How does the added information about integrated reporting (i.e., reporting about environmental, social, and governance factors, or ESG) make investors a “happier group”? Do you agree with this assessment? Should ESG reporting be mandated? Why or why not?
McDonald’s is opening vegetarian only restaurants in India. List as many implications as you can for the company, such as those pertaining to the supply chain, order procedures, storage, marketing, working capital, margins, etc.
Is there any convincing reason to have a budget? Why do you suppose educators continue to teach budgets and “variance analysis”?
If you were the CFO of a privately held company, under what circumstances would you want to release financial information? To whom would you release it? How often? If never, why not?
How can a firm’s capital structure become a “political liability”? Do you think the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation has merit? What ratios would you check to see if the firm’s debt structure really was “troubling”?
What would you advise the chair of the SEC, Mary Shapiro, with respect to the “quiet period” before an IPO? Should it be upheld as is, changed, or completely eliminated?
AOL recently announced a special dividend and an accelerated share repurchase. Do you agree with their move? Why or why not? What’s the difference between a special dividend and a “regular” dividend?
Why does Usain Bolt not want to run in England? How do tax rates affect the allocation decisions of financial capital? Of human capital?
Do tax rates affect individuals’ behavior? Corporate behavior? Can you make a case at all that these companies who are leaving the U.S., such as Eaton, should stay in the U.S. and pay more in taxes?
Why does GM need more cash, given that it currently holds $33 billion in cash already? What is GM’s pension “story”?
So, Apple “won” a billion dollar damage award against Samsung. Should Apple accrue this “receivable”? Should Samsung accrue the payable (contingency)? Why or why not?
If you were the CEO of Hyundai, what would you do re: worker demands? How would you determine the optimal “days sales in inventory” (DSI)? How is DSI measured?
How does Cisco’s increase of its dividend track the life cycle of a firm (intro, growth, maturity, decline)? What does the dividend increase reflect about the firm’s set of investment opportunities?
If you were CFO of a firm that did not need extra cash, why would you sell bonds to raise cash in the current environment? What are some of the potential consequences, both positive and negative, of increasing the liquidity on your firm’s balance sheet?
If interest rates are negative, then future values of deposits or investments are lower than present values. If this is a result, why not just hold cash?
IKEA has estimated its brand value to be about $11 billion. Should the company debit “intangible asset” and credit “APIC”? Or, credit “gain”? Or, do nothing? What do you recommend and why?
HP’s “marriage” to EDS did not work out as planned. Why not? The firm also increased its estimate of a restructuring charge? Why? What is the difference between an impairment and a restructuring?
