To prepare for this Assignment

In the Middleboro Physician Care Services, Inc. case, you are asked to examine the operations of an ambulatory, non-emergent care clinic which treats private and occupational health patients and provides services which do not include continuing or specialized medical care. Physician Care Services, Inc. is currently facing a number of challenges and opportunities which will impact their profitability.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Read Case 3: Physician Care Services, Inc., including Tables 3.2 and 3.3. Review the issues that surround provider productivity, to evaluate whether the organization can be successful in the new era of health care reform.

The Assignment:

In 2–3 pages, describe the metric(s) you will use to evaluate the organization’s productivity. Explain how you will use the metric in evaluating productivity, and how the data will help measure the potential of the organization’s success in the new era of health care reform.

world history essay

needs to have reference from the pagent world history book from chapter 26.

Primary Source Essay

Historians use two types of sources: primary and secondary. Primary sources can be photographs, newspaper articles, letters, diaries, or other artifacts that were produced during/by a specific time period, event, or person. Secondary sources are usually essays, articles, or books that analyze and interpret a set of primary sources in order to tell a story about a specific time period, event, or person.

Instructions:

  • Answer the following question in the form of an original essay: How did Belgians rationalize their actions in the Congo during the late 19th and early 20 centuries?
  • Your essay must…
    • be at least five paragraphs long (each paragraph at least 5 sentences long)
    • have a clear thesis (Note: remember to underline your thesis)s
    • use and cite the textbook as your secondary source
    • use and cite Adam Hochschild’s lecture “Object of Plunder: The Congo through the Centuries.”
    • use and cite all three of the primary sources below
  • Format your paper in MLA, APA, or Chicago

Grading Rubric:

D and below

C

B

A

  • Doesn’t answer question
  • Inaccurate
  • Too short
  • No thesis
  • Answers only part of the question
  • Overly vague
  • Too short
  • No thesis
  • Answers most but not all of the question and/or
  • Partially inaugurate and/or
  • Lacks sufficient detail
  • Weak thesis
  • Answers entire question
  • Accurate
  • Detailed
  • Strong thesis

Letter from King Leopold II of Belgium to the Missionaries

The following is an excerpt from a private letter written by King Leopold to a group of Belgian missionaries about to leave for the Congo in 1883.

“Reverends, Fathers and Dear Compatriots: The task that is given to you is very difficult. You will go certainly to evangelize, but your priority must be Belgium interests. Your principal mission in the Congo is never to teach the savages to know God, this they know already. They speak and submit to a Mungu, one Nzambi, one Nzakomba, and what else I don’t know (all of these are native African gods). Your essential role is to facilitate the task of administrators and industrialists, which means you will go to interpret the gospel in the way it will be the best to protect our interests in that part of the world. Your knowledge of the gospel will allow you to find texts encouraging your followers to love poverty, like “Happier are the poor because they will inherit the heaven” and, “It’s very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” You have to make them abandon everything which gives them the courage to affront [resist] us. Evangelize the savages so that they stay forever in submission to the white colonialists, so they never revolt against the restraints they are undergoing. Recite every day-“Happy are those who are weeping because the kingdom of God is for them.” Convert the blacks always by using the whip.”

Letter from King Leopold II of Belgium to Minister Beernaert on the Congo, July 3, 1890

Leopold II was “King of the Belgians” (ruled 1865-1909) and “Sovereign-King of the Congo Free State,” at the time (19th century) the largest swath of African land under the control of a colonial power (one million square miles). Leopold ruled the Congo as his own personal fiefdom, though he never set foot there. Joseph Conrad’s famous novella Heart of Darkness (which inspired the movie Apocalypse Now) perhaps best captured the abominable inhumanity practiced in the Congo. First ivory and then the rubber trade greatly augmented the king’s already considerable personal wealth.

Dear Minister,

I have never ceased to call the attention of my countrymen to the need to turn our view toward overseas lands.

History teaches that countries with small territories have a moral and material interest in extending their influence beyond their narrow borders. Greece founded opulent cities, bastions of arts and civilization, on the shores of the Mediterranean. Later, Venice built its grandeur on its maritime and commercial relations no less than on its political success. The Netherlands have 30 million subjects in the Indies who exchange tropical products for the products of the mother country.

It is in serving the cause of humanity and progress that peoples of the second rank appear as useful members of the great family of nations. A manufacturing and commercial nation like ours, more than any other, must do its best to secure opportunities for all its workers, whether intellectual, capitalist, or manual.

