References

Bernard Scudder (translator). (2005). Egil’s Saga. Introduction by Svanhildur Oskarsdottir. Penguin Classic publishers.

Homer. (1999). The Iliad: Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN-13‎: ‎9780140275360.

Vergil. (1881). Aeneid. edited and translated by Frederick AHL with introduction by Elaine Fantham

This exam is open book and open notes. Notes can be cited by
indicating “Class notes” and giving the date. Internal citation for
the books and play we have read is fine. I do not want any outside
sources referred to in answering this exam.

Textual analysis: for each of the following, please do a careful
analysis of the passages in approximately 200-250 words. While you
may use the larger setting of the stories to contextualize your
findings, please focus on the passages for most of your work. How are
similar topics treated in different works? What can we learn about
what each culture values by these comparisons? [2 x 20 for 40 points]
These two:

Andromache speaking:

The Achaean army heard about my ways and that is what destroyed me:
now the son of Achilles wants to take me for his wife. I’ll be a
slave to my family’s murderers. If I push my beloved Hector to one
side and open up my mind to my present spouse then I will seem
unfaithful to the dead; but if I hate the man, then I’ll be detested
by my own master. Well, they say one night is all it takes to ease a
woman’s loathing for a man’s bed. I cannot stand a woman who finds a
new bed, loves another man, forgetting all about her former husband.

Narrator in Egil:

Bjorn took Thora away and carried her back home to Aurland. They were
there for the winter and Bjorn wanted to hold a wedding ceremony. His
father Brynjolf disapproved of what Bjorn had done and regarded it as
a disgrace to his long friendship with Thorir. “Rather than your
marrying Thora here in my house without the permission of her brother
Thorir,” Brynjolf said to Bjorn, “she will be treated exactly as if
she were my own daughter and your sister.”

And also these two:

Vergil, from Book 3:

And I tried to uproot green wood from its groundsoil, eager to cover
my altars with living and leaf-covered branches. Just as I snapped
the first shrub from its roots to extract it, I noticed something that
made me bristle with fear, and which makes an astounding story; for
dark blood started to ooze, dripping downwards in large drops,
staining the soil with its putrid gore. A shudder of ice-cold Horror
shivered my limbs. And my blood froze, clotted in terror. Still, I
persisted, and tried once again to extract a reluctant Shaft from
another bush, seeking the latent cause of the problem. Dark blood
flowed from the bark of this second tree, in the same way… ‘After I’d
tackled a third group of shafts, and with even more effort, Wrestling,
down on my knees, with the sand that resisted my struggles— Now—should
I speak or be silent?—a moan that would drive you to heartbreak Rose
to my ears from the depths of the mound; a voice drifted on breezes.
“Why do you mutilate me? I have suffered, Aeneas, I’m buried! Spare me,
and spare your own righteous hands from a crime. I’m a Trojan, not
some bizarre plant’s shoot dripping ghastly blood; and you know me.”

Also Vergil, from Book 2:

Then, something greater was cast in our hapless way, something far
more frightful. It startled and muddled our minds. We could not have
foreseen it. Neptune’s priest, Laocoön, chosen by lot for this honour,
stood sacrificing a victim, a monstrous bull, at the altars. Look!
Across tranquil depths, out of Tenedos, writhing and coiling, Big orbs
swishing a course, twin serpents—I shudder, recalling— Slither the
sea’s face, stretch for the shore in their parallel lunges. Now, amid
surf, chests standing erect, crests mane-like, in aspect Blood-red, up
they surge on the swell, bodies skimming the water, spiraling
measureless tails in whiplash whirls of propulsion. Foaming brine
crashes noise. In a trice they have reached the enclosure. Flickering,
viperous tongues lick mouths spitting sibilant hisses, eyes blaze,
reddened with fire and with blood in a sanguine suffusion. Anguished
and pale at the sight, we scatter; they form into columns, Seeking
Laocoön. First, each serpent entwines his two children’s tiny bodies
in coils of embrace and, poor little fellows, feasts upon limbs that
its jaws just crunch and ingest at a single gulp.

Essays: please choose two of the following to write 250-350 words on
each. Cite the texts often to back up your claims. [2 x 30 for 60
points]

Please examine the roles of Helen in Xena “Beware Greeks Bearing
Gifts” and the Trojan Women. Both are more “feminist” than Helen is
depicted in Homer certainly, but to what degree do you think this is
the case? How is Helen’s relationship with Menelaus in each? How is
her relationship to other women?
There are numerous depictions of children and childhood in the Trojan
Women and in Egil’s Saga. How do they compare? What do we learn about
the place of parenthood? How do their differences display the values
of each culture?
The role of loss (in any sense-people, countries, reputation) is
prevalent in both Egil’s Saga and in the Aeneid. What kinds of loss
are most strongly felt in each story? How do the characters cope with
their losses? What is the most devastating thing to lose in each
epic?

Company: Fiat

Competitors: Toyota and Volkswagen

My part : 6. Payout Policy: Describe the company and its two peer firms’ payout policies, including cash dividends and share repurchases, if applicable.1

• Explore the potential patterns in cash dividends over the most recent 5 years.
• Describe the company’s share repurchases.

7. Capital structure: Calculate leverage ratios and identify the credit ratings for the company and the two peer firms. Discuss the potential differences and similarities.

Instruction

Project Description

The purpose of this project is to apply class concepts and techniques on a real company while integrating the Bloomberg information technology system.

