DC Unit 3

It is important to choose a marketing strategy that considers the environment, the competition and your products’ strengths and weaknesses. Make sure to practice with the Learning Activity if you are not confident regarding a SWOT Analysis before responding in the Discussion.

• What is the competitive strategy for your company? Using Porter’s Generic Strategy, which approach will you use and why?
• Once you identify your approach, discuss how your strategy will be implemented given the market forces. For example, if you choose a differentiation strategy, how will you differentiate your product or service from the competition?
• Will your prices reflect the strategy you chose? How will you market to the audience reflected in your strategy?

Genesis Energy Cash Position Analysis

The Genesis Energy operations management team is now preparing to implement the operating expansion plan. Previously, the firm’s cash position did not pose a challenge. However, the planned foreign expansion requires Genesis Energy to have a reliable source of funds for both short-term and long-term needs.

One of Genesis Energy’s potential lenders tells the team that in order to be considered as a viable customer, Genesis Energy must prepare and submit a monthly cash budget for the current year and a monthly cash budget for the subsequent year. The lender will review the cash budget and determine whether or not Genesis Energy can meet the loan repayment terms. Genesis Energy’s ability to repay the loan depends not only on sales and expenses but also on how quickly the company can collect payment from customers and how well it manages its supplier terms and other operating expenses. The Genesis Energy team members agreed that being fully prepared with factual data would allow them to maximize their position as well as negotiate favorable financing terms.

The Genesis Energy management team held a brainstorming session to chart a plan of action, which is detailed here.

• Evaluate historical data and prepare assumptions that will drive the planning process.
• Produce a detailed 2 year cash budget that summarizes cash inflow, outflow, and financing needs.
• Identify and compare interest rates, both short-term and long-term, using debt and equity.
• Analyze the financing mix (short/long) and the cost associated with the recommendation.

Since this expansion is critical to Genesis Energy expanding into new overseas markets, the operations management team has been asked to prepare an executive summary with supporting details for Genesis Energy’s senior executives.

Working over a weekend, the management team developed realistic assumptions to construct a working capital budget.

1. Sales: The marketing expert and the newly created customer service personnel developed sales projections based on historical data and forecast research. Please use the sales projections provided in the template. See “Download” in item 1 below.
2. Other cash receipt: Rental income $15,000 per month for Y1 and 20,000 for Y2.
3. Production material: The production manager forecasted material cost based on cost quotes from reliable vendors, the average of which is 45 percent of sales
4. Other production cost: Based on historical cost data, this cost on an average is 30 percent of the material cost and occurs in the month after material purchase
5. Selling and marketing expense: Six percent of sales
6. General and administrative expense: 18 percent of sales
7. Interest payments: $10,000—Payable in December Y1 and $0 payable in December Y2.
8. Tax payments: $15,000—Quarterly due on 1st of April, July, October, and January
9. Minimum cash balance desired: $25,000 per month
10. Cash balance start of month (December): $10,000
11. Available short-term annual interest rate is 8 percent, long-term debt rate is 9 percent, and long-term equity is 10 percent. All funds would be available the first month when the firm encounters a deficit
12. Dividend payment: None

Based on this information, do the following:

1. Using the Cash Budget spreadsheet, calculate detailed company cash budgets for the forthcoming and subsequent year. Summarize the sources and uses of cash, and identify the external financing needs for both the forthcoming and subsequent years.

   Download this Excel spreadsheet to view the company’s cash budget. You will calculate the company’s monthly cash budget for the forthcoming year and quarterly budget for the subsequent year using this information.

2. In an executive-level report, summarize the company's financing needs for the forecast period and provide your recommendations for financing the planned activities. Be sure to comment on the following:
   1. Your recommended financing solution and cost to the firm: If Genesis Energy needs operating cash, how should it fund this need? Are there internal policy changes with regard to collections or payables management you would recommend? What types of external financing are available?
   2. Your concerns associated with the firm's cash budget. Is this a sign of weak sales performance or poor cost control? Why or why not?

Finance Organization And Long-Term Planning

Considering Genesis Energy’s aggressive growth plan, Sensible Essentials suggested that its client should broaden the scope of financing beyond short-term loans and consider long-term financing options. These options would greatly enhance the ability of the operations management team to fund the capital investments and growth in operating expenses. 

