How much will you pay for health care each year2? How much do you plan to save for retirement each year3? What is your taxable income for federal income taxes, NJ state income taxes, and FICA? What is your total annual federal income tax, NJ state income tax, and FICA taxes? What is your average tax rate?

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Taxable income

Free cash flow is the amount of cash that a company has left over after it has paid for all of its expenses. In other words, it is the amount of money that can be reinvested in new project or paid out to investors without having to expand operations or running down its existing operations. Discretionary income is equivalent for individuals. Discretionary income is defined as income available for spending after subtracting taxes and essential expenses to maintain an individual’s current standard of living. In this assignment, you will be asked to think through your personal spending and how you might construct a budget after you graduate. You will need to consider both required expenses (e.g. taxes, loans, housing costs, etc.), savings, and discretionary spending. According to the US Department of Education, the average salary of a Stillman School of Business finance major three years after graduation was about $65,6001. Assume that is the salary you will make after graduation. Answer the following questions based on the lifestyle you’d like to live after graduation.

  1. How much will you pay for health care each year2?
  2. How much do you plan to save for retirement each year3?
  3. What is your taxable income for federal income taxes, NJ state income taxes, and FICA?
  4. What is your total annual federal income tax, NJ state income tax, and FICA taxes? What is your average tax rate (combined for all three taxes)?
  1. What will be your monthly take-home pay (after health care, retirement savings, and taxes)?
  2. List and estimate your essential expenses per month. These are expenses that are necessary for living and to pay off debts. Examples include rent, student or car loan payments, car insurance, utilities, groceries, etc.
  1. List and estimate your discretionary purchases per month. These purchases are expenses you don’t need to survive but bring you joy. Examples include gym fees, salons, movies, streaming services, video games, vacations, etc.
  1. List and estimate the money you plan to save for large future purchases. This savings can be for large purchase you expect to make at some point in the future. Examples include saving for a down payment on a house, buying a car, saving for graduate school, etc.

1 Data from the College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/fields/?186584-Seton-Hall-University)

2 Seton Hall faculty in 2022 pay $136 per month for health care. You may use this number to estimate your health care spending.

3 It’s possible that after going through the rest of the assignment, your initial retirement savings estimate was too high or too low. Budgeting is an iterative process, and you might need to tweak your answers as you go through the assignment

  1. Do you think the budget you designed is realistic? Why or why not?
  2. What did you learn from this assignment? Taxes

If you choose to live in New Jersey (or most states) after graduation you need to pay both federal income and state income taxes. In addition to income taxes, you will also pay FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes to fund Social Security and Medicare. These taxes will reduce your take-home pay, so it is important to think about them. Since each of the three taxes you pay (federal income, state income, and FICA) are governed by different rules, the definition of “taxable income” will vary for each tax. Each tax allows you to deduct certain amounts from your gross income before figuring the tax. These deductions lower the amount of taxable income you have and by extension lower your tax bill. Below is a summary of the deductions you can take under each tax:

Federal Income NJ State Income FICA

Standard Deduction4 $ 12,950 $ 1,000 $ 0

Health Care 100% 100% 100%

Retirement Savings 100% 0% 0%

Federal Income Tax Rates

(2022-Single Filers)

Tax Rate Bracket

10% $ 0- $ 9,950

12% $ 9,951-$ 40,525

22% $ 40,526-$ 86,375

24% $ 86,376-$164,925

32% $164,926-$209,425

35% $209,426-$523,600

37% $523,601 and over

FICA Tax Rates

(2022-Single Filers)

Tax Rate Bracket

7.65% $0-$147,000

1.45% $147,001-$200,000

2.35% $200,001 or ove

 

What are Foreign Trade Zones(FTZ)? What is Customer Relationship Management? What is Customer Lifetime Value? Why is Customer Lifetime Value important? What are the four (4) major differences between goods and services? What are Facilitating Goods?

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World Trade Organization

  1. What is the World Trade Organization(WTO) and where is it located?

(Go to https://www.wto.org to find the official definition)

  1. U.S. Customs and Border Protection(CBP) was established in 1789 and became part of the US Department of Homeland Security in 2003.  What is CBP’s mission?
  2. What are Foreign Trade Zones(FTZ)?
  3. What is Customer Relationship Management?
  4. What is Customer Lifetime Value?
  5. Why is Customer Lifetime Value important?
  6. What are the four (4) major differences between goods and services?
  7. What are Facilitating Goods?
  8. What is Service Response Logistics?
  9. What are the four (4) primary activities that Service Response Logistics manages?

(Note: you don’t have to describe them, only name them)

  1. What is Service Capacitymeasuring?

 

“Given the current trade war between China and America, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the consequent food and energy crises, the prevalence of global risk, and the increasing digitization of business, the scale of international business will dramatically decline”. Critically discuss this statement.

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The future of international business

“Given the current trade war between China and America, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the consequent food and energy crises, the prevalence of global risk, and the increasing digitization of business, the scale of international business will dramatically decline”. Critically discuss this statement.

Given the ambiguities and concerns over how we define it, in what ways is the concept of “white-collar crime” still useful?

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Advanced Topics in Business and Management

Choose ONE of these questions and write a short essay about it (1200 words max, excluding references). Remember, the key point is to be critical, avoid excessively long quotations. Use Harvard referencing (guidelines have already been provided).

1. Given the ambiguities and concerns over how we define it, in what ways is the concept of “white-collar crime” still useful?

2. “An analysis of the concepts of ‘white-collar’ and ‘corporate’ crime should only include legally-defined ‘crimes’ and legally convicted offenders.” Discuss.

