Your teammates, Sara and Juan, are having
Your teammates, Sara and Juan, are having difficulty cooperating with one another even though their individual assignments are highly related. Which of the following actions is least likely to improve their cooperation?
Select : 1
Save Answer
Have them do a few of each other’s assigned tasks so that they better understand each other’s workload.
As a team, discuss expectations for timely communication and information sharing.
Reassign their tasks so that they are working on very different aspects of the team’s project.
Encourage them to identify responsibilities where they can back up each other when someone is absent.
One of your employees just told you
One of your employees just told you that she is being sexually harassed at work by an employee outside your work group. Which of the following would be the most effective action to take?
Select : 1
Save Answer
Review the policies and procedures in your organization for dealing with a claim of sexual harassment.
Call the police to report the incident.
Ask the employee to give you a full report of the details and circumstances.
Ask the employee to write up a report to submit to the human resources department.
Your team is working hard to develop
Your team is working hard to develop a strategy to serve a new client. Which of the following actions is most important to ensuring an effective strategy is chosen?
Select : 1
Save Answer
Ask the team member with the most industry-related experience to lead the process.
Suggest that each proposed strategy be evaluated against a set of key objectives.
Invite the client into a meeting to shape the strategy.
Conduct a benchmarking survey of similar clients to determine best strategy.
Your company's CEO just informed you that
Your company's CEO just informed you that your team's budget will be unexpectedly reduced by 20% this quarter. This will create significant disruptions on several projects that your team has already begun, and it may mean that you have to drop one or two projects altogether. Which of the following communication channels would be LEAST effective in communicating this situation to your team?
Select : 1
Save Answer
An email message sent to the entire team.
Individual calls with each team member.
An online meeting with the entire team.
An in-person meeting with the entire team.
Shara is a new addition to your
Shara is a new addition to your team and your boss has asked you to help with her initial training and orientation to the team. She has not previously worked in your country and so you want to help make her adjustment go as smoothly as possible. Which of the following would be LEAST effective in helping build Shara's cultural competence?
Select : 1
Save Answer
Teach Shara about how decisions are made and communicated.
Schedule weekly check-ins with Shara to make sure she is adjusting properly.
Ask Shara to run team meetings in order to get to know people more quickly.
Make sure Shara knows that you are always available if she needs advice or help.
Larry is in charge of collecting customer
Larry is in charge of collecting customer service and satisfaction data for his company. He’s not sure which key groups in the company would be the most appropriate audience to communicate the recent customer satisfaction results, including call center employees, senior management, and company-wide. As Larry begins to develop his communication plan, which of the following questions would most help him strategize a plan for targeting a specific audience?
Select : 1
Save Answer
What does each group know and not know about the customer satisfaction data?
What groups have been informed of customer satisfaction results in the past?
What way can the results be communicated so that they are acceptable to all groups?
What are the consequences of communicating the information to everyone?
You are a member of a newly formed team that has been tasked with designing a new product. None of the team’s members have worked together previously and thus confidence is low. Which of the following tactics would be most effective in promoting the team’s confidence in its capability to function successfully?
Select : 1
Save Answer
Jump right into a challenging task in order to figure out your team’s capability.
Discuss the team’s overall mission and goals.
Have each team member discuss his or her background.
Determine the major tasks to be done & complete some of the less difficult ones first.
One of your employees just told you
One of your employees just told you that she is being sexually harassed at work by an employee outside your work group. Which of the following would be the most effective action to take?
Select : 1
Save Answer
Review the policies and procedures in your organization for dealing with a claim of sexual harassment.
Call the police to report the incident.
Ask the employee to give you a full report of the details and circumstances.
Ask the employee to write up a report to submit to the human resources department.
Executive SummaryAn Executive Summary is a
Executive Summary
An Executive Summary is a separate document from the main body of your document and must
stand alone on its merits. It may be the only page from your report that gets read by top
management -- so it must be able to "make the case" for your recommendation or proposal. The
Executive Summary:
1. Summarizes the main points of a longer document (e.g., a business plan or proposal) and
presents the essential issues in the paper: main points, analysis and recommendations. It is NOT
an introduction, which would tell what you intend to analyze, not what you found from your
analysis. If you are writing “this paper will....," then you are writing an introduction and not an
executive summary!
2. Establishes the need or states the problem; recommends the solution and explains the value of
the solution (why the reader should care); provides logical substantiation (your analysis!) for
how you arrived at your recommendation.
3. Is written in text, not a bullet-point outline (quality of analyses cannot be shown through bullet
points, which lack integrative logical connections among the bullet pointed ideas or data)
4. Should be one page or at most two pages for longer documents. No cut-and-pasting from the
main document. Write from scratch so you are not tempted to provide unnecessary details.
Always proofread the executive summary -- Ask people who haven't read the main document to
read the summary and comment on it -- does it present the idea? Does it show the value? Does it
"make the case" for your recommendation or proposal through clear logic based on sound data?
If you wish to explore further, this link is a sample of best resources for how to write a top-notch
Executive summary:
http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/summary.html
[solved] Develop a balanced scorecard to measure the critical factor
assignment Overview: Develop a balanced scorecard to measure the critical factors in successful implementation of your strategy recommendations (3% of course grade). The scorecard will be incorporated into this final draft of the business plan.
Assignment Objectives: The first objective is to develop a scorecard that will measure the critical components of your business strategy--those items that must be monitored to ensure successful implementation of your proposed strategy. The second objective is to develop a comprehensive, fully edited draft of the business plan for your client company to enter into and market its product/service within the selected country.
Assignment Requirements: Read, edit, and trim your draft Business Plan, covering all sections 1-18 into a smoothly flowing final draft. The Balanced Scorecard (section 18 ) should flow logically from, and reflect the key components of, your business plan strategy. The BSC will be an appendix to the plan, but must be explained in text.
Incorporate all previous feedback into the draft and aim for a document of approximately 40 pages, to be further trimmed in the final version next week. Keep all support tables and charts in appendices. The Scorecard only will be graded this week, but faculty will try to provide as much feedback as possible on the entire draft, in time for the team to incorporate into your final version next week.
One member is to post the Scorecard and draft of your Business Plan, in the Group Assignment folder by the end of Week 11 and title it "Strategy Implementation Scorecard and Draft Business Plan".
[solved] Week 10 Group Financial valuation - Revenue Forecasts
One member is to post the Team Work Planfor next Week 11 in the group assignment folder
by Thursday of this week.
W10 Group financial valuation with draft Business Plan
Due November 19 at 11:59 PM
Strategy Project: Financial Valuation (6% of course grade)
Resources:
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Week 1: September 11 -
17
Week 2: September 18 -
24
Week 3: September 25 -
October 1
Week 4: October 2 - 8
Week 5: October 9 - 15
Week 6: October 16 -
22
Week 7: October 23 -
29
Week 8: October 30-
November 5
Week 9: November 6 -
12
Week 10: November 13
- 19
week 11: November 20
- 26
Week 12: November 27
- December 3
Course Resources
Course Evaluation
Income statement tutorial: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/tutorials/statements/
Guidelines for Income Statement
Calculating cost of goods sold:http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=bth&AN=26758860&site=eds-live&scope=site
Assignment overview: The team will produce a simple income statement for just one year of
operation, showing projected income and expenses for your proposed business plan.. The above
Guidelines for Income Statement shows a sample template with a single column for one year of
operation .However, the team is expected to develop an income statement forecast for this Business
Plan, with two columns: one for START UP COSTS (show as year 0, with no revenue and can be for
any length of time required for market entry up to first sale) and one column for REVENUE and
OPERATING COSTS for the company's first year of operation (first year of operation begins with
first sale). The projected income statement should be only to the level of EBIT (Earnings Before
Interest and Taxes).
The team will submit the current draft of your business plan, up to and including the financials in
section 16. Submitting the full draft of the business plan will allow faculty to check that costs of
implementing all requirements of the strategy are captured in the financial plan.
Assignment Objectives
Your draft Business Plan to date has already identified the major cost drivers for the recommended
entry strategy, except for Cost of Goods Sold, which will be developed for this financial plan.. The
major costs already identified are costs of the organizational structure (people costs in section 14), and
of the the marketing plan (Section 15). This is the time to review the plan to consider other
expenditures that might be necessary to implement your proposed entry strategy.
The team has developed its revenue projections, citing all assumptions underlying the team’s
estimations.
A balance sheet is not required, but the team will separately identify any capital investments required
in your proposed strategy (e.g., equipment, purchased real estate, expanded plant facilities).
Assignment Requirements/format.
Introduction. After the statement of purpose, the Introduction to this paper is the draft business
plan, up to section 16 (which you will develop in the body of this paper).
The income statement should be developed in Step One, showing the revenue and categories of
expense. In Step Two, the Income statement items and capital expenses are to be described/explained in
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text:
Step One: Create the income statement.
Show start up costs as first column: These are all costs that must be expended in order to start up the
business (before the first sale is completed) and should already be identified in your business plan.
These are people costs from the organization chart in Section 14, including any contracted expenses,
such as legal and translator support; and from your marketing plan these would be new marketing
materials, prototypes or product modifications (Section 15); as well as any other expenses, such as
travel, that must also be incurred before revenue is generated.. Show these in a year 0 column on
your income statement.
Show Year of Operations as Second Column:
Costs of good sold (COGS) line item. Estimate these per unit production costs for the product or
service you are selling. These are variable costs, with the total line item based upon the number
of units produced and sold.
If it is a professional service, or a product or project that requires professional services to
design or deliver to the customer, those people costs would be Costs of Goods sold.
Manufacturing costs belong here if it is a product. .
Explain total dollar amount as per unit cost x the number of units to be sold
If the units are not to be sold, but must be produced for marketing purposes (e.g., for
showrooms, marketing give- away's), they belong in the line item for marketing expenses;
not as COGS (and can either be start-up expenses or operational expenses, depending on
when they were to be incurred, as noted in your Marketing Plan (Section 15)
Operational Expense line items: These line items reflect the annual costs of running the business
after the start up period is completed. These are on-going expenses that start with the first sale,
but are likely to be incurred whether or not any additional units are actually sold. They cover
people costs for all the business functions (e.g., strategic oversight, marketing, sales, human
resources, legal, finance, technical support), as reflected in your organizational chart in Section
14; and marketing expenses (including materials, distribution, sales incentives/rewards), as
reflected in your marketing plan..
Consider other administrative/office expenses, such as telecommunications, rent, supplies
and equipment (non-capital),
Specify all assumptions made in developing these line item estimates, and label them so it
is clear which expenses are in each line item. .
You will need to include any expenses associated with monitoring the progress of your strategic
plan, which you will specify in your Balanced Scorecard (BSC) (e.g., any surveys,focus groups,
employee training, employee benefits/rewards). Leave a space for those expenses in your income
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statement until you have identified them fully in your Balanced Scorecard (next week's
assignment).
If you have already identified the people costs of monitoring or employee training by
showing those responsibilities in some positions in your organization chart, you don't need
to include them as a separate line item on your income statement; however, your BSC
should specify where you have accounted for those costs (how much and which headcount,
as reflected in which line item).
The team will separately identify capital investments required in your proposal (e.g., equipment,
purchased real estate, expanded plant facilities). The costs of this capital should be identified, but the
interest paid on capital investment need not be included in your income statement, and you need not
consider depreciation of the capital goods in your income statement. Please enter a footnote at the
bottom of the income statement that shows capital costs, as these balance sheet items would not be part
of the calculation of earnings (EBIT).
Include revenue forecasts, based on the market share estimates and recommended pricing shown
in the Section 15 marketing plan. Show both projected units sold and unit price on the income
statement.
Total costs of the plan will be compared to the potential revenue, to develop an income statement
showing EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes).
Step Two: Write the formal paper.
Introduction: Submit the complete Draft Business Plan through section 15.
The body of this financial analysis should be approximately 5-10 pages, including the income
statement.
Structure the body of this analysis as:
1. REVENUE Forecast and assumptions (e.g., market share x proposed unit price)
2. COST forecasts and assumptions (e.g., how COGS has been developed; as well as any
administrative/ operational expenses not previously identified in the organizational chart or marketing
plan)
3. FINANCIAL results
4. Conclusions
In your concluding paragraphs, specify whether this is a financially viable entry strategy; under
what assumptions the team might consider this project to be financially viable.
Where are the major risk factors in your projections and assumptions? Which factors must be
monitored most closely in the Balanced Scorecard in order to limit risk? (and be sure those
critical risk factors are included in next week's BSC)
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5. Include
Title page with name of every contributing member
Approximately a 3 page Executive Summary that summarizes the entire paper
Table of contents
*The body of the paper should have page numbers, starting with page one.
Reference list, including proper APA format for all in-text citations.
One member is to post this assignment in group assignment folder by the end of Week 10 and title it
“Business Plan and Financial Projections.”
For now: You have completed your business plan, except for the Balanced Scorecard that will track
the success of the strategic actions you have recommended in your plan.
Looking forward: You will develop the Balanced Scorecard for your client to use in tracking the
most critical components of this strategy, and add any monitoring costs into your income statement
projections if they are not already there (in people costs)..
[solved] Week 9 Group Marketing Plan
Strategy Project: Work Plan for Week 10
One member is to post the team work plan for next Week 10 into your group assignment folder by Thursday night .
Assignment
Due November 12 at 11:59 PM
.Strategy project: Marketing Plan (6% of course grade)
Resources:
Assignment overview: Marketing Management is the process of analyzing, planning, implementing, coordinating and controlling programs involved with the 4 P's of Product conception, Pricing, Promotion and Placement (distribution) of products, services, and ideas. The purpose of the marketing strategy is to gain access to target markets and win market share.. In this assignment, you will develop a marketing plan to reach your client 's target Buyer and win market share. Marketing is the function that generates revenue, so this is where you will estimate the Revenue projections for your income statement. .
Assignment Requirements/format.
I. The Introduction to this paper (same as week 8) should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of the company and its industry, (c) the product/service that will be entered in the new country; (d) description of the target country and why it was recommended as better opportunity than the other country; the target Buyer and the size and growth of the target market
II. The body of this paper (approximately 10 -15 pages,double spaced) will:
III. Include
One member is to post the assignment in the Group Assignment folder by the end of week 9 and title it “Marketing Plan.”
For now: You have a corporate level entry strategy, business level competitive strategy, and functional marketing plan. You have estimated the market share (revenue) expected from this marketing strategy and the headcount and marketing costs of this plan.
With the completion of this assignment, you have the information needed to abstract section 15 of the Business Plan Template. Add section 15 to your Draft Business Plan, along with all feedback on previous assignments that has not yet been incorporated into your draft. Post the updated draft in your group locker. Next week, you will submit the full business plan with your week 10 financial assignment.
Looking ahead: You will next estimate the remaining costs to implement your plan, including any upfront capital investments and other administrative/ operational expenses. Next week's financial evaluation will tell the company whether the strategy you recommended is worth the costs!
[solved] Week 7 Individual SWOT and Strategic Objectives paper
SWOT to TOWS assigned readings
Assignment Overview: This week, each individual will use the group's SWOT matrix to generate strategies for
overcoming business risks and exploiting business opportunity in the recommended country. You have already
developed a competitor strategy, so the focus this week is on other business risks and opportunities and how your
client might use its strengths and weaknesses to gain strategic advantage (corresponds to Section 8iii of Business
Plan Template).
When the SWOT matrix is used for strategy generation, a TOWs matrix is initially generated to organize the SWOT
data into an expanded matrix (TOWs matrix) . The TOWs is an organizing tool to ensure that the strategies developed
will effectively utilize the client's strengths to mitigate the most critical risks and exploit the most important
opportunities. The TOWS matrix is merely an expanded SWOT matrix with quadrants to be used for strategy idea
generation, as described in this link:
http://www.driveyoursuccess.com/2011/09/strategic-business-planning-use-tows-to-move-swot-to-an-action-
plan.html
You can see an example of strategy formulation from TOWS in this link: http://www.volunteerhub.com/blog/the-tows-
matrix-putting-a-swot-analysis-into-action/
.
Assignment Objectives: The objectives are to use the SWOT data to propose specific business strategies (TOWS
strategies) that will (1) mitigate the identified risks (threats and weaknesses) for your client company’s entry into the
selected country; and (2) exploit the identified external opportunities.
Step One: Preparation: This is your idea generation step and reflects your primary analysis. Develop the TOWS
matrix, specifying the risk mitigating strategies and the opportunity exploiting strategies needed in each of the TOWS
quadrants.
For example, if your previous analysis identified political ties as necessary to compete in this country (external
Threat), but your client does not have those ties (internal Weakness), consider WT mitigation strategies (TOWS
quadrant WT). Perhaps a specific type of partner (politically connected/experienced) or some specific activity (like
political lobbying) might mitigate this risk for your client.
Similarly, for the primary external opportunity support factors for this country, specify a strategy that might leverage
your firm’s Strengths (quadrant OS strategies). For example, if your PESTEL analysis found an opportunity support
factor in the country's positive attitudes toward U.S. companies, consider how an OS strategy might leverage the U.S.
identity of your firm (its Strength) in order to exploit that opportunity (e.g., perhaps by sponsoring an athletic event
and/or by using product packaging that highlights U.S. origins or culture)
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For each of the TOWS quadrants, identify potential strategies that will help your firm to operate successfully in this
external environment of specific O’s and T’s. Limit the potential strategies to no more than 3 in each quadrant of
the TOWS matrix, focusing on the most important threats to be mitigated and opportunity factors to be realized. This
summary matrix should be included as an appendix to the formal paper.
Step Two: Write a formal paper explaining your strategy recommendations and referring to the TOWS data on which
those recommendations are based.
Paper Assignment Requirements/format:
1. Introduction. After the statement of purpose, the Introduction to this paper should be the same as in your
team's week 6 paper (updated with any feedback), PLUS a very brief description of the target Buyer and the
size and growth of the target market (from your team's week 6 paper).
2. The Body of the paper (10-12 pages) is solely your own writing:
List those external Opportunity and Threat factors that you consider the most important and therefore will
address with recommended strategies.
Recommend your strategies, explaining the rationale for each and why you consider the recommended
strategies the most critical/important.
The TOWs matrix should be in an appendix, and you can refer to it, but your text should stand
alone with sufficient written explanation for your strategy ideas and recommendations.
Propose mitigating strategies for country and industry Threats;
Propose exploiting strategies for Opportunity and Opportunity Support factors.
Write a Conclusion to your analysis that summarizes all the strategic actions you are recommending to
mitigate risk and exploit opportunity, including the competitor strategy previously agreed upon by the group
(this summary statement of competitive strategy will be the same for all group members, taken from what the
group has already developed).
3. Include :
Title page with your name
Approximately a 2 page Executive Summary that summarizes the entire paper (including the introduction
materials)
Table of contents
*The body of the paper should have page numbers, starting with page one.
Reference list, including proper APA format for all in-text citations.
The SWOT/Tows matrix as an appendix.
Post the assignment in your individual assignment folder AND in the group locker by the end of the week and
title it “SWOT and TOWS Strategies.” The team will proceed with next week's assignment, using all individual
members' analyses, without waiting for faculty feedback/grading.
Where you are now: With the completion of this assignment, you have addressed all risks and opportunity and
opportunity support factors. Each team member has now recommended specific risk mitigation and opportunity
exploitation strategies that will help your firm optimally operate in country, and the team has previously agreed
upon a competitive strategy for operating in country. The Team must now agree on which strategies to recommend
from these individual member analyses. Once the team has agreed on the strategies that must be implemented, the
team should update the draft business plan with these recommended strategies (constituting sections 11 and 12 of
the business plan template).
Looking ahead: Next week, the team will develop and compare two alternative entry strategies (business structure
and organizational structure) that will help your firm to realize the desired business strategies you have developed in
this TOWS analysis., . A corporate level entry strategy consists of both a business structure (the entry vehicle) and an
organizational structure for how your firm will operate in country. You will want to design an entry strategy that will
be best at implementing the desired risk mitigation and opportunity exploitation strategies..
Note: Some of the risk mitigation strategies that individual members have developed here may lead directly to a
type of entry vehicle ; e.g., if the country requires a joint venture with a local firm, that entry barrier has to be
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Due October 29 at 11:59 PM
mitigated with a specific vehicle (joint venture is the business structure that is required, and you would identify
the type of partner and define the partner responsibilities in an organizational structure).
Other mitigation strategies may lead less directly to an entry vehicle. For example, if team member(s) have
determined that a local presence will mitigate some political risk and/or mitigate a competitor's in-country
advantage, the team may consider what type of business structure (entry vehicle) could best provide that local
presence (e.g., an alliance with a local firm, a contract with a local distributor, hiring locals to staff a branch
sales office).
.Strategy project: Marketing Plan (6% of course grade)
Resources:
The Marketing Mix http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/mix/
Marketing Segmentation http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/market-segmentation/
Marketing Strategy http://www.quickmba.com/MarketingStrat.shtml
Market share http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/market-share/
Assignment overview: Marketing Management is the process of analyzing, planning, implementing, coordinating and controlling programs involved with the 4
P's of Product conception, Pricing, Promotion and Placement (distribution) of products, services, and ideas. The purpose of the marketing strategy is to gain
access to target markets and win market share.. In this assignment, you will develop a marketing plan to reach your client 's target Buyer and win market share.
Marketing is the function that generates revenue, so this is where you will estimate the Revenue projections for your income statement. .
Assignment Requirements/format.
I. The Introduction to this paper (same as week 8) should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of the company and its industry, (c)
the product/service that will be entered in the new country; (d) description of the target country and why it was recommended as better
opportunity than the other country; the target Buyer and the size and growth of the target market
II. The body of this paper (approximately 10 -15 pages,double spaced) will:
Describe the market size of each target buyer segment in quantifiable units (number of buyers and/or dollars)
Identify any further segmentation that may be needed to reach the best target or set of targets for your client's product/service offering.
specify projected market growth of each segment over 3-5 years
Estimate your expected market share as a percent of each target segment
explain the rationale for your estimates, considering the competitors and their market share, and your client's competitive position;
specify all assumptions you used in your estimation (e.g., about price, competitors' market share, new entrant threat),
show all your calculations so they can be readily verified
Pricing: Describe the pricing strategy (low price leader? High priced luxury leader? Value pricing?) How will the pricing strategy support market entry?
Competitive positioning? (You may have addressed pricing specifically in your competitive strategy in Week 6)
. Specify the recommended sales price.
SUMMARIZE EXPECTED REVENUE in a table showing
Sales price,
Market share in units or expected sales
Projected growth in Revenue over 3 5 years
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Projected growth in Revenue over 3-5 years
ESTIMATE THE ANNUAL COSTS of each component of your marketing plan ( product modifications; promotion costs, distribution costs).
You have already identified the marketing/sales headcount in your organizational chart, but you still must show in each marketing component who
will do these marketing functions. When you summarize your marketing cost in the required table below, note the headcount dollars that are
already in the organizational chart so that you don't double count those dollars when the marketing costs are put into the income statement.
Note: The dollars for marketing headcount should be reflected on the organizational chart you developed last week. If you identify any new
headcount in this plan, go back and add it to your organization chart, so the people costs of your strategy will be clear and all in one
organization chart..
For costs in each component, show dollars separately for start -up costs, needed to prepare for market entry (e.g., establishing showrooms,
designing websites, modifying the product, developing prototypes or samples) and for on-going operational costs to support the marketing
function once revenue begins to flow ( e.g., continuing sales efforts; distribution of your product/service).
Product: Are there any modifications needed to reach the buyers in this market segment(s)? This could be based on your previous country and
competitor analyses, if certain Buyer preferences or competitive opportunities or threats were identified (e.g, language modifications to the software you
sell; size preferences for the cell phones you sell) .SUMMARIZE PRODUCT COSTS, including headcount and any other expenses. (note: product
modifications will likely be all start up costs)
Promotion: State your recommended Promotion/Positioning with the target markets/segments, which you initially addressed in your Week 6 competitive
strategy assignment. State what the promotional message will be to position your product/service within each market segment, what kinds of promotional
materials will be needed?.SUMMARIZE PROMOTION COSTS, including headcount and any other expenses.
Placement (distribution): How will the buyers be reached? Will you need a direct sales force? Online sales support? For a sales force, what kinds of
incentives might you propose? For online sales, what kinds of back-office support would be needed for getting your product/service to the buyer?
Consider both physical distribution/geographic spread and distribution of the message that must reach your target markets. What will be the promotional
channel? The media used? SUMMARIZE DISTRIBUTION COSTS, including headcount and any other expenses.
SUMMARIZE ALL MARKETING COSTS in a a table that aggregates all of the above components, with all costs identified as either start up or
operational costs
Product modifications
Promotional materials
Distribution/Advertising costs
Headcount costs for all categories should note that these are already included in your organizational chart dollars.
III. Include
Title page with name of every contributing member
Approximately a 2-3 page Executive Summary that summarizes the entire paper
Table of contents
*The body of the paper should have page numbers, starting with page one.
Reference list, including proper APA format for all in-text citations.
One member is to post the assignment in the Group Assignment folder by the end of week 9 and title it “Marketing Plan.”
For now: You have a corporate level entry strategy, business level competitive strategy, and functional marketing plan. You have estimated the market share
(revenue) expected from this marketing strategy and the headcount and marketing costs of this plan.
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With the completion of this assignment, you have the information needed to abstract section 15 of the Business Plan Template. Add section 15 to
your Draft Business Plan, along with all feedback on previous assignments that has not yet been incorporated into your draft. Post the updated draft
in your group locker. Next week, you will submit the full business plan with your week 10 financial assignment.
Looking ahead: You will next estimate the remaining costs to implement your plan, including any upfront capital investments and other
administrative/ operational expenses. Next week's financial evaluation will tell the company whether the strategy you recommended is worth the costs!
[solved]W8 Group entry strategy paper - Submit Files
Instructions
Strategy project assignment: Entry Strategy and Structure (7% of course grade)
Resources:
Executing Strategy Through Organizational Design: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-management/s13-executing-strategy-through-org.html
Assignment Overview: In this assignment, the team will recommend an entry strategy, consisting of a business structure (entry vehicle) and organizational structure for your client company to enter and operate in the selected country. The business and competitive strategies developed in Weeks 6 and 7 are the strategic objectives you will want to accomplish through the entry strategy you develop this week. The team will (a) write a formal paper proposing and comparing two potential entry vehicles (the legal structures) that will allow the client company to accomplish the strategic objectives and (b) design the organizational structure showing who will implement the strategic objectives.
Assignment Objectives (1) The team will propose and compare two different business structures and recommend the one that is better able to realize the team's recommended risk mitigation and opportunity exploitation strategies and is consistent with the client's rationale for expansion (which you identified in your company profile).
(2) For the one recommended business structure, the team will create a supporting organizational structure, and will specify the roles and responsibilities that will ensure that the strategic recommendations will be implemented. The organizational chart will show the costs of each person required to implement your proposed strategic activities..
(3) Because most international expansions require some form of alliance with a local organization, any such alliance will be described in both the business structure and the organizational structure.
Note 1: Business structures have inherent advantages and disadvantages; but your responsibility is to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the potential business structures specifically in terms of how effectively they meet your client's strategic objectives. (e.g., an inherent disadvantage of contracted manufacturing as a business structure is that it risks loss of intellectual property; but if your company is manufacturing a commodity item, it has no intellectual property at risk, so that is not a disadvantage for your company).
Note 2: You will develop a marketing plan next week, but include in your organization structure who will be responsible for marketing and sales. You may modify the organizational chart next week if you determine that your marketing plan will need more or different roles. But you need at least a functional place holder to start.
Assignment Requirements and Format of the paper:
I. The Introduction to this paper should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of the company and its industry, (c) the product/service that will be entered in the new country; (d) description of the target country and why it was recommended as better opportunity than the other country (use the summary information from your week 4 country selection paper); the target Buyer and the size and growth of the target market.
II. The body of this paper (approximately 20 pages,double spaced) will:
A. Summarize
B, Propose 2 potential entry (business) structures that could meet the recommended strategic objectives and are consistent with the company's expansion goals. For each proposed lbusiness structure:
C. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each businessstructure, specifically how well each will help to realize the strategic objectives you have identified . and recommend one as the better entry vehicle. (Paula)
D. For the recommended entry vehicle (business structure):
III. Include
One Member is to post the written report in the Group assignment folder and title it “Entry Strategy and Structure,” by the end of week 8.
Where you are: You have now recommended the structure for getting into the country and for organizing operations in country. You have therefore completed all; you will need to incorporate into your draft Business Plan, (Sections 13- 14 of the business plan template)
Next you will develop a functional strategy for how to market your client's product/service in country.
[solved] W6 Group Competitive Strategy and Market Sizing Assignment - Submit Files
W6 Group Competitive Strategy and Market Sizing Assignment
Group Category
Semester long teams
Group Name
Group 3
Instructions
W6 Group Competitive Strategy and Market Sizing Assignment (6% of course grade):
Resources (from week 5 assignments):
Executive Summary
Porter's Generic Strategies (from week 5)
Sources of Competitive advantage (from week 5)
Market Segmentation
Market sizing
Assignment Overview: The purpose of this assignment is to identify your client's competitive position in the entry country;
create a competitive strategy that includes a description of the target Buyer; develop a positioning message for that Buyer
segment; size the target market in quantifiable units (dollars and/or number of buyers) and forecast the target market
growth over the next 3 - 5 years.
Assignment Objectives:
1. The team will consolidate individual members’ competitor analyses from week 5 into one summary table of
competitors, their competitive advantage and your client’s competitive advantages. This summary table will be in the
appendix of your paper, but described in text.
2. The team will recommend, and explain a competitive strategy (e.g., specify source of cost advantage for price
competition; rationale for market focus/selection; basis for unique product/service differentiation).
3. The team will identify your client's target market and size it in quantifiable Units (Buyers and/or Dollars) and
estimate the expected growth rate for this target segment.
Note that market sizing is as much an art as a science. The assigned readings will guide your thinking, but
your specific market sizing estimates will depend upon how effectively you use available data. You will have
Paula Pal-Kheav
DMBA 630 9047 Marketi...
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to make assumptions to move from available data to the kind of market size data you need. The assumptions
you make and the logic you use will determine the validity of your market size and growth estimations.
For example, if you selected this country because of large number of passenger car sales and growth
projections (good total market for your auto maker client), but your client sells compact cars (or electric cars,
or some other specific type), then you need to estimate how much of that total car market is your target
market (buyers of compact cars). If you have data that compact car buyers are primarily singles and small
families (and/or that your client wants to target those buyers) and you have data from our country that
singles/small families represent 25% of the country population, then you might ASSUME that 25% of the new
car buyers will be singles/small families (assuming same representation among car buyers as among the
general population).
4. Update your Draft Business Plan to include Section 9 of the Business Plan Template, reflecting this target market
estimate. Note: this is the size of your target market, not your share of that market, since there are also competitors
targeting that same segment and potential substitute products/services.
5. Include a positioning focus (the message that will appeal to your client’s targeted buyers), which will become a part
of your Marketing Plan in Week 9.
6. Update your SWOT with competitive strengths and weaknesses.,
Assignment Requirements/format:
Step one: The Introduction to this paper should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of the company and its
industry, (c) the product/service that will be entered in the new country; (d) description of the target country and why it was
recommended as better opportunity than the other country (use the summary information from your week 4 country
selection paper).
Step two: The body of the analysis should be about 10-15 pages, double spaced, to cover::
Competitive risk assessment for all competitors in this market;
Recommended competitive strategy with supporting rationale;
Market segmentation, recommended target buyer and rationale for targeting this segment;
Estimated target market size/growth (in Buyer and/or dollar units), with:
clear statement of starting data and its relevance to your market;
detailed explanation of the estimating process for your target market segment (showing all calculations
made);
statement of all assumptions made in the estimating process;
rationale for all assumptions made (why they are reasonable assumptions to make)
Positioning message and how it relates to your client’s competitive advantages and to your buyer segment;
Summary of conclusions/recommendations
Include :
Title page with names of contributing members;
Approximately a 2 page Executive Summary that summarizes the entire paper (including the introduction materials)
Table of contents
*The body of the paper should have page numbers, starting with page one.
Reference list, including proper APA format for all in-text citations.
Appendix with the team's summary table of competitors, competitor advantages and client competitive advantages
One member should post the assignment in the group assignment folder by the end of the week, titled “Competitor Strategy
and Market Size for [name of your client company].
Where you are. You have now identified an overall business strategy for how to compete in country, and you have identified
and sized a specific target market and its potential growth, which constitute sections 9, 10 and the first bullet of section 11
of the Business Plan Template. You will update those sections in your draft Business Plan by the end of this week and post
the draft per the separate assignment requirements for this week.
Next week, using the final SWOT matrix completed in this week's assignment, individual members will develop a set of
business/operational strategies to mitigate industry and country level risks and take advantage of opportunity support
W5 Individual Competitor Analysis and Strategy - Submit Files
W5 Individual Competitor Analysis and Strategy - Submit Files
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Submission Folder
W5 Individual Competitor Analysis and Strategy
Instructions
Week 5: Individual assignment: Competitor Analysis and Competitive Strategy (14% of course grade)
Resources:
Executive summary
Porter's Generic Strategies
Sources of Competitive Advantage
Assignment overview: Individuals will conduct a competitor analysis and develop a competitive strategy for how the client
company can win customers in the recommended entry country. Grading rubric for Competitor assignment is here and
posted in the module ‘Grading Guidelines and Rubrics.’