These patriotic preoccupations dominated my life. It is they that caused the creation of the African effort.

My pains were not sterile: a young and vast State, led from Brussels, has peacefully taken its place in the sun, thanks to the kind support of the powers which have applauded its beginnings. Belgians administer it, while other compatriots, more numerous every day, are already making a profit on their capital.

The immense river system of the Upper Congo opens the way for our efforts for rapid and economical ways of communication that will allow us to penetrate directly into the center of the African continent. The building of the railroad in the cataract area, assured from now on thanks to the recent vote of the legislature, will notably increase the ease of access. Under these conditions, a great future is reserved for the Congo, whose immense value will soon shine out to all eyes.

Soon after that memorable act, I thought it my duty, when death will come to strike me, to make it easy for Belgium to profit from my work, as well as that of those who helped me to found and direct it and to whom I give thanks here once again. I thus made, as Sovereign of the Congo Free State, the will that I am sending you; I will request that you communicate it to the legislative Chambers at what seems to you the most opportune moment.

The beginning of enterprises such as those that have so preoccupied me is difficult and onerous. I insisted on bearing the charges. A King, to give service to his country, must not fear to conceive and pursue the realization of a project so adventurous in appearance. The riches of a Sovereign consist of public prosperity. That alone can appear to his eyes as an enviable treasure, which he should try constantly to build up.

Until the day of my death, I will continue with the same thoughts of national interest that have guided me until now, to direct and sustain our African efforts, but if, without waiting for that date, it makes sense for the country to contract closer ties with my Congo possessions, I would not hesitate to make them available to it, I would be happy, while I am alive, to see it in full benefit towards the Chambers as towards the Government for the aid that they gave to me on several occasions in this creation.

I do not think I am mistaken in affirming that Belgium will gain genuine advantages and will see opening before her, on a new continent, happy and wide perspectives.

Believe me, dear Minister,

Your very devoted,

Leopold.

Leroy-Beaulieu on the Desirability of Imperialism, 1891

It is impossible not to consider imperialism as one of the tasks imposed on the civilized states for the last four centuries, more particularly on our age.

The present-day world is composed of four different parts in terms of types of civilization. That of Western civilization-our own part. A second part [is] inhabited by people of a different civilization, but organized in compact, coherent and stable societies and destined by their history and present character to govern themselves-the Chinese and Japanese peoples for example. In the third part live peoples advanced enough in some respects, but ones which either stagnated or bad not been able to constitute themselves as unified, peaceful, progressive nations, following a regular development. . . . India before the British conquest, Java, and the Indochinese peninsula represent particularly this third type.

Finally, a great part of the world is inhabited by barbarian tribes or savages, some given over to wars without end and to brutal customs, and others knowing so little of the arts and being so little accustomed to work and to invention that they do not know how to exploit their land and its natural riches. They live in little groups, impoverished and scattered, in enormous territories which could nourish vast numbers of people with ease.

This state of the world implies for the civilized people a right of intervention . . . ln the affairs of the peoples of the last two categories.

It is neither natural nor just for the civilized people of the West to be cooped up indefinitely and jammed into the restricted spaces which were their first home. Nor is it natural and just that they there accumulate the marvels of science, the arts and civilization, that they see the rate of interest fall more each day for lack of good investment Opportunities, while they leave perhaps half the world to little groups of ignorant, ineffectual men who are like feeble children . . . or to exhausted populations, without energy, without direction, who may be compared to old men.

Imperialism is often confused with commerce or with the opening of commercial markets. . . . Imperialism means something quite different from the sale or purchase of commodities. It entails a profound action on a people and a territory, providing the inhabitants with some education and regular justice, teaching them the division of labor and the uses of capital when they are ignorant of these things. It opens an area not only to the merchandise of the mother country, but to its capital and its savings, to its engineers, to its overseers, to its emigrants. . . . Such a transformation of a barbarian country cannot be accomplished by simple commercial relations.

