How would the actual observed inflation affect world wheat prices looking forward (in the future), ignoring other factors in the wheat market such as the war in Ukraine?

Assignment 1 (FRE 501) Name & Student ID:

Instructions: i. Data for the questions are provided in the accompanying excel file

ii. Please submit the following on Canvas: o Your typed answers as a PDF file o Your completed excel file o Your class participation record (Lectures 1 to 4)

Question 1: (23 marks total)

a. Plot world wheat prices from Jan 2015 to July 2022. (1) b. On the same graph, plot inflation rates over the same period and on the secondary axis

(view example on the excel file). (1) c. What is the relationship between the two? Run a regression to show the relationship

statistically, wheat prices as the independent variable and inflation as the dependent variable. (2)

d. State the month when inflation really begins to take off (increase)? (1) e. Now re-run the regression in two parts, first for the period from Jan 2015 to Dec 2020;

second from Jan 2021 to July 2022. Explain your results. (3) Background Information:

Use Canada as an example of a wheat producer/exporter. Note that the production of wheat each year requires farmers to decide in March-April which crops they will grow. If they wish to produce more wheat, they will allocate more of their land to wheat and away from the alternative crop they would otherwise be growing (e.g., canola). In anticipating their wheat production, they will have to acquire adequate supplies of fertilizer and other farm inputs, typically making purchases also in those early spring months. The wheat price will be determined by the world supply and demand. Some supplies of wheat will be determined even earlier if there is planting of winter wheat or an earlier growing season.

f. Describe the process by which inflation will affect Canadian wheat prices. (3) More information:

Suppose inflation in wheat producing countries starts to rise in (Canadian data follows) July 2021, jumping from 3.1 to 3.7%, and only begins to rise seriously in Jan 2022 (monthly inflation hits 5%), rising each month to June (8.1%). By planting decision time, inflation is running at annual rate of 5-7% (year over year, calculated each month.

g. How will that affect wheat prices over the period from January to July 2022 that we have so far observed? Putting this differently, if there was no significant inflation in 2021 through to date, how would this have changed the observed rise in global wheat prices? (3)

h. How would the actual observed inflation affect world wheat prices looking forward (in the future), ignoring other factors in the wheat market such as the war in Ukraine? (2)

i. Assume that fertilizer input costs account for 30% of total revenues. If fertilizer costs doubled, and if wheat prices increased by 50%, we wish to calculate the net effect on profits and planting decisions (these are roughly realistic numbers for spring 2022).

i. Calculate the effect on net profit or earnings before taxes for “Wheat-Hard Red Spring” (The relevant financial data can be found on Page 4 of the following document: https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/farm- management/production-economics/pubs/cop-crop-production.pdf) (3)

ii. What is the effect on farmer’s planting decision from this change in profit? i.e., will they increase wheat plantings, given both an increase in fertilizer costs and an increase in the wheat price? (2)

j. Now show how this example of the long term effect of inflation will likely affect wheat prices (for late 2022, 2023)? (2)

Question 2: (9 marks total)

a. Plot the relationship between agricultural commodity prices (Farm Product Price Index) & retail food prices (Food CPI). Do this for Jan 2020 through to July 2022. (1)

i. What is the relationship between the two? (1) b. Conduct regressions and interpret the corresponding R Squared values

i. Food CPI in period t-1 (Independent variable) on Farm Product Price Index in period t (Dependent variable). (2)

ii. Farm Product Price Index in period t-1 (Independent variable) on Food CPI in period t (Dependent variable). (2)

iii. Contemporaneous effects, Farm Product Price Index in period t (Independent variable) on Food CPI in period t (Dependent variable). (1)

c. Give some economic arguments for why one direction of causation would be more plausible than another (comparing i. with ii.)? (2)

Question 3: (8 marks total)

a. On excel, convert the monthly Farm Product Price Index & Food CPI data into a quarterly series. (1)

b. Create 2 new data series that depicts the quarterly change in both Farm Product Price Index & Food CPI. (2)

c. Plot the quarterly percentage change in Farm Product Price Index & Food CPI from Q2- 2000 to Q1-2022. (1)

i. Comment on the relationship between the quarterly percentage change in Farm Product Price Index and Food CPI. (1)

ii. Provide reasons for the difference in volatility between the quarterly percentage change in Farm Product Price Index & Food CPI. (3)https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/farm-management/production-economics/pubs/cop-crop-production.pdfhttps://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/farm-management/production-economics/pubs/cop-crop-production.pdf

What is the difference between market capitalization and enterprise value? What do each of these variables measure?

Assignment grades will be based on 50% completion and 50% accuracy. Please show all work, including cell references if you are using Excel.

Using the Excel File “MCD vs. WEN Annotated_v2” uploaded on Canvas, find the following variables in 2017 to 2021 for Wendy’s. All questions are worth 5 points each.

1. Find the Current Ratio

2. Find the Quick Ratio

3. Find the Cash Ratio

4. Describe the trend of the above ratios from 2017 ~ 2021

5. In 2021, which firm, in general, has more safety in terms of meeting obligations over the next 12 months?

6. Find the Total Debt ratio (use textbook definition debt = liabilities)

7. Find the Debt to Equity ratio (use textbook definition debt = liabilities)

8. Find the Equity Multiplier (use textbook definition debt = liabilities)

9. How is the debt situation looking like for Wendy’s in years 2017 ~ 2021?

10. In 2021, which firm is using more debt proportionally?

11. Find the Asset Turnover ratio

12. In 2021, which firm is using its assets more efficiently?

13. Find the Net Profit Margin

14. Find the ROA

15. Find the ROE

16. Describe the trend of the above ratios from 2017 ~ 2021

17. Which firm is more profitable?

18. Is the ROE meaningful in this case? If yes, describe what it measures. If no, describe why it’s not meaningful

19. What is the difference between market capitalization and enterprise value? What do each of these variables measure?

20. Go to Key Stats spreadsheet for each firm and scroll down to the current capitalization section. Which firm is larger? McDonald’s or Wendy’s? Why?