Assignment Objectives: (1) Each individual team member will identify and research 2—3 competitors in the recommended
country, including at least one global competitor and one local competitor.
(2) Each individual will determine the competitive strengths and competitive weaknesses of the client company by comparing
client strengths and weaknesses with competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
Note that not all your client's Strengths are competitive advantages, since competitors may have similar strengths. You are
looking for those very few competitive strengths (in people, product/service, processes, or other resources) that will give
your company a differentiator or cost advantage.
Similarly, competitor weaknesses that your client company does not suffer may give your client company a relative
competitive advantage, even if you have not previously identified this characteristic as a particular strength of your client
company. It need only be better than the competitors in order for you to consider it as a competitive advantage (e.g.,more
efficient processes than a competitor's high cost production may mean your client can offer lower prices to customers than
the competitor can).
(3) Applying Porter's Generic Strategies, you will then recommend and explain a competitive strategy that will attract new
customers by leveraging the client firm’s competitive strengths (e.g., a more technologically advanced product with higher
buyer value) and/or mitigate its competitive weaknesses (e.g., mitigating a relatively low brand recognition by saturating a
niche market with a focused differentiator message: "we serve small businesses with software designed for small business") ).
Assignment Requirements/format:
Step one: Using the summary information from your group's week 4 country selection paper, the Introduction to this paper
should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of the company and its industry, (c) the product/service that will
DMBA 630 9047 Marketi... Paula Pal-Kheav
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be entered in the new country; (d) description of the target country and why it was recommended as better opportunity
than the other country.
Step two: The body of the paper (approximately 8-10 pages double spaced) will:
1. Assess each competitor's strengths and weaknesses
include in your assessment a competitors' ability to mitigate the country level threats you identified in Week4.
Competitors that are more adept at risk mitigation (e.g., via a process or asset advantage) will be more of a
competitive threat. For example, in a politically unstable country (threat) , a competitor with a wide network of
associations (asset) may be better able to weather political change (thus the network is a risk mitigating advantage)..
2. Compare Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses to your client's Strengths and Weaknesses
3. Determine the two or three areas in which your client has a competitive advantage relative to competitors. Explain how
the advantage(s) represent a differentiation or cost advantage. Be sure the data support this determination.
4. Recommend a competitive strategy and explain why you have recommended the strategy. Will this be effective against
all or only some of the competitors? Will you need a combined strategy or a tiered strategy (implemented over time) in order
to compete for the long term?
Write a 1-2 page Executive summary for the entire paper (i.e., name the company and its industry; describe the
country opportunity; the competition and how your client can compete. Be specific about where cost advantage is or
what differentiates your client).
Include a Title page (with your name!) and a Table of Contents, to be placed just after the Executive summary. After
the Executive summary, include page numbers on the body of the paper, starting with page one.
Include a Reference list, using proper APA format for all references and in-text citations.
Post the assignment in your Individual Assignment folder AND in the Group Locker by the due date.
The posted individual papers in the Group Locker will be for the team’s use in week 6 competitor research summary and
competitive strategy recommendation .
Looking ahead: In Week 6, your team will agree upon a business level competitive strategy, based on these individual
member inputs, analyses, and recommendations. The team will identify specific buyers to target, estimate the dollar value of
that target market, and will develop a positioning statement to appeal to the targeted market segment. The team will
submit its current draft business plan (sections 2-11) and finalize its SWOT in preparation for developing your corporate
level strategy in weeks 7 and 8.
EEK 5 Individual Assignment – South Korea/Brazil
EEK 5 Individual Assignment – South Korea/Brazil
Domestic – GM KOREA
Foreign - BMW
Assignment overview: Individuals will conduct a competitor analysis and develop a competitive strategy for how the client company can win customers in the recommended entry country. Grading rubric for Competitor assignment is here and posted in the module ‘Grading Guidelines and Rubrics.’
Assignment Objectives: (1) Each individual team member will identify and research 2—3 competitors in the recommended country, including at least one global competitor and one local competitor.
(2) Each individual will determine the competitive strengths and competitive weaknesses of the client company by comparing client strengths and weaknesses with competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
Note that not all your client's Strengths are competitive advantages, since competitors may have similar strengths. You are looking for those very few competitive strengths (in people, product/service, processes, or other resources) that will give your company a differentiator or cost advantage.
Similarly, competitor weaknesses that your client company does not suffer may give your client company a relative competitive advantage, even if you have not previously identified this characteristic as a particular strength of your client company. It need only be better than the competitors in order for you to consider it as a competitive advantage (e.g., more efficient processes than a competitor's high cost production may mean your client can offer lower prices to customers than the competitor can).
(3) Applying Porter's Generic Strategies, you will then recommend and explain a competitive strategy that will attract new customers by leveraging the client firm’s competitive strengths (e.g., a more technologically advanced product with higher buyer value) and/or mitigate its competitive weaknesses (e.g., mitigating a relatively low brand recognition by saturating a niche market with a focused differentiator message: "we serve small businesses with software designed for small business") ).
Assignment Requirements/format:
Step one: Using the summary information from your group's week 4 country selection paper, the Introduction to this paper should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of the company and its industry, (c) the product/service that will be entered in the new country; (d) description of the target country and why it was recommended as better opportunity than the other country.
Step two: The body of the paper (approximately 8-10 pages double spaced) will:
1. Assess each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses
Include in your assessment a competitors' ability to mitigate the country level threats you identified in Week4. Competitors that are more adept at risk mitigation (e.g., via a process or asset advantage) will be more of a competitive threat. For example, in a politically unstable country (threat) , a competitor with a wide network of associations (asset) may be better able to weather political change (thus the network is a risk mitigating advantage)..
2. Compare Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses to your client's Strengths and Weaknesses
3. Determine the two or three areas in which your client has a competitive advantage relative to competitors. Explain how the advantage(s) represent a differentiation or cost advantage. Be sure the data support this determination.
4. Recommend a competitive strategy and explain why you have recommended the strategy. Will this be effective against all or only some of the competitors? Will you need a combined strategy or a tiered strategy (implemented over time) in order to compete for the long term?
Write a 1-2 page Executive summary for the entire paper (i.e., name the company and its industry; describe the country opportunity; the competition and how your client can compete. Be specific about where cost advantage is or what differentiates your client).
Include a Title page (with your name!) and a Table of Contents, to be placed just after the Executive summary. After the Executive summary, include page numbers on the body of the paper, starting with page one.
Include a Reference list, using proper APA format for all references and in-text citations.
Post the assignment in your Individual Assignment folder AND in the Group Locker by the due date.
The posted individual papers in the Group Locker will be for the team’s use in week 6 competitor research summary and competitive strategy recommendation.
Looking ahead: In Week 6, your team will agree upon a business level competitive strategy, based on these individual member inputs, analyses, and recommendations. The team will identify specific buyers to target, estimate the dollar value of that target market, and will develop a positioning statement to appeal to the targeted market segment. The team will submit its current draft business plan (sections 2-11) and finalize its SWOT in preparation for developing your corporate level strategy in weeks 7 and 8.
[solved] Week 4 Group country analysis and recommendation
Instructions
Week 4 Group country analysis and recommendation (6% of course grade)
Assignment Overview. There are two parts to this assignment. In Part One, the team will select two of the most promising country markets from its individual members’ week 3 analyses. In Part Two, the team will conduct a more detailed comparison of those two countries, with emphasis on the Opportunity for your client's particular product/service (market size and operational support) and the level of competitive Threat (competitors for your client's product/service).
Resources
Same as week 3,
Plus: Anticipating the size of your market: http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3405000012&v=2.1&u=umd_umuc&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=15d50079221a05905ec616b5b5da6ade
Assignment Part One Objectives: Each team will assess and compare the PESTEL data that was developed for each of the countries analyzed by the individual team members in their week 3 assignment (number of countries = number of members x 2). Create a comparison table to assist in this team discussion and to ensure that comparable data are used for all countries analyzed. If necessary, gather any missing data to make valid comparisons. Based on this comparison, the team will select two countries as the better potential opportunities and deserving of further analysis.
State briefly, in two or three paragraphs, the criteria you used to compare them and the rationale for your selection of the two most favorable countries (which criteria were most important and why). This table and text is to be posted in the Group Locker. Only the summary statement for why these two countries were selected will be included in the Part Two written paper.
Assignment Part Two Objectives. The objectives are to further analyze Opportunity and Threat in the two countries and recommend one country for your client's market entry. The team will expand the PESTEL analyses already done by (1) estimating the Economic Opportunity for your client's specific product/service; i.e., the potential market size for your client's particular product/service (2) evaluating the general level of competitive Threat (e.g., number and size of competitors); and (3) determining how well your client's operational needs can be met.
Assignment Part Two requirements/format:
The introduction to this paper should consist of (a) statement of purpose (b) description of your client company and industry; (b) the product/service it will be taking into the new country; (c) the selection process and rationale for why these two countries were selected as the more favorable potential markets from all the countries your team members evaluated (This is the summary rationale from Part One of this assignment).
The body of the paper (approximately 10-15 pages, double spaced), should compare the two country markets on:
Opportunity factors and trends – Paula
Economic: What is the market size and growth forecast FOR YOUR COMPANY’S PRODUCT/SERVICE. Be specific about who your buyer is, then find measures that will help you determine how many buyers are in each country market. For example, you might use something like the number of passenger car registrations to size the automobile market if your client is an auto maker.
Opportunity Support factors for your product/service. (PESTEL)
Opportunity (capability) to support the operational needs of your product/service (needs you identified in your company profile; e.g., suppliers for your company product/service; or supporting transportation infrastructure for distributing your product; or appropriate workforce).
Threat factors and trends – Abram
The key industry factors and trends that will likely affect the general level of competition for this product/service (Use Porter’s 5 +2 forces)
To Porter, competition or “rivalry” in an industry can be fierce, moderate, or limited, depending on the strength of the other forces; e.g., fewer buyers increases the intensity of competition among industry firms, as does the threat of new entrants or the cost for a company to exit a market. What is your assessment of the general level of competition in these two countries, given how these industry factors operate in each country?
The specific key competitors (both multinational and local) for your company’s product/service
Threats to client's operational needs (e.g., lack of needed supplies, infrastructure, workforce)
Other Threat factors for your product/service (PESTEL) (e.g., political regulations, cultural animosity toward western brands or toward your client's type of product/service)
3. Recommend one country for entry, based upon your analyses, and supported by appropriate data from your research.
For your recommended country, specifically acknowledge the country level Threats that will require risk mitigation strategies.
Recommend potential mitigation strategies for these threats
4. Conclude with a succinct summary for why you have recommended the one country for your client's new market entry, starting (always) with the quantified opportunity (in dollars or buyers), listing the threats and the mitigation strategies that will be needed to create market success.
5. Write an Executive Summary of approximately 2 pages (summarizing the entire paper, including company and industry descriptions).
6. Include a Title Page, with names of all contributing members, and a Table of Contents that should be placed after the Executive Summary. After the Executive Summary and Table of Contents,, number all pages of the body of the paper, starting with page one.
7. Include Reference list, using proper APA format for all references and in-text citations.
One member is to post the group's Assignment in your Group Assignment folder by the end of the week, titled “Country Entry Recommendation for [name of your client company]”.
UPDATE DRAFT BUSINESS PLAN IN YOUR LOCKER: With the completion of this assignment, you have have the data to complete Sections 6,7, and 8, of your developing Business Plan. Please update these sections in your draft, which will be submitted as an assignment in week 6, after completing your competitor analysis.
UPDATE SWOT MATRIX IN YOUR LOCKER. Now that you have completed your country analysis, update the draft SWOT matrix in your group locker to include country level Opportunities and Threats.The final SWOT will be submitted as an assignment in week 6, after completing your competitor analysis (client Strengths and Weaknesses).
Looking ahead: This week you determined a general level of competition in your recommended country, and you identified specific competitors.. Next week you will evaluate the threat from these specific competitors and develop a general strategic approach that will best enable your client to compete against those companies.
[solved] Week 3 individual assignment country analysis - Two Countries (Vietnam and Indonesia)
Week 3 individual assignment country analysis - Two Countries (Vietnam and Indonesia)
Assignment Overview:
You have already identified industry opportunity (buyer size and growth trends) and industry threats for your client. Now you will turn to country level analyses to find countries with positive opportunity and trends and threats that will need to be mitigated.
Each individual on a team will use the PESTEL framework to analyze the POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND LEGAL opportunity and threat factors and trends in the external environments of two countries agreed to and assigned by the team in its week 3 work plan.
The grading rubric is here and posted in the Grading Guidelines and Rubrics module in course content.
Resources:
· PESTEL and SWOT articles in Required Readings
· How to write an Executive Summary.
· Research Databases listed in Required Readings:
Assignment Objectives: Your objective is to compare PESTEL Opportunity and Threat in two country markets; specify trends in those Opportunity and Threat factors that are likely to affect the country's business and economic environment over the next 3-5 years; and recommend one country as the better new market for your client.
Notes on Data analysis:
Be sure you compare the same Opportunity and Threat factors/trends for each of the countries and ensure that any ratings, rankings or aggregate measures you use are measuring the same underlying factors in both countries.
2. Whenever you use a country rating from a source, include a brief summary of the main country conditions (PESTEL factors) that contribute to the ratings. For example:
. "Business Environment" may be rated more favorable in one country. But what specifically is being measured: the POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, and/or LEGAL indicators are more informative and may be more relevant to your client than the summary measure would indicate.
Similarly, if you use a “Risk” Rating, a higher risk rating may not be as important as the types of risk that are being aggregated into a summary ranking.
For example, if "Business Environment" or "Risk" is rated better in one country primarily because of legal protections for IP (which shape the overall better rating), but your client has no IP to protect in its expansion, then the more favorable ranking in one country is not relevant to your client, and both countries might be considered equally attractive IN SPITE of the better overall ranking of one..
Assignment format and requirements:
The Introduction to this paper should consists of (a) your statement of purpose; and (b) a description of your Client Company and industry (from your team's W2 analyses).
The body of the paper (approximately 10-15 pages double spaced) should be organized around Opportunity factors and trends first, and then Threat factors and trends:
I. Opportunity factors and Trends.
A. Economic Market Opportunity and potential growth: ALWAYS START WITH THE $'S WORTH OF OPPORTUNITY!
As an initial comparison, you can start with macro level measures from Five Year Economic Forecast, including GDP and Personal Disposable Income (PDI) as indicators of ECONOMIC opportunity—the Buyers’ potential ability to purchase your company's product/service. However, you should try to get as close as possible to indicators of opportunity for your client's particular product/service;: For example, if you are selling software to hospitals, look for health care spending; if your client is selling cybersecurity services, look for cybersecurity spending to compare across the two countries. But remember that you must have the same information for both countries in order to compare them!
B. Opportunity support factors are those PESTEL factors and trends that support the Economic market opportunity; e.g..,
1. Political support may consist of existing or pending trade agreements or positive trade relations with the client’s home country; government policy that supports funding/advancement of your industry
2. Economic support may consist of tax benefits, low or trending lower tariffs;
3. Social support may consist of favorable attitudes towards U.S. companies or growing interest in your client's type of product (e.g., green technology)
4. Etc…. for Technological, Environmental, and Legal support factors and trends
5. Include the opportunity to support your client's operational needs (the needs that your team identified in your company profile)
II. Threat factors and trends
Country PESTEL Threats and trends should be ranked by degree of threat, along with an explanation for your assessment/ ranking; e.g., if you consider political instability to be a greater threat in the country than currency fluctuation (Economic threat), explain why.
III. The Opportunity and Threat factors/trends can be shown in a summary table, but the text should explain how you weighted the factors/trends in order to compare Opportunity and Threat in the two countries.
Include under the appropriate PESTEL the Threats to your client's operational needs. For example, if a technologically sophisticated workforce is required for your client to operate successfully in country, a country that lacks such social (education) support will be a significant risk for your client's operational success.
IV. Conclude with a summary recommendation for one country as the better entry option.
VI. Write an Executive Summary for the entire paper (include company and industry description). Aim for approximately 2 pages, double spaced.
VII. Include a Title Page (with your name!) and a Table of Contents placed just after the Executive Summary. Pages should be numbered, starting with page one as the Body of the paper (your statement of purpose), The Executive Summary can be unnumbered or numbered as i, ii...but it is not a part of the body of the paper.
VIII. Include a Reference list, using proper APA format for references and all in-text citations.
This week you have three assignments: to select your client company and industry; to analyze the
industry opportunity and threats; and to describe your company and assess its strengths and weaknesses.
You are introduced to a standard MBA tool for industry analysis: Porter’s Five forces. Porter provides a
framework for ensuring that you consider all areas of the industry structure in assessing poten
al threats or
opportuni
es for your client. And you are introduced to two analy
cal frameworks for assessing areas of
poten
al company Strengths or Weaknesses: Value Chain process and Resource evalua
on. When you focus
on company processes (Value Chain), you want to understand how its internal processes may make it more
efficient or effec
ve than compe
tors. And when you focus on company assets (Resource View) , you want to
understand how its assets may give the company compe
ve advantage.
Types of Resources: In addi
on to unique characteris
cs of the company’s product/service, other Assets or
Resources that may provide compe
ve advantage can be human (competencies), financial (e.g., parent
company with deep pockets), geographic (e.g., many loca
ons that can offer more cost effec
ve supplier or
distribu
on support), contractual (e.g., supplier agreements or long term sales agreements), poli
cal (e.g.,
government contracts, tax advantages, favorable reputa
on with foreign governments); proprietary
intellectual property (trade marks, patents). You want to understand your client’s resources and processes so
you can later determine whether they are be
er than compe
tors in these areas.
One of the cri
ques of Porter’s FIVE forces is that it excludes two important industry forces that may affect the
profitability (opportunity or threat) in an en
re industry: government regula
on of the industry (e.g.,
requirements for long FDA approval of pharmaceu
cal products; automobile emissions standards set by
government); and technology trends in the industry (e.g., as e-commerce is affec
ng brick and mortar retailers
and mobile phone applica
ons are affec
ng cable television companies) . You will want to include these two
addi
onal forces when you use the Porter’s Five forces analy
cal tool—make it seven forces!
Next week you begin country level analysis--by assessing poten
al opportuni
es and threats to your client in
different countries. Keep in mind, for all three levels of analysis (industry, company, country), that you are
building your SWOT framework that you will use for developing corporate level strategy for your client. Next
week you will create the SWOT template to collect and organize the industry Opportunity and Threat factors
and company Strengths and Weaknesses you iden
fied this week. In Week 4, you will add country level O and
T; and in Week 6 you will refine and finalize your SWOT matrix. In weeks 7 % 8, you will use the SWOT to
develop corporate level strategy for your client's country expansion.
This week's reading includes an ar
cle on interna
onal strategy and how it intersects with both Corporate and
Business level strategy. You will see that when you select a country market and a product to take into that new
country, your entry strategy is a corporate level strategy. When you determine how to compete in the new
country market, your compe
ve strategy is a business level strategy; and when you develop a marke
ng plan
Week Two: Industry Analysis and Company profile
Required Readings and Multimedia resources:(Note if a link does not connect directly, copy paste the url
into a new browser or new window).
Evaluating the External Environment: Porter's five forces(industry level)
(1) https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-management/s07-evaluating-the-external-
enviro.html OR
(2) http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/reference/organization/n178.xm
Internal analysis (company level)
(1). Resource based view of the firm: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-
management/s08-managing-firm-resources.html
(2) Value Chains in company assessment:
http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/reference/organization/n551.xml
Strategy at Corporate, Business and Operational/functional levels
Why go global:strategic
choices: http://web.archive.org/web/http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/challenges-and-
opportunities-in-international-business/s12-01-global-strategic-choices.html
Business and Corporate level
strategy: http://web.archive.org/web/http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/challenges-and-
opportunities-in-international-business/s14-01-business-and-corporate-strateg.html
Market segmenting and positioning:https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_principles-of-marketing-
v2.0/s08-market-segmenting-targeting-an.html
This week you will get to know your client company: the important features of the industry in which it
operates and the important features of your client that will help it to operate successfully within its
industry and in a new country market. Your industry analysis will assess how industry features and trends
can represent either opportunity or threat to your client. Your company analysis will assess your client’s
internal strengths that can give it an advantage over its compe
tors, and its internal weaknesses that may
put it at risk in the market. The analy
cal tools you will use are Porter’s Five Forces for industry analysis;
and Value Chain Analysis and Resource analysis for exploring where your client may have par
cular
Strengths and Weaknesses . Next week you begin country level analysis—to assess poten
al opportuni
es
and threats for your client in different countries.
Download Send to Binder
Week two: Overview and Introduction to Analytical Tools
Week two reading assignments and resources
Group client company selection
Due September 18 at 11:59 PM
Assignment: Client Company Selection
Based on the recommendations and analyses done by your team members, each Team will select its “client” company.
Your goal is to select a company in an industry with long-term growth potential and a company that is not already
operating in many of the BRICS+11 countries (which would leave you with little room for international expansion).
By Monday midnight, ONE Member should Post your client company name and industry in your Group Assignment
folder and title it CLIENT COMPANY AND INDUSTRY Explain why the team has selected this company as the client for
the strategy project, using both industry and company data to support your choice.
Team Work Plan for week 3 assignments
Due September 21 at 11:59 PM
Week 3 Work Plan will assign two countries for each individual member to analyze. Ensure that all
members of a team identify different countries and that each member analyzes one of the BRICS countries.
For a team of five members, there should be 10 different countries analyzed, including allfive BRICS.
Since the team will not be able to cover all 16 countries, first eliminate those in which your client company is
already doing business; If further narrowing is needed, use the industry data sources in week 2 to select the
countries that appear to have the most opportunity in your company's industry (EIU has country reports
within industries, but only for some countries).
Post the team work plan in this group assignment folder by Thursday of this week.
Group industry Overview: risk and opportunity
Due September 24 at 11:59 PM
Team Assignment: Industry Overview (3% of course grade)
Resources: Evaluating the External Environment: Porter's five forces:
(1) https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-management/s07-evaluating-the-external-enviro.html
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week 11: November 20
- 26
Week 12: November 27
- December 3
Course Resources
Course Evaluation
Accessing Tutoring
(2) http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/reference/organization/n178.xm
Using Porter's Five Forces (plus two additional forces: technology trends and government influences) to organize your
analysis, each team will summarize the key industry opportunity and threat factors and trends affecting your client as a
result of its position in its industry. Start with a description of your client's position in the industry: who are its buyers,
what are are its supplier inputs, who are its competitors.
Specify the economic opportunity for your client in this industry (lots of Buyers?). What is the size and projected growth
of Buyers in this industry?
What threats exist for your client from buyer/supplier trends, potential new entrants, substitutes, level of competition?
Then comment on the strategy implications for your client of both opportunity and threat factors.
Recommend strategies for your client to mitigate global risk (threat factors). You will need to incorporate these strategy
recommendations into your entry strategy in week 8.
Format: The title page should show all members who contributed to the assignment; include a table of contents with
topic headings matched to the paper contents, and a reference list in APA format (See Course Resources module for
review of APA citations). The industry assessment should be approximately 5-7 pages, double spaced, excluding title
page, table of contents, and references. (All page estimations are guidelines only).
No executive summary is required, but do provide a good conclusion that summarizes the strategic implications of the
Opportunities and Threats identified in your industry analysis and the strategies you client will need to consider tn
response to both threats and opportunities.
ONE MEMBER is to post this assignment in your group assignment folder, titled “{name of} Industry Assessment,” by the
end of the week.. Only one submission is allowed.
Group Profile of client company
Due September 24 at 11:59 PM
Company profile. (4% of course grade)
Assignment overview: The team will research the client company and write a descriptive profile with title page showing
all members who contributed to the assignment, a table of contents with topic headings matched to the profile
contents, and a reference list in APA format (See Course Resources module for review of APA citations). The profile
body, excluding title page, table of contents, and references, should be approximately 10 pages, double spaced. (All
page estimations are guidelines only). No executive summary is required, but do provide a good conclusion that
summarizes the strategic implications of company strengths and weaknesses.
Resources:
Use this week's readings on both the value chain and resource based views of company advantages to assess your client
company's strengths and weaknesses.
Use "Why Go global" reading to infer company expansion rationale for your client company. This will be your own best
assessment of the forces that are likely driving expansion efforts of your company.'
n needed for this assignment from public sources. It will require multiple sources, including what competitors and
business analysts may be saying about the company. The depth of analysis you can perform for this assignment will
depend upon the availability of information. A great deal of information is available about these companies through
various sources included in our online library system.
Databases:
Company Web sites; annual reports
EDGAR (SEC filings)
Hoovers Online (company basic facts; news)
Yahoo: Finance
Hoovers
EIU databases (in ABI/Inform in UMUC library)
Factiva (news items from Dow Jones and Reuters)
The Wall Street Journal
Assignment objectives: To understand your client company's Strengths and Weaknesses in order to assess how
successfully it might be able to compete in a new international market. .
Note: The company research is intended to be completed based only on secondary sources of information since you will
not have time to do primary research. However, for some of the information, you may want to contact the company itself
(e.g, for product/service information, special competencies), as long as it is not considered sensitive or proprietary
information. If you decide to do some primary research, be sure to capture the list of people interviewed along with their
complete particulars (name, job title, organization, address, phone number, email address, as well as the date the
information was obtained) for including proper citations in your business plan.
Assignment requirements: This company profile will describe:
I. The company,
1. A short description of the type of business and the industry in which it operates (from the
above industry analysis)
2. The specific product/service that will be the focus of your market expansion.
3. The Buying proposition. What are the selling features? Why do buyers buy? What does this
product/service do for the buyers or Users? How does your client company create value, and what
is the specific value created?
4. The company’s rationale for international expansion. Based on your understanding of the
company position in its external environment (e.g., Opportunity and Threat), why do you believe
it should be looking for new international markets? You will most likely need to infer this goal
dimension(s) for the company (e.g, financial gain, market share, volume efficiencies, brand
building)
Consider not just “pullfactors” based on potential international opportunity.
Consider also what is happening in the home country market that may be “pushing “ the company into
international markets (e.g., competition, regulation)
II. The Buyer (target market) for the product/service (in the client’s current markets)
1. Are the Buyers the USERS of the product?
2. If USERS are not Buyers, who buys and how do buyers get the product/service to the users?
3. How can you characterize your Buyers so you can home in on a specific segment of the market?
In a B2C (business to consumer) model, the following demographic characteristics may be relevant to describing
your target buyer: age, gender, income, family status, home ownership, education level.
In marketing we often divide consumer groups into different psychographic and lifestyle groups.
A familiar example would be "early adopters," consumers who are eager to be the first to use a
new type of technology. Another example would be “green consumers” who value
environmentally protective products or company policies.
In a B2B (business to business) model, other types ofsegmentation will be relevant, such as:retail
or wholesale; size of the business (number of employees/ revenue); type of business structure (e.g.,
pharmacies, big box stores); geographic spread or locations
Note: You may have a primary and a secondary target BUYER. For example, you may sell your items retail
to consumers (business to consumer or B2C) and you may also wholesale your product to retail outlets
(business to business or B2B). In that case, you'll need to select one as primary once you know more about
the country market size and growth opportunities (weeks 3 and 4).
III. The resources your client will need in order to create or maintain its value in a new country: What will
it need to manufacture, distribute, service/maintain/repair and/or market the product/service in a new country
environment? For example, some factors that may be relevant for your company's operational processes:
In country workforce-- why needed--to do what tasks? With what skill levels, expertise?
Infrastructure requirements, for delivery of the product/service (e.g., internet facilities, shipping
ports, airports, postalfacilities)
In country facilities (e.g., for manufacturing, servicing, marketing)
Access to in country suppliers—of what inputs?
Note: Once you identify what the company needs in a country, then you can determine whether a particular
country can meet those needs! So be sure to carry these country screening factors over into your two-
country comparisons in weeks 3-4.
IV. . Competition: Specify the likely key competitors in its current markets and in new global markets. ,
V. Company STRENGTHS relative to competitors
1. Product features that are unique, or can set it apart from the identified competition
2. Company Resources, particularly global Resources that may strengthen the company’s
competitive advantage (e.g., consider human competencies, particularly global experience; financial,
geographic, contractual, political assets; any proprietary, patented or trademarked intellectual
property)
3. Company processes that may give it an advantage over its competitors in any new international
markets. What does it DO better? Does it have processes that set it apart (more efficient, less
expensive, more flexible/adaptable)? Does it have excess capacity that may give it a cost advantage in a
new market?
VI. Company WEAKNESSES. relative to the competition
1 What do you see as potential competitive disadvantages for your client?
2. How are competitors portraying your client’s weaknesses?
As with all group assignments, ONE member should post the assignment in your Group
Assignment folder by the end of week 2, titled “Company Profile.”
You have now created the data needed to populate Items 2-5 of the draft business plan. Abstract the
data from this analysis and add those relevant items to your draft business plan template. Incorporate only the
necessary information required in these business plan sections --not the whole analyses!
And you have determined the industry level Opportunities and Threats and company level Strengths and
Weaknesses to populate a SWOT matrix. Next week you will create and populate your SWOT matrix with
these assessments. Country level O and T will be added to your SWOT matrix in Week 4.
week 2 Peer Evaluation
Due September 25 at 11:59 PM
Assignment : Peer Evaluation. Each Team will discuss its effectiveness, based on the items on the Peer
Evaluation form; Each Individual will post a confidential Peer Evaluation in his/her Individual Assignment Folder by the
end of Week 2.
II. Team Work Plan
(The team projects in this seminar require you to work together throughout the semester. One of the most significant factors in effective team performance is effective time management. Teams that have been most successful in the MBA program have allocated time each week to work on their projects. They have completed drafts sufficiently in advance of the due dates to allow editing to produce a cohesive quality document written in a single voice.)
Team work plans help team members to more effectively plan their time and avoids unnecessary duplication of effort. In addition, if everyone knows what they have to do, what they can expect others to do, and when they must deliver their contribution or can expect to receive the contribution of another study group member, the possibility of a conflict over who should have done what and when can be minimized.
Work plans are to be posted in the study group's assignment and locker in the week preceding each team assignment. Faculty expect each member to make a meaningful contribution to the weekly assignments and to follow the process outlined in the work plan. All of the contributions of each study group member to the assignments must be posted in the study group's locker. Usually all the team members receive the same grade for the team project, however, an individual’s grade may be reduced if the individual did not contribute in a meaningful way to the team assignment. This determination will be made by evaluating the member's individual contributions posted in the study group locker and comparing them to the work plan.
Business Plan Template
Your job as hired strategists is to analyze the market data, organize it logically, and usefully communicate that analysis in a way that will achieve your objective: buy-in and funding for your proposed entry strategy. Use this template to integrate the research and analyses (course assignments) into your proposed business plan.
Effective communication consists of a short executive summary of the Business Plan, followed by a supporting document in which each section is organized in a way that will best support the analysis and recommendations. As you begin your executive summary (after completing the business plan), please use this first template sentence, representing the outcome of your analysis, to keep your executive summary focused on support for that recommendation.
"It is recommended that (selected client company) enter the_(named country) with its (specified product/service) through a _(specify the type of legal structure) with (selected company partner or acquisition)."
CONTENTS OF FINAL BUSINESS PLAN
Title Page
State the client company, country and size of its market for the client’s product/service, recommended legal structure, and alliance partner: for example:
Business Plan for [NAME OF COMPANY] to enter [COUNTRY’s] $(SIZE OF MARKET IN DOLLARS) market for [PRODUCT/SERVICE] through a [type of legal structure] with [NAMED ALLIANCE PARTNER]
Date and contributing team member names
Table of Contents
Page numbers for each major section
Executive Summary
These 1-2 pages summarize the results of your analysis and how you arrived at the recommendation.
It is NOT an introduction, so you would not use words like “this paper will..” The exec summary is all about what the paper DID do (not will do) and therefore parallels the conclusion, not the introduction.
It is a separate stand-alone summary, not a part of the paper body.
Belongs on a separate page from the introduction to the paper.
Introduction (first paragraph of paper body)
State the purpose of the paper
Tell what the paper will do
Name the industry, country and company
Company Description (Week 2 company profile)
Company type of business and industry
Company product/service
Targeted buyer and buying proposition (what needs/desires the product meets for the targeted Buyer –and User if different from Buyer)
Rationale for international expansion
Goals and objectives for international expansion
Company supports needed to be successful in country (e.g., will it need an in-country workforce? Transportation infrastructure? Internet access? Facilities?)
