Question: What recommendations would you offer Alan Merton

> Eric Nadal owns 200 shares of Ranger Inc. The company’s board of directors recently declared a cash dividend of 1.90 cents a share payable April 18 (a Wednesday) to shareholders of record on March 22 (a Thursday). a. How much in dividends, if any, will E

> In 2017, AT&T earned net income of $29.45 billion. It had 7.26 billion shares outstanding and paid an annual dividend of $1.98 per share. What was the 2017 dividend payout ratio?

> An investor owns some stock in Harry’s Pottery Inc. The stock recently underwent a five-for-three stock split. If the stock was trading at $40 per share just before the split, how much is each share most likely selling for after the split? If the investo

> Assume that an investor buys 250 shares of stock at $37.50 per share, putting up a 45% margin. a. What is the value of the position? b. How much equity capital must the investor provide to make this margin transaction? c. What is the debit balance in thi

> The following table contains annual returns for the stocks of Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW). The returns are calculated using end-of-year prices (adjusted for dividends and stock splits) retrieved from http://www.finance.yahoo.com/.

> Assume you wish to evaluate the risk and return behaviors associated with various combinations of two stocks, Alpha Software and Beta Electronics, under three possible degrees of correlation: perfect positive, uncorrelated, and perfect negative. The aver

> Referring to Problem 5.6, what would happen if you constructed a portfolio consisting of assets A, B, and C, equally weighted? Would this reduce risk or enhance return? Data from Problem 5-6: You have been asked for your advice in selecting a portfolio

> You have been asked for your advice in selecting a portfolio of assets and have been supplied with the following data. You have been told that you can create two portfolios—one consisting of assets A and B and the other consisting of as

> You have been given the following return data on three assets—A, B, and C—over the period 2021–2024. Using these assets, you have decided to analyze three investment alternatives: a. Calculate the ave

> Refer to Problem 5.3. Assume that asset 1 represents 40% of the portfolio and asset 2 is 60%. Calculate the average return and standard deviation of this portfolio’s returns over the six-year period. Compare your answers with the answer

> Katie plans to form a portfolio consisting of two securities, Intel (INTC) and Procter & Gamble (PG), and she wonders how the portfolio’s return will depend on the amount that she invests in each stock. Katie’s professor suggests that she use the capital

> Jane is considering investing in three different stocks or creating three distinct two stock portfolios. Jane views herself as a rather conservative investor. She is able to obtain historical returns for the three securities for the years 2012 through 20

> A firm wishes to estimate graphically the betas for two assets, A and B. It has gathered the return data shown in the following table for the market portfolio and for both assets over the past 10 years, 2009–2018. a. On a set of market

> Referring to Problem 5.31, assume that you believe that each of the five assets will earn the return shown in the following table. Based on these figures and the weights in Problem 5.30, what returns do you believe that portfolios A and B will earn. Whic

> Suppose that Tesla stock is currently selling at $270 per share. For each of the following situations (ignoring brokerage commissions), calculate the gain or loss that Olivia Crowe realizes if she makes a 100-share transaction. a. She sells short and rep

> Mike and Julie Bedard are a working couple. They will file a joint income tax return. This year, they have the following taxable income: 1. $125,000 from salary and wages (ordinary income) 2. $1,000 in interest income 3. $3,000 in dividend income 4. $2,0

> Conflict can be a precursor to violence in the workplace. However, supervisors can be reluctant to deal with this warning sign and opt to see whether things work themselves out. Why do you think there is often reluctance to deal with conflict? What would

> How could you develop a workplace culture that reduces the chances of violence in the workplace?

> What outcomes might be associated with an incident of workplace violence? For example, a worker who experiences abuse and harassment might file a lawsuit against the employer. What other costs might be associated with workplace violence?

> Mental health problems can be caused by many factors outside of the workplace. For example, genetics and family life may predispose or cause mental health difficulties. Nonetheless, these difficulties can show up in the workplace. Does the employer have

> Recognizing the importance of mental health in the workplace seems like the only moral thing to do. Yet, employers face difficulties in effectively dealing with this area. For example, mental health is less viable and apparent than physical health. How c

> Mental health problems often have a negative stigma. What, if anything, do you think companies can do to reduce this stigma?

> How could you estimate the cost of workplace bullying?

> Is workforce bullying different from sexual harassment? Explain.

> Is workplace bullying different from discrimination? Explain.

> Why do you think the striking public school teachers in all five states successfully obtained higher wages and better funding for their schools?

> Working individually or in groups, find out the unemployment rate and laws of your state. Write a summary detailing your state’s unemployment laws. Assuming Company X has a 30 percent rate of personnel terminations, calculate Company X’s unemployment tax

> Many public-sector employees decided to quit being union members in Wisconsin, as explained in the case. What alternative ways does a group of public-sector employees, such as nurses or teachers, have to improve their employee benefits, working condition

> Are public-sector unions in the United States too powerful? What is the source of the power of public-sector unions? Do you agree with Governor Walker of Wisconsin, who believes that (1) public-sector unions should have their power cut back so the topics

> What can traditional unions, such as those affiliated with the AFL-CIO learn from the organizing success of the Freelancers Union?