One option is selling more equity in the company. A public stock offering might be a possibility; however, a company as young and small as Genesis Energy might be hard to value. Sensible Essentials believes that another private investor might require preferred stock dividends in order to mitigate some of the financial risk. Another option is a long-term bank loan.

Acting as the finance expert for Sensible Essentials, respond to the following:

• Determine the cost of debt and equity for Genesis Energy and its weighted average cost of capital. Go to www.yahoofinance.com and look under SEC filings. Use a US publicly traded company, such as Apple, Google, DuPont, etc. 
• Identify the sources of long-term financing for Genesis Energy.
• Analyze the potential costs and benefits of each option.
• Explain how relative risk (from the investor’s perspective) impacts the cost of capital for Genesis Energy.
• Determine the cost of debt and equity for Genesis Energy and its weighted average cost of capital.
• Calculate the required rate of return for Genesis Energy using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). What is the required return for Genesis Energy shareholders?

Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Unit 3

This Assignment will help you define who your customers are (and specificity is the key to success here), define why your company has a competitive advantage over others to attract and retain your customer base, and research regulations you will need to understand to get started as well as to maintain your enterprise.

Assignment checklist:

3.3: Competitors (from business plan outline in course resources)

1. Explanation
2. Table

3.4 Competitive advantage

3.5 Regulations

SWOT Analysis of First Rate Financial (Payday Loans Company)

SWOT Analysis of First Rate Financial (Payday Loans Company)

Strengths:

• Quick and easy same day loans

• No brokers or credit checks

Weaknesses:

• Extremely high interest rates

• Losses due to default accounts

Opportunities:

• Open two to three new offices in other locations

• Hire more experienced personnel to better market their services

Threats:

• Online loans

• Lenders that offer caps on fees and interest rates; where borrowers will not have to pay back more money in fees and interests than the original value of their loan agreement

One of the best aspects of this business is that they are able to create highly gross margins from their lending services (Payday Lender Swot diagnosis, 2011). However, a well-performed SWOT analysis will successfully outline the current situation along with the future possibilities of this business to help it reach it's desired visions and goals

Legalization Of Marijuana

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in   the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An   abstract is not required.

Research your assigned position as well as the alternatives so you   can critically engage with your opponents’ position.

Topic:  For Recreational Marijuana Legalization 

In 750 to 1,000 words, write a summary about your assigned position   that describes its major tenets and arguments for them. Make sure to   include the physiological, psychological, and sociological effects of   marijuana use in your summary.

Use five academic resources.   Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in   the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An   abstract is not required. 

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to   beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for   successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer   to the directions in the Student Success Center.

This assignment meets the following CACREP Standard: 5.C.2.h.     Classifications, indications, and contraindications of commonly     prescribed psychopharmacological medications for appropriate medical     referral and consultation.

Dissociative Disorders

For some time, criminal defendants and their attorneys have attempted to introduce mental health issues into the court setting. Indeed, the legal system has recognized that certain behaviors, prompted by mental health diagnoses, need to be taken into account when dealing with a defendant. Arguably, no diagnosis given in this area is more controversial than dissociative disorders. Many defendants, with little success, have attempted to use dissociative symptoms in hopes of mitigating their responsibility of alleged criminal wrongdoing. Therefore, it is especially important to know this area of disorders and how they are diagnosed.

To prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources.
• Focus on Chapter 8 of your text, and on the dissociative disorder classifications in the DSM-5.
• Consider the challenges dissociative disorders might present to a forensic psychology professional in a legal setting.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a comparison (similarities and differences) of dissociative identity disorder and one other dissociative disorder. Highlight the difference between the disorders in a way that allows you to accurately distinguish between the two when making a diagnosis. Then explain challenges dissociative disorders might present to forensic psychology professionals when introduced in a legal setting.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Scenario Analysis

Select one of the following theories that you feel best applies to treating the client in the case study:

1. Cognitive
2. Cognitive Behavioral
3. Reality

Write a 750-1,000-word analysis of the case study using the theory you chose. Include the following in your analysis.

1. What concepts of the theory make it the most appropriate for the client in the case study?
2. Why did you choose this theory over the others?
3. What will be the goals of counseling and what intervention strategies are used to accomplish those goals?
4. Is the theory designed for short- or long-term counseling?
5. What will be the counselor's role with this client?
6. What is the client’s role in counseling?
7. For what population(s) is this theory most appropriate? How does this theory address the social and cultural needs of the client?
8. What additional information might be helpful to know about this case?
9. What may be a risk in using this approach?