Company Strengths (Week 2)
Describe special features of the product or service
Identify company competencies (competencies reside in people)
Identify company assets that may strengthen the company’s competitive position (e.g., human, financial, geographic, contractual, political assets)
Identify company processes that may be a competitive advantage (e.g., manufacturing efficiencies, vertical or horizontal integration)
Company weaknesses (Week 2) - ABRAM
These are the flip side of the strengths; e.g., undifferentiated product, lack of human resources/skills; limited financial assets, no unique processes that set it apart from competition
Global Industry Description (Week 2)
Global Industry Opportunities and Threats
Global industry trends (e.g., technology change, growth forecasts)
Country Selection Rationale (Week 4)
Explain the process for selecting the two countries you compare in this plan (how you pared down from 16 to 2 countries)
Macro-level comparison of countries (opportunities/threats)
Countries that are new to the Company
Selection criteria/rationale for the two countries selected for analysis
Ability to meet company support needs in country (section 2 above)
Country Comparison (Week 4)
Opportunity comparison across the two analyzed countries
Market size, growth
Business climate
Industry structural advantages (e.g., access to suppliers; ease of entry; government support; limited internal competition…)
Other opportunities from PESTEL and Industry factors
Risk comparison across the two analyzed countries (Week 4) -
This is the flip side of opportunity; focus only on risks relevant for your company;
Identify general level of competition in the countries (intensity, number of competitors and potential new entrants/availability of substitutes)
Other risks from PESTEL and Industry factors
Summary rationale for country selection (Week 4)
Summarize opportunities and threats for both countries
Explain major reasons for recommending the country of entry
Total Country market size and growth reflects the Opportunity
Opportunity support factors
Threats (to be mitigated, but not significant enough to override opportunity)
Target Market size (Week 6)
Estimate Target Market(s) in dollars or units or buyers
Estimate growth of Target Market over 3-5 years
Competitive risk/advantage in the selected country of entry (Weeks 6,7)
Identify key multinational and local competitors and their competitive threat
Identify client company’s competitive weaknesses
Relative to specific competitors
Relative to other country threats (identified in 8. iii)
Identify the competitive advantages of your company (based on strengths in Section 3 above, relative to competitors)
Risk Mitigation Strategies for the selected country of entry (Weeks 2, 6,7) -
Recommend strategy to mitigate competitive threat identified in section 10 above (e.g., cost, differentiation, and/or focus strategies)
Recommend mitigating strategies that would be needed for each of the industry threats identified in 5 above (Week 2)
Recommended mitigating strategies that would be needed for each of the other country threats identified in 8. iii above (e.g., local partner/agent to mitigate cultural and/or regulatory threats)
Opportunity Exploitation Strategies for the selected country of entry (Weeks 2, 7)-
Recommend Strategies to exploit Opportunity and Opportunity support factors (identified in 5,and 8i and 8ii above)
Entry Strategy Legal Structure (week 8)
Develop 2 potential Entry Structures (legal) that will:
Mitigate specific risks
Realize specific market opportunity
Describe any alliance partner or in-country relationship
i. Specify how the in-country relationship supports and makes possible the entry strategy and/or the risk mitigation strategy (these are benefits to your client company)
ii. Will the partner/alliance help with competing, with overcoming country threats?
Justify the strategic “fit” with the partner /alliance organization.
How will the alliance with your client benefit the partner?
What are the “costs” to the partner (what will the partner contribute)?
Compare the advantages/disadvantages of the two structures
Summarize selection rationale and recommend one entry structure
Entry Strategy Organizational Structure for the recommended legal structure (Week 8)
Create organization chart showing :
your client’s salaries/costs for each position
your client’s relationship to outside/alliance organizations (dotted lines)
Describe responsibilities for each position in the organization chart
Estimate capital/cost requirements for the structure (facilities, equipment)
In-country marketing plan and costs (week 9)
Product modifications if needed and estimated costs to modify
Pricing strategy and Price recommendation
Promotional message
Channels and methods for communicating product value to the target market and estimated costs of materials and channels
Estimated market share: What percent of the target market (9i) your client is likely to gain
Financial Value of the entry strategy (create projected Income statement) (week 10)
Estimate Revenue for first year of operation (Price x market share in units)
Cost estimates for year zero and year one
Year zero: Start up costs before revenue is generated (e.g., negotiation time, build-outs of facilities, importing of inventory)
Year one: Operational cost estimates
Headcount dollars from organization chart
Promotional expenses from marketing plan,
Equipment and facilities expenses (e.g., office supplies, rent)
EBIT: Potential profitability (Revenue less expenses)
Separately identify Capital investment (e.g., in plants, depreciated equipment), but balance sheet is not required.
Balanced Scorecard (week 11);Specify the major factors to be tracked for your strategy to be successful
Conclusion: Two-three brief paragraphs summarizing the strategy and its expected strategic and financial benefits,
Some Final Advice: Format & Integration
The final team project paper should be approximately 30 pages, exclusive of cover page, appendices and references. References should be in proper APA format.
topic Two: Course reflections
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Reflect on the course as a whole. What is the major take-away for you from the course?
topic three: program reflections
topic three: program reflections
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Reflect on the program as a whole. What will you be able to use most in the future?
[solved]Topic One: project reflections
Topic One: project reflections
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Do you think your "client" company would benefit from the business plan your team developed? Why or why not?
Topic two Company perspective
Locked after Sunday, September 17, 2017 11:59 PM EDT.
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Using financial performance information at the company level for your selected Industry in topic one, discuss your
views on the following questions. Use and refer to the assigned readings to support your views.
1. How is it that, even among the best performing industries, only some companies do well? How can some
companies in poorly performing industries still do well?
2. Generally speaking, for companies in the same industry, what factors would explain differences in company
performance over the long term?
3. Which company in your selected industry would you recommend for your team's strategy project? Explain why,
using data to support your recommendation. Remember that you will want to select a company that is not already
operating in too many of the BRICS+ Next 11 countries, as that would leave you with little room for international
expansion.
Topic one industry perspective
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Using information from the ABI Inform and GlobalEdge Databases of Industry Performance, select data on the
following subset of industries:
automobile
healthcare
financial services
consumer goods
telecoms and technology
Based on the data you find, discuss your views on the following questions.
1. What kinds of industries tend to be better performers in the medium to long term? Why? What kinds of industries
tend to do poorly in the medium to long term? Why? Refer to the readings to support your views.
2. Can you make the claim that some industries are inherently more profitable than others? Provide arguments and
examples to justify your response.
3. Which of these industries would you recommend for your team's strategy project? Justify your recommendation.
[solved] Week 12 - Executive Summary
Week 12 - Executive Summary
An Executive Summary is a separate document from the main body of your document and must
stand alone on its merits. It may be the only page from your report that gets read by top
management -- so it must be able to "make the case" for your recommendation or proposal. The
Executive Summary:
1. Summarizes the main points of a longer document (e.g., a business plan or proposal) and
presents the essential issues in the paper: main points, analysis and recommendations.It is NOT
an introduction, which would tell what you intend to analyze, not what you found from your
analysis. If you are writing " this paper will....," then you are writing an introduction and not an
executive summary!
2. Establishes the need or states the problem; recommends the solution and explains the value of
the solution (why the reader should care); provides logical substantiation (your analysis!) for
how you arrived at your recommendation.
3. Is written in text, not a bullet-point outline (quality of analyses cannot be shown through bullet
points, which lack integrative logical connections among the bullet pointed ideas or data)
4. Should be one page or at most two pages for longer documents. No cut-and-pasting from the
main document. Write from scratch so you are not tempted to provide unnecessary details.
Always proofread the executive summary -- Ask people who haven't read the main document to
read the summary and comment on it -- does it present the idea? Does it show the value? Does it
"make the case" for your recommendation or proposal through clear logic based on sound data?
If you wish to explore further, this link is a sample of best resources for how to write a top-notch
Executive summary:
http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/summary.html
[solved]Week 12 - Integrating End-of-Seminar Project
Individual Assignment (End-of-Seminar Project) (8%)
Each student is to
Identify an important managerial challenge facing his or her work or other organization.
Develop a plan that integrates effective financial and operational decision making to successfully meet this challenge and improve organizational
performance, in a succinct report that includes an executive summary.
More Information:
What is a succinct report? Could it be 10 pages or less? One reads that IBM decision papers are limited to that length, and we all recall the single-sheet Ringo
Sho approach to important decisions at Toyota.
As to overall plan format, I-B-C (http://polaris.umuc.edu/~jstewart/StewartWebSite/writingt.htm) is, recommended for your consideration.
A results-filled executive summary (ES) should lead off the plan. This link is to "How to Write an Executive Summary" in Course Resources. You may also
benefit from a review of the files in Course Resources specific to Writing Guidelines and the files showing proper APA citations.
Your individual paper must be posted in your assignment folder by the due date. Remember that there are NO EXTENSIONS of this final due date.
Writing Tips
http://polaris.umuc.edu/~jstewart/StewartWebSite/writingt.htm 1/2
Tips for Effective Business Writing
Here are some basic suggestions that I hope will increase the effectiveness of your writing in business and other
management environments
First, decide the purpose of your writing. It is usually either to inform or to convince (persuade)
You should almost always follow the time-tested "formula" of Introduction, Body, Conclusion
Use the Introduction to clearly state your purpose or position, and to give a "roadmap" (outline) to the rest of your paper
In the Body, give your pieces of information or arguments one by one, setting them off from one another with meaning-
filled (think use of verbs) section headings if this helps comprehension - and such headings almost always do
Provide some concrete (specific) examples to support your arguments
It is usually better to develop a few good examples - explaining them as necessary - than simply to list some large number
of examples only by name
Summarize what you've said in the Conclusion, avoiding putting new material there which should have gone into the Body
In the Conclusion, leave your reader with something to remember, perhaps a "lesson learned", a "takeaway" or a concrete
recommendation for action
If you use an Executive Summary, remember to place it at the beginning of the paper and to include all key results in it
Don't forget to spell- and grammar-check! (Not only your computer software, but also a friend or spouse's review should
be helpful here)
Week 11 Discussion
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Assignment: Discussion Activity (8%)
Each student is to critically assess the 1) mission, 2) goals, and 3) importance of information
systems and their management (ISM) in the firm, 4) using their own work organization as an
example.
Clarification:
The single most important point made in these materials is that information systems, and their supporting
information technology plus included telecommunications technology, are not drivers in well-managed
organizations; instead, they are when properly used, supporters of the business mission and strategy.
That is true of UMUC, where the mission is educate with the major marketing strategy to be online. It is also true of
Amazon.com, where the mission is to make a profit selling a wide number of products, and the major marketing
strategy is again, online.
The second most important point, stressed by Professor McFarlan and epitomized by Amazon.com, Apple and Google,
is that properly-designed and -implemented information systems can convey a strategic competitive advantage to
their enterprises.
Example: Here is a start on contributing to this week's discussions, with an example using UMUC as the firm.
The mission of information systems management at University of Maryland University College is
to support the teaching and administrative processes of the university in an efficient and effective
(!, recall operations management) way
The goals of UMUC ISM include:
Being at the state of the art in course delivery at a distance. That's why we have used Webex,
google- and pdf format and audio/video materials
Providing 24x7 reliability in the Learning environment, in PeopleSoft and other essential
information systems. 360 Support is on call via message and telephone at all hours, for instance.
Conserving State and student (ie, tuition) resources in accomplishing the foregoing, which
Maryland taxpayers and the state legislature expect.
The importance of ISM at UMUC is extremely high, given
First, that the University has strategically decided to be the open university of Maryland and the
United States, providing learning services to a growing student body mostly* at a distance, thus
using information systems heavily.
Second, there are a plethora of state and federal regulations, plus community standards, that
govern the management of information at UMUC and thus provide continuing, importance-raising
challenges.**
*Currently, about 82% of UMUC Adelphi students study exclusively online, and another 10% learn through a
"hybrid" online/F2F program.
**One example is the accommodation requirements of the federal ADA - Americans with Disabilities - Act. These
require that information be delivered at UMUC in ways that accommodate, for instance, visually- and hearing-
impaired students. This means, for one example, that we must prepare - and pay for - transcripts of audio
materials for hearing-impaired students (and some professors too).
Let the discussion begin. You must first post your contribution, then respond to at least two of your classmates'
contributions with a thorough analytical critique. Agreement or disagreement is not the point; the point is to air
different perspectives so they can be compared, distinguished, and evaluated.
[solved] Critical Assessment of the Toyota Production System (TPS)
Exercise 1 - Critical Assessment of the Toyota Production System (TPS)
a. Demonstrate your team's basic understanding of the TPS by 1) defining in your team's
own words any eight of the terms found at http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/terms.asp and
2) applying them to one or more of your team's own companies or other organizations.
b. Describe the TPS as a total entity. What are its purposes? Its advantages? It's
limitations? How is it now evolving? Is it getting better – or not? Has it been successfully
copied by other motor vehicle manufacturers? Why or why not?
Exercise 2 - Grid Analysis
a) List of the key main factors considered by Schrodinger Team for the Toyota Motor
Manufacturing; North America Plan location decision.
Exercise 3 - Production Capacity Needed at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Canada
(TMMC)
a) To maximize profit earned during this period, which production capacity should TMMC
in 2000 decide to build - 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000, or 30,000 cars? Justify your choice.
b. What are the weaknesses or limitations in this analysis? How might they be corrected or
at least reduced?
c. It is now late 2016. How well has the RX-330/350 actually done in the North American
market? Is its quality rated as high as if it were made in Japan?
Exercise 4 - Assessment of Toyota’s Current Regional Production Strategy
[solved] Determining Production Capacity Needed at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Canada (TMMC)
Exercise 3: Determining Production Capacity Needed at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Canada
(TMMC)
Decision trees are another important if challenging world-class operations management method which
operations managers should understand and with which other managers should be familiar.
This exercise illustrates how using a decision tree, determination of an "optimal" production capacity
option can be made from among several possible capacity options based on the provided probable
market demand and expected costs/payoffs of events that influence the options.
It is spring 2000, and TMMC has indeed just been chosen to produce the new Lexus RX 330 line, with the
first units deliverable in 2003. Toyota must now determine the amount of annual production capacity it
should build at TMMC.
Toyota's goal is to maximize the profit from the RX 330 line over the five years from 2003-2007. These
vehicles will sell for an average of $37,000 and incur a mean unit production cost of $28,000 (here, $ =
the Canadian dollar).
10,000 units of annual production capacity can be built for $50M (M=million) with additional blocks of
5,000 units of annual capacity each costing $15M. Each block of 5,000 units of capacity will also cost
$5M per year to maintain, even if the capacity is unused.
Assume that the number of units actually sold each year will be the lesser of the demand and the
production capacity.
Marketing has provided three vehicle estimated demand scenarios with associated probabilities as
follows:
Demand 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Probability
Low 10,000 10,500 11,000 11,500 12,000 0.25
Moderate 15,000 16,000 17,000 18,000 19,000 0.50
High 20,000 24,000 26,000 28,000 30,000 0.25
a. To maximize profit earned during this period, which production capacity should TMMC in 2000
decide to build - 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000, or 30,000 cars? Justify your choice.
You may use the following decision tree developed by Toyota operations analysts in Toyota City, Japan -
or your group may choose to vary it in some way based, perhaps, on its presumed better local market
knowledge.
b. What are the weaknesses or limitations in this analysis? How might they be corrected or at
least reduced?
c. It is now late 2016. How well has the RX-330/350 actually done in the North American market?
Is its quality rated as high as if it were made in Japan?
Do some online research; it's part of improving your attainment of Information Literacy, one of
the UMUC MBA Competencies. Here see the Content/Week 10 references on Grid
Analysis and Decision Trees
After studying The Orion Shield Project, each
After studying The Orion Shield Project, each student is to address the following questions in a succinct and thoughtful report on
'Project Management Principles in the Orion Shield Case."
NOTE: IN CASE YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH THIS LINK TO THE ORION SHIELD PROJECT, it is also posted as a separate file in this week's module), and a link to the
transcript of the video is in the "Overview and Readings" file.
1. Applying the readings from Week 7, what Project Management principles, if any, were violated in this case:
By Project Manager Gary Allison,
By Henry Larsen, Director of Engineering
By Elliott Grey, Director of Program Management
By Paula Arnold, Project Engineer
2. What structural and cultural characteristics of SEC allowed each of these individuals to behave as they did? Be specific in defining the behavior you feel
was a violation or failure, and the organizational characteristic(s ) that supported that behavior.
How does the Project Management Body Knowledge address the effects of organizational structure and culture on successful project management?
What principles of project and general management can a project manager rely upon to positively influence these organizational characteristics?
DMBA 620 9044 Effectiv... Paula Pal-Kheav
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7/11/2017 Week 8 Orion Shield Project assignment - Submit Files - DMBA 620 9044 Effective Financial and Operational Decision Making (2175) - UMUC Learning Management System
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Add a File Record Audio
3. What guidance do project management principles give for creating effective communication, and what do you think Gary would have done differently if he
had been well versed in those principles?
4. Henry Larsen gave Gary three requirements for good project management. How do those compare with the project management body of knowledge?
Should Gary have been given different advice?
If so, what would have been better advice?
If this was good advice, how did Gary fall short on those three criteria?
5. How many departments were involved in this project, and what guidance do project management principles give for coordinating functional departments?
Citing relevant principles, explain what Gary could have done differently to avoid Larsen’s perception that Gary had failed as a project manager.
6. Finally, did Gary fail? If SEC was awarded a sole source contract for production of the new material, why was his project perceived as a failure?
Do you agree or disagree? Explain your rationale, citing relevant project management literature for how success is defined for a project.
Remember to include a meaningful, results-filled executive summary at the beginning of your report.
Planning Production for Toyota North America
Assignment Taskings
Address the following four exercises:
Exercise 1: Making a Critical Assessment of the Toyota Production System (TPS) Today
a. Demonstrate your team's basic understanding of the TPS by 1) defining in your team's own
words any eight of the terms found athttp://www.toyotageorgetown.com/terms.asp, and
2) applying them to one or more of your team's own companies or other organizations.
For example, Pokayoke can be defined as an approach to create mistake proofing through use of
devices that detect or prevent production errors. At a software development firm, pokayoke might be
applied through use of a modular development process that includes extensive software module
testing before proceeding to module integration and total system testing.
b. Describe the TPS as a total entity. What are its purposes? Its advantages? Its limitations? How is it
now evolving? Is it getting better – or not? Has it been successfully copied by other motor vehicle
manufacturers? Why or why not?
Exercise 2: Use of a Grid Analysis (Weighted Scoring Model) to Help Make the North American Plant
Location Decision for the RX 330
This exercise illustrates how when deciding among two or more competing plant location options,
various decision factors (which can typically be characterized as exogenous - in a company’s external
environment - or endogenous - internal to the company) can be qualitatively identified, and how
these factors can then be weighted to obtain an overall score for each competing location option.
a. List the factors your team considers key to the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC): The
Lexus RX 330 Line North American plant location decision, identifying these factors as either
exogenous or endogenous, weighting them using your team's best judgment (stating any relevant
assumptions or constraints), and assigning two scores to each factor: one for production of the Lexus
RX 330 at TMMC, and one for production at a Toyota factory in the USA.
b. Using the scores from your team's weighted scoring model and working with regard to Ringo Sho
and Nemawashi, make and support your recommendation for the RX 330 North American plant
location - TMMC or a factory in the USA.
Exercise 3: Determining Production Capacity Needed at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Canada
(TMMC)
Decision trees are another important if challenging world-class operations management method
which operations managers should understand and with which other managers should be familiar.
This exercise illustrates how using a decision tree, determination of an "optimal" production capacity
option can be made from among several possible capacity options based on the provided probable
market demand and expected costs/payoffs of events that influence the options.
It is spring 2000, and TMMC has indeed just been chosen to produce the new Lexus RX 330 line, with
the first units deliverable in 2003. Toyota must now determine the amount of annual production
capacity it should build at TMMC.
Toyota's goal is to maximize the profit from the RX 330 line over the five years from 2003-2007. These
vehicles will sell for an average of $37,000 and incur a mean unit production cost of $28,000 (here, $ =
the Canadian dollar).
10,000 units of annual production capacity can be built for $50M (M=million) with additional blocks of
5,000 units of annual capacity each costing $15M. Each block of 5,000 units of capacity will also cost
$5M per year to maintain, even if the capacity is unused.
Assume that the number of units actually sold each year will be the lesser of the demand and the
production capacity.
Marketing has provided three vehicle estimated demand scenarios with associated probabilities as
follows:
Demand 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Probability
Low 10,000 10,500 11,000 11,500 12,000 0.25
Moderate 15,000 16,000 17,000 18,000 19,000 0.50
High 20,000 24,000 26,000 28,000 30,000 0.25
a. To maximize profit earned during this period, which production capacity should TMMC in 2000
decide to build - 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000, or 30,000 cars? Justify your choice.
You may use the following decision tree developed by Toyota operations analysts in Toyota City,
Japan - or your group may choose to vary it in some way based, perhaps, on its presumed better local
market knowledge.
b. What are the weaknesses or limitations in this analysis? How might they be corrected or at least
reduced?
c. It is now late 2016. How well has the RX-330/350 actually done in the North American market? Is
its quality rated as high as if it were made in Japan?
Do some online research; it's part of improving your attainment of Information Literacy, one of
the UMUC MBA Competencies. Here see the Content/Week 10 references on Grid
Analysis and Decision Trees
Exercise 4: Assessment of Toyota’s Current Regional Production Strategy
North America
Source:www.worldatlas.com/<wbr><wbr>webimage/countrys/na.htm,
a. After doing necessary research online or otherwise, document and evaluate the current distribution
of Toyota production in North America. Here be sure to include Mexico.
b. Why does the team believe Toyota has chosen to produce its cars in the current manner? Has
Toyota been wise, or not?
In effect, this exercise provides the team an opportunity to think ahead to the politico-socio-economic-
technological considerations that will be quite important in DMBA 630.
Assignment: Group Assignment (10%)? Each group completes the tasks
Assignment: Group Assignment (10%)
? Each group completes the tasks to be found in the Week 10 Assignment, deciding where and
how Toyota should produce a particular Lexus model in North America, by the end of this week,
in a succinct report that includes an executive summary. The group product should be submitted
in the Group Assignment Folder by the end of the week
? Peer evaluations must be completed and submitted in each individual's assignment folder by
the end of the week
Assignment Clarification:
To properly complete this assignment, it will be important for each team to consider the following
points:
? Assignment Proper. Key to solving the assignment proper, possibly with supporting files, is
to tackle its various parts one by one, fully answering each requirement. In this regard, don't
get hung up on one exercise; move on to the next one. Do refer back to prior seminars or other
courses (properly cited of course) if they included any of the quantitative techniques required
here
? To remain motivated, remember that the overall learning goal here is to familiarize each team
member with the OM techniques and concepts involved, not to make you a Toyota production
planner
? Thus remember to explain the team's answers in succinct but good English, particularly if the
team wishes to obtain an above-task grade
? Be sure to study all the assignment help materials that are posted here.
? Please mark your answers clearly in your assignment submission, so they can be easily found
and identified.
? Post the team final paper in the Group Assignment Folder, clearly marked as the final
submission.
? After the team assignment is completed and submitted for grading, each team member is to
complete Peer Evaluation Assignment and submit the form in his/her own individual assignment
folder. NOTE: until a completed peer evaluation form is submitted, the individual member
concerned will not be assigned a grade for the team project.
Welcome to Week 7 and happy 4th of
Welcome to Week 7 and happy 4th of July. It’s our Independence Day celebration and that means two things. Firstly it should mean that we take time to reflect on our country’s past, our present and our future. We are in an interesting period of history right now. Around the world we can see that democracy is actually receding. Take a look at Turkey for example. Turkey was a modern democracy seeking entrance into the European Union. It’s now moving firmly in the opposite direction of a dictatorship. They are not alone. The Economist Intelligence Unit which is associated with the Economist Magazine – one of the best and most balanced news magazines available – has actually downgraded the US to a “flawed” democracy because trust in our government has degraded so much. Whether you like our current elected officials or not you have to admit that trust has seriously eroded. It’s important to think about global politics and put things into perspective and ask yourself what you can do to make the world a better place.
But as interesting as that is, it’s off topic for our class. Back to class, the second thing July 4th means is vacations. I certainly understand if you are traveling this summer and may need an extension. Please prioritize the team work and be sure you get that completed on time but for your individual work if you need more time don’t hesitate to contact me. Remember though, the work stacks up so be sure you’re not falling behind.
Moving on, this week we leave spreadsheets and the Balanced Scorecard and we start with Project Management. That may sound a little strange but the reason we structure this class in this way is because when you are making and implementing decisions in organizations you’ll need to start with your finances. Can you afford to make the changes you are thinking about? Or do you need to raise money either from an investment or perhaps a donation? Then think about how the plans fit into your long-term operations. That’s where the Balanced Scorecard fits in. Here you’re evaluating what’s happened over the last year and what you would like to see happen in the next year from multiple perspectives. Then if you still think the changes are a good idea then you launch a project. Then once the project is completed you go back into normal operations.
For instance, I am the president of a charity in Midcoast Maine. We decided that major renovations to our building were required. First we looked at our financial position and asked ourselves whether we could afford the renovation and also whether we had enough cash for contingency if something went wrong. We then looked at how the proposed renovation would fit in with our day-to-day operations and whether it would make things easier or harder. We didn’t use a Balanced Scorecard but we did examine the proposal from many different perspectives and viewpoints. Now, we’re raising the money needed and we’ll launch a project in October (after tourist season is over) and the for four weeks the building will be torn apart and we’ll have to meet elsewhere. Then after the project is completed we’ll get used to working in the new environment and we’ll be back into normal operations – where continuous process improvement takes over.
That’s a simple example but you get the idea. A project is meant to be a temporary endeavor where something new and unique is designed and built. Then it’s tested and the users are trained. Then you cut back into normal operations. During the project resources are dedicated to the project. This is kay because it means that people, hardware, software, money, office space and more are allocated to the project instead of people doing it in their spare time, for instance.
Also, you can think of a project like this: if you are making a major change you need to launch a project. If you are making a minor change then you’re in normal operations management. Let’s look at a different example for a moment to drive this point home. A while ago, a friend of mine was overseeing work on an assembly line. They were making shingles. One day, the marketing folks go together with the research and development folks and decided they should be making solar shingles. So my colleague launched a project to develop a brand new assembly line to make solar shingles. After the assembly line was designed they built a test unit and brought in workers to test it out. They made updates and then when it was working properly they declared success, ended the project and then the assembly line became part of their normal operations. Then continuous process improvement took over.
You’ll have a chance to talk about that at length this week in your Discussion Activity. The timing is perfect because it’s a holiday week and DA’s don’t generally take nearly as long as regular assignment. Do however, look ahead because next week’s assignment is a little longer. That’s a great assignment because it is about as real life as you can get and it walks through all of the phases and knowledge areas of a project – for better and worse. You’ll see what I mean next week.
Week 7 Discussion AssignmentLocked after Sunday,
Week 7 Discussion Assignment
Locked after Sunday, July 9, 2017 11:59 PM EDT. Must post first.
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Assignment: Discussion Activity (8%)
The section is to collectively decide the criteria that, taken as a whole at week end, define a "project."
The section will discuss sound project and portfolio selection criteria.
Each student will also succinctly describe an example of a project in which he or she has participated and
indicate how this project exhibits his or her criteria for a project.You may find that the examples in Schwalbe
(2015) serve to recall projects to you.
Next, you should address whether DMBA 620 is a project for you.
FYI: Here is the definition of a project taken from the Project Management Institute's1 Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) (5th Edition, 2013) PMBOK is posted as an eReserve:
"A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result."
So, by this definition, is your DMBA 620 an example of a project?
What opportunity costs must be considered in project selection?
What other criteria would be important in project selection?
The seminar certainly is a temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end. But is it creating something
unique? You might answer these questions as you define what a project means to you -- and thereafter comment
constructively on others' definitions/project criteria.
You might also think about, and discuss, why it matters whether something is a project, or not.
Please provide at least one example of a project from your own work or other life experience.
You should also discuss project and portfolio selection criteria.
Week 7 - The Role of Project Management
This week we start our study of effective operational decision making. Again the course diagram (under Syllabus and reproduced in this
module) shows you where we are in DMBA 620.
In the next five weeks, we will take up three important business functional management areas associated with operational decision
making:
Project management
Operations management
Information systems management
Everyone holding an MBA degree should have knowledge n these areas.
There is one discussion assignment this week, to introduce the role of project management.
In the assigned discussion, you are to gain or sharpen your understanding of what is, and what is not, a project in a business context.
Not everything is a project -- but in today's fast-changing business world, projects are increasingly encountered.
The importance of being able to recognize a project lies in the consequent application of the specialized techniques of project
management.
Your attention is particularly invited to the video introducing project management by Professor Versace. Professor
The Balanced ScorecardTraditional financial performance metrics provide
The Balanced Scorecard
Traditional financial performance metrics provide information about a firm's past
results, but are not wellsuited for predicting future performance or for
implementing and controlling the firm's strategic plan. By analyzing perspectives
other than the financial one, managers can better translate the organization's
strategy into actionable objectives and better measure how well the strategic plan is
executing.
The Balanced Scorecard is a management system that maps an organization's
strategic objectives into performance metrics in four perspectives: financial,
internal processes, customers, and learning and growth. These perspectives provide
relevant feedback as to how well the strategic plan is executing so that adjustments
can be made as necessary. The Balance Scorecard framework can be depicted as
follows:
The Balanced Scorecard Framework
Financial
Performance
Objectives
Measures
Targets
Initiatives
Customers
Objectives
Measures
Strategy
Internal
Processes
Objectives
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.netmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 2/8
Targets
Initiatives
Measures
Targets
Initiatives
Learning
& Growth
Objectives
Measures
Targets
Initiatives
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was published in 1992 by Robert Kaplan and David
Norton. In addition to measuring current performance in financial terms, the
Balanced Scorecard evaluates the firm's efforts for future improvement using
process, customer, and learning and growth metrics. The term "scorecard" signifies
quantified performance measures and "balanced" signifies that the system is
balanced between:
shortterm objectives and longterm objectives
financial measures and nonfinancial measures
lagging indicators and leading indicators
internal performance and external performance perspectives
Financial Measures Are Insufficient
While financial accounting is suited to the tracking of physical assets such as
manufacturing equipment and inventory, it is less capable of providing useful
reports in environments with a large intangible asset base. As intangible assets
constitute an everincreasing proportion of a company's market value, there is an
increase in the need for measures that better report such assets as loyal customers,
proprietary processes, and highlyskilled staff.
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al measures are needed for such intangibles. Scorecard Measures are Limited in Number The Balanced Scorecard is more than a collection of measures used to identify problems. It is a system that integrates a firm's strategy with a purposely limit
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ult in hundreds of measures and would create information overload. To avoid this problem, the Balanced Scorecard focuses on four major areas of performance and a limited number of metrics within those areas. The objectives within the four perspectives are carefully selected and are firm specific. To avoid information overload, the total number of measures should be limited to somewhere between 15 and 20, or three to four measures for each of the four perspectives. These measures are selected as the ones deemed to be critical in achieving breakthrough competitive performance; they essentially define what is meant by "performance". A Chain of CauseandEffect Relationships Before the Balanced Scorecard, some companies already used a collection of both financial and nonfinancial measures of critical performance indicators. However, a welldesigned Balanced Scorecard is different from such a system in that the four BSC perspectives form a chain of causeandeffect relationships. For example, learning and growth lead to better business processes that result in higher customer loyalty and thus a higher return on capital employed (ROCE). Effectively, the causeandeffect relationships illustrate the hypothesis behind the organization's strategy. The measures reflect a chain of performance drivers that determine the effectiveness of the strategy implementation. Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives Within each of the Balanced Scorecard financial, customer, internal process, and learning perspectives, the firm must define the following: Strategic objectives what the strategy is to achieve in that perspective.
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.netmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 4/8
Measures how progress for that particular objective will be measured.
Targets the target value sought for each measure.
Initiatives what will be done to facilitate the reaching of the target.
The following sections provide examples of some objectives and measures for the
four perspectives.
Financial Perspective
The financial perspective addresses the question of how shareholders view the firm
and which financial goals are desired from the shareholder's perspective. The
specific goals depend on the company's stage in the business life cycle.
For example:
Growth stage goal is growth, such as revenue growth rate
Sustain stage goal is profitability, such ROE, ROCE, and EVA
Harvest stage goal is cash flow and reduction in capital requirements
The following table outlines some examples of financial metrics:
Objective Specific Measure
Growth Revenue growth
Profitability Return on equity
Cost leadership Unit cost
Customer Perspective
The customer perspective addresses the question of how the firm is viewed by its
customers and how well the firm is serving its targeted customers in order to meet
the financial objectives. Generally, customers view the firm in terms of time,
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.netmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 5/8
quality, performance, and cost. Most customer objectives fall into one of those four
categories. The following table outlines some examples of specific customer
objectives and measures:
Objective Specific Measure
New products % of sales from new products
Responsive supply Ontime delivery
To be preferred supplier Share of key accounts
Customer partnerships Number of cooperative efforts
Internal Process Perspective
Internal business process objectives address the question of which processes are
most critical for satisfying customers and shareholders. These are the processes in
which the firm must concentrate its efforts to excel. The following table outlines
some examples of process objectives and measures:
Objective Specific Measure
Manufacturing excellence Cycle time, yield
Increase design productivity Engineering efficiency
Reduce product launch delays Actual launch date vs. plan
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Learning and Growth Perspective
Learning and growth metrics address the question of how the firm must learn,
improve, and innovate in order to meet its objectives. Much of this perspective is
employeecentered. The following table outlines some examples of learning and
growth measures:
Objective Specific Measure
Manufacturing learning Time to new process maturity
Product focus % of products representing 80% of sales
Time to market Time compared to that of competitors
Achieving Strategic Alignment throughout the Organization
Whereas strategy is articulated in terms meaningful to top management, to be
implemented it must be translated into objectives and measures that are actionable
at lower levels in the organization. The Balanced Scorecard can be cascaded to
make the translation of strategy possible.
