MATH 1201-01: College Algebra

Lines can be used to approximate a wide variety of functions; often a function can be described using many lines.

If a stock price goes from $10 to $12 from January 1st to January 31; from $12 to $9 from February 1st to February 28th; and from $9 to $15 from March 1st to March 31th. Is the price change of the stock $10 to $15 from January 1st to March 31st a straight line? 

It is clear that in each of the three time intervals mentioned there was a complex daily variation of prices as in an electrocardiogram. But what would be a simplified solution for a first naive view of the situation? Would a simple function hold up? What is the simplest function to represent this situation? Does your naïve initial and simplified model allow you to predict the behavior of the stock in the next month?

How can I use three “pieces” of lines to describe the price movements from the beginning of January to the end of March? Show the graph for the price movement.

Answers:

The following points we have per month will be as follows:

January (1,10) and (31,12); February (1,12) and (28,9); March (1,9) and (31,15)

To get the slope we use the formula:  M = (y2-y1)/(x2-x1)

Therefore:

slope for January: M = (12-10)/(31-1)

    M = 2/30

    M = 1/15

slope for February: M = (9-12)/(28-1)

      M = -3/27

      M = -1/9

slope for March:      M = (15-9)/(31-1)

      M = 6/30

      M = 1/5

The equation we use to get the line for each month will be:  y=(m)+b where y represents the first point of the month, m represents the slope.

For the month of January, we calculate the line as below:

First, get the value of (b)

y = (m)+b – where y is the first point of the month (1,10)

10 = (1/15) + b  

b = 9.93 – after we get the value of b, we the formula line will now be: y = (x/15) + 9.93

For the month of February, we calculate the line as below:

First, get the value of (b)

y = (m)+b – where y is the first point of the month (1,12)

12 = (-1/9) + b

b = 12.11 – after we get the value of b, we the formula line will now be: y = (-x/9) + 12.11

For the month of February, we calculate the line as below:

First, get the value of (b)

y = (m)+b – where y is the first point of the month (1,9)

9 = (1/5) + b  

b= 8.8 – after we get the value of b, we the formula line will now be: y = (x/5) + 8.8

 

To graph these lines, please see below.

Legends:

red line represents January; blue line represents February; green line represents March

 

Different Status, Advice and Actions Codes for Flights

To provide clear understanding on different status codes for flights in GDS, below table are some of the many codes you need to familiarize.

ACTION CODES

Code	Description
FF	Frequent Flyer
FR	Forced request - Amadeus System user airlines
FS	Forced sale - Amadeus System user airlines
GI	Group interactive
GK	Ghost segment confirmed
GL	Ghost segment waitlisted
GN	Ghost segment need
HK	Holding confirmed
HK	Service segment confirmed
IN	If not holding need (non-System user airlines)
IS	If not holding sold (non-System user airlines)
IX	If holding cancel (non-Amadeus Access Sell airlines + AF LH IB TG)
NA	Need segment specified or alternative segment immediately following
LL	Waitlist (non-System user airlines)
NN	Need segment
PE	Standard priority non-group waitlist
PG	Priority waitlist for groups
PK	Confirmed Passive segment
PL	Waitlisted Passive segment
RR	Reconfirmed
SA	Space available
SG	Group sell
SS	Sold
ST	Stretcher
UM	Unaccompanied minor

ADVICE CODES

Code	Description
HX	Holding canceled
NO	No action taken
KK	Confirming
KL	Confirming from waitlist
TK	Confirming, advise passenger of new times
TL	Waitlisted, advise passenger of new times
TN	Holding need, advise passenger new times
UC	Unable flight closed, have not waitlisted
UN	Unable, flight does not operate
US	Unable to accept sale, have waitlisted
UU	Unable, have waitlisted

