Impact of consumer behavior on this organization’s marketing strategy

Impact of Consumer Behavior on Marketing Strategy Grading Guide

 

Choose an organization with which you are familiar.

 

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you review the impact of consumer behavior on this organization’s marketing strategy.

 

Review and evaluate a specific example of how this organization utilized its knowledge of consumer behavior to adjust its marketing strategy.

 

How did this organization figure out what its target market wanted?
How was the organization’s marketing strategy (product, price, distribution, promotion, service) impacted by consumer behavior?

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

 

Submit your assignment.

Resources
Center for Writing Excellence
Reference and Citation Generator
Grammar and Writing Guides
Learning Team Toolkit

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Choose an organization with which you are familiar or use the organization you chose for the Week 1 assignment.

 

Create an 8- to 10-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation with speaker’s notes representing how this organization manages and develops its brand personality, and deliver the following:

 

Find an ad (digital or non-digital) that you feel communicates a strong brand personality. Include this ad in your presentation.
Describe that brand personality in terms of the dimensions in Figure 10-2 (p. 369 in Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy).
Describe the various techniques used in the ad (celebrity endorser, user imagery, executional factors, etc.) and how that links to the personality they are communicating.
Review what traits you believe are good to have in a brand personality.
Analyze how this brand personality impacts competitive positioning.
How does this ad impact your belief in the brand or impact your motivation to purchase from this organization?

Format your presentation consistent with APA guidelines.

 

Submit your assignment.

Resources
Center for Writing Excellence
Reference and Citation Generator
Grammar and Writing Guides

Capital Budgeting Analysis

Group Assignment II

Form a team of THREE (or two) members and select a coordinator for the team.  Take the average of the last digits of team members’ 8-digit UMIDs and use the  average as your team’s discount rate factor for the analysis. For example, if  the three UMIDs’ last digits are, respectively, 0, 6 and 8, then your team’s discount rate factor will be (0+6+8)/3=4.67%. For your team, the REAL discount rate for the project is set at (8% + your team’s discount rate  factor), compounded daily. For instance, in this example the team’s discount  rate factor is 4.67%, the team’s REAL discount rate will be 8% + 4.67% =  12.67%, compounded daily.

Our team: 0 +3+2 = 5/2=2.5% Team’s Discount Rate Factor

Real Discount Rate: 2.5+8= 10.5% compounded daily

Your team is assigned to the Gadget Division of The FGM Corporation, the  largest multinational automobile manufacturer in the world. Your team is asked  to evaluate a project proposal regarding the production of a device, DEVICE,  which applies the most advanced artificial intelligence technology to improve  driving safety. This upgradeable built-in device gives warnings to drivers and  assist them to stay in lane and avoid collision. The DEVICE will be marketed as  an optional feature for FGM cars and trucks. A 2-year comprehensive market  analysis on the potential demand for this device was conducted and completed last year at a cost of $10M, where M is for millions.

From the comprehensive market analysis, your team expects annual sales volume  of DEVICE to be 6.0M units for the first year and will decrease by 5% and 10%,  respectively, in the following two years. The unit price of the device is $895 (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real term). Due to the introduction of  similar products by competitors at the end of Year 3, the expected annual sale  volume will drop to 3.5M units and the unit price is expected to fall to $700 (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real term) in the years following the  introduction of the competitive products. Unit production costs are estimated at  $800 (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real term) at the beginning of the  project, and will not be impacted by the change in competition. Annual nominal growth rates for unit prices and unit production costs are expected to be 2.0%  and 3.0%, respectively, over the life of the project.

In addition, the implementation of the project demands current assets to be set at  18% of the annual sale revenues, and current liabilities to be set at 14% of the  annual production costs. Besides, the introduction of DEVICE will increase the  sales volume of cars and trucks that leads to an increase in the annual after-tax

operating cash flow of FGM by $35M (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in  real term) for the first three years, and $20M (expressed in constant t=0 dollar,  i.e., in real term) afterwards.

The production line for DEVICE will be set up in a vacant plant site (land) purchased by FGM at a cost of 30M twenty years ago. This vacant plant site has  a current market value of $45M, and is expected to be sold at the termination of  this project for $52M in five years. The machinery for producing DEVICE has an  invoice price of $475M, and its customization costs another $50M for meeting the  specifications for the project. The machinery has an economic life of five years,  and is classified in the MACR 7-year asset class for depreciation purposes. The  sale price of the machinery at the termination of the project is expected to be  25% of its initial invoice price.

