Data Mining Essays - Business Intelligence, Data Management

Data Mining In today's business world, information about the customer is a necessity for a businesses trying to maximize its profits. A new, and important, tool in gaining this knowledge is Data Mining. Data Mining is a set of automated procedures used to find previously unknown patterns and relationships in data. These patterns and relationships, once extracted, can be used to make valid predictions about the behavior of the customer. Data Mining is generally used for four main tasks: (1) to improve the process of making new customers and retaining customers; (2) to reduce fraud; (3) to identify internal wastefulness and deal with that wastefulness in operations, and (4) to chart unexplored areas of the internet (Cavoukian). The fulfillment of these tasks can be enhanced if appropriate data has been collected and if that data is stored in a data warehouse. This makes it much easier and more efficient to run queries over data that originally came from different sources. When data about an organization's practices is easier to access, it becomes more economical to mine. ?Without the pool of validated and scrubbed data that a data warehouse provides, the data mining process requires considerable additional effort to pre-process the data? (SAS Institute). There are several different types of models and algorithms used to ?mine? the data. These include, but are not limited to, neural networks, decision trees, rule induction, boosting, and genetic algorithms. Data Mining is largely, if not entirely used for business purposes. The highest users of data mining include banking, financial, and telecommunications industries (Two Crows). Data mining will have a different effect on different industries in the business world. The key to succeeding in this rapidly changing industry is to understand the customer, or the market that the customer represents. Through data mining, companies can know what their customers have done in the past and what they will do in the future. With this information, the companies will be in ideal positions to make business decisions based on the information they have gained from the data mining process. Data Mining Essays - Business Intelligence, Data Management Data Mining In today's business world, information about the customer is a necessity for a businesses trying to maximize its profits. A new, and important, tool in gaining this knowledge is Data Mining. Data Mining is a set of automated procedures used to find previously unknown patterns and relationships in data. These patterns and relationships, once extracted, can be used to make valid predictions about the behavior of the customer. Data Mining is generally used for four main tasks: (1) to improve the process of making new customers and retaining customers; (2) to reduce fraud; (3) to identify internal wastefulness and deal with that wastefulness in operations, and (4) to chart unexplored areas of the internet (Cavoukian). The fulfillment of these tasks can be enhanced if appropriate data has been collected and if that data is stored in a data warehouse. This makes it much easier and more efficient to run queries over data that originally came from different sources. When data about an organization's practices is easier to access, it becomes more economical to mine. ?Without the pool of validated and scrubbed data that a data warehouse provides, the data mining process requires considerable additional effort to pre-process the data? (SAS Institute). There are several different types of models and algorithms used to ?mine? the data. These include, but are not limited to, neural networks, decision trees, rule induction, boosting, and genetic algorithms. Data Mining is largely, if not entirely used for business purposes. The highest users of data mining include banking, financial, and telecommunications industries (Two Crows). Data mining will have a different effect on different industries in the business world. The key to succeeding in this rapidly changing industry is to understand the customer, or the market that the customer represents. Through data mining, companies can know what their customers have done in the past and what they will do in the future. With this information, the companies will be in ideal positions to make business decisions based on the information they have gained from the data mining process.

How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Study for a Test

How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Study for a Test Are you one of those people who have a difficult time sitting down to study for a test? Perhaps you get distracted and lose focus easily, or maybe you are just not the type of person who likes learning new information from a book, a lecture, or a presentation. Maybe the reason you dislike studying the way youve been taught to study- sitting in a chair with an open book, reviewing your notes- is because your predominant intelligence has nothing to do with words. The theory of multiple intelligences may just be your best friend when you go to study for a test if traditional study methods arent quite suiting you.   The Theory of Multiple Intelligences The theory of multiple intelligences was developed by Dr. Howard Gardner in 1983. He was a professor of education at Harvard University, and believed that traditional intelligence, where a persons I.Q. or intelligence quotient, did not account for the many brilliant ways in which people are smart. Albert Einstein once said, â€Å"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.†Ã‚   Instead of a the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to intelligence, Dr. Gardner stated that he believed there were eight different intelligences that covered the scope of the brilliance possible in men, women, and children. He believed that people have different intellectual abilities and are more adept in some areas than others. In general, people are able to process information in different ways, using different methods for different things. Here are the eight multiple intelligences according to his theory: Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence:  Word Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to analyze information and produce work that involves spoken and written language like speeches, books, and emails.  