Describe the steps involved in conducting MDS.
> Why is self-regulation viewed as important by professional bodies in marketing research?
> Why is participant anonymity so important in market research?
> Evaluate the reasons why gaining access to key participants may be so difficult. Why may gaining access grow more difficult over time?
> What is b2g marketing? What kinds of challenges might be associated with b2g marketing research?
> Upon what basis may a researcher decide which variables should be selected to formulate a clustering problem?
> What does ‘access’ mean in the context of b2b marketing research?
> Describe the sampling challenges that the b2b researcher faces.
> What are the five major differences between b2b and consumer marketing?
> How do the concepts of business networks and relationships relate to each other?
> What challenges do b2b marketers face in managing relationships?
> What characteristics distinguish b2b marketing from consumer marketing?
> What is competitive intelligence? How does this definition differ from notions of ‘conventional marketing research’?
> Describe the potential participant errors that may occur in b2b marketing research. What may be done to reduce these potential errors?
> What is meant by ‘interviewer credibility’? What may interviewers do to be seen as more credible in the eyes of target participants?
> Why is it important to ask the question ‘Is b2b marketing research significantly different from consumer marketing research?’
> Briefly define the following: eigenvalue, factor loadings, factor matrix and factor scores.
> What is a pie chart? For what type of information is it suitable? For what type of information is it not suitable?
> What is an infographic? Why can visual communication techniques sometimes be more effective than text at communicating research findings?
> Describe the guidelines for report writing.
> Discuss the importance of objectivity in writing a marketing research report.
> Why is the ‘limitations and caveats’ section included in the report?
> Describe a commonly used format for writing marketing research reports.
> What is the difference between dissemination and communication of research findings?
> Why should marketing research projects be evaluated after they have been completed?
> To what extent should researchers interpret the information they present in a report?
> What is the purpose of an oral presentation? What guidelines should be followed in an oral presentation?
> What is a ‘cluster’?
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of presenting data using 3D charts?
> Why is the quality of report presentation vital to the success of a marketing research project?
> How do you establish convergent and discriminant validity in an SEM framework?
> What is confirmatory factor analysis? How is it similar to and different from exploratory factor analysis?
> What are the similarities and differences between a parsimony and incremental fit index?
> What are the similarities and differences between an absolute and incremental fit index?
> How is model fit assessed in SEM?
> What is a measurement model? Why is it estimated?
> What is the role of theory in SEM?
> SEM is similar to what other multivariate techniques? How is it similar?
> Briefly define the following terms: dendrogram, icicle plot, agglomeration schedule and cluster membership.
> What is a recursive model? Why is this aspect relevant in SEM?
> How do we determine whether the difference between two structural path coefficients is significant?
> What is a structural theory and how is it different from measurement theory?
> What is a second-order factor model? How is it different from a first-order factor model?
> What is average variance extracted? Why is it useful to calculate this statistic?
> What characteristics distinguish SEM from other multivariate techniques?
> What is the difference between internal and external analysis of preference data?
> Describe the ways in which the reliability and validity of MDS solutions can be assessed.
> What guidelines are used for deciding on the number of dimensions in which to obtain an MDS solution?
> Describe the direct and derived approaches to obtaining MDS input data.
> Describe the factor analysis model.
> What is meant by a spatial map?
> Identify two marketing research problems where MDS could be applied. Explain how you would apply MDS in these situations.
> What procedures are available for assessing the reliability and validity of conjoint analysis results?
> Graphically illustrate what is meant by part-worth functions.
> How can regression analysis be used for analysing conjoint data?
> Describe the pairwise approach to constructing stimuli in conjoint analysis.
> Describe the full-profile approach to constructing stimuli in conjoint analysis.
> What is involved in formulating a conjoint analysis problem?
> What are some of the uses of cluster analysis in marketing?
> What are the major uses of factor analysis?
> How is cluster analysis used to group variables?
> Describe some procedures available for assessing the quality of clustering solutions.
> What role may qualitative methods play in the interpretation of clusters?
> What is involved in the interpretation of clusters?
> How is the fit of the factor analysis model examined?
> What are surrogate variables? How are they determined?
> What guidelines are available for deciding the number of clusters?
> What guidelines are available for interpreting the factors?
> Why is it useful to rotate the factors? Which is the most common method of rotation?
> What is a scree plot? For what purpose is it used?
> How is factor analysis different from multiple regression and discriminant analysis?
> Suppose a preferred share pays perpetual quarterly dividends of $1.00 and has a per annum dividend yield of 8 percent. What is the fair value of this preferred share?
> What is the profitability index for the project in question 6? discount rate = 10.0% initial investment = ($40,000) CF1 = $15,000 CF2 = $20,000 CF3 = $25,000 NPV = $8,948.16 = -$40,000 + $15,000/(1.10) + $20,000/(1.10)2 + $25,000/(1.10)
> What is the internal rate of return for the project in question 6? discount rate = 10.0% initial investment = ($40,000) CF1 = $15,000 CF2 = $20,000 CF3 = $25,000 NPV = $8,948.16 = -$40,000 + $15,000/(1.10) + $20,000/(1.10)2 + $25,000/(1
> What is the net present value of a project with a $40,000 initial investment and expected net cash flows of $15,000, $20,000, and $25,000 in each of the next three years, assuming an appropriate discount rate of 10 percent?
