BUSINESS 111 FALL 2011

NON-BBA FINAL EXAM REVIEW GUIDE

Final Exam Date: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9TH, 2011
Exam Time for WLU Students: 7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Exam Time for UW Students: 7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Writing Locations posted at https://www.wlu.ca/~mibrahim/exams/FALL2011/BUSINESS.html

Important Notice: If a student cannot write a business or economics final exam as scheduled, they must submit a "Petition for Exception to Academic Regulations" form to Ms Lee Leeman, Student and Petitions Coordinator, SBE1256. Supporting documentation will be required and verified. This permits equitable treatment for all students taking SBE courses. If appropriate circumstances are presented with appeals, students will be accommodated on either the SBE slip day or the next exam session.

Exam Format:
20 Multiple Choice questions = 1 mark each
6 Short Answer questions, 2 to 6 marks each, choice in 1 question = 25 marks
7 Quantitative problems, 3 to 6.5 marks each, choice in 1 question = 35 marks
80 marks total

TOPICS TO BE COVERED:
(Items listed in red indicate quantitative problems)

Economic Factors - four pillars of Canadian financial system – description, roles - Bank of Canada - description, tools for affecting money supply - bonds – characteristics (return, term, priority over stockholders), types, features, factors affecting price, calculating approximate yield to maturity, relationship between prevailing interest rates and bond prices, reading bond quotations - common stocks and preferred stocks – characteristics (return/dividends, term, priority in bankruptcy situations, voting rights), features, factors affecting price, reading stock quotations - leverage – concept, rewards and risks - market conditions – bull and bear – appropriate investing strategies - margin buying – concept, rules, when it makes sense, potential losses and gains, calculation of margin transaction - short selling – concept, rules, when it makes sense, potential losses and gains, calculation of short selling transaction - options – concept, components of premium (time value and intrinsic value), calculation of option transaction, determination of whether to exercise an option - Time Value of Money – application of appropriate formulae to problems, calculation of Future Value and Present Value of single amounts, ordinary annuities, annuities due, and payment amounts as per problems in lecture and in lab manual - calculation of appropriate interest rate for scenarios where payment intervals and compounding intervals match and for scenarios where they do not match (effective interest rate) - timeline, variables, formulae and concluding statement are required for all TVM questions

Technological Factors - information technology - impact on organizational processes - retail – mission, historical waves of change, trends in internet retailing - technology standard wars – description, impact, scope - installed user base, lock-in, switching costs, complementary goods, network effects – description, importance, example - key assets and strategies to win technology standards wars - disruptive technologies – description, examples, why disruptive innovations can cause large firms to fail, how different types of innovations challenge existing firms - tactics for small companies to succeed and for large companies to avoid failure

Political Factors
- government influence over business – description, examples
- business influence over government – description, examples
- forms of business ownership – sole proprietorship, partnership, private corporation, public corporation, co-operative – description, advantages and disadvantages, compare and contrast
- globalization – description, forces
- major marketplaces – country categorization & geographic clusters - relevance, examples
- forms of competitive advantage
- barriers to international trade and how to overcome them
- connection between international business and critical success factors

Relevant Readings/Materials

Pearson Textbook: Chapters 5 – 8

Lab Manual: Buying and Selling Equities – the Mechanics Time Value of Money Technology Readings Investment Instrument Exercises Time Value of Money Problem Set #1 and #2

YouTube clips from lectures: Steven Johnson - Where Good Ideas Come From Clayton Christensen - Disruptive Technology clips (both) TED Talk with Lisa Gansky – The Future of Business is the Mesh

Cases are not covered on the exam.

SEE THE STUDY SKILLS SLIDES!!! WORK HARD!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!