Logical-Mathematical Intelligence:  Number Reasoning Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to  develop equations and proofs, make calculations, and solve abstract problems that may or may not be related to numbers.Visual-Spatial Intelligence: Picture Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to understand maps and other types of graphical information like charts, tables, diagrams, and pictures.  Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: Body Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to  use his or her own body to solve problems, find solutions or create products.Musical Intelligence: Music Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to  create and make meaning of different types of sound.Interpersonal Intelligence: People Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to  recognize and understand other peoples moods, desires, motivations, and intentions. Intrapersonal Intelligence: Self Smart  This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to  recognize and understand their own moods, desires, motivations, and intentions.Naturalistic  Intelligence: Nature Smart This type of intelligence refers to a persons ability to identify and distinguish among different types of plants, animals, and weather formations found in the natural world. lt is important to note that you do not have one specific type of intelligence. Everyone has all eight types of intelligences although some types may show up stronger than others. For example, some people approach numbers warily, while others relish the idea of solving complex mathematical problems. Or, one person may quickly and easily learn lyrics and musical notes, but does not excel visually or spatially. Our aptitudes at each of the multiple intelligences can vary widely, but they are all present in each of us. Its important not to label ourselves, or students, as one type of learner with one predominant intelligence because  everyone  can benefit from learning in various ways.   Using the Theory of Multiple Intelligences to Study   When you prepare to study, whether that be for a midterm, a final exam, a chapter test or a standardized test like the ACT, SAT, GRE or even the MCAT, its important to tap into your  many  different intelligences as you take out your notes, study guide or test prep book. Why? Using a variety of methods to take information from the page to your brain can help you remember the info better and longer. Here are a few ways to use several of your multiple intelligences to do just that Tap Into Your Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence With These Study Tricks Write a letter to another person, explaining the mathematical theory youve just learned.Read your notes aloud while studying for your science chapter test.Ask someone to quiz you after youve read through the study guide for your English literature quiz.Quiz via text: text a question to your study partner and read his or her response.Download a SAT app that quizzes you daily.  Record yourself reading your Spanish notes and then listen to your recording in the car on the way to school.   Tap Into Your Logical-Mathematical Intelligence With These Study Tricks Reorganize your notes from Calculus class using an outline method like the Cornell note-taking system.  Compare and contrast different ideas (North vs.South in the Civil War) with one another.  List information into particular categories as you read through your notes. For instance, if youre studying grammar, all parts of speech go in one category while all punctuation rules go in another.  Predict outcomes that could have happened based on the material youve learned. (What would have happened had Hitler never risen to power?)Figure out what was happening in a different part of the world at the same time as what youre studying. (What was happening in Europe during the rise of Genghis Khan?)Prove or disprove a theory based on information youve learned throughout the chapter or semester. Tap Into Your Visual-Spatial Intelligence With These  Study Tricks Break down information from the text into tables, charts, or graphs.Draw a small picture next to each item in a list you need to remember. This is helpful when you have to remember lists of names, because you can  draw a likeness next to each person.Use highlighters or special symbols related to similar ideas in the text. For instance, anything related to Plains Native Americans gets highlighted yellow, and anything related to Northeast Woodlands Native Americans gets highlighted blue, etc.Rewrite your notes using an app that allows you to add pictures.  Ask your teacher if you can take pictures of the science experiment as you go so you remember what happened.   Tap Into Your Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence With These  Study Tricks Act out a scene from a play or do the extra science experiment in the back of the chapter.Rewrite your  lecture notes with pencil instead of typing them out. The physical act of writing will help you remember more.As you study, do a physical activity. Shoot hoops while someone quizzes you. Or, jump rope.  Use manipulatives to solve math problems whenever possible.  Build or craft models of items you need to remember or visit physical spaces to cement the idea in your head. Youll remember the bones of the body much better if you touch each part of your body as you learn them, for instance.   Tap Into Your Musical Intelligence With These  Study Tricks Set a long list or chart to a favorite tune. For example, if you have to learn the periodic table of elements, try setting the names of the elements to The Wheels on the Bus or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.If you have particularly tough words to remember, try saying their names with different pitches and volumes.  Have a long list of poets to remember? Assign a noise (a clap, a wrinkled paper, a stomp) to each.  Play lyric-free music when you study so the lyrics dont compete for brain space.   Multiple Intelligences Vs. Learning Style The theory that you have many ways of being intelligent is different from Neil Flemings VAK theory of learning styles. Fleming states that there were three (or four, depending on which theory is used) dominant learning styles: Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic. Check out this learning styles quiz to see which one of those learning styles you tend to use most!