While top level objectives may be expressed in terms of growth and profitability,
these goals get translated into more concrete terms as they progress down the
organization and each manager at the next lower level develops objectives and
measures that support the next higher level. For example, increased profitability
might get translated into lower unit cost, which then gets translated into better
calibration of the equipment by the workers on the shop floor. Ultimately,
achievement of scorecard objectives would be rewarded by the employee
compensation system. The Balanced Scorecard can be cascaded in this manner to
align the strategy thoughout the organization.
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.netmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 7/8
The Process of Building a Balanced Scorecard
While there are many ways to develop a Balanced Scorecard, Kaplan and Norton
defined a fourstep process that has been used across a wide range of
organizations.
1. Define the measurement architecture When a company initially
introduces the Balanced Scorecard, it is more manageable to apply it on the
strategic business unit level rather than the corporate level. However,
interactions must be considered in order to avoid optimizing the results of one
business unit at the expense of others.
2. Specify strategic objectives The top three or four objectives for each
perspective are agreed upon. Potential measures are identified for each
objective.
3. Choose strategic measures Measures that are closely related to the actual
performance drivers are selected for evaluating the progress made toward
achieving the objectives.
4. Develop the implementation plan Target values are assigned to the
measures. An information system is developed to link the top level metrics to
lowerlevel operational measures. The scorecard is integrated into the
management system.
Balanced Scorecard Benefits
Some of the benefits of the Balanced Scorecard system include:
Translation of strategy into measurable parameters.
Communication of the strategy to everybody in the firm.
Alignment of individual goals with the firm's strategic objectives the BSC
recognizes that the selected measures influence the behavior of employees.
Feedback of implementation results to the strategic planning process.
Since its beginnings as a peformance measurement system, the Balanced Scorecard
has evolved into a strategy implementation system that not only measures
performance but also describes, communicates, and aligns the strategy throughout
the organization.
Potential Pitfalls
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.netmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 8/8
The following are potential pitfalls that should be avoided when implementing the
Balanced Scorecard:
Lack of a welldefined strategy: The Balanced Scorecard relies on a well-
defined strategy and an understanding of the linkages between strategic
objectives and the metrics. Without this foundation, the implementation of the
Balanced Scorecard is unlikely to be successful.
Using only lagging measures: Many managers believe that they will reap the
benefits of the Balanced Scorecard by using a wide range of nonfinancial
measures. However, care should be taken to identify not only lagging
measures that describe past performance, but also leading measures that can
be used to plan for future performance.
Use of generic metrics: It usually is not sufficient simply to adopt the metrics
used by other successful firms. Each firm should put forth the effort to
identify the measures that are appropriate for its own strategy and
competitive position.
The balanced scorecard translates the organization's strategy
The balanced scorecard translates the organization's strategy into four
perspectives, with a balance between the following:
between internal and external measures
between objective measures and subjective measures
between performance results and the drivers of future results
Beyond the Financial Perspective
In the industrial age, most of the assets of a firm were in property, plant, and
equipment, and the financial accounting system performed an adequate job of
valuing those assets. In the information age, much of the value of the firm is
embedded in innovative processes, customer relationships, and human resources.
The financial accounting system is not so good at valuing such assets.
The Balanced Scorecard goes beyond standard financial measures to include the
following additional perspectives: the customer perspective, the internal process
perspective, and the learning and growth perspective.
Financial perspective includes measures such as operating income, return
on capital employed, and economic value added.
Customer perspective includes measures such as customer satisfaction,
customer retention, and market share in target segments.
Business process perspective includes measures such as cost,
throughput, and quality. These are for business processes such as
procurement, production, and order fulfillment.
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.quickmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 3/5
Learning & growth perspective includes measures such as employee
satisfaction, employee retention, skill sets, etc.
These four realms are not simply a collection of independent perspectives. Rather,
there is a logical connection between them learning and growth lead to better
business processes, which in turn lead to increased value to the customer, which
finally leads to improved financial performance.
Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives
Each perspective of the Balanced Scorecard includes objectives, measures of those
objectives, target values of those measures, and initiatives, defined as follows:
Objectives major objectives to be achieved, for example, profitable growth.
Measures the observable parameters that will be used to measure progress
toward reaching the objective. For example, the objective of profitable growth
might be measured by growth in net margin.
Targets the specific target values for the measures, for example, +2%
growth in net margin.
Initiatives action programs to be initiated in order to meet the objective.
These can be organized for each perspective in a table as shown below.
Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives
Financial
Customer
Process
Learning
Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System
6/22/2017 Balanced Scorecard
http://www.quickmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balancedscorecard/ 4/5
The Balanced Scorecard originally was conceived as an improved performance
measurement system. However, it soon became evident that it could be used as a
management system to implement strategy at all levels of the organization by
facilitating the following functions:
1. Clarifying strategy the translation of strategic objectives into quantifiable
measures clarifies the management team's understanding of the strategy and
helps to develop a coherent consensus.
2. Communicating strategic objectives the Balanced Scorecard can serve to
translate high level objectives into operational objectives and communicate the
strategy effectively throughout the organization.
3. Planning, setting targets, and aligning strategic initiatives ambitious but
achievable targets are set for each perspective and initiatives are developed
to align efforts to reach the targets.
4. Strategic feedback and learning executives receive feedback on whether
the strategy implementation is proceeding according to plan and on whether
the strategy itself is successful ("doubleloop learning").
These functions have made the Balanced Scorecard an effective management
system for the implementation of strategy. The Balanced Scorecard has been
applied successfully to private sector companies, nonprofit organizations, and
government agencies.
Recommended Reading
Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, The Balanced Scorecard : Translating Strategy into Action
In The Balanced Scorecard, the original architects of the system introduce the framework assuming no
prior knowledge by the reader. Kaplan and Norton discuss the need for the Balanced Scorecard,
provide examples of metrics in the four perspectives, and explain how the system can be used to
implement and manage business strategy.
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Balanced ScorecardLike Dashboard Instruments, We NeedSeveral
Balanced Scorecard
Like Dashboard Instruments, We Need
Several Indicators of Strategy Success:
Financial
Customer
Employee / Learning and Growth
Internal Business Process
Balanced Score Card Features
Emphasizes what is important
Focuses on Business Drivers
Stresses Cause & Effect Relationships
Unites the Company
Uses Leading & Lagging Indicators
Implements Business Strategy
Uses metrics for Targets & Performance Evaluation
Financial Perspective
Link to Strategy
Time Horizon: Short, Medium and Long
Can Include:
Cash Flow
Reported Earnings
Risk Management
Cost Control and Revenue Growth
Pricing: Discounts vs. Value /
Convenience
Financial Perspective
Find drivers for revenues, costs,
cash flows & net income
Can tie to an incentive system
Can use any type of incentive
Problem: valuable, but focuses on
the past rather than the future – it
is a lagging indicator.
Leading Indicators
In order to predict financial results the BSC
uses 3 leading indicators. These are:
The Customer Perspective
The Employee / Learning and Growth
Perspective
The Internal Business Process Perspective
Customer Perspective
Value to Customers
Customer Satisfaction is not enough.
Not all customers are keepers:
80 / 20 “rule”
Retain Old vs. Attract new Customers
Growth, Market Share, Segmentation
More on Customer
Time
Convenience
Ease of Use
Quality
After Sale Service
Cost
Performance
The Box
Unprofitable Customers
Attracted to products
Unprofitable Customers
Not Attracted to
products
Profitable Customers
Attracted to products
Profitable Customers
Not Attracted to
products
Employee / Internal Business
Ease of tasks
Innovation
Productivity
Where must we be EXCELLENT?
Where can we be good enough?
The Operations Process
Customer Life Cycle
More Internal Processes
Cycle Time
Quality
Employee Training and Skills
Productivity
Customer Perspective
Innovation and Learning
Pace of Industry Change
Continuous Improvement
Percent of income from New Products
Dot Com Bomb
Think outside the Box vs. inside
Think Critically
LISTEN
Listen and Learn
No one of us is as smart as all of us.
Welcome diverse views and people.
Get honest feedback from present
customers, potential customers,
employees, suppliers, others
Use benchmarking
Get connected with industry information
Balance for the Score Card
Financial
Customer
Learning and Growth
Internal Business Processes
Balanced Scorecard
Most organizations devise good strategies
But the real problem is successful implementation of
strategy
Experts will say a B strategy with A implementation
easily beats an A strategy with B implementation
The BSC is the most successful method for dependable
implementation of strategy
But success will only be achieved with careful and
thorough attention to installation of BSC
Balanced Scorecard
Why is the BSC so effective in strategy implementation?
Because it involves every organization unit in the design
and implementation of strategy
It does so by finding the right drivers of performance for
each organization unit
Then it determines the right metrics for the right drivers
Next it selects the right target values for the right
metrics
Finally it links everyday activities of each unit with the
metrics representing the drivers of performance
Balanced Scorecard
Performance of each organization unit is
regularly measured by comparing actual
metrics with target metrics
Deviations from target metrics are early
warnings to get strategy back on track
That requires correct metrics for the right
drivers of performance
Balanced Scorecard
Making sure that metrics are right means
that leading indicators are valid predictors
of the lagging finance measure
So regular testing of the predictive power
of leading indicators is required
So the BSC is effective, but only to the
extent that it is kept tuned and accurate
Balanced Score Card Summary
Emphasizes what is important
Focuses on Business Drivers
Stresses Cause & Effect Relationships
Unites the Company
Uses Leading & Lagging Indicators
Implements Business Strategy
Uses valid metrics for Targets &
Performance Evaluation
DMBA 620 9044 Effective Financial and Operational Decision Making
Required Reading:
http://www.netmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balanced-scorecard/
http://www.quickmba.com/accounting/mgmt/balanced-scorecard/
This Power Point presentation also explains the balanced scorecard
Read the lecture material "Required Information on Metrics" posted in this week's module.
Assignment (6%): Part I. Create Balanced Scorecard
1. Build a Balanced Scorecard for the unit of the organization for which you work, or have worked. Unless you are in senior
management, focus on the unit with which you are most familiar rather than the organization as a whole. Identify the
strategic objectives of the entire organization and the secondary objectives for the unit. Develop three specific objectives
within each of the four perspectives for the unit. Each objective should have at least one quantified target metric associated
with it.
It is essential to understand what metrics are. Be sure to study the lecture material on "More Information on metrics" In this
assignment, the specific information needed to calculate each metric should be explained. For each metric state the
appropriate target value and the actions that need to be taken to achieve the target. The paper should be no more than 15
pages, including the reference list, and be formatted in accordance with the APA guidelines as modified for the MBA program
(http://info.umuc.edu/mba/public/MBA-apa.html). Please format your paper in Microsoft Word as a XXX.doc or XXX.rtf file,
and place the paper in your assignment folder.
Metrics
Develop three specific objectives within each of the four perspectives for the unit. Each objective should have at least one
quantified target metric associated with it. So your table should contain 4 perspectives, each with 3 specific objectives, and a
target value of the metric for each objective.
The Perkins Cove Yacht Company CasePerkins Cove
The Perkins Cove Yacht Company Case
Perkins Cove Yacht Company produces three models of yachts. All are 44 feet long. One is a
standard Fiberglass model with nylon sails and a fixed keel made of lead and fiberglass named
the Goose Rocks. It comes with a standard depth finder, compass and 20 horsepower diesel
auxiliary motor. It sells for $120,000.
The Kennebunkport model has upgrades with radar, GPS nautical charts, enhanced batteries,
and Teflon coated carbon fiber sails. The engine produces 100 horsepower and can run a
cabin heater. It can completely recharge the battery in less than an hour. The Kennebunkport
sells for $200,000.
The Ogunquit model is a custom-made with a deck made from teak and a cabin constructed
from special woods. The sails are made from the traditional flax based canvass. The hull is
from specially cut oak from local forests. It has the look of a vessel constructed in 1850 by a
quality Maine shipyard with 2016 comforts and safety. The Ogunquit sells for $800,000.
Workers who build the Ogunquit are specialty craftsmen. They earn twice the hourly rate of
those working on the two standard models. Note: Labor rate is fully loaded for benefits.
Most of Perkins Cove Yacht’s sales come from the Goose Rocks and the Kennebunkport, but
sales of the Ogunquit model have been growing. Below is the company's sales, production, and
cost information for last year:
The company allocates overhead costs using the traditional method. Its activity base is
unit volume. The predetermined overhead rate, based on 170 total yachts, is $27,000 per yacht
($4,590,000 ÷ 170 yachts). Richard Perkins, president of Perkins Cove yacht, is concerned that
the traditional cost-allocation system the company is using may not be generating accurate
information and that the selling price of the custom Ogunquit may not be covering its true cost.
Questions:
A. The cost-allocation system Perkins Cove has been using allocates over 88% of
overhead costs to the Goose Rocks and the Kennebunk because 88% of yachts
produced were these two models. How much overhead was allocated, in total, to each
of the three models last year? Discuss why this might not be an accurate way to assign
overhead costs to products.
B. Perkins Cove’s production manager proposes allocating overhead by direct labor hours
instead since the different models require different amounts of labor. How much
overhead would be allocated to each yacht (per unit and in total) under this method?
Show all supporting calculations.
C. How would the use of more than one cost pool improve Perkins Cove Yacht's cost
allocation?
D. Perkins Cove Yacht's controller developed the following data for use in activity-based
costing:
Use activity-based costing to allocate the costs of overhead per unit and in total to each
yacht. Show all supporting calculations. It is appropriate to use an excel document to do
your computations in Excel.
E. Calculate the cost of one custom Ogunquit yacht using activity-based costing.
F. Why are the costs different between the traditional method and the activity-based
method?
G. At the current selling price, is the company covering its true cost of production of the
Ogunquit? Briefly discuss.
H. What should be the price that Perkins Cove Yacht Company charges for the Ogunquit?
Assume that the Ogunquit should have the same profit margin as the Kennebunkport.
Show all calculations.
I. What should Perkins Cove Yacht Co. do if the quantity of the Ogunquit yachts sold at the
new price falls to 10 per year?
J. What should Perkins Cove Yacht Co. do about the situation if the price of the Ogunquit
cannot exceed $800,000?
K. At a selling price of $800,000 each, what is the breakeven unit volume for the Ogunquit?
L. What are the lessons learned from this case?
Santa Rosa JewelryTarget Profit AssignmentThere
Santa Rosa Jewelry
Target Profit Assignment
There are some hints in the notes page of each slide .
To get there, go to view tab, Notes page, you can see what is
written in the notes sections, while the case facts and
requirements are in the main PP slide area.
Tiffany Nadeau is your client!
Write a report that is appropriate for her
(based on what you learn about her)
Make it a great week!
Your assignment
You agreed to analyze her business operations
and to advise her how to reach her goal of
earning $120,000 per year, after taxes. After
some calculation and some thought, you
conclude that Tiffany has to increase her
revenues, perhaps by achieving greater
volume, or perhaps by raising her selling price.
Evaluate what kind of business
Tiffany Nadeau established and ran a small
workshop that manufactured unique, high
quality jewelry. She marketed these creations
to up scale gift shops across the United States
in batches of 20 assorted items, for which she
charged $2,880 per batch. In turn, the gift
shops sold the jewelry at prices averaging
eight times what they paid for the jewelry.
A bit about your client
Business was brisk, and Tiffany could sell all that she
produced. But she found herself earning very little
money, and after paying her 45% U S and California
income tax, she found herself with almost no money
to live on. That led Tiffany to you, as her consultant.
She complained to you that she worked very hard, 50
weeks a year, but ended up broke and frustrated.
Tiffany said that house prices were very expensive in
Santa Rosa, CA and that she hoped to purchase a home
and have enough left for a nice vacation and moderate
lifestyle. She noted that she would be satisfied to
make $120,000 a year, after taxes.
Costs per unit: which unit?
Tiffany employed 11 people. 10 earned $30 per
hour and worked producing jewelry. Joseph was
paid $20 per hour for his unskilled labor. Jewelry
production varied between a low of 14 and a high
of 26 batches per week, and averaged 1,000
batches per year. Each batch cost $130 (excluding
wages) to pack and ship, with Joseph doing all
the packing and shipping. It takes Joseph 1 hour
to pack and ship one batch. Joseph also does
other chores, such as sweeping, vacuuming and
cleaning, and he averages 30 hours per week of
employment with Tiffany's workshop, for the 50
weeks per year that he works for Tiffany.
Tiffany’s marketing trips
Tiffany spends 10 weeks a year touring the U.S.
and attending trade shows in order to sell her
jewelry. Her travel, hotel, show fees, and food
costs were $4,200 each week. Workshop rent
and utilities cost her an average of $7,500 per
month. Tiffany works 40 weeks a year at making
jewelry, While at the shop, she works 50 hours
per week designing, setting up and
manufacturing as needed to get orders out on
time. She takes 2 weeks of vacation each year.
Fixed and Variable manufacturing costs
The cost of raw materials varied depending on
the price of gold and silver. Tiffany spends
about $1,900 per batch on raw materials.
Production workers spend 20 hours form each
batch. Tiffany’s time is in addition. They earn
$30 per hour. And work 40 hours per week.
Advertising runs $38,000 per year. Insurance
costs $1,500 per month. Rent and Utilities are
$7,500.
Santa Rosa Jewelry CaseTiffany Nadeau established and
Santa Rosa Jewelry Case
Tiffany Nadeau established and ran a small workshop that manufactured original design quality
jewelry. What began as a hobby for sale in craft shows grew into a small on-line business.
Later, it became a manufacturer for upscale jewelry shops in tourist locations across the
country. To accommodate the greater volume, Ms. Nadeau opened a small workshop in the
historic district of Santa Rosa, California, about 50 miles north of San Francisco. She paid the
following prices for some of her raw material: Gold $1,200 per ounce, Silver $16.50 per ounce.
Gold and Silver prices have been volatile making pricing difficult.
She marketed these creations to gift shops across the United States in batches of 20 assorted
items, for which she charged $2,880 per batch. In turn, the gift shop sold the jewelry at prices
averaging eight times what they paid for the jewelry.
Tiffany had a staff of 11. Ten workers produced the jewelry and Joseph helped with shipping
and cleanup. The production people were paid $30 per hour including benefits and Joseph was
paid $20 per hour for his unskilled labor. Jewelry production varied between a low of 14 and a
high of 26 batches per week, and averaged 1,000 batches per year. Each batch cost $130
(excluding wages) to pack, ship and insure, with Joseph doing all the packing and shipping. It
takes Joe 1 hour to pack and ship one batch. Joe also does other chores, such as sweeping,
vacuuming and cleaning, and he averages 30 hours per week of employment with Tiffany's
workshop, for the 50 weeks per year that he works for Tiffany (with his time split between
packing and shipping of batches and doing weekly cleaning, etc.)
Tiffany spends 10 weeks a year touring the U.S. She attends trade shows in order to sell her
jewelry, and to find suppliers of the components for her products. Her travel, hotel, show fees,
and food costs were $4,200 each week. Workshop rent and utilities cost her an average of
$7,500 per month. Insurance including liability, workers compensation, and unemployment cost
$1,500 per month. Advertising in trade journals and on Fashionista.com cost $38,000 per year.
Tiffany works 40 weeks a year at making jewelry, often working over 50 hours per week. She
spends 10 weeks marketing and takes 2 weeks of vacation.
The cost of raw materials averaged $1,900 per batch. It takes Maria and Juanita 20 hours per
batch to manufacture the jewelry. Tiffany does design work, creates the molds for the jewelry
and spends time making the items as needed to meet orders.
Business was brisk, and Tiffany could easily sell every batch that she produced. But she found
herself earning very little money, and after paying her 45% income tax for US and California,
she found herself with almost no money to live on. That led her to ask for your help.
She complained to you that she worked very hard, 50 weeks a year, but ended up broke and
frustrated. Tiffany said that Santa Rosa was expensive even though home prices were less than
half of what they were in San Francisco, some 50 miles to the south. Reasonable homes sold
for $500,000 to $2,000,000. These were about 4 times the price of homes in Croydon, New
Hampshire where her sister lived. With property taxes and insurance, Tiffany thought that she
needed at least $5,400 per month for her mortgage payment. That payment was far beyond
what she can afford. She would need $10,000 per month after tax to afford the mortgage and
have enough left for a moderate lifestyle.
You agreed to analyze her business operations and to advise her how to reach her goal of
earning $120,000 per year, after taxes.
After some calculation and some thought, you conclude that Tiffany has to increase her
revenues, perhaps by achieving greater volume, or perhaps by raising her selling price. Write a
short report directed to Ms. Tiffany Nadeau with your recommendation on how to increase
revenue, supported with a pro-forma contribution income statement which incorporates your
recommendations. You should show all calculations in a Microsoft Excel document. Include a
breakeven analysis for zero profit and a second analysis to achieve an after tax target income of
$120,000 for Ms. Nadeau and provide your conclusion. (The report to Ms. Nadeau can be
written in a Textbox (Textboxes automatically wrap text) in a separate worksheet in the same
Excel document.
Submit one document that contains your calculations, the 2 breakeven analyses, and the report.
Be sure to proofread. A PowerPoint presentation “Santa Rosa Jewelry Hints” has been posted
in this week’s module to get you started.
Week 4 Break Even Assignment - Submit
Week 4 Break Even Assignment - Submit Files
Hide Submission Folder Information
Submission Folder
Week 4 Break Even Assignment
Instructions
Required Multimedia:
* Breakeven Analysis and Contribution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y22_AC6BN9Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLOo2mY6FIw&feature=related
Required Readings:
* Capital budgeting:http://www.teachmefinance.com/capitalbudgeting.html
* Simon, Herman. Confessions of the Pricing Man, Springer International Publishing, 2015.
Chapter one. ISBN: 9783319203997 (ereserves)
Assignment (8%):
Answer the problems in the attached file: " Jewelry Case."
Refer to the powerpoint, "Jewelry Case Hints" for specific guidance through your analysis.
The report should be appropriate for your client, with all recommendations thoroughly
supported by data and logic.
All calculations should be shown,step by step, done by using Excel.
Submit a single Excel file in your assignment folder that contains your calculations, CVP graph,
and the report to your client. Be sure to proofread. Title your file, "Jewelry case week 4."
What can the team tell from the
What can the team tell from the analysis? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each company? Which is the stronger competitor? Give reasons.
8.Show that you have read and understood the required readings, links and attached files - cite and reference them where appropriate.
The Cash Flow Statement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eietCf5nNI&feature=related
Cash Flow Ratios http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzdNgaPhBMQ&feature=PlayList&p=84588A1A1F1F96D1&index=15
Market Ratios http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1WmGQLIwTY&feature=related
How to Analyse Financial StatementsThere is a
How to Analyse Financial Statements
There is a great deal of
valuable information in
financial statements.
But we must know how to
extract and refine it.
The process is like a doctor
diagnosing a patient's health.
The process is similar, but
our tools of analysis are not
quite the same.
Our tools of analysis are
financial ratios.
Financial Statement Analysis
When an unconscious patient arrives at the emergency room of
the hospital, what does the doctor do?
Answer: check the vital signs, like pulse, blood pressure,
temperature, etc.
Similarly, when we analyse financial statements, we check the
vital signs of the organization.
What are these vital signs? They include:
Short-term Liquidity
Profitability:
Profitability on Revenue
Profitability on Investment
Long-Term Asset Turnover
Long-term Leverage
For more, see the next slide.
Financial Vital Signs
Short-term Liquidity
Profitability:
On Revenue
On Investment
Long-Term Asset Turnover
Long-term Leverage
Market Performance
DuPont Analysis
Benchmarks (Yardsticks)
Data Sources
Short-term Liquidity
Short-term Liquidity means being able to
meet the payroll and pay the bills.
Organizations unable to meet the payroll
and pay the bills will soon collapse.
That is why our first step in financial
statement analysis is to test short-term
liquidity.
If an organization cannot survive the short
term, there is no need to examine its long
term signs.
Short-term Liquidity
Companies with a strong cash flow from
operations have good short term liquidity.
The cash flow statement shows the source
and uses of cash flows in a company.
Companies with good credit have bank
loans available for unexpected needs.
Assets on the balance sheet can be converted
to cash in an emergency.
Short-term Liquidity continued
Cash Flow Ratios
Cash from Operations/Net Income: represents cash
yield from Net Income. Trend should be reasonably
stable from period to period and above 100%.
Cash from Operations/Cash Used for Investing:
represents the extent to which expansion can be
financed from internally-generated cash from
operations. Trend should be reasonably stable from
period to period. Rapidly expanding companies will
need more cash than will be available from
operations. Most companies have had ratios above
1 in recent years.
Short-term Liquidity
Service companies differ from
manufacturing companies in their source of
liquidity.
Manufacturing companies have significant
inventory but service companies don’t.
Most manufacturing companies sell on
credit and have significant accounts
receivable.
Some service companies get paid in advance
or at time of provision of service.
Short-term Liquidity Manufacturing
Current Assets & Current Liabilities are items to be
received or paid in cash within a year.
As Current Assets turn into cash, the cash is used
to pay off Current Liabilities.
For short-term liquidity, Current Assets should be
greater than Current Liabilities.
We begin measuring short-term liquidity with the
Current Ratio.
Current Ratio = Current Assets/Current
Liabilities.
Current Ratio should usually be > 1 for
satisfactory liquidity – except for companies that
generate ample cash.
Short-term Liquidity: continued
The Quick Ratio.
Quick Ratio = (Current Assets, excluding
Inventory)/Current Liabilities.
Inventory can lose value fast through spoilage,
shrinkage, evaporation, obsolescence & etc.
Inventory cannot be sold off fast in a crunch –
except at fire sale prices.
So Quick Ratio conservatively – but realistically -
expects no value from inventory in an emergency.
Quick Ratio: should be > 1 for health for
companies that don’t have strong cash flow.
Short-term Liquidity: continued
Accounts Receivable Turnover.
Receivables Turnover = Sales/Accounts Receivable.
Example: Annual Sales = $120,000, Average Receivables =
$30,000.
Receivables Turnover = $120,000/$30,000 = 4 times per year
Can express as Days' Receivables on hand:
365 days/Receivables Turnover
Example continued: 365/4 = 91 days.
Receivables Turnover should be consistent;
With the firm's credit terms.
From period to period
Receivables Turnover measures the organization's efficiency in
collecting accounts receivable.
The faster the turnover the better the efficiency.
Short-term Liquidity: continued
Inventory Turnover.
Inventory Turnover = (Cost of Sales)/Inventory.
Example: Annual Cost of Sales = $100,000, Average Inventory =
$15,000.
Inventory Turnover = $100,000/$15,000 = 6.7 times per year
Can be expressed as Days' Inventory on hand:
365 days/Inventory Turnover
Example continued: 365/6.67 = 54.7 days.
Why is Cost of Sales the numerator, rather than Sales?
Sales are shown at selling price. Inventory is shown at cost.
To make numerator and denominator consistent, both should be at
cost.
Inventory Turnover measures the efficiency of inventory management.
Toyota and other Japanese firms using "just in time" inventory
showed the importance of speeding up inventory turnover.
A note of caution
Both the Current Ratio and the Quick Ratio can
be too high as well as too low.
When companies get into financial difficulty,
customer may stop paying bills – perhaps from
dissatisfaction with products
Inventory may include products that are no
longer able to be sold.
So a if the Current Ratio or Quick Ratio
increases dramatically, we should look to see
what is happening to inventory and receivables
Short-term Liquidity continued
Accounts Payable Turnover.
Payables Turnover = Cost of Sales/Accounts Payable.
Example: Annual Cost of Sales = $100,000, Average Payables =
$20,000.
Payables Turnover = $100,000/$20,000 = 5 times per year
Can be expressed as Days' Payables on hand:
365 days/Payables Turnover
Example continued: 365/5 = 73 days.
Why is Cost of Sales the numerator, rather than Sales?
Sales are at selling price. Payables are at cost, being amounts owed
to suppliers.
For consistency, both numerator and denominator should be at
cost.
Payables Turnover measures how promptly suppliers are
being paid – and whether cash discounts are being taken,
or lost.
Summary: Short-term Liquidity
Ratios measuring Short-term Liquidity:
Cash Flow Ratios
Current Ratio
Quick Ratio
Receivables Turnover & Days' Receivables
Inventory Turnover & Days' Inventory
Payables Turnover & Days' Payables
Profitability
Profitability is the most important factor in long term
corporate survival
Profits or Net Income are “the bottom line.”
On the income statement net income is the bottom line.
Businesses are formed and exist to generate returns
(profits or net income) for the owners.
Charities exist for people who want to give their money
to help others.
Good companies look to the long term to create value for
owners.
As we will see later in the course, long term value is
created when customers, employees and communities
all benefit.
Profitability
Profitability is measured in two different ways:
Profitability in Relation to Investment
Return on Equity ROE: Net Income/Equity. Shows profit
in relation to owner equity capital invested. Often the
first ratio to be considered. Some consider this
the most important ratio.
Return on Assets ROA: Net Income / Total Assets shows
what can be earned from the total of what is used in the
business
Raw Earning Power: EBIT/(LT Debt + Equity). Shows
earning power on total long-term capital invested,
regardless of type of financing.
Profitability
Profitability is measured in two different ways:
Profitability on Revenue
Profit Margin = Net Income/Sales or Net Income /
Revenue - Useful, and gives indication of pricing strategy
Gross profit ratio: Gross Profit/Sales
SG & A ratio: SG & A Expenses/Sales
EBIT ratio: EBIT/Sales – indication of cash flow
generation
Asset Turnover
Total Asset Turnover (TATO):
Total Asset Turnover = Total Revenue/Total
Assets
Measures capital intensity.
Capital intensity affects total amount of capital
needed
The faster the turnover of Total Assets, the lower
the total amount of capital that needs to be
invested in Total Assets.
Long-Term Leverage
Long-Term Leverage measures long-run risk.
Times Interest Earned (Interest Coverage):
Ratio of EBIT to Interest Expense.
Shows how much profit "cushion" there is to cover
interest payments.
Times Interest earned using Depreciation and
Amortization:
Ratio of EBITDA to Interest expense
Depreciation and Amortization are “non cash
charges” and available to provide cash to pay interest.
Long-Term Leverage
Long-Term Leverage measures long-run risk.
Debt to Equity Ratios:
Ratio of Long-Term Debt /LT Debt + Equity
Used in Weighted Average Cost of Capital work
Ratio of Debt / Total Assets
Ratio of Debt / Equity
Equity Multiplier: Total Assets / Equity
Used in DuPont Formula
More debt adds more risk, because debt repayment
must be made, whether times are good or bad.
More leverage makes the good times better, and the
bad times worse.
Stock Market Ratios
Market-based ratios reflect the investor view.
Price-Earnings Ratio P/E= Market Price per
Share/Earnings per Share.
Shows how much the market is paying per dollar of
current earnings.
Beta = a measure of common equity risk versus the entire
common equity market (which has Beta = 1.0)
Used in WACC work later in course
Market: Book Ratio.
Total Market Value of Equity/Book Value of Equity.
This is the ultimate measure of management success.
It shows how much the management has increased
the market value of the stock above the amount
invested by stockholders.
DuPont Analysis
So far, we have looked at ratios individually.
But DuPont Analysis is a way to see the
combined effect of the major ratios.
This is very important for business strategy.
The following slides explain how and why.
The DuPont Formula
Profit Margin x Total Asset Turnover x Equity
Multiplier = Return on Equity
NI = Net Income.
SA = Sales or Revenue
TA = Total assets
EQ = Total Equity (at book value)
ROE = NI/EQ
NI/SA x SA/TA x TA/EQ = NI/EQ
These 4 ratios encompass the elements of strategy
Pricing can be low and that requires that asset
turnover is high.
DuPont Analysis for Business Strategy
Long-term strategy goal: maintain strong
ROE.
DuPont analysis tells us exactly how to do
this.
Optimize one or more of the following:
NI/SA = profit on sales
SA/TA = total asset turnover (capital intensity)
TA/EQ = leverage
Profit on Sales
Ways to optimize profit on sales include:
Differentiate products to raise margins.
Revive and promote old products (Jell-O)
Promote the most profitable products.
Prune the least profitable products.
Cut costs of production.
Improve efficiency of operations
Outsource.
Total Asset Turnover
Ways to optimize total asset turnover are:
Adopt "just-in-time" inventory
Sell off obsolete inventory
Improve receivables collection efficiency
Sell and lease back property & plant
Slow down paying of accounts payable
Cut back on executive jets, corporate yachts
Seek out less capital intensive methods of
operation
Relocate operations to less expensive locations
Outsourcing
Leverage
Increase leverage, within safe limits:
Repurchase outstanding stock
Increase debt financing
Repurchase stock & issue more debt
Repurchase common stock & issue more
preferred stock
Benchmarking
In order to be meaningful, financial ratios
need to be compared with benchmark ratios.
