Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Economy

Start-up of a Construction Project: Architectural Competition

What is the Content of a Feasibility Study?

• Analysis of existing samples
• Site analyses
• Technical constraints (soil, inclination, etc.)
• Legal circumstances (regulations)
• Functional and technological analysis (e.g., museum, factory)
• Architectural program
• List of rooms/premises
• Functional analysis (drawings)
• Traffic analyses
• Legal analysis
• Cost estimation (area-based with plans, based on samples)
• Time estimation (for the whole project)

Types of Construction Projects

Introduction to the different types of construction projects regarding scale, cost, and time:

Minor Projects:

• Low cost
• Mainly privately financed
• Direct contract with the architect, responsibility, and tasks of the architect is complex

Large

Asset Transformation

Asset transformation: Banks make profits by selling liabilities with one set of characteristics (risk, size, return, liquidity) and using the proceeds to buy assets with a different set of characteristics.

Example: Savings deposits held by one person can provide funds to the bank to give a loan to another person. The bank has transformed the savings account into a loan.

Haircut

Haircut: The excess amount of collateral above the amount of a loan.

Excess Reserves

Excess Reserves: Reserves in excess of required reserves.

Bank Holding Company

Bank Holding Company: A company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself.

Examples: Berkshire, JPMorgan Chase

Subprime Mortgage

Subprime Mortgage: Mortgages... Continue reading "Key Banking Terms and Concepts Explained" »

A brand is a ‘name,term,sign,symbol’ or design intended to indentify the goods and Services of one seller and to differentiate them from those of the competition’. // is ‘the promise, the big idea and the expectations that reside in each Customers mind about a product, service or company’. Brand elemnts: name, logo,symbol,package,design. 3product differentiation: Core product, Actual product, augmented product. 5 levels meaning for a product: core benefit Level, generic product level, expected p. L, augment p.L, potential p.L.brands vs products: companies make Products, conusmers make brands. Products can be copied, brans are unique. Products Become obsolete, brands are timeless. Products are instantly meaningful but Brands become... Continue reading "Income from the forest" »

iMarketing: Creating Value and Building Relationships

iMarketing is a process by which companies create value to satisfy customer needs through strong and long-lasting relationships with them, and capture value from them in return, ensuring enough profit. Strategic marketing is about the analysis and search for opportunities in the market, taking as a starting point the mission and the competitive advantage. Operational marketing is about the specific action plan that is designed and implemented to achieve strategic objectives or goals with proper management of allocated resources and within a defined framework.

Evolution of Marketing

• Production concept (1920): Demand exceeds supply, attractive prices and availability, focus on efficiency, passive

Impairment of Assets

Impairment test for inventories is carried out by: comparing the car.am. of each item of inventory with its net selling price.

Impairment test for assets other than inventories is carried out by: comparing the carrying amount of each item of other assets (or group of similar items) with its recoverable amount.

If there is an indication that an asset may be impaired, this may indicate that the entity should review: the remaining useful life of such asset.

If asset’s fair value less costs to sell and its value in use exceed asset’s carrying amount, then: such asset is not impaired.

Impairment loss shall be allocated to reduce the carrying amount of the assets of the unit in the following order:

first, to reduce the carrying... Continue reading "Impairment of Assets: Tests, Indications, and Allocation" »

Strategic Management Midterm Exam Study Guide (Chapters 1-6)

1. Competitive advantage
2. Innovation
3. Sustainability
4. Emphasis of strategic management - Long term
5. Strategic management within a small organization - informal and irregular
6. Response(s) to performance gap - objective, strategy, policies
7. Corporate mission - description of competitive advantage
8. Basic elements of the strategic management process - environmental scanning, evaluation, and disseminating information to external and internal
9. SWOT
10. Types of Board of Directors members - phantom, rubber stamp, minimal, nominal, active, catalyst
11. Lead director - (Catalyst) Assign by the CEO and makes decision of operation of the company
12. Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Protect shareholder, whistle blowers, financial statement
13. When

Partnerships and Limited Companies

Partnership: A business carried on in common with a view to profit.

Advantages:

• Shared responsibility
• Economies of scale
• Private accounts
• Spread profit for tax purposes

Disadvantages:

• Shared profit
• Joint and several liability
• Disagreements
• All profits taxed

Limited Company: Owned by shareholders, run by directors. It can be a public or private company and is a separate legal entity that pays corporation tax.

Advantages:

• Limited liability
• Perpetual succession
• Corporation tax

Disadvantages:

• Running costs
• Personal guarantees may be required
• Filing deadlines
• Private transactions
• Owner vs. manager conflict (payout or reinvest)
• Privacy (public accounts)

Inheritance Tax - Agricultural Property Relief

Must be occupied for 2 years. Relief... Continue reading "Partnerships, Limited Companies, and UK Tax Reliefs" »

Distribution Strategies

Intensive Distribution

Producers of convenience products and common raw materials typically seek intensive distribution—a strategy in which they stock their products in as many outlets as possible. These goods must be available where and when consumers want them. For example, toothpaste, candy, and other similar items are sold in millions of outlets to provide maximum brand exposure and consumer convenience. Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and other consumer goods companies distribute their products in this way.

Exclusive Distribution

By contrast, some producers purposely limit the number of intermediaries handling their products. The extreme form of this practice is exclusive distribution, in which the producer gives... Continue reading "Distribution Strategies: Intensive, Exclusive, and Selective" »

'MK process links consumers, customers, and end market users to the market through information - which is used to identify and define actions, monitor marketing performance. Market research helps in finding that information. 'Steps

1. Identify & pb operatio.

- pb, inf. Needs, hypotheses (3 object first)

2. Research design

- choice study type, choice method data collection

3. Data collection

- sampling frame, data collection

4. Data analysis

- control, coding, data manipulation, data analysis

- org, familiarize, coding, themes identify = thematic or symbolic is more psychological.

5. Data analysis & reporting

- major take-outs, recommendations, limitations

Random, Stratified (groups/R), Judgment, Quota (10 w 5-10), Snowball (sharing), Cluster