Intrigue at the Immune Synapse Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intrigue at the Immune Synapse - Assignment Example This also allows the persistence of infectious organisms inside cells, leading to chronic infections. The development of high-resolution microscopy techniques and computer enhancement of previously used imaging methods to create three-dimensional images has allowed visualization and observation of immune synapses. 5. The author states, ‘virtually all the surface (cytoplasmic membrane) proteins involved in immune cells’ recognition of disease (pathogens) have been identified and named.† If this is true, then why is the immune synapse such a profound discovery? Although the proteins involved have been identified and named, their roles and how they bring about communication between immune cells has not been entirely discovered. These discoveries, including that on the immune synapse, can be made by observing or ‘just watching’ the cells and proteins at work. The team of Charles A. Janeway, Jr., at Yale University performed the following experiment in 1988: they fitted T cells tightly into the pores of a membrane, which was then immersed in a solution. A stimulant to activate T cells was added to the solution on only 1 side of the membrane. They then detected proteins secreted by activated T cells in the solution containing the stimulant, but the proteins were absent in the stimulant-free solution on the other side of the membrane. This experiment demonstrated the ability of immune cells to secrete proteins after activation specifically in the direction of the stimulant. The neuronal and immune synapses are similar as they both involve communication and signal transduction between two cells through the interaction and activity of specific proteins. Neuronal and immune synapses also seem to share some common proteins, such as the Agrin protein and the Neuropilin-1 receptor. The synapse structure of both cell types forms a bull’s-eye pattern. However, they have differences too. Neuronal

Weekly Journal #8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Journal #8 - Essay Example Doing contrary is likely to cause confusion and lack of focus, which may lead to failure or stalling of a therapy. Additional point collectible from the readings is that family therapy approaches can apply in the treatment of other psychological and behavioral malfunctions such as substance abuse, childhood depression, eating disorder, internalizing disorder, childhood depression and childhood anxiety. As a qualified counselor, one needs to accept and value concepts of effective integration as presented in the readings. Actually, an experienced counselor should never combine many approaches to family therapy in their entirety. Instead, one should select and borrow important concepts from other models, which are relevant and capable of addressing challenges and differences encountered at different levels of therapy. In addition, an experienced counselor need to apply more of specially designed integrative model when doing therapy. This can help in avoiding confusion and making clients understand complexity of stages and perhaps reasons for changing in costs of therapy. The concept of preferred view can also help experienced counselors identify problems and dysfunctional relationship quickly (Nichols, 2013). The readings of the week also contain many insights that can be vital to a family therapist. One of the insights is that a therapist can use family therapy approaches to treat other behavioral problems such as childhood depression, childhood anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders among others. Another insight is that therapeutic techniques are dynamic and multidimensional as concepts of one technique can help in resolving problems encountered during application of another technique (Nichols, 2013). Prior to the week’s readings, one would be thinking that integration of family therapy approaches is wrong and, professionally,

Marketing Analysis of GOD Essay Example for Free

Marketing Analysis of GOD Essay Company Description: GOD is now a fast-growing furniture and furnishings company brand in Hong Kong. They describe them as More Than Just a Furniture Store. GOD is the phonetic sound of the Cantonese slang to live better which a basic human desire all around the world. The founder of GOD Douglas Young and Benjamin Lau opened the first GOD store at Ap Lei Chau in 1996. Within 2 years, two more shops opened in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui respectively. In 2001, GOD has opened a 20,000 sq. ft. flagship store in Causeway Bay. The mission of GOD has always been to define a new Hong Kong identity by exploring age-old oriental traditions and updating them with modern consumers in mind, their demonstrations of the techniques and wisdom of past generations in the east still has a place in the future world. Most of the furniture of GOD is made in China to their stringent standards of quality and workmanship. Their products range from furniture, bathware, kitchenware to even lighting and carpets. Among these various products, furniture occupies the highest proportion of sales revenues. What makes GOD different from other convectional furniture and furnishing company is that all of their furniture is designed by local designers. The company is strongly against todays mass produced and soulless products. The main theme of their furniture is creative, comfortable, and multifunctional. In order to surprise their customers, GOD constantly turns out new items on a weekly basis. Because the marketing strategy in GOD is so clear that make the company become one of the few furniture companies that can still make a profit, and even expand their business, in the time of economy downturn in HK these years. Situation Analysis: 1. SWOT Analysis: Internally, GOD has a management team with designing knowledge which could perfectly apply to the daily management in the company. Small size of management team also benefits the company with the efficient division of  labor. Despite the fact of having numerous competitors with lower price, G.O.D. is still taking the leading role in the industry with its unique offerings of the oriental tradition Asian design in products, as well as the extraordinary decoration in each branch . G.OD is expanding its market share by connecting to other different industries, so as to attract more customers from different aspects. The diversification of production and also the custom made strategy contribute to the company as it prevent excess inventory. Moreover, its own RD team takes a big responsibility in fulfilling the demand of the customers in having a better quality. Other than all those favorable circumstances, G.OD is still encountering certain weaknesses. Due to the short history of establishment, G.O.D. is lack of experience and specialization. Its relatively high price and narrow choice of products has also prevented the visit and purchase of customers. Also, due to the limited capital inflow in the company, GOD is still not able to develop a large RD team; it also regards advertisement as a big burden for the company. Regardless of the success of the manufacturing approach, it, on the other hand, has lead to the high cost of production as it could not achieve the economy of scale. Favorable external factors include the increasing upscale market which people are more concerned about quality of life, there are only few and not well-established local competitors, and as the economic is recovering, there are more opportunities. Ergonomics is one of the most popular topics in furniture industry because the customers perceived value can be raised by introducing it. Unfavorable external factors include the taste of customers which people like international culture more, like Japan. In addition, the favorable investment condition attracts competitor from foreign countries. 