Possible Benchmarks:
Same company, in earlier period
Competitor company, in same period
Group of competitor companies, in same period
An industry benchmark, such as The North
American Industry Classification System
(NAICS)
NAICS provides standard classifications for
industries, for example, see the next slide
Example of NAICS
NAICS code 2002
Includes NAICS Title: 21 Mining
211111 Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Extraction
211112 Natural Gas Liquid Extraction
212111 Bituminous Coal and Lignite Surface Mining
212112 Bituminous Coal Underground Mining
212113 Anthracite Mining
These 6-digit codes describe standard industry classifications.
For more, see http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/
Sources of Industry Data
Most sources of industry data require purchase of a
subscription
However, the UMUC Library offers access to
several industry databases, such as Dun &
Bradstreet (D&B)
http://www.umuc.edu/library/resources/?cmd=createSubjectPages&temp
late_id=635&subjectIDs=7&submit=Write#Library_Databases
Sources that offer limited industry data free are:
Yahoo Finance
MSN Money
http://www.bizstats.com/corporations.asp?profType=ratios
Industry Data
One caution is that some companies operate in several
different industries.
For example, General Electric Company (GE) is a
diversified industrial corporation engaged in developing,
manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products for
the generation, transmission, distribution, control and
utilization of electricity. On June 23, 2005, GE announced
reorganization of its 11 businesses into six industry-focused
businesses effective July 5, 2005. The six businesses are GE
Infrastructure, GE Industrial, GE Commercial Financial
Services, GE NBC Universal, GE Healthcare and GE
Consumer Finance.
It is difficult to find industry benchmarks for conglomerates
like GE. Benchmarks are easier for companies in one
industry.
Financial Ratio Calculation
Financial ratios have a numerator and a
denominator.
These numerators and denominators are
items from the Balance Sheet or the Income
Statement.
Example: Current Ratio = Current
Assets/Current Liabilities.
Continued on next slide ...
Financial Ratio Calculation
(continued)
Balance Sheets show financial position as of one
specific date.
But one specific date cannot represent an entire
accounting period – such as a year.
Therefore it is better to average beginning and
ending balance sheet amounts
In practice, for stable companies, we can
accomplish our learning goals without needing to
calculate these averages.
Please use Excel for all calculations
Please show calculations step by step.
Summary
Use financial ratios to
analyze:
Short-term solvency
Profitability
Long-term solvency
Use DuPont Analysis
to:
Devise strategy
Implement strategy.
Benchmarking
Industry comparisons
There are several web sites where you
There are several web sites where you can find the financial statements of U.S. public companies.
SEC is best
The best source of data for public companies is the U S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). One can
be sure that the data is accurate and it is easily available in an Excel document.
Go to WWW.sec.gov
Midway down the right column is a box for the company name or stock market ticker symbol. The box is titled
Search EDGAR, Free access to 21 million filings.
Type in the company name or ticker symbol. In my case I use LUV for Southwest Airlines Company. There is
a page for EDGAR search results with many forms. Since I am interested in the Annual Report, I type 10K in
the box for Filing Type in the line for Filter Search Results and hit search.
Next I click on the box that says Interactive data.
In the new page under the company name is a link to print Document and another for View Excel Document. I
click on View Excel Document. That brings up an Excel spread sheet with many statements. I can pick the one
needed for the assignment.
Label Concerns
Even in SEC financial statements, the labels can differ. For example, sometimes they report Revenue or Net
Revenue. Sometimes it is Sales. These two mean the same. If there is a question, the notes to the financial
statements define the terms. Unfortunately this can be confusing.
Other sources
Companies have investor relations pages on their web sites with annual reports.
Probably the most convenient are MSN MONEY and Yahoo Finance. Go to MSN MONEY or Yahoo Finance.
Either look up or provide the stock symbols for each company (for example: FDX for FedEx and UPS for UPS,
or KO for CocaCola and PEP for Pepsico) and all the relevant financial information will become available.
Industry information can also be found in MSN MONEY and Yahoo Finance.
Be aware that the financial statements in MSN MONEY and Yahoo Finance are standard formats, and can differ
slightly from the actual financial statements that are in the SEC Forms 10K of the respective companies
(accessible from MSN MONEY and Yahoo Finance) and on the corporate web sites. For our purposes, you need
not worry about these small differences in most cases. Only rarely do Yahoo and MSN leave out data to better
fit their standard format. Unfortunately it may not be possible to copy and paste the numbers into Excel and
have the program recognize the numbers for calculations.
Required Reading:2016 R June Financial Statement
Required Reading:
2016 R June Financial Statement Analysis Power Point with notes
2016 July DMBA R Sample Week 3 Answer
*"Research Starters: Financial Ratios" posted in this week's Content Module
Required Multimedia:
The Cash Flow Statement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eietCf5nNI&feature=related
Cash Flow Ratios http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vzdNgaPhBMQ&feature=PlayList&p=84588A1A1F1F96D1&index=15
Market Ratios http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1WmGQLIwTY&feature=related
Recommended Support Materials:
For a "how to" explanation of Financial Statement Analysis: see the attached Power Point file 2016 R
June Financial Statement Analysis and the Word file, "Diagram of Financial Ratios."
Assignment Financial Statement Analysis:
Your team has been assigned to the CEO of a major company. The CEO keeps an eye on the
competition, and asks your team to do the following: Following the 2016 R DMBA Sample Week 3
Answer, use ratio analysis to compare two major competitors in the same industry and compare them
to the industry ratios. The sample compares Southwest Airlines Company with Jet Blue Airline
Company.
Instructions:
Pick any two U.S. public companies in the same industry.
One of the two companies can be the same company someone on the team used in Week 2.
Select the 10 most important financial ratios for the two companies and calculate each for the
last 2 fiscal years using Excel.
Follow the format of the example 2016 July DMBA R Sample Week 3 Answer for 2 airlines. This
is also separately posted in this week's content module. Use the "Compare" worksheet. Note: It
is not necessary to complete all ratios
Explain how each ratio was calculated in your own words
Explain the significance of the answers found.
1. Create a single Excel file for your entire assignment.
2. The team may obtain financial information and the companies' latest annual reports on the web
directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission for the company website. MSN Money
or Yahoo Finance also have information but in some situations it may be incomplete. Current
stock price information is not available from the SEC web site.
3. The team should calculate, and comment upon, at least 10 financial ratios for the last 2 fiscal
years.
6/1/2017 W3 Group Assignment instructions for Financial Statement Analysis DMBA 620 9044 Effective Financial and Operational Decision Making (2175)
https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/271026/viewContent/9526596/View 2/2
4. All calculations should be shown, and all answers should be thoroughly explained.
5. It is useful to compare financial ratios for a company with financial ratios of its industry. Industry
financial ratios can be found on Morningstar.com, Yahoo Finance and MSN Money and
http://www.bizstats.com/corporations.asp?profType=ratios
6. Whenever the team uses balance sheet items to calculate ratios, it is more accurate to average
the beginningofyear and endofyear amounts to get the average for that year. Dec 31, 2014
and Dec 31, 2015 would be beginning and end of year for 2015. Note: Averaging is NOT
required. For some students taking averages leads to calculation mistakes. The example
answer does not use averaging and includes most if not all possible ratios.
7. What can the team tell from the analysis? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each
company? Which is the stronger competitor? Give reasons.
8. Show that you have read and understood the required readings, links and attached files cite
and reference them where appropriate.
9. The final Excel file should be submitted by one team member into the Group Assignment folder.
The 2016 R DMBA Week 3 sample answer file contains a comprehensive analysis of the financial
statements of two large airline companies. It illustrates and explains how different companies
succeed by focusing on different key ratios like Net Income/Sales, or Sales/Total Assets (asset
turnover) or Total Assets/Common Equity (leverage). Also, it further explains how these different
strategies are revealed through DuPont Analysis (a powerful technique that many companies use
to devise, implement, and monitor their business strategies. It shows the source for every number
on every Excel worksheet: just click on any number in any Excel worksheet and you will see where
it comes from. Showing the source for every number on every Excel worksheet is very important
and helpful to readers, and you should do this on all of your Excel spreadsheets.
All of the data in the example comes from SEC interactive data. Under the company name in
interactive data is a small red link that says view excel document. All numbers in this document
are easy to use in calculations. Data copied from some other sources may not calculate correctly
in Excel.
These assignments are designed to help you to develop your analytical ability and your ability to
explain your analysis in words. There are many uses for financial statement ratio analysis, especially
in business strategy for an example, see the "Strategic Control Map" developed by McKinsey &
Company, the wellknown international strategy consulting firm by clicking here:
http://www.mckinsey.com/businessfunctions/strategyandcorporatefinance/ourinsights/enduringideasthestrategiccontrolmap
Examples of Excel Financial Functions
Examples of Excel Financial Functions
The Time Value of Money
Finding a growth rate:
ABC Corporation had earnings of $100,000 in 2000 and $200,000 in 2006.
What is its average annual compounded growth rate of earnings?
Note:
The average annual compounded growth rate is exactly the same thing as the average annual compounded rate of interest.
In other words, a sum of money grows by earning interest. If the interest is reinvested, it earns interest too - i.e. it compounds.
Answer:
Use the Excel RATE function. Click on the next cell to view its use
12.25%
Note use of minus sign.
Comments:
Always show your calculations, so that we can see how you got your answer.
By using Excel functions, this is done for you automatically - which is very convenient and saves you time.
Since the solutions to assigned problems are always given to you, we cannot grade you on getting the right answer.
So we grade you on showing us how to calculate the answer. That shows us that you have understood the material and can use it.
Do not use a calculator. It tells us nothing if you give an answer and say it came from a calculator.
There is a handy rule of thumb, known as the "Rule of 72."
It says that an amount roughly doubles in X periods at an interest rate of Y%, where X times Y = 72.
Example:
in the sample problem above earnings doubled in 6 years. So X = 6.
Then Y must be roughly 12% if X times Y = 72.
We see that our answer of 12.25% is roughly 12%, so the rule works.
Rate of Return:
Assume that you purchased a plot of land for $20,000. Ten years later you sold it for $80,000.
What rate of annual return have you earned on this investment?
Answer:
Use the Excel RATE function. Click on the next cell to view its use
14.87%
Note use of minus sign.
Present Value:
Assume that you are 25 years old today. Your rich uncle has just died, and his will provides that you will receive
$40,000 on your 30th birthday. But you are broke, and want money now. Your friendly bank says they will advance you
the money today, less annual interest at 8%. How much will you receive today?
Answer:
Use the Excel PV function (PV = Present Value). Click here to see the answer:
$27,223.33
Note use of minus sign.
Future Value:
Assume that you are 25 years old today. Your rich uncle has just died, and his will provides that you will receive
$40,000 today. But you are not broke, and prefer to save your money Your friendly bank says they will pay you
annual interest of 4.8% on a 6-year certificate of deposit. How much will you receive on your 31st birthday?
Answer:
Use the Excel FV function (FV = Future Value). Click here to see the answer:
$52,994.12
Note use of minus sign.
Annuities:
Annuities are a series of level periodic payments.
Consider an example of saving $100 at the end of each month for 20 years (240 months).
How much will this accumulate to at 12% interest per year (which is 1% per month).
Using Excel FV function:
$98,926
Note use of minus sign.
How long would it take to have a final accumulation of $150,000?
Using Excel NPER function:
279months or23years
What rate of interest is required for the future value in 20 years to amount to $200,000?
Using Excel RATE function:
#NUM!
per month, which is
#NUM!per year.
Here is the basis for grading your Week 3 financial statement analysis. You can use it as a checklist to ensure
that your assignment is as complete and as correct as possible.
Procedure
1. Evaluate shortterm solvency ratios
2. Evaluate profitability in relation to revenues
3. Evaluate profitability in relation to equity
4. Calculate the 4 ratios of the DuPont Analysis and evaluate what they mean for strategy, These ratios are
ROE, Profit Margin on Sales, TATO and the Equity Multiplier.
5. Evaluate longterm solvency
6. Evaluate market value ratios (not just book value ratios)
7. Correctly interpret results for items above. At random, we will test a few calculations for accuracy
8. Combine all findings into a coherent final summary Each item above carries roughly equal weight
[solved] Assignment Financial Statement Analysis:
Assignment Financial Statement Analysis:
Your team has been assigned to the CEO of a major company. The CEO keeps an eye on the competition, and asks your team to do the following: Following the 2016 R DMBA Sample Week 3 Answer, use ratio analysis to compare two major competitors in the same industry and compare them to the industry ratios. The sample compares Southwest Airlines Company with Jet Blue Airline Company.
1. Create a single Excel file for your entire assignment.
2.The team may obtain financial information and the companies' latest annual reports on the web directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission for the company website. MSN Money or Yahoo Finance also have information but in some situations, it may be incomplete. Current stock price information is not available from the SEC web site.
3. The team should calculate, and comment upon, at least 10 financial ratios for the last 2 fiscal years.
4. All calculations should be shown, and all answers should be thoroughly explained.
5. It is useful to compare financial ratios for a company with financial ratios of its industry. Industry financial ratios can be found on Morningstar.com, Yahoo Finance and MSN Money and http://www.bizstats.com/corporations.asp?profType=ratios
6.Whenever the team uses balance sheet items to calculate ratios, it is more accurate to average the beginning-of-year and end-of-year amounts to get the average for that year. Dec 31, 2014 and Dec 31, 2015 would be beginning and end of year for 2015. Note: Averaging is NOT required. For some students taking averages leads to calculation mistakes. The example answer does not use averaging and includes most if not all possible ratios.
7. What can the team tell from the analysis? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each company? Which is the stronger competitor? Give reasons.
8. Show that you have read and understood the required readings, links and attached files - cite and reference them where appropriate.
9. The final Excel file should be submitted by one team member into the Group Assignment folder.
Team assignment requirement checklist:
1. Evaluate short-term solvency ratios
2. Evaluate profitability in relation to revenues
3. Evaluate profitability in relation to equity
4. Calculate the 4 ratios of the DuPont Analysis and evaluate what they mean for strategy, these ratios are ROE, Profit Margin on Sales, TATO and the Equity Multiplier.
5. Evaluate long-term solvency
6. Evaluate market value ratios (not just book value ratios)
7. Correctly interpret results for items above. At random, we will test a few calculations for accuracy
8. Combine all findings into a coherent final summary Each item above carries roughly equal weight
Below is the companies used for comparison -
Google:
Key Ratios for GOOGL
http://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=GOOG
Microsoft:
Key Ratios for MSFT
http://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=MSFT
Also, attached is the start of our spreadsheet. I have also uploaded it to the Google Drive. All info was retrieved from sec.gov as well as MorningStar. Everything is RED is an example. We will also have to amend the compared calculations from each income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
[solved] What can you learn from the Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial
What can you learn from the Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A)? Give two facts learned from reading this section
[solved] What can you learn from the Business Section of the 10-K
What can you learn from the Business Section of the 10-K? Give two facts learn from reading this section.
[solved] Of what use, if any, are the notes to the financial statements?
Of what use, if any, are the notes to the financial statements? Give an example of something learned from the footnotes of your company.
[solved] What assurance, if any, is there that the financial statements are in compliance
What assurance, if any, is there that the financial statements are in compliance with GAAP, and are free of material misstatements?
[solved] Who is responsible for a) the issuance, and
Who is responsible for
a) the issuance, and
b) the content
of the company financial statements? (Note: this information may be difficult to find. Look for statements by management and the independent auditing firm.)
[solved] Can you identify the major sources of funding used by the company
Can you identify the major sources of funding used by the company from the information presented in the company's annual report? Please look at the Statement of Cash Flows, formerly called the Source and Uses of Funds Statement
[solved]What 3 items of important information does the income statement reveal
What 3 items of important information does the income statement reveal about the financial performance of the company over the last three years? southwest airline
[solved] Individual Financial Accounting Assignment - Submit Files
Individual Financial Accounting Assignment - Submit Files
Hide Submission Folder Information
Submission Folder
Individual Financial Accounting Assignment
Instructions
Financial Accounting
Reading (Required)
The Southwest example is included to show what can be learned from Financial statements. It is not necessary to reproduce the the format for your answers to this assignment. Your responses should show that you have read and understood the required readings, links and attached files - Provide appropriate citations and references.
Individual Assignment (8%):
You should answer all of the questions listed below as they relate to the financial statements of any U.S. public company of your choice in its latest annual report. Please use the Securities and Exchange Commission web site as your primary source for financial statements. All publicly traded U S companies have their annual reports called the 10-K available through the Securities and Exchange Commission web site. http://www.sec.gov/
Instructions for use of the site are as follows: About half way down the home page is a box titled Search EDGAR, free access to over 21 million filings. Enter the company name or ticker symbol. That brings up a page called EDGAR Search Results. In the line "filter results" enter "10-K" in filing type and hit search. That will bring up recent company annual reports. Note: You have a choice of "Documents" or "Interactive Data." Both contain all the information. "Interactive Data" uses Excel and provides the best access to information for questions 1, 2, and 3. "Documents" provides information that is easy to read for questions 4 through 8. After you click on Documents, click on the red letters and numbers to the right of the "10-K" heading.
Also you can find the financial statements of any U.S. public company by visiting Morningstar, Yahoo Finance or MSN Money, and using the stock market symbol for your chosen company (which can be looked up on Morningstar, Yahoo Finance or MSN Money). Please be aware that sometimes these services omit some numbers in order to fit their preferred formats. Many companies have links to the Annual Report as filed with the SEC. It can be found on the Investor relations page of the company web site.
If you work for a U.S. public company, you may want to use the financial statements of your company - but the choice is up to you.
1) What 3 items of important information does the income statement reveal about the financial performance of the company over the last three years?
2) What 3 items of important information does the balance sheet reveal about the financial position of the company over the last two years?
3) Can you identify the major sources of funding used by the company from the information presented in the company's annual report? Please look at the Statement of Cash Flows, formerly called the Source and Uses of Funds Statement.
4) Who is responsible for:
a) the issuance, and
b) the content
of the company financial statements? (Note: this information may be difficult to find. Look for statements by management and the independent auditing firm.)
5) What assurance, if any, is there that the financial statements are in compliance with GAAP, and are free of material misstatements?
6) Of what use, if any, are the notes to the financial statements? Give an example of something learned from the footnotes of your company.
7) What can you learn from the Business Section of the 10-K? Give two facts learn from reading this section.
8) What can you learn from the Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A)? Give two facts learned from reading this section.
*************
Post in your individual assignment folder by the due date. .
Quantitative analysis tied to the financial statement concepts will add value to your work.
The Power Point (Financial Statements R-2.ppt) should be very helpful. It is below
2% of course grade. Post as a main point what you learned from the Bicycle case. Be specific in describing what you learned and how answering the questions led to your learning. Then respond to at least 2 classmate posts with an insight of your own. Note: since this is a reflection on an assignment that is not due until the end of the week, you are not held to the Wednesday night posting requirement for this one discussion topic. You may submit your first post by Sunday night and then respond to classmate postings by Tuesday night.
[solved] Bicycle Case - Submit Files
Bicycle Case - Submit Files
Hide Submission Folder Information
Submission Folder
Bicycle Case
Instructions
Bicycle Case (6% of course grade)
Understanding the effects of pricing on revenues, costs and pricing
Complete the remainder of the week's assignment in the discussion area.
DMBA 620 9044 Effective Financial and Operational Decision Making (2175)
FACULTY CONTACT
Gregory Worden Gregory.Worden@faculty.umuc.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Prerequisite: DMBA 610. A study of sound decision making in business, focusing on financial analysis and operational issues found in every enterprise. Discussion covers economics, financial reporting and analysis, information systems, and project management in an international context. The goal is to understand and apply the principles and techniques of effective management planning, control, and decision making in the global environment.
COURSE INTRODUCTION
Welcome to DMBA620 – Effective Financial and Operational Decision Making
This is the second 6credit course in the Dual MBA program, in which we we explore the organizational processes that support strategic objectives in the modern global environment. Focus is on project management and financial analysis as key processes that allow an organization to function effectively.
Please note that each class week begins on a Monday and ends on the subsequent Sunday at 11:59 p.m. US Eastern Time.
The last date to withdraw from this course may be found online at: http://www.umuc.edu/withdrawals (http://www.umuc.edu/withdra wals).
COURSE OUTCOMES
At the end of this seminar, students should be able to:
1. Understand the economic environment of management decisionmaking.
2. Interpret financial statements to aid decisionmaking by organization stakeholders.
3. Implement effective financial reporting and evaluate performance of organization units.
4. Make effective financial decisions based upon analysis of cash flows.
5. Implement effective financial analysis and value financial assets
6. Facilitate the implementation of business strategy and evaluate the strategy performance of organization units.
7. Identify a project in contrast to an ongoing process and apply selected project management techniques to improve operational decision making.
8. Determine the key factors that establish an organization's operational efficiency and effectiveness and apply them to effective operational decision making.
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9. Assess the uses of information systems in support of operational decision making in an organization.
10. Assess the uses of operations management techniques in improving an organization's performance.
CORE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
(Check all core learning objectives that apply to each course objective)
Professional Certifications
In addition to fulfilling its seminar objectives, DMBA 620 seeks to enhance the careers of aspiring project managers, operations managers and information systems managers, and in line with the University’s overall focus on the professional and academic advancement of students, exposes students to concepts and skills required for the Project Management Professional, Project+, Certified ScrumMaster, Certified Supply Chain Professional, Certified Quality Engineer, and Certified Software
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Development Professional and offered by the Project Management Institute, Computing Technology Industry Association, Scrum Alliance, APICS The Association for Operations Management, American Society for Quality and IEEE Computer Society, respectively. For instance, the project management portion of DMBA 620 follows the nine knowledge areas of project management defined by the Project Management Institute and tested in the Project Management Professional certification examination. Often your faculty members will have attained one or more professional certifications, and you can ask what these certifications have meant to them.
DMBA 620 does not correlate with requirements for any accounting, economics or finance professional certifications. However, DMBA 620 imparts a practical grasp of key topics in these disciplines, in order to support development of sound decisionmaking skills.
COURSE MATERIALS
Click to access your course materials information (http://webapps.umuc.edu/grcmBook/BPage.cfm?C=DMBA%20620&S=9044&Se m=2175)
CLASS GUIDELINES
Preparation:
Review and adhere to UMUC MBA program student expectations:
1. Review and honor all UMUC, TGS and MBA policies listed in the syllabus.
2. Invest approximately 20 hours throughout the week in each 6credit graduate seminar.
3. Complete readings and research in advance of each week.
4. In weeks when discussion contributions are required, post by the specified date or, when there is no date indicated, sufficiently early to allow you and others to develop a substantive scholarly discussion.
5. Consistently demonstrate professionalism in your interactions with peers and faculty.
6. Produce high quality, original work that properly cites the words and ideas of others.
7. Uphold the integrity of your UMUC MBA degree by not plagiarizing or cheating.
8. Accept feedback and suggestions with an open mind, taking time to reflect, and then using what you have learned to further improve your performance in future assignments.
9. Notify your professor immediately if you confront a personal emergency that puts you at risk of submitting a late assignment.
10. Honor the principle that “everything written or said within the classroom stays within the classroom.”
11. Stay current on Class News and postings by visiting your online classroom regularly.
Classroom Management:
LEO classroom is main source of information and communication in this course. The class is organized into weekly modules. Assignments and deliverables are explained and specified in each module. Faculty provide prompt and constructive feedback on students' deliverables in approximately one week following their submission.
If you have questions about the subject matter, if you don’t understand an assignment, or you have questions about a grade you received, contact your faculty member. He or she is there to help you understand the material, your grade, and how you may improve your performance in this seminar.
You should prepare and save all your assignments, including all discussion activities, on your computer before you post them to the classroom. You should never type your assignment directly into the classroom. If your computer crashes or if you are disconnected from the Internet before you finish posting your work, you will lose everything you have not saved. In addition, shortly after the seminar is over you will no longer have access to any of the materials you posted in the classroom.
Preferred Contact Method
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See the Faculty Information section located under Course Content in the online classroom for information about contacting your faculty member..
Required Readings/Materials Accessible in Class
The required reading and other resources in this seminar are taken from a variety of professional and academic sources. The particular location of each resource is either linked directly or is indicated next to the resource as listed in the Weekly Reading Assignments in the Course Content area of the LEO classroom.
Some of the required articles that are not directly linked are placed in the Reserved Readings section in “Course Resources” module in the content area of your classroom and are marked RR(Reserved Readings) when listed in the Weekly Reading Assignments in each week's module in the Course Content area of the LEO classroom.
Faculty may assign additional readings or support materials during the course of the seminar.
Accessing Articles in the Web Databases
Articles available in the ABI/Inform Global (A) and Business Source Complete (B) databases will be helpful for research in this seminar. Such articles can be accessed through the UMUC library web page (http://www.umuc.edu/library/database/ (http://www.u muc.edu/library/database/)). This database is part of the University System of Maryland Library Databases and EJournals. Instructions have been prepared to help find articles in the databases? to see them, visit http://info.umuc.edu/mba/public/MBAlibra ry.html (http://info.umuc.edu/mba/public/MBAlibrary.html).
Supplemental Materials
There are some interesting web sites of relevance to this seminar in the Webliography area of the classroom (accessed under Course Content). You are encouraged to add to this list as you come across websites that you find useful for a particular topic. When you add a web site to the Webliography, please send an email to the professor and the rest of the class letting them know about the website, as well as what you found interesting about it.
Use of Webex or Other RealTime Session Support Software
UMUC has authorized the use of Webex or other realtime session support software, such as Google, as an option for faculty to use in supporting the learning experience. The guidelines for the use of real time support software are:
Attendance at any actual realtime, i.e., live session, is optional. UMUC respects the fact that your work schedule or other activities may not permit you to attend.
If you do not attend an announced realtime session, then you are expected to view the session archive (recording) at your convenience but before the due date of the related seminar assignment. This is so that you will gain the knowledge imparted at the realtime session in a timely manner and thus be “on a level playing field" with your classmates who attended the session. Please be aware that your section professor may verify that you have accessed session archives as required.
Team Communications
There are several ways in which you may communicate with your team members at minimal cost in addition to LEO system posts or email. You can use the Chat function and Pager as a form of instantmessaging in the LEO system. In addition, there are numerous free commercial applications you can use to arrange any required real time audio enabled meetings. Any of the many audio meeting applications can be used to effectively
communicate with your team members and to support real time audio discussions within your team. Regardless of the application used for team communication, a summary of all communications outside of the LEO classroom MUST BE POSTED in the team's Group locker so that faculty may track group progress and review individual contributions if necessary.
Avoiding and Preventing Plagiarism
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UMUC has a license agreement with Turnitin, an educational tool that helps prevent or identify plagiarism from internet and other sources. If deemed necessary, faculty may submit individual and/or team written assignments to Turnitin.com. It is important that you stay alert to issues of academic Integrity in your work, including the best practices for supporting your work and avoiding plagiarism. UMUC provides a number of resources and tools to help you understand and uphold academic integrity standards at:
http://www.umuc.edu/students/academicintegrity/academicintegrityresources.cfm (http://www.umuc.edu/students/academicintegrity/academici ntegrityresources.cfm)
Other forms of guidance are available in your LEO classroom under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources. You may contact Help@UMUC for technical support if you are unable to locate your classroom resources (call 8883608682).
GRADING INFORMATION
DMBA PROGRAM GRADING GUIDELINES
With respect to team assignments, all team members will typically receive the same grade for an assignment based on the final submitted team product. However, a faculty member may adjust a person’s individual grade for a specific team assignment up or down based on the quality of his or her participation. If a team member does not make a significant or timely contribution to a team assignment, it will result in reduction of that student’s grade for the assignment.
All individual contributions to team assignments MUST BE posted in the Group Locker area, so that the faculty member may review these contributions, if necessary.
Discussion Activity
A discussion is a timedelimited activity intended to promote active discussion of the course material among students, as well as productive engagement between students and faculty on the principles and practices being introduced in the course. Each student must post at least one main posting by WEDNESDAY, 11:59 p.m., of each week and respond to all assigned discussion topics by FRIDAY, 11:59 p.m., then make final responses to classmates no later than Sunday close of the week. Late postings undercut the usefulness of the discussion design and are also unfair to those students who do actively participate within the prescribed time limits. Extensions are therefore NOT PERMITTED on discussion due dates.
If a student is unable to participate in a discussion, due to an unexpected business, health, or personal emergency beyond the student's control, the student may request that the faculty member provide an alternative assignment. Such request should be made within one week of the missed discussion activity. The student must support this request with a compelling rationale, indicating why such an action is justified. Faculty may request documentation and have discretion to grant or deny a request for an alternative assignment. Should such a request be granted, the faculty member will determine a submission due date, not to exceed one week. There will be no extensions of that due date. Failure to meet the due date will result in a grade of zero for that week's discussion activity.
All Assignments other than Discussion Activity
A faculty member may, in his or her discretion, elect to grant an extension when a student is unable to meet a due date because of an unexpected business, health, or personal emergency beyond the student's control. For such an extension to be considered, a student must make an extension request before the assignment due date (unless this is physically impossible). The student must support this request with a compelling rationale, indicating why such an extension is justified. If a faculty member grants an extension, he or she will set a new due date for submission of the assignment, not to exceed one week. There will be no extensions of the new due date.
For late assignment submissions that have not been approved by the faculty member, and for assignments submitted after an extension due date, the penalty will be a fivepoint reduction in grade for each day that the assignment is late. Faculty will not accept assignments that are more than seven days late or that are submitted after grades have been posted for that assignment? such assignments will be assigned a grade of zero.
Note that there will be no extensions for assignments due in the last week of class. Assignments submitted after these deadlines will receive a grade of zero.
Extra Credit and “Redoing” Assignments
This is a very fastpaced seminar, and assignments are due every week. The syllabus is designed to build upon each week, and the assignments are chosen carefully to develop skills and build knowledge. It is important that you do a good job on all of the assignments and that you hand them in on time. There is no "extra credit" granted to individuals in this seminar, and students will not be able to redo assignments.
Submit Original Work
You are encouraged to refer to and build upon the theories, concepts, and ideas explored in previous coursework. However, everything you submit must be original work written by you specifically for this seminar. Resubmission of coursework from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is unacceptable unless prior approval is obtained from the instructor for the specific assignment. Using coursework from a previous class, partially or in its entirety, without explicit prior approval of your instructor, will result in a grade of zero for the assignment.
PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
An overview of all assignments is contained in the Class and Assignment Schedule in this syllabus. Specific assignment details are posted in each week of the Course Content section of the LEO classroom. If the assignment in a given week is a discussion activity, that week’s Course Content will link directly to the discussion area? for all assignments that are not discussions, the weekly module in Course Content will link directly to the assignment section of the classroom.
Discussion Activities: There is a series of Discussion activities. Topics are posted in the Course Content weekly modules that link to the Discussion area of the classroom. Each of you is expected to discuss this topic critically in the context of the reading that you have done for that week, as well as the reading from preceding weeks. This is your opportunity to discuss the course
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material with one another, just as you would in a facetoface class. You should direct your comments to one another and not just to the professor. When responding to a Discussion activity, please use the text box. This makes it easier for the rest of the class to read what you have to say. Please do not attach files to your comments unless directed to do so.
Frequent and substantive posts are required to succeed in the Discussions. The postings should be grounded in theory from the assigned resources and industry research. Please utilize both academic and industry sources, available through UMUC library databases and open Internet resources. Class interaction should reflect your understanding of the learning material and its application to realworld organizations and industries. Detailed Discussion Participation Guidelines are posted in the Course Policies section of the Course Content.
Individual Assignments: There are six individual assignments in the seminar that you post in your Assignments folder.
Team Assignments: There are two team assignments, which are to be posted in the team's Group Assignment folder. Teams must complete a team agreement and work plan prior to the first team assignment, and a peer evaluation of team members following each team assignment. The individual contributions of each team member to the team assignment must also be posted in the team's Group Locker area, for review by faculty. Individual contributions should be stored in their original form in folders set up for each of the two weeks that require team assignments. Note that the Group discussion area is used for members to collaborate, discuss, and prepare the team assignment, which is then posted in the Group Assignment folder by one member of the team.
Team Agreement. Each team develops an initial Team Agreement to ensure selfmanagement of team activities. Additional instructions on team agreements and work plans, with templates, are posted in the Course Content area of the classroom, Week Two module.
Peer evaluations of team member contributions will be administered following each team assignment. Individual grades for team projects will not be posted until the peer evaluations are completed. Faculty may assign a 5% per day late penalty on team project grades for individuals who do not submit timely peer evaluations.
ACADEMIC POLICIES
Academic Policies and Guidelines
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
As a member of the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) academic community that honors integrity and respect for others you are expected to maintain a high level of personal integrity in your academic work at all times. Your work should be original and must not be reused in other courses.
CLASSROOM CIVILITY
Students are expected to work together cooperatively, and treat fellow students and faculty with respect, showing professionalism and courtesy in all interactions. Please review the Code of Civility for more guidance on interacting in UMUC classrooms: https://w ww.umuc.edu/students/support/studentlife/conduct/code.cfm (https://www.umuc.edu/students/support/studentlife/conduct/code.cf m).
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
UMUC is committed to ensuring that all individuals are treated equally according to Policy 040.30 Affirmative Action, Equal Opport unity, and Sexual Harassment (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/adminpolicies/admin04030.cfm).
Students with disabilities who need accommodations in a course are encouraged to contact the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) at accessibilityservices@umuc.edu (mailto:accessibilityservices@umuc.edu), or call 800888UMUC (8682) or 240684 2287.
The following academic policies and procedures apply to this course and your studies at UMUC.
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150.25
151.00
170.40
170.41
170.42
170.71
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicies/aa15025.cfm) – UMUC defines academic dishonesty as the failure to maintain academic integrity. All charges of academic dishonesty will be brought in accordance with this Policy.
Note: Your instructor may use Turnitin.com, an educational tool that helps identify and prevent plagiarism from Internet resources, by requiring you to submit assignments electronically. To learn more about the tool and options regarding the storage of your assignment in the Turnitin database go to: https://www.umuc.edu/l ibrary/libresources/turnitin.cfm (https://www.umuc.edu/library/libresources/turnitin.cfm).
Code of Student Conduct (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/studentpolicies/stud15100.cfm)
The following policies describe the requirements for the award of each degree:
Degree Completion Requirements for the Graduate School (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicie s/aa17040.cfm)
Degree Completion Requirements for a Bachelor ’s Degree (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicies/ aa17041.cfm)
Degree Completion Requirements for an Associate’s Degree (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolici es/aa17042.cfm)
Policy on Grade of Incomplete (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicies/aa17071.cfm) The grade of I is exceptional and only considered for students who have completed 60% of their coursework with a grade of B or better for graduate courses or C or better for undergraduate courses and request an I before the end of the term.
170.72
Course Withdrawal Policy (https://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicies/aa17072.cfm) Students must
edu/) under Academic Calendar.
130.80
cpolicies/aa13080.cfm) – appeals may be made on final course grades as described herein.
205.06
w.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicies/aa20506.cfm) – Note: Undergraduate and Graduate Schools have
different Grading Policies (i.e. The Graduate School does not award the grade of D). See Course Syllabus
for Grading Policies.
* The grade of "B" represents the benchmark for The Graduate School. Students must maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. Classes where final grade of C or F places a student on Academic Probation must be repeated.
** The Graduate School does not award the grade of D.
COURSE EVALUATION SURVEY
UMUC values its students' feedback. You will be asked to complete an online evaluation toward the end of the term. The primary purpose of this evaluation process is to assess the effectiveness of classroom instruction in order to provide the best learning experience possible and make continuous improvements to every class. Responses are kept confidential. Please take full advantage of this opportunity to provide your feedback.
LIBRARY SUPPORT
Extensive library resources and services are available online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week at https://www.umuc.edu/library/i ndex.cfm (https://www.umuc.edu/library/index.cfm) to support you in your studies. The UMUC Library provides research assistance in creating search strategies, selecting relevant databases, and evaluating and citing resources in a variety of formats via its Ask a Librarian service at https://www.umuc.edu/library/libask/index.cfm (https://www.umuc.edu/library/libask/index.cfm).
LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SUPPORT
To successfully navigate the online classroom new students are encouraged to view the Classroom Walkthrough under Help in the upper right menu of the LEO classroom. Those requiring technical assistance can access Help@UMUC Support directly in LEO under the Help menu. Additional technical support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via selfhelp and live chat at htt ps://www.umuc.edu/help (https://www.umuc.edu/help) or by phone tollfree at 888360UMUC (8682).
SYLLABUS CHANGES
All items on this syllabus are subject to change at the discretion of the Instructor and the Office of Academic Affairs.
CLASS & ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
Course Schedule of Assignments Overview
Before beginning a discussion assignment , please make sure that you read and understand the Discussion Participation Guidelines in the Course Policies section of the Course content.
All initial contributiions must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET Wednesday , and all final contributions to discussions and all Assignments must be posted by 11:59 PM ET Sunday, unless otherwise specified.
Assume Baldwin is paying a dividend of $1.38 (per share). If this dividend stayed the same, but the stock price rose by 10% what would be the dividend yield?
Select : 1
Save Answer
4.44%
5.54%
7.21%
18.04%
When the Production Department works with the
When the Production Department works with the R&D Department, which of the following would be determined?
Select One
A.
Ensuring product line meets customer expectations, and projecting revenues.
B.
Ensuring assembly lines are purchased for new products, and the impact of automation increases on revision dates.
C.
Establishing how much capacity and automation is feasible to buy or sell.
D.
Ensuring R&D costs per product are properly funded.
[solved] Which action would decrease the customer survey score
Which action would decrease the customer survey score?
Select One
A.
Increase price
B.
Increase MTBF
C.
Increase automation
D.
Decrease debt
[solved] As a Marketing manager, which of the following are you
As a Marketing manager, which of the following are you most concerned with?
Select One
A.
ROI and ROA
B.
ROS and Margin
C.
ROA and Asset Turnover
D.
ROE and Leverage
[solved] Which group of tactics would be most commonly used
Which group of tactics would be most commonly used to maximize ROS?
Select One
A.
Increase contribution margins, lower period costs, & increase sales
B.
Increase contribution margins, increase period costs, & increase sales
C.
Decrease contribution margins, lower period costs, & decrease sales
D.
Decrease contribution margins, increase period costs, & decrease sales
[solved] Which of the following is not characteristic of a differentiator
Which of the following is not characteristic of a differentiator with a product lifecycle focus?
Select One
A.
Frequent R&D
B.
Above average automation
C.
Aggressive marketing
D.
Above average pricing
[solved] Which of the following is most likely to cause a low score in the Internal Business
Which of the following is most likely to cause a low score in the Internal Business Process category of the balanced scorecard?
Select One
A.
Low stock price
B.
High plant utilization
C.
High turnover ratio
D.
Low contribution margin
[solved] Why would your company want to extend out its accounts receivable policy?
Why would your company want to extend out its accounts receivable policy?
Select One
A.
Extending their receivables will slightly increase demand
B.
Extending their receivables will increase their available cash
C.
Extending their receivables will make their suppliers happy
D.
None of the above
[solved]What effect does raising automation have on a company?
What effect does raising automation have on a company?
Select One
A.
Decreases variable costs by increasing the amount of production capacity
B.
Decreases variable costs by decreasing the amount of workers needed
C.
Decreases variable costs by increasing plant utilization
D.
Both B and C
E.
None of the above
[SOLVED]What metrics are used to calculate a product’s contribution margin?
What metrics are used to calculate a product’s contribution margin?
Select One
A.
Sales, total costs
B.
Profit, variable costs
C.
Sales, variable costs
D.
Profit, total costs
[SOLVED] When the Production Department works with the R&D Department,
When the Production Department works with the R&D Department, which of the following would be determined?
Select One
A.
Ensuring product line meets customer expectations, and projecting revenues.
B.
Ensuring assembly lines are purchased for new products, and the impact of automation increases on revision dates.
C.
Establishing how much capacity and automation is feasible to buy or sell.
D.
Ensuring R&D costs per product are properly funded.
.If a company with low automation wanted
.If a company with low automation wanted to invest in a single area that exclusively lowers labor costs, they would select:
A. QIT (Quality Initiative Training)
B. Concurrent Engineering
C. Vendor/JIT (Just in Time [Inventory])
The exact outcome of TQM efforts appear
The exact outcome of TQM efforts appear on the TQM Report, and as bar charts on the TQM spreadsheet. These results are for
A. the previous round only
B. the upcoming round only
C. cumulative for the previous and all remaining rounds (assuming no additional investment is made)
According to the S-Shaped curve, diminishing returns
According to the S-Shaped curve, diminishing returns for a single year budget become significant at
A. $1,000,000
B. $1,500,000
C. $750,000
Investing in the same TQM Initiative round
Investing in the same TQM Initiative round after round will create
A. ever increasing returns
B. diminishing returns
C. the same amount of return
The TQM report can be accessed from
The TQM report can be accessed from
A. The Foundation(r) FastTrack
B. The Decisions menu
he online food delivery industry i
According to Statista (2020), the online food delivery industry is worth $26 billion. The largest of this industry is restaurant-to-customer delivery that is worth $15 billion. The industry is expected to grow to $32 billion by 2024. According to Franchisee Resource Center (2020), the USA cleaning industry is worth $46 billion. The industry is expected to grow by 10% by the year 2026 to reach about $50 billion. According to Mkink (2020), the cleaning industry had 875,000 businesses and employed about 3.5 million people by 2015.
Haverland offers a wide range of electric radiators, electric towel, natural conversion heater, electric radiant heating panel and many other related electric products. However, inertia radiators are the company’s most trusted product which is available on most of its market segment. The best thing about the company new inertia radiators is that it comes with two options i.e. dry and fluid., therefore, it presents customers with a wide range of choices based on their heating needs and budget.
Leadership Plan for Equity at Children’s Council for San Francisco
Equity is an important organizational and legal requirement recognized as one of most critical drivers of organizational performance and economic development in a nation. In many jurisdictions, legal statutes dictate minimal policy requirements that place equity in place
In a bid to give literary works more perspectives, literary critics often use different styles of analysis. Among them are the diverse theories of literary analysis that take various frameworks of the interpretations of creative works. A good example of the models is feminist theory. Essentially, feminist theory is a principle that delves into the link between gender and power from the background of the female sex (Barnett et al. 1219). In particular, the philosophy concerns the depicting of the women and girls in a positive light by basically portraying their desirable traits or roles in their societies or showing how they suffer in male chauvinist societies.
Crafting Effective Interview Questions
Introduction
The purpose of this interview guide phenomenological research is to describe the central phenomenon experience for online learners in a business or technology doctoral program informed by the theoretical framework. At this stage in the research, the central phenomenon being studied will be generally defined as methods that online learners can lead to effective work-life balance.
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES examples
Flat organizational structure is less practical for SHU since the company has employees that believe in hieratical structure and also young employees that prefer a flat environment. It is clear also that technology change was applied to the company without proper procedure and thus resulted in conflicts. It is also clear that employees are undermotivated due to fear of job loss. This paper aims at identifying structural strategies technological strategies and behavioral strategies that can be applied to SHU to improve its effectiveness.
Structural strategies
The flat organizational structure should be replaced with original hieratical structure but give employees ownership and ability to contribute or go for flatter structure
INTERVIEWING A PROFESSIONAL NURSE
According to State Online (2017) professional nurse in today society is more than just a bedside helper, vital signs checker and medicine givers. Today professional nurse are communicators, holistic caregivers, instructors, specialists and researchers. The wide nature of today professional nurses responsibilities is a result of patients suffering from multiple illnesses as well as advancement in technology. Therefore, today professional nurses are required to have skills to operate different machines as well as give care to patients with multiple illnesses. Therefore, while interviewing a professional nurse, it is important to address wide range of aspects so that the nurse with right qualifications, skills and experience can be hired or recommended for particular position that needs a nurse profession.
General Electric (GE) SUSTAINABILITY
According to GE sustainability is defined as process of aligning the business strategies to meet wide range of societal needs, reducing environmental impact and aid society developments. As of 2016, GE was investing ana average of $1 billion worldwide for employee development. It was also voted for 11th times as one of the world’s ethical companies (GE, n.d.). It had also carried about 26500 supplier assessment top ensure they deliver quality products (GE, n.d.). in 2016 alone the company invested about $4.9 billion in green research and development programs (GE, n.d.). Despite good sustainability initiative GE has suffered several challenges, but they are responding to them adequately to keep sustainability drive alive.
Leadership and Communication Literature Review
Leadership and communication play an instrumental role in the current dynamic technological landscape. Given the essence of leadership, available scholarly sources suggest that leaders usually play a significant role in influencing performance at an organizational level. By exploring the views presented by various authors on the topic of leadership and communication, this paper will seek to provide an insightful review on aspects such as team development, motivation, employee engagement, leadership attributes, and the communication approaches embraced by organizations. Through this paper, the reader will understand the extent to which leadership and communication usually affect the success of projects, past and future leadership, and communication models as well as how a rhetoric leader can influence performance.
Introduces the SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis stands for strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Swots measures both internal and external factors influencing the business. Strength and weaknesses are internal factors while opportunities and threats are external factors. The focus of this speech is to provide an insight about PRU SWOT based on recent takeover by SHU.
Create a slide that shows the SWOT results in table form.
According to Li, Yan, Wang, and Xia (2013) information visibility are the availability of relevant and accurate information for making supply chain-related decisions. Duckworth (2018) on the other hand defined visibility as easiness of sharing of information in B2B level. Some of the benefits identified in information visibility include making the supply chain more efficient, promote business collaboration, as well enabling them manage operations more efficiently (Duckworth, 2018). Transparency, on the other hand, was defined as easiness of information disclosure between businesses, partners, regulatory bodies, customers and shareholders (Duckworth, 2018). Duckworth (2018) suggested that both visibility and transparency are related such that it is impossible to share data or to be open about if you do not have visibility to such information. Information transparency aids accountability, safety, and quality (Duckworth, 2018).
MEMO for What would be the best workplace environment and culture for Pigs R US
What would be the best workplace environment and culture for Pigs R US be in 2040, and what challenges could the company face in implementing the vision?
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN CONTEXT
Introduction
GE is a conglomerate company with a presence in various industries, including manufacturing, finance, and healthcare. The wide nature of GE business comes with greatest challenges especially when collaboration is needed. From the core aspect of GE business it is clear that it has wide range of professions and people from diverse backgrounds. It also has many suppliers who have different production and supply chain strategies. Above all, GE operates in 130 countries across the world (ge.com). Global supply chain management best practices are very important for GE. Collaboration is among the best practices in supply chain and companies that have mastered the art of collaboration both in internal and external aspects, can cut down operation costs and enjoy competitive advantage (Supply Chain Collaboration, 2017). This paper will address the role of collaboration in the global supply chain of GE. Specifically, the paper will address regional trade agreements that influence GE, consequences of characterizing a product wrongly, NAFTA tribunal, global collaboration, global supply chain strategy, and global risk factor.
Assignment 1: First Business Scenario
In the first business scenario, it has been outlined that I am working on a project along with other several companies and it happens that one of the companies is doing shoddy, dangerous work. In such a case, the shoddy and dangerous work done by one company that is part of the project being undertaken will mean that the entire project will be futile. This is because such an unscrupulous behavior will jeopardize the good work done by other companies. In such a case, the only morally viable decision to undertake is to report the company engaging in shoddy, dangerous work. Even though undertaking such a decision will mean that I lose 20% of my revenue for the year, I am convinced that reporting the problem is the only viable decision that can be undertaken to avoid scenarios where all companies working on a project faces collective criminal susceptibility due to the shoddy and dangerous work done by one company.
Systematic Literature Review Example
Phase 1: Problem discovery and definition.
Business Problem: Shop-Here is a small company that aims to provide the best quality services to the consumers. The company is faced with several challenges regarding management. Currently, the company is planning to invest in offering ethically sourced products to attract a large spectrum of consumers and remain relevant in the market. Therefore, the project assesses factors that the company needs to consider when rebranding its products to meet the clients’ needs.
Working Title: Ethical consumption acting as a barometer of profitability; a convergent mixed method approach
Aims of the Project: The aim of the project is to evaluate the behaviors of the consumers towards sustainably sourced products.
Objectives of the Project: The objective of the research is to determine the relationship between ethical consumers’ purchasing behavior and their apparent intention to consume. The other objective is to understand ethically minded consumers’ requirement and preferences. Last, the objective will identify which attributes make products more appealing to ethical consumers.
ADOPTION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Autonomous vehicles, also referred to as self-driving cars are vehicles that can sense their environments and move safely without the intervention or input of human beings. They use a lot of sensors to learn their surroundings such as the navigation paths, signage and obstacles that should be considered in movement (Seshan and Maitra, 2014). Accordingly, autonomous denotes the fact that it is self-governing. Moreover, the autonomous control means that the gadget in this case the vehicle can satisfactorily perform under critical uncertainties in the environment.
Factors influencing project success
Factors influencing project success
The study by Salazar-Aramayo, Rodrigues-da-Silveira, Rodrigues-de-Almeida, and de Castro-Dantas, (2013) aimed at finding out the factors that influenced exploration and production project management success at Petrobras S.A. the study focused on seven hypotheses to identify the reasons for the success of the project as influenced by different factors. The first hypothesis aimed at identifying whether training, experience and good internal communication influenced project planning and control. The second objective aimed at identifying whether a coordinated team, with experience and good internal communication influences the project success. On the other hands the third objective focused on a coordinated team with skills and experience influences the quality of the scope of the E&P project.
United States steel is a steel production company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1901. The company area of operation includes the USA and central Europe. The company generated revenue of 10 billion in 2016 financial year. Facebook, on the other hand, is a social media platform founded in 2004. The company is based in Menlo Park California. The company generated a revenue of 27 billion 2016 financial year. These companies operate in different industries. Therefore, the underlying conditions that influence the earning of companies may be totally different. Besides, their assets and expenses are totally different. A company like Facebook invest most on research and development while a company like US steel invest heavily on plant and equipment.
Saudi ARAMCO is one of the largest company in the world by assets. The company position as largest among peers might not remain the same for many coming years unless they up their game in R&D and technology. The strategic alliance is one of the fundamental ways that the company can consider to ensure they remain competitive by exchanging worthy ideas and strategies. There are many challenges in strategic alliance including difficulty in finding the best partner, inability to know when the alliance is no longer viable and inability to establish trust among the parties. Using both descriptive and normative decision theory, the alliance can be able to find worthy methods and technique that can move them forward
[solved]Module 12: External Sustainability Reporting and Verification
Module 12: External Sustainability Reporting and Verification
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Module 12: Critical Thinking
Impact of ISO 14001 and AA1000 Regulations on Stakeholders (100 points)
Analyze how ISO 14001 and AA1000 regulations protect stakeholders. Do these regulations and reports have an impact on how investors see the long-term viability of an organization or company in which they plan to invest?
What are examples of this in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where this reporting occurs? In a 4-5 page paper, not including the cover and reference pages, explain how these regulations impact future investors, local stakeholders, and the organization’s or company’s sustainability.
Use Saudi Electronic University academic writing standards and APA style guidelines, citing references as appropriate.
Below is Module 12: Interactive Lecture
MGT630 – Business Ethics and Sustainability
Module 12: External Sustainability Reporting and Verification
MGT630
Table of Contents Tools
Module Introduction
Readings
Note: The following readings may require you to be logged in to the Saudi Digital Library. You may do that here.
Required
Chapter 9 in Making Sustainability Work
Lu, Y., & Abeysekera, I. (2017). What do stakeholders care about? Investigating corporate social and environmental disclosure in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(1), 169-184.
Massa, L., Farneti, F., & Scappini, B. (2015). Developing a sustainability report in a small to medium enterprise: Process and consequences. Meditari Accountancy Research, 23(1), 62-91.
For Your Success
We will explore the sustainability efforts that interest stakeholders most and how an organization informs its stakeholders on its sustainability efforts. We begin our examination of what should be covered and why, which will continue in Module 13.
Review the following required activities for this week:
There is a Critical Thinking Assignment due this week. You will write an analysis on the ways in which ISO 14001 and AA1000 regulations protect stakeholders.
Take the next graded quiz, covering content from Modules 11 and 12.
Learning Outcomes
Examine external sustainability reporting and verification.
Evaluate standards for sustainability reporting and verification.
1. Sustainability Efforts
Do certain sustainability efforts grab the attention of stakeholders more than others? The answer is yes. Epstein and Buhovac (2014) noted one study that identified the top five sustainability efforts of interest to stakeholders as human rights, eco/energy efficiency, health and safety, climate protection, and environmental management of the production process.
So, does that mean that all companies should focus on these five priorities? The answer is no. Different organizations have different stakeholders and operate in different business environments. The organization must determine which types of sustainability activities it should engage in based on its unique circumstances.
For example, a diamond mining company might decide to focus on improving the health of the people in the underdeveloped country where the diamonds are mined. Otherwise, the company may not have a healthy workforce available to mine the diamonds. Or, a jewelry store might focus on improving its supply chain by insisting on responsible and ethical sourcing practices from its diamond suppliers.
Before continuing, take a moment to watch the following video, which asks (and answers) the question, “Why sustainability?”
Steve Howard: Let’s Go All-In on Selling Sustainability
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buH_vs7LFzw
What priorities does the speaker identify for IKEA? Where do these align with the top five efforts listed previously?
2. Sustainability Information for Stakeholders
Stakeholders have specific expectations with regard to the sustainability information they receive from organizations. External sustainability reports strive to provide this information. For more information, listen to an audio explanation of sustainability reporting here—What is Sustainability Reporting?
Certain principles and standards tend to guide the organization when developing a sustainability report. Let’s examine some of these in more detail—click on the following tabs.
Materiality
Completeness
Responsiveness
Take a moment to watch the following video on the benefits of sustainability and sustainability reporting.
Eco-Business Explains Sustainability Reporting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCzbeyZwwqE
The video notes that the benefits of sustainability reporting extend beyond just numbers. What are these benefits?
3. What Do Stakeholders Want to Know?
Stakeholders want to know about more than just the bottom-line financial measures when it comes to reporting. Instead, they want to know about the triple bottom line, which includes social and environmental considerations as well.
Stakeholders want to see the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the business and its operations. They also want to see what the company is doing to reduce negative impacts. For example, they may want information on the sources of energy the company uses, the amount of recycled materials it utilizes, voluntary and involuntary employee turnover numbers, and the results of polls regarding the organization’s image and reputation.
The following video provides another interesting look at the issue of sustainability reporting.
Sustainability Reporting: Reporting for Stakeholders while Building a Competitive Advantage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5DvW2j3WBs
The speaker mentions that a study of sustainability professionals found that they ranked customers as the most important audience for their sustainability reporting. The next most important group was employees, with the respondents viewing reporting as a tool they could use for recruitment and retention purposes. Does this ranking surprise you?
Reflect
Consider your own organization or one you know well with regard to sustainability. Could you answer any of the following questions?
How much waste does the organization create?
How much energy does it take to run the organization? What is the source of that energy? How much does it cost, and what does it do to the environment? Are there alternative sources that could be used?
What about the amount of paper that the organization uses? Could that amount be easily cut in half? Is the paper that the organization uses recycled? If not, why not?
What about the amount of organizational turnover, both voluntary and involuntary? Is this a high or low number, and what can be done within the organization to reduce that number?
If you can’t answer these questions (or similar questions), does this mean that the organization does not engage in sustainability reporting? If given the opportunity to recommend sustainability reporting to management, what would you say?
4. The Format of Information
Of course, it is up to an organization to decide whether or not it will report on sustainability, and if it does, it will choose the format it wants to use.
How do stakeholders want to get this information? There is not one answer. Some might prefer to receive it at annual shareholders’ meetings, for example, while others might want on-demand access to these documents from the company’s website.
The length of these documents is also a consideration. People do not have a great deal of time to wade through an enormous amount of information to learn about an organization’s sustainability measures. One stakeholder survey found that the majority of individuals would like these documents to be less than 50 pages long (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). However, if the documents were in electronic format, the organization could take the time to create links to the different sections of the documents, so the stakeholders could easily jump to the topics they want to read.
Check Your Understanding
Answer the question or define the term on the front of the card before flipping the card over to check your answer.
Click Here to Begin
References
AccountAbility. (2018). AA1000 accountability principles. Retrieved from https://www.accountability.org/standards/
Global Reporting Initiative. (2018). GRI 101: Foundation 2016. Retrieved from https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/media/1036/gri-101-foundation-2016.pdf#page=%2010
Epstein, M. J., & Buhovac, A. J. (2014). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
ROLL ROYCE CULLINAN ORDER FULFILMENT
Roll Royce Cullinan is a new SUV produced by Roll Royce. This car is also the first of the kind produced since it is all wheeled drive SUV. The starting price is $325000 (Zhang, 2018). Therefore, the brand falls under the luxury brand. The average price of most of SUV is between 30,000 to 40,000 dollars. The vehicle was released in 2018 and will start being marketed in 2019 (Zhang, 2018). In 2016, roll Royce sold 4000 cars per year for the first time. If the SUV peaks, it is estimated that overall sales will grow to 6000 sales per year by 2019. This paper addresses order fulfillment which is the process of receiving, processing and delivering orders to final customer (Logistiikanmaailm, 2019). To address order fulfillment. There is need to understand order penetration point which is a point where the order is earmarked for specific customer (Logistiikanmaailm, 2019).
Tony has been sent to sales training and the final examination requires delivering an effective sales presentation. If he passes this examination, he will be placed into a sales job. If he does not pass, he will be let go from the company. In assessing Tony’s performance, the trainer remarks that although his talk was solid as far as content, he did not pass. The trainer fails to mention that the talk lacked several elements of excellence. Tony’s presentation graphics were inconsistent, he mumbled, and he failed to answer any of the follow-up questions. Tony throws the evaluation at the trainer, shouting, "Whatever, dude!" and slams the door on the way out. The trainer’s failure to discuss these aspects of Tony’s presentation performance demonstrated a lack of attention to which form of fairness or justice?
Select : 1
Baldwin Corporation is considering adding capacity to their Boat product, currently automated to 7.0. Assume: - They will use the new capacity next year to make and sell 200 additional units (000). - Each unit of capacity will cost $34.00. - Boat's price will be unchanged at $34.00. - Material costs will remain $13.04 next year. - Labor costs will remain $5.34 on first shift, and $7.91 on second shift. - Bond interest will remain 13.5% next year. - Depreciation will be straight line over 15 years. - SG&A costs can be ignored because they would be the same with or without the new capacity. Which of the following tactics will yield the highest ROI in their first year of production?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Buy 200 units of capacity. Finance the $6,800 purchase entirely with a new bond.
Buy 200 units of capacity. Finance the $6,800 purchase entirely with a stock issue.
Buy 100 units of capacity. Finance the $3,400 purchase entirely with a new bond.
Buy 100 units of capacity. Finance the $3,400 purchase entirely with a stock issue.
[SOLVED]Rank the following companies from high to low cumulative profit
Rank the following companies from high to low cumulative profit, (in descending order, 1=highest, 4=lowest).
Select : 4
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Andrews
Digby
Baldwin
Chester
Andrews Corp. ended the year carrying $10,281,000
Andrews Corp. ended the year carrying $10,281,000 worth of inventory. Had they sold their entire inventory at their current prices, how much more revenue would it have brought to Andrews Corp.?
According to information found on the production
According to information found on the production analysis page of the Inquirer, Baldwin sold 1127 units of Bolt in the current year. Assuming that Bolt maintains a constant market share, all the units of Bolt are sold in the Nano market segment and the growth rate remains constant, how many years will it be before Bolt will not be able to meet future demand unless the company adds production capacity? Exclude any existing inventory
You’re a sales manager the Andrews Company and it’s time to decide annual bonuses for your sales force. One normally good salesperson completely failed in the fourth quarter dropping his overall sales percentage one point below what is required to earn a bonus. After receiving the news of his overall sales percentage, he reported to you that he didn’t feel good about his fourth-quarter performance because he’s been very distracted with the new knowledge that his mother had been diagnosed with an advanced cancer. Given this information, you decide to award the salesperson with an annual bonus. Which of the following arguments bests captures a Universalist perspective on this decision?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED]The Andrews company has a strong "promote from within" culture and thus as the team manager
The Andrews company has a strong "promote from within" culture and thus as the team manager, when a job opened up on your team you sought talented internal candidates. One of the candidates, Sally, had worked closely with you on previous projects before you took your current managerial role. The other two candidates, Cynthia and Jennifer were recommended by other managers in the company. You interviewed all three candidates and examined their personnel files for prior performance information. At this point, you’re fairly certain Sally is the best of the three candidates. Which of the following steps would be best to take before making a decision?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Which of the following statements would best characterize someone who is not culturally competent in working with others from different cultures?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
You’ve dreaded it for a while, but now you feel prepared. In 30 minutes you’ll have to terminate Tim, a 12-year employee who is beloved by everyone in the firm. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t performed very well since his wife died three years ago and while he was given every chance to regain his performance, he has just continued to slide. Which of the following elements of communication is least likely to influence Tim’s perception of your communication effectiveness?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Your boss recently told you that you needed to be more "culturally intelligent." Specifically he said, "I received some feedback from a major client, Palo, who said after a meeting him that you seemed not be very interested in his business anymore." You replied that meeting with Palo is very uncomfortable because he is a "close talker" and invades your personal space so you end up backing up all the time. Your boss said, "well you better figure out what to do and fast, he’s giving you another chance to meet next week." Which of the following actions would be MOST EFFECTIVE in your next communication with Palo?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Sally was recently given feedback from her boss that the content of her quarterly financial presentation is excellent; however, she really needs to work on the "execution." Which of the following aspects of communication effectiveness is Sally’s boss NOT referring to when talking about execution?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Her non-verbal presentation behavior
Assume Digby Corp. is downsizing the size of their workforce by 10% (to the nearest person) next year from various strategic initiatives. Digby is planning to conduct exit interviews to learn more about how they can improve in processes and increase productivity. The exit interviews are estimated to cost $100 per employee in additional to normal separation costs of $5000. How much will the company pay in separation costs if these exit interviews are implemented next year?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
One of the least desirable and routine tasks members of your team must do is taking minutes (notes) at team meetings. Proof that this task is disagreeable can be seen in the repeated arguments among team members before every meeting about who should take the minutes. Which of the following would be the most effective way for the team to address this situation?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
You’ve been asked to participate at a prestigious and well-attended annual conference within your industry. Your participation requires that you sit on a panel of experts during the keynote session of the conference. This session focuses on discussing key industry trends and challenges, and it is expected to draw a large and engaged crowd. The session will include brief presentations by each panelist, as well as a question-and-answer portion where you will respond to the audience. Which of the following aspects of effective communication should you give the most attention during the conference session?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED]Tom works for a large payroll outsourcing firm.
Tom works for a large payroll outsourcing firm. One of his key customer’s contracts is set to expire in one month. Competition has heated up in this industry and Tom’s customer asked him to make a presentation to the top management team about his firm’s services. In his presentation, he thanked the customers for their loyalty, talked about industry trends, highlighted how his firm has been successfully serving firms for decades (unlike the new players in the market), and then asked them to renew their business again by showing them pricing options. Tom didn’t get the contract renewed and wonders if his presentation had anything to do with it. Which of the following actions should Tom do in order to IMPROVE his future presentations?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
One of your colleagues spends a great deal of time planning her interactions with people from different cultural backgrounds. Before she talks with people from a different culture, she researches their culture, tries to understand how it’s both similar and different from her own, and then tries to put herself "in their shoes" by testing how different statements might make her feel if she were from their culture. Which of the following views is MOST ACCURATE about her behavior with respect to being culturally competent?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] representative from a prestigious industry association just emailed.
A representative from a prestigious industry association just emailed. She asks for your participation on an expert panel that will be held at an upcoming professional conference. The conference is not local, so it will require you to travel and stay several days in the conference location. The representative offers to pay for travel and lodgings for you and a guest to the conference. Which of the following responses would be most effective for helping you to make an ethical decision?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Ask the representative to cover travel expenses, but not hotel expenses
[SOLVED] You are an account manager working for the Andrews Company
You are an account manager working for the Andrews Company. You sell and service the sensors for sales representatives in many different industries. Your boss tells you that your engineers are contemplating changing the specifications to make the sensors operate in mobile phones. Some of the proposed changes however may be unpopular with your customers. You suggest to your boss that customers should be notified before any changes would take place. Your boss disagrees and says, "It’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission." Which of the following is the best course of action in order to help make the best decision?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED]It’s been six months since you began your role as a regional sales manager.
It’s been six months since you began your role as a regional sales manager. Your territory includes the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, making it highly culturally diverse. You feel like you are doing fairly well, but still feel somewhat uncomfortable when coaching sales people from Mexico. In fact, a recent meeting with a Mexican sales rep did not go well. You tried to motivate him but he just became very defensive and you’re not sure if he reacted that way because of the negative performance feedback, because you violated some cultural norm, or potentially, both. You spoke with another manager in Mexico who assured you that you were culturally sensitive in your feedback delivery. Which of the following would be LEAST helpful in continuing to develop your cross-cultural skills in delivering performance feedback?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED]You have just accepted a leadership position of a newly formed project team
You have just accepted a leadership position of a newly formed project team. The team is geographically dispersed with team members from Europe, North America, and South America. Although the team will have quarterly face-to-face meetings at the company’s headquarters, most of the team’s work is conducted virtually (online). As the leader of this new team, you want to ensure that team members from different cultural backgrounds work effectively and efficiently together. Which of the following actions would be most effective in facilitating your team’s performance?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] You have realized that a report your team authored and which is now sitting on the desk
You have realized that a report your team authored and which is now sitting on the desk of the CEO, contains several significant errors. What is the most effective way to deal with this situation?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] You are preparing for a 3-month global assignment in Turkey working on an international
You are preparing for a 3-month global assignment in Turkey working on an international quality improvement team for your company’s manufacturing division. After buying a few travel books and researching some of Turkey’s contemporary history, you are quickly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information to learn. Which of the following types of cultural information would be MOST CRITICAL to understand before arriving in Turkey for your assignment?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] Mike is the Director of Human Resources for a 120-employee family-owned manufacturing firm.
