Discussion Questions #1 and 2

DQ#1:Factors in Capital Budgeting Decisions 

Imagine you are a representative of management in the company you have selected for your Week Six assignment and you must make a capital budgeting decision.  The decision is to implement a new computer network system to decrease the time between customer order and delivery. The cost will be 10% of last year’s profits. You are charged with describing the important considerations in the decision-making process to upper management.  In your response, be sure to include the following:

• A description of the important factors, in addition to quantitative factors, that were considered when making this capital budgeting decision.
• An explanation of how these factors are significant to the company.
• A summary of how you will determine the criteria to rank capital budgeting decisions and whether some criteria are more important than others.
• A calculation of the proposed return on investment based on criteria you select and justification for that ROI.

Develop a 200 – 250 word explanation supporting your recommendations.

Tip: For help with reading an annual report access this handy guide from Money Chimp(http://www.moneychimp.com/articles/financials/fundamentals.htm)

DQ #2: Assessing Dividend Policy 

Revisit the company you chose for your Week Six Final Project.  Using the annual report and other sources such as a 10k or 10q’s, discuss the dividend policy of your company.

Answer the following questions as part of your response:

• How would you describe your chosen company’s dividend policy?
• Why do you believe this company chose the dividend policy they have in place? 
• Do you agree or disagree that they have selected the best dividend policy for the company?
• How might this dividend policy function in both perfect and imperfect capital markets?
• Calculate the dividend rate over the past 5 years.  Define why you believe that it has or has not changed over the last 5 years.

Support your position with evidence from the text or external sources. 
Your post should be 200-250 words in length.