2. Industry analysis: The furniture and furnishing industry has a long history in Hong Kong. It includes the production of household, office and furniture, as well as  bedding and parts of furniture. There are 249 furniture manufacturers in Hong Kong, employing more than 704 people as at Sep 2002. Around 90% of them are small companies engaging less than 10 people . Although it is not the major industry in the local market, the competition is very keen. In terms of market segmentation, the current furniture industry in Hong Kong is generally divided into three main categories: high-end, middle-end and lower-end market. However, in the past, the craft-based, labor-intensive furniture industry was one of the oldest industries in Hong Kong. It was developed to meet local demands. At that time, the furniture industry was dominated by a large number of small firms and could be divided into three major sectors, namely, wooden furniture, rattan furniture and metal furniture . After the economic crisis in 1998, many small companies went bankrupt and customers incentive on buying furniture was lower. To maintain their competitive power, many large companies strive to reduce their costs and increase their efficiency. Some relocate their manufacturing operations to other areas with lower operation costs like Mainland China. Foreign manufacturers are taking steps to strengthen their domestic production through production specialization. Hong Kongs furniture makers also start to establish their own brands and some concept stores in order to develop their unique product lines to differentiate their firms from the others. Companies like GOD and Franc Franc are the most apparent examples which produce products with Hong Kong local characteristics and Japanese culture respectively. Recently, due to the economic recovery and the change of customer trend, people are going to be responsive to the new trends and design of furniture. Thus, the industry is going to produce products to cater the needs of Hong Kong people. Also, many furniture manufacturers become more careful about the choice of raw materials to meet international standards, such as compliance with legal or other environmental requirements in their target markets. Because of the limited living space in Hong Kong, the industry produces the furniture which is highly practical and multi- functional. Moreover, most of them embrace innovative designs and combinations of furnishings which allow them to save home spaces and provide a sense of style and modernism. To cater the growing trend and design of furniture which correspond to their taste and lifestyle, the industry produces DIY furniture which can let consumers to make their unique furniture with their own styles. Moreover, most of them are made of the environmental friendly materials for production. 3. Competitor Analysis: Competitors in relevant market: There are three main competitors of GOD in Hong Kong, accordingly Franc Franc, IKEA and PRICERITE. Their target market segments do not necessarily the same but do have some overlapping as they both target on the market segments of middle-income level families. Further, the mission of their competitors also stress on developing a new concept of life style to Hong Kong people. Franc Francs company would invest over 30 million dollars in Hong Kong and expect there will be 36 million HK dollars gross profit in the first year. There will also be 2 or 3 new branches opened in the next few years. They will be mainly located in some big shopping malls. IKEA have 4 branches in Hong Kong mainly located near big housing town. IKEA is the most well known furniture company in Hong Kong due to the massive advertising programs. The concepts of their design are simple, multi-functional and sustainable. They also have a successful and well-developed customer service system which helps them to develop the loyalty of their customers. PRICERITEs target group mainly focuses on lower income families. They  provide a relatively low price to their customers, thus helping them to develop a low cost, comfortable and multifunctional living environment. They have over 45 branches in Hong Kong so as consumers can easily find a PRICERITE nearby. Comparative advantages: 1. GODUniqueness of local culture In these years, many industries especially those expose frequently to young people like filmdom and musical industry, advocate local original design and innovation. This atmosphere makes young people create a good feeling to Hong Kong local products. Today, GOD is the unique furniture store with strong Hong Kong concept. What Hong Kong concept here means is Hong Kongs own culture and social atmosphere. GOD is a local brand and all of their exclusive designers are local. GOD claims their products have soul because their products can turn out local peoples opinion and attitude to lives. It can attract a group of Hong Kong new generation who like to show off their characters and tastes by their home furniture . 2. Franc FrancAdhere to Japanese-styled goods The trend in Japan always is a benchmark for the young people in Hong Kong. It is because the young people in Hong Kong think Japanese always stand on the tips of the trend. Thus, most of them are adherent to Japanese-styled goods. Many Japanese brands like Fancl and Sanrio have successfully developed their business in Hong Kong. Their successes are also based on this reason. Franc Franc is the sole furniture concept store with Japanese style in Hong Kong. This make it exclusively enjoys the adherent from Hong Kong young people in this market . 3. IKEACost Leadership To provide goods with high quality at relatively low prices, IKEA drives tough bargains with its suppliers in order to employ lowest cost suppliers  of raw and semi-finished goods from all over the world. IKEA Also, their products developers seek out manufacturers who can produce in the most cost-effective way and designers always work with solutions that result in a low price. This cost-focused supply chain model results in getting the goods with cheapest price and good quality.

