were targeted in theexposés?
- What reforms or changes took place as a result of the individual’s writings?
FM212 MT Class Assignments Hand in Problem Set 2: Minicase IShares MSCI Emerging Markets
$15.00Your uncle has decided to invest £100,000 over the next month. He is very keen on the IShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) but is unsure about the best strategy. His broker recommended he buys a protective put on the stock index, but your uncle has never traded options before and is not much of a risk taker. He wants you to devise a plan for him to capitalize if markets do well but still be protected if the index loses value. You realize that a protective put will protect him from downside risk, but you think a straddle plus investment in the underlying stock may offer similar downside protection, while increasing the upside potential. You decide to show him three strategies 1) unhedged, 2) protective put and 3) straddle plus investment in the underlying stock and the resulting profits and returns he could face from each. The current price for EEM shares is $39.5 and one-month at-the-money options on EEM shares are trading at $1.35 (Call) and $0.84 (Put). Assume that you can buy less than a unit of each option contract and share. Using this data, create a table with the payoffs, profits and returns of the following investments portfolios, using the at-the-money options: 1. Buy EEM shares 2. Buy EEM shares and puts (# shares= # puts) 3. Buy EEM shares, puts and calls (# shares= # puts= # calls) In each case make sure you invest 100% of the $100,000, no more and no less. Note that this implies that number of EEM shares bought will be decreasing from portfolios 1 to 3. Show your results for a limited number of possible stock prices at maturity (one month), for example: 31.5; 33.5; 35.5; 37.5; 39.5; 41.5; 43.5; 45.5; 47.5. The current risk free rate is zero at all maturities.
How would you explain the pros and cons of the 3 strategies to your uncle? In addition, draw the profit diagram for each portfolio. Can you also comment on the different intercepts and slopes?
MINICASE Jack Tar
$7.00Jack Tar, CFO of Sheetbend & Halyard, Inc., opened the company confidential envelope. It contained a draft of a competitive bid for a contract to supply duffel canvas to the U.S. Navy. The cover memo from Sheetbend’s CEO asked Mr. Tar to review the bid before it was submitted. The bid and its supporting documents had been prepared by Sheetbend’s sales staff. It called for Sheetbend to supply 100,000 yards of duffel canvas per year for 5 years. The proposed selling price was fixed at $30 per yard. Mr. Tar was not usually involved in sales, but this bid was unusual in at least two respects. First, if accepted by the navy, it would commit Sheetbend to a fixed-price, long-term contract. Sec- ond, producing the duffel canvas would require an investment of $1.5 million to purchase machinery and to refurbish Sheetbend’s plant in Pleasantboro, Maine. Mr. Tar set to work and by the end of the week had collected the following facts and assumptions: • The plant in Pleasantboro had been built in the early 1900s and is now idle. The plant was fully depreciated on Sheetbend’s books, except for the purchase cost of the land (in 1947) of $10,000. • Now that the land was valuable shorefront property, Mr. Tar thought the land and the idle plant could be sold, immediately or in the near future, for $600,000. • Refurbishing the plant would cost $500,000. This investment would be depreciated for tax purposes on the 10-year MACRS schedule. • The new machinery would cost $1 million. This investment could be depreciated on the 5-year MACRS schedule. • The refurbished plant and new machinery would last for many years. However, the remaining market for duffel canvas was small, and it was not clear that additional orders could be obtained once the navy contract was finished. The machinery was custom-built and could be used only for duffel canvas. Its secondhand value at the end of 5 years was probably zero. • Table 9–4 shows the sales staff’s forecasts of income from the navy contract. Mr. Tar reviewed this forecast and decided that its assumptions were reasonable, except that the forecast used book, not tax, depreciation. • But the forecast income statement contained no mention of working capital. Mr. Tar thought that working capital would average about 10% of sales. Armed with this information, Mr. Tar constructed a spreadsheet to calculate the NPV of the duffel canvas project, assuming that Sheetbend’s bid would be accepted by the navy. He had just finished debugging the spreadsheet when another confidential envelope arrived from Sheetbend’s CEO. It con- tained a firm offer from a Maine real estate developer to pur- chase Sheetbend’s Pleasantboro land and plant for $1.5 million in cash. Should Mr. Tar recommend submitting the bid to the navy at the proposed price of $30 per yard? The discount rate for this proj- ect is 12%. Year: 1 2 3 4 5 1. Yards sold 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 2. Price per yard 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 3. Revenue (1 – 2) 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 4. Cost of goods sold 2,100.00 2,184.00 2,271.36 2,362.21 2,456.70 5. Operating cash flow (3 – 4) 900.00 816.00 728.64 637.79 543.30 6. Depreciation 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 7. Income (5-6) 650.00 566.00 478.64 387.79 293.30 8. Tax at 35% 227.50 198.10 167.52 135.72 102.65 9. Net income (7 – 8) $422.50 $367.90 $311.12 $252.07 $190.65 TABLE 9–4 Forecast income statement for the U.S. Navy duffel canvas project (dollar figures in thousands, except price per yard) Notes: 1. Yards sold and price per yard would be fixed by contract. 2. Cost of goods includes fixed cost of $300,000 per year plus variable costs of $18 per yard. Costs are expected to increase at the inflation rate of 4% per year. 3. Depreciation: A $1 million investment in machinery is depreciated straight-line over 5 years ($200,000 per year). The $500,000 cost of refurbishing the Pleasantboro plant is depreciated straight-line over 10 years ($50,000 per year). ***Need also assumptions you will need to make when looking trying to decide what Mr. Tar’s actions should be.