Imperialism is thus the systematic action of an organized people upon another people whose organization is defective; and it presupposes that it is the state itself, and not only some individuals, which is responsible for the mission. […]

Colonization by capital is a very important phenomenon. . . . European capitalists–and by this word we mean not only a banker, but every person putting aside a little money, a modest employee, a peasant, a worker, a spinster or a widow–can work effectively at colonization, the exploitation of the globe, without leaving their firesides. . . . All they need do is place their savings in an industrial enterprise which constructs railroads, digs canals, erects factories, clears the land in the young countries. In putting their savings to this use, the inhabitants of the old world are not in any way delinquent in their duty to their home country. The countries where civilization is old, like England or France, are enormous producers of capital, and the difficulties in employing their colossal annual savings remuneratively in their own lands becomes great. Of course, the substantial funds of the old countries can always be put into industrial, agricultural or social improvements; but the export of a part of these funds across the seas to the adolescent countries, is much more productive for the entire human race. The same capital which will produce 3 or 4 per cent when invested in agriculture in France brings 10, 15, or 20 per cent in an agricultural enterprise in the United States, in Canada, on the Plata River, in Australia, or in New Zealand. It is the same for funds put into building railroads. . . . In general terms, the old countries thus are becoming investors to which the rest of the world offers growing profit. .

The great value of colonies . . . is not only that they serve to catch the overflow population of the mother country, nor even that they open a particularly reliable area of investment for excess capital, it is also that they give a sharp stimulus to the commerce of the country, that they strengthen and support its industry and furnish to its inhabitants–industrialists, workers, consumer–a growth of profits, of wages, or of interest. But, . . . these advantages resulting from the prosperity of the colonies, are not limited just to the mother countries; they extend

to all the countries of the old world and in fact there is not a nation which does not derive a real benefit from this increase in the productivity of humanity. . . . Imperialism has caused the opening of new sources of production. . . . It is thus that unknown products have been brought to the consumers of Europe to increase their comfort. . . . That is the first and incontestable result of imperialism. And this is the second: It is to open the new markets for the sale of products manufactured in Europe, markets more profitable and more expandable than those we have been limited to previously, because the new societies have an ability to grow and to create and accumulate riches infinitely greater than the old societies. Thus trade is stimulated and extended, the division of labor is augmented; industry having before it wider openings can and must produce more and such production on a greater scale calls for new improvements and new advances….

The advantages of which we have been speaking so far are general and apply not only to the mother countries, but to all the civilized countries, even those without colonies. . . . [But] it appears to us incontestable that the home countries gain a special advantage from their own colonies: first, it is the capital of the citizens of the mother country which is sent there, and in this more productive field it is assured of higher interest, which improves the fortunes of the investors, of which a good number without doubt remain in the mother country. Further, the community of language, habits, and traditions, gives an advantage to the home country over all foreign nations even in free trade with the colonies. The colonists retain for a long time the tastes of the mother country, [and] their relations with her have a degree of intimacy which she rarely has with other nations….

It is extremely rare that a colony furnishes a net revenue to the mother country: in infancy it is not able, in maturity it does not want to. . . . Inasmuch as a colony must be administered by functionaries, and defended by soldiers and sailors, drawn from the mother country, it is probable that the mother country will be out of pocket a considerable sum….

Thus it is a great illusion to found colonies in the hopes of revenue: But on the other hand, the costs of colonies to the metropole have been singularly exaggerated by the adversaries of colonization.

The English colonies today cost the country nothing, on the whole at least… Today only her possessions in South Africa require at one time or another substantial expenses. . . . In the not too distant future, perhaps 15 or 20 years, one can hope that the English colonies of Africa . . . no longer will be a charge on the budget even in the least measure. . . . And after all, what are the few hundred thousand pounds which Great Britain actually pays for the upkeep of colonies as against the immense material and moral advantages which they procure for her?

Classroom Blogs

Search the sites below for two blogs with educational themes.

You may search for a content area, such as mathematics, or an area of

education such as working with children with autism or innovations in

technology. Search for a blog at one of the following websites:

Answer the following questions each about the 2 blogs you found. (YOU MUST FIND TWO BLOGS AND WRITE ABOUT BOTH BLOGGERS AND WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM THEIR SITES) Cite the source for the blogs in APA style.

1. Answer the following questions about the blogs you found.Cite the source for the blogs in APA style.

  • a. What are the qualifications or credentials of the blogger?
  • b. What are three things you learned from the blog?
  • c. How would you use the blogs with your students in the classroom
    to communicate information about the subject you are teaching? (Give
    some specific examples).
  • d. How would you use blogs with ELL and ESE students?

2. Give some specific examples of how you would use blogs to
communicate with your students and parents. (300 words for this part)

3. Create your own blog at www.edublogs.org related to the subject
you plan to teach. Sign up for free on their website. Post a 150-word
minimum entry to your students (hypothetically of course). After posting
your blog, copy and paste your post and include it in your Word
document along with the blog link and your answers for the above
questions.

see attachment for THE GRADING RUBRICS TO SEE HOW YOU WILL be SCORED ON THE ASSIGNMENT!