Loves Executioner, by Irvin D. Yalom Essay -- Literary Analysis, Yalo

In the story, â€Å"Loves Executioner†, Yalom treats and old woman named â€Å"Thelma† that is overly obsessed with her a former therapist from ten years ago named Matthew. Yalom feeling though that he is drawn to the facets of her dilemma decides to do everything he can to empower Thelma move past the obsessions that had been wrecking havoc on her mental health. Although Thelma’s love obsession with her therapist, and her subjective experiences on life of what is preventing her from living in the present, Yalom attempts to treat a 70-year-old woman only to learn that being love executioner more complicated as he had anticipated. First and foremost are Yalom and Thelma’s first meeting. In beginning, Yalom is intrigued with her love obsession with Matthew and couldn’t understand why her former therapist that was considerably younger would even want to have sexual relations Thelma as he describes her as, â€Å"a shabby old woman† (Yalom, 2000). The possibly of helping her move past her obsession to ease her suffering, were the reasons why Yalom ultimately decides to treat her. I thought that though Yalom had good intentions from the start to treat her, I think that he was thrown off by her demands as she tells him right from the start, â€Å"Eight years ago I had a love affair with my therapist. Since then he has never left my mind. I almost killed myself once and I believe I will succeed the next time. You are my last hope.† (Yalom, 2000 p. 18) A person that has been seeing therapists for over twenty years and be stuck on an obsession for ten, I thought, was rather intimidating and I think that Yalom did the best he could to remain optimistic. If I had a patient like Thelma that told me that I was her last hope and if I could not help her she wi... ...ought that in some ways Yalom lost his patience, but he was on time constraints had more time to work with Thelma, therapy may have turned out different. This was defiantly one most confusing and intricate stories I have read in Yalom’s book and that the overall take home message I took from this was that, love and obsessions are hard to intellectualize and understand objectively as much as we would like to. Although what may be logically the best decision, love is not based on logic and that the only loves executioner cannot come from the suggestions of another person or therapist, but more from themselves and within. I think this quote states the story best, â€Å"Love and Psychotherapy are fundamentally incompatible. A good therapist fights darkness and seeks illumination, while romantic love is sustained by mystery and crumbles upon inspection† (Yalom, 2000 p. 17)

Understanding the Financial Statements

Submitted By:Salina Thapa Rana Magar (12077697)Sona Limbu (12078108)FINC20018 Managerial FinanceProfessor: Angelique McInnesCentral Queensland UniversityBrisbane Campus Term 1 201821st April 2018Table of ContentsQuestion No. 1: Understanding the Financial Statements (Chapter 3) Answer:Part 1:Financial Statement shows the total financial functioning of the firm. Any business entities can easily assume the financial status of the company by using the financial statement of the company. At the end of specific period, each business prepares Profit and Loss Account (Income Statement), Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet), Statement of Cash Flows (Cash flow statement) and Statement of Changes in Equity. Cash flow statement is one of the major financial statement which records all the amount that a business is receiving from its business transactions as well as the amount that it disburses. The cash flow statement is prepared to find out how business is generating cash and how effectively they are utilizing their cash resources in productive sector. Cash flow statement if managed properly would help the firm to skip cash crisis in the business. As a result, business can assure the availability of cash to cover the due expenses. Cash flow statement depicts the position of economic status of the companyThe main objective of preparing cash flow is:To find out the sources and areas of cash incoming and cash outgoing respectively.To allocate the situation on which business might be in the position of cash insufficiency or cash surplus.Cash flow statement is prepared to predict future cash inflows or outflows. To deliver information regarding the capability of firm to pay its liabilities or taxes.To evaluate whether the firm is on the right track or not by measuring the overall financial records of the company at specific time.To deliver information for making capital budgeting decisions. To evaluate the overall performance of