Given these values, what type of investment strategy would be selected by the Maximincriterion?

The eTech Company is a fairly recent entry in the electronic device area. The company competes with Apple. Samsung, and other well-known companies in the manufacturing and sales of personal handheld devices. Although eTech recognizes that it is a niche player and will likely remain so in the foreseeable future, it is trying to increase its current small market share in this huge competitive market. Jim Simons, VP of Production, and Catherine Dolans, VP of Marketing, have been discussing the possible addition of a new product to the companys current (rather limited) product line. The tentative name for this new product is ePlayerX. Jim and Catherine agree that the ePlayerX, which will feature a sleeker design and more memory, is necessary to compete successfully with the big boys, but they are also worried that the ePlayerX could cannibalize sales of their existing productsand that it could even detract from their bottom line. They must eventually decide how much to spend to develop and manufacture the ePlayerX and how aggressively to market it. Depending on these decisions, they must forecast demand for the ePlayerX, as well as sales for their existing products. They also realize that Apple. Samsung, and the other big players are not standing still. These competitors could introduce their own new products, which could have very negative effects on demand for the ePlayerX. The expected timeline for the ePlayerX is that development will take no more than a year to complete and that the product will be introduced in the market a year from now. Jim and Catherine are aware that there are lots of decisions to make and lots of uncertainties involved, but they need to start somewhere. To this end. Jim and Catherine have decided to base their decisions on a planning horizon of four years, including the development year. They realize that the personal handheld device market is very fluid, with updates to existing products occurring almost continuously. However, they believe they can include such considerations into their cost, revenue, and demand estimates, and that a four-year planning horizon makes sense. In addition, they have identified the following problem parameters. (In this first pass, all distinctions are binary: low-end or high-end, small-effect or large-effect, and so on.) In the absence of cannibalization, the sales of existing eTech products are expected to produce year I net revenues of 10 million, and the forecast of the annual increase in net revenues is 2%. The ePIayerX will be developed as either a low-end or a high-end product, with corresponding fixed development costs (1.5 million or 2.5 million), variable manufacturing costs ( 100 or 200). and selling prices (150 or 300). The fixed development cost is incurred now, at the beginning of year I, and the variable cost and selling price are assumed to remain constant throughout the planning horizon. The new product will be marketed either mildly aggressively or very aggressively, with corresponding costs. The costs of a mildly aggressive marketing campaign are 1.5 million in year 1 and 0.5 million annually in years 2 to 4. For a very aggressive campaign, these costs increase to 3.5 million and 1.5 million, respectively. (These marketing costs are not part of the variable cost mentioned in the previous bullet; they are separate.) Depending on whether the ePlayerX is a low-end or high-end produce the level of the ePlayerXs cannibalization rate of existing eTech products will be either low (10%) or high (20%). Each cannibalization rate affects only sales of existing products in years 2 to 4, not year I sales. For example, if the cannibalization rate is 10%, then sales of existing products in each of years 2 to 4 will be 10% below their projected values without cannibalization. A base case forecast of demand for the ePlayerX is that in its first year on the market, year 2, demand will be for 100,000 units, and then demand will increase by 5% annually in years 3 and 4. This base forecast is based on a low-end version of the ePlayerX and mildly aggressive marketing. It will be adjusted for a high-end will product, aggressive marketing, and competitor behavior. The adjustments with no competing product appear in Table 2.3. The adjustments with a competing product appear in Table 2.4. Each adjustment is to demand for the ePlayerX in each of years 2 to 4. For example, if the adjustment is 10%, then demand in each of years 2 to 4 will be 10% lower than it would have been in the base case. Demand and units sold are the samethat is, eTech will produce exactly what its customers demand so that no inventory or backorders will occur. Table 2.3 Demand Adjustments When No Competing Product Is Introduced Table 2.4 Demand Adjustments When a Competing Product Is Introduced Because Jim and Catherine are approaching the day when they will be sharing their plans with other company executives, they have asked you to prepare an Excel spreadsheet model that will answer the many what-if questions they expect to be asked. Specifically, they have asked you to do the following: You should enter all of the given data in an inputs section with clear labeling and appropriate number formatting. If you believe that any explanations are required, you can enter them in text boxes or cell comments. In this section and in the rest of the model, all monetary values (other than the variable cost and the selling price) should be expressed in millions of dollars, and all demands for the ePlayerX should be expressed in thousands of units. You should have a scenario section that contains a 0/1 variable for each of the binary options discussed here. For example, one of these should be 0 if the low-end product is chosen and it should be 1 if the high-end product is chosen. You should have a parameters section that contains the values of the various parameters listed in the case, depending on the values of the 0/1 variables in the previous bullet For example, the fixed development cost will be 1.5 million or 2.5 million depending on whether the 0/1 variable in the previous bullet is 0 or 1, and this can be calculated with a simple IF formula. You can decide how to implement the IF logic for the various parameters. You should have a cash flows section that calculates the annual cash flows for the four-year period. These cash flows include the net revenues from existing products, the marketing costs for ePlayerX, and the net revenues for sales of ePlayerX (To calculate these latter values, it will help to have a row for annual units sold of ePlayerX.) The cash flows should also include depreciation on the fixed development cost, calculated on a straight-line four-year basis (that is. 25% of the cost in each of the four years). Then, these annual revenues/costs should be summed for each year to get net cash flow before taxes, taxes should be calculated using a 32% tax rate, and taxes should be subtracted and depreciation should be added back in to get net cash flows after taxes. (The point is that depreciation is first subtracted, because it is not taxed, but then it is added back in after taxes have been calculated.) You should calculate the company's NPV for the four-year horizon using a discount rate of 10%. You can assume that the fixed development cost is incurred now. so that it is not discounted, and that all other costs and revenues are incurred at the ends of the respective years. You should accompany all of this with a line chart with three series: annual net revenues from existing products; annual marketing costs for ePlayerX; and annual net revenues from sales of ePlayerX. Once all of this is completed. Jim and Catherine will have a powerful tool for presentation purposes. By adjusting the 0/1 scenario variables, their audience will be able to see immediately, both numerically and graphically, the financial consequences of various scenarios.

