...referred to as DFA, is an investment company that bases its strategy mainly on academic research and related theories. They work together with proponents of the efficient market hypothesis, indicating a relatively strong belief in this theory and thus in efficient markets. However DFA also feels that skilled traders have the ability to contribute to a fund’s profits even when the investment is inherently passive and DFA does adjusts its strategy to new findings in the field. In this report we will evaluate the relevance and accuracy of the theories used by DFA, especially the value premium and the size premium where almost all of their funds are based upon. This will lead to comments on the usefulness of these theories to increase the return of DFA’s funds and to recommendations about changes in strategy that will enhance the performance of DFA overall. Performance and strategy so far DFA has performed relatively well over the years, aside from some relatively rough patches in the late 1990s. Growth of the company had been stable and profits high. There was no need to sell shares for liquidity reasons and shares were only sold if they did not fit into a fund anymore. This didn’t happen very often though as DFA had several funds that were “connected”, when a stock in the Micro Cap portfolio grew too big it could be placed into a fund with bigger companies (Small Cap portfolio). An important part of DFA’s strategy, that contributed to the performance of DFA so far, is...
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...FIN 6310 Case Studies Purchase Case Studies (4) • Harvard Case Studies (2) o Courses available at o https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/18322840 • Ivey Case Studies (2) o Register for an account at Ivey Cases https://www.iveycases.com/RegisterUser.aspx o Put the following two cases studies in your cart. Make sure Digital Download is selected which will cost $3.40 per case. o Burgundy Asset Management: The Wescast Investment Decision https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=31479 o Valuing Wal-mart 2010 https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=48332 o Download the Wal-mart case spreadsheet for free. o Valuing Wal-mart 2010 – Spreadsheet for students https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=52705 Case Report Guidelines 1. Place case title at top of first page with team member names (maximum four members per team). 2. Answer questions in numerical order. 3. Include graphs and tables if appropriate. 4. Print out case report and hand-in at the beginning of class. Harvard Management Company (2001) Questions 1. Is HMC’s recent payout policy consistent with the goal of preserving the real (adjusted for Harvard’s expense growth) value of the endowment and its distribution into perpetuity? 2. Could payout be raised to meet recent budget pressures without changing the risk-return profile of the portfolio? 3. What value has the HMC’s policy portfolio...
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...contemporary organizational issue you find intriguing. Use one field site or example for the entire paper. Also, be explicit about the level issue. For example, if you are using the concept of personality then it is an individual level issue. A list of concepts and their related levels is provided in a separate document. Focus of paper-related requirements: Outline: Submit a formal outline for your paper, complete with references. The purpose of the outline is to help you organize your content, which also results in increased clarity, improved logic, and better structure of the paper. There may be adjustments from this document to your final paper, but at this stage the paper should not require major revisions. Final Paper: Use a case study format for the structure of your paper. Identify and analyze issues using course concepts, and propose recommendations for the organization you are focusing on. Use of course concepts 1. Use a minimum of 8 concepts for the paper. Include a list of the concepts you used at the beginning of the paper. 2. Briefly define each concept you use within the text (a paragraph or two). 3. For each concept, write a diagnosis at one level (e.g., the person level). For example, you might write “The employee misses work frequently due to stress from conflict with her supervisor.” Note, stress and conflict would require definitions.) 4. For each concept, write a solution or solutions. Identify the level(s) you addressed in Step 2...
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...Calendar Overall for Case-Study Presentation & Mid-Term Exam – MGT 4760 (Strategic Management) Sem 1, 2012/2013 Sec 8 (M-W) No. | Week | Topics | Class Day | Date | Schedule | Details | | 1 | Chapter 1: The Nature of Strategic Management | 1- Mon 2- Wed | 10/912/9 | | | | 2 | Chapter 2: The Business Vision and Mission | 3- Mon 4- Wed | 17/919/9 | | | | 3 | Chapter 3: The External Assessment | 5- Mon 6- Wed | 24/926/9 | | | | 4 | Chapter 4: The Internal Assessment | 7- Mon 8- Wed | 1/103/10 | Quiz 1 (Chapter 1.2.3) | | | 5 | Chapter 4: The Internal Assessment | 9- Mon 10- Wed | 8/1010/10 | | | | 6 | Chapter 5: Strategies in Action | 11- Mon 12- Wed | 15/1017/10 | | | | | BREAK(22/10 – 28/10) | 13- Mon 14- Wed | 22/1024/10 | | | | 7 | Chapter 5: Strategies in Action | 15- Mon 16- Wed | 29/1031/10 | Case Presentation Session 1Case Presentation Session 2 | Group 1:L: Lia Hilaliah (Case Study 3)Group 2:L: Mas Syairah bte Mohamad (Case Study 5) | | 8 | Chapter 6: Strategy Analysis and Choice | 17- Mon 18- Wed | 5/117/11 | | (Mid-Term Exam 7/11 Wednesday)Seminar Room 1.1 | | 9 | Chapter 6: Strategy Analysis and Choice | 19- Mon 20- Wed | 12/1114/11 | Case Presentation Session 3Case Presentation Session 4 | Group 3:L: Mohamed Sheikh (Case Study 9) Group 4:L: Izzati Nor binti Salleh (Case Study 14) | | 10 | Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations...
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...ARCTIC MINING CONSULTANTS Case Synopsis Arctic Mining Consultants is a mining company that deals with mineral exploration. In this case study, the project given is staking 15 claims in Eagle Lake, Alaska. The project Manager was Tom Parker, who has a wide experience and specialized knowledge in all nontechnical aspects of mineral exploration. He is a geological field technician and field coordinator for Arctic Mining Consultants. He assigned his previous field assistants John Talbot, Greg Boyce and Brian Millar to help him complete the project. The job required them to stake at least 7 lengths each day in order to be completed on time. However, the whole team has became very tense and agitated, especially Tom Parker, as the deadline was just around the corner and there’s still many to be finished within the limited time. The problem became worse with the way Tom managed and treated his team. The only motivation to the team was the $300 bonuses promised by the company when the job is done on time, otherwise, they might wished to give up already. This happened because working as a field assistant and in long-working hours only giving them low wages, which is considered unreasonable compared to what they have to do. During the eight hard days, everything had actually proved the strengths and weaknesses of each of the team members, including Tom. Case analysis symptoms 1) What symptom(s) exist in this case to suggest that something has gone wrong? The symptom(s) to suggest...
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...Running head: CASE STUDY XYZ Case Study XYZ: An Examination of Project Procurement Management Practices Group 12 John Doe Jane Smith Bobbie Sue University of Maryland University College Project Procurement Management, Semester XXXX, Section XXXX Professor Stephen R. Guth MMMM DD, YYYY [No Abstract or Introduction required for this assignment] The Inception Phase Rating Scale: 5—Excellent, 4—Very Good, 3—Good, 2—Poor, 1—Very Poor |Project Management Area |Inception Phase | |Scope Management | | |Time Management | | |Cost Management | | |Quality Management | | |Human Resource Management | | |Communication Management | | |Risk Management | | |Procurement Management | ...
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...policy. 2) Employee conditions: a. Lack of motivation b. Compensate for low wages by over indulgence of free food allowance c. High turnover rate due to availability of high application rates. d. Employees are mostly college and high school students e. Lack of respect for managers. f. No incentive to increase motivation. In the case study Perfect Pizzeria, the area supervisor has many problems that need his attention. The largest appears to be the organization. In this case study I will assume that the area supervisor has the authority to affect change within his organization (i.e. he is the franchise owner). Being in an area with few job opportunities should give him the perfect opportunity to recruit bright, ambitious, and motivated people to staff his pizzerias. How can the area supervisor change his organization to achieve a more fluid corporate culture? I think this change can be achieved by human resource changes, structure changes, motivational changes, and reward for good performance as well as accountability for poor performance. Each one of these areas will require a change from the corporate level. For the sake of my case study I am going to assume that the area supervisor (franchise owner) can lobby to achieve this change within the organization. The first area to look...
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...letters in industry or for a class, knowing your purpose and audience will help determine what information to include. Generally, business letters follow a particular format, although your instructor or company may require you to use alternative formats. This guide provides writers with an introduction to writing business letters. Case Studies: This guide examines case studies, a form of qualitative descriptive research that is used to look at individuals, a small group of participants, or a group as a whole. Researchers collect data about participants using participant and direct observations, interviews, protocols, tests, examinations of records, and collections of writing samples. Starting with a definition of the case study, the guide moves to a brief history of this research method. Using several well documented case studies, the guide then looks at applications and methods including data collection and analysis. A discussion of ways to handle validity, reliability, and generalizability follows, with special attention to case studies as they are applied to composition studies. Finally, this guide examines the strengths and weaknesses of case studies. Desktop Publishing: Desktop publishing is the process of laying out and designing pages with your desktop computer. With software programs such as PageMaker and Quark Xpress, you can assemble anything from a one-page document to a...