Please complete PPt as well

Complete both questions word document and ppt

1. You will be developing a complete Disaster Recovery Plan to be submitted to the executive board of your company.  Only MS Word (.DOC) and Adobe Acrobat (PDF) formats are acceptable.  Please note that this paper is an academic paper.  All references (peer-reviewed) mostly must be cited appropriately within the text and clearly avoid plagiarism.  The length of the paper should be 12-15 pages, 1.5 spacing and Times New Roman font. (Papers longer will result in less points)  A minimum of 5 peer review references must be provided.  Reference style is APA.  You must use APA formatting (6th Edition)

2. Your PPT should reflect a summary of your DR Project Plan.  You should have 12-15 slides.  The design elements and content will be judged equally

Healthcare Reform and 21st Century Healthcare Information Systems

Prepare a well-written paper that addresses all of the following topics and requirements:

Analyze and evaluate the implications of 5-7 major initiatives associated with healthcare reform on the designing and planning of 21st century healthcare information systems.

Evaluate the challenges associated with each trend and ways to overcome them.

Include an assessment of the impact that each initiative may have on the following:

Leadership, governance, and the role of a healthcare CIO

Strategic HMIS planning and organizational culture

Characteristics and capabilities of an enterprise resource planning system

Review legislation and regulations that could influence the implementation of health information management systems.

Explain how CIOs might assess the merits of each initiative based on vision, mission, and strategy.

Predict the global trends in the adoption of major standards and the use of HMIS over the next five years.

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

Be 8-11 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages

Cite 6 or more references. (Remember, you must support your thinking/opinions and prior knowledge with references; all facts must be supported; use in-text citations throughout the assignment and include them in an APA-formatted reference list.)

APA Requirements

What are patterns of interactions and planning implementing activities?

This is 2 assignment…Please read carefully!

Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.

Assignment 1:

Write a 1700 word essay addressing each of the following
points/questions. Be sure to completely answer the questions for each
bullet point. There should be sections, one for each bullet below.
Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows
your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section
of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3) citations in
your essay. Make sure to reference the citations using the APA writing
style for the essay. The cover page and reference page do not count
towards the minimum word amount.

This assignment requires ample observation of children/adult
interaction in diverse settings. Observe children in any of the
following settings: Preschool, day care, Boys and Girls Club, park or
any play area located in malls, shopping areas, or home.

Create a Table: During your observations, tally the
patterns of interaction you noticed for two of each type of language
speakers (2 of each type). An example of the table layout has been
provided.

Patterns of

Interaction

English Speakers

(a)

Language other than English

(a)

Bilingual

(evidence that both English and another language are used)

(a)

English Speakers

(b)

Language other than English

(b)

Bilingual

(evidence that both English and another language are used)

(b)

Eye-Contact and shared experience

Communication loop

Child-directed speech

Verbal

Questioning

Linguistic Scaffolding

Median

Write an essay

  • Explain key factors that contribute to both first language
    development and second language development. Explicitly highlight
    similarities and differences.
  • Summarize your observations highlighting the different types of
    language speakers and the patterns of interaction. Be sure to include
    specific information regarding communication between the adult and
    child. Provide specific dialogue/responses from both the adult and child
    to support the pattern of interaction you observed. Finally, analyze
    trends. Which patterns of interaction were more prevalent and which were
    rarely used.
  • Based on your analysis, indicate the types of activities that
    classroom teachers should incorporate in the classroom, so that children
    are getting exposure to an array of interaction patterns. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.
    Assignment 2:
    Essays:
    Write a 1750 word essay addressing each of the following
    points/questions. Be sure to completely answer the questions for each
    bullet point. There should be separate sections, one for each bullet
    below. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that
    allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that
    section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3)
    citations in your essay. Make sure to reference the citations using the
    APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page do
    not count towards the minimum word amount.
    1. According to your book, activity plans contain goals and
    objectives. Define each and describe how they relate to each another.
    2. Why is it important to sequence the objectives in your
    activity plan? What impact will this have on your teaching and on
    children’s participation in the activity?
    3. Developmentally, children proceed from enactive to symbolic
    representation. Define the three levels of representation identified in
    your book and provide an example of each. Talk about how knowledge of
    these three kinds of representation will affect practices in your early
    childhood classroom.
    4. Imagine that you are the head
    teacher for a group of 3 and 4-year-old children. The children in your
    class have become interested in mailing things and getting things in the
    mail. How could a group time serve as a way to explore this topic
    further? Outline the things you would have to consider and in what ways a
    group time would be appropriate or less appropriate for this purpose.

