I am Dr Jones
This is what I have so far please add on… try to come to an agreement.
Premise: Mr. Cardoza, a fruit exporter in South America, has 3,000 Ugli Oranges, and apparently there are only 3,000 such oranges in the world crop this year. Dr. Roland (Antonio) is planning to place a bid for the oranges. However, Dr Jones (Alyssa) has also expressed interest in buying the Ugli Oranges.
Objective: Before approaching Mr. Cardoza, Dr. Roland and Dr. Jones need to come to an agreement to see who can get the available Ugli Oranges.
DR. ROLAND: Good evening Dr. Jones. This is Dr. Roland. As you may already know, I am the head of pharmaceutical development at Greenpoint Labs. My company is working on the development of a medication that may be of significant importance for our society, but for us to continue with our research, we would need to get a hold of some Ugli Oranges, but so far we have only been able to find a fruit exporter in Venezuela who has them.
It also came to my attention that your company may also be interested in purchasing these oranges, so before approaching Mr. Cardoza (the Venezuelan exporter) and to avoid a bidding war that’s going to inflate the prices of these oranges, I wanted to first talk to you and ask if it is possible that you’ll let us purchase these oranges this time around. Please let me know at your earliest convenience.
(L6) September 2021 End of Module Project
Business Finance (L6) September 2021
End of Module Project
Throughout this Business Finance module we have focused on investment and financing from a risk based perspective with an emphasis on the shareholders of the company.
This End of Module Project allows you to bring together several aspects of the module in a holistic manner.
Select a company of your choice and obtain their latest annual report (this can be one you work for, are familiar with or one you have an interest in). Ensure your chosen company will enable you to meet all of the criteria below.
There are lots of companies to choose from and normally their annual reports are available easily from the company’s web site. if you are struggling for a suitable company, just have a look at the Financial Times (either hard copy or on the web) where you will see a comprehensive list of company names that are listed on the FTSE, this would be a good starting point.
Using your chosen company, you are required to:
1 Explain the key sources of finance for your company. For example what is the mix of share capital and long term loans, does this company appear to be risky from a gearing point of view? (350-500 words)
2 Identify the key elements of working capital and discuss any particular strengths or weaknesses which you feel the company has in this area. (350-500 words)
3 Discuss the company’s exposure to risks generally and exchange rate risk in particular as a result of their involvement in international markets. How does the company manage these risks, and how successful do you think the company is in this? (400-500 words)
4 Evaluate the success of corporate restructuring activities undertaken by your chosen company in the last five years or so. For example, has it acquired new subsidiary companies, entered into joint ventures or undertaken divestment, and how successful has this been? (400-500 words)
Your completed End of Module Project should be in the form of a written report of 2,000 words.
The learning outcomes for this assignment are:
• Understand the conceptual framework of finance
• Evaluate alternative funding policies and instruments available to firms
• Appreciate methods of valuation and their application to corporate restructuring
Module Background
Unit 9: Corporate Restructuring and Issues Relating to Small Businesses
In this final unit we will look at two quite diverse topics. In the first we will consider why companies seek to expand by means of acquisitions or mergers, or to reduce their scale of operations by divestment. In the second we will focus on issues relating to small businesses, and compare and contrast the position of these businesses with that of larger organisations in respect of many of the topics we have covered in this module.
In this unit we shall:
• Examine reasons for the popularity of takeovers/mergers
• Consider the practicalities of financing mergers
• Examine the reasons for divestment
• Consider some of the specific issues facing small businesses, particularly in relation to available sources of finance, and appropriate methods for valuation
On completion of this unit you will be able to:
• Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of achieving growth by means of mergers
• Explain the reasons for companies undertaking divestment, and alternative means of achieving this
• Appreciate the particular issues facing small businesses in all aspects of business finance
Unit 9 Reading
Required Reading
For this unit you should read the following from the core text:
McLaney, E. (2017) Business Finance: Theory and Practice (11th Ed). FT Prentice Hall.