Mike is the Director of Human Resources for a 120-employee family-owned manufacturing firm. Mike has been quite busy the last year reforming the benefit offerings to comply with recent changes in healthcare laws. Given the many changes, Mike took the opportunity to completely overhaul the employee benefits program including replacing the old medical plans with three brand-new plans. Mike is preparing to tell employees about their new benefit offerings a few months prior to the benefits open-enrollment period. Given the number of employees, he decides to design a nicely formatted PowerPoint slide deck explaining the changes and to send this presentation via email to all employees. One day into the open-enrollment period, his inbox is flooded with over 50 emails from confused employees. Mike is puzzled, but realizes he may have made a mistake in communication. Which of the following BEST describes the primary communication mistake he made?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] Your team is struggling with the quality of discussions during team meetings
Your team is struggling with the quality of discussions during team meetings. Much of the difficulty stems from how conversation flows among team members. Which of the following actions would be most likely to enhance the overall quality of your team’s discussions?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] Your boss confides in you that one of your highly successful coworkers has been "padding"
Your boss confides in you that one of your highly successful coworkers has been "padding" his expense account by billing for personal items. This action violates a company policy, which notes that termination is a possible consequence of such action. He asks you for your opinion, saying, "Should I fire him or just ask him to pay back the money?" Which of the following responses would be most effective in helping your boss make an ethical decision?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
You are hiring for a new group of sales reps for next year in anticipation of an increase in business. Charles, a minority candidate, is your top pick as his performance in the sales training program far exceeded any other sales rep. You’re set to hire him into your largest and most profitable territory. Your boss, however, has expressed concerns that his minority status might be a problem in your mainly White territory. Today your boss sent you an email that read in part "I think it’s in Charles’ best interest if we find him a territory that is better suited to his background." Which stakeholders are you primarily obligated to consider in making this decision?
Select : 1
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[SOLVED] Suggest to the group that a clear chart of roles and responsibility be created.
At the last team meeting both Shelia and Freddy showed up having erroneously accomplished the same task, which meant that one task was left undone. Both Shelia and Freddy were certain that they accomplished their assigned task. Which of the following actions would be most effective to ensure this does not occur again?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] All of your teammates are dedicated to the project.
All of your teammates are dedicated to the project. They put in the time and effort to complete their individual assignments and to be adequately prepared for team meetings. However, this time and effort does not seem to translate into effectively sharing information. Which of the following actions is most likely to improve your team’s information sharing?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Which of the following steps to making an ethical decision comes after Investigating Ethical Issues?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
You have been working on a new entrepreneurial venture with a few friends for the past year. Everyone’s efforts are really starting to come together and you have even developed a proof-of-concept to show folks in order to obtain feedback and advice. The process has been going so well that you have been invited to pitch your idea to a panel of successful entrepreneurs that might be interested in investing. You have been told the pitch is limited to 15 minutes. Which of the following areas of communication effectiveness should you focus on the most when designing your pitch?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Determining a few key ideas and how to best sequence them.
You just finished leading your team during a two-hour long meeting with one of your larger clients. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of results and recommendations from a project your team just finished for the client. Your team was very prepared and even practiced the debrief presentation several times. Everything seemed to go very well during the meeting, as you and your team detailed how the project was handled, who did what, the results of each project phase, as well recommendations for the client to implement. However, right after the meeting, the point of contact at the client said that her boss was “not at all happy with the project” and was questioning whether or not to renew your team’s contract because she “didn’t see the value created by the project.” Which of the following aspects of communication was lacking the most in your team’s debrief presentation?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
As a senior consultant, part of your role on the team is to approve final client reports before they are delivered to the client. Your team was recently hired by the President of the sales division of Plessy and Grouper, a consumer packaged goods company, to address poor customer service within the division. Your consulting team just submitted the draft of a recommendations report. While it’s full of good content, it also contains a lot of technical jargon. Which of the following aspects of effective communication do you fear your team has overlooked?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED] You were recently selected for an important 2-year overseas assignment in Qatar
You were recently selected for an important 2-year overseas assignment in Qatar. This is a big career opportunity and a chance to work in a high-growth region of your company’s business. You just returned from a weeklong trip to Qatar, which was part of the introduction to your new team and your soon-to-be new home. You certainly became aware that there were some noticeable cultural differences between your country and Qatar. You are scheduled to move in 3 months. Which of the following actions would be the MOST EFFECTIVE approach for improving your cultural competence?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
[SOLVED]You are the lead team member of a warranty claim team within the Andrews Company
You are the lead team member of a warranty claim team within the Andrews Company. Your team has had an average year, with profits remaining generally flat. In effort to boost profits for the year, your manager suggests you postpone processing any existing claims in the 4th quarter until the new fiscal year (some claims are as high as $150,000) but he’s not sure and is open to your opinion, asking "what would you suggest?" Which of the following responses would be the most appropriate step toward making an ethical decision?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Your team has just been assigned a new project. So far, the start-up work has been productive, and the team has built its initial project plan. Your team’s leader has asked for projects goals to be create that aligned with this plan. Which of the following actions would be most effective in creating goals that motivate high performance for the team?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Since your desk is close to the office supplies closet, it didn’t take long for you to notice that one of your colleagues, Jeffery, visits the office supplies quite frequently. You don’t have any solid evidence that he’s stealing, but you can’t figure out why else he’d be making daily trips into the closet. So you decide to confront Jeffery and he says, "Of course I’m taking office supplies home. And yes, I know that technically it’s stealing, but don’t act for a second like you don’t do it either; heck even the boss takes home a ream or two of paper each month. Look, you and I both know we don’t get paid much and life sucks around here, this is one of the few perks we get on this crummy job." What ethical perspective is Jeffery using to justify his actions?
Select : 1
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[SOLVED]At a recent networking event, a former colleague from the Andrews Company
At a recent networking event, a former colleague from the Andrews Company is talking to you about some bad press her company received. She concludes by saying, "you know it’s silly, there is no such thing as an ‘ethical decision’ anyway since ethics is totally in the eye of the beholder." You’re not sure you agree. Which of the following responses would accurately communicate the nature of an ethical decision?
Select : 1
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[SOLVED]Larry is in charge of collecting customer service and satisfaction data for his company.
Larry is in charge of collecting customer service and satisfaction data for his company. He’s not sure which key groups in the company would be the most appropriate audience to communicate the recent customer satisfaction results, including call center employees, senior management, and company-wide. As Larry begins to develop his communication plan, which of the following questions would most help him strategize a plan for targeting a specific audience?
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[SOLVED] One of your team members, Ted, has not been accomplishing his fair share of the work
One of your team members, Ted, has not been accomplishing his fair share of the work and because of this your team’s performance is suffering. Which of the following actions would be most effective to get Ted to do his fair share?
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[SOLVED]Digby's balance sheet has $75,183,000 in equity.
Digby's balance sheet has $75,183,000 in equity. Further, the company is expecting net income of 3,000,000 next year, and also expecting to issue $4,000,000 in new stock. If there are no dividends paid what will beDigby's book value?
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$82,183,000
$74,183,000
$39,416,000
$31,416,000
Investing $1,500,000 in TQM's Channel Support Systems
Investing $1,500,000 in TQM's Channel Support Systems initiative will at a minimum increase demand for your products 1.7% in this and in all future rounds. (Refer to the TQM Initiative worksheet in the CompXM Decisions menu.) Looking at the Round 0 Inquirer for Andrews, last year's sales were $163,405,682. Assuming similar sales next year, the 1.7% increase in demand will provide $2,777,897 of additional revenue. With the overall contribution margin of 34.1%, after direct costs this revenue will add $947,263 to the bottom line. For simplicity, assume that the demand increase and margins will remain at last year's levels. How long will it take to achieve payback on the initial $1,500,000 TQM investment, rounded to the nearest month?
Investing $1,500,000 in TQM's Channel Support Systems
Investing $1,500,000 in TQM's Channel Support Systems initiative will at a minimum increase demand for your products 1.7% in this and in all future rounds. (Refer to the TQM Initiative worksheet in the CompXM Decisions menu.) Looking at the Round 0 Inquirer for Andrews, last year's sales were $163,405,682. Assuming similar sales next year, the 1.7% increase in demand will provide $2,777,897 of additional revenue. With the overall contribution margin of 34.1%, after direct costs this revenue will add $947,263 to the bottom line. For simplicity, assume that the demand increase and margins will remain at last year's levels. How long will it take to achieve payback on the initial $1,500,000 TQM investment, rounded to the near
[SOLVED] Larry is in charge of collecting customer service and satisfaction data for his company
Larry is in charge of collecting customer service and satisfaction data for his company. He’s not sure which key groups in the company would be the most appropriate audience to communicate the recent customer satisfaction results, including call center employees, senior management, and company-wide. As Larry begins to develop his communication plan, which of the following questions would most help him strategize a plan for targeting a specific audience?
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You work on a multinational team and just finished leading a long virtual meeting with your colleagues in China. After the meeting, one of your local co-workers called you to ask, “why were you rushing through the meeting? I understand we had important agenda items to complete but you seemed really impatient with the team. I think our Chinese colleagues were clearly offended by your behavior.” Which of the following actions best describes how to improve your own cross-cultural communication with your colleagues in China?
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You work on a multinational team and just finished leading a long virtual meeting with your colleagues in China. After the meeting, one of your local co-workers called you to ask, “why were you rushing through the meeting? I understand we had important agenda items to complete but you seemed really impatient with the team. I think our Chinese colleagues were clearly offended by your behavior.” Which of the following actions best describes how to improve your own cross-cultural communication with your colleagues in China?
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You’re a sales manager the Andrews Company and it’s time to decide annual bonuses for your sales force. One normally good salesperson completely failed in the fourth quarter dropping his overall sales percentage one point below what is required to earn a bonus. After receiving the news of his overall sales percentage, he reported to you that he didn’t feel good about his fourth-quarter performance because he’s been very distracted with the new knowledge that his mother had been diagnosed with an advanced cancer. Given this information, you decide to award the salesperson with an annual bonus. Which of the following arguments bests captures a Universalist perspective on this decision?
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The decision is not justified because all employees have the right to fair and equitable evaluation of their performance.
The decision is not justified because harm was done to the employee in the long run because the bonus does not reflect his actual level of performance.
The decision is justified because special circumstances required special treatment.
The decision is not justified because previous sales performance was not taken into account.
Because of the fast-paced nature of your team’s project, it has been necessary to make adjustments in “real-time” to the way work is being done. Which of the following actions is most likely to help your team make these kinds of adjustments?
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Gather information that is needed to solve performance problems.
Provide feedback to team members in order to improve performance.
Encourage teammates to help each other correct performance-related mistakes.
Assign the responsibility for solving a performance issue to the person with the problem.
[SOLVED] All of your teammates are dedicated to the project.
>All of your teammates are dedicated to the project. They put in the time and effort to complete their individual assignments and to be adequately prepared for team meetings. However, this time and effort does not seem to translate into effectively sharing information. Which of the following actions is most likely to improve your team’s information sharing?
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Create less structure to allow more open sharing during team meetings.
Encourage more virtual communication among team members.
Share more information about each other’s assignments to boost mutual understanding.
Reduce the number of priorities that are discussed during team meetings.
Since your desk is close to the office supplies closet, it didn’t take long for you to notice that one of your colleagues, Jeffery, visits the office supplies quite frequently. You don’t have any solid evidence that he’s stealing, but you can’t figure out why else he’d be making daily trips into the closet. So you decide to confront Jeffery and he says, "Of course I’m taking office supplies home. And yes, I know that technically it’s stealing, but don’t act for a second like you don’t do it either; heck even the boss takes home a ream or two of paper each month. Look, you and I both know we don’t get paid much and life sucks around here, this is one of the few perks we get on this crummy job." What ethical perspective is Jeffery using to justify his actions?
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Universalism
Relativism
Utilitarianism
Resource allocation
[SOLVED]Your team is working hard to develop a strategy to serve a new client.
Your team is working hard to develop a strategy to serve a new client. Which of the following actions is most important to ensuring an effective strategy is chosen?
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Ask the team member with the most industry-related experience to lead the process.
Suggest that each proposed strategy be evaluated against a set of key objectives.
Invite the client into a meeting to shape the strategy.
Conduct a benchmarking survey of similar clients to determine best strategy.
Which of the following is the defining difference between Perfect Competition and Monopolistic Competition?
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Number of Sellers
Number of Buyers
Differentiation of the Product
Barriers to Entry
An increase in the number of sellers will have what effect on the price and sales of a product?
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Price Increases, Sales Increase
Price Increases, Sales Decrease
Price Decreases, Sales Increase
Price Decreases, Sales Decrease
You work on a multinational team and
You work on a multinational team and just finished leading a long virtual meeting with your colleagues in China. After the meeting, one of your local co-workers called you to ask, “why were you rushing through the meeting? I understand we had important agenda items to complete but you seemed really impatient with the team. I think our Chinese colleagues were clearly offended by your behavior.” Which of the following actions best describes how to improve your own cross-cultural communication with your colleagues in China?
Select : 1
Submit Answer
Larry is in charge of collecting customer service and satisfaction data for his company. He’s not sure which key groups in the company would be the most appropriate audience to communicate the recent customer satisfaction results, including call center employees, senior management, and company-wide. As Larry begins to develop his communication plan, which of the following questions would most help him strategize a plan for targeting a specific audience?
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What does each group know and not know about the customer satisfaction data?
What groups have been informed of customer satisfaction results in the past?
What way can the results be communicated so that they are acceptable to all groups?
What are the consequences of communicating the information to everyone?
You were recently hired by the Andrews CEO as a consultant to evaluate the performance of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As a part of that process, you interview the CFO’s direct reports (employees). Although they indicate that the CFO is technically competent, one individual told you stories about his verbal abuse with employees. Given this information, what would be the least effective next step in the process?
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Inform the human resources department that there is a potential problem.
Collect more information about the extent to which this reported behavior is impacting others.
Tell the CEO about what you have uncovered and ask for her permission to speak about it with the CFO.
Focus on the CFO’s work performance since his personal behavior is inappropriate in the workplace.
Your team has recently experienced some difficulties and setbacks. Some of your teammates have expressed their lack of confidence in the team. Which of the following tactics is most likely to help boost your teammates’ perception of the team’s capability to perform well?
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Identify the team’s weak links that led to the team’s past failures.
Encourage your teammates to focus on the future and not to dwell on the past.
Discuss the past successes your team has had and how the team pulled together to get the job done.
Allow time at a team meeting for everyone to openly share any complaints they might have about one another.
[SOLVED] Chester's balance sheet has $74,255,000 in equity.
Chester's balance sheet has $74,255,000 in equity. Further, the company is expecting net income of 4,000,000 next year, and also expecting to pay $5,000,000 in dividends. If there is no new stock issued what will be Chester's book value?
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The Baldwin company wants to decrease its plant utilization for Bell by 15%. How many units would need to be produced next year to meet this production goal? Ignore impact of accounts payable on plant utilization.
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Assume Digby Corp. is downsizing the size of their workforce by 10% (to the nearest person) next year from various strategic initiatives. Digby is planning to conduct exit interviews to learn more about how they can improve in processes and increase productivity. The exit interviews are estimated to cost $100 per employee in additional to normal separation costs of $5000. How much will the company pay in separation costs if these exit interviews are implemented next year?
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Chester has negotiated a new labor contract for the next round that will affect the cost for their product Cat. Labor costs will go from $2.88 to $3.48 per unit. Assume all period and other variable costs remain the same. If Chester were to absorb the new labor costs without passing them on in the form of higher prices, how many units of product Cat would need to be sold next round to break even on the product?
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[SOLVED] What would Chester Corporation's market capitalization be if the current price rose 10%?
What would Chester Corporation's market capitalization be if the current price rose 10%?
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Assuming no brokerage fees, calculate the amount of cash needed to retire Baldwin's 11.2S2030 bond early.
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Of Baldwin Corporation’s products, which earned the lowest direct labor as a percentage of its sales?
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The Baldwin Company currently has the following balances on their balance sheet: Total Liabilities $56,080 Common Stock $10,729 Retained Earnings $60,351 Suppose next year the Baldwin Company generates $36,500 in net profit and pays $15,000 in dividends and total liabilities and common stock remain unchanged. What must their total assets be next year?
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Baldwin Corp. ended the year carrying $15,786,000 worth of inventory. Had they sold their entire inventory at their current prices, how much more revenue would it have brought to Baldwin Corp.?
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[SOLVED] On the Income Statement, which of the following would be classified as a variable cost?
On the Income Statement, which of the following would be classified as a variable cost?
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Suppose the Baldwin company expands to other markets with good designs, high awareness and easy accessibility, what strategy would they be implementing?
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Digby's turnover rate for this year is 6.33%. This rate is projected to remain the same next year and no further downsizing will occur from automating. Digby plans to spend an additional $500 beyond the extra amount above the $1000 recruiting base it spent this year. The goal of this additional investment is to improve the quality of applicants. What would the total recruiting cost be for Digby next year?
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It is January 2nd and senior management of Digby meets to determine their investment plan for the year. They decide to fully fund a plant and equipment purchase by issuing $10,000,000 in bonds. Assume the bonds are issued at face value and leverage changes to 2.8. Which of the following statements are true? Select all that apply.
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This year Andrews achieved an ROE of 21.6%. Suppose the Board of Directors of Andrews mandates that management take measures to decrease financial Leverage (Assets/Equity) next year. Assuming Sales, Profits, and Assets remain the same next year, what effect would you expect this new Leverage policy will have on Andrews's ROE?
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Andrews ROE will increase
The statement of cash flows for Baldwin Company shows what happens in the Cash account during the year. It can be seen as a summary of the sources and uses of cash (sources of cash are added, uses of cash are subtracted). Please answer which of the following is true if Baldwin's inventory goes up:
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Last year, Baldwin Corp paid their workers $26.81 per hour. How much will they be paying them 2 rounds from then?
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[SOLVED] Which mission statement best represents the Chester company?
Which mission statement best represents the Chester company?
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Innovation meets revolution. We create value for our customers through breakthrough designs that lead to unique high-performance products
[SOLVED] What is the Current Ratio of Chester?
What is the Current Ratio of Chester?
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The Andrews Company has just purchased $59,068,000 of plant and equipment that has an estimated useful life of 15 years. The expected salvage value at the end of 15 years is $5,906,800. What will the accumulated depreciation expense for this purchase (exclude all other plant and equipment) be after its second year of use? (Use FASB GAAP)
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If Baldwin issued 1000 shares of common stock at last year's end price, the effect on the balance sheet would be:
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Midyear on July 31st, the Chester Corporation's balance sheet reported: Total Assets of $243.772 million Total Common Stock of $7.620 million Cash of $12.060 million Retained Earnings of $49.549 million. What were the Chester Corporation's total liabilities?
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Baldwin has a leverage of 1.84 This means that: (Assume leverage is calculated as Assets/Equity)
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Review the Inquirer to determine Digby's current strategy. How will they seek a competitive advantage? From the following list, select the top five sources of competitive advantage that Digby would be most likely to pursue.
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Cat's product manager is under pressure to increase market share, but is uncertain about how to make the product more competitive. The product is reasonably well-positioned in the Thrift segment and enjoys relatively high awareness and accessibility. Which of the following would most likely result in a quick increase in market share?
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Investing $2,000,000 in TQM's Channel Support Systems initiative will at a minimum increase demand for your products 3.0% in this and in all future rounds. (Refer to the TQM Initiative worksheet in the CompXM Decisions menu.) Looking at the Round 0 Inquirer for Andrews, last year's sales were $163,085,264. Assuming similar sales next year, the 3.0% increase in demand will provide $4,892,558 of additional revenue. With the overall contribution margin of 34.1%, after direct costs this revenue will add $1,668,362 to the bottom line. For simplicity, assume that the demand increase and margins will remain at last year's levels. How long will it take to achieve payback on the initial $2,000,000 TQM investment, rounded to the nearest month?
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Looking forward to next year, if Baldwin’s current cash amount is $20,132 (000) and cash flows from operations next period are unchanged from this period and Baldwin takes ONLY the following actions relating to cash flows from investing and financing activities: Issues $2,000 (000) of long-term debt Pays $4,000 (000) in dividends Retires $10,000 (000) in debt Which of the following activities will expose Baldwin to the most risk of needing an emergency loan?
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[SOLVED] Deal is a product of the Digby company. Digby's sales forecast for Deal is 2079 units.
Deal is a product of the Digby company. Digby's sales forecast for Deal is 2079 units. Digby wants to have an extra 10% of units on hand above and beyond their forecast in case sales are better than expected. (They would risk the possibility of excess inventory carrying charges rather than risk lost profits on a stock out.) Taking current inventory into account, what will Deal's Production After Adjustment have to be in order to have a 10% reserve of units available for sale?
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Refer to the HR Reports in the Inquirer. Through past investments in recruiting and training Chester has obtained a productivity index of 109.5%. This means that Chester's labor costs would be increased by 9.5% if it did not have these productivity improvements. This is a competitive advantage that Chester can sustain or even widen further if its competitors have no HR initiatives. Now, refer to the Income Statement in Chester's Annual Report. How much did Chester's productivity improvements save it in direct labor costs (in thousands) last year?
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Increasing the promotional budget for a product is not advisable in the short-term under which of the following circumstances?
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According to information found on the production analysis page of the Inquirer, Baldwin sold 1125 units of Bam in the current year. Assuming that Bam maintains a constant market share, all the units of Bam are sold in the Nano market segment and the growth rate remains constant, how many years will it be before Bam will not be able to meet future demand unless the company adds production capacity? Exclude any existing inventory.
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[SOLVED] Digby's product manager is considering lowering the price of the Dome product by $2.50
Digby's product manager is considering lowering the price of the Dome product by $2.50 and wants to know what the impact will be on the product’s contribution margin. Assuming no inventory carry costs, what will Dome's contribution margin be if the price is lowered?
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In three years, assuming the competitive environment remains unchanged, how many units of Bam will Baldwin be selling in the Nano market segment?
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PREVALENCE OF CARDIO-VASCULAR ILLNESS IN MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA
PREVALENCE OF CARDIO-VASCULAR ILLNESS IN MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA
Introduction
Mental health care globally is one area receiving less focus, and despite this, it is a fact that mental health issues continue to soar and more people are affected. Of all the mental health cases, schizophrenia is the least common but chronic and severe. The symptoms of schizophrenia are very disabling, and interest in the research developed because of getting into contact with a patient suffering from cardiovascular disease who was schizophrenic (Fan et al., 2013). There are always strategies that can be developed and initiated to ensure that mental health patients get to live healthy lives similarly to their counterparts, but dedication and undivided support are vital. These people are human beings like the rest, citizens contributing to society and economy at large; hence have to enjoy the right to healthy lives (Bresee et al., 2010).
Experience from the contact with the schizophrenic patient drove my interest into researching about the topic, the current trends in the public health sector specifically dealing with intellectually disabled persons and lastly what interventions the government, health sector and other stakeholders in the industry have in place to improve the quality of lives of these persons. Despite the data, depicting some conflicting inferences, it can be concluded that recommendable steps have been made in the sector depicting the concern and effort various stakeholders are putting in place to ensure that intellectually disabled persons get to live a healthy life in the country.
Overview
Over the years, mental health issues have been swept under the carpet despite them being prevalent in society. Equality act of 2010 can be considered as the turning point in the management of mental health cases in the United Kingdom, under which schizophrenia is included. Before the bill being signed, most mental health victims may have been exposed to lower quality health care as compared to their counterparts but thanks to the law, changes in their health status are being recognized.
Schizophrenic patients record higher mortality rates as a result of cardiovascular diseases as depicted by research studies carried over the globe and not only in the United Kingdom. With such indexes, there is a need for health practitioners, families and the authority at large to invest more in caring and supporting these victims to ensure that deaths because of cardiovascular diseases are limited and schizophrenic patients get to live healthy lives exposed to little or no risk factors that may lead to cardiovascular diseases.
Various professionals have been significant in the management of schizophrenia and ensuring that schizophrenic patients do not suffer from cardiovascular diseases that may be brought about by their behaviors and lifestyles. The intervention strategies include developing proper diet plans that ensure these victims eat balanced diets and not only foods rich in fats, a precursor to cardiovascular disease development. Developing practice plans that ensure these patients exercise physically hence breaking the monotony of their sedentary lives and prescribing best medication for their conditions.
Definitions, statistics, and impacts
Meehl (2017) defines schizophrenia as a severe and long-term mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms. In most cases, schizophrenia is a particular type of psychosis whereby the victims are not able to distinguish the reality from their ideas and thoughts.
Data has it that one in every six people in the United Kingdom suffers from mental health at one stage in their lives and one in every 100 will experience a schizophrenic episode. An astonishing fact about schizophrenia is that it affects individuals from all lifestyles or social backgrounds, regardless of gender or social class. National Health Service (NHS) treats around 220,000 cases of schizophrenia annually, and these patients have an incidence of between 5- 10 percent of dying within 10 years after diagnosis (NHS, n.d.). Compared to the other population, this mortality incidence percentage is high. Regarding cost, schizophrenia is an economic burden in the United Kingdom (UK) as mental health cases cost the economy close to £77 Billion annually, and this calculated in percentage is close to 4 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (NHS, n.d.).
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) on the other end are a class of ailments related to the heart and blood vessels. Examples of CDV’s include coronary artery diseases, stroke, heart failure, Venus thrombosis and congenital heart disease (World Health Organization, 2017). Despite 90 percent of CDV disease being preventable, statistics have it that it is the leading cause of mortality globally accounting for tens of millions of deaths annually.
Mortality among schizophrenic victims because of cardio-vascular illnesses has significantly elevated over the years, and despite the research and studies were done in this area, no single cause can be attributed to being a cause of the occurrence (NHS, n.d.). Deductions from this may be that the area has not been adequately addressed or no strict studies have been undertaken in the area. An example is the sedentary life of schizophrenic people hence increased incidences of diseases related to CDV (Taylor & Perera, 2015).
Role of a nurse practitioner in assisting Schizophrenic patients with cardiovascular disease
People with schizophrenia are the most affected by cardiovascular diseases, given the likelihood of the unhealthy life that they live. The basis of this statement is from statistics that show that schizophrenic patients record higher mortality rates from CDV compared to their counterparts, hence the need to develop appropriate public health interventions explicitly targeting this group of people with the aim of reversing the trend (Laursen et al., 2012).
Schizophrenic people just like other people with mental issues need adequate access to healthcare, and nurses as the primary health practitioners in the UK more likely to come into contact with them have to understand the needs of this select group of people. The equality act of 2010 makes this a mandatory requirement for people with mental disability, an area under which schizophrenia perfectly suits.
Research by Laursen et al., (2012) showed that the lifestyle of schizophrenic people is a leading factor towards their increased incidences of CVD’s but there also exists other factors contributing to that but with a much lower significance as compared to lifestyle. Given this, the central role of a nurse, at this phase is to enable schizophrenic victims with CVD’s live quality life.
There are strategies and programs in place to ensure that health practitioners play a vital role in providing medical support to schizophrenic patients with CDV. Contrary, studies have shown that inadequacy in relevant skills and knowledge as a result of inadequate training and reluctance to accept more responsibilities are leading factors towards limiting nurses offering services to these patients (Ringen et al., 2014).
Schizophrenic patients require assistance in managing their health despite their being variance in dependency on families or other practitioners to assist. The result is that nurses have to lias with family members or other people close to the patient to ensure that communication regarding the health needs of the patient, decision making and other health-related activities is enhanced for the health benefit of the schizophrenic patient (Bradshaw & Pedley, 2012). Given the sedentary life of most schizophrenic patients, developing issues like high blood pressure and being overweight is common and these are the leading risk factors for CVD. Nurses have a role to play, like ensuring that regular health check-ups are carried out on these people and the right medication or public health intervention auctioned.
Nurses also have the responsibility of enhancing self-management knowledge through public health education. The primary aim of this is to develop constructive and sustainable strategies aimed at mitigating the risk factors for CDV amongst schizophrenic patients (Videbeck & Videbeck, 2013). This may not be necessarily on the patients, but adults or family members of the patients may be advised and educated on the need to change their lifestyle or behavior patterns to limit the risks factors for developing CDV amongst schizophrenic persons. Nurses are professionally required to play this role effectively. Communication skills and knowledge of the particular nurse about the care and health needs of the schizophrenic patient with CDV is crucial in undertaking such a responsibility.
Prescription of medication in case a prior one is considered ineffective may be required and as a nurse frequently assessing the health condition of the patient, protocol to initiate such changes have to be observed. Prescriptions that trigger unlikely responses from the patient have to be substituted and given the fact that stress may be a risk factor to behavioral changes that may risk the development of CDV among schizophrenic patients; interaction with the patient in a manner that develops trust is a role to be played by the nurse. Development of such a relationship between the patient and the nurse not only enables the nurse to attain vital information from the patient but also enables the family and health practitioner to develop strategies and make decisions applicable and effective to the health of the patient (Videbeck & Videbeck, 2013).
Involvement of the patient, family and health practitioner (nurse)
Caring for schizophrenic victims with CVD is a responsibility to be performed by the family, health practitioner and the individual patient. Despite most people considering mental health cases victims like those who have schizophrenia as being incapable of making an informed decision, it is vital to involve them in the decision-making process since it is their health at stake and they have the right to make decisions also. Exceptional cases like where the victim is a minor or have been proved medically to be incapable of making such decisions are common, and it is only in such scenarios where the patient may be excluded from the decision-making process (Kakuma et al., 2011).
In most cases, schizophrenic patients live with their families, friends or extended families and it is always essential to ensure that all the people in close and frequent contact with the patient get to understand the condition their mate is suffering from to reduce conflicting instances. These family members and close acquaintances, commonly referred to as informal carers have to be actively involved in decision-making. Nurses have to ensure that the family members are presented with national policies and strategies that make it easier for them to assess the health needs of schizophrenic patients hence making it easier for the health practitioners to make informed decisions regarding the health status of the patient (Kakuma et al., 2011).
The support given to the schizophrenic patient has to be developed in a manner that makes it easier for both the nurse and family deliver health care that is manageable. Contact between the family and health practitioner is essential in ensuring that a strategy to offer the schizophrenic patient health care without any hardship or inequality on both ends hence regardless of the service provided by the family or nurse, the patient is satisfied (Richards et al., 2010). The family also plays a vital role in conjunction with the nurse and the patient may develop routines aimed at improving the health of the CDV schizophrenic patient. Like having routine chores that may enable the schizophrenic patient exercise. Diet management is also vital, and the parties involved may work together to develop a dietary routine that is healthy for the patient. Example, more vegetables may be included in the diet of the patient and foods with high levels of fats minimized, and this acts as a strategy to reinstate the health of the schizophrenic patient.
Characteristic health problems is also an area, which requires assistance and support from the parties involved; family and health practitioners. In some instances, schizophrenic patients with CVD may find it hard to express their emotions or communicate effectively. With the aid of the family, the connection that has been initially developed between the patients and their kinship they can be able to express their emotions or feelings. This may be vital in enabling health practitioners to make decisions regarding the health condition of the patient and develop supportive interventions (Kates et al., 2011).
Patients with schizophrenia and suffering from CDV’s are in most cases admitted to hospitals because of acute emergency conditions that can be easily avoided. Involvement of the patient’s family in the treatment process may play a significant role in minimizing the occurrence and likelihood of such emergency hospitalization cases depicting an improvement in the quality of life of the patient and limiting the economic burden because of frequent hospitalization of schizophrenic patients suffering from CDV’s. Engagement of the family and the nurse effectively ensures that knowledge and information for effective home-based care for the schizophrenic patient is initiated. The information provided by the nurse to the family and the victim is aimed at ensuring that the decisions made are sustainable and aim to improve the health status of the patient. Poor coordination and involvement of the parties in the treatment process increase the risks of failure, and the results may be deteriorated the health status of the patient or even mortality (Kates et al., 2011). To avoid such, it is always important to ensure that all the parties involved actively take part in the decision-making and initiation of health programs and strategies for the patient.
Roles played by different professionals in caring for schizophrenic victims suffering from CDV’s
Caring for schizophrenic patients with CDV involves various professionals. Nursing as a healthcare profession is considered the most involved in caring for these people but in reality, multiple professionals are involved but nurses play a major role, and that goes undisputed. The support provided by nurses is crucial as they provide physical care, public health advice and even support (Azad et al., 2016). The family and schizophrenic patient with CDV can share emotions and feelings with the nurse with the aim of relieving stress
Schizophrenic victims have a speech disorder. The order in which they organize their speech may be hard for others to understand. Speech pathologists role, in this case, is to work with these patients to help them manage their communication. These pathologists educate both the family and schizophrenic patient, and this is vital to enable the patient to communicate about their feelings and conditions about CDV’s. Communication is essential in ensuring that the right medication and decisions are made and limits the probability of misdiagnosis (Lee et al., 2017).
