...To Build or Buy: Making decisions about Infrastructure and Applications Table of Contents Title Page1 Table of Contents2 Executive Summary3 The Asset Management Lifecycle and the Five Decisions4 Asset Lifecycle Management4 The Five Decisions4 Building versus Buying5 Building Software6 Building Pros & Cons6 Buying Software6 Buying Pros & Cons6 Making Decisions7 Ranking and Conclusion8 References10 Executive Summary While rapid advances in technology have opened an almost infinite number of possibilities for today’s businesses, organizations are typically challenged to exploit the latest trends to drive growth and market share. Our study found an important link between effective software development and the ability to successfully capitalize on today’s emerging technologies for competitive advantage. Advances in technology are growing rapidly and organizations are constantly trying to find ways stay ahead in the market and make profits. Organizations are now challenged to either buy off-the-shelf software or build customized software for their company in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Each choice yields its own pros and cons so there is no automatically correct decision. The choice that fits best lies in the goals of the company. In order to decide what is best for your company, the CIO needs to understand what it means to buy and what it means to build. Buying software ensures that the product has been tested and used by others. Therefore...
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...Kudryavtsev2 and Shlomit Hon-Snir3 Abstract Investors use varies tools in the investment process. Some use technical or fundamental analysis, or both in that process. The aim of the following survey research is first, to examine differences between professional portfolio managers to amateur investors in their approach towards technical and fundamental analysis. Second, we want to study the difference of use of fundamental and technical tools in the buying versus selling stocks. We used online survey in one of the leading business portals in addition to asking professional investors in a leading investment house in Israel. Our results show no significant difference between professional and non-professional investors in terms of how frequently they use fundamental and technical investment tools. Both groups of investors use more frequently fundamental tools than technical when they make buy/sell decisions. We also found that non-professional investors use more fundamental tools such as "analysts' recommendations" when they buy stocks and more technical tools such as "support and resistance lines" when they sell stocks. Moreover, our study Economics and Management Department, The Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel, Emek Yezreel 19300, Israel, e-mail: gilc@yvc.ac.il 2 Economics and Management Department, The Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel, Emek Yezreel 19300, Israel, e-mail: Kudryavtsev: andreyk@yvc...
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...Best Buy Case Abstract In this case study of Best Buy in Crisis, by John Wells and Galen Danskin, Best Buy Company (which will subsequently be referred to as “Best Buy” or “BB”) is shown to be in a period of financial turmoil. Best Buy focused on consumer electronics in 1983 and experienced growth along the way, adapting its product offering and changing its big-box sales style, however, with changes in technology and the retail environment itself, Best Buy is experiencing a stagnation in sales. This report will review the case study and tactics of Best Buy, and in particular, the strengths of this electronics retailer as well as the threats that have emerged that endanger its financial well-being. From the information provided in this case, defensive and offensive plans of action will be suggested and analyzed in order for Best Buy to remain competitive in this industry. By utilizing both types of these recommendations, Best Buy will be able to lower its expenses, increase its revenues, and maintain its current market share as well as attracting new customers in order to achieve the growth the firm once saw. Issue at Hand In a changing electronics retail environment, how can Best Buy survive financially and remain profitable? Internal Recommendations One aspect of BB’s business that is doing well is the creation of Best Buy Mobile and the ability of consumers to choose between multiple carriers at a single location with an even lower priced subsidized...