The corporate handbook of The FGM Corporation states that corporate overhead  costs should be reflected in project analyses at the rate of 5% of the book value  of assets. Corporate overhead costs are not expected to change with the  acceptance of this project. However, financial analysts at the Headquarters  believe that every project should bear its fair share of the corporate overhead  burden. On the other hand, the Director of the Gadget Division disagrees with this view and believes that the corporate overhead costs should be left out of the  analysis.

The marginal tax rate of The FGM Corporation is 21%. And any tax loss from  this project can be used to write off taxable income of The FGM Corporation. The general inflation rate is 2.4%.

Question 1:

1. In light of the appropriate objective of a firm, what would be your recommendation on the DEVICE Project based on the (base) scenario described above? Why?
2. Would your recommendation be changed if the unit price of DEVICE only falls to $745 (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real term) upon the entrance of competitive products after three years into this project, i.e., the  optimistic scenario? What would be your recommendation if the unit price  falls to $650 (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real term) after three years, i.e., the pessimistic scenario? Why?

 

1. In light of the appropriate objective of a firm, what should be your recommendation on the Project if there is 60% chance that the base scenario (as described in the introductory section) will occur, 18% chance  that the optimistic scenario (as described in Q1B above) will occur, and  22% chance that the pessimistic scenario (as described in Q1B above) will  occur? Why?
2. Now your team completed the above analysis and presented your recommendation on the DEVICE Project based on the correct capital budgeting decision rule. The project manager, who is a senior engineer  with no training in financial analysis, asks your team to base your  recommendation on the (pure) payback period rule instead. In response,  your team goes back to calculate the payback period for each of the three  scenarios discussed above. What is your team’s recommendation on the  Project under each scenario? Use your analysis to explain precisely (in a  convincing manner) to the project manager why the payback period rule  should not be used for decision making on the DEVICE Project. And why  your team’s choice of capital budgeting method should be used instead!

Question 2: A potential solution to combat the competition is to regain the  competitive edge by upgrading the DEVICE via upgrading the  machinery and software technology at the end of the third year for a nominal cost of $300M. Assume that this upgrade is fully depreciated over its 2-year life according to the straight-line depreciation method, and it has zero value at the termination of the  project. The upgraded DEVICE can be sold at $750 (expressed in  constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real terms) apiece. Would you recommend the upgrade of the machinery and the product? What  is the value of this option to upgrade (relative to the base scenario)?

Question 3: An alternative solution is to back out from the DEVICE Project at  the end of the third year for a NOMINAL penalty of $175M. Besides, the machinery will have a zero market value if the project  is abandoned. And the plant site is estimated to be priced at $48M.  Would you recommend the abandonment of the project? What is  the value of this option to abandon (relative to the base scenario)?

Question 4: Since this is a major project for the Gadget Division, the Division  Director is greatly concerned about the riskiness of this Project.  Your team is asked to determine the MINIMUM unit price (expressed in constant t=0 dollar, i.e., in real terms) for DEVICE  such that the Project will be acceptable according to the conceptually most correct capital budgeting method, basing on the  information given in the base scenario.(Hint: Learn to use the Goal Seek function on Excel to solve for the  minimum unit price!)

Question 5: Being diligent professionals, your team is not satisfied with the  assumed discount rate in the base scenario that is given to you.  From your team’s research, your team notes that The FGM Corporation issued three types of securities to finance its businesses. It has 6B shares of its common stock outstanding,  which is priced at $28 per share. The stock beta is estimated at  1.50. In addition, the Corporation’s 8% coupon, $120B par, 15-year, B-rated semiannual coupon paying bonds are priced at a  discount of 7% relative to its par. In addition, The FGM Corporation  also finances its operation with 500M shares of its preferred stock,  which pays annual DPS of $4 and is currently priced at $55 per  share. Currently, the yields on long-term Treasury securities are  around 2.0%. Your team references the stock market statistics  reported in Chapter 10 of the text for the estimation of the market  risk premium. Your team believes that the riskiness of the Project  is compatible with that of other projects of the company. Based on  your team’s analysis, you redo Q1, Q2 and Q4, and address the  above issues by showing your work to your supervisor. Are there  any differences in your recommendations? Why or why not?