• Chapter 14 – Corporate Restructuring (Including Takeovers and Divestments)
• Chapter 16 – Small Businesses
Additional Reading
Guo,S., Hotchkiss, E. S. And Song, W. (2011) ‘Do Buyouts (Still) Create Value?’ Journal of Finance 66 (2): 479-482. Online via Essex eLibrary.
Writing Output
Writing should be in the form of a Written Report in 2,000 words in Harvard Referencing with Charts/Figures
and Process Improvement Essay
Business Assignment Help The following exercise allows you to practice collaboration skills to develop strategies for process improvement.
Complete the case study exercise, Spirit Airlines: Reducing the Cost of “No-Frills.” A transcriipt of this interactive exercise is also available.
OPS 574 Case Study: Spirit Airlines: Reducing the Cost of “No-Frills”
Slide 1
Title: Spirit Airlines Case Study: Reducing the Cost of “No-Frills”
Slide 2
Title: Objectives
Identify bottlenecks
Develop strategies for process improvement
Slide 3
Title: Challenge
This case study will enable you to:
? Assess and evaluate Spirit Airlines’ operations based on performance data and customer reviews.
? Practice collaboration skills to develop strategies for process improvement to keep costs low and improve customer satisfaction.
Slide 4
Title: Measuring an Airline’s Performance
Within the airline industry, there are several key metrics that are evaluated to assess performance.
Revenue Passenger Mile (RPM): Measures the total miles traveled by all passengers
Available/Average Seat Miles (ASM): Measures the total miles that could have been sold from available (empty) seats on planes.
Passenger Mile Yield (PMY): The average price collected per mile traveled.
Load Factor: The number of seats sold divided by the total number of seats.
Passenger Revenue Per Seat Mile (PRASM) or Unit Revenue: Passenger revenue divided by Available Seat Miles.
Cost per Available Seat Mile: Shows how much revenue is being lost from empty seats. It is the operating cost divided by Available Seat Miles.
Download What is Diversity of Thought?
Download link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1viWJbKGvyzbgsWRGtg2gO28aiZsz8Up_
Slide 5
Title: Spirit’s Net Promoter Score
A Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a number between -100 and 100 that measures customer satisfaction and willingness to recommend the business to others. Negative numbers means that the business has more detractors than promoters. Detractors are customers who had a bad experience with a company and share their experience and opinion with others, thus diminishing the brand. The NPS correlates with repeat business and revenues.
The NPS in 2020 for Spirit is -4. This is below the average airline industry score of 0. This means that Spirit will lose market share against its competitors.
Slide 6
Title: Spirit’s Increasing Costs and Customer Complaints
A quick Google search of “Spirit Airline customer reviews” reveals many public complaints about the airline’s operations.
Consumer Reports even ranks it as “the worst airline in America.” SkyTrax reviews by verified customers rate Spirit Airlines 3/10.
One common complaint is misleading pricing by Spirit. As a “no-frills” airline, they charge for many items that other airlines include in their price, such as carry-on bags, printing a boarding pass, or non-alcoholic beverages, like soft drinks or water, while in the air. Additional purchase items, such as seat selection and checked bags, which most airlines charge for, are actually priced higher than the same charges on competitor airlines. Once all items are purchased, the total price of flying on Spirit is often higher than that of competitors.
Flight delays on Spirit are also quite common. The delays are often exacerbated when upset customers have altercations with ground and air staff, often requiring law enforcement involvement. Labor issues with pilots, flight attendants, and ground maintenance have also led to work stoppages, cancelled flights, and physical altercations. In 2017, Spirit Airlines had to cancel hundreds of flights due to pilots turning down assignments. As a result, Spirit sometimes had to pay pilots a 200% premium over their regular pay.
To maximize space and place more passengers on an aircraft, the seats have minimal padding and do not recline. Fuel expenses have increased more than 15% in 2019. Other operational expenses have increased by 3.4% in 2019, due primarily to pay raises given to pilots. Spirit’s liquidity is $1.2 billion in cash. While total revenues were up in 2019, profits were lower, due to these increased costs.