Assume the role of a consulting firm when preparing the report to be addressed to the management of the company. The report should be maximum 10 pages (single-spaced), not including any appendices. While you can use your creativity and judgment in deciding on the exact format, the report should look professional (you should feel comfortable presenting it to the CEO of the company!) and be based on the following steps:

1. Select the company that your group is interested in. a. This should be a publicly traded non-financial company with at least 3 years of trading history and 3 sets of annual financial statements, and with international activities (suppliers and customers). Avoid money losing companies and REITS. If in doubt about your company choice, please clear it with your instructors. b. Obtain the company’s three most recent Annual Reports. c. Identify 2 peer firms from the same industry.

2. Calculate the firm’s Free Cash Flow for the most recent 3 fiscal years. Then calculate the annual growth rates of these FCFs, and figure out the average annual growth rate.

3. Find the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) provided by Bloomberg for the company and its two peers. Identify the components of WACC calculation and report the information in a table. Compare the information across these three firms and provide some brief comments. The Company Peer Firm 1 Peer Firm 2 Comments WACC Cost of equity Cost of debt Cost of preferred stock Weights For each component, please provide some detailed information from Bloomberg

4. Assume that the average growth rate of FCF in part 2 will be the constant growth rate for the future (the constant “g”). Estimate the firm’s total value.

5. Provide some sensitivity analysis of your valuation results in part 4 (e.g. How can a change in “g” affect your results?).

6. Payout Policy: Describe the company and its two peer firms’ payout policies, including cash dividends and share repurchases, if applicable.1 a. Explore the potential patterns in cash dividends over the most recent 5 years. b. Describe the company’s share repurchases.

7. Capital structure: Calculate leverage ratios and identify the credit ratings for the company and the two peer firms. Discuss the potential differences and similarities.

8. Check whether the company has acquired any other companies over the most recent 3 years. a. If yes, please describe the M&A deal (price paid, method of payment, stock market response, performance after acquisition, horizontal/vertical/conglomerate acquisition, etc.) b. If no, please briefly discuss the company’s business, strategy, or industry. Try to understand why the firm did not engage in M&As

9. Currency risk and Risk Management: Please identify your company’s main market (with the biggest share of customers). To accelerate your growth, you decide to manufacture directly in that country (DFI). The project will cost $400Mil and you plan to borrow 60% of the amount through a 20-year bond issue. By the time you issue the bonds, the market rate will increase by 2% and the Canadian dollar will depreciate by 5%. a. What kind of risk is the company exposed to? b. What is the strategy would you propose to the company to hedge itself against those risks? c. How much will it cost for each strategy if you need to act on July 19th, 2017.

In the last few years, Airbnb has become an increasingly popular option for travelers and homeowners. For those not familiar with the business model, Airbnb is a company that, for a fee, matches up short term renters with property owners. On the website, prospective customers can look at homes or apartments in a particular area, see the terms and amenities and contract for a particular amount of time, usually a few days or weeks. Home or apartment owners can screen prospective renters and set particular terms for the rental. In the last year, certain cities and/or areas have banned these transactions and claim that the Airbnb hosts are in actuality running “illegal hotels” not subject to the usual hotel health and safety regulations. Home owners are countering that they have the right to rent out the property they own.

How do you think the various theorists (utilitarian, libertarian, Rawls) would view this ban?

Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you explain the process for conducting and closing procurements.

Include the following:

• Outline and explain high-level process steps for conducting project procurements.
• Outline and explain contract administration policies and procedures.
• Describe tools and techniques for the contract administration process, including the following:

• Contract change control process
• Procurement performance reviews
• Inspections and audits
• Performance reporting
• Payment process (n/30, n/60, and so forth)
• Records management system (RMS)
• Describe conflict resolution techniques used while managing contractual relationships.
• Outline steps to be taken to close out project procurements.
• Explain the importance of closing project procurements and accounts.
• Examine external influences on the procurement and risk management process.
• Analyze the relationship between the risk response plan and the external influences.

Week 1 Structured Assignment – Business Continuity Policy Statement

You have been hired as a consultant to design BCP for SanGrafix, a video and PC game design company. SanGrafix’s newest game has become a hot seller, and the company anticipates rapid growth. It’s moving into a new facility and will be installing a new network. Because competition is fierce in the game industry, SanGrafix wants to be fully secured, documented, and maintained while providing high availability, scalability, and performance.

Based on your current technology and information security knowledge, for this project you will design a BCP based off of the company profile below:
A. Primary location in San Francisco, CA
B. Secondary location/hot site in Sunnyvale, CA
C. Capable of supporting 220 users in these departments: Accounting and Payroll, 16; Research and Development, 48; Sales and Marketing, 40; Order Processing, Shipping, and Receiving, 36; secretarial and office management staff, 20; upper management (including the president, vice president, and general manager), 10; Customer Relations and Support, 30; Technology Support, 20.
D. Full OC3 Internet connection

First step is to issue a clear policy statement on the Business Continuity Plan. At a minimum, this statement should contain the following instructions:

• The organization should develop a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan.
• A formal risk assessment should be undertaken in order to determine the requirements for the Business Continuity Plan.
• The Business Continuity Plan should cover all essential and critical business activities.
• The Business Continuity Plan should be periodically tested in a simulated environment to ensure that it can be implemented in emergency situations and that the management and staff understand how it is to be executed.
• All staff must be made aware of the Business Continuity Plan and their own respective roles.
• The Business Continuity Plan is to be kept up to date to take into account changing circumstances.