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Minimum Acceptable Rate Of Return
In business and for engineering economics in both industrial engineering and civil engineering practice, the minimum acceptable rate of return, often abbreviated MARR, or hurdle rate is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects. A synonym seen in many contexts is minimum attractive rate of return. The hurdle rate is frequently used as a synonym of cutoff rate, benchmark and cost of capital. It is used to conduct preliminary analysis of proposed projects and generally increases with increased risk. Hurdle rate determination The hurdle rate is usually determined by evaluating existing opportunities in operations expansion, rate of return for investments, and other factors deemed relevant by management. As an example, suppose a manager knows that investing in a conservative project, such as a bond investment or another project with no risk, yields ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engineering Economics
''For the application of engineering economics in the practice of civil engineering see Engineering economics (Civil Engineering).'' Engineering economics, previously known as engineering economy, is a subset of economics concerned with the use and "...application of economic principles"Dharmaraj, E.. Engineering Economics. Mumbai, IN: Himalaya Publishing House, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 9 November 2016. in the analysis of engineering decisions.Morris, W. Thomas. (1960). Engineering economy: the analysis of management decisions. Homewood, Ill.: R. D. Irwin. As a discipline, it is focused on the branch of economics known as microeconomics in that it studies the behavior of individuals and firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of limited resources. Thus, it focuses on the decision making process, its context and environment. It is pragmatic by nature, integrating economic theory with engineering practice. But, it is also a simplified application of microeconomic the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
S&P 500
The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of December 31, 2020, more than $5.4 trillion was invested in assets tied to the performance of the index. The S&P 500 index is a free-float weighted/capitalization-weighted index. As of August 31, 2022, the nine largest companies on the list of S&P 500 companies accounted for 27.8% of the market capitalization of the index and were, in order of highest to lowest weighting: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (including both class A & C shares), Amazon.com, Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway, UnitedHealth Group, Johnson & Johnson and ExxonMobil. The components that have increased their dividends in 25 consecutive years are known as the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats. The index is one of the factors in computation of the Conference Board Leading Economic Index ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internal Rate Of Return
Internal rate of return (IRR) is a method of calculating an investment’s rate of return. The term ''internal'' refers to the fact that the calculation excludes external factors, such as the risk-free rate, inflation, the cost of capital, or financial risk. The method may be applied either ex-post or ex-ante. Applied ex-ante, the IRR is an estimate of a future annual rate of return. Applied ex-post, it measures the actual achieved investment return of a historical investment. It is also called the discounted cash flow rate of return (DCFROR)Project Economics and Decision Analysis, Volume I: Deterministic Models, M.A.Main, Page 269 or yield rate. Definition (IRR) The internal rate of return on an investment or project is the "annualized effective compounded return rate" or rate of return that sets the net present value of all cash flows (both positive and negative) from the investment equal to zero. Equivalently, it is the interest rate at which the net present value of the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cost Of Capital
In economics and accounting, the cost of capital is the cost of a company's funds (both debt and equity), or from an investor's point of view is "the required rate of return on a portfolio company's existing securities". It is used to evaluate new projects of a company. It is the minimum return that investors expect for providing capital to the company, thus setting a benchmark that a new project has to meet. Basic concept For an investment to be worthwhile, the expected return on capital has to be higher than the cost of capital. Given a number of competing investment opportunities, investors are expected to put their capital to work in order to maximize the return. In other words, the cost of capital is the rate of return that capital could be expected to earn in the best alternative investment of equivalent risk; this is the opportunity cost of capital. If a project is of similar risk to a company's average business activities it is reasonable to use the company's average cost ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weighted Average Cost Of Capital
The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. The WACC is commonly referred to as the firm's cost of capital. Importantly, it is dictated by the external market and not by management. The WACC represents the minimum return that a company must earn on an existing asset base to satisfy its creditors, owners, and other providers of capital, or they will invest elsewhere.Fernandes, Nuno. 2014, Finance for Executives: A Practical Guide for Managers, p. 32. Companies raise money from a number of sources: common stock, preferred stock and related rights, straight debt, convertible debt, exchangeable debt, employee stock options, pension liabilities, executive stock options, governmental subsidies, and so on. Different securities, which represent different sources of finance, are expected to generate different returns. The WACC is calculated taking into account the relative weights ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cash Flow Diagram