> Wholesale Lumber, Ltd. is a firm that distributes lumber to building supply and home improvement retail stores. The firm’s cost of sales for the most recent year was $45 million, its beginning inventory was $16 million, and its ending inventory was $18 m
> What are the three methods by which a firm can improve its working capital gap? Ace Inc. Income Statements ($000s) Year 1 Year 2 Sales $250,000 $290,000 Cost of goods sold 165,000 173,000 Gross margin 85,000 117,000 Selling & admin expenses 68,000 7
> IOU Inc. has EBIT of $58,000, depreciation and amortization of $12,000, interest expenses of $21,000, principal repayments of $17,000, and a tax rate of 35 percent. Calculate IOU Inc.’s interest coverage ratio and debt service coverage ratio.
> Deb Co. has interest-bearing debt of $122 million, non–interest-bearing debt of $33 million, and equity of $76 million. Calculate Deb Co.’s debt-to-assets, debt-to-equity, and long-term-debt-to-capital ratios.
> Quick-E Inc.’s current assets consist of cash of $5 million, account receivables of $27 million, inventory of $37 million, and it has current liabilities of $48 million. Calculate Quick-E’s current ratio and quick ratio.
> Estimate the working capital gap for each year. Ace Inc. Income Statements ($000s) Year 1 Year 2 Sales $250,000 $290,000 Cost of goods sold 165,000 173,000 Gross margin 85,000 117,000 Selling & admin expenses 68,000 76,000 Depreciation 13,000 14,000
> What is the payback period of a project with average annual cash outflows of $8,000, average annual cash inflows of $10,000, and an initial investment of $13,000?
> Fixem Co. has revenue of $125 million, property and equipment of $42 million, and accumulated depreciation and amortization of $6 million. Estimate the fixed asset turnover ratio.
> BE Enterprises has fixed costs of $50 million. Its gross margin percentage is 18 percent. What sales level must it achieve in order to break even?
> Estimate the age of inventory for each year. Ace Inc. Income Statements ($000s) Year 1 Year 2 Sales $250,000 $290,000 Cost of goods sold 165,000 173,000 Gross margin 85,000 117,000 Selling & admin expenses 68,000 76,000 Depreciation 13,000 14,000 Op
> Suppose year 2’s days of payables were increased to 40. How much cash would be freed up? Ace Inc. Income Statements ($000s) Year 1 Year 2 Sales $250,000 $290,000 Cost of goods sold 165,000 173,000 Gross margin 85,000 117,000 Sellin
> Suppose year 2’s days of receivables were reduced to 35. How much cash would be freed up? Ace Inc. Income Statements ($000s) Year 1 Year 2 Sales $250,000 $290,000 Cost of goods sold 165,000 173,000 Gross margin 85,000 117,000 Selli
> Suppose year 2’s days of inventory were reduced to 35. How much cash would be freed up? Ace Inc. Income Statements ($000s) Year 1 Year 2 Sales $250,000 $290,000 Cost of goods sold 165,000 173,000 Gross margin 85,000 117,000 Selling
> Eeeva Inc. has an EBIT of $1.5 million. The tax rate is 35 percent. Eeeva has a debt of $2.5 million and common equity of $5 million. Eeeva’s cost of capital is estimated to be 11 percent. Calculate Eeeva’s EVA.
> Extra Value Inc. is expected to generate EBIT of $20 million next year, with anticipated depreciation and amortization of $3 million. Extra Value has debt of $40 million. Comparable firms are trading at average forward-looking EV/EBITDA ratios of five ti
> Pepper Inc. is expected to have before-tax earnings of $2.5 million next year. The tax rate is 35 percent. There are 2 million common shares outstanding. Comparable firms in the same industry are estimated to have price-earnings multiples of 10 to 16. Es
> Now suppose BetLev wishes to have a target capital structure of 50 percent debt and 50 percent equity. What will be its levered beta at the target capital structure?
> Suppose BetLev Inc. has a capital structure with 65 percent debt and 35 percent equity, a (levered) beta of 1.3, and a corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Estimate the unlevered beta of BetLev.
> Suppose an all-equity firm has a beta estimated to be 1.2. If the firm changes its capital structure such that its debt-to-equity ratio is now 0.4, what should be the revised beta estimate if it also faces a tax rate of 35 percent?
> Suppose a firm has an EBIT of $5 million, interest expenses of $2 million, depreciation expenses of $1 million, and a tax rate of 35 percent. Its bank agrees to lend up to 4 times its EBITDA. How much debt can the firm borrow from the bank?
> Assume that a firm’s earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be $2.00 next year and that analysts have determined that an appropriate forward-looking multiple is 15 times the projected earnings. What should the stock price be?
> What is the value of an all-equity firm that: a. has a dividend payout ratio of 100 percent b. is expected to generate net income each year (forever) of $1 million, and c. has a required equity return (also the ROE) of 16 percent?
> What is the present value of a perpetual stream of annual cash flows of $100, with the first cash flow to be received in one year, assuming a discount rate of 8 percent?
> How will your answer in question #3 change if we now relax the M&M perfect capital markets assumption and incorporate a corporate tax rate of 35 percent? Ke = Kc + (Kc – Kd) (D/E) Kc = 10.0% Kd = 6.0% D = 1.2 E = 1.0 ( Ke = 14.8% = 10% + (10
> According to Modigliani and Miller (M&M), in a world of perfect capital markets, what will be the expected equity return (or cost of equity) for a firm that has a cost of capital of 10 percent, a cost of debt of 6 percent, debt valued at $1.2 million, an
> Fastest Company’s common shares are currently trading for $30. It is expected that Fastest Company will pay an annual common share dividend of $2 next year. It is also expected that the dividend will grow at a rate of 5 percent each year in perpetuity. B
