Blue Nile Case Questions

6. What is your appraisal of Blue Nile’s financial performance based on the data in

3. What is your evaluation of Iridium 's organizational design? What changes could you have made to increase the probability of Iridium 's success?

6. Does the data in case Exhibit 2 indicate that Costco’s expansion outside the U.S. is financially successful?

This has hurt negotiations with current buyers, causing gross margins to slip due to the aggressive competition. Being known for quality is important, but the brands creating cheaper replicas, artifacts, and jewelry still have a place in the market.

1. Identify the key factors responsible for the success of Gordon Biersch to date. What concerns, if any, do you have as the company looks ahead?

Suggest key actions that management should take in order to confront these circumstances. Provide a rationale for your response. (Hint: Your firm’s price must cover average variable costs in the short run and average total costs in the long run to continue operations.)

* For the corporation that has acquired another company, merged with another company, or been acquired by another company, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Justify your opinion.

Question 2: How can you explain the 50% premium paid to the share-holders of Congoleum?

1. How strong are the competitive forces confronting lululemon in the market for performance-based yoga and fitness apparel? Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer.

What recommendations would you make to Jim Sinegal regarding the actions that Costco management needs to take to sustain the company’s growth and improve its financial performance?

2. As a member of Interco’s board, are you persuaded by the premiums paid analysis (Exhibit 10) and the comparable transactions analysis (Exhibit 11)? Why?

Return on Total Assets was 4.43% which is below five percent. That indicates that the company is not accurately converting its assets into profit. The total for Return on Stockholders’ Equity was 8.89%, however financial analysts prefer ROE to range between 15-20 %. The company’s low ROE indicates that the company is not generating profit with new investments. Lastly, Debt-to-Equity ratio for the company was 1.01 which indicates that investors and creditors are equally sharing assets. In the view of creditors, they see a high ratio as a risk factor because it can indicate that investors are not investing due to the company’s overall performance. The totals of these three ratios demonstrate that the company’s financial state is not as healthy as it should be.

corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and

1.From the annual reports you previewed, what is the company's corporate strategy? What are their company goals and were they successful in achieving those goals? Please list the company of the annual report you previewed.

d. Does the firm appear to have an effective corporate governance structure? Explain any shortcomings.