Scenario

You are a financial analyst for the chosen business that you selected during your Module Two Journal assignment. Your supervisor has discovered last minute that your business’s board of directors is looking for updates on the business’s financial health. Your supervisor has asked you to write a report regarding the business’s current financial health and the available financial options for improving the business. You’ve also been asked to make recommendations as to which options the business should choose to best support its financial health. Your supervisor will then use your report to present to the business’s board of directors, whose members all have varying levels of knowledge in terms of finance.

Directions

Using the business you chose from the Project Two Business Options List, create a report for your supervisor to share with the board of directors during their presentation. Keep in mind that your report needs to be easy for someone unfamiliar with finance to understand, as not all of the board members for your business fully understand finance.

Using Mergent Online, locate the most recent quarterly financial statements for your chosen company, and use these statements to support your analysis throughout the project. Refer to the Project Two Financial Assumptions document located in the Supporting Materials section for the assumptions you need in order to analyze the three available financial options outlined in the Financial Analysis section of the project directions.

You are encouraged to use the Project Two Financial Analyst Report template located in the What to Submit section to help complete this project.

Specifically, you must address the following:

1. Financial Analysis: In this section of the report, you will use the most recent quarterly financial statements for your chosen business and the Project Two Financial Formulas spreadsheet (located in the What to Submit section) to calculate appropriate financial formulas for assessing the business’s financial health. You will also analyze all three available financial options for improving the business based on your calculations and the provided Project Two Financial Assumptions document.
2. Financial Calculations: Calculate accurate financial formulas to assess the business’s current financial health. Specifically, you must calculate the following:
   • Working capital
   • Current ratio
   • Debt ratio
   • Earnings per share
   • Price/earnings ratio
   • Total asset turnover ratio
   • Financial leverage
   • Net profit margin
   • Return on assets
   • Return on equity
3. Working Capital Management: Explain the impact of working capital management on the business’s operations. Provide examples to support your claims.
4. Bond Investment: Analyze the risks and benefits of the business choosing to invest in a corporate bond, including the necessary ethical considerations, appropriate calculations, and examples to support your analysis.
5. Capital Equipment: Analyze the risks and benefits of the business choosing to invest in capital equipment, including the necessary ethical considerations, appropriate calculations, and examples to support your analysis.
6. Capital Lease: Analyze the risks and benefits of the business choosing to purchase a capital lease, including the necessary ethical considerations, appropriate calculations, and examples to support your analysis.
7. Financial Evaluation: In this section of the report, you will now determine if the three available financial options in the Project Two Financial Assumptions document are appropriate for the business, considering the analysis you did in the first section. You will also explain financing and describe the business’s likely future performance.
8. Financing: Explain how a business finances its operations and expansion.
9. Bond Investment: Assess the appropriateness of a bond investment as a financing option for the business’s financial health, using your financial analysis and other financial information to your support claims.
10. Capital Equipment: Assess the appropriateness of a capital equipment investment as a financing option for the business’s financial health, using your financial analysis and other financial information to support your claims.
11. Capital Lease: Assess the appropriateness of a capital lease purchase as a financing option for the business’s financial health, using your financial analysis and other financial information to support your claims.
12. Short-Term Financing: Explain how potential short-term financing sources could help the business raise needed funds for improving its financial health. Base your response on the business’s current financial information.
13. Future Financial Considerations: Describe the business’s likely future financial performance based on its current financial well-being and risk levels. Use financial information to support your claims.
14. Financial Recommendations: In this section of the report, you will recommend which financing option(s) are the best for the business to choose depending on its financial health.
15. Financial Recommendation(s): Recommend the most appropriate financing option(s) based on the business’s financial health, including a rationale for why the option(s) are best.

SECOND LEAD DISCUSSION QUESTION:What do the studies made by Ariely and Kolhberg add to your understanding of what influences choice to cheat or not, about how we make choices in general and what influences those choices?  View the videos.

This is my classmate’s post.