Include at least three scholarly references in your paper.

Each response to the assignment prompts should be addressed under a separate heading in your paper. Refer to "APA Headings and Seriation," located on the Purdue Owl website for help in formatting the headings.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

Assignment 3

Unit 3 Assignment 1

Impact of Addictions

For this assignment, select a specific substance use disorder or gambling to be your focus. The assignment focus is independent of the other two unit assignments that you will develop later in this course.

Research the history of this addiction and analyze how the history impacts theory and treatment for this addiction. This analysis of the historical context serves as an introduction to current issues to be addressed. Next, analyze the impact of this substance use (or gambling) on the individual, family, and community by reviewing relevant scholarly sources. Your analysis should address the following points:

· How does the impact of this behavior on an individual contribute to establishing a pattern of use that may escalate to addiction (meeting the criteria for a moderate or a severe specifier in DSM-5)?

· What social and cultural issues impact the legal and social consequences of this behavior? How might the consequences differ depending on the client's age, race or ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic class? (Select at least two to synthesize in your response.)

· How do these behaviors likely impact intimate and family relationships across the lifespan?

Follow these assignment requirements:

Written Communication: Written communication is thoughtful and free of errors that detract from the overall message.

APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting.

Number of resources: Minimum of six scholarly sources. Distinguished submissions will likely exceed this number.

Length of paper: 6–8 typed, double-spaced pages, plus title page and references.

Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Submission Requirements

You are required to submit your final version of this paper to Turnitin to generate a final report prior to submitting the assignment for grading. From the Turnitin tool, use the Final report option for the assignment. When your paper is downloaded and viewable in Turnitin, save the originality report. Refer to the Turnitin.com Tutorial: Viewing Originality Reports (linked in the assignment Resources) for guidance.

Submit the following two documents for this assignment:

Submit your saved Turnitin Originality Report file. The Turnitin originality report must accompany your paper or your assignment will not be graded. Your assignment will be considered late until the report is provided.

Submit your assignment using the following file naming format: Your Name_Assignment Number_Assignment Title (example: ImaLearner_u03a1_ImpactofAddictions). 

Resources

Impact of Addictions Scoring Guide.

APA Style and Formatting.

u03a1 Template.

Turnitin.com Tutorial: Viewing Originality Reports. 

Unit 3 Discussion 1

Stimulants Versus Depressants

Read the Discussion Participation Scoring Guide to learn how the instructor will evaluate your discussion participation throughout this course.

Select a specific central nervous system stimulant drug and a depressant drug or substance to compare. Using the basic pharmacological principles outlined in the Lewis text, rate the level of risk associated with the use of each substance to help explain how someone abusing the drug or overcoming tolerance might be motivated to increase the availability of the drug to their brain through the route of administration. Present an argument for which drug is more dangerous to the individual, family, or community. Consider examples from the Psy8430: Portrait of Addiction video viewed in Unit 2 to provide real-world implications.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the main discussion posts of two learners. What reactions do you have to the ideas they have presented? Include examples from the course readings or your own experience to support your perspective, and raise questions to continue the dialogue.

Resources

Discussion Participation Scoring Guide.

Portrait of Addiction. | Launch Presentation. 

W7 Assignment "Crime in the Media" 

Introduction to Sociology II 

Crime in the Media

Spend time noting images of crime in the media on television and/or in movies. Watch the nightly news, television programs, movies, and read newspaper articles (online or in print). Keep a journal of what types of crimes are reported, discussed or shown, who are the perpetrators of the crime (gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class), who are the victims of the crime (gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class), and how is the crime handled by law enforcement. Note the overall message about crime in society that you receive from these images.

Go to the website for the Bureau of Justice Statistics at www.bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov. Click on the subheading, “Crime Type,” at the left side of the page. Read through the summaries for each crime type, noting major themes and trends.

Write a 400 word essay describing your findings from the media analysis and comparing these media images with the information you found on the website for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Be sure to discuss, differences between media images about crime and realities based on national statistics. What information from the website surprised you? What is your overall reaction about this information? Why do you think the media portrays crime as increasing, when national numbers show that violent crime has been decreasing since 1994?