Homework Solutions

Discuss the ways that media plays a role in public opinion and political socialization. Provide at least two examples to make your points. How has political socialization influenced the way that you perceive politics?

What If NAFTA Goes Away? Case studies must be typed, single-spaced and 1-2 pages long (minimum of 700-800 words), not recapping the case history or repeating the material in the case. Answer the case study questions in the textbook (p. 137) one by one. Bullet points are acceptable as long as they are accompanied by a relevant explanation. Case Discussion Questions 1. Because the three NAFTA member countries had been trading for ages before NAFTA, what are the benefits of an FTA such as NAFTA? 2. ON ETHICS: Pick your role as (1) a consumer, (2) a manufacturing worker, or (3) a banker in one member country. What has NAFTA done to help or hurt you and your community? 3. Pick a firm from your state or country that is active in at least two (preferably three) member countries via trade and investment. How does it prepare for the scenario that NAFTA benefits are curtailed? Case study what If NAFTA Goes Away? In effect since 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has no shortage of controversies. As Trump has assumed power, the criticisms against NAFTA, potentially culminating in its repeal, force us to entertain a previously unthinkable scenario: What happens if NAFTA goes away? The answer to this question obviously boils down to what NAFTA has brought to the United States. In two decades, trilateral merchandise trade among three member countries grew from $290 billion in 1993 to $1.1 trillion in 2016—a nearly fourfold increase. Approximately $3 billion goods and services cross the border every day—an astonishing $2 million every minute. US trade with Canada tripled and US trade with Mexico increased by five times—while US trade with the rest of the world grew 280%. Canada and Mexico are, respectively, the second and third largest exporters to the United States (China is the first). Canada and Mexico are, respectively, the first and second-largest importers of US goods. Mexico alone imports more US goods than China and absorbs more US imports than Britain, France, and Germany combined. Canada imports even more “Made in USA” goods. What about jobs? In brief, no “giant sucking sound” has been heard. Approximately 300,000 US jobs—an average of 15,000 per year—were lost due to NAFTA in its first two decades, but about 100,000 jobs were added. The net loss was small, as the US economy generated at least 25 million new jobs during the same period. In 2015, the Congressional Research Service acknowledged some worker and firm adjustment costs brought by NAFTA. But overall, it reported conclusively that “NAFTA did not cause the huge job losses feared by the critics.” At present some eight million US jobs depend on trade with Canada and another six million on trade with Mexico. Even for every job lost, the economy gains $450,000 in the form of higher productivity and lower consumer prices, which benefit all. But a hard count on jobs misses another subtle but important benefit. NAFTA has allowed US firms to preserve more US jobs because 40% of the value of US imports from Mexico and 25% from Canada is actually made in the USA—in comparison, only 10% of the value of US imports from China is made in the USA. In 1994, US imports from Mexico only contained 5% of the value made in the USA. Clearly NAFTA has facilitated seamless supply chain integration, with goods, components, and parts crossing the border multiple times to be eventually assembled in one member country. Without NAFTA, entire industries may be lost rather than just the labour-intensive portions. So what if NAFTA goes away? First, relax: not all the benefits discussed above will be lost. As an institutional framework, NAFTA merely represents some relatively new rules of the game that are man-made and artificial. Given their natural geographic proximity and historical links, the three North American neighbours had been trading for ages before 1994. Their tightly-knit economies cannot and will not immediately stop trading. In a hypothetical post-NAFTA era, these three economies will still gain by trading, but the gains will be smaller. Americans and Canadians can still enjoy plenty of yummy avocados from Mexico (the world’s top avocado producer), but they will have to cough up more money for their beloved guacamole. Second, if the Trump administration unilaterally imposes high import tariffs, Canada and Mexico will certainly respond in kind. Given the reality of NAFTA supply chain, a tariff is like erecting a wall in the middle of a factory. Hard-fought export market share in Canada and Mexico will shrink. Thousands of jobs in manufacturing, logistics, and other services will disappear. For example, the Center for Automotive Research estimated that a 35% tariff on vehicles imported from Mexico, which would contain 40% “Made in USA” parts, would result in the loss of 31,000 US jobs. Third, because both Canada and Mexico have free trade agreements (FTAs) with the EU, the US withdrawal from NAFTA will significantly help increase EU firms’ market share there. In other words, EU firms, propelled by their own FTAs with Canada and Mexico, will be delighted to take over the market share vacated by US firms. Beyond those from the EU, strong competitors from China, Japan, and Korea, despite having no help from FTAs, will be elbowing their way into Canada and Mexico. In other words, reducing the preferential treatments (especially low or zero tariffs) enjoyed by US firms under NAFTA will clip their wings in the competition for export markets in Canada and Mexico. Ironically, gutting NAFTA will help enhance the competitiveness of America’s global rivals. Finally, shutting down NAFTA does not bring back a large number of manufacturing jobs to the United States. The recent crises facing US manufacturing jobs, falling from 17 million to 11 million between 2000 and 2010, have little to do with NAFTA. Instead, competition with China and technological changes have largely contributed to such a decline. Therefore, blaming Mexico and dismantling a beneficial FTA does not solve the problems associated with manufacturing job losses. There is a widespread belief that Trump’s nasty rhetoric on NAFTA is just “talk.” Procedurally, Trump is required to seek congressional approval if he merely wants to renegotiate NAFTA. Congress is unlikely to support a policy to throw away so many benefits and to spark retaliatory trade sanctions in America’s top two export markets—with so little gains. While NAFTA is not a panacea and has its problems, dismantling it would be “lunacy,” according to Texas Monthly. In summary, NAFTA is unlikely to be gone completely. But renegotiation is certainly possible.