> What sources of power does the Freelancers Union use to provide services to its members?

> Compare and contrast the differences and the similarities between workplace incivility and workplace bullying (the definition of bullying and some examples of it are described in this chapter of the text.) Is there a relationship between bullying and inc

> An HR manager works at a company in a state that recently legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The company restricts the use of drug testing to employees on a probable cause basis, and tests are given to employees only when they have acci

> A technology company in California, a state that has legalized the use of medical marijuana, currently gives all newly hired employees a preemployment urine drug test. A failure to pass the drug test is grounds for canceling the job offer to an incoming

> Nurses have often reported high frequencies of incidents of incivility when they are working with doctors under stressful conditions in emergency rooms and during surgeries on patients. What effect would these incidents of incivility have on patients rec

> Do you agree or disagree with Bellow’s argument that relatives of company owners have a greater motivation to perform well and make sacrifices for the business to protect the family reputation than do nonrelatives? Explain.

> Costco has higher compensation expenses than Walmart as described in the case. What do you consider to be the rationale that Costco uses that justifies its policy of being a leader in pay and benefits in the retail industry?

> In groups of four or five students, meet with several administrators and faculty members in your college or university and, based on this, write a two-page paper on the topic “The faulty promotion process at our college.” What do you think of the process

> Some people believe that most employees will act ethically even though they have a chance to take advantage of an incentive system through inappropriate behaviors. Do you agree?

> What can an organization do to ensure that merit pay and other incentives are administered fairly? What kind of data would you gather to ensure that the pay-for-performance system is not biased in favor of any particular group? Explain.

> What are some of the pros and cons of linking pay to objective criteria that are important to the organization such as quality control measures, profitability, and low turnover?

> What is the common thread across the widely different examples of “merit pay” and “pay for performance” given in this case?

> As a small firm owner, do you think it is a good idea to distribute profit gains the board among all employees or would you rather distribute the profit gains based on individual contributions? Explain.

> Do you agree with the proposal being made by the consulting firm? Why or why not? Explain.

> Do you think a short pay-for-performance cycle would work for some jobs better than others? If so, for which kinds of jobs is it more appropriate? Provide examples and explain.

> According to Jim Kochanski, a compensation consultant at Sibson Consulting Co., there are four reasons to allocate scarce compensation dollars to reward key contributors: “it is considered ‘fair’ by most employees; it can motivate effort, focus, and coop

> Are there any potential problems with devoting most compensation dollars to rewarding top performers, even if this means neglecting investments to improve the welfare of all employees (such as day care or paid sick leave)? If you were asked the hypotheti

> Do you think offering incentives to key contributors motivates them as well as other employees to do a better job? Why or why not? If not, what alternative ways do you propose? Explain

> Explain the career-related factors to keep in mind when making the employee’s first assignments.

> What are the pros and cons of Antle’s compensation policies? Are they attuned to its new business strategies of fostering growth, increasing market share, and enhancing flexibility to respond to its competitors?

> Based on what you’ve read about Antle, do you agree with the problems identified by the committee? If not, what alternative set of problems or issues do you see?

> Based on the data collected by the faculty council, name three compensation problems that exist at Mountain States University.

> If you had a choice of working for a firm that offers you a higher wage but little in the way of family support services versus a firm that offers you a lower wage but better family support services, which one would you pick and why? Explain.

> Do you think employees who take advantage of these forms of family assistance support truly value these services more than they would an equivalent amount in take-home pay?

> Do you think that companies provide these types of family-oriented rewards for altruistic reasons? Do you see this as a trend? Explain.

> Do you think that one way to comply with the “compensation history ban law” would be to provide all candidates with a salary range for the job in question and see if they are still willing to continue the conversation? Would this tend to reduce the pay g

> Some states, such as Oregon, require that if a company violates the “compensation history ban law,” employees (mostly women) have to be reimbursed for any pay gaps that might be the result of asking compensation history questions. Do you agree? How would

> How do you think mentors and mentees should be matched? Should they be assigned or allowed to choose each other?

> Pick out some task with which you are familiar—mowing the lawn, tuning a car—and develop a job-instruction training sheet for it.

> Do you think that people should be required to serve as mentors? What characteristics should these mentors possess?

> Competencies are important to career success, but so, too, are career anchors. These two factors are analogous to ability and motivation being predictors of performance (see Chapter 5). Construct a parallel equation using competencies and anchors as pred

> The concept of career anchors indicates that there is more to career development than having and matching skills to competency requirements. Some managers view development as a moral imperative. That is, business is about making money, but it also should

> Opportunities and threats have to do with external factors. What sources could be useful for obtaining this information?

> Do you think that SWOT analysis is a useful tool for career development? Why or why not?

> Training for repatriation is also an important consideration. How do you think the effectiveness of training for repatriates should be measured?

