Category: financial management

Foundations of Financial Management

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

Risk Management and a Review of the Financial Crisis
Corporate Governance
Goals of Financial Management
In addition, read the articles listed here:

What is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform ActLinks to an external site.
What the Dodd-Frank Act Did (and How It’s Changed)Links to an external site.
The Dodd-Frank Act ExplainedLinks to an external site.
Sarbanes-Oxley SummaryLinks to an external site.
Sarbanes-Oxley at 15: What Has Changed?Links to an external site.
Initial Response:

Ethical behavior can be viewed at a personal level, as well as a corporate level. In business, personal ethics is often tied to the agency theory and at the corporate level tied to corporate social responsibility.

For this discussion forum,

First, identify one real-life example of personal ethics and one real-life example of corporate social responsibility in the financial field from the last five years (no Enron or WorldCom examples, as these are too old). The example can be positive or negative. Note: When possible, select a different example than those already posted by a fellow classmate.
Next, explain each ethical example and what might have been done differently, as well as what you learned from the example.
Finally, select one financial business regulation (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, etc.) and debate how it does or does not promote ethical behavior. Be sure to be specific when describing the regulation. What are other ways to ensure strong ethical business decisions?

Emergency Management In Public Administration

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

Emergency management is playing an increasingly important role in public administration. Whether caused by severe weather, terrorism, or civil unrest, public administrators face the challenge of anticipating and effectively addressing problems that are, by their very nature, unexpected. After you read Dresang: Exercise 9, conduct your own research into major emergency management incidents that occurred in the United States during the last 50 years. Select one that you consider to have been relatively well-managed, and one that was not well-managed. Applying concepts from Dresang: Exercise 9 and your own research, explain how the emergency management incidents you selected were well-managed and poorly managed. What did the public sector officials do right? What could they have done better?

A public firm’s financial ratios can be easily found on any stock quote system

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

A public firm’s financial ratios can be easily found on any stock quote system. Many stock quote Web sites, such as MSN Money, provide a snapshot of a firm’s financial health, management effectiveness, and profitability.

For the ratio analysis, identify the liquidity, leverage, profitability, asset management, and price ratios as well as the trading statistics of both firms. Compare the ratios to each other and the industry. Draw conclusions based on the findings in the ratio analysis of each firm and the industry.

Maximizing intrinsic stock value for the benefit of society.

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The main goal of financial management is to maximize intrinsic stock value for the benefit of society. In this sphere, special companies, minimize costs through innovation in the production process, create value for the customer by providing quality services and products, and creating value for employees through training and development and foster an environment that allows employees to utilize their skills and talents.

Suppose you decide to start a company. Your product is a software platform that integrates a wide range of media devices, including laptop computers, desktop computers, digital video recorders, and cell phones. Your initial market is the student body at your university. Once you have established your company and set up procedures for operating it, you plan to expand to other colleges in the area, and eventually to go nationwide. At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, you plan to go public with an IPO, then to buy a yacht and take off for the South Pacific to indulge in your passion for underwater photography. With these issues in mind, you need to answer for yourself, and potential investors, the following questions.
Assignment: Write a short answer to these questions using the above case.

What is an agency relationship? When you first begin operations, assuming you are the only employee and only your money is invested in the business, would any agency conflicts exist? Explain your answer.
If you expanded, and hired additional people to help you, might that give rise to agency problems?
Explain why “maximation of shareholders’ wealth” is the appropriate goal of the firm.
What items of good corporate governance serve to mitigate the tension between owners and managers?

Analyzing a financial statements for a company

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Select a publicly-traded company that is traded on U.S. exchange. Locate the annual report for at least the last three fiscal years.
Analyze the financial statements for the company and review for large movements in specific accounts from one year to the next. In addition, review the notes to the financial statements as these are an integral part of the financial reporting package. Evaluate the balance sheet to determine if there are large changes in the company’s assets, liabilities, or equity accounts. In addition, analyze the income statement and statement of cash flows.
At a minimum, calculate the following ratios for two years, the debt-to-equity ratio, current ratio, quick ratio, return on equity, and net profit margin. For each ratio, explain what the ratio tells you about the company

Analyzing a financial statements for a company

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Select a publicly-traded company that is traded on U.S. exchange. Locate the annual report for at least the last three fiscal years.
Analyze the financial statements for the company and review for large movements in specific accounts from one year to the next. In addition, review the notes to the financial statements as these are an integral part of the financial reporting package. Evaluate the balance sheet to determine if there are large changes in the company’s assets, liabilities, or equity accounts. In addition, analyze the income statement and statement of cash flows.
At a minimum, calculate the following ratios for two years, the debt-to-equity ratio, current ratio, quick ratio, return on equity, and net profit margin. For each ratio, explain what the ratio tells you about the company

