Real Business

Large discount retailers like Target and Walmart employ large teams of Finance and Accounting professionals to help measure and understand the financial health of the business. Financial and accounting information helps these businesses make educated financial decisions, such as whether or not to continue partnering with a retail supplier. While often smaller businesses, it is equally important for these retail suppliers to use financial and accounting data to make educated decisions, such as the best approach to gaining additional funding.

Your Role

This week, you’ll assume the role of Senior Accountant with SunsTruck Sunglasses.

For the last six months, SunsTruck has partnered with the discount retail store to run a pop-up sunglasses stand in their stores for a big summer promotion. Due to the high customer purchase rate, the store has requested stock for five additional stores. SunsTruck needs to increase its capacity to meet the additional demand. In order to do so, SunsTruck needs additional money. In this assignment, you will need to help determine which type of financing option is best for your company and train your junior accountants on the accounting cycle and financial statements.

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Financing

The junior accounting team has assembled a Financing Report that (a) offers three options for securing the additional funds required to meet the new order; and (b) details the criteria Shaun, the owner of SunsTruck, would like you to consider when choosing one of the options. Based on this report:

• Identify which financing option you think is the best option for SunsTruck to pursue given Shaun’s constraints. Explain the rationale for your decision.

Note: You should complete Steps 2,3 & 4 after reading the material in Week 5.

Step 2: Accounting Cycle

A junior accountant is working to get everything in order for the new financing and has come to you with a question about what do next in the accounting cycle.

• Read the email the junior accountant sent you and identify the best next step to take in the accounting cycle. Explain your reasoning.

Step 3: Financial Statements

A potential investor has been identified, but before it is willing to commit, it has requested information about SunsTruck’s current debt from the junior accountants.

• Identify the correct financial statement for your junior accountants that will provide the investor with the information it has requested. Explain to your junior accountants why you are giving them this financial statement and where the debt information is located.

Step 4: Financial Analysis

If you were the type of financier selected in Step 1, would you invest in SunsTruck? Explain the rationale for your decision.

  

To manage relationships with your customers, you would use a(n) __________ system.

Question options:

  

CRM

 

MIS

 

CLE

 

KMS

 

Question 2

Which of the following constitutes an organizational element in the UPS tracking system described in chapter 1?

Question options:

  

The specification of procedures   for identifying packages with sender and recipient information

 

Monitoring service levels

 

Promoting the company strategy of   low-cost, superior service

 

The use of handheld computers and   networks for managing package delivery

 

Question 3

Disciplines that contribute to the technical approach to information systems are:

Question options:

  

computer science, engineering, and   networking.

 

operations research, management   science, and computer science.

 

engineering, utilization   management, and computer science.

 

management science, computer   science, and engineering.

 

Question 4

If your main supplier was late in delivering goods, which type of system would you use to update your production schedule?

Question options:

  

ESS

 

TPS

 

MIS

 

DSS

 

Question 5

Which of the following is the greatest obstacle in enabling collaboration between employees at different, distant corporate locations?

Question options:

  

Privacy

 

Permissions

 

Time zones

 

Language

 

Question 6

You have been hired by Inspiration Inc., to help improve their profit margin. Inspiration Inc. is a business communications consultancy that services many clients in different industries throughout the United States. The end products of the company are customized recommendations for the best use of a client’s existing resources for improving internal communications, typically delivered via documentation in different media. The company has approximately 100 consultants, all of whom are located in their central headquarters in Chicago. What system do you recommend to improve the company’s business processes and increase their profit margin?

Question options:

  

Extranet, to enable quick   collaboration over the Internet, minimize the time spent communicating with   the client, and minimize the amount of paperwork needed

 

CRM, to maintain easily accessible   customer records to minimize the time spent looking for client data

 

KMS, for minimizing redundant work   on similar clients

 

Marketing system, for improving   sales levels

 

Question 7

The average number of tickets sold daily online is an example of:

Question options:

  

input.

 

raw data.

 

meaningful information.

 

feedback.

 

Question 8

An example of a business using information systems to create new products and services is:

Question options:

  

Wal-Mart’s RetailLink system.

 

the Mandarin Oriental hotel’s   customer-preference tracking system.

 

Verizon’s Web-based digital   dashboard.

 

Apple Inc.’s iPod.

 

Question 9

A(n) __________ system is typically a major source of data for other systems.