Finance Discussion

1) Does Chicago Rivet & Machine Co’s (CVR) PE Ratio Signal A Buying Opportunity?

Kelly Murphy

Simply Wall St. October 5, 2017

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/does-chicago-rivet-machine-co-201613354.html

2) Is Cynergistek Inc’s (CTEK) PE Ratio A Signal To Buy For Investors?

Mary Ramos

Simply Wall St. October 5, 2017

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cynergistek-inc-ctek-pe-ratio-144611055.html

3) Does Katana Capital Limited’s (ASX:KAT) PE Ratio Signal A Selling Opportunity?

Kyle Sanford

Simply Wall St. October 5, 2017

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/does-katana-capital-limited-asx-074409705.html

You can use the company assigned for you for the project.

Your assignment:

Please also note that your answers should be written in your own words. Don’t use quotes from the articles.

You are expected to make your own contribution in a main topic as well as respond with value added comments to at least two of your classmates as well as to your instructor.

For this question we will be using P/E ratio.

To find a company’s P/E ratio, use www.morningstar.com , enter the desired stock symbol and request a basic quote. Once you have the basic quote, the P/E ratio is listed on a front page.

Compare the P/E ratio of your company with the industry average or with major competitors. Is there a difference between these numbers? Is the stock overvalued, undervalued, or properly valued? Why? In accordance with your findings, is it reasonable to buy the stock? Please explain your answers.

Unit 5 Responses

Good evening,

Please provide a 100 word response for both of the below discussions.

Response 1:

Logical Fallacies

I often times face challenges dealing with logical fallacies and their negative impact on our daily lives. One fallacy that’s a challenge for me would be changing my belief based on some of my friends beliefs on a topic or situation. I’m not imposing that this is a constant challenge for me, but in certain situations this could be a challenge. Changing a belief solely because someone says they believe something will have a negative impact on you as a person. I think it’s acceptable to have the same opinion about something, but I would need to give a reason why I have that opinion versus having an opinion because of someone else’s direct opinion. I can argue that some people have the ability to be pervasive and that could also have a negative impact. Everybody has their right to their own opinion, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct or factual. Overcoming this challenge shouldn’t be difficult; giving reasoning behind the opinion eliminates copying someone else’s opinion. The second fallacy that I feel could be challenging to me is not having facts but believing something is true or false without proving it’s true or false. This is very similar to the first challenging fallacy because facts are needed to make them factual. This fallacy also has a negative impact because no one can say something is true or false without proving that is actually true or false. This could impose negativity on someone else having them believe something is true when its indeed false or changing a belief based off someone else’s. Overcoming this fallacy is quite simple; all that needs to be done is prove or have proof that something is true or false.

Response 2:

A Duracell commercial that I recently watched used the “appeal to emotion” logical fallacy. The commercial started with a man who was in the army; he then began to put Duracell batteries into a teddy bear. This bear was a gift to his daughter so that he could see her everyday as if he was still home. The commercial then showed the little girl becoming upset simply because she was not able to spend time with her father. The following day the father’s gift had arrived. The daughter opened the gift full of excitement and joy. The commercial made it seem as if Duracell batteries made life easier for these people, in which it did. The slogan in the is commercial was , “trusted by everyone.” In order to win over the audience, this brand used appeal to emotion to manipulate the audience.

A sprite commercial that I most recently watched had an appeal to authority logical fallacy. In the commercial was a famous rap artist recording music in a studio .The artist was not motivated to finish the song . The commercial made it seem as if he was having a very bad day. Once the artist mentioned that he was not feeling the song , his producer handed him a sprite. After the artist drunk the sprite, his body began to reload with energy. After drinking the product he was then able to perform the song at a higher energy level . The slogan of this Sprite commercial was “The Spark”. This slogan was used to let the audience believe that if you drink a bottle of sprite , you will have a boost of energy. This is a common way to appeal to authority. Because Sprite used a famous musical artist , they were able to get the audience to believe that this was a way to “gain energy”. In the commercial the famous artist was the “authority”. Because many people are fans of his music, sprite used his image to win over the audience.

Assignment 5: Business Marketing

Unit 5 Marketing Assignment.pdf

Unit5_BonVivant_Organic.pdf 

Please see the attachments with for the specifics of this assignment.    

