Essay on Case 20 : Aurora Textile Company

prices for lululemon-branded items that offered performance, fit, and comfort and were stylish as well. The

Human Relations in Business – Maja Barnes’ Case Study 11-2: So, Is This How You Learn Leadership?

- We believe that breaking out the data by studio is an advantage because it provides direction.

1. Please assess the economic benefits of acquiring the Vulcan Mold-Maker machine. What is the initial outlay? What are the benefits over time? What is an appropriate discount rate? Does the net present value(NPV) warrant the investment in the machine?

All relevant costs located in worksheets #2, and #3 indicate that Shamrock manufacturing will benefit by replacing the machines at either equipment cost. However, worksheet #1 presents a problem for Mr. Fitzgerald as it shows a $6500 increase in the first year expenses, which are irrelevant in the long-run, but may encourage Mr. Fitzgerald not to purchase the new equipment because it may reflect badly on the short-run net operating income of his plant during the evaluation period for his promotion. Worksheet #3 offers a breakeven scenario in the first year and a $24,000 reduction in relevant cash flows in year two, which is the best option for Mr. Fitzgerald and Shamrock, if available.

The first of these concerns would be the financial situation of Aurora Textiles as a whole. We have historically been a very strong company who has been seen as one of the premier companies in the textile industry. As of late we have posted less than stellar numbers though. In each of the last four years, we have posted negative net earnings. This is troubling and if this continues it could lead to us having to liquidate the company. With the current cash burn rate that we are on, our company will be bankrupt in 7.86 years. When evaluating the Zinser project we will look at this as the tentative cutoff date for when we can realize the cash flows for this project. Although we have been struggling financially and have an approaching timeline for turning the company around, we find that this only gives us more of an urgency to invest in the Zinser. First of all, when looking at the discounted payback period for the project, we have discounted back the cash flows for the project and found that the current payback period is 4.07 years. This is encouraging as it is well before the 7.86 year deadline we are on. Having a relatively small payback period is important to us because of the struggles we have had lately. Since this project fits our time horizon, we can look at what this project will do for our

The following report includes selected financial data analyzing the performance of our company Life Through the Lens for year 12. Included is our strategy for the current year, future initiatives for our four regions, our competitor analysis, and reasons our company has not been improving as well as we had projected. At the moment our company’s current position is not up to par with our previous years regarding where our company is standing among our competitors. Please refer to Table 1.0 above to further understand our company’s performance for the end of year 12.

Harlequin Enterprises has dominated the series romance fiction novel market since the 1970’s. Harlequin has fought off every major competitor in this genre and maintained consistent performance for multiple decades. Brand loyalty, worldwide production capabilities, production efficiencies, creative control, and distribution are the strengths that Harlequin utilizes to dominate the series romance genre.

An investment that is not one of the three traditional asset types such as stocks, bond and cash are considered as an alternative investment. “These types of investments include hedge funds, managed futures, real estate, commodities and derivative contracts.” (www.investopedia.com). These are subject to less regulation and use leverage and derivative instruments to optimize their returns. “In spite of many pensions and private endowments beginning to invest in these funds, the portion apportioned to them is still small usually less than 10%.” (www.investopedia.com). An alternative investment differs from publicly traded investments in three main ways:

Loblaw Companies Limited is a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, and Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of general merchandise. With more than a 1,000 corporate and franchised stores in Canada, it employs approximately 134,000 employees. Through its portfolio of store format and diversified products and services, the company is committed to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian consumers (Loblaw, Press release 2013). Loblaws has a strong private label program which includes President’s Choice, Joe Fresh and No Name brands. A combination of food selection and clothing accessories. It also offers a loyalty program and financial services for their customers. Before acquiring Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws decided to

Aurora was a unattractive company because of their financial performance and that’s because a lot of competition arose that really hurt Aurora. We try to analysis the period of 1999 through 2002. We saw that the company profitability have worsened with every year that passed, net sales have been declining by 15% and profit margins and ROA were always in the negative in exhibit 1. The raw material cost of the net sales have been declining and the cost of conversion is affecting the bottom line in exhibit1. The company does not have the ability to meet its current obligations with just cash or with cash equivalents. That is because the firm’s current assets are predominantly account receivables and inventories. Aurora and other companies in the

Amber Inn & Suites, Inc. is a 250-property hotel chain with locations in 10 western and Rocky Mountain States. Their market position lies between a limited-service and full-service hotel chain. Joseph James is the newly appointed president and CEO. He initiated an aggressive goal for the senior leadership team (SLT) to formulate a strategy to achieve profitability in the next two years and sustain future growth (Kerin and Peterson, 2010). This case study will offer a summary and analysis of Amber Inn & Suites options and an examination into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.

There is a projected inflation rate of 3%. Applying this rate to all costs, minus depreciation, we find that the effect is a lower NPV and raise the EAC for both decisions. However, purchasing the Vulcan machine still remains to have the lower EAC. Thus, all other things equal, the purchasing the Vulcan seems to quantitatively be the better decision. There are also a few other small impacts which are not factored into the EAC. The Vulcan frees up 15% of floor space and also has a maximum capacity that is 30% higher than the current machines. In the near future this may be irrelevant because there is no need for more floor space and the current machines are only operating at 90% capacity as it is, but these should still be considered added benefits as unforeseeable market conditions over the next eight years may warrant the need for added capacity.

The fur trading industry played a major role in the development of the United States and Canada for more than 300 years. The fur trade began in the 1500's as an exchange between Indians and Europeans. The Indians traded furs for such goods as tools and weapons. Beaver fur, which was used in Europe to make felt hats, became the most valuable of these furs. The fur trade prospered until the mid-1800, when fur-bearing animals became scarce and silk hats became more popular than felt hats made with beaver. Traders and trappers explored much of North America in search of fur. They built trading posts in the wilderness, and settlements grew up around many of these posts. Some of these settlements later became such major cities as Detroit, New Orleans, and St. Louis in the United States; and Edmonton, Montreal, Quebec, and Winnipeg in Canada.

Polyethylene is the world’s most widely used plastic. Polyethylene plastic’s principal application was in packaging, from trash bags to milk jugs. It was widely used in the manufacture of everything from trash bags, picnic cutlery and garbage pails, to plastic toys. Polyethylene also replaced glass, wood, and metal in certain applications.