AMCE Construction was awarded a contract by State DOT for a bridge rehabilitation contract.  The contract required a three-phase removal and replacement of an existing concrete bridge deck that carried an interstate highway.  The contract incorporated DOT standard specifications which included a concrete mix for Class AAA concrete.  Specifications also required that Class AAA concrete achieve compressive strengths of 3,600 PSI after 7 days and 4,500 PSI after 28 days. The project proceeded and after 7 days, concrete test cylinders from Phase I failed to meet compressive strength.  The State DOT then ordered the contractor to remove and replace the concrete.  Phases II and III also failed to meet strength requirements; however, the DOT did not assess penalties because it deemed the strength of the concrete high enough to safely support traffic loads.  ACME construction sued State DOT to recover additional costs resulting from the tear-out and replacement of the concrete on the bridge deck. ACME Construction argued that it had followed the mix requirements of the State DOT specifications and cited an earlier state case in addition to the case of United States v. Spearin, a 1918 United States Supreme Court case.  Both of these cases (known as the “Spearin Doctrine”0 stands for the proposition that a contractor will not be responsible for the results if it completely followed the plans and specifications. State DOT specifications also required that the concrete be maintained at a specific temperature during curing and that proper moisture be maintained to allow for continued hydration during the curing process.  ACME Construction elected to comply with the curing requirements by the use of wet burlap wraps.  There was evidence during discovery to indicate that the burlap wraps may have dried out during the curing process. Should ACME Construction be able to recover its additional costs resulting from tear-out and replacement on the bridge deck?

Question 1 From page 15 – 20 of my Book “Exploring Strategic Planning from a Practitioner Viewpoint: A Postgraduate Edition”, select any 10 mission statements of any institutions presented in these pages. Required:  a) Present the selected statements verbatim (5 Marks) b) Based on your experience in the class, critique each of the mission statements regarding whether or not how each is constructed meets best practice (15 Marks) Question 2 Nina and Hansa are beginning a project to market sets of garden tools locally. They intend to sell a small set for Ghc10.00 with a profit of Ghc2.50 per set and need to identify realistic objectives in relation to their local community within Accra metropolis. They plan to look at advertising rates for the local newspapers and get population figures from their suburb. They will relate their promotional budget to expected sales and profit, and they plan to set a timescale Required: a) Discuss the framework for apportioning objectives (8 Marks) b) Using the framework, explain how you will apportion the objective of the business above between Nina and Hansa (12 Marks) Question 3 Bowland carpets Ltd is a major producer of carpets within the UK. The company was taken over by its present parent company, University Carpet Inc., in 20X3. Universal Carpet is a giant, vertically integrated carpet manufacturing and retailing business, based within the USA but with interests all over the world. Bowland Carpets operates within the UK in various market segments, including the high-value contract and industrial carpeting area-hotels and office blocks etc.-and in the domestic (household) market. Within the latter the choice is reasonably wide, ranging from luxury carpets down to the cheaper products. Industrial and contract carpets contribute 25% of Bowland carpets’ total annual turnover which is currently $80 million. Up until 15 years ago, the turnover of the company was growing at 8% per annum, but since 20X2 sales have dropped by 5% per annum in real terms. Bowland Carpets have traditionally been known as a producer of high-quality carpets but at competitive prices. It has a powerful brand name, and it has been able to protect this by producing cheaper, lower quality products under a secondary brand name. it has also maintained a good relationship with the many carpet distributors throughout the UK, particularly the mainstream retail organizations. The recent decline in carpet sales, partly recession-induced, has worried the US parent company. It has recognized that the increasing concentration within the European carpet manufacturing sector has led to aggressive competition within a low growth industry. It does not believe that overseas sales growth by Bowland Carpets is an attractive proposition as this would compete with other Universal Carpet companies. It does, however, consider that vertical integration into retailing (as already practised within the USA) is a serious option. This would give the UK company increased control over its sales and reduce its exposure to competition. The president of the parent company has asked Jeremy Smiles, managing director of Bowland Carpets, to address this issue and provide guidance to the US board of directors. Funding does not appear to be a major issue at this time as the parent company has large cash reserves on its balance sheet. Required: Acting in the capacity of Jeremy Smiles, you are required to outline the various issues which might be of significance for the management of the parent company. Your answer should cover the following: To what extent do the distinctive competences of Bowland Carpets conform with the key success factors required for the proposed strategy change (10 Marks) In an external environmental analysis concerning the proposed strategy shift, what is likely to be the key external influences which could impact upon the Bowland Carpets decision? (10 Marks)

