...Thoai Nguyen, Vincent Cho Deluxe- Capital Structure Deluxe’s Background: Deluxe is a company found in 1915 and is a pioneer in the check printing business. In 2000, Deluxe it promotes new technology, eFund, to partially replace the declining checking printing market. Problems : The revenue of core business, check printing, is going down due to the decline of demand, and the increase of competition. So, the management believes that Deluxe needs good capital structure to achieve both tax advantage and low cost of capital. Analysis: Firstly, the revenue is declining at the average of 4% a year (Exh.1) because people start using online banking, ATM cards, and debit/credit cards for payment instead of using checks in the daily basis. With projected decline in sales, Deluxe may face a decline in Net Income, and Gross Profit Margin. Secondly, current market value of equity /debt ratio reflects a way more positive situation than the book value ratio. However, since it heavily depends on the market value of its share, Deluxe has to keep the market value of its share stable at certain level. Another risk factor is the firm may have a hard time paying its commercial paper of 150 million in the near future. The risk of default is not significant yet. However, the company will have to make a huge payment really soon. Besides, funding new projects with debt when the firm is at the matured phase of the product life cycle, where revenue starts declining doesn’t sound good. Clearly looking...
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...The first thing I would like to do is describe what kind of organization that IM runs with Deluxe Tool. Looking at Deluxe Tool, it is easy to see that this company operates under a bureaucratic control. This organization is very formal. Clearly IM has rules and regulations that are expected of his employees. These formalities have allowed the organization to be successful and to grow. Mr. Tycoon practices the art of Gemba Walking, because as stated in the case details he is very involved in the day to day operations of the company. Now, with the responsibilities of Safe Buy Insurance and MicroAge Software, he must now look at those organizations and figure out a way to manage them under his style of leadership. We first review the Safe Buy Insurance Company. (Brasfield, 2013 p. 347) Safe Buy Insurance is the actual name of the company, however according to the details of the case none of the agencies up under Safe Buy carry the Safe Buy brand. It was mentioned that many of the agencies are not making the profit that they made in the previous years. It was mentioned that there are issues with the processing of paperwork. IM’s first point of business is to establish a mission statement, vision, and goal for this company. Right now, it is stated that this business is market controlled. There needs to be a standard through the agencies under Safe Buy. The company needs to know what they stand for, where they are at, and where they are going. Providing a standard, with...
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...opportunities. This will ultimately increase the corporate value of Deluxe Corporation. 2. How could Singh achieve financial flexibility? I think that Singh can achieve to financial flexibility by borrowing more money. As the calculations show in the case of downgrading their bond rating to an A, this will provide ample borrowing cap to the company, c. $556.9 million, which is 3.45 times bigger than the current total debt outstanding of $161.4 million. In this case the company should have the chance of keeping free funds in their borrowing accounts, hence should need be to grasp of an occurred opportunity, they can finance it from their debt. Therefore increasing the total debt of the corporation will enable the firm to become more financially flexible. 3. What are the reasons why the bond rating is important for Deluxe Corporation? The bond rating is important to Deluxe Corporation because: • Bond ratings first of all provide a corporate image/brand name to company, • They are an index in order for investors to distinguish between the valuable and junk bonds, hence providing them important information to buy them or not. • Bond rating index is a measure of the company’s ability of meeting its liabilities. 4. Considering the above questions and your answers, and what you learned from the case, what should Singh recommend regarding the target bond rating and mix of debt and equity for Deluxe and explain why? Based on the calculations the WACC is the lowest...
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...Individual Innovation Paper McDonald’s Arch Deluxe EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Individual Innovation Paper: McDonald’s Arch Deluxe Analysis - Why It Failed INTRODUCTION McDonald’s has been in the hamburger business since the 1950’s and grown into a world-wide fast-food giant known for “Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value”. As the McDonald’s empire grew so did their menu, it adapted to the tastes of their customers. In 1996 McDonald’s launched the Arch Deluxe; their answer to what adults want to eat. The public did not agree with McDonalds and the product was not successful. CAUSE OF PRODUCT FAILURE McDonalds advertising tried to show that the new Arch Deluxe was fancier than their other menu items and overemphasized the how adult it was. In the end the public did not agree and it ultimately failed. The Arch Deluxe did not make a rebound although over time they did add menu items with similar ingredients on the menu today. WHY DID IT NOT REBOUND? I believe the reason McDonald’s would not bring the Arch Deluxe back is because it is such a well-known financial failure for such a successful multi-national business. CONCLUSION The creation of the Arch Deluxe was not a big mistake in of itself, they wanted to create something adults would like to order and during research and design the testing groups liked the Arch Deluxe. The problem was with the way McDonald’s advertised and promoted the Arch Deluxe; they thought their idea was innovative and the advertising did not...