Question options:

  

transaction processing

 

management information

 

executive support

 

decision-support

 

Question 10

An example of a cross-functional business process is:

Question options:

  

identifying customers.

 

transporting the product.

 

creating a new product.

 

assembling a product.

 

Question 11

Sociologists study information systems with an eye to understanding:

Question options:

  

how systems affect individuals,   groups, and organizations.

 

how human decision makers perceive   and use formal information.

 

how new information systems change   the control and cost structures within the firm.

 

the production of digital goods.

 

Question 12

A firm that must invest in new information systems capabilities in order to comply with federal legislation can be said to be investing to achieve which business objective?

Question options:

  

Customer intimacy

 

Operational excellence

 

Survival

 

Improved reporting

 

Question 13

Non-typical business problems with causes and effects that are rapidly changing are typically handled by which type of information system?

Question options:

  

MIS

 

TPS

 

DSS

 

ESS

 

Question 14

Which of the following are key corporate assets?

Question options:

  

Intellectual property, core   competencies, and financial and human assets

 

Production technologies and   business processes for sales, marketing, and finance

 

Knowledge and the firm’s tangible   assets, such as goods or services

 

Time and knowledge

 

Question 15

Thomas Friedman’s declaration that the world was now “flat” meant that:

Question options:

  

the Internet has reduced the   economic advantages of developed countries.

 

globalization is starting to offer   less advantage to large corporations.

 

the global economy is increasingly   commanded by fewer and larger corporations.

 

global capitalism is homogenizing   culture and business practices throughout the world.

 

Question 16

Which of the following systems is designed to support organization-wide process coordination and integration?

Question options:

  

Decision-support systems

 

Management information systems

 

CRM systems

 

Enterprise applications

 

Question 17

Which of the following is a highly structured decision?

Question options:

  

Creating a new product

 

Granting credit to a customer

 

Calculating the best trucking   routes for product delivery

 

Estimating the effect of changing   costs of supply materials

 

Question 18

Psychologists study information systems with an eye to understanding:

Question options:

  

how systems affect individuals,   groups, and organizations.

 

how human decision makers perceive   and use formal information.

 

how new information systems change   the control and cost structures within the firm.

 

the production of digital goods.

 

Question 19

Which level of the organization are ESS specifically designed to serve?

Question options:

  

Operational

 

End-user

 

Middle management

 

Senior management

 

Question 20

The term “management information systems” designates a specific category of information systems serving:

Question options:

  

integrated data processing   throughout the firm.

 

transaction process reporting.

 

employees with online access to   historical records.

 

middle management functions.

1. Sobrero Corporation, a Mexican affiliate of a major U.S.-based hotel chain, starts the calendar year with 1 billion pesos (P) cash equity investment. It immediately acquires a refurbished hotel in Acapulco for P 900 million. Owing to a favorable tourist season, Sobrero Corporation’s rental revenues were P 144 million for the year. Operating expenses of P 86,400,000 together with rental revenues were incurred uniformly throughout the year. The building, compris- ing 80 percent of the original purchase price (balance attributed to land), has an esti- mated useful life of 20 years and is being depreciated in straight-line fashion. By year- end, the Mexican consumer price index rose to 420 from an initial level of 263, averaging 340 during the year.

 

Required:

1. Prepare financial statements for Sobrero Corporation’s first year of operations in terms of the historical-cost model and the historical-cost-constant dollar model.

2. Compare and evaluate the information content of rate-of-return statistics com- puted using each of these models.

  

Case 1-1 from the book:  Argenti, P. A. (2016). Corporate communication (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780073403274 

How does the changing environment for business affect Google’s ability to communicate in this situation?

  

You are required to conduct research using the Liberty University Online Library to respond to each question.  By using the resources available on the Liberty University Online Library site, you will find 3 articles by 3 different authors to answer the question chosen. All of the articles must have been published within the past 5 years. An answer to the question must be based upon a full analysis of the research and must be fully grounded in the research. Compare and contrast the 3 articles you researched, all of which must be utilized in your answer. 

• Your project sponsor and customer are impressed with your project schedule, but due to some factors out of their control, you’ve been told to deliver your project early, roughly 15% earlier than anticipated. Using the information from the readings, explain how you would go about assessing the possibility of delivering your project early. How will that affect scope, costs, and schedule?
• After posting your response, respond to at least one of your classmates on their explanation.