the firm by making comparison between their actual performance and future predictions of cash flow. Part 2Cash flow statement shows the mobility cash in three different areas of business activities: Operating activitiesFinancing activitiesInvesting activitiesCash flow statement provides the answer to the following questions:What are the primary sources of cash incoming?What are the basic operating activities of a firm to generate cash? How does the firm manage their extra funds if the business faces shortages?What are the main investment areas of business?What is the reason behind increase or decrease in cash flow?Part 3a) Calculation of Quality of Earnings RatioThe quality of earnings ratio for two firms i.e. Woodside Petroleum Ltd and Origin Energy for the latest three years is calculated as follows:Woodside Petroleum Ltd (WPL.AX)2017 2016 2015Quality of Earning Ratio = Cash flow from operationsNet Profit = 2,400,0001,024,000 = 2.3438 = 2,587,000868,000= 2.9804 = 2,475,00026,000 = 95. 1923Origin Energy (ORG.AX)2017 2016 2015Quality of Earning Ratio = Cash flow from operationsNet Profit = 1,289,000-2,226,000 = – 0.5791 = 1,404,000-628,000= – 2.2357 = 1,833,000-658,000 = -2.7857b)c) Capital Acquisition RatioThe capital acquisition ratio for both firms i.e. Woodside Petroleum Ltd and Origin Energy for the latest three years is calculated in the following tables:Woodside Petroleum Ltd (WPL.AX)2017 2016 2015 Cash Acquisition Ratio= Cash flow from operationsCash paid forcapital expenditure= 2,400,0001,390,000 = 1.7266 = 2,587,0001,860,000= 1.3909 = 2,475,0001,819,000 = 1.3606Origin Energy (ORG.AX)2017 2016 2015Cash AcquisitionRatio= Cash flow from operationsCash paid forcapital expenditure = 1,289,000-419,000 = – 3.0764 = 1,404,000-572,000= – 2.4545 = 1,833,000-1,484,000 = -1.2352 d)After comparing Woodside Petroleum Ltd and Origin Energy's ability to utilize the operating cash flow to finance their capital expenditure, we came to the conclusion that †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Question No. 2: The Income Statement (Chapter 3)Answer: a.CQU Oil LimitedIncome StatementFor the year ended†¦.Sales $ 2,500,000Cost of Goods Sold (700,000)Gross Profit 1,800,000Operating Expenses Cash Operating Expenses 150,000 Depreciation Expenses 150,000 Total Operating Expenses (300,000)Operating Profit 1,500,000Interest Expenses (200,000)Profit Before Tax 1300,000Tax (390,000)Net Profit 910,000b. From the above income statement, we can see that CQU Oil's taxable Income and Tax Payable for the year are $ 1300,000 and $ 390,000 respectively. d.Question No. 3: Financial Analysis (Chapter 4)Calculation of Financial RatiosThe financial ratios for both firms i.e. West farmers Ltd and Woolworths Ltd for the most recent year i.e. 2017 are calculated as follows:West farmers Ltd (WES) Woolworths Ltd (WOW)1. Liquidity RatioCurrent Ratio = Current AssetsCurrent Liabilities = 9667 / 10417 = 0.928002303 = 0.9280 times Current Ratio = Current AssetsCurrent Liabilities. = 6994.2 / 15921.6 = 0.43929 = 0.4393 timesQuick Ratio= Current Assets –InventoryCurrent Liabilities = (9667 -6530) / 10417 = 3137 / 10417 = 0.3012 times Quick Ratio= Current Assets –InventoryCurrent Liabilities = (6994.2 – 4080.4) / 15921.6 = 2913.80 / 15921.6 = 0.1830 timesInventory Ratio=Cost of Goods SoldInventoryInventory Ratio=Cost of Goods SoldInventory = 39739.7 / 4080.4 = 9.7392 times2. Capital Structure RatioDebt Ratio = Total LiabilitiesTotal Assets = 16174 / 40115 = 0.4032 = 40.32% Debt Ratio = Total LiabilitiesTotal Assets= 13039.7 / 22915.8 = 0.5690= 56.90%Interest Coverage Ratio =EBITInterest Expense = 4402 / 213 = 20.6667 Interest Coverage Ratio =EBITInterest Expense3. Asset Management Efficiency RatioTotal Asset Turnover =SalesTotal Assets = 68444 / 40115 = 1.7062 times Total Asset Turnover =SalesTotal Assets= 55475 / 22915.8 = 2.4208 timesFixed AssetTurnover=SalesNet Property, plan & Equipment = 68444 / 9440 = 7.2504 times Fixed AssetTurnover=SalesNet Property, plan & Equipment = 55475 / 8437.5 = 6.5748 times4. Probability RatioGross Profit Margin= Gross ProfitSales= Gross Profit Margin= Gross ProfitSales = 15928.9 / 55475 = 0.2871 = 28.71%Operating Profit Margin =EBITSales = 4402 / 68444 = 0.0643 = 6.4315% Operating Profit Margin =EBITSales = 2326 / 55475 = 0.0419 = 4.19 %Net Profit Margin=Net ProfitSales = 2873 / 68444 = 0.04197 = 4.1976% Net Profit Margin=Net ProfitSales = 1482 / 55475 = 0.0267 = 2.67%Return on Assets=Operating Profit or EBITTotal Assets = 4402 / 40115 = 0.1097 = 10.97% Return on Assets=Operating Profit or EBITTotal Assets = 2326 / 22915. 