Second lead Question, I watched all three videos and after watching the videos there are parts that make sence but to think we might have a pre destined future and that we don’t have a free will I challenge that theory. I along with my 2 younger brothers were pulled out of a horrible natural home where we were maulnutrioned beaten neglected and lived off of what we could scrounge up. I was no older than 3 maybe 4 when this happened. I made a choice that I would not be like my natural parents and I didnt want my own children to ever experiance that sort of life. I was the first in my family to graduate high school, I was the first to retire from military service others had served but I was the first to retire, my children have and had the ability to go to high education and get a degree in what they would like to get a degree in if they choose too. My daughter has two degrees and my son will have the oportunity to go. From an early stage in my life I wanted to make sure they had more than what I was given and I want them to make sure thier children have that same oportunity because of the importance I put for my direct children to have. Believe me if I had not made those choices early in life I would have turned out a different path in life and I would not be here in this very class. People don’t know the struggles that others have had to endure that has made them into the adult they are now. There was ceetiantly some cause and effects good choices and bad aling the way but from what I have learned in life is that no one is perfect we are meant to make mistakes so we can grow from those and make sure those that follow us don’t make the same mistakes.

Determinism

https://youtu.be/vCGtkDzELAI (Links to an external site.)

Kolhberg Stages of Moral Development

https://youtu.be/O7pQJ0ptjk0

Ted Talks –

https://youtu.be/nUdsTizSxSI

Second lead Question, I watched all three videos and after watching the videos there are parts that make sence but to think we might have a pre destined future and that we don’t have a free will I challenge that theory. I along with my 2 younger brothers were pulled out of a horrible natural home where we were maulnutrioned beaten neglected and lived off of what we could scrounge up. I was no older than 3 maybe 4 when this happened. I made a choice that I would not be like my natural parents and I didnt want my own children to ever experiance that sort of life. I was the first in my family to graduate high school, I was the first to retire from military service others had served but I was the first to retire, my children have and had the ability to go to high education and get a degree in what they would like to get a degree in if they choose too. My daughter has two degrees and my son will have the oportunity to go. From an early stage in my life I wanted to make sure they had more than what I was given and I want them to make sure thier children have that same oportunity because of the importance I put for my direct children to have. Believe me if I had not made those choices early in life I would have turned out a different path in life and I would not be here in this very class. People don’t know the struggles that others have had to endure that has made them into the adult they are now. There was ceetiantly some cause and effects good choices and bad aling the way but from what I have learned in life is that no one is perfect we are meant to make mistakes so we can grow from those and make sure those that follow us don’t make the same mistakes.
 

Assessment 2 Instructions: Evaluation of Capital Projects

• PRINT
• Use capital budgeting tools to determine the quality of three proposed investment projects, and prepare a 6-8 page report that analyzes your computations and recommends the project that will bring the most value to the company.Introduction
  This assessment is about one of the basic functions of the finance manager, which is allocating capital to areas that will increase shareholder value and add the most value to the company. This means forecasting the projected cash flows of the projects and employing capital budgeting metrics to determine which project, given the forecast cash flows, gives the firm the best chance to maximize shareholder value. As a finance professional, you are expected to:
  • Use capital budgeting tools to compute future project cash flows and compare them to upfront costs.
  • Evaluate capital projects and make appropriate decision recommendations.
  • Prepare reports and present the evaluation in a way that finance and non-finance stakeholders can understand.
  • Scenario
    Senior leadership has now called upon you to analyze three capital project requests based on forecasted cash flow as they relate to maximizing shareholder value.Your Role
    You are one of Maria’s high-performing financial analyst managers at ABC Healthcare Corporation and she trusts your work and leadership. Senior leadership was impressed with your presentation in Assessment 1 and they are tasking you with the analysis of these three proposed capital projects based on forecasted cash flow. You have completed forecasting the projected cash flows of the projects as reflected in the attached spreadsheets, Projected Cash Flows [XLSX]. You now need to conduct your analysis recommending which will provide the most shareholder value to the organization.Requirements
  • Use capital budgeting tools to compute future project cash flows and compare them to upfront costs. Remember to only evaluate the incremental changes to cash flows.
  • Employing capital budgeting metrics, determine which project, given the forecast cash flows, gives the organization the best chance to maximize shareholder value.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of capital budgeting tools including net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), payback period, and profitability index (PI). The analysis of the capital projects will need to be correctly computed and the resulting decisions rational.
  • Evaluate capital projects and make appropriate decision recommendations. Accurately compare the indicated projects with correct computations of capital budgeting tools and then make rational decisions based on the findings.
  • Select the best capital project, based on data analysis and evaluation, that will add the most value for the company. Provide a rationale for your recommendations based on your financial analysis.
  • Prepare reports and present the evaluation in a way that finance and non-finance stakeholders can understand.
  • Project A: Major Equipment Purchase
  • A new major equipment purchase, which will cost $10 million; however, it is projected to reduce cost of sales by 5% per year for 8 years.
  • The equipment is projected to be sold for salvage value estimated to be $500,000 at the end of year 8.
  • Being a relatively safe investment, the required rate of return of the project is 8%.
  • The equipment will be depreciated at a MACRS 7-year schedule.
  • Annual sales for year 1 are projected at $20 million and should stay the same per year for 8 years.
  • Before this project, cost of sales has been 60%.
  • The marginal corporate tax rate is presumed to be 25%.
  • Project B: Expansion Into Three Additional States
  • Expansion into three additional states has a forecast to increase sales/revenues and cost of sales by 10% per year for 5 years.
  • Annual sales for the previous year were $20 million.
  • Start-up costs are projected to be $7 million and an upfront needed investment in net working capital of $1 million. The working capital amount will be recouped at the end of year 5.
  • The marginal corporate tax rate is presumed to be 25%.
  • Being a risky investment, the required rate of return of the project is 12%.
  • Project C: Marketing/Advertising Campaign
  • A major new marketing/advertising campaign, which will cost $2 million per year and last 6 years.
  • It is forecast that the campaign will increase sales/revenues and costs of sales by 15% per year.
  • Annual sales for the previous year were $20 million.
  • The marginal corporate tax rate is presumed to be 25%.
  • Being a moderate risk investment, the required rate of return of the project is 10%.