Question 6: In anticipation of tightening government regulations that aim at  mitigating adverse environmental impacts of business operations in  the U.S., your team speculates that there would be an

environmental surcharge equivalent to 0.5% of the annual production costs applicable to the DEVICE Project. Hence, you  redo the analysis in Q1C with the inclusion of the proposed environmental surcharge. What would be your recommendation on  the DEVICE Project after accounting for the possible financial  consequence of its environmental impact? If a green technology  could help you eliminate the environmental impact of the Project  and hence the corresponding environmental surcharge, what  should be the maximum amount to be invested in this green technology for the Project

Your team is required to turn in a report (in Word or PDF format) that addresses the six questions in this case. In addition, I expect your  group to use Excel spreadsheet for your analysis, and submit your  Excel spreadsheet along with your report for my grading. Besides,  you are required to do your analysis in NOMINAL term, and  apply symmetry tax treatment on any gain or loss in operations  and asset transactions!

 

Business Policy and Strategy

Read and study Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma carefully. Your answers
to the questions below should reflect your understanding of and mastery of
Christensen’s principal points in the book. Any responses that fail to address
Christensen’s arguments will be given a score of zero. The objective of this
assignment is for you to demonstrate mastery of the material. Your answers to
each question should be between 1-2 pages long (typed, single spaced).
1. There is a tendency in all markets for companies to move upmarket toward
more complicated products with higher prices. Why is it difficult for
established companies to enter markets for simpler, cheaper products?
Identify two companies that have upscaled themselves out of business. How
could they have avoided this?
2. One of the hallmarks of disruptive technologies is that initially they
underperform the current technology on the attributes that matter most to
mainstream customers. The companies that succeed in commercializing
them, therefore, must find different customers for whom the new technology’s
attributes are most valuable. Identify two markets that are emerging today
based on attributes or qualities that seemed unimportant to the mainstream
markets when they were introduced? (If you can’t think of anything, consider
the online education revolution as a topic to explore. Does anyone seriously
believe that bricks and mortar schools will be the dominant power in twenty
years?) When identifying the two markets, explain how older mainstream
products or companies are threatened.
3. Most people think that senior executives make the important decisions about
where a company will go and how it will invest its resources, but the real
power lies with the people deeper in the organization who decide which
proposals will be presented to senior management. What are the corporate
factors that lead midlevel employees to ignore or kill disruptive technologies?
Should well-managed companies change these practices and policies?
4. What do the findings in this book suggest about how companies will be
organized in the future in order to encourage the development and support of
disruptive technologies? Should large organizations with structures created
around functionalities redesign themselves into interconnected teams, as
some management theorists currently believe? Or, recognizing that different
technologies and different markets have differing needs, should they try to
have distinct organizational structures and management practices for different
circumstances? Is this realistically possible?

Please follow the instructions on the attachment and,
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (1st Edition), Peter Thiel, Crown Business © 2014
The Innovator’s Dilemma (1st Edition), Clayton M. Christensen, HarperCollins Publishers © 2011
The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (3rd Edition), Thomas L. Friedman, Picador © 2007
Preferred language style US English

Market Risk Estimation

Instructions on Assessment

The assessment for this module is by means of an assignment and this assignment accounts for 80% of the overall mark for the module. You must attempt all the parts to meet the learning outcomes.

• Length maximum of 3000 words (with a tolerance level of 10%) which must be stated at the cover page of the assignment.
• Font – Arial 12, whole document being justified on both sides with 1.5 line spacing.
• Titles and headings should be in bold. Section headings should be numbered e.g. 3.1.
• Referencing must be as follows:

McMath, M. (2016) Liquidity mismatch and maturity transformation: a study on the UK banks, International Journal of Risk and Return, Vol. 11(7), pp. 21-29

• Citation should be as:

McMath (2015) and if more than two authors should be as McMath et al., (2015)

• Quotations of more than 2 lines must be indented and in italics with the reference and page number stated. Shorter quotations should be in italics but do not need to be indented.
• Tables and diagrams should be inserted at an appropriate point in the text and should be easily readable.
• If you are attaching any appendices, please keep it to the minimum.