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...Brussels and Bradshaw In response to the case study, Brussels and Bradshaw is a well-established financial institution that offers their clients competitive and innovative solutions for their community and work environments. The banking institution offers a summer internship to bright and driven individuals. The internship includes 14 weeks of very intense training and long hours. Interns are paid $20,000 for the contract. During the screening process, out of all the possible candidates Audrey Locke was selected. Audrey has some experience as an assistant, assurance analyst and financial planning analyst. Brussels and Bradshaw is operating in more than 25 countries globally; this case study takes place in Toronto. Many behavioral issues in the Brussels and Bradshaw institution are unprofessional and stressful. Job stress is defined as feeling one’s capabilities, resources, or needs that do not match the demands or requirements of the job (Hitt, Miller, & Colella, 2011 p. 249). Working 70 and 80 hours per week or possibly 120 hours will put a major burden on anyone, especially someone new to the working environment. Audrey is excited with her internship and very eager to learn. She is assigned a mentor and buddy by the business development manager, Kelly Richards. Kelly has 10 years of experience. Although associates consider her human resources, Kelly’s job is strictly administrative. Audrey is never introduced to her mentor and her buddy, Christine Page is very...
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...Business case studies determine and define the primary issues that a company faces in the modern world market. A well designed business case study can provide a detailed contextual analysis of limited conditions and their horizontal relationships to other entities. In the case of Coach, they are an international clothing accessory company with a reputation of making pristinely handcrafted items with unique designs and a label that represents over seventy years of craftsmanship. In order to fully understand Coach’s business model, empirical data must be collected and analyzed to include the historical and current financial statistics, an in-depth analysis of the company overall, an analysis of the company’s business model, and finally current issues and future forecast that affect the longevity of the enterprise. By studying the history of Coach, both investors and those with an interest in the company can gain insight into key factors that motivate company decisions. Background/History The history of Coach starts in 1941 in a small family run leather workshop with six primary artisans in Manhattan that had skills passed down from generation to generation. It was not long until leather good become sought after for their high quality and workmanship. Through the guidance of the longtime and current CEO, Lew Frankfort, Coach expanded their business from just 6 million dollars 30 years ago to current sales exceeding 3.6 billion dollars. (Coach, 2012) From 1941 to present, the...
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...Case Studies and Exercises Lecture 2. The Rise of Multinational Companies Case: MUELLER: China Bound? (A), (B) and (C). (308-358-1, 308-359-1 and 308-360-1). Discussion Questions: 1. What are the primary ownership advantages of Mueller? 2. What are the major ways in which Mueller could serve the China market? 3. What are their primary advantages and disadvantages?? 4. If Mueller decided to invest in China, what would be the main functions of its subsidiary? 5. How could the risks involved in the FDI to China be managed? Lecture 3. The Myth of the Global Company Case: Lafarge: From a French Cement Company to a Global Leader (304-019-1) Discussion Questions: 1. What are the main characteristics of Lafarge’s internationalisation strategy and competitive competences and how do these differ from those of other cement companies such as Cemex and Holcim? 2. What were the assumptions underlying Lafarge's strategy and how justified were these? 3. To what extent is Lafarge a French company with foreign operations, as distinct from a global MNC, and how is it likely to develop as a MNC? 4. What are the implications of Lafarge’s growth for the internationalisation of other French firms? Lecture 4. Competing Capitalisms in the 21st Century Case: Messier's Reign at Vivendi Universal (9-405-063) Discussion Questions: 1. What was Messier's strategy in transforming CGE into Vivendi, what assumptions was it based on and how justified were these? 2. What does this transformation reveal about the...