STATUS CODES

Code	Description
DK	Confirmed (before end of transaction)
DN	On request (before end of transaction)
DW	Waitlisted (before end of transaction)
GK	Confirmed Ghost segment
GL	Waitlisted Ghost segment
GN	Ghost segment need
HK	Holding confirmed
HK	Service segment confirmed
HL	Waitlisted
HN	Holding need
HO	On offer
HS	Have sold
IN	If not holding need (non-System user airlines)
IS	If not holding sold (non-System user airlines)
IX	If holding cancel (non-Amadeus Access Sell airlines and AF LH IB TG)
LK	Holding confirmed (Direct Access)
LL	Waitlist (non-System user airlines)
NA	Need segment specified or alternative segment immediately following
NK	Holding confirmed, pending record locator return (Direct Access)
NN	Need segment
NS	No seat required (for infant in TST)
OX	Cancel only if requested segment is available
PK	Passive segment confirmed
PL	Passive segment waitlisted
RQ	Waitlisted (for segment in TST)
RR	Reconfirmed
SA	Space available
SS	Sold

You may refer to various GDS website for verification.

Corporate Social Responsibility || Answer the following questions:

 Does this chapter increase or decrease your motivation to consume organic food products? Explain why.

Personally, it does not increase nor decrease my motivation to consume organic food products. Growing up at a rural area where farming is a main source of food and income, I have always been an advocate supporting agricultural products straight from the farm. Most products that we produce are organic because of the natural fertilizers and pesticides used for farming.

What is a more important motivation—in your view—for consuming organic food: a) that it is better for your health, or b) that it is better for the environment and for farmworkers? Explain.

Based on the text, I viewed consumption of organic food as closely similar to conventional food except for processed food. Thus, for me, consuming organic food helps the environment as it does not involve chemicals that may ruin the ozone, the water and air. It will also help the farmers in a way that consumption of organic products will increase their production and their income.

Let us say that, instead of a hospital as our case study example, we had used the example of a wealthy private school for K–12 students. Would the argument be stronger or weaker for adopting organic food in the cafeteria of the school? Why?

 In today’s world, millennial and Gen Z parents are reliant to processed food because they tend to focus on earning more to support the family. If we adopt organic food in the cafeteria of the school, it would help the students gain vitamins and minerals from at school to contrast to the food they take at home. Therefore, this argument is strong because it will help the young parents make sure that their kids are getting the right nutrients for their kids.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Business success is measured not only on profitability, growth and brand recognition but it goes beyond that. A business who aims to improve their corporate culture, community, economy, the society and the environment always practice Corporate Social Responsibility. Reckmann, N. (2023) defined CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility as “a form of self-regulation that reflects a business’s accountability and commitment to contributing to the well-being of communities and society through various environmental and social measures.”

In this paper, I will provide an example company who practice Corporate Social Responsibility and explain what they do that made me trust and admire this company. In contrast, I will also provide an example company who does not practice Corporate Social Responsibility, if there is, and explain what they do that made me doubt the organization and why they failed to gain my trust as a potential consumer and as part of the society. Lastly, I will also discuss whether or not I am willing to work in the field of corporate social responsibility and expand my thoughts as to why I am willing or not.

Main Topic

 In recent times, where innovation and vast changes in various industries can be seen, the world’s perspective has also improved to cope up with these changes. Companies – especially the giant corporations – who operates across the globe like Teleperformance have practiced corporate social responsibility by implementing several actions that addresses social and environmental issues like global warming and gender equality.

Teleperformance according to Great Place To Work (2022) is “the global leader in outsourced customer and citizen experience management and advanced related services, serves as a strategic partner to the world’s largest companies in many industries.” This company offers professional services with branches across the globe has implemented various platform and actions to improve its brand and expand its business by attracting more investors to invest in the organization. According to Peachman, R. (2023), Teleperformance ranked 404 in the list for the Best Employers for Diversity (2023). While there are various companies who may engaged into countless racial, socio-economic and gender inequality, Teleperformance made attempt in addressing these countless issues of inequality and was able to be part of the list of the best employers for diversity for the current year. A diversified company is a company that eliminates discrimination at work and this is one of the many reasons why I admire this company.

On the other hand, mining companies have the least possibility that I would trust. While mining companies may be compliant to the governments mandate and laws implemented to ensure it does not impact the environment and the community negatively, I am still having doubts about trusting these companies. I will refrain from providing a specific company to avoid misinterpretation and to make it fair for the industry. The fact that they are mining the mountains and ruin the natural beauty of nature, I believe that this action is not according to corporate social responsibility. Thus, this gives me doubts in giving trust to these companies.

