Question 1

The operations manager for Fine Foods Distribution has narrowed the search for a new facility to seven communities. Fixed costs (land, buildings and equipment) and variable costs (labour, materials etc) are shown below.

1. Which of the communities can be eliminated from further consideration because they are dominated (both variable and fixed costs are higher) by another community?
2. Plot the total cost curves for all remaining communities on a single graph. Identify on the graph the approximate range over which each community provides the lowest cost.
3. Using locational break-even analysis, calculate the break-even quantities to determine the range over which each community provides the lowest cost.

1. Which stage of the product life cycle best fits/describes men’s shaving products industry? Explain your rationale.

2. Identify and explain 2 strategies that Harry’s shaving company should employ to gain greater adoption of its products in the marketplace.

Manufacturing steel is not a glamorous job. The industry is beset by many problems and more than 40 steel manufacturers have filed for bankruptcy in recent years. Most young employees do not view working at a steel mill as their dream job. Yet, one company distinguished itself from all the rest by remaining profitable for over 130 quarters and by providing an over 350% return on investment (ROI) to shareholders. The company is clearly doing well by every financial metric available and is the most profitable in its industry.

How do they achieve these amazing results? For one thing, every one of Nucor Corporation’s (NYSE: NUE) 12,000 employees acts like an owner of the company. Employees are encouraged to fix the things they see as wrong and have real power on their jobs. When there is a breakdown in a plant, a supervisor does not have to ask employees to work overtime; employees volunteer for it. In fact, the company is famous for its decentralized structure and for pushing authority and responsibility down to lower levels in the hierarchy. Tasks that previously belonged to management are performed by line workers. Management listens to lower level employees and routinely implements their new ideas.

The reward system in place at Nucor is also unique and its employees may be the highest paid steelworkers in the world. In 2005, the average Nucor employee earned $79,000, followed by a $2,000 bonus decided by the company’s annual earnings and $18,000 in the form of profit sharing. At the same time, a large percentage of these earnings are based on performance. People have the opportunity to earn a lot of money if the company is doing well and there is no upward limit to how much they can make. However, they will do much worse than their counterparts in other mills if the company does poorly. Thus, it is to everyone’s advantage to help the company perform well. The same incentive system exists at all levels of the company. The CEO’s pay is clearly tied to corporate performance. The incentive system penalises low performers, while increasing for commitment to the company, as well as to high performance.

Nucor’s formula for success seems simple: Align company goals with employee goals and give employees real power to make things happen. The results seem to work for the company and its employees. Evidence of this successful method, is that the company has one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the industry and remains one of the few remaining non-unionized environments in manufacturing. Nucor is the largest U.S. mini mill and steel scrap recycler.

Adapted

1. Describe some potential problems with closely tying employee pay to company performance.                                     
2. Nucor has one of the lowest turnover rates in the industry. Explain this anomoly of the organization’s employee retention rate, in relation to the otherwise low pay of the steel working industry
3. Suggest a strategy for Nucor had it been in a non-manufacturing environment (e.g., a bank
4. Could Nucor’s employee profit-sharing system work at a much larger company?
   Please justify your response.                                                                       

4. Imagine that the steel industry is taking a major economic hit and Nucor’s profits are way down. Suggest an employee strategy for the company.                            

A human resource information system is an integrated system providing information used by HR management in decision making. For this, write down:

5.1. The information includes in HRIS and the role of these information in human resource planning

5.2. HRIS developing process and its implementation.

Volkswagen’s annual report explains that, “The Volkswagen Group consists of two divisions: the Automotive Division and the Financial Ser- vices Division. The Automotive Division com- prises the Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, and Power Engineering Business Areas.” Does this description sound more like a functional, product, geographic, or customer structure, or some combination of these? Powerpoint Notes: Below Functional structure= Groups personnel and other resources according to the types of work they carry out. Well-suited to centralized decision-making and efficiency through economies of scale and specialization Not well-suited for dynamic environments where decisions must be made quickly and products or services customized Product structure= Work and resources are assigned to departments responsible for activities related to producing and delivering a particular good or service Geographic structure- Departmentalizes the organization according to the location of the customers served or the goods or services produced Customer structure= Departmentalizes the organization according to the type of customer served Combinations=Organizations often combine the basic forms of structures

MGMT- 6089 Final Evaluation Guide and Rubric

• Purpose: analyzing the leadership demonstrated by a leader/an organization during the Covid-19 Pandemic
• Submission type: individual
• Length: 2 to 4 pages single-spaced (excluding reference, appendices, and cover page)
• Assignment weight: 20%
• Due date: April 22 @ 11:59 pm
• Content: your paper should cover the following areas:

• Introduction of the leader/organization
• Your reasons for choosing them
• The leader/organization’s response in regard to Covid-19 pandemic (e.g. decisions made, behaviours demonstrated)
• A critical evaluation of the response: this section includes a comprehensive analysis of the response in terms of both content (decisions/ policies/ actions) and how it was communicated (communication style, frequency, channel, language). Please make sure your analysis covers both positive aspects and areas for improvement. Making comparisons with other leaders in similar positions/similar organizations as well as similar crisis in the past can help you better evaluate the response. Please use relevant literature and draw on theories and concepts you learned in class to support your analysis.   
• Identify and explain at least 2 specific associations to course material. These can include theories, studies, or ideologies covered in class.
• Conclusion: recommendations and lessons learned.

• Citation: please use at least 3 credible references and make sure all references are properly cited using APA style. All references included in the List of References should be cited in text.
• Format: the text should be clearly written without grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. Please use formal report-writing language.

Organizational development is an effort, which is planned, organization wide and managed from the top to increase organization effectiveness and health. In this connection write down:

4.1. The different points of significance of OD in organizational effectiveness.

4.2. Write down the broad categories of organizational development.  

A chocolate making company largely produces one particular type of crunchy chocolate bar. Only one of two machines, Machine-1 or Machine-2, can be used to produce this chocolate bar on any given day. The maintenance costs incurred on these two machines per day are $100 and $120, respectively. The manufacturing cost per chocolate bar is $2.5 for Machine-1 and $2 for Machine-2. The maximum daily production capacities for Machine-1 and Machine-2 are 1100 and 1250, respectively. Demand requires that at least 1000 chocolate bars be produced per day. Develop and solve a binary integer programming model for minimizing the total cost. Write all the constraints and objective function. Solve using Solver and write the answer for how many chocolate bars to be produced by each machine and if machine 1 or 2 will be used for the minimum cost

Effectively implementing strategy requires manipulating three key control levers: culture, rewards, and boundaries. What are the compelling reasons for an increased emphasis on culture and rewards in a system of behavior controls?

After a workforce has been recruited and developed, managers and human resource management (HRM) professionals must maintain an effective workforce. In a short essay, explain the significance of an effective reward system to maintaining a workforce. Suppose you are the manager of a company. What kind of optional and mandatory benefits would you offer as part of your rewards package? What type of employee compensation system would you use? Why?

Analyze competitors’ offerings

CASE STUDY SITUATION You are the vice president of development for BULLET, the second largest discount retailer in the nation. The senior VP has asked you to analyze a new sales venture and determine how to build a clientele foe the new venture and for traditional BULLET stores. There are close to 2000 BULLET stores across the country, most anchoring strip malls or outdoor shopping centers. BULLET stores feature typical grocery store items along with pharmacies, apparel, home décor, books, toys, electronics, seasonal items and health and beