INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW

M. Violette

INSEEC Msc International Business Management Class 2

ASSIGNMENT CLASS 2

CASE STUDY

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Instructions :

The written memorandum must be submitted by January 19 at noon, on

You are employed by one of the two companies involved in the situation described below. Which company will be indicated to you.

You will have to write a memorandum containing between 1.000 and 2.000 words explaining what you think the legal situation of the company is. You will be careful to present the case in the best light for your company, and with the strongest arguments you can find in favor of your company. It would also be a good idea to try to anticipate the arguments of the other company, and prepare your own arguments to refute them.

There is one important rule to remember: NEVER INVENT NEW FACTS. Stick to what is described here. Ask for clarifications if needed.

You should pay attention to the following:

 what are the legal issues? (i.e. points that can be discussed from a legal perspective)

 for each issue, what arguments can be presented in favor of your company?

 what are the strengths and the weaknesses of those arguments?

 determine which articles of the CISG best support the claim of your company?

 determine which articles of the CISG can be used to oppose the other party’s claim?

To help you in your task, please take note of the following:

1/ in order to simplify things and avoid getting lost in the Convention on International Contracts for the Sale of Goods, only consider the articles that are provided inside of this document (see page 6). Do not refer to other articles, even when they seem relevant.

2/ in order to allow you to go further in the analysis of the articles of the CISG provided, you may use extra material that can be accessed online, and is linked to the articles of the CISG listed below (see page 6 below). It will only be useful to refer to the material you will find there when the legal situation is ambiguous, and, on the face of the text of the CISG, seems to be able to be argued both ways (both in favor of your company, or in favor of the other company). If and when you use what you read online, make sure to make clear references that I can check afterward, for example in a footnote, with a link to the document.

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3/ you do not have to refer to any scholarly writing, but you may do so if you think that would be helpful.

Try to be as organized as possible, break down the case in several different points that you will discuss one after the other.

For each point, start by stating what the problem is, then refer to the law (text of the relevant legislation, for example the CISG, or reference to the Rome I Regulation, etc.), then discuss how the law applies to the facts, and conclude. Ability to present your arguments clearly will be taken into account in final grade.

The pleadings are a summary of your written submission.

The main difference is that you will have to stress the arguments in favor of your company, and you will have to be more more concise since you will not have a lot of time to speak.

Each student in the team must take part in the pleadings.

Each team will have 8 minutes to plead (+2 minutes rebuttal). Defendant will start for 8 minutes, then Claimant will be allowed to speak for 8 minutes. After that, Defendant may speak again for 2 minutes for a quick answer to the arguments of Claimant, and Claimant may speak again 2 minutes to answer to that.

The pleadings should have this structure:

very short summary of the facts from the point of view of your company (max. 1 minute)

discussion of issues about jurisdiction of the tribunal

discussion about the merits of the contract issues

Grade will be determined as follows:

 written submission: 50%

 oral pleadings: 50%

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1/ The facts of the case

Dubon S.A. is a major building company that is based in Boulogne-Billancourt (France). It specializes in building shopping malls and big commercial outlets, and has been a very successful business (€180,000,000 turnover in 2018). One of its latest projects involves building a supermarket near Lyon. Dubon’s client insists that the new supermarket meet very high energy saving standards, and, for that reason, Dubon has had to design the place in a whole new manner, using modern materials and techniques to reduce energy spending while maintaining building costs acceptably low.

For that reason, Dubon has elected to install geothermal hybrid heat pumps (GHHP) for the cooling (in summer) and heating (in winter) of the building. The cost of the installation is higher than that of a standard system, but in the long run it should provide savings because of its high efficiency, and it is also “greener” than a standard installation for the same reasons. The client therefore agrees to Dubon’s plans to use GHHP in the building. There is plenty of time to manufacture and install the heat pumps since the building only has to be completed in July of 2020. As long as the heat pumps can be incorporated into the building no later than March 2019, the project will be delivered in time.

This technology is not very much developed in France yet, so that Dubon SA contacts an American firm, HeatSink Inc., to procure the GHHPs that are needed to complete the works. HeatSink is a small American company based in Seattle, Washington (US), that has been designing and constructing high quality, very efficient heat pumps for the American market for more than 20 years, and has some cutting-edge technology.

Ms Mercadier, who is the Project Supervisor for the construction of the supermarket at Dubon S.A., gets in touch with Mr Hockett, who is the World Sales Representative for HeatSink in the US. HeatSink does not have representatives in Europe, and most contacts with European clients happen by way of email, except for the initial contact, which is a phone conversation.

Ms Mercadier inquires about the existence of a model of pumps that would satisfy the needs of Dubon’s client, and the conversation gives her satisfaction. She then enters into an exchange of emails with Mr Hockett to discuss the contract of sale between the two companies (Exhibits 1 to 4 below).

After the emails were exchanged, HeatSink Inc. prepared the order of 10 heat pumps for shipping. They were packaged, and a freight forwarder took them in charge on November 3rd 2018 (The shipment was not made under an INCOTERM.). At the same time, Dubon SA ordered its bank to pay the two instalments, which was received by HeatSink’s bank. The pumps are delivered on

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November 30th, when the agreed delivery date was December 1st.

However, upon delivery, Mr Büchner, the lead engineer of Dubon SA on site, realizes that

the electrical specifications indicated in the contract are not met by the pumps: the employees of HeatSink Inc. forgot that the power supplies of the machines should be adapted to French power specifications. This technical requirement was made clear in the contract (see Exhibit 4).

For Dubon SA, the cost of having a French company replace all relevant electrical components and power supply would amount to US$9,000. They require HeatSink Inc. to pay them that amount of money. (see Exhibit 5)

HeatSink Inc. are sure they can fix the machines more easily, and at a lesser cost. Their engineers estimate that it would cost them between $4,000 and $6,000 to do the repair themselves, on site, in France, all included. Therefore, HeatSink Inc. offer to remedy the defect of the heat pumps themselves. Dubon SA answer they insist on receiving $9,000 (see Exhibits 6 to 9).

HeatSink Inc. consider that, given more time, they could perform the contract satisfactorily, and that their offer to cure is reasonable. They reject any claim that they would have to pay $9,000 damages.

Dubon SA need the pumps, and, therefore, they do not want to avoid the contract. They would like to claim damages instead, in the amount of US$9,000 for replacing the power supply.

HeatSink Inc. introduces an action in court in France. The French court agrees that the proceedings will be in English. HeatSink Inc. consider that the contract is governed by the law of the State of Washington. They ask for the application of the CISG. They want to be given an occasion to cure under article 48.

Dubon SA considers that the contract is governed by French law. They reject application of the CISG. They refuse to let HeatSink Inc. cure their bad performance, and they want to be paid $9,000 in damages.

Questions to be discussed before the court:

what is the domestic law applicable to the dispute?

is the CISG applicable to the dispute?

when was the contract formed?

under the CISG, art. 35, is there a breach of contract?

under the CISG, art. 48, does HeatSink Inc. have a right to cure the lack of conformity? can

Dubon SA obtain the $9,000 they are claiming?

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2/ Relevant articles of the CISG

(do not use any other CISG article than those listed here)

Article 1

(1) This Convention applies to contracts of sale of goods between parties whose places of business are in different States:

(a) when the States are Contracting States; or

(b) when the rules of private international law lead to the application of the law of a Contracting State. […]

Article 14

(1) A proposal for concluding a contract addressed to one or more specific persons constitutes an offer if it is sufficiently definite and indicates the intention of the offeror to be bound in case of acceptance. A proposal is sufficiently definite if it indicates the goods and expressly or implicitly fixes or makes provision for determining the quantity and the price. […]

Article 18

(1) A statement made by or other conduct of the offeree indicating assent to an offer is an acceptance. Silence or inactivity does not in itself amount to acceptance.

(2) An acceptance of an offer becomes effective at the moment the indication of assent reaches the offeror. […]

Article 23

A contract is concluded at the moment when an acceptance of an offer becomes effective in accordance with the provisions of this Convention. […]

Article 35

(1) The seller must deliver goods which are of the quantity, quality and description required by the contract andwhicharecontainedorpackagedinthemannerrequiredbythecontract. […]

Article 48 (see: http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/cisg/biblio/ziegel6.html)

(1) Subject to article 49, the seller may, even after the date for delivery, remedy at his own expense any failure to perform his obligations, if he can do so without unreasonable delay and without causing the buyer unreasonable inconvenience or uncertainty of reimbursement by the seller of expenses advanced by the buyer. However, the buyer retains any right to claim damages as provided for in this Convention. […]

Article 74 (see: http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/cisg/biblio/knapp-bb74.html)

Damages for breach of contract by one party consist of a sum equal to the loss, including loss of profit, suffered by the other party as a consequence of the breach. Such damages may not exceed the loss which the party in breach foresaw or ought to have foreseen at the time of the conclusion of the contract, in the light of the facts and matters of which he then knew or ought to have known, as a possible consequence of the breach of contract.

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Exhibit n°1: Email from Ms Mercadier to Mr Hockett

Date: September, 18th 2018, 11:31

From: maude.mercadier@dubon.com To: samuelhockett@heatsink.com Subject: GHHPs for French development

Dear Mr Hockett,

I am pleased to accept your quoted price for 10 HS R-230 and their command centre for US$250,000. This is a generous offer you are making, and we would be glad to do more business with your company in the future.

We would like to pay the price in 2 instalments, as follows: * 150.000$ on the 1st of October

* 100.000$ on the 1st of November

Given our schedule, delivery would have to take place by December 1st 2018. Please tell me if that is OK with you.

Sincerely,

Maude Mercadier

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Exhibit n°2: Email from Mr Hockett to Ms Mercadier

Date: September, 18th 2018, 12:01

From: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

To: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

Subject: Re: GHHPs for French development

Dear Ms Mercadier,

I hereby confirm that we would be able to ship the units as soon as the beginning of October. They should be delivered to you before the deadline you indicate.

Payment in two instalments following your proposition is not a problem. I will put you in touch with Accounting for the details.

I am glad to see that we have a perfect agreement.

A copy of the contract is attached. Can you please have it signed by your company’s representatives and send it back to me?

Sincerely, S. Hockett

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Exhibit n°3: Email from Ms Mercadier to Mr Hockett

Date: September, 20th 2018, 14:39

From: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

To: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

Cc: service_juridique@dubon.com; compta@dubon.com Subject: GHHPs for French development

Dear Mr Hockett,

I am pleased to attach a copy of the signed contract in this email. A paper copy will be delivered to you by postal mail within a few days.

We are looking forward to receiving the heat pumps.

Sincerely,

Maude Mercadier

[attachment: Dubon_HeatSink_Contract.pdf]

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Exhibit n°4: Extracts from the contract

[Dubon_HeatSink_Contract.pdf]

Contract of sale between Dubon S.A. and HeatSink Inc.

Article 1

This Contract of sale is made between HeatSink Inc. (hereafter: the Seller) and Dubon SA (hereafter: the Buyer)…

Article 19

[…] The Seller guarantees that the Machines by him manufactured and delivered, as per this Contract, will conform to French regulations, including but not limited to security standards, electrical standards, and regulations made for the protection of the environment. […]

Article 23

In case of a dispute relating to any aspect of this contract, its validity, it shall be finally settled by the courts of the French Republic, in Paris (France).

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Sincerely,

Exhibit n°5: Email from Ms Mercadier to Mr Hockett

Date: November, 1st 2018, 10:09

From: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

To: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

Subject: Re: Re: GHHPs for French development

Dear Mr Hockett,

I am very pleased to say that we seem to have received the shipment.

However, our engineers have determined that the GHHPs received do not confomr to contractual specs.

We have determined that the heat pumps you have delivered do not conform to French power supply standards. As they are, they cannot be connected to the power grid, and are therefore useless to us.

Our engineers have determined that a small modification of the machines will be necessary to be able to operate them in France. There is a French company that we have worked with in the past and that we trust can do the modification. Their price for this operation is $9,000. We are hereby requesting that you pay this price in damages to us, so that we can contract with them.

Maude Mercadier

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Exhibit n°6: Email from Mr Hockett to Ms Mercadier

Date: November, 4th 2018, 10:21

From: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

To: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

Subject: Re: GHHPs for French development

Dear Ms Mercadier,

I am very sorry this specification problem occurred. This part of the order was fulfilled by an employee who was but recently hired, and was improperly supervised.

We deeply apologize for this inconvenience. This accident does not reflect the high quality standards HeatSink sets in manufacturing its products.

We would like to offer a different solution from the one you suggested in your email of Nov. 1st. We have built those machines, and we are best equipped to modify them.

We will fly the parts and two of our technicians to France immediately, to work on those modifications you mentioned.

The technicians could arrive on site on November 6th, in two days. It would take them 3no more than 2 days to replace all the parts that need to be replaced.

We will take care of all the expenses. You will need to pay nothing. I hope this solution will meet your approval.

Sincerely, S. Hockett

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Exhibit n°7: Email from Ms Mercadier to Mr Hockett

Date: November, 5th 2018, 10:09

From: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

To: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

Subject: Re: Re: GHHPs for French development

Dear Mr Hockett,

I am very sorry to have to reject your offer.

We need the replacement to be done quickly. We trust the French company we want to hire will do the job in less time.

Please order your bank to transfer the $9,000 needed to repair the mistake made by your employee.

I trust that you understand this is the best solution, from a business perspective. Sincerely,

Maude Mercadier

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Exhibit n°8: Email from Mr Hockett to Ms Mercadier

Date: November, 6th 2018, 11:02

From: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

To: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

Subject: Re: GHHPs for French development

Dear Ms Mercadier,

I insist our solution is the best. It is far less expensive for us to make the repair ourselves, than to pay your company $9,000.

Our technicians on site will make sure everything is in order before leaving. This way you have a guarantee the machines will give you complete satisfaction.

Sincerely, S. Hockett

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Exhibit n°9: Email from Ms Mercadier to Mr Hockett

Date: November, 8th 2018, 15:03

From: maude.mercadier@dubon.com

To: samuelhockett@heatsink.com

Subject: Re: Re: GHHPs for French development

Dear Sir,

Thank you again for your offer. Again, I must refuse, and insist you give us the $9,000 we need. As long as the payment is not made we cannot hire the repair company and make the needed modifications.

If you delay much longer we will have to ask for damages to compensate the fact that the works have been delayed because of your failing to deliver properly functioning heat pumps. If we cannot meet our deadline with our client, we will have you pay any penalties we are required to pay ourselves.

Yours sincerely, Maude Mercadier

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write a full size page flier for admission in Morgan state university which is a black historical university , your audience and goal are the hight school kids whom just graduated and trying to apply for the university

get their attention them interest by using pictures and good words and them social clubs and activities to encourage them for applying and some offers like waiving fees .

dont forgot to write the university website so they can apply and the phone number of the admission.

the goal is to bring more international students and white students in order to have a diversity at the school.

use some nice background like the flier I uploaded.

This paper consists of four sections. Your task is to choose one citation from each section and to write a critical commentary/analysis. You should consider the context of the citation, who is speaking, and why they say what they do. Feel free to draw on your knowledge of Plato, More, Machiavelli, and Boétie when writing your commentary.

Please do not write a summary of the book or the life of the theorist. An analysis is a focused piece of writing that examines a particular citation n detail.

Be sure to write precise, clear sentences. Analyses are normally one to two pages in length, double-spaced, and written in Times New Roman 12 point font.

Remember to:

• Include a cover page with your name, the professor’s name, the class and section number, and the date.
• Please use Times New Roman 12 point font.
• Start a new page for each answer.
• Number your answers clearly.
• Check spelling and grammar.

Critically analyze one of the following citations from Socrates:

From the Apology

1. ‘No man on earth who conscientiously opposes either you or any other organized democracy, and flatly prevents a great many wrongs and illegalities from taking place in the state to which he belongs, can possibly escape with his life. The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.’

From the Crito

2. ‘Compared with your mother and father your country is something far more precious, more venerable, more sacred, and held in greater honor both among the gods and among all reasonable men.’

Critically analyze one of the following citations from Thomas More:

From Book One

3. ‘There’s certainly no room for the academic variety [of philosophy], which says what it thinks irrespective of the circumstances. But there is a more civilized form of philosophy which knows the dramatic context, so to speak, tries to fit in with it, and plays an appropriate part in the current performance.’

From Book Two

4. ‘…war is the one thing they have in mind when accumulating all that wealth. You see, it’s meant to protect them in the event of any major crisis or emergency. Its chief function is to provide colossal rates for foreign mercenaries.’

Critically analyze one of the following citations from Niccolo Machiavelli:

5. ‘We can say that cruelty is used well (if it is permissible to talk in this way of what is evil) when it is employed once for all, and one’s safety depends on it, and then it is not persisted in but as far as possible turned to the good of one’s subjects. Cruelty badly used is that which, although infrequent to start with, as time goes on, rather than disappearing grows in intensity. [Those who use the latter method]…cannot possibly stay in power.’

6. ‘…the gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation…if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must learn not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.’

Critically analyze one of the following citations from Etienne de la Boétie:

7. ‘…let us imagine some newborn individuals, neither acquainted with slavery nor desirous of liberty, ignorant indeed of the very words. If they were permitted to choose between being slaves and free men, to which would they give their vote? There can be no doubt that they would much prefer to be guided by reason itself than to be ordered about by the whims of a single man.’

8. ‘Men are like handsome race horses who first bite the bit and later like it, and rearing under the saddle a while soon learn to enjoy displaying their harness and prance proudly beneath their trappings.’

Required Text:

• Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates/The Last Days of Socrates

https://archive.org/stream/trialanddeathofs00plati…

• More, Utopia

https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/utopia.pdf

• Machiavelli, The Prince

https://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/public…

• Etienne de la Boétie, Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

https://mises.org/sites/default/files/Politics%20o…

Email Inbox Exercise

Adapted from scenarios developed by KPMG and University of Leeds, UK)

The scenario

Your name is P Smith and you are the Marketing Manager of a company named Reeder. Your boss is Janet Clifton. Reeder is a retailing company specializing in sales of foods and pharmaceutical products that has branches through the country. Its head office, where you work, is in San Jose and its CEO is George Wilkes.

Reeder hired you because you are an ambitious, positive thinker who’ll make things happen. Read each question and consider the suggested courses of action. Then write an email or letter in which you implement the action you feel to be most appropriate.

Spend no more than 90 minutes on this exercise, and record your answers in a word-processing document with each response labeled as follows: “Response to Question 1,” “Response to Question 2,” etc.

Good luck!

Question 1 – Conference Confusion

From: George Wilkes

Subject: Innovations in Drugs Conference 21st October

I’ve just had a phone conversation with Frank Fielding of Kemiko, who are the major drug manufacturing companyorganizing the above conference. He tells me that there is going to be a presentation by the manufacturers of Supranine, a revolutionary new drug for hay fever sufferers that has just been approved for sale over the counter by retailers in this country. I’ve read several reviews of this new drug, and it looks set to take a very large share of the overall market.

I feel that the market in hay fever remedies is one that we have never properly got to grips with in this company, and since the size of this sector of the market expands every year, we must do something about this. We also regularly see drug sales plummet in the spring and summer months when cold remedies are not selling – increased sales of hay fever products would help to reduce this.

I’ve arranged a meeting with Karen for the week after the conference to discuss this, but she is on holiday the week before and therefore cannot attend the conference itself. I want you to make sure that you bring back a copy of all handouts relating to this product and any other information that you think we’ll need when coming to our decision as to whether or not to market this product.

What do you do?

A – Attend the conference

B – Send someone else

C – Don’t attend but order material to be sent

Question 2 – Company Car

From: R. Patel

Subject: Delivery of new company car

I’ve completed final negotiations with the dealer supplying your new company car. They’ll have it ready for pickup between 3 and 5 pm on Thursday, October 21st, so I would be grateful if you could arrange for it to be collected at that time. They have agreed to include the sunroof, remote alarm and the CD player at the price we originally agreed. I’ve also arranged for your old car to be collected from the car park at Head Office on the afternoon of the same day.

Please let me know immediately of any faults that you notice. When we’re paying this amount of money for a car it should be perfect!

What do you do?

A – Collect the car yourself

B – Arrange to collect the car another day

C – Arrange for someone else to collect the car

Question 3 – Legal Action

From: susan.yu@grabit&runne.co.uk (the company’s attorney)

Subject: Impending legal action by Kwono of Japan

I’ve been notified by our office in the Far East that Kwono is seriously considering taking legal action as a result of your high profile launch last month of Fango toothpaste. It appears that the name ‘Fango‘ was registered by Kwono three years ago and has been used by them for a highly successful cream to treat athlete’s foot in Japan and throughout the Far East. Last year ‘Fango‘ was apparently the most popular over-the-counter foot care product in Japan, and they have plans to market the product in Europe. Kwono is very unhappy that another product has been launched under the same name.

What do you do?

A – Immediately forward email to Janet Clifton and George Wilkes for them to action

B – Reply to email seeking legal advice, ‘cc’-ing it on to Janet Clifton and George Wilkes

C – Reply to email seeking legal advice

Question 4 – Charity Calls

You receive this letter:

FROM: National Society for Handicapped Children, Washington DC

TO: Head of Marketing, Reeder Ltd, San Jose, CA

Dear Sir or Madam,

As you know, we are one of the leading charities presently helping children and young people who suffer from a wide range of handicaps. There is a vast amount of work for us to do to bring some hope into the lives of many thousands of children, but unfortunately we find that our funds are not enough to enable us to do what we feel needs to be done. We rely very heavily on support from the public, and in particular from corporate sponsorship and donations to enable us to carry on with our work. To this end we have arranged a major fundraising concert on December 12 to be held at Symphony Hall inMountain View, featuring the City of San Jose Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

In order for this to be the success that we hope for, we are asking local businesses to support the event with sponsorship or a donation. We would be grateful for donations of whatever size, but if you feel able to contribute $1000 or more we would be able to arrange some corporate entertaining for a party of you and your guests at the concert.

Businesses have told us in the past that they find this type of entertaining a very pleasant way of thanking customers or staff for their support. I do hope that you will feel able to help us in this way. If you would like any further information about our organization or the work that we do, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Smethhurst

(Head of Fundraising)

What do you do?

A – Refer to Janet Clifton

B – Refuse donation

C – Give donation or sponsorship

Question 5 – It’s big news!

Reading the paper on the way to work you see this article…

CVS for Safeway

Retailing giants CVS and Safeway yesterday announced a deal which will see the pharmacy chain’s Health and Beauty shops opening on supermarket sites. Initially the openings will be on an experimental basis in seven stores, but if the experiment works, observers believe that the format could be introduced widely throughout the Safeway superstore chain.

Both companies were being cagey about the project’s potential yesterday. A Safeway spokeswoman would only say that if successful it is hoped to extend the trial into other stores. But one analyst said: “This has potentially enormous importance in the longer term.” Initially the experiment will be restricted to stores in Sunnyvale, San Bruno, Pleasanton, Milpitas, Santa Teresa, Los Gatos, and Santa Clara; Safeway will provide space and charge CVS rent.

CVS‘s downtown shops have been under pressure from Walgreens and other competitors who have undercut CVS on perfumes, sun creams and condoms. But CVS‘s spokeswomen could not comment on the company’s pricing strategy in the experimental concessions, and it is not known whether prices would match those in other health and beauty shops. Safewayalready has five concessions with Lloyds Chemists, and 12 Sketchley dry cleaners.

What do you do?

A – Email summary of article to Janet Clifton

B – Find article online and send link to Janet

C – Email summary and link, along with your recommendations for Reeder’s response to the news

Question 6 – Drinks do

You receive this email from Fred Hill, a manager at your level and working in a closely related area:

Subject: Drinks Do: Old Bell, Queens Rd, This Friday

As you may have heard, Marianne and I got engaged on Saturday, and we will be celebrating this at the Bell and Anchor on Friday. We hope that you will be able to join us at about 5.30 after work for a few drinks, and then to go on for a Chinese restaurant at about 7.30. We need to make a reservation at the restaurant, so please let me know whether you will be able to come. Boyfriends/girlfriends/husbands/wives are very welcome of course!

The following post-it note also arrives on your desk:

Your girlfriend/boyfriend phoned while you were away from your desk and asked me to give you the message that he/she has managed to book theatre tickets for the Regent Theatre on Queens Road for Friday night. Performance starts at 7.45pm. Please call back to confirm whether or not you can make it.

What do you do?

A – Go to Fred’s drinks and theatre

B – Go to Fred’s drinks, meal and theatre

C – Go to Fred’s drinks and meal

D – Go to Fred’s drinks only

Question 7 – Business Development

Minutes from a Business Development Committee meeting:

1. Proposed extension of range of ready meals.

F Hill reported back to the committee on this matter. There appears to be considerable evidence that ready meals arebecoming increasingly popular, particularly in the larger towns and cities where the main buyers appear to be office workers who buy meals during the day to save cooking for themselves in the evening. These products have a high margin. The potential problem with them is that they have a very short shelf life. Foreign foods and “healthy” foods

appear to be more popular than other types. G Wilkes proposed that a detailed costing exercise should be carried out. F Hill suggested that customer opinion could be sought in branches. J Clifton agreed to arrange this. Further discussion was deferred to the next meeting.

2. Introduction of lockable display cabinets.

K Milward reported that she was very unhappy about the introduction of lockable glass covers over many products inbranches. Although the committee had approved this three months ago, she felt that it was acting as a considerable deterrent to customers buying products, and sales had suffered accordingly. K Milward agreed to provide further detailed analysis of the fall in sales by line and the effect on profit. R West agreed to quantify the fall in shrinkage levels since these cabinets have been introduced. The matter would be further reviewed in the light of this information at the next meeting.

3. New branch opening.

J Clifton stated that arrangements for the opening of the new branch in Milpitas on November 18 were well in hand. All the normal publicity had been arranged for the event with exception of the 2-page spread in the San Jose Mercury News, which has not yet been arranged because they do not accept advertisements more than 1 month in advance of publication. The design work for the spread has been prepared. It was planned to appear in the November 12 edition. It was agreed that P Smith would arrange this.

4. Seasonal fluctuations in pharmaceutical product sales.

G Wilkes stated that he was concerned about the low sales in pharmaceutical products over the summer months that are experienced every year. Although this is due to very low sales in cough and cold remedies which yield high profits in the winter months, he felt that there were areas that we could expand which would compensate for this to some extent, such as insect repellent, hay fever treatments and skincare products. He is currently reviewing a number of possible products and hopes to have further information available for the next meeting.

5. Results for last month.

GW congratulated everyone, particularly the food sales staff, on very good results.

6. Any other business.

None.

What do you do?

A – Arrange branch opening publicity immediately

B – Organize customer research immediately

C – Arrange branch opening publicity and organize customer research

D – Delegate branch opening publicity

Question 8 – Synchronized Sponsorship

You receive this letter…

FROM: The Synchronized Swimming Society, West Valley College

TO: Marketing Manager, Reeder Ltd, San Jose

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing on behalf of our society, which was formed last year, in the hope that you will feel able to sponsor us on a tour of the Hawaiian islands. We hope to tour the islands next May for two weeks with a team of about 10 people. We plan to give demonstrations of synchronized swimming in the sea and swimming pools and to raise the profile of the sport in general by our presence.

We will be able to display the Reeder name and logo prominently on our swimwear, thus giving a high degree ofexposure to your company. We will also be able to publicize the use of some of the food and beauty products that you sell, for example waterproof cosmetics and slimming products (as several of our team have recently been on diets and will happily attribute their success to one or more of the diet programs that you sell).

We would hope that you would consider a figure in the region of $8,000 reasonable for such sponsorship. We look forward to hearing from you and feel sure that this arrangement will be very beneficial to us both in the future.

Yours faithfully,

Alison Worth

Secretary

What do you do?

A – Refer letter to your boss, Janet, with a recommendation

B – Accept sponsorship

C – Write a declining letter

Primary Discussion Response is due by Friday (11:59:59pm Central), Peer Responses are due by Tuesday (11:59:59pm Central).

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

The time value of money concept is one of the 3 major principles of the study and practice of financial management. It is used to evaluate potential investments, determine a rate of return on a project, calculate the required payments on a loan or annuity, and estimate a future value of funds currently invested and the present value of funds to be received at some future date. It is imperative that managers at all levels of business have a working knowledge of this topic. In your first task, you have been asked to engage your colleagues in a detailed and documented discussion about the time value of money concept: what it is, why it is important, how it is used, and generally, how the applications to single and periodic payments are computed using various calculation methods and formulas.

In your initial post, identify and recommend at least 1 credible Web site that an investor can visit to find the current market value of market indexes such as the Dow Industrial Averages, and address at least 3 of the following:

• What is the discounted cash flow concept, and why is it essential for financial managers to understand and employ this important concept?
• What are the methods associated with evaluating single or periodic payments, and what is at least 1 application of each?
• Discuss the different methods that can be used to calculate these amounts, and explain how at least 1 of these models can be used.
• How can the time value of money models or formulas be used to determine the rate of return for an investment or the time it will take for a current sum to grow to a desired future amount?
• Discuss the “Rule of 72” and how it can be used to estimate how long it takes for money to double at various rates of return.
• Identify and recommend at least 1 credible Web site that an investor can visit to find the current market value of market indexes such as the Dow Industrial Averages.

Be sure to document your posts with in-text citations, credible sources, and properly listed references.

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with a reply of 100–200 words about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

• What did you learn from your classmate’s posting?
• What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
• What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
• What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.