8 = 0.1015 = 10.15%Evaluation of Relative Performance of Two Firms in terms of:Liquidity West farmers Ltd (WES) Woolworths Ltd (WOW)Current Ratio 0.9280 times 0.4393 timesQuick Ratio 0.3012 times 0.1830 timesInventory Ratio 9.7392 timesLiquidity Ratio shows the financial status of the company. From the above calculation, we can interpret that West Farmers Limited is more liquid than Woolworths based on its Current Ratio and Quick Ratio. West Farmers had $0.9280 current assets and $0.3012 cash and accounts receivable for every $1 of current liabilities. Whereas Woolworths had $0.1830 current assets and $0.1830 cash and account receivable to pay $1 current liabilities.ii) Asset Management EfficiencyWest farmers Ltd (WES) Woolworths Ltd (WOW)Total Asset Turnover 1.7062 times 2.4208 timesFixed Asset Turnover 7.2504 times 6.5748 timesiii) Financing Practices (Capital Structure)West farmers Ltd (WES) Woolworths Ltd (WOW)Debt Ratio 40.32% 56.90%Interest Coverage Ratio 20.6667 iv) ProfitabilityWest farmers Ltd (WES) Woolworths Ltd (WOW)Gross Profit Margin 28.71%Operating Profit Margin 6.4315% 4.19%Net Profit Margin 4.1976% 2.67%Return on Assets 10.97% 10.15%†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Calculation of Current Price-Earnings Ratio and Market-to-book Ratio:West farmers Ltd (WES) Woolworths Ltd (WOW)Market Value RatiosPrice Earnings Ratio = Market Price Per ShareEarnings Per SharePrice Earnings Ratio = Market Price Per ShareEarnings Per ShareMarket to Book Ratio =Market Price Per ShareBook Value Per ShareMarket to Book Ratio =Market Price Per ShareBook Value Per ShareQuestion no. 4: Time Value of Money (Chapter 5)Solution:Present Value (PV) =$20,000 Time (n) = 40 yearsInterest Rate (i) = 10 % per annum = 0.10 Future Value (FV)=?Timeline i=10% p.a FV=? 0 1 2 3†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ n= 40 years PV=$20,000FV= PV (1+i)n = 20,000(1+0.10)40 = 20,000Ãâ€"45.25925557 = $ 905,185.1114From the above calculation, Emily's investment from her retirement plan will grow to $905,185.1114 after 40 years at 12% annual interest. b)Timeline i=6% p.a FV=$14,000 0 1 2 n= 3 years PMT=?Deposit on Car (PV)= $14,000No of years (n) = 3 years Annual Interest (i)= 6% =0.06Annuity Payment (PMT)=?We have,FV = PMT (1+i)n-1i14000 = PMT 1+0.06)3-10.06 PMT = 140003.1836PMT = $ 4397.5374To cover the cost of deposit on a new car, Emily needs to keep aside $4397.5374 from her bonus this year. Now, If Annual Interest on Saving (i)=10%=0.10PMT=?FVn = PMT (1+i)n-1i14000 = PMT1+0.10)3-10.10PMT = 140003.31PMT = $4229.6073If the annual rate of interest grows to 10%, then the amount of payment will decrease to $4229.6073.c)At the age 60 years, value of Trust Fund (FV)=?Time (n) = 60-30=30 yearsInterest rate =7%= 0.07Timeline i=7% p.a FV=? 0 1 2 3†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ n= 30 years PV=$50,000 FV = PV ((1+i)n = 50,000 (1+0.07)30 = 50,000 Ãâ€"7.612255043 = $ 380,612.7521When Emily turn 60 years, the value of her trust fund will grow to $380,612.7521 at the rateOf 7% government bond. d)Compounding and discounting have inverse relationship. Compounding method is the way of calculating the future value of money with the given current value of investment at certain compound rate. Whereas Discounting method is used to find out the Present Value of future cash flow using discounting rate. Mathematically,In Compounding Method,Future valuein year nFVn= Present Value(PV) Ãâ€"1+ Annual interest rate (i)number of years nIn Discounting Method,Present ValuePV = Future Value in year nFVn 11+ Annual Interest Rate (i)Number of years (n)e)Question no 5: Risk and Return (Chapter 7)a.Given:Share A Share BProbability Return Probability Return0.3 11% 0.2 -5%0.4 15% 0.3 6%0.3 19% 0.3 14%0.2 22% For Share AExpected rateof returnE(r)=rate of return 1 r1Ãâ€"probabilityof return 1Pr(r1)+rate of return 2 r2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 2Pr(r2) +rate of return 3r3Ãâ€"probabilityof return 3Prr3)= 0.3 Ãâ€" 0.11 + 0.4 Ãâ€" 0.15 + 0.3 Ãâ€"0.19= 0.033 + 0.06 + 0.057= 0.15= 15%Variance in rate of return?2 = rate of return 1 r1-expected rate of returnEr2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 1Pr(r1) + rate of return 1 r1-expected rate of returnEr2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 1Pr(r1) + rate of return 3r3-expected rate of returnE(r)2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 3Pr(r3) = [(0.11 – 0.15)2 Ãâ€" 0.3] + [(0.15 – 0.15)2 Ãâ€" 0.4] + [(0.19 – 0.15)2 Ãâ€" 0.3] = 0.00048 + 0 + 0.00048 = 0.00096 Standard Deviation = Variance =0.00096 = 0.030983867 = 3.0984%For Share BExpected rateof returnE(r)=rate of return 1 r1Ãâ€"probabilityof return 1Pr(r1)+rate of return 2 r2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 2Pr(r2) +rate of return 3r3Ãâ€"probabilityof return 3Prr3)+rate of return 