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...Contents Lease Vs. Buy Laid in Excel Spreadsheet1 Advantages to Lease Vs. Buy 2 Advantages of Using a Longer Time Table Rather Than Shorter 3 Real Estate Depreciation 4 Works Cited………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….5 Excel Spreadsheet Showing Table and Work. Advantages of Lease Vs. Buy The decision to lease or buy equipment or real estate is very important one. One of the most obvious draw backs to leasing versus buying is that, at the end of the lease, the organization does not own the equipment or real estate. The primary advantage to leasing is that it conserves cash for other business operations. Additionally, leasing allows the organization to expense some of the maintanence costs and provides superior tax benefits. Leasing allows for the organization to more efficiently keep up with technology advantages. In reference to real estate, the lease offers the option to change locations if necessary. Moreover, many of the maintenance costs fall on the owner and not the leaser. (Park, 2011) Advantages of Using a Longer Time Table Rather Than Shorter Particularly with real estate investments, a longer period than the four years used in this scenario might prove to be more accurate. While the real estate market is not particularly good now, a change in that area might make the initial investment actually have returns. The cyclical nature of this particular market may contribute to a more favorable outcome in the lease versus buy examination....
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...the power of their people. Corporate Vision “People, technology, and the pursuit of happiness.” The people aspect is in reference to the employees creating relationships with their customers. The technology part of the vision is in reference to tying the content such as services etc, to the products sold, which in turn connects the world. The pursuit of happiness portion is to make happy employees, which in turn will make happy customers with the service they receive. Strategy Best Buy uses a customer-centric strategy, which means that they essentially look at their business through what the customer needs versus what the producer does. This strategy has also helped Best Buy stay afloat because they understand the solution aspect for their customers to their products that they purchase. Another strategy Best Buy is using is organic growth, this means that they are taking their customer base that currently exists and versus expanding to gain more customers, they are working with their loyal customers to get them to spend more. Strategic Initiatives One of the major initiatives Best Buy is taking for their strategies is to use the idea of organic growth. They are doing this by adding in more services for products that they sell, like cameras and laptops-which tend to be the brunt of accidental damage, and turning their services into a happier experience for their customer by offering an accidental replacement plan. This allows their current customer to spend a little...
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...Lease Versus Purchase Paper Merita Likins FIN/370 March 9, 2015 Kimber Rueff Lease Versus Purchase Paper The choice to lease or buy is tricky for both the individual and the corporation. One must figure out which is cheaper; leasing or purchasing by borrowing money. Many things must be taken into consideration when determining the lease or buy options. One must consider taxes, depreciation, lease payment amounts, repayment time of the interest and principle, and residual asset value. Based upon these factors one can see by comparison which is the better choice, depending on the situation. An example of this is retailers that rent household items to consumers. It seems like an easy way to have those home furnishings you need without having to pay all that money outright. These firms will rent televisions or washers and dryers to you for a weekly fee. Once you do the math you can see that by renting these items you end up paying more than the present value or future value of the item. For what you pay in interest you may have been able to buy both the television and washer and dryer. On the other hand, if you borrow the money you may end up paying a higher interest rate than renting. To make any informed decision on whether to rent or buy, you must review all the details and do the math. Reference Mayo, H. B. (2012). Basic Finance: An Introduction to Institutions, Investments, and Management (10th ed.). Mason, OH:...
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...Estate Foreclosures » Why a Lot of People Prefer to Rent Than to Buy a House Why a Lot of People Prefer to Rent Than to Buy a House Posted on July 12, 2010 Filed Under Foreclosures | Leave a Comment People prefer to rent than to buy a house. The number of people that are very much concern about owning a home hasn’t doubled up until now, this is primarily because so many people are suffering from financial hardships. A lot of real estate owner these days will tell you that it isn’t the right time to buy a house because a lot of people are suffering foreclosure trauma. This is also the same reason why there are people who prefer to rent a house than to buy one too. In so many instances, it will be best if you will know some good advices because there are so many situations that just don’t go coherent lately because of the financial crisis going on. It is best for you to know some of the most reliable reasons why a lot of people prefer to rent than to buy a house. Here are some of them: Interest rate –a lot of people know that they cannot pay for the houses they will acquire primarily because their credit standing won’t allow them to do that too. Having a secured loan is also a decent thing to do these days. A lot of times, your mortgage broker cannot give you the right type of package you need because they are not available. In this case, you need to delay the purchases you will make to be able to make sure that your money will be worthy. Remember that it is so hard...