MINICASE George Stamper
$2.00MINICASE
George Stamper, a credit analyst with Micro-Encapsulators Corp. (MEC), needed to respond to an urgent
e-mail request from the southeast sales office. The local sales manager reported that she had an
opportunity to clinch an order from Miami Spice (MS) for 50 encapsulators at $10,000 each. She added
that she was particularly keen to secure this order since MS was likely to have a continuing need for 50
encapsulators a year and could therefore prove a very valuable customer. However, orders of this size to
a new customer generally required head office agreement, and it was therefore George’s responsibility to
make a rapid assessment of MS’s creditworthiness and to approve or disapprove the sale.
Mr. Stamper knew that MS was a medium-sized company with a patchy earnings record. After growing
rapidly in the 1980s, MS had encountered strong competition in its principal markets and earnings had
fallen sharply. Mr. Stamper was not sure exactly to what extent this was a bad omen. New management
had been brought in to cut costs, and there were some indications that the worst was over for the
company. Investors appeared to agree with this assessment, for the stock price had risen to $5.80 from
its low of $4.25 the previous year. Mr. Stamper had in front of him MS’s latest financial statements, which
are summarized in Table 20.4. He rapidly calculated a few key financial ratios and the company’s Z score.
TABLE 20.4 Miami Spice: Summary financial statements (figures in millions of dollars)
20122011
Cash and marketable securities
5.0
12.2
Accounts receivable
16.2
15.7
Inventories
27.5
32.5
Total current assets
48.7
60.4
Property, plant, and equipment
228.5
228.1
Less accumulated depreciation
129.5
127.6
Net fixed assets
99.0
100.5
Total assets
147.7
160.9
Debt due for repayment
22.8
28.0
Accounts payable
19.0
16.2
Total current liabilities
41.8
44.2
Long-term debt
40.8
42.3
Common stock*
10.0
10.0
Retained earnings
55.1
64.4
Total shareholders’ equity
65.1
74.4
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
147.7
160.9
Revenue
149.8
134.4
Cost of goods sold
131.0
124.2
1.7
8.7
Assets
Current assetsFixed assets
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity
Current liabilitiesShareholders’ equity
Income Statement
Other expenses
Depreciation
8.1
8.6
Earnings before interest and taxes
9.0
7.1
Interest expense
5.1
5.6
1.4
4.4
2.5
8.3
Addition to retained earnings
1.5
9.3
Dividends
1.0
1.0
Income taxes
Net income
Allocation of net income
Mr. Stamper also made a number of other checks on MS. The company had a small issue of bonds
outstanding, which were rated B by Moody’s. Inquiries through MEC’s bank indicated that MS had unused
lines of credit totaling $5 million but had entered into discussions with its bank for a renewal of a $15
million bank loan that was due to be repaid at the end of the year. Telephone calls to MS’s other suppliers
suggested that the company had recently been 30 days late in paying its bills.
Mr. Stamper also needed to take into account the profit that the company could make on MS’s order.
Encapsulators were sold on standard terms of 2/30, net 60. So if MS paid promptly, MEC would receive
additional revenues of 50 × $9,800 = $490,000. However, given MS’s cash position, it was more than
likely that it would forgo the cash discount and would not pay until sometime after the 60 days. Since
interest rates were about 8%, any such delays in payment could reduce the present value to MEC of the
revenues. Mr. Stamper also recognized that there were production and transportation costs in filling MS’s
order. These worked out at $475,000, or $9,500 a unit. Corporate profits were taxed at 35%.QUESTION
How should George Stamper’s decision be affected by the possibility of repeat orders?