Conclusion

Working in the field of corporate social responsibility is a satisfying job, you get to participate in ensuring that the company is responsible with there actions not only because they wanted to increase their consumer rate and company growth but to give back to the community and the environment. Therefore, yes, I would be willing to work in this industry, working at this industry will definitely give us peace of mind because it is ethical and satisfying.

References:

Peachman, R. (2023). America’s Best Employers For Diversity. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/lists/best-employers-diversity/?sh=3909957c6468

Great Place To Work (2022). Teleperformance. https://www.greatplacetowork.com/certified-company/1121655

Reckmann, N. (2023). What Is Corporate Social Responsibility? BND. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html

What is distributive justice?

There are three forms of justice as provided in the text, these are; legal, commutative, and distributive. Distributive justice governs the equal distribution of benefits and burdens to the people by the city-state. These benefits and burdens include but not limited to taxes, income assistance, health benefits, social security benefits and etc. (Bryars & Stanberry, 2019)

For debates related to distributive justice, in the Philippines, the common concerns that the participants and the people raise based on my own knowledge and observation are as follows:

The agriculture sector of the country is given less importance and budgeting as compared to investing in infrastructures – farmers are getting lesser attention in terms of budgeting; thus, injustice arises.

When distributing subsidies like calamity funds or even the state subsidies for the least fortunate population were not equally distributed, there are poor families who does not get the subsidy especially those that are less educated and living far from the city where transportation is a little bit challenging.

“In particular, it cannot be denied that the present Muslim rebellion and the communist threat are connected to economic inequities. In short, distributive justice, unlike economic growth, is crucial to the security of the state.” (Mangahas, 2015)

Reference:

Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K. (2019). Business ethics. OpenStax College and Rice University. Retrieved from: https://openstax.org/details/books/business-ethics

Mangahas, M. (2015). 4 - Distributive Justice in the Philippines: Ideology, Policy and Surveillance. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/reflections-on-development-in-southeast-asia/distributive-justice-in-the-philippines-ideology-policy-and-surveillance/020E6123499DECA83DFE19AFF8CD9469

Please read the reading materials from Chapter 12 of the Corporate Social Responsibility textbook that you find in the reading assignment. Based on what you have learned in this unit, answer the following questions:

 Does reading this chapter make you less likely to buy leather and fur products, or not? Why or why not?

I have never aimed nor wanted leather and fur products in my possession, I always buy affordable and durable products. Reading this chapter made me think that I was living a better lifestyle because I know that the things in my possession are not against animal rights. This gives me an idea to less likely buy leather and fur products; instead, I should buy alternative products that are similar but crafted in accordance to animal welfare act.

Does reading this chapter make you more likely to go vegetarian in your food consumption (if you are not already), or not? Why or why not?

While understand the context of protecting the animal rights, I believe that we should be logical in our decisions, as such, we should be able to categorized commercial meat from those that are not introduced as for consumptions. For example, meat from pigs and chicken, these are acceptable for consumption legally as discussed in the text related to Humane Farming and Meat Consumption. (Jimenez & Pulos, 2016)

Do you feel that the consumption of meat and the use of leather and fur are “natural” and therefore acceptable? Why or why not?

I have separate views on the consumption of meat and the use of leather and fur. I believe that consumption of meat is natural and acceptable because; first, meat contains vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy body. Second, it is part of the natural food chain where human is higher than animals. On the other hand, the use of leather and fur is only for luxury and fashion, thus, it is not necessary to slaughter animals because there are other alternatives that we can use to craft a better fashion other than leather and fur.

Does an “ethical” company owe any duty to animals, or are ethical duties only owed to humans?

In my own opinion, an “ethical” company do not only owe duty to animals and to humans but to the Earth and all the living things within the planet. It is very important that companies are responsible not only to the animals and the humans but also to the environment as the industrial effects are affecting the entire planet. But yes, “ethical” companies owe any duty to animals and not only to human and the environment.