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...Annotated Bibliography Tesa S. Malone EN 116: Speech Herzing University The article in Renting Versus Buying a Home, states that when considering buying a home, determining the annual rent to the purchase price ratio is very important. As far as taxes go when becoming a homeowner mortgage interest and property tax can be deducted from your taxes. Although the author is anonymous, this source is credible because it is recent and scholarly. (Renting versus buying a home. (2015)....
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...Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard 5. Types of Financial Intermediaries Depository Institutions (Banks) Contractual Savings Institutions Investment Intermediaries This chapter provides an overview of the financial system in the US economy by describing the various types of financial markets, financial instruments, and financial institutions or intermediaries that exist. 1 The chapter begins with a general statement that clarifies what function financial markets and financial intermediaries have in the economy as a whole. It then deals more specifically with: The structure of financial markets and the ways in which different types of financial markets can be distinguished. Here, it discusses debt versus equity markets, primary versus secondary markets, exchanges versus over-the-counter markets, and money versus capital markets. The various types of financial instruments, including both money market instruments and capital market instruments. The special role played by financial intermediaries in the economy. Here, it describes how financial intermediaries take advantage of economies of scale to reduce transaction costs, how financial institutions assist in the process of risk sharing and diversification, and how financial institutions overcome the problems of adverse...
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...Carpooling can save a person quite a bit of money when they only have to pitch in for gas rather than filling their own tank. Buying generic versus name brand can also save a lot of money. This will help anyone to save money without taking away to many things that you like to do in life. Ways to Save Money There are hundreds of ways to save money. Many people just purchase what is easy and convenient instead of what will save them money in the long run. Saving money in some ways can benefit you in other ways. This can help you to plan family vacations or to get that one thing that you have wanted for a very long time. Some of the ways to save money include making food at home versus eating out, using alternate means of transportation to save on gas expenses, and making a list of items you need at the grocery store to ensure that you are not buying unnecessary items. When eating out, people spend more money than they would by buying items at a grocery store to make food at home. If you feel that eating out is much easier to do in your busy life, you should consider other dinner ideas that can take less than 30 minutes to make. This will help to ensure that you are saving money instead of spending from $10 to $30 a night eating out for dinner. Some of the easy dinner ideas are spaghetti, mac-n-cheese (which you can add ingredients to it to make it tastier), and hamburgers. Although these ideas may not be the...
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...Selection and Moral Hazard 5. Types of Financial Intermediaries Depository Institutions (Banks) Contractual Savings Institutions Investment Intermediaries This chapter provides an overview of the financial system in the US economy by describing the various types of financial markets, financial instruments, and financial institutions or intermediaries that exist. 1 The chapter begins with a general statement that clarifies what function financial markets and financial intermediaries have in the economy as a whole. It then deals more specifically with: The structure of financial markets and the ways in which different types of financial markets can be distinguished. Here, it discusses debt versus equity markets, primary versus secondary markets, exchanges versus over-the-counter markets, and money versus capital markets. The various types of financial instruments, including both money market instruments and capital market instruments. The special role played by financial intermediaries in the economy. Here, it describes how financial intermediaries take advantage of economies of scale to reduce transaction costs, how financial institutions assist in the process of risk sharing and diversification, and how financial institutions overcome the problems of...
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...Home Ownership Versus Renting an Apartment COM/156 9-26-2010 Axia College of University of Phoenix Home Ownership versus Renting an Apartment The American dream for most people today, is to own his or her own home; even with the market having a downturn because of the heavy use of variable-rate mortgage loans. With house ownership the responsibilities are greater because the owner is responsible for all repairs and maintenance. This means that it is important to have savings established to be able to cover such situations as they arise. The ability to own a home for younger families that are just starting out is not always possible. So renting an apartment is a way to get settled, and to work toward setting aside the needed financial resources to purchase a house. For people who are working for a short time in an area renting is a better option, because they do not have to worry about maintenance costs as well as the steps of selling a house, the closing costs, and paperwork involved. This leads to the simple fact that in the market today owning a house is better than renting an apartment. There are several benefits to owning a house that have long-term advantages over renting an apartment. When a house is still under a mortgage the interest that is accrued is tax deductible with annual income taxes, this helps to put aside much needed income to provide for any unexpected maintenance costs. A responsible home owner should already have an escrow account in place...
