opportunity cost of capital
The following discussion based on Gabriel Kahn, "Made to Measure: Invisible Supplier Has Penney's Shirts All Buttoned Up, " Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2003, describes a new inventory system used by J.C. Penney:
"In an industry where the goal is rapid turnaround of merchandise, J.C. Penney stores now hold almost no extra inventory of house-brand shirts. Less than a decade ago, Penney would have stored thousands of them in warehouses across the U.S., tying up capital and slowly going out of style. The entire program is designed and operated by TAL Apparel Ltd., a closely held Hong Kong shirt maker. TAL collects point-of-sale data for Penney's shirts directly from its stores in North America for analysis through a computer model it designed. The Hong Kong company then decides how many shirts to make, and in what styles, colors, and sizes. The manufacturer sends the shirts directly to each Penney store, bypassing the retailer's warehouses and corporate decision makers."
a) Discuss how this illustrates the concept of the opportunity cost of capital.
b) How does this innovation also help in demand management?
https://brainmass.com/economics/production/opportunity-cost-of-capital-452996
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The concept of opportunity cost of capital is illustrated in the sense that opportunity cost of holding a large amount of inventory was much higher than the benefits derived from ...
Solution Summary
a) Discuss how this illustrates the concept of the opportunity cost of capital.
b) How does this innovation also help in demand management?
Strident Marks: Calculate cost of capital, IRR, WACC, MCC. Rank investments
Scenario
You are a financial analyst in the finance division of Strident Marks, a manufacturer of athletic equipment and apparel, which has recently gone through the initial public offering (IPO) process and has become a public company. Strident Marks has annual sales revenue of approximately $50 million and makes seven unique and distinct products (which serve seven different markets). Each product is represented by its own division within the company and has its own group of sales, marketing, and manufacturing personnel. Some departments, including human resources and the finance division, support the entire organization. Operations consist of a single headquarters and production (manufacturing) center.
In your role as financial analyst you are responsible for compiling and reporting on budget / forecast data, for assisting your investor relations department, and for assessing and valuing new business opportunities (which will ultimately be presented to upper management). You report directly to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and have the use of the accounting department's staff accountants to assist you with your budget / forecast responsibilities.
You have been informed by the CFO that Strident Marks will be aggressively pursuing new business opportunities, which may include expansion through acquisition and the development and implementation of new products. As a publicly traded company, Strident Marks is scrutinized by bankers and investors as never before. In fulfilling your responsibilities you must keep this in mind, and you must instill a new sense of financial discipline in the organization.
What does a company's cost of capital represent and how is it calculated? How do market rates and the company's perceived market risk impact its cost of capital, and how does the company's debt to equity mix impact this cost of capital? Using the information provided, develop a spreadsheet to calculate weighted average cost (WAC) and marginal weighted average cost (MCC) of capital for Strident Marks?
You have developed the following table concerning the cost of capital sources for Strident Marks:
Source of capital
After tax cost
Long term debt
6%
Preferred stock
18%
Common stock equity
20%
Strident Marks capital structure weights used to calculate its WACC are:
Source of Capital After Tax Cost Amount Available After tax cost, After Break Point
Long-term debt 6% 200,000 12%
Preferred stock 18% 100,000 25%
Common stock equity 20% 200,000 40%
The future investment opportunities and the corresponding Internal Rate of Return (IRR) follow. As a result of operating its business operations profitably, Strident Marks has $1,000,000 to invest. Considering Strident Marks' weighted average cost of capital and MCC, rank the investment opportunities and indicate which ones would be accepted, which (if any) would be rejected and why.
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