Assessment Questions:

Part A: International Banking Regulation                                    

1. Critically discuss the significance of capital adequacy requirements of Basel III in making the banks safer. Support your arguments with relevant literature.

(750 words, 20 marks)

Part B: Market Risk Estimation

2. You must select 5 corporations of your choice from the same industry. Assume that the analysis is performed on October 1^st, 2020. All the data you need to collect must be consistent with this date.

Compute VaR of your portfolio using Variance-Covariance, Historical Simulation and Monte-Carlo methods. Time horizon 1 year. Confidence interval 99%. Calculate the Expected Shortfall. Present your results and discuss the findings.                                                                                                     (750 words, 20 marks)

Part C: Foreign Exchange Risk

3. Discuss with examples the types of foreign exchange risks faced by Financial Institutions. Also, illustrate the hedging strategies used for foreign exchange risk.

(750 words, 20 marks)

Part D: Credit Risk

4. Discuss Creditmetrics approach to calculating credit risk. What are benefits and shortcomings of the model? Suggest improvements in the model. (750 words, 20 marks)

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives

Programme (Level) Learning Outcomes that this module contributes to:

Knowledge & Understanding:

• Assess knowledge of contemporary professional practice in business and management informed by theory and research. [LO1.1]
• Appraise knowledge of business and management to complex problems in professional practice in order to identify justifiable, sustainable and responsible solutions [LO 1.2]

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

• Critique creative and critical thinking skills that involve independence, understanding, justification and the ability to challenge the thinking of self and others [LO 2.2.]

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

• Critique their personal skills and attitudes for progression to post-graduate contexts including professional work, entrepreneurship and higher-level study [LO 3.2]

Module Specific Assessment Criteria

Knowledge & Understanding:

• Develop knowledge and understanding of international banking regulation, credit, foreign exchange and market risks. [MLO1]
• Critically evaluate the measurement models and the management issues in the context of the regulatory requirements within the banking and finance sector. [MLO2]

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

• You will develop the quantitative as well as qualitative skills while measuring and managing the credit and market risks. [MLO3]

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

• You will be made aware of the risk facing international financial markets and how you can equip management with the knowledge and expertise to implement stronger organisational controls to address these risks. [MLO4]

Module Specific Marking Criteria

 

	0 – 29%	30 – 39%	40 – 49%	50 – 59%	60 – 69%	70 – 79%	80 – 90%	90 – 100%
Part A; International Banking Regulation   Maximum Mark= 20	Very weak research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Insufficient research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Reasonable research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Good research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Very Good research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Excellent research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Outstanding research and understanding of the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.	Exemplary, sophisticated and highly detailed research and understanding the Basel 3 regulation and discussion on the role of capital requirements in making banks safer.
Part B; Market Risk   Maximum Mark= 20	Very weak, research and understanding of the VaR analysis and little attempt to provide an example.	Insufficient research and understanding of the VaR analysis. The use of real-world asset class is incorrect or incomplete.	Reasonable research and understanding of the VaR analysis with an attempt to illustrate real world numerical examples.	Good research and understanding of the VaR analysis by using real world asset class.	Very Good research and understanding of the VaR analysis by using real world asset class.	Excellent research and understanding of the VaR analysis by using real world asset class.	Outstanding research and understanding of the VaR analysis by using real world asset class.	Exemplary, sophisticated and highly detailed research and understanding of the VaR analysis by using real world asset class.
Part C; Foreign Exchange Risk   Maximum Mark= 20	Very weak research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Insufficient research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Reasonable research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Good research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Very Good research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Excellent research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Outstanding research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.	Exemplary, sophisticated and highly detailed research and understanding of the types of foreign exchange risks and hedging strategies.
Part D; Credit Risk   Maximum Mark= 20	Very weak research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Insufficient research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Reasonable research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Good research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Very Good research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Excellent research and understanding of the Creditmetrics  risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Outstanding research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.	Exemplary, sophisticated and highly detailed research and understanding of the Creditmetrics   risk measurement approach, its benefits and shortcomings and possible improvements.

 

 

 

Foreign Exchange Risk

Part C: Foreign Exchange Risk

3. Discuss with examples the types of foreign exchange risks faced by Financial Institutions. Also, illustrate the hedging strategies used for foreign exchange risk. (750 words, 20 marks)