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Recommend operations management methods and techniques to increase value for customers
• Evaluate how operations management generates value for an organization
• Explain local, national, and global sustainability in relation to functional areas of business

Scenario

You work as the chief supply-chain officer at the large international corporation, NationaliTeas. NationaliTeas manufactures and sells tea worldwide. Its motto is “Keeping people and their taste buds awake (when they want to be awake).” Its mission is “Make the world more awake through rejuvenating and refreshing beverages and sustainable practices that uplift workers, communities, and souls.” Its vision is “to be the most respected tea manufacturer across at least three continents for our tea and our actions, which will be driven by a commitment ethical sourcing, minimal waste, and empowerment of our employees.”

You would like to establish an operational goal of having your corporation apply for a B Corp Certification within the next two years. You believe this would add value to the organization and help it to prioritize a stronger focus on sustainable operational practices. You have conducted a preassesment based on the recommendations for applying for B Corp Certification, and you’ve evaluated the corporation’s current strengths and areas for improvement.

Now you need to develop a proposal for the board of directors that explains why prioritizing the triple bottom line (TBL) through working toward B Corp Certification has organizational value. You must also propose three high-impact initiatives to help strengthen the corporation’s commitment to people, planet, and profit based on your evaluations.

Directions

1. Part One: Justification of Benefits: Justify the value of working toward more intentionally incorporating the TBL framework into organizational decision making, specifically how ethical business practices regarding people, planet, and profit can benefit society, the environment, and the company’s profit. Specifically, address the following:
   1. Key Components: Explain the three key components of the TBL framework and how each component benefits businesses and society.
   2. Organizational Value: Provide a justification regarding the value and benefits of using the TBL framework to inform corporate decision making, and explain connections between the organizational mission and the organizational vision.
   3. B Corporation Benefits: Briefly describe the organizational benefits of attaining B Corp Certification.
2. Part Two: Operational Recommendations: Read through the Preassessment Evaluation Summary (located in the Supporting Materials section) for each aspect of the TBL (people, profit, and planet). You will need to provide a detailed description of the initiatives that will create the needed improvement. You should note the organizational and societal value of the initiative along with the operational management techniques recommended to plan and complete each initiative. For each of your three initiatives, address the following:
   1. Organizational Impacts: Describe the organizational benefits of each initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each. Examples of positive impacts include better alignment to the organization’s mission, vision, and culture statements; increased amounts of funds or resources saved; and improvements to the organization’s brand.
   2. Societal Impacts: Describe the societal benefits of each initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each. Examples of positive impacts include increased community building and positive environmental impact.
   3. Customer Impacts: Describe the consumer benefits of each selected initiative, specifically noting the expected positive impact of completing each. Examples of positive impacts include increased alignment to target markets, improved product access and availability, and improved customer satisfaction.
   4. Business Risks: Explain the business risks associated with prioritizing, planning, and resourcing each initiative and how these risks will be considered and monitored.
   5. Operational Management Techniques: Recommend an operational management strategy or technique (e.g., project management, lean manufacturing, or Six Sigma) that is appropriate to implement for each selected initiative, and explain why.
   6. Defining Requirements and Scope: Define the requirements for the successful implantation of each selected initiative as well as the scope of each. Describe how changes to the requirements and scope would impact timelines, budget, and risk.
   7. Roles and Responsibilities: Explain the key internal and external stakeholders who would be involved in planning and implementing each selected initiative, as well as why each identified stakeholder is needed to successfully implement the initiatives.