4r4Ãâ€"probabilityof return 4Pr(r4)= 0.2 Ãâ€" (-0.05) + 0.3 Ãâ€" 0.06 + 0.3 Ãâ€"0.14 + 0.2 Ãâ€" 0.22= (-0.01) + 0.018 + 0.042 + 0.044= 0.094= 9.4% Now, Variance in rate of return?2 = rate of return 1 r1-expected rate of returnEr2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 1Pr(r1) + rate of return 1 r1-expected rate of returnEr2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 1Pr(r1) + rate of return 3r3-expected rate of returnE(r)2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 3Pr(r3) + rate of return 4r4-expected rate of returnE(r)2Ãâ€"probabilityof return 4Prr4) = [(-0.05 – 0.094)2 Ãâ€" 0.2] + [(0.06 – 0.094)2 Ãâ€" 0.3] + [(0.14 – 0.094)2 Ãâ€" 0.3] + [(0.22 – 0.094)2 Ãâ€" 0.3] = 0.0041472 + 0.0003468 + 0.0006348 + 0.0031752 = 0.008304Standard Deviation = Variance = 0.008304 = 0.091126286 = 9.1126% b)Shareholders or investors of the company always assume to gain certain profit from the investment they made on their business. Such expectation is referred to as Expected Rate of Return. Whereas Realized Rate of Return is the actual amount of profit or loss that that face from their investment in certain duration of time. c) d. Question No 6: Risk and Return (Chapter 8)Answer:Part 1Systematic Risk and Unsystematic RiskSystematic risk refers to those risks that are associated with the overall market or industry (Vasigh, Fleming ; Mackay, 2010) and cannot be diversified away while unsystematic risk refers to those risk that are associated with the single investment or small class of investment and can be diversified away (Swedroe ; Hempen, 2007). Investment beta is the measure of change in investments' return to the change in return of the market portfolio. Johnson (2014) also stated that investment's beta measures the volatility of share relative to volatility of market. Thus, investment's beta helps to measure the systematic risk of an investment. Therefore, it is very useful in the investment decision. For example: if we want to know the systematic risk of particular investments, we can calculate beta and know the volatility and go for that investments with low volatility. In terms of unsystematic risk, it is calculated by deducting the beta scaled by the market volatility from the volatility of the single stock. Part 2Beta of a Portfolio and Betas of the Individual Investments in the PortfolioPart 3Security Market LineSecurity market line is the graphical representation of Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) i.e. the straight line relationship between expected return and betas that also explains the market price of risk in capital market (Khan, 2004). Return (%)Security Market Liners =rf+rm-rf?rfRisk Beta (?)Figure. Security Market Line. Adapted from â€Å"Investments: An Introduction† by H. B. Mayo, 2013, Boston: Cengage Learning. From the above graph, we can see that risk beta is at the x-axis and expected return on the y-axis. The slope of the security market line is represented by market risk premium which is the difference between expected rate of return on the market portfolio and the risk free rate (i.e.Erm-rf) while the y-intercept of this line represents the risk free interest rate i.e. rf . Part 4Capital Asset Pricing ModelCapital asset pricing model (CAPM) refers to the model that explains the relationship with expected return and the systematic risk of an investment. In a simple word, CAPM is that model which estimates the expected return for any risky assets. According to Mellen (2018), this model helps the business analyst and investor evaluate a suitable rate of return for an investment by giving the general economic, industry and firm's conditions. CAPM helps to inform the investment decision by first of all measuring the fairest price for an investment on the basis of risk, potential return and other factors and then comparing this fair price with the market price.Therefore, this is how the CAPM can be used to inform the investment decision. ReferenceJohnson, R. S. (2014). Equity Markets and Portfolio Analysis. New York: John Wiley ; Sons, Inc.Khan, M. Y., ;Jain, P. K. (2004). Financial Management: Text, Problems and Cases. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited.Mayo, H. B. (2013). Investments: An Introduction. Boston: Cengage Learning.Mellen, C. M. (2018). Valuation for M ; A: Building and Measuring Private Company Value. New York: John Wiley ; Sons, Inc.Swedroe, L. E., ;Hempen, J. H. (2007). The only guide to a winning bond strategy you'll ever need: The way smart money preserves wealth today. New York: St. Martin's PressVasigh, B., Fleming, K., ;Mackay, L. (2010). Foundation of Airline Finance: Methodology and Practice. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Reference