Bob and Dora Sweet wish to start investing $1,000 each month. The Sweets are looking at five investment plans and wish to maximize their expected return each month. Assume interest rates remain fixed and once their investment plan is selected they do not change their mind. The investment plans offered are: Fidelity 9.1% return per year Optima 16.1% return per year CaseWay 7.3% return per year Safeway 5.6% return per year National 12.3% return per year Since Optima and National are riskier, the Sweets want a limit of 30% per month of their total investments placed in these two investments. Since Safeway and Fidelity are low risk, they want at least 40% of their investment total placed in these investments.Formulate the LP model for this problem, using the standard LP format. Remember to define the objective function, the decision variables, and label the constraint functions. There is no need to solve the problem. Note:- Do not provide handwritten solution. Maintain…

During the year, Brownout Company experienced the following power outages:Number of Power Outages Per Month                                        Number of Months                     0                                                                                                3                     1                                                                                                2                     2                                                                                                4                     3                                                                                                3                                                                                                                      12Each power outage results in out of pocket costs of P400. For P500 per month, the company can lease an auxiliary generator to provide power during outages. If the company leases an auxiliarygenerator next year, the estimated savings (or…

Brandon is considering expansion of a store. If he expands, the interest rate at which he borrows the money is the important factor. He is not sure what kind of interest rate will be obtained. If he does not expand, the only factor influencing the outcome is future economy. The following table summarizes the situation:                                                                         Probabilities          Payoff   Expand Large                        Favorable interest               .3             $60k                                 Neutral interest                   .5             $30k                                 Unfavorable interest           .2             ‑$70k                                 Expand Small                        Favorable interest               .3             $50k                                 Neutral interest                   .5             $30k                                 Unfavorable interest           .2             ‑$30k   Do not expand…

The Big Bang Theory Assume the hours needed to cook a meal or done a basket of laundry are different, and they are described below: 1 MEAL 1 BASKET SHELDON 2 1 LEONARD 1/2 2 1. What is the maximum number of meals Sheldon can produce in 12 hours? What is the maximum number of laundry baskets Sheldon can complete in 12 hours? 2. Plot in a graph: Sheldon’s production possibility frontier.  3: Plot in a graph: Leonard’s production possibility frontier. 4. What is Sheldon’s opportunity cost of one meal (in terms of baskets given up)? What is his opportunity cost of one basket (in terms of meals given up)? 5. Does Leonard have an absolute advantage in producing both meals and baskets? 6. Who has a comparative advantage in cooking?  7. Suppose each person has 12 hours for the two tasks in a week, and suppose both Sheldon and Leonard each spend 6 hours on cooking and 6 hours on laundry. Consider an offer from Leonard to Sheldon: do 3 baskets of laundry for me each week, and I’ll cook you 2…

Type the linear program, optimal solution, and objective function value in a word document. Submit your excel file. An investor wishes to invest some or all of his $12.5 million in a diversified portfolio through a commercial lender. The types of investments, the expected interest per year, and the maximum allowed percentage investment he will consider are shown on the following table. He wants at least 35% of his investments to be in nonmortgage instruments and no more than 60% to be in high-yield (and high-risk) instruments (i.e., expected interest > 8%). How should his investment be diversified to make the most interest income? Investment Expected Return Maximum Allowed Low-income mortgage loans   6.50% 20% Conventional mortgage loans   6.00% 30% Government sponsored mortgage loans 8.25% 25% Bond investments   5.75% 15% Stock investments   8.75% 18% Futures trading   9.25% 10%

XYZ Co. has provided the following data seeking your advice on the optimum investment strategy: Investment at the beginning of the year Net return data of selected investments Amount P Q R S available (£) 1 95 80 70 60 70 2 75 65 60 50 40 3 70 45 50 40 90 4 60 40 40 30 30 Maximum Investment (£) 40 50 60 60 The following additional information is also provided: o P, Q, R and S represent the selected investments o The company has decided to have four years investment plan o The policy of the company is that the amount invested in any year will remain so until the end of the fourth year o The values in the table represent net returns on investment of £1 till the end of the planning horizon Determine the optimal investment strategy. You may use the transportation technique

A firm that plans to expand its product line must decide whether to build a small or a large facilityto produce the new products. If it builds a small facility and demand is low, the net present valueafter deducting for building costs will be $400,000. If demand is high, the firm can either maintainthe small facility or expand it. Expansion would have a net present value of $450,000, and maintaining the small facility would have a net present value of $50,000.If a large facility is built and demand is high, the estimated net present value is $800,000. If demandturns out to be low, the net present value will be – $10,000.The probability that demand will be high is estimated to be .60, and the probability of low demandis estimated to be .40.a. Analyze using a tree diagram.

A firm that plans to expand its product line must decide whether to build a small or a large facilityto produce the new products. If it builds a small facility and demand is low, the net present valueafter deducting for building costs will be $400,000. If demand is high, the firm can either maintainthe small facility or expand it. Expansion would have a net present value of $450,000, and maintaining the small facility would have a net present value of $50,000.If a large facility is built and demand is high, the estimated net present value is $800,000. If demandturns out to be low, the net present value will be – $10,000.The probability that demand will be high is estimated to be .60, and the probability of low demandis estimated to be .40. 1- Compute the EVPI 2- Determine the range over which each alternative would be best in terms of the value of P ( low demand )