1. Strategy; Mission Statements

     The article at the link below presents some criteria for evaluating mission statements.

http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/1998/0898/Departments/D56898.htm

Required: In 200 words or less, use the ideas in the article to identify, and to explain your choice of the best and the worst of the nine mission statements shown in the textbook in Exhibit 2-1 on page 32. You may want to go to the firm's web site (shown in the Exhibit) as a way to gain further information for developing your answer.

2. Foreign Currency Exchange Rates.

The web site shown below provides historical information on the exchange rates of currencies used throughout the world.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/H10/hist/

Required (choose 1, 2, or 3):

1. Which Asian countries have experienced changing exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar in the recent few years, and what are the implications of this trend for global companies such as Amazon.com or General Motors?
2. Most European countries now use the Euro as the currency for international exchange. Study the recent trends in the Euro and determine the implications of this trend for global companies such as Wal-Mart.
3. Which North American countries (other than the U.S.) have experienced changing exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar in the recent year, and what are the implications of this trend for global companies such as Ford Motor Company?