Scenario:
You have just been hired as a new Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing associate with ZMX
Global, inc., a national distributor of food, beverage, and supplies to hospitality oriented
businesses. As part of your marketing training, you have been tasked with finding new
marketing opportunities (Retailers, wholesalers, Internet, institutions, etc.) for the distribution of
a new product called “Bon Vivant Organic Gourmet,” a high quality organic frozen food product.
Read the BonVivant Business and Product Profile: (attached). 

Your job as a B2B marketing associate is to build relationships with reputable organizations that
will successfully represent ZMX Global, Inc. and the Bon Vivant Organic Gourmet brand and
product with integrity. 

Directions:
Using what you learn from reading Chapter 7 to inform your work on this Assignment, build a 5-
slide audio visual presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint with audio covering the
characteristics that make Bon Vivant Organic Gourmet a business product.
(This is where your microphone either built into your computer in most cases or alternatively
your microphone headset you purchased, will be used.) 

Capital Budgeting with Funding Sources, business and finance homework help

This case has two separate parts.

Part I: Capital Budgeting Practice Problems

a. Consider the project with the following expected cash flows:

Year

Cash flow

0

-$400,000

1

$100,000

2

$120,000

3 $850,000
  • If the discount rate is 0%, what is the project’s net present value?
  • If the discount rate is 2%, what is the project’s net present value?
  • If the discount rate is 6%, what is the project’s net present value?
  • If the discount rate is 11%, what is the project’s net present value?
  • With a cost of capital of 5%, what is this project’s modified internal rate of return?

Now draw (for yourself) a chart where the discount rate is on the horizontal axis (the “x” axis) and the net present value on the vertical axis (the Y axis). Plot the net present value of the project as a function of the discount rate by dots for the four discount rates. Connect the four points using a free hand ‘smooth’ curve. The curve intersects the horizontal line at a particular discount rate. What is this discount rate at which the graph intersects the horizontal axis?

[ Look at the graph you draw and write a short paragraph stating what the graph ‘shows’]

b. Consider a project with the expected cash flows:

Year Cash flow
0

-$815,000

1

$141,000

2

$320,000

3

$440,000

  • What is this project’s internal rate of return?
  • If the discount rate is 1%, what is this project’s net present value?
  • If the discount rate is 4%, what is this project’s net present value?
  • If the discount rate is 10%, what is this project’s net present value?
  • If the discount rate is 18%, what is this project’s net present value?

Now draw (for yourself) a chart where the discount rate is on the horizontal axis (the “x” axis) and the net present value on the vertical axis (the Y axis). Plot the net present value of the project as a function of the discount rate by dots for the four discount rates. Connect the four points using a free hand ‘smooth’ curve. The curve intersects the horizontal line at a particular discount rate. What is this discount rate at which the graph intersects the horizontal axis?

[ Observe the graph and write a short paragraph stating what the graph ‘shows’]

c. Read the background materials. Then write a one-to-two page paper answering the following question:

Which method do you think is the better one for making capital budgeting decisions – IRR or NPV?

Part 2: Equity and Debt

Read the article below available in ProQuest:

American Superconductor switch ; Westboro company plans to raise money through a stock offering, Andi Esposito. Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Aug 26, 2003. pg. E.1

Abstract (Article Summary)

“AMSC’s management and board of directors believe the decision to forgo a secured debt financing and to adopt an equity financing strategy under current market conditions is in the best interests of our shareholders,” said Gregory J. Yurek, chief executive officer of AMSC. The 265-employee company has operations in Westboro and Devens and in Wisconsin.

Finally, the Northeast blackout “shined a lot of light on the problems we have been talking about as a company for three to four years,” Mr. Yurek said. AMSC products, such as a system installed this year in the aging Connecticut grid and high temperature superconductor power cables and other devices bought by China for its grid, are designed to improve the cost, efficiency and reliability of systems that generate, deliver and use electric power. “We are a company with products out there solving problems today,” he said.

After reading the background materials and doing your research, apply what you learned from the background materials and write a two to three page paper answering the following questions:

What are the advantages and disadvantages for AMSC to forgo their debt financing and take on equity financing? Do you agree with their decision? How can a company’s cost of equity be determined? Is there a tax deduction from the use of debt financing? Please explain.

Explain your answers thoroughly. Be sure to support your opinions on these assignment questions with references to the background materials or to other articles in your paper.

This assignment consists of a quantitative section (Part 1) and an essay section (Part 2) below. Upload both sections as one Word document by the end of the Module.