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...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Deluxe Foods Ltd. (subsidiary of a large US based consumer packaged-food company with annual global sales of more than $2.8 Million) is currently in a pivotal growth and expansion stage of their business cycle. The company has to decide on whether to create a separate marketing plan for one of their corresponding territories (Quebec) or focus on a global strategy for the entire firm. As Quebec and Ontario account for 69% of the total sales (in the amount of $450 Million) for this Canadian subsidiary, it is imperative to develop and customize a marketing campaign for this market. Currently, the Ontario division is functioning adequately (having a central distribution centre in Toronto helps), yet there is opportunity to grow market share in Quebec. This is due to the following factors: * 80% of the market is French speaking * Quebec’s per capita consumption is above the national average * Previous research projects suggest to separate and differentiate the brand from competition * Revise and customize the advertisement plan in the French language * Collaborate with the independent shops Creating an effective marketing plan includes: 1. Set Objectives- Grow the Quebec market share by 10% annually 2. Select Target Market- Sell products in independent mom and pop shops by conducting market research and analysis (SWOT), pricing strategy, promotional campaign 3. Develop Marketing Mix- Price...
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...DELUXE Corporation Teaching Note Synopsis and Objectives Suggestions for complementary cases in capital structure choice and financial flexibility: “The Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Company: Capital Structure, Valuation, and Cost of Capital,” (case 30); “Rosario Acero S.A.,” (case 32); “Gainesboro Machine Tools Corporation,” (case 25) In July 2002, an investment banker advising Deluxe Corporation must prepare recommendations for the company’s board of directors regarding the firm’s financial policy. Some special considerations are the mix of debt and equity, maintenance of financial flexibility, and the preservation of an investment-grade bond rating. Complicating the assessment are low growth and technological obsolescence in the firm’s core business. The student must recommend an appropriate financial policy for the firm and, in support of that recommendation, must show the impact on the firm’s cost of capital, financial flexibility (i.e., unused debt capacity), bond rating, and other considerations. This case may be used to pursue a number of teaching objectives: • Survey the determinants of corporate bond ratings. The case highlights the important influence of the rating agencies on the costs of debt and the access to capital markets. The case data affords students the opportunity to explore profitability, coverage ratios, and capitalization ratios as measures of credit quality. • Explore the practical challenges involved in determining the optimal...
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...IT Project Proposal Background: Our Company is a small regional software developer, specializing in custom applications. In order to cut costs, improve redundancy and many other benefits, the company is deciding to change its current IT infrastructure to better take advantage of cloud computing. The current infrastructure is setup in a very traditional way. The company co-locates dedicated servers to a datacenter to serve as their backbone, utilizing middleware and specialized servers to suit their needs. This means they must pay for their own equipment, bandwidth and other assorted costs associated with the datacenter. In the office, they also have a traditional setup involving routers, switches and some small-scale servers to accommodate office applications. Proposed change: The Company wants to start taking advantage of cloud computing to cut their down costs and simplify their IT structure. By utilizing services such as Amazon’s EC2 and Google’s Enterprise Apps, they believe this would greatly improve the simplicity and cost structure of current IT infrastructure. Instead of hosting their applications and data on dedicated, fully-owned and co-located servers, the company will instead employ the services of Amazon EC2. This will provide them with a simple cost structure, and redundancy, while at the same time removing the need for full-time IT staff to manage it. In addition, instead of paying for licenses to use Microsoft Office (Word,Excel, Outlook, etc), they will...
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...Lost Stars 4:28 Adam Levine V (Deluxe Version) Pop 5 Baby I 3:18 Ariana Grande Yours Truly Pop 3 Right There Feat. Big Sean 4:07 Ariana Grande Yours Truly Pop 1 Daydreamin' 3:31 Ariana Grande Yours Truly Pop 3 Almost Is Never Enough Feat. Nathan Skyes 5:28 Ariana Grande Yours Truly Pop 1 Better Left Unsaid 3:31 Ariana Grande Yours Truly Pop 13 Wake Me Up 4:10 Avicii True House 2 You Make Me 3:53 Avicii True House 2 Hey Brother 4:14 Avicii True House 3 Addicted To You 2:28 Avicii True House 3 Hope There's Someone 6:21 Avicii True House 1 Heart Upon My Sleeve 4:40 Avicii True House 1 Pompeii 3:34 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 4 Things We Lost in the Fire 4:01 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 5 Bad Blood 3:33 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 9 Overjoyed 3:26 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 4 These Streets 2:55 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 5 Weight of Living, Pt. II 2:55 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 5 Icarus 3:45 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 6 Oblivion 3:16 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 4 Flaws 3:39 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 9 Daniel in the Den 3:09 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 3 Laura Palmer 3:06 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 3 Get Home 3:11 Bastille Bad Blood (The Extended Cut) Alternative 2 Weight of Living, Pt. I...