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...Research Case Study: Vodafone's Youth Market | | INTRODUCTION This case study will explain how the highly competitive telecommunications market lead Vodafone to set up an on-going 'panel' of respondents to give them a greater understanding of the youth market. THE CLIENT Vodafone is probably the biggest success story of the telecommunications market, becoming a household name with a penetration of 29% (TNS Telecoms panel Q3 2001) of the mobile phone market. Vodafone's media and planning agency, OMD UK plays an important strategic role in terms of researching the commercial market. THE CHALLENGE Operating in such a highly competitive industry meant that Vodafone had to look at new ways of researching how it could best profit from the hugely competitive youth market. The youth market is defined as anyone aged between 16-24 years old. Currently 90% of all 16-24 year olds own a mobile phone in the UK, amounting to 6.1m people in the UK. THE SOLUTION OMD UK, along with 2CV Research, recruited a panel of volunteers who receive monthly questionnaires over a long-term period in order to build up a profile of habits, attitudes and opinions of the young Vodafone user. The panel is made up of 200 respondents, all of whom must have an email address and a mobile phone (this is 85% of the youth market), and is maintained by 2CV. Questions sent out every month cover a whole range of areas, not just telecommunications. The idea is to build a very comprehensive picture of...
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...Case Study I Materials purchased $325,000 Direct Labor $220,000 Sales $1,350,000 Gross Margin 30% Cost of Goods Available for Sale $1,020,000 Prime Costs $545,000 Manufacturer Overhead 65% of Conversion cost Direct Materials $325,000 Beginning Inventory numbers: Raw Materials $41,000 Works in Process $56,000 Finished Goods $35,000 Formulas: Prime cost = Direct Materials cost + Direct Labor cost Conversion cost = Direct Labor cost + Manufacturing overhead cost (65% conversion) Prime cost = 325,000 + $220,000 545,000 ( Data given) Trying to get to the Conversion cost. Direct labor = 220,000 = 35% of conversion costs = 220,000/.35 = 628,571.42 Manufacturing Overhead = 628,571 - 220,000 = 408,571 Prime cost = direct material cost + 220,000 545,000 = direct material cost + 220,000 545,000 – 220,000 = 325,000 Direct material cost = 325,000 Gross Margin = 30% of $1,350,000 = 405,000. $1,350,000 – 405,000 = 945,000 Ending balance finished goods = 945,000 Cost of Goods Available for Sale $1,020,000 - Finished Goods Inventory (Beginning) 35,000 = Cost of Goods Manufactured $985,000 Cost of Goods sold: Beginning balance finished goods $ 35,000 + Cost of Goods Manufactured $985,000 Goods available for sale $1020,000 - Ending balance finished goods 945,000 Cost of goods sold $ 75,000 Manufacturing Costs: Direct Materials $325,000 ...
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...Mighty Amazon by Fred Vogelstein The story of how he started Amazon is now legendary. While working at Shaw in 1994, he read a study that predicted the Internet would explode in popularity. He figured it wouldn't be long before people would be making money selling over the web. After researching a host of items that could sell online, he settled on books. Almost every book was already catalogued electronically, yet no physical bookstore could carry them all. The beauty of the model, Bezos thought, was that it would give customers access to a giant selection yet he wouldn't have to go through the time, expense, and hassle of opening stores and warehouses and dealing with inventory. It didn't work out that way. Bezos quickly discovered that the only way to make sure customers get a good experience and that Amazon gets inventory at good prices was to operate his own warehouses so he could control the transaction process from start to finish. Building warehouses was a gutsy decision. At about $50 million apiece, they were expensive to set up and even more expensive to operate. The Fernley, Nev., site sits about 35 miles east of Reno and hundreds of miles from just about anything else. It doesn't look like much at first. Just three million books, CDs, toys, and house wares in a building a quarter-mile long by 200 yards wide. But here's where the Bezos commitment to numbers and technology pays off: The place is completely computerized. Amazon's warehouses are so high tech that...
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...Assignment 1: Consensual Relationship Agreements Case Study Due Week 3 and worth 100 points Read the Consensual Relationship Agreements case study located in Chapter 2. In Questions 1 and 2, focus on non-ethical ramifications (save any discussion of ethics for Question 3). Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you: • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. On the Written Assignment, "Consensual Relationship Agreements"; it's due this week Sunday, October 28th, by 11:59PM. Remember also to be sure to proofread your paper thoroughly because for each typographical mistake, incomplete sentence, or non-response to the assignment questions, points will be deducted. In addition, APA formatting has to be used which certainly includes in-text citations and a Reference page; check the Resource Center for an example of APA guidelines. Finally, once the paper is submitted, that will represent the final grade for the assignment; there are no-resubmissions allowed. Organizational Behavior Perceptions & Attributes by Tara Duggan, Demand Media http://smallbusiness...
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