Apart from exercise, diet is important in enabling CDV patients to manage their conditions and live a healthy life. Dieticians help schizophrenic patients suffering from CDV’s and their families develop a healthy eating plan that is focused on the health needs of the victim. The objective is to enable the schizophrenic patient to eat healthy to reinstate their health condition or avoid risks factors that may lead to CDV. Emotional, practical and social support are required for schizophrenic patients with CDV and their families. These forms of support aid in relieving pain and gaining a better understanding of the system and social workers provide this support effectively (Lee et al., 2017). The families of schizophrenic CDV patients and the patients may take the initiative of enrolling themselves in societal groups that may offer these types of support or nurses, and other practitioners may pinpoint an organization where this support may be sort from. The main role of social workers, in this case, is to enable families, schizophrenic patients suffering from CDV adjust to changes, and experiences brought about because of the rehabilitation process (Azad et al., 2016). Pharmacists are also an essential professional in caring for schizophrenic patients with CDV. The medication provided to these patients may have effects and pharmacists may provide the information regarding these effects.
In some cases, the drugs provided may be ineffective, it is the role of the pharmacists to review the medication and advice health professionals on what changes can be made if necessary. Volunteers also work in close association with the health practitioners and aid in providing practical and emotional help. These include tasks such as getting schizophrenic patients to appointments. Specifically, volunteers do not replace paid health practitioners — psychologist’s aid in managing social factors, behaviors, and emotions related to schizophrenia and CDV. Psychologists may develop non-drug approaches that aid in the management of pain and health.
Pastoral care workers and chaplains are also essential healthcare professionals in managing schizophrenic patients suffering from CDV. Regardless of religion, pastoral care workers and chaplains provide emotional and spiritual support in rehabilitation.
The proposed plan of care and support
There is a need to develop a plan that is both manageable financially and sustainable in caring for schizophrenic patients with CVD. Lifestyle concerns are an important factor in the management of CDV. Practices such as smoking which is widely associated with CVD mortality is high among Schizophrenic patients as compared to the other population with indexes standing at about three times higher. Programs to ensure that these categories of people are educated against such practices are important as a health intervention to enable schizophrenic patients to limit risks for developing CDV (American Diabetes Association, 2015).
Schizophrenia is associated with a sedentary behavior that is associated with an increased risk of being overweight, a prerequisite risk for developing CDV. A plan to ensure that schizophrenic individuals engage in physical activities is essential and to improve their fitness hence reducing risks of developing Cardiovascular related illnesses (Bresee et al., 2010). The activities selected for a schizophrenic patient have to consider their functioning levels, and the nature of the psychiatric setting the victim is exposed to. Diet is also an important consideration when developing a care plan for schizophrenic patients. To avoid include foods rich in calories, carbohydrates, and fats as they increase the risk of CVD. People with schizophrenia have unhealthy diets if let to make diet decisions on their own, so it is important to develop a plan with balanced nutrition. Eating habits also have to be observed to ensure that these patients are served the right amounts of foods so that instances of overeating or undereating that may lead to eating disorders are minimized (De Hert et al., 2011).
Medication with Antipsychotic is a central and significant element in the treatment of schizophrenia. Some of this medication are obesogenic hence the need to ensure that these patients adopt an active lifestyle to reduce instances of developing CDV risks (Bresee et al., 2010). Adherence to medication is also a problem given the personal suffering associated with them, hence the need to include a plan that makes drug adherence a priority among these patients, and effectively may be making a family member monitor these patients to ensure that they do take their medication as prescribed.
Conclusion
Schizophrenia may be a rare condition but based on the facts, the economic burden is high, and interventions have to be made to ensure that the condition is managed and people suffering from it live a quality life, similarly to the other citizens in the country. Mortality and morbidity cases related to cardiovascular diseases are high among schizophrenic patients, hence the need for families and health professionals to intervene. Their sedentary lives and behaviors are considered as the main factors in them developing cardiovascular-related illnesses, whereby these diseases can be easily managed if proper care is initiated in time.
Various professionals are involved in the management of the health of schizophrenic patients, from families, social workers, nurses and even psychologists. Of importance is to ensure that proper communication is maintained for medication and all vital information assessed before decisions regarding the health of the victim are made. Schizophrenic patients also have the right to be involved in decision-making and made aware of the practices they are made to go through as a way of limiting aggressive behaviors that may be depicted at times.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2015). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2015 abridged for primary care providers. Clinical diabetes: a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 33(2), 97.
Azad, M. C., Shoesmith, W. D., Al Mamun, M., Abdullah, A. F., Naing, D. K. S., Phanindranath, M., & Turin, T. C. (2016). Cardiovascular diseases among patients with schizophrenia. Asian journal of psychiatry, 19, 28-36. Retrieved from http://www.ums.edu.my/fpsk/images/Journal/J.2016/2.11.pdf
Bradshaw, T., & Pedley, R. (2012). Evolving role of mental health nurses in the physical health care of people with serious mental health illness. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 21(3), 266-273.Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/download/41981126/Evolving_role_of_mental_health_nurses_in20160203-22315-151ydzs.pdf
Bresee, L. C., Majumdar, S. R., Patten, S. B., & Johnson, J. A. (2010). Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and disease in people with schizophrenia: a population-based study. Schizophrenia research, 117(1), 75-82.
Bresee, L. C., Majumdar, S. R., Patten, S. B., & Johnson, J. A. (2010). Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and disease in people with schizophrenia: a population-based study. Schizophrenia research, 117(1), 75-82.
De Hert, M., Correll, C. U., Bobes, J., Cetkovich?Bakmas, M. A. R. C. E. L. O., Cohen, D. A. N., Asai, I., ... & Newcomer, J. W. (2011). Physical illness in patients with severe mental disorders. I. Prevalence, impact of medications and disparities in health care. World psychiatry, 10(1), 52-77. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/j.2051-5545.2011.tb00014.x
Fan, Z., Wu, Y., Shen, J., Ji, T., & Zhan, R. (2013). Schizophrenia and the risk of cardiovascular diseases: a meta-analysis of thirteen cohort studies. Journal of psychiatric research, 47(11), 1549-1556.
Kakuma, R., Minas, H., van Ginneken, N., Dal Poz, M. R., Desiraju, K., Morris, J. E., ... & Scheffler, R. M. (2011). Human resources for mental health care: current situation and strategies for action. The Lancet, 378(9803), 1654-1663. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/entity/workforcealliance/knowledge/resources/lancet_hrmentalhealth_oct2011.pdf?ua=1
Kates, N., Mazowita, G., Lemire, F., Jayabarathan, A., Bland, R., Selby, P., ... & Audet, D. (2011). The evolution of collaborative mental health care in Canada: A shared vision for the future. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(5), I1.
Laursen, T. M., Munk-Olsen, T., & Vestergaard, M. (2012). Life expectancy and cardiovascular mortality in persons with schizophrenia. Current opinion in psychiatry, 25(2), 83-88.
Lee, J., Nurjono, M., Wong, A., & Salim, A. (2017). Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among patients with schizophrenia in Singapore. Retrieved from https://open-access.imh.com.sg/bitstream/123456789/4562/1/Prevalence%20of%20Metabolic%20Syndrome%20Among%20Patients%20with%20Schizophrenia%20in%20Singapore.pdf
Meehl, P. E. (2017). Schizotaxia, schizotypy, schizophrenia. In Schizophrenia (pp. 21-46). Routledge.
NHS. Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/
Richards, K., Campenni, C., & Muse-Burke, J. (2010). Self-care and well-being in mental health professionals: The mediating effects of self-awareness and mindfulness. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 32(3), 247-264. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/C_Campenni/publication/279741291_Self-care_and_Well-being_in_Mental_Health_Professionals_The_Mediating_Effects_of_Self-awareness_and_Mindfulness/links/5bbb917d299bf1049b74f8d2/Self-care-and-Well-being-in-Mental-Health-Professionals-The-Mediating-Effects-of-Self-awareness-and-Mindfulness.pdf
Ringen, P. A., Engh, J. A., Birkenaes, A. B., Dieset, I., & Andreassen, O. A. (2014). Increased mortality in schizophrenia due to cardiovascular disease–a non-systematic review of epidemiology, possible causes, and interventions. Frontiers in psychiatry, 5, 137.
Taylor, M., & Perera, U. (2015). NICE CG178 Psychosis and Schizophrenia in Adults: Treatment and Management–an evidence-based guideline?. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 206(5), 357-359. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark_Taylor18/publication/275717402_NICE_CG178_Psychosis_and_Schizophrenia_in_Adults_Treatment_and_Management_-_an_evidence-based_guideline/links/55ed109d08ae21d099c7459b/NICE-CG178-Psychosis-and-Schizophrenia-in-Adults-Treatment-and-Management-an-evidence-based-guideline.pdf
Videbeck, S., & Videbeck, S. (2013). Psychiatric-mental health nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
World Health Organization. (2017). Noncommunicable diseases: progress monitor 2017.
Code Switching As Language Acquiring StrategyBackground and
Code Switching As Language Acquiring Strategy
Background and rationale
Control processes are what govern speech comprehension and production. In most cases, code-switching has been utilized by language speakers to achieve a particular objective, and in most cases, code-switching is influenced by recurrent demands dictated by the context of interaction (Auer, 2013). The globe is tremendously changing and given the fact that it is becoming a global village, learning foreign language especially international ones like English, Spanish, French and even mandarin is growing inevitable.
In the course of the conversation, it is necessary to decide on a particular code and change between various languages by either code-mixing or code-switching. In some instances, when multilingual or bilingual people converse, their first language influences them to a greater extent yet there is a way to control the first language’s influence. For the people, not very conversant with international foreign languages, cognitive control of code-switching may be the most effective way of enhancing their understanding of foreign languages. Myers?Scotton (2017) states that most monolingual speakers view multilingualism as unimportant as they fail to understand the real essence of multilingualism or bilingualism in real life and this has been found to be the primary holding back factor against them developing interests in learning foreign languages.
Aims and Objectives
The primary objective of this research is to understand the more excellent details of how cognitive code-switching may be utilized as a strategy for enhancing multilingualism. Other goals to be satisfied by this research include; determine the perception the community has towards code-switching and the impact of code-switching on learning foreign languages.
Research questions
Research questions that are aimed at guiding this research include;
a. What is the impact of cognitive code-switching on conversations?
b. What perceptions do the people have on code-switching and learning foreign languages?
c. What influence does code-switching have on learning foreign languages?
Theoretical framework and methodological approach
The focus for the research revolves around institutions of higher learning in China, explicitly selecting Chinese students. The main reason behind the selection of this group of people is the exposure they have gained in foreign languages that have molded their unique view of the society, politics and ethic portions of the different people in China.
Data collection, analysis, and discussion are the major considerate activities to be undertaken for the research to be complete. The primary source of data would be reviews from literature and the responses made by the study sample of 100 students selected randomly from Chinese students in institutions of higher learning within the country.
The principal method of data collection to be utilized for the research is questionnaires with standardized Likert scale format. The scale comprises of indexes labeled 1-5. Where 1- strongly agree, 2- agree, 3- undecided, 4- disagree, 5- strongly disagree. Instructions ought to be offered before the respondents are included in the research to ensure that validity is observed.
The main collaboration deemed essential in this research is support from the languages department of the university. The lecturers and other stakeholders in the department are considered the main consultants in this case and their support would be highly appreciated.
On matters ethics, safeguarding the respondent’s information, using the data for the right intended purpose and seeking informed consent before incorporating respondents into the research would be the key factors to consider.
Analytic discussion of scholarly research to date
The issue of cognitive code-switching has been the focus for most researchers recently, and this may be as a result of the increased intercultural interaction being experienced all over the globe currently. Thanks to contributions by Shana Poplack and Carol Myers-Scottons contributions in the area of linguistic code-switching as their models form the basis for most researches in the sector and formation of strategies that facilitate second language acquisition. The research apart from contributing to the literature in the sector, also play a role in the coining of strategies that aim at effectively utilizing cognitive code-switching in learning foreign languages.
References
Auer, P. (Ed.). (2013). Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity. Routledge. Retrieved from http://catalogtxtgin.info/peter-auer-code-switching-in-conversation-language-interaction-and-identitypdf-archive-gin-book.pdf
Myers?Scotton, C. (2017). Code?switching. The handbook of sociolinguistics, 217-237.
STAFF FUTUREHuman resource management in projects is
STAFF FUTURE
Human resource management in projects is of crucial importance. The success or failure of a project largely hinges on the way the human resource management department functions, coupled up with the programs and strategies enacted to manage employees in the project. Facts have it that project durations differ, like one project may run for a week while others run for over a decade, but regardless of the duration, all projects aimed at delivering what was initially promised. Failure to deliver means the project is a failure and was just as good as not being run.
For our case, project A is expected to run till 2025, and with the current employees, the dilemma is the human resource management plan. Is there need to recruit more employees or does using the current pool of employees till the end of the project advisable. The most viable option may be to use the current pool of employees to the end of the project but in various, unavoidable circumstances recruitment of new employees may be inevitable especially in instances where new skills and expertise that is missing in the current pool of employees is required.
The first significant reason behind settling for using the current pool of employees until the end of the project is workplace culture. Staff are a replaceable resource, but the quality of experience and dedication among the employees is an essential ingredient to project success. Workplace culture is developed only when employees get to interact over a more extended period working together and with a high turnover of employees in the form of newer recruitments, developing and maintaining a workplace culture may be hard.
Loyalty is also created when the employees who started the project are retained to completion. The impact loyalty creates is that a positive relationship between the project management team and the employees is established which goes a long way into ensuring that the employees are satisfied. With satisfaction, morale is boosted among the employees hence the quality of deliverables raised, conflict resolution becomes an easy task to handles, and it is more likely that these employees may go beyond what is required from them with the aim of aiding the project, something that may be unfamiliarly experienced with recruited new employees.
Retaining employees also improves their experience with the approach of project management the organisation utilises and this is invaluable. These employees compared to recruited ones are always in a better position to advertise the organisation hence increase its marketability, unlike newer contracted employees. The quality of projects delivered by these teams is always of high quality hence endear the project organisation to its clients.
The other issue at stake is identifying top talent that can be maintained by the shareholders. There are various strategies that can be applied, first would be important to do away with the traditional aspects of identifying top talents which solely relied on the manager’s instincts and deductions from observations.
Leadership would be the foundation for selecting top talents based on three vital leadership aspects which are foundations of leadership, emergence and lastly effectiveness. With foundation, one would observe how employees manage their careers, example how they handle work-related issues like conflicts and social interaction. With leadership emergence, the employees may be categorised based on how they stand out as compared to their peers. Those that are naturally viewed as leaders and exert a massive influence on their peers may always prove to be top talents as compared to others. Lastly under aspects of leadership when identifying top talent is leadership effectiveness. Under leadership effectiveness, especially for the project team, the focus may be on team leaders. Like the leaders who always drive their teams to success always stand out and these leaders also have to depict some sense of maintaining these high performing teams and this is primarily based on their leadership skills.
In accordance with Harvard Business Review, the other strategy that may be applied in the move to identify top talent is to use three distinguished markers which are a drive, social skills and ability. On ability, the employees with the capability of strategically thinking and adapting to the organizations changing environments are considered top talents and may prove crucial if maintained by the organisation. Emotional intelligence is what defines social skills, and top talents in an organisation are the employees able to carry themselves with integrity and dignity apart from effectively managing others. Lastly, is a drive which is the will and desire to work extra hard as compared to one’s peers and driven by the desire to achieve. Behaviorally, the drive can be manifested through the willingness of an employee to take additional roles, sacrifices made and eagerness to take newer responsibilities. Incorporating the two distinct aspects of identifying top talents in an organisation may prove useful.
What happens with the other employees once top talents have been identified and projects have been completed primarily rests with the stakeholders of the project, but productive advice is that the contracts with these employees have to be maintained in a manner that is cheaper and easily managed by the organisation. The reason behind such a decision is that, even though these employees may not be top talents, they have the experience and expertise of running a project based on the experience gained and may prove beneficial to the organisation in future. These employees may be easier to incorporate in future projects as compared to newer recruits.
[SOLVED] Which company has the most efficient SG&A / Sales ratio?
Which company has the most efficient SG&A / Sales ratio?
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Your Competitive Intelligence team reports that a wave of product liability lawsuits is likely to cause Digby to pull the product Dome entirely off the market this year. Assume Digby scraps all capacity and inventory this round, completely writing off those assets and escrowing the proceeds to a settlement fund, and assume these lawsuits will have no effect on any other products of Digby or other companies. Without Digby's product Dome how much can the industry currently produce in the Core segment? Consider only products primarily in the Core segment last year. Ignore current inventories. Figures in thousands (000).
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11,860
[SOLVED] Last year Aft charged $5,040,000 Depreciation on the Income Statement of Andrews.
Last year Aft charged $5,040,000 Depreciation on the Income Statement of Andrews. If Aft sold a fully depreciated piece of equipment at a loss, the effect on Andrews's financial statements would be (all other items remaining equal):
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Currently Chester is paying a dividend of $10.65 (per share). If this dividend stayed the same, but the stock price rose by 10% what would be the dividend yield?
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In the Month of March, Digby Corporation received orders of 145 units at a price of $15.00 for their product Daze. Digby uses the accrual method of accounting and offers 30 day credit terms. Digby delivers 96 units in March and the balance of 48 units in April. They received payment for 48 units in March, 48 units in April, and 48 units in May. How much revenue is recognized on the March income statement from this order? How much in the April Income statement? (Answer in thousands)
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Chester Corporation is considering adding capacity to their Cake product, currently automated to 7.0. Assume: - They will use the new capacity next year to make and sell 200 additional units (000). - Each unit of capacity will cost $34.00. - Cake's price will be unchanged at $34.00. - Material costs will remain $13.04 next year. - Labor costs will remain $5.34 on first shift, and $7.91 on second shift. - Bond interest will remain 12.3% next year. - Depreciation will be straight line over 15 years. - SG&A costs can be ignored because they would be the same with or without the new capacity. Which of the following tactics will yield the highest ROI in their first year of production?
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Buy 100 units of capacity. Finance the $3,400 purchase entirely with a stock issue
Chester Corp. is downsizing the size of their workforce by 10% (to the nearest person) next year from various strategic initiatives. How much will the company pay in separation costs if each worker receives $5,000 when separated?
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[SOLVED] The Baldwin's balance sheet has $94,137,000 in equity.
The Baldwin's balance sheet has $94,137,000 in equity. Further, the company is expecting $3,000,000 in net income next year. Assuming no dividends are paid and no stock is issued, what would their Book Value be next year?
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The Digby company will continue to train their existing workforce at their current level to help reduce turnover and improve productivity next year. Employee training costs $20 per hour. How much would their training costs per employee be to the nearest dollar?
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[SOLVED] Which description best fits Chester in your industry? For clarity:
Which description best fits Chester in your industry? For clarity: - A differentiator competes through good designs, high awareness, and easy accessibility. - A cost leader competes on price by reducing costs and passing the savings to customers. - A broad player competes in all parts of the market. - A niche player competes in selected parts of the market. Which of these four statements best describes this competitor?
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Assuming no brokerage fees, calculate the amount of cash needed to retire Baldwin's 11.2S2027 bond early.
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-$775,219
The Chester company will increase its automation for the Cid product by 2.0. Assuming no further change in capacity, how much will this investment in automation cost?
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How much would it cost for Chester Corporation to repurchase all its outstanding shares if the price went up by 10%? Assume no brokerage fees.
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Of Chester Corporation’s products, which earned the lowest direct labor as a percentage of its sales?
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Chester has negotiated a new labor contract for the next round that will affect the cost for their product Cake. Labor costs will go from $7.51 to $8.11 per unit. Assume all period and other variable costs remain the same. If Chester were to absorb the new labor costs without passing them on in the form of higher prices, how many units of product Cake would need to be sold next round to break even on the product?
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1,354
[SOLVED] The Baldwin company currently has the following balances on their balance sheet:
The Baldwin company currently has the following balances on their balance sheet: Assets $219,040 Common Stock $52,266 Retained earnings $34,045 Suppose next year the Baldwin Company generates $20,000 in net profit, pays $10,000 in dividends, assets change to $151,000, and common stock remains unchanged. What must their total liabilities be next year?
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The statement of cash flows for Baldwin Company shows what happens in the Cash account during the year. It can be seen as a summary of the sources and uses of cash (sources of cash are added, uses of cash are subtracted). Please answer which of the following is true if Baldwin issues bonds:
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The Baldwin's workforce complement will grow by 10% (rounded to the nearest person) next year. Ignoring downsizing from automating, what would their total recruiting cost be? Assume Baldwin spends the same amount extra above the $1,000 recruiting base as they did last year.
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Chester Corp. ended the year carrying $14,319,000 worth of inventory. Had they sold their entire inventory at their current prices, how much more revenue would it have brought to Chester Corp.?
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Which description best fits Digby? For clarity: - A differentiator competes through good designs, high awareness, and easy accessibility. - A cost leader competes on price by reducing costs and passing the savings to customers. - A broad player competes in all parts of the market. - A niche player competes in selected parts of the market. Which of these four statements best describes this competitor?
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Next year Baldwin plans to include an additional performance bonus of 0.25% in its compensation plan. This incentive will be provided in addition to the annual raise, if productivity goals are reached. Assuming the goals are reached, how much will Baldwin pay its employees per hour?
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It is January 2nd and senior management of Baldwin meets to determine their investment plan for the year. They decide to fully fund a plant and equipment purchase by issuing 75,000 shares of stock plus a new bond issue. Assume the stock can be issued at yesterday’s stock price ($27.57) and leverage changes to 2.8. Which of the following statements are true? Select all that apply.
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[SOLVED] On the income statement, which of the following would be classified as a Period cost?
On the income statement, which of the following would be classified as a Period cost?
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[SOLVED] This year Andrews achieved an ROE of 18.4%.
This year Andrews achieved an ROE of 18.4%. Suppose the Board of Directors of Andrews mandates that management take measures to decrease financial Leverage (Assets/Equity) next year. Assuming Sales, Profits, and Assets remain the same next year, what effect would you expect this new Leverage policy will have on Andrews's ROE?
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Andrews ROE will increase
[SOLVED] What is the Profit Margin of Chester?
What is the Profit Margin of Chester?
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[SOLVED] The Chester Company has just issued $6,493,586 in dividends last year.
The Chester Company has just issued $6,493,586 in dividends last year. The effect of this payment on the balance sheet is:
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[SOLVED] Review the Inquirer to determine Chester’s current strategy
Review the Inquirer to determine Chester’s current strategy. Where will they seek a competitive advantage? From the following list, select the top five sources of competitive advantage that Chester would be most likely to pursue.
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Which description best fits Baldwin in your industry? For clarity: - A differentiator competes through good designs, high awareness, and easy accessibility. - A cost leader competes on price by reducing costs and passing the savings to customers. - A broad player competes in all parts of the market. - A niche player competes in selected parts of the market. Which of these four statements best describes this competitor?
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Rank the following companies from high to low cumulative profit, (in descending order, 1=highest, 4=lowest).
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The Andrews Company has just purchased $59,328,000 of plant and equipment that has an estimated useful life of 15 years. The expected salvage value at the end of 15 years is $5,932,800. What will the depreciation expense for this purchase (exclude all other plant and equipment) be for the second year of use? (Use FASB GAAP)
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$3,559,680
[SOLVED]Midyear on July 31st, the Digby Corporation's balance sheet reported:
Midyear on July 31st, the Digby Corporation's balance sheet reported: Total Liabilities of $25.487 million Cash of $2.010 million Total Assets of $40.680 million Total Common Stock of $1.270 million. What were the Digby Corporation's retained earnings?
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[SOLVED]Chester has an asset turnover of 1.53 (Asset Turnover = Sales/Assets). That means:
Chester has an asset turnover of 1.53 (Asset Turnover = Sales/Assets). That means:
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Chester's Elite product Cedar has an awareness of 72%. Chester's Cedar product manager for the Elite segment is determined to have more awareness for Cedar than Andrews' Elite product Acre. She knows that the first $1M in promotion generates 22% new awareness, the second million adds 23% more and the third million adds another 5%. She also knows one-third of Cedar's existing awareness is lost every year. Assuming that Acre's awareness stays the same next year (77%), out of the promotion budgets below, what is the minimum Chester's Elite product manager should spend in promotion to earn more awareness than Andrews' Acre product?
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Which description best fits Andrews? For clarity: - A differentiator competes through good designs, high awareness, and easy accessibility. - A cost leader competes on price by reducing costs and passing the savings to customers. - A broad player competes in all parts of the market. - A niche player competes in selected parts of the market. Which of these four statements best describes your company's current strategy?
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Assuming no direct factory overhead costs (i.e., inventory carry costs) and $2.75 million dollars in combined promotion and sales budget, the Bold product manager wishes to achieve a product contribution margin of 30%. Given their product currently is priced at $35.00, what would they need to limit the material and labor costs to?
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According to information found on the production analysis page of the Inquirer, Chester sold 1129 units of Cake in the current year. Assuming that Cake maintains a constant market share, all the units of Cake are sold in the Nano market segment and the growth rate remains constant, how many years will it be before Cake will not be able to meet future demand unless the company adds production capacity? Exclude any existing inventory.
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Assuming Digby’s current market share for its Dell product remains the same, how many units of Dell should Digby expect to sell in the primary segment for the upcoming year?
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A productivity index of 110% means that a company’s labor costs would have been 10% higher if it had not made production improvements. Assume that Digby had a productivity index of 112% and that Baldwin had a productivity index of 103%. Now refer to the Income Statements in the Annual Report for Digby and Baldwin. Using the labor costs shown in the Income Statements, how much more did Digby save in direct labor costs compared to Baldwin by having a higher productivity index?
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Looking forward to next year, if Chester’s current cash amount is $17,624 (000) and cash flows from operations next period are unchanged from this period and Chester takes ONLY the following actions relating to cash flows from investing and financing activities: Issues $2,000 (000) of long-term debt Pays $4,000 (000) in dividends Retires $10,000 (000) in debt Which of the following activities will expose Chester to the most risk of needing an emergency loan?
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Investing $2,000,000 in TQM's Channel Support Systems initiative will at a minimum increase demand for your products 1.7% in this and in all future rounds. (Refer to the TQM Initiative worksheet in the CompXM.xls Decisions menu.) Looking at the Round 0 Inquirer for Andrews, last year's sales were $163,712,225. Assuming similar sales next year, the 1.7% increase in demand will provide $2,783,108 of additional revenue. With the overall contribution margin of 34.2%, after direct costs this revenue will add $951,823 to the bottom line. For simplicity, assume that the demand increase and margins will remain at last year's levels. How long will it take to achieve payback on the initial $2,000,000 TQM investment, rounded to the nearest month?
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Bid is a product of the Baldwin company which is primarily in the Nano segment, but is also sold in another segment. Baldwin starts to create their sales forecast by assuming all policies (R&D, Marketing, and Production) for all competitors are equal this year over last. For this question assume that all 700 of units of Bid are sold in the Nano segment. If the competitive environment remains unchanged what will be the Bid product’s demand next year (in 000’s)?
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Demand is created through meeting customer buying criteria, credit terms, awareness (promotion) and accessibility (distribution). According to the Thrift segment's customers, which of these products was the most competitive at the end of last year?
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The statement of cash flows for Baldwin Company shows what happens in the Cash account during the year. It can be seen as a summary of the sources and uses of cash (sources of cash are added, uses of cash are subtracted). Please answer which of the following is true if Baldwin repurchases some of its common stock:
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This year Andrews achieved an ROE of 19.9%. Suppose next year the profit margin (Net Income/Sales) increases. Assuming sales, assets and financial leverage remain the same next year, what effect would you expect this action to have on Andrews's ROE?
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[SOLVED]On the income statement, which of the following would be classified as a Period cost?
On the income statement, which of the following would be classified as a Period cost?
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It is January 2nd and senior management of Digby meets to determine their investment plan for the year. They decide to fully fund a plant and equipment purchase by issuing $10,000,000 in bonds. Assume the bonds are issued at face value and leverage changes to 2.8. Which of the following statements are true? Select all that apply.
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The Digby's workforce complement will grow by 20% (rounded to the nearest person) next year. Ignoring downsizing from automating, what would their total recruiting cost be? Assume Digby spends the same amount extra above the $1,000 recruiting base as they did last year.
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Next year Baldwin plans to include an additional performance bonus of 0.5% in its compensation plan. This incentive will be provided in addition to the annual raise, if productivity goals are reached. Assuming the goals are reached, how much will Baldwin pay its employees per hour?
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Suppose the Chester company begins to compete through good designs, high awareness and easy accessibility for their existing products, what strategy would they be implementing?
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[SOLVED]Baldwin Corp. ended the year carrying $17,515,000 worth of inventory.
Baldwin Corp. ended the year carrying $17,515,000 worth of inventory. Had they sold their entire inventory at their current prices, how much more revenue would it have brought to Baldwin Corp.?
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The Andrews company currently has the following balances in their equity accounts: Common Stock $14,081 Retained earnings $101,016 Suppose next year the Andrews company generates $46,300 in Net Profit, and declares and pays $16,000 in Dividends. What will Andrews ending balance in Retained Earnings be next year?
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[SOLVED]The Baldwin company will sell 100 units (x1000) of capacity from their Bat product line
The Baldwin company will sell 100 units (x1000) of capacity from their Bat product line. Each unit of capacity is worth $6 plus $4 per automation rating. The Baldwin company will sell the capacity for 35% off. How much do they receive when the capacity is sold?
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Chester has negotiated a new labor contract for the next round that will affect the cost for their product Coat. Labor costs will go from $2.94 to $3.44 per unit. Assume all period and variable costs as reported on Chester's Income Statement remain the same. If Chester were to pass on half the new labor costs to their customers, how many units of product Coat would need to be sold next round to break even on the product?
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Of Baldwin Corporation’s products, which earned the lowest direct labor as a percentage of its sales?
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Assuming Brokerage fees of $6000, calculate the amount of cash needed to retire Baldwin's 11.2S2029 bond early.
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How much would it cost for Chester Corporation to repurchase all its outstanding shares if the price went up by 10%? Assume no brokerage fees.
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[SOLVED]Refer to the HR Report section of the Inquirer
Refer to the HR Report section of the Inquirer. Chester will continue to keep their current hourly levels of training in order to help reduce turnover and improve productivity next year. How much must be spent per employee on an hourly basis to maintain the current training commitment?
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Suppose you were hired as a consultant for a company that wants to penetrate the Comp-XM market. This company wants to pursue a niche differentiation strategy. From last year’s reports, which company would be the strongest competitor?
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Currently Baldwin is paying a dividend of $14.68 (per share). If this dividend were raised by $3.64, given its current stock price what would be the Dividend Yield?
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[SOLVED]Which company has the most efficient SG&A / Sales ratio?
Which company has the most efficient SG&A / Sales ratio?
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In the Month of March, Chester received orders of 147 units at a price of $15.00 for their product Coat, and in April receives an order for 37 units of their product Coat at $15.00. Chester uses the accrual method of accounting and offers 30 day credit terms. Chester delivers 0 units in March, 147 units in April and 37 units in May. They received payment for 147 units in April, and payment for 37 units in May. How much revenue is recognized on the March income statement from this order? How much in the April Income statement? (Answer in thousands)
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Your Competitive Intelligence team is predicting that the Chester Company will invest in adding capacity to their Cake product this year. Assume Chester's product Cake invests in increasing its capacity by 10% this year. Because of this new information, your company anticipates all other products in the Core segment will increase their capacity by the same amount. How much can the industry produce in the Core segment the next year? Consider only products primarily in the Core segment last year. Ignore current inventories. Figures in thousands (000).
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[SOLVED]Last year Abby charged $2,256,000 Depreciation on the Income Statement of Andrews.
Last year Abby charged $2,256,000 Depreciation on the Income Statement of Andrews. If Abby sold a fully depreciated piece of equipment at a loss, the effect on Andrews's financial statements would be (all other items remaining equal):
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Assume Baldwin is producing 600 units of Buddy next year. What would Buddy's plant utilization be?
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[SOLVED]Chester's balance sheet has $75,340,000 in equity
Chester's balance sheet has $75,340,000 in equity. If next year, assets decrease by $4,000,000 and liabilities increase by $2,000,000, what will be Chester's book value?
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Assume Baldwin Corp. is downsizing the size of their workforce by 15% (to the nearest person) next year from various strategic initiatives. Baldwin is planning to conduct exit interviews to learn more about how they can improve in processes and increase productivity. The exit interviews are estimated to cost $100 per employee in additional to normal separation costs of $5000. How much will the company pay in separation costs if these exit interviews are implemented next year?
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[SOLVED]Bill's product manager continues to perform well in the market.
Bill's product manager continues to perform well in the market. However, a competing product is coming on strong and is looking to take over as the market share leader in the segment. Without sacrificing contribution margin, what can the Bill product manager do in order to improve upon the buying criteria, and thus potentially increase demand?
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Assuming no direct factory overhead costs (i.e., inventory carry costs) and $3 million dollars in combined promotion and sales budget, the Daft product manager wishes to achieve a product contribution margin of 35%. Given their product currently is priced at $35.00, what would they need to limit the material and labor costs to?
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