The first answer to the first question

The second paragraph is to discuss the first answer, then the second answer, and express your opinion on the answer

Q1: Q1: What are the differences between lean thinking and agility in the supply chain and when to use each type?

Q2 Read the messages of your classmates and post at least two responses:

(((first reply:)))

Lean thinking:

Lean Supply Chain is the traditional “factory” chain, which focuses on mass production at low cost. The goal is to add value to customers by reducing the cost of goods and reducing waste (waste is all that has no value to the customer). This type of supply chain focuses on reliability and predictability rather than flexibility and adaptability. Production is planned months or even years in advance rather than adapting to a changing market.

This advance planning helps to find the lowest possible cost for large quantities of goods. In general, a lean supply chain is best for products with low volatility in the market.

The demand for these products remains constant despite the economic situation or changing trends. These tend to be essential, functional products such as food and toiletries. Lean supply chain has always been the most popular form of production because it focuses on cutting costs – and all consumers like to pay less.

However, more and more companies are moving away from the rigidly flexible model because today’s markets can change overnight. Adaptability and agility have become critical factors in responding to these fluctuations.

Fit:

An agile supply chain focuses on flexibility and responsiveness. Responds quickly to changes in demand, customer and industry preferences. It’s designed to deal with market unpredictability by “postponing” – waiting to see what the market will determine before production is finished. An agile supply chain waits to see how much demand is before creating the final product, thus responding directly to demand rather than forecasting. Some market forecasting is still necessary, since parts of the product are created in advance to make the termination process quick and efficient.

Agility focuses on balancing recent data with projected short-term expectations. Agile supply chains are generally used for products with short life cycles or for customizable items. Take fast fashion as an example. Fashion is changing rapidly in today’s Instagram and blogger culture, so production needs to be prepared to keep up with emerging and changing trends. There needs to be both flexibility and efficiency to get the product off the shelves and into the hands of consumers before the next big craze hits.

Strong partnerships and interactions between vendors are critical to making an agile supply chain work. If there is no cooperation between suppliers with each other and with the market, the goods will not be created with the speed and efficiency that the agile chain requires. An agile supply chain also tends to reduce storage costs. You do not have a large stock on hand to meet the demand. Instead, demand comes in and supply is then created to meet demand. On the other hand, Lean Chain focuses on increasing inventory in order to keep pace with potential demand.

(((((Second response:))))))

Lean thinking is about focusing on adding value to customers by detecting and eliminating waste – anything that doesn’t contribute to that value.

While flexibility means your supply chain can handle the unpredictability and constant flow of new and innovative products – quickly and effectively.

A good time to consider the use of any of these types in the supply chain:

1- Lean thinking

When companies want to increase their productivity, reduce waste, and boost their bottom line. These ideas can be used to efficiently build and grow your organization if you are trying to do so.

2- Fitness

When it’s time to make adjustments.

To restore and install a new feature, developers only need to lose the equivalent of a few days of work, if not only hours.

To put it together, when a product’s vision or characteristics are not clearly defined. Agile allows product owners to change requirements and priorities as the project progresses, allowing them to take advantage of opportunities and ultimately deliver a better product to all project stakeholders.