Barnes and Noble

Posted on | by admin3

Review and comment on the Web Exercise,Attached regarding Barnes & Noble, please use the link in the textbook www.bned.com You will find investor relations for your initial post, which should be a brief answer to the questions and then expand on your knowledge by reviewing sources on stocks and bonds (see Webliography). It is expected your responses will be justified by website links and should be evolving and at least one-two paragraphs in length-
1. Barnes & Noble Education is one of the largest contract operators of bookstores on college and university campuses in the United States. Go to www.bned.com.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Stock Information” under “Investor Relations.” What is the current stock price? 3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and under the “Investor Relations” link, click on “News & Events.” Write a brief paragraph summary of any two press releases appearing in this linked page (two paragraphs in total).
4. Go back to “Investor Relations” and click the link titled “Filings.” Filter for “Annual Filings” and open the most recent 10-K annual report as a pdf file.
5. Search for the term “Consolidated Statements of Operations.” Has Barnes & Noble Education been profitable in the last three years? 6. Search the pdf for the “Consolidated Balance Sheet.” What is the ratio of “Total Liabilities to Total Assets” for the past two periods? Anything over 70 percent might be considered too high. How does Barnes & Noble Education look?
Note: Occasionally a topic we have listed may have been deleted, updated, or moved into a different location at a website. If you click on the site map or site index, you will be introduced to a table of contents that should aid you in finding the topic you are looking for.

 

 

 

Barnes and Noble

Posted on | by admin3

Review and comment on the Web Exercise,Attached regarding Barnes & Noble, please use the link in the textbook www.bned.com You will find investor relations for your initial post, which should be a brief answer to the questions and then expand on your knowledge by reviewing sources on stocks and bonds (see Webliography). It is expected your responses will be justified by website links and should be evolving and at least one-two paragraphs in length-
1. Barnes & Noble Education is one of the largest contract operators of bookstores on college and university campuses in the United States. Go to www.bned.com.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Stock Information” under “Investor Relations.” What is the current stock price? 3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and under the “Investor Relations” link, click on “News & Events.” Write a brief paragraph summary of any two press releases appearing in this linked page (two paragraphs in total).
4. Go back to “Investor Relations” and click the link titled “Filings.” Filter for “Annual Filings” and open the most recent 10-K annual report as a pdf file.
5. Search for the term “Consolidated Statements of Operations.” Has Barnes & Noble Education been profitable in the last three years? 6. Search the pdf for the “Consolidated Balance Sheet.” What is the ratio of “Total Liabilities to Total Assets” for the past two periods? Anything over 70 percent might be considered too high. How does Barnes & Noble Education look?
Note: Occasionally a topic we have listed may have been deleted, updated, or moved into a different location at a website. If you click on the site map or site index, you will be introduced to a table of contents that should aid you in finding the topic you are looking for.

 

 

 

Uneven performance of IBM

Posted on | by admin3

 

1. IBM has had an uneven performance over the years and one way to check this out is to look at the financial information. Go to fi nance.yahoo.com. In the search bar type its ticker symbol IBM and click enter, then follow the steps listed here.
2. Using the stock chart, look at the 1 Year, 5 year, and Max price performance. How has IBM’s stock been doing recently and over the longer term?
3. Click on Statistics on the summary line and look at the P/E ratio over the six periods presented. See how the P/E has changed over time and also note that there are two price earnings ratios presented: a Trailing P/E and a Forward P/E. The forward P/E is the current price over the expected earnings per share for the next 12 months. How stable have these price-earnings ratios been? 4. Scroll down the page to the bottom and find Dividends & Splits. Compare the trailing annual dividend yield to the 5 Page 93 year average dividend yield. The payout ratio is given below the 5-year average. How does this affect the yield and is this payout ratio sustainable?
5. Assuming IBM’s historical long-term debt/equity is 100 percent, how does it currently stand? You will find this under the Balance Sheet items. Generally speaking, is that good or bad?
6. Assuming its historical return on assets is 10 percent, how does it currently stand? You will find this under Management Effectiveness. Generally speaking, is the return on assets good or bad?
7. Looking at Management Effectiveness, why is the return on equity so much higher than the return on assets?

 

Uneven performance of IBM

Posted on | by admin3

 

1. IBM has had an uneven performance over the years and one way to check this out is to look at the financial information. Go to fi nance.yahoo.com. In the search bar type its ticker symbol IBM and click enter, then follow the steps listed here.
2. Using the stock chart, look at the 1 Year, 5 year, and Max price performance. How has IBM’s stock been doing recently and over the longer term?
3. Click on Statistics on the summary line and look at the P/E ratio over the six periods presented. See how the P/E has changed over time and also note that there are two price earnings ratios presented: a Trailing P/E and a Forward P/E. The forward P/E is the current price over the expected earnings per share for the next 12 months. How stable have these price-earnings ratios been? 4. Scroll down the page to the bottom and find Dividends & Splits. Compare the trailing annual dividend yield to the 5 Page 93 year average dividend yield. The payout ratio is given below the 5-year average. How does this affect the yield and is this payout ratio sustainable?
5. Assuming IBM’s historical long-term debt/equity is 100 percent, how does it currently stand? You will find this under the Balance Sheet items. Generally speaking, is that good or bad?
6. Assuming its historical return on assets is 10 percent, how does it currently stand? You will find this under Management Effectiveness. Generally speaking, is the return on assets good or bad?
7. Looking at Management Effectiveness, why is the return on equity so much higher than the return on assets?