21. Bonus: Stay on the Key Stats spreadsheet and scroll all the way down to Valuation Multiples based on Current Capitalization. You should be able to find the P/E ratio for each firm in row 79. Which firm has a larger P/E ratio in 2021 (1 pt)? Explain one potential reason why this company would have a larger P/E ratio (4 pts).

Discuss the differences and similarities between quantitative, qualitative and mix methods research studies.

Discuss the differences and similarities between quantitative, qualitative and mix methods research studies.

Explain how evolving demographics and emerging technologies transform organizations.

Explain how evolving demographics and emerging technologies transform organizations.

500 words

According to George and Jones (2020), a company’s stance on social responsibility is the way its managers and employees view their duty or obligation to make decisions that protect, enhance, and promote the welfare and well-being of stakeholders and society as a whole. This includes the way the company handles changing demographics and emerging technologies.

Global Environment

Consider the forces in the global environment and your professional experience when responding to the following questions:

  • What are some of the implications of demographic forces for the industry you work in or aspire to work in?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of technological change?
  • How can information technology lead to beneficial changes within the workplace in the industry you work in or aspire to work in?

Social Responsibility

Consider your professional experience when responding to the following questions.

  • What do you consider to be the top three benefits to social responsibility?
  • How does your organization implement social responsibility initiatives? If they don’t, what considerations should be made?
What are the implications for you when you are given responsibility to run your own projects? 

Consider the profile examples on project leaders Sir John Armitt and Jim Watzin from the chapter. If you were to summarize the leadership keys to their success in running projects, what actions or characteristics would you identify as being critical? Why? What are the implications for you when you are given responsibility to run your own projects? 

APA format 

400 words

Discuss in what sense this statement is true.

Leadership and the Project Manager 

Also, provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:

  1. The chapter stressed the idea that project management is a leader-intensive undertaking.  Discuss in what sense this statement is true.
Explain the government’s impact on the cost of health care.

Write  1,000- to 1,200 about the impact of regulation and policy.

Choose a current health policy from your state that is being considered as a legislative act.

  1. Explain the pros and cons of the proposed health policy from the perspective of the patient, family, or community and its role in reducing the cost for health care insurers.
  2. Explain the government’s impact on the cost of health care.
  3. Explain what regulatory authority will implement or enforce this health care policy.
  4. Describe the differences between federal, state, and local health care regulatory responsibilities in the chosen health policy. 

Include three scholarly sources including your textbook.

Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor.

Assignment: Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

The Assignment (1-2 pages):

Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

Add a section to the 2-3 page paper you submitted in Module 1. The new section should address the following in 1-2 pages:

· Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor.

· Describe a relevant policy or practice in your organization that may influence your selected healthcare issue/stressor.

· Critique the policy for ethical considerations, and explain the policy’s strengths and challenges in promoting ethics.

· Recommend one or more policy or practice changes designed to balance the competing needs of resources, workers, and patients, while addressing any ethical shortcomings of the existing policies. Be specific and provide examples.

· Cite evidence that informs the healthcare issue/stressor and/or the policies, and provide two scholarly resources in support of your policy or practice recommendations.

· Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than  7 days to provide you with quality feedback.

create a brief section  analyzing how your plan is consistent with Christian teachings as grounded in the Holy Bible.

This Conflict Resolution: Part 3 – Action Plan Assignment will eventually be the last section  of the Conflict Resolution: Part 4 – Proposal Assignment. This section will consist of you  providing a detailed plan for addressing the conflict identified in the previous assignments.  

Your intervention plan that is selected should be congruent with the theoretical conceptualization that  you outlined in your Conflict Resolution: Part 2 – Literature Review and Conceptualization  Assignment. The Conflict Resolution: Part 3 – Action Plan Assignment needs to provide an  understanding for how the suggested intervention would cause change in the underlying conflict  dynamic. The effect of your action plan on all parties should be thoroughly analyzed. 

Be sure you justify the need for criminal justice organization alternative resolution techniques.    Additionally, for the first time in this series of papers, you should address your conflict  resolution plan through the lens of a Christian Worldview.  In other words, create a brief section  analyzing how your plan is consistent with Christian teachings as grounded in the Holy Bible.   As with previous papers, the action plan should be grounded in the conflict resolution research  literature.  

INSTRUCTIONS 

Items to include are outlined as follows:   Length of assignment is 6 to 8 pages

o Excluding title page, abstract, reference section, or any extra material

 Format of assignment is the current version of APA  

 Number of citations – Minimum guideline is 4 – 8 peer reviewed academic 

journal articles and at least one Holy Bible reference. 

What purpose do theories in criminology serve?

Each discussion should be 300 words or more for original posts 

APA in-text (Links to an external site.) citations and references are required for any external and textbook material provided. Excessive quotations (more quotes than your own words) will not award points.

Discussion Questions (Choose one):

  1. What purpose do theories in criminology serve? Provide and discuss an example(s) where criminal theories have pushed the envelope further in the field of Criminology.
  2. Compare and contrast theories from the Classical School and the Positive School. Which theories/Schools of Thought are more prevalent/in use today?
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