Slide 7
Title: Overview of Spirit’s Operations and Competitive Advantage
Spirit’s leadership wants to explore options to streamline operations to reduce operating costs, improve employee relations, and increase customer satisfaction.
What could Spirit Airlines have done to prevent employee dissatisfaction and labor disputes? Were the pilots justified in their actions? Do you think the pilot union and subsequent work slowdown negatively impacted the airline? What collaborative strategies could both sides have employed to prevent a breakdown in operations?
How can Spirit integrate the customer voice? Are there collaborative opportunities here? Focus groups, social media analysis, and feedback forms are some tools the airline can use to collect customer input. Is satisfaction solely tied to operations improvements? Considering the airline presents itself as a “no-frills” option, are customers justified in their criticism of the airline?
Slide 8
Title: Evaluation of Alternatives
Perform some research on the Internet about Spirit’s operations and competitive advantage. What are some areas in which operational bottlenecks occur?
Answer field
Slide 9
Title: Evaluation of Alternatives
Feedback
Flight delays and flight cancellations create significant bottlenecks. While weather conditions or incidents at an airport outside of Spirit’s control can cause flight delays or cancellations, there should be strategies in place for contingencies and mitigation of these events. Decreasing bottlenecks should result in higher NPS, greater customer satisfaction and retention, and increased revenues.
Slide 10
Title: Alternative View
What types of resources would Spirit need to deploy to mitigate delays and reduce cancellations due to weather, flight crew absences or “time out,” or mechanical issues?
Answer field
Slide 11
Title: Alternative View
Feedback
Spirit would need to increase the number and availability of ground crew, air crew, maintenance crew and equipment, and backup aircraft at each location.
Slide 12
Title: Alternative View
Delays and cancellations can result from a variety of circumstances. Weather is the cause only 38% of the time.
Is it really possible or good business sense to have backup ground crew, air crew, maintenance equipment, and backup aircraft at every one of the 17 destinations served by Spirit in 16 countries each day?
What are some lower-cost alternatives?
Answer field
Slide 13
Title: Alternative View
Feedback
Spirit could have backup personnel and aircraft at strategic hub locations. Technology could be used to better predict scheduling bottlenecks at airports served. Block times for flights could be evaluated to determine optimal times to stay on-time. Flights could be re-routed. Passengers could be placed on other airlines. Slack could be built into schedules to allow for contingencies.
Slide 14
Title: Process Improvement
To reduce bottlenecks, improve on-time performance, and increase customer satisfaction, Spirit should begin by looking at its operational performance data for departures, arrivals, and cancellations. Causes for delays and cancellation should be identified. Patterns should be correlated as well, such as more frequent delays or cancellations during certain times of the year or at certain airports.
The master flight schedule can then be modified to optimize time and resources. Routing of flights and pairing of flights on crew schedules can also be reviewed and modified to reduce risks of delays or cancellations.
For more details on how airlines handle these types of operational issues, see the report, “Improving airline operational performance through schedule perturbation” (external link: http://www.pitt.edu/~schaefer/papers/ImproveAirOpsSchedPert.pdf).
Slide 15
Title: Final Submission
Return to your course in Blackboard where you will prepare a reflection post. Include responses to the questions below.
Is process improvement alone a sufficient response to Spirit’s declining profits? What other changes should Spirit make? What measurable outcomes should Spirit seek? Why?
Consider what you learned in the experience and respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
Is process improvement alone a sufficient response to Spirit’s declining profits?
What other changes should Spirit make?
In what ways can the airline integrate empathy into its dealings with both employees and customers? Do you think it would make a difference?
What measurable outcomes should Sprit seek during the process improvement effort? Why?
moved away from a nice-to-have, to a must-have for companies as a strategic business imperative.”
please use British English as i am based in the united kingdom and please use the resources provided below and ask me anything if you are confused about