個案總覽

Kaitlyn Otashi opened her banking app and was shocked to see her balance went down compared to last month. She started a new full-time job six months ago, and was earning a decent salary. Although her expenses had gone up as a result of moving to a new apartment, she could not understand how her available cash was going in the wrong direction. This case weaves Kaitlyn through an analysis of her income and spending, including a detailed analysis of salary and benefits, personal taxes, and spending patterns. The case extends this analysis by considering three scenarios that involve Kaitlyn adjusting contributions to her health care savings plan, retirement plan, and changes in spending patterns to determine impact on income, after-tax cash flow, and net overall savings. This case is ideal for classes on personal finance, basic finance, and cash flow analysis, as well as workshops on budgeting and planning.

Spreadsheet supplement for case BAB500.

This case provides a comprehensive introduction to the basics of capital budgeting. It presents students with two distinct capital budgeting exercises revolving around the athletic footwear industry. The first exercise is about a running sneaker with a large capital outlay and a six-year project life. It contains many traditional project cash flows as well as a significant endorsement risk. The second exercise involves evaluating a hiking shoe project with a smaller initial investment in a more rapidly growing but unfamiliar market segment. The authors have used this case with audiences including sophomore undergraduates, MBAs, and seasoned executives. In the first two audiences, students build spreadsheet solutions from the assumptions provided; for executives, we often give them the completed analysis and focus more on interpretation of financial metrics and on qualitative discussion. We have also used one or both of the exercises as exam questions.