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...Lease versus Purchase FIN/370 March 30, 2015 Russel Riggs Lease versus Purchase Buy or lease equipment? This question is based and depends on the business “status”, which means that depends on the business capital budget, projections in short/long-term and the necessity of the equipment. Leasing business equipment and tools preserves capital and provide flexibility but may cost you more in the long run, (“NOLO”, 2014). On the other hand, buying equipment means ownerships and tax breaks make buying businesses equipment appealing, but high initial cost mean this option is not for everyone, (“NOLO”, 2014). At the moment to grow a business it will need tools in order to function properly and generate good profits, thus the business must analyze the initial investment that is required, the tax rate and the equipment’s time period of use to do not affect the business finance founds. May the business lease if it is necessary to change constantly the equipment or may the business buy the equipment because it will be until it gets old. Further in this essay we will explain different point of view with its respective example to consider whether to buy or lease. Both leasing and purchasing products has its place, but it is important to determine which path to take for each situation. A lease “permits the firm (lessee) to use the asset without acquiring title, which is retained by the owner (the lessor).”(Titman, Keown & Martin, 2014) Then in order to use the asset the lessee...
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...Running head: ASSIGNMENT # 1: MAKE OR BUY METHODS Assignment #:1 Make or Buy Methods by Inas Ellaham PMAN 641 – Project Procurement Management Professor Michael Hagerman University of Maryland University College June 12, 2011 Table of Contents Introduction 3 “Make” or “Buy” Analysis 4 Conclusion 7 References 9 Assignment #1: Make or Buy Methods Introduction According to the PMBOK (2008, p. 321), “a make-or-buy” analysis is a general management technique used to determine whether particular work can best be accomplished by the project team or must be purchased from outside sources.” A number of factors could affect the make-or-buy decisions such as budget, scope, or time constraints; therefore, when making a decision project managers weigh the advantages and disadvantages of make versus buy options and their impacts on the project costs and project master plan date. This paper examines and assesses the “Make or Buy” methods by analyzing it because project managers rely on it when deciding as to whether to “buy or make”. The first section of the research paper will present a brief description of these methods, followed by an analysis, which will include the advantages and disadvantages of make versus buy by providing reasons and examples against each one of these 2 options. Finally, based on the analysis and the findings demonstrated and revealed in this paper, I will highlight in my conclusion key limitations and constraints...
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...this the manager must identify and make long-term investments which produce a return equal to greater than the investments required rate of return. Thus, the purpose of this topic is to provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to identify, analyze and make capital or long-term investments (also known as Capital Budgeting) which are equal to or greater than the investments required rate of return. The Focus of this Topic The focus of this topic is for you to learn how to: 1. predict future cash flows from “ownership” investments, 2. calculate the present value of those cash flows, 3. compare the present value to the current purchase price of that investment, and 4. make an investment decision which attempts to maximize owner wealth. * While you can learn the steps in the process, it is important to remember that predicting future cash flows from ownership investments is difficult at best and depends on your ability to make reasonable and accurate assumptions about the future and how it will affect those cash flows. While numbers don’t “lie,” assumptions may, so keep in mind that your numbers are based your the accuracy of your underlying assumptions. * Ultimately, your job is to use your experience and judgment to make good assumptions about the investment’s future cash flows, and based on the assumptions and analysis, develop a course of action that allows you to maximize owner wealth. Independent Versus Mutually Exclusive Investments ...
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