Reference:

Jimenez, G. C., & Pulos, E. (2016). Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy. Open SUNY Textbooks. Retrieved from: https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-corporation-bad-corporation/.

Based on your research, all materials covered in this course as well as entrepreneurial skills that you gained, please share your own entrepreneurship definition and post an advertisement inviting other joint venture partners. In your ad explain your renewed business, introduce your new partner’s idea (as described above-use your imagination) Provide factual details pertaining to your joint business. Invite others to join.

Entrepreneurship is taking financial risks engaging into business ventures and other economic activities like investments because it will your ability to manage and follow your passion and it can be compared to building your own source of income. – Ruel Sales

Advertisement:

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Are you ready for investments? 

Travel Micro Credit is the best place to trust your hard-earned money. We are a micro-finance company who aids financial support to individuals who are planning to achieve their dream travel. With our innovative ways on sending and collection of money, we are committed to be ready to serve even during pandemic and recession.

We are currently looking for partners who can help us bring our business to the global stage. If you think you have what it takes to be part of our growing company, contact us at inquiries@travelmicrocredit.com or call us at +63 0911 563 0978.

Job Description Sample

 

Supervisor, Satellite Branch

Travel Micro Credit is a micro-financial business company who operates across the nation; offering financial services to individuals who wanted to travel but are struggling to pay for the travel all at once.

Our daily activities include credit evaluation, loan approvals, loan collection, travel payment control, travel confirmation, customer services, online membership registration assistance, rewards membership assistance and travel offer.

Supervisor Job Responsibilities:

Monitor and supervises staff and organizing work processes.

Provides coaching, counseling, and disciplining employees to materialize company’s objectives and goals.

Plans, monitors, and appraises job results.

Provides training and responsible for overseeing the team members within a professional setting.

Audits and monitor the ins and outs of the money within the branch.

Implements and enforces systems, policies, and procedures.

Maintains safe and healthy work environment by establishing and enforcing organization standards and adhering to legal regulations.

Completes operations by developing schedules, assigning and monitoring work, gathering resources, implementing productivity standards, resolving operations problems, maintaining reference manuals, and implementing new procedures.

Controls expenses by gathering and submitting budget information, scheduling expenditures, monitoring variances, and implementing corrective actions.

Provides quality service by enforcing quality and customer service standards.

Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.

Supervisors are expected to work nine hours a day with 30 minutes paid breaks and an hour unpaid lunch, a total of 7.5 working hours needed; five days a week. The candidate will receive a 10% of his/her basic salary as a premium to be included in his/her gross pay. Health care benefits are included with additional two members of the family included; all paid by the company.

Supervisor Qualifications / Skills:

Quality management

Supervision

Tracking budget expenses

Safety management

Staffing

Delegation

Performance management

Organization

Fostering teamwork

Self-development

Giving feedback

Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements:

High school diploma, GED, or equivalent

Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree in business or management preferred

Industry and management experience a plus

“You can do anything as long as you have the passion, the drive, the focus, and the support.” – Sabrina Bryan

If you have what it takes, do not hesitate and send us your resume at recruitment@travelmicrocredit.com or call us at +63 32 563 7900. We can’t wait to have you as part of our growing family.

References:

Supervisor Job Description Template (n.d.). Monster. https://hiring.monster.com/resources/job-descriptions/management/supervisor/

Team Leader Job Description Template (n.d.). Monster. https://hiring.monster.com/resources/job-descriptions/management/team-leader/

What have you learned about your product or service in this unit? How did you learn it? What went well and what would you want to improve in the future? How did you give and receive feedback?

 While I strongly believe that the service that I wanted to engage into a venture is relevant and profitable especially now that we are slowly moving on from the pandemic, I also found out that it is not yet ready. The reason why I believe it is not yet ready is because the valuation of the business is not yet enticing to investors. It is very important that we attract investors to provide additional capital to the business for it to grow and operate across the country.