3. “Why is coverage of white-collar crime in the media important? Because the media influence public perceptions of harmfulness and ‘the law and order problem’.” Critically discuss this statement by Levi (2006).

4. Insider Trading: should it be allowed? Discuss your position, supporting your claim with research and evidence.

Would your answers to any of these questions be different if the neighbor’s name and address had been printed at the top of the letter or if the qualifying statement had been printed at the bottom of the first page of the letter? Why?

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You’re On the Jury: The Case of the Offer too Good to Be True

Kyle Drake, by mistake, opened up a letter with his neighbor’s address on the front but left in his mailbox. The letter, from a major automobile manufacturer, read as follow: “Dear Mr. Lankletter or Occupant: We offer to sell you one of our deluxe luxury automobiles for $100.00*. Use the enclosed card to indicate your acceptance and return it to us together with your check in the amount of $100.00”. The asterisk was printed on the reverse of the letter next to the following language: “*provided you are the winner in a drawing to be held in one month. Your check will only be cashed on winning.”

Kyle never saw the language on the reverse side. He returned the acceptance card together with his check and never received the deluxe luxury car. His check was never returned to him but neither was it cashed. He sued the car manufacturer for breach of contact.

The Trial

During the trial, the manufacturer’s representative explained that this type of advertising had been used for many years by many different types of companies and that everyone knew that this type of offer was limited and usually dependent on a person being selected in a drawing. He explained that the offer had been sent out to a limited number of people, chosen because of their prior ownership of the manufacturer’s vehicles. He introduced in evidence a copy of the letter, showing that all the details of the offer had been printed in large-size type. Kyle explained that even though the letter was not meant for him, there was no name at the top of the letter, and he assumed the offer was meant for the general public. He stated further that he never looked at the reverse of the letter because the offer on the front was clear.

The Arguments at Trial

The manufacturer’s attorneys argued that an offer was never made to Kyle, only to his neighbor, and thus Kyle could not have accepted the offer. Also, the offer was not made to the general public but to a limited group, and thus the offer could only be accepted by a member of that group. They argued further that the offer and qualifying statement were in clear language and printed in large-size type so that a potential buyer would understand the nature of the offer. Kyle’s attorney argued that because a name did not appear at the top of the offer, the offer should be considered as having been made to the general public, and therefore Kyle had a right to accept the offer. She further argued that the qualifying statement should have been printed on the front of the letter and not on the reverse side where it might not be read. She claimed that a valid offer had been made and that the offer had been accepted properly by Kyle.

Questions to Discuss

  • If you were the judge or jury deciding this case, for whom would you decide? Why?
  • Would your answers to any of these questions be different if the neighbor’s name and address had been printed at the top of the letter or if the qualifying statement had been printed at the bottom of the first page of the letter? Why?
  • What remedies should be awarded to the prevailing party? Why?

 

What are the two primary differences in these environments? Give an example of a company engaged in each environment and describe the primary product being marketed in each. What is the environment of the marketing simulation in which you are participating?

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Marketing

In the world of marketing, two specific environments exist: business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C).

What are the two primary differences in these environments? Give an example of a company engaged in each environment and describe the primary product being marketed in each. What is the environment of the marketing simulation in which you are participating?

 

The faster technology develops, the more humans are degraded″? Do you agree with the statement? Write a 275-300-word essay and support your answer with a few examples.

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Discussion Essay

The faster technology develops, the more humans are degraded″? Do you agree with the statement? Write a 275-300-word essay and support your answer with a few examples.

 

Provide a summary of the program evaluation and identify at least five stakeholder groups of the program being evaluated. Discuss why a stakeholder may not provide valid (accurate) information to a program evaluator.

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Role of Stakeholders in Program Evaluation

The role of stakeholders is vital to program evaluation. Without stakeholder input it is impossible to have an adequate understanding of the evaluated program. Identification of relevant stakeholders and the gathering of stakeholder input is a key part of the evaluation process.

Research online to find a sample program evaluation report. Then discuss the following:

  1. Provide a summary of the program evaluation and identify at least five stakeholder groups of the program being evaluated.
  2. Discuss why a stakeholder may not provide valid (accurate) information to a program evaluator.
  3. How might an evaluator determine if stakeholder information is valid and what steps can an evaluator take to increase the probability of obtaining valid information?

 

Visit novica.com and unilever.com. Compare and contrast the two sites in terms of their marketing effectiveness. What does this case illustrate about the trade- offs between economic and social benefits in international business?

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Discussion Essay

Answer these two question:

  1. Visit novica.com and unilever.com. Compare and contrast the two sites in terms of their marketing effectiveness.
  2. What does this case illustrate about the trade- offs between economic and social benefits in international business?

responds two posts.

 

Discuss the trends revealed in each ratio. Be sure to note your firm’s name in the title of your post and please do not duplicate firms.

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Using DuPont analysis is a quick and relatively easy way to assess the overall health of a firm. This week’s lesson (Page 4) includes information on the DuPont equation. Go to finance.yahoo.com and choose a company by entering the company name in the box to the left of “Get Quotes.” Once you have the company overview page open, to the left you will see a list of links for further information on that firm. Near the bottom of the link column are financial statements. Open the firm’s income statement and balance sheet and use the information there to calculate all parts of the DuPont Ratio for the past three years; do not use Nike. If your firm does not have 3 years of full information, choose a different firm. Report each ratio value as well as the numerator and denominator of each of the 4 ratios for the past 3 years (12 ratios in total).

Discuss the trends revealed in each ratio. Be sure to note your firm’s name in the title of your post and please do not duplicate firms. Your instructor is posting information on Nike as an example; you might want to study that post before you begin.