Write An Essay Of At Least 500 Words Discussing IAM In A Federated Cloud Application. Do not copy without providing proper attribution. This paper will be evaluated through SafeAssign. Write in essay format not in outline, bulleted, numbered, or another list format. Use the five-paragraph format. Each paragraph must have at least five sentences. Include 3 quotes with quotation marks and cited in-line and in a list of references. Include at least one quote from each of 3 different articles.  Cite your sources in a clickable reference list at the end. Do not copy without providing proper attribution (quotation marks and in-line citations). 

What does Nochlin think we’re doing wrong as feminist historians and art historians? What is it, exactly, that we should be doing?

1 What impact does change have on organizational behavior? #2 Diversity in organizations has pros positives and challenges. What are they? How should organizations approach diversity to increase their chances of success? #3 What is Emotional Intelligence? How does it influence the interactions of employees?

This is a term paper addressing the following current issue: E-Cigarettes Are Just as Harmful as Tobacco Cigarettes. Argue both sides of the issue; this is COMPARATIVE ESSAY. It is expected that you have the following: -A title page -The body of the paper with 5 pages of text, double-spaced, 12-point font that is written in clear, understandable language, and is free of grammar and spelling errors -At least six appropriate references that provide adequate justification for your responses -Appropriate in-text citations throughout -A reference list with only the sources that you used in the body of the paper NOTE: (Sources should be less than 5 years old unless there has not been recent research available. Do not use Wikipedia, as it is not considered a reliable academic source.) -APA style formatting for your paper -Feel welcome to use of long quotations if necessary Here are some things you should keep in mind before writing: -E-cigs may be less harmful and act as smoking cessation aids (PURSUE this topic on the paper) -E-cigs don’t always contain nicotine, even though most of them do (Be sure to bring up this issue as well) -E-cigs are categorized as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS); they mimic the appearance of tobacco cigarettes. Help with oral fixation -E-cigs don’t contain tar and other chemicals (carcinogens) that harm tissue cells -Long-term of E-cigs are still unknown -Does use E-cigs lead to smoking conventional cigarettes? -Until recently, there has been no regulation or oversight of the sale of e-cigarettes, except when they are sold as smoking cessation devices -There is the marketing of e-cigarettes to minors

WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS ANALYSIS INSTRUCTIONS For this assignment, you will analyze the major points of George Washington’s “Farewell Address” and write a 3-page analysis, considering contemporary government and including differing points of view. Be sure to adhere to the format specified in the Course Style Guidelines document. Your analysis must adhere to the following specifications: • No more than 3 double-spaced pages (12-point font with 1-inch margins). Must use APA 7th formatting. • Must include a title page (not counted in total page number) that contains: o A title, o Your name, o Your section, o Your instructor’s name, and o The date the assignment is due (all single-spaced in the footer of the cover page). • No page number is necessary for the cover page or for the first page in the body of the paper. • Pay particular attention to the grading rubric on how the paper will be graded (see attached document.. please pay particular attention to the yellow highlighted requirements). **Note-the paper must be original and plagiarism free as it will be checked by the University, utilizing electronic programs.

1. Discussing all the required readings and find the key points that are relative to “capital structure”. Readings: How to Choose a Capital Structure: Navigating Debt EquityDecision (2005) Anil Shivdasani and Marc Zenner, 17(1). (Please find this article by yourself) Market Timing and Capital Structure, Baker And Wurgler, Journal of Finance 52(1), 2002 Growth Opportunities and the Choice of Leverage, Debt Maturity, and Covenants Billett, King, And Mauer, Journal of Finance 62(2), 2007 a) Discussing the required readings b) Briefly summarizing the key points in the reading c) Providing a critical evaluation of the reading, what aspects are related to the market efficiency d) Including the authors’ opinion of the readings and/or links to their personal experiences. e) Insights are drawn or that the readings have for corporate finance(in 2 or 3 sentences) Please use the outline uploaded in the file. 2. Find another article(additional) that are related to the capital structure, and do the same thing above.