The idea of how the business will be structured and formed as an entity, as well as, the idea of how it will be marketed has gone smooth as planned with the help of the lessons learned from this unit and from the past units; the main challenge is when and how the business will be launched and the plans will materialize because of the capital. Working on financial aspect of the business is one of the things that I should be working on moving forward to ensure that the business will be launched sooner.

When I provide feedback, I always make sure that I am ready and the feedback is organized. I always start with setting the scene, making the receiver of the feedback feel at ease. And then, I transition to discussing great things or behaviors observed, praise the receiver and remind to be consistent with it. After that, I now then provide at least two opportunities, this is to let the receiver choose which of the opportunities is important and needed urgent attention. Once the focus opportunity is identified, I discuss possible recommendation and actions to address the problem before getting the receiver’s commitment on working on the problem following the SMART action plan.

Receiving feedback is very important, it is one way of knowing what have we done wrong and how we can work on it. When receiving feedback, I always look for good things followed by opportunities that I need to improve on. If feedback is straightforward without noticing good behaviors, I tend to think that nothing has been done correct and that I need to reflect on everything that I do and how I can change it. But that is time consuming and challenging because we don’t know what is right as we are thinking that everything is wrong, and so, we need to improve everything including those good things that was not noticed or discussed.

Reference:

Robbins, S. (2004). How to Value a Business: 9 Ways to Calculate a Business's Worth. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-value-a-business-entreprenurcom/66442

Establishment of a Business Form - Sample

 Travel Micro Credit is a limited liability company that offers micro loans to individuals who would want to satisfy their travel goals. Being one of the most popular micro lending companies in the country, we are extending our business to operate a franchised business. We aim to globalized our business by putting up several satellite offices across the globe, this is to ensure that we improve not only the company’s profitability but also its growth rate.

The business will provide financial needs to individuals who aims to pursue their travel goals that were not materialized because of the restrictions and financial issues related to COVID19 pandemic. The borrower can travel and pay for the borrowed amount in installment until the liability is paid off on or before its maturity. By providing this, the business should be able to satisfy the customer’s goal while earning.

“The most important reason you might want to operate the Franchised Business through an entity (instead of as a sole proprietor) is to shield yourself from personal liability for the debts or other obligations of the Franchised Business. A C-corporation, an S-corporation or an LLC all offer this type of protection.” (Vinson, n.d.) The business is structured as LLC to ensure that the investors and stock holders are protected and that the franchised business will grow and profitable. So, instead of losing more time searching for good investment, you now have this in your hands. A business for all is the investment you need, what are we waiting for? Let’s join hands and make this business grow.

Reference:

Vinson, K. (n.d.). Establishment of a Business Form. FranMan. https://franman.net/establishment-of-a-business-form/

Franchise Business Ideas

 Travel Micro Credit is an initiative that focuses on providing financial services to consumers who wanted to achieve their travel goals. Micro financing is a complex business and taking into consideration factors that will effectively make it a huge franchise business requires great decision-making skill.

First step will be registering the business as a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), this is to ensure that the investments are protected from liabilities and shared responsibilities. The form of business is an important factor that we need to consider before we operate a franchise business.

Capital and investments are essential factor that we need to consider because building a Limited Liability Corporation requires huge amount of capital and investments. It is very important that we strategize better on how we can obtain the right capital to operate the business.

Another factor will be the brand, it is very important that the brand will capture the consumers’ attention. This is to ensure that we increase the target market which will help us attract more investors and franchisee. Along with the branding is the company’s marketing strategies, the marketing strategy should focus on captivating the attention of the target market – especially those that are capable of traveling.

Travel and hospitality industry have recovered from the effects of the pandemic and now slowly recovering from the effects of inflation. Therefore, this business is timely and relevant and one important factor that we need to consider before operating a franchise business is building a strong partnership with various travel agencies in which we can include our micro-financing business as part of the payment method they can offer to their customers.

Making the business a pandemic proof is another factor we have to consider especially that we just recently experienced global lockdown and strict restrictions because of the pandemic.

Lastly, we have to provide strategic locations and contracts to the franchisees, this is to ensure that the company provides support to investors who wanted to franchise the business. Strategic planning includes management training and seminars to improve the services offered.