A cash-flow diagram is a financial tool used to represent the cashflows associated with a security, "project", or business. As per the graphics, cash flow diagrams are widely used in structuring and analyzing securities, particularly swaps. They may also be used to represent payment schedules for bonds, mortgages and other types of loans. In the context of business, and engineering economics, these are used by management accountants and engineers, to represent the cash-transactions which will take place over the course of a given project. Transactions can include initial investments, maintenance costs, projected earnings or savings resulting from the project, as well as salvage and resale value of equipment at the end of the project. These diagrams - and the associated modelling - are then used to determine a break-even point ( "cash flow neutrality"), or to further, and more generally, analyze operations and profitability. See cashflow forecast and operat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venture Capital Firm
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which have demonstrated high growth (in terms of number of employees, annual revenue, scale of operations, etc). Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing risky start-ups in the hopes that some of the firms they support will become successful. Because startups face high uncertainty, VC investments have high rates of failure. The start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and they are usually from high technology industries, such as information technology (IT), clean technology or biotechnology. The typical venture capital investment occurs after an initial "seed funding" round. The first round ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Startup Company
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to become registered, startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo founder. At the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to be successful and influential.Erin Griffith (2014)Why startups fail, according to their founders Fortune.com, 25 September 2014; accessed 27 October 2017 Actions Startups typically begin by a founder (solo-founder) or co-founders who have a way to solve a problem. The founder of a startup will begin market validation by problem interview, solution interview, and building a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a prototype, to develop and validate their business models. The startup process can take a long period of time (by so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Net Present Value
The net present value (NPV) or net present worth (NPW) applies to a series of cash flows occurring at different times. The present value of a cash flow depends on the interval of time between now and the cash flow. It also depends on the discount rate. NPV accounts for the time value of money. It provides a method for evaluating and comparing capital projects or financial products with cash flows spread over time, as in loans, investments, payouts from insurance contracts plus many other applications. Time value of money dictates that time affects the value of cash flows. For example, a lender may offer 99 cents for the promise of receiving $1.00 a month from now, but the promise to receive that same dollar 20 years in the future would be worth much less today to that same person (lender), even if the payback in both cases was equally certain. This decrease in the current value of future cash flows is based on a chosen rate of return (or discount rate). If for example there exists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Industrial Engineering
Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex process (engineering), processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information and equipment. Industrial engineering is central to manufacturing operations. Industrial engineers use specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical and social sciences, together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design, to specify, predict, and evaluate the results obtained from systems and processes.Salvendy, Gabriel. Handbook of Industrial Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 3rd edition p. 5 There are several industrial engineering principles followed in the manufacturing industry to ensure the effective flow of the systems, processes and operations. This includes Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Information Systems, Process Capability and Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discounted Cash Flow
The discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis is a method in finance of valuing a security, project, company, or asset using the concepts of the time value of money. Discounted cash flow analysis is widely used in investment finance, real estate development, corporate financial management and patent valuation. It was used in industry as early as the 1700s or 1800s, widely discussed in financial economics in the 1960s, and became widely used in U.S. courts in the 1980s and 1990s. Application To apply the method, all future cash flows are estimated and discounted by using cost of capital to give their present values (PVs). The sum of all future cash flows, both incoming and outgoing, is the net present value (NPV), which is taken as the value of the cash flows in question; see aside. For further context see valuation overview; and for the mechanics see valuation using discounted cash flows, which includes modifications typical for startups, private equity and venture capital, co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Risk Premium
A risk premium is a measure of excess return that is required by an individual to compensate being subjected to an increased level of risk. It is used widely in finance and economics, the general definition being the expected risky return less the risk-free return, as demonstrated by the formula below. Risk \ premium = E(r) - r_f Where E(r) is the risky expected rate of return and r_f is the risk-free return. The inputs for each of these variables and the ultimate interpretation of the risk premium value differs depending on the application as explained in the following sections. Regardless of the application, the market premium can be volatile as both comprising variables can be impacted independent of each other by both cyclical and abrupt changes. This means that the market premium is dynamic in nature and ever-changing. Additionally, a general observation regardless of application is that the risk premium is larger during economic downturns and during periods of increased u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