> How do you think the effectiveness of training for expatriate positions should be measured?

> If time or budget were limited, what areas of training would be the top priority?

> Do you think that the three categories of potential training needs (country, job, and worker) should receive the same or different weights? That is, should a deficit in a job competency be viewed as more critical than a deficit in a cultural competency?

> How could you measure the training needs for each of the three areas of country, job, and worker characteristics?

> You’re the supervisor of a group of employees whose task is to assemble disk drives that go into computers. You find that quality is not what it should be and that many of your group’s devices have to be brought back and reworked; your boss says that “Yo

> Using the evaluation framework presented in Figure 8.5, which level would the challenge training attempt to improve?

> Assume that training results in a 10 percent reduction in your turnover rate. Also, assume that the cost of a turnover is 1.5 times the departing employee’s salary. For a given average employee salary of your choosing, estimate the reduced costs due to t

> Make assumptions about the costs in each of these categories and any other direct costs you can think of. Also assume that you can expect a 10 percent reduction in each of these categories. Generate the direct cost savings estimate due to the training.

> As you have read, training can increase revenue. The revenue could come from increased quality of the customer experience due to the impact of training. Consider, as an example, the table of customer survey responses before and after training. The number

> What recommendations would you make to improve the compensation system in a way that would likely improve customer satisfaction?

> In what ways might your group’s compensation plan contribute to the customer satisfaction problems?

> On what laws and legal concepts did the employer apparently base its termination of this 61-year-old attorney?

> Based on what laws or legal concepts could you take the position that it is legal to fire someone for poor performance even though there may be a discriminatory aspect to the termination (which is not to say that there necessarily was such a discriminato

> Do you think it is fair for a company to discipline employees by charging higher fees for those who show evidence of “unhealthy life styles”? According to Dr. Kevin Volpp, director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the Unive

> In recent years there has been an increase in the number of companies that have wrongly classified an “employee” as a “contract worker,” and consequently were taken to court by workers who believed they were entitled to certain rights and privileges enjo

> Of all the issues affecting HR practices discussed in this chapter, which three in your opinion are the most important ones? Justify your answer.

> Go back to the Manager’s Notebook “How Harley-Davidson Is Taking Advantage of a Diverse Customer Base.” If you were a HR manager of a company such as Harley-Davidson, what human resource programs would you put in place to help the company expand its cust

> Roughly two generations ago many HR articles decried problems with performance appraisal. A common complaint was that managers did not devote sufficient time to conducting the appraisals and that biases were rampant. Another common complaint was that mos

> Given your answers to the previous questions, estimate the combined impact of direct and indirect savings generated by training on the bottom line. Extrapolate this number over a one- or two-year time period.

> What do you see as the main advantages and disadvantages of Internet-based recruiting? Explain.

> U.S. law does not prohibit selection decisions based on marital status, as long as they are applied equally to men and women. Why might a company have such a policy? Is it ethical? Is it in the best long-term interests of the company?

> Reread the Manager’s Notebook “Learning How to Cope with Political Risks.” How do you think firms can better utilize HR practices to avoid the pitfalls illustrated in the Manager’s Notebook? Explain.

> Some people believe that U.S. MNCs should serve as vehicles for cultural change in developing countries by introducing modern U.S. HRM practices and instilling values (such as punctuality and efficiency) in the workforce that are necessary for industrial

> Reread the Manager’s Notebook “Toxic Factories Take Toll on China’s Labor Force.” Do you think it is fair for a company to take advantage of lax environmental standards in other countries? Should a multinational company take special care (even if it is m

> U.S. MNCs experience a much higher rate of early returns with their expatriate employees than European and Japanese MNCs do. What explains this difference? What HRM policies and procedures would you develop to reduce this problem?

> As noted in the chapter-opening vignette, Toyota ran into trouble for two reasons. One, was that the company centralized most decision making in its corporate headquarters. The second was that the CEO pressured top engineers to cut costs to improve profi

> It was argued in this chapter that an empowerment approach to improving safety could yield positive results. The operation of consultative safety teams including cleaning workers was used as an example. However, a participative approach to safety improve

> How can managers use the organization's reward system to encourage workplace safety?

> How could genetic testing be used to discriminate?

> If a worker has some weak areas that affect how well he or she performs aspects of the job, the traditional approach would be to provide evaluation and feedback to the worker to try to improve those deficiencies. How else could those deficiencies be impr

> If a job is potentially hazardous to the fetus of a pregnant employee, should it be legal for the company to restrict the job to men?

> What kind of policies do you think would work best to prevent workplace violence?

> Do you think social media is a useful way for offering a wellness program? Why or why not? What major characteristics do you think a social media– based wellness program should have?

> What is the difference between the objectives of workers’ compensation and the objectives of OSHA?

> Some experts in the field of labor relations believe that when a union can pose a credible threat of a strike to management in the collective bargaining process, both parties—union and management—are motivated to move in the direction of a settlement and