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...PENGENALAN Deluxe Corporation telah ditubuhkan pada tahun 1915 oleh ayam-petani yang kini menjadi pencetak di satu bilik kedai cetak di St Paul, Minnesota. Kemudian dikenali sebagai Deluxe Check Printers, syarikat merupakan perintis dalam cek perniagaan percetakan yang baru muncul, dan khusus dalam mencetak maklumat peribadi pada cek dan buku cek. Deluxe menjadi sebuah syarikat yang didagangkan secara umum pada tahun 1965, dan didagangkan di Bursa Saham New York pada tahun 1980 di bawah nama Deluxe Corporation. Syarikat ini pembekal terbesar cek di Amerika Syarikat, melayan pelanggan melalui lebih daripada 10000 institusi kewangan. Pengguna Amerika menulis lebih daripada 42 bilion cek setiap tahun, walaupun penggunaan cek telah menurun pada tahun-tahun kebelakangan ini. Pada awal tahun 1996 Deluxe mengumumkan perancangan untuk mengurangkan kos operasi dengan $ 150.000.000 dalam tempoh dua tahun. Termasuk dalam ini adalah penutupan yang dirancang 26 daripada 41 loji daftar percetakan syarikat , pengurangan 30 peratus dalam perbelanjaan modal , pelaksanaan fungsi pembelian berpusat, dan pemberhentian 30 peratus daripada pegawai-pegawai syarikat. Dilepaskan pada tahun 1996 adalah T / Maker Syarikat , Borang Penjagaan Kesihatan , Perkhidmatan Pemprosesan Alliance Financial , borang Inc Deluxe UK , dan perniagaan bentuk bank dalaman. Satu penyusunan semula operasi yang hanya tinggal dengan empat segmen perniagaan utama pada tahun 1997. Sistem Kertas Pembayaran Deluxe terdiri daripada...
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...Case #35 Deluxe Corporation Synopsis and Objectives In July 2002, an investment banker advising Deluxe Corporation must prepare recommendations for the company’s board of directors regarding the firm’s financial policy. Some special considerations are the mix of debt and equity, maintenance of financial flexibility, and the preservation of an investment-grade bond rating. Complicating the assessment are low growth and technological obsolescence in the firm’s core business. The purpose is to recommend an appropriate financial policy for the firm and, in support of that recommendation, to show the impact on the firm’s cost of capital, financial flexibility (i.e., unused debt capacity), bond rating, and other considerations. This case may be used to pursue a number of objectives: * Survey the determinants of corporate bond ratings. The case highlights the important influence of the rating agencies on the costs of debt and the access to capital markets. The case data provide the opportunity to explore profitability, coverage ratios, and capitalization ratios as measures of credit quality. * Explore the practical challenges involved in determining the optimal mix of debt and equity, in particular assessing the trade-off between the benefits of debt tax shields and the costs of financial distress. The case affords the opportunity to highlight methodological problems in estimating the optimal mix. * Consider the concepts of debt capacity and financial flexibility...
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...CASE 5-69 (60 minutes) 1. Standard Model Deluxe Model Heavy-Duty Model Product costs based on traditional, volume- based costing system $105.00 $215.00 $232.00 × 110% × 110% × 110% × 110% Target price $115.50 $236.50 $255.20 2. Product costs based on activity-based costing system: Regular Model Standard Model Deluxe Model Direct material $10.00 $ 25.00 $ 42.00 Direct labor 10.00 20.00 20.00 Machinery depreciation and maintenancea 32.00 208.00 75.20 Engineering, inspection and repair of defectsb 17.04 43.50 34.08 Purchasing, receiving, shipping, and material handlingc 15.28 52.00 29.25 Factory depreciation, taxes, insurance, and miscellaneous overhead costsd 12.50 89.25 25.59 Total $96.82 $437.75 $226.12 aPool I: Depreciation, machinery $1,480,000 Maintenance, machinery 120,000 Total $1,600,000 Standard: ($1,600,000 × 40%) ÷ 20,000 = $32.00 Deluxe: ($1,600,000 × 13%) ÷ 1,000 = $208.00 Heavy-Duty: ($1,600,000 × 47%) ÷ 10,000 = $75.20 bPool II: Engineering $350,000 Inspection and repair of defects 375,000 Total $725,000 Standard: ($725,000 × 47%) ÷ 20,000 = $17.04 Deluxe: ($725,000 × 6%) ÷ 1,000 = $43.50 Heavy-Duty: ($725,000 × 47%) ÷ 10,000 = $34.08 cPool III: Purchasing, receiving, and shipping $250,000 Material handling 400,000 Total $650,000 Standard:...
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...retailers and Kirana shop owner in the area. Recently due to lot of competition and rising prices there have been requests from few of the clients and some of the new client for a reduction in the prices or cheaper products, these clients are ready to compromise on the quality if the prices are reduced. So having discussed this with some of its client Mr Basavraj wants to start his own brand of Tea powder mixture under the name “Star teas” with Premium and Deluxe quality. The new Brand will be priced lower than the current Brands to meet the requirements of these clients. Mr Basavraj Forecasts that there will be demand for Premium and Deluxe to be 50 and 90 bags respectively of 35kg each, but together he wants to produce a maximum of 175 bags. He has fixed the selling price of the premium and deluxe products are as follows. |sl.no |Name |Weight/Bag in KGS |Price/kg |Total/bag | |1 |Star premium |35 |90 |3150 | |2 |Star deluxe |35 |80...
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...95 602 8/13 = 58,832 units Note that the difference between these two solutions is due to rounding. 2. a. $1,800 increase b. $2,500 decrease c. $3,300 increase d. $6,440 increase e. $3,030 decrease f. $10,660 increase. f Activity 2.6 **3–46 (20–25 min.) Sales mix, two products. 1. Sales of standard and deluxe carriers are in the ratio of 150,000:50,000. So 75% of luggage carriers sold is a standard carrier and 25% is the deluxe carrier. Weighted average contribution margin per unit = (75% $9) + (25% $18) = $6.75 + $4.50 = $11.25 Breakeven point in units = $1,800,000 $11.25 = 160,000 units Breakeven point in units is: Standard carrier: 160,000 units 75% 120,000 units Deluxe carrier: 160,000 units 25% 40,000 units Total number of units to break even 160,000 units 2a. Unit contribution margins are: Standard: $30 – $21 = $9; Deluxe: $45 – $27 = $18 If only Standard carriers were sold, the breakeven point would be: $1,800,000 $9 = 200,000 units. 2b. If only Deluxe carriers were sold, the breakeven point would be: $1,800,000 $18 = 100,000 units 3. Operating profit = Contribution margin of standard + contribution margin of deluxe – Fixed costs = 180,000($9) + 20,000(18) – $1,800,000 = $1,620,000 + $360,000 –...
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...Toy Project Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym Introduction Fisher-Prices’ Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym is designed for babies from birth up until twelve months. There is a soft quilted blue and green mat with animals resembling a rainforest for your baby to lie on. At each corner of the mat are four arched stakes that meet in the middle, one of them supported by a stuffed giraffe. At the point of connection and hanging throughout are links allowing you to hang rainforest themed toys such as an elephant, monkey, or a toucan. This toy measures 29.3 inches by 23.8 inches. Play time and tummy time will be extra fun with the Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym, which features ten activities and twenty minutes of music, rainforest sounds and colorful lights to keep your baby entertained (ToysRUs, 2014). This toy requires three double A batteries in order to operate. This toy is designed to help develop sensory skills and promote growth. This deluxe toy has pieces that can either be attached to the links or detached for interactive play. There are two modes of play: Lay & Play and Tummy time. Lay & play sets off music and colorful lights from your baby’s movement. The second mode, ‘Tummy time’ plays twenty minutes of either music or rainforest sounds and is designed for when the baby is laying on its stomach. In addition to the two modes, there are many activities, including a mirror used for peek-a-boo and an elephant...
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...It has basic, standard amenities and furnishings. A standard room in a Four Seasons hotel is without question much more deluxe than a standard in, say, a Holiday Inn, but there may be higher categories from which to choose. Standard rooms in hotels with higher categories often have no view or have a poor view over the dumpster or parking lot. MODERATE (mod):Usually a slight bit better than standard, but still not deluxe. It may refer to the room view as well as the size and type of furnishings offered. SUPERIOR (sup):This category is always subject to interpretation. It's supposed to mean superior to a standard room in both size and furnishings, but it often refers to just the view. Some hotels have only Superior rooms; the categories then are defined by the view and location of the room. DELUXE (dlx): These rooms are supposed to be Deluxe in every way: View, location, furnishings and size. In some Caribbean hotels, however, a deluxe room is a lower category than a Superior, so it's wise to question your choice before final booking. RUN OF HOUSE (roh): This can mean anything the hotel wants it to mean, but typically the interpretation should be "standard room or better at time of check in; any location within the hotel." With the exception of upgrades to suites or junior suites, this category often does not distinguish between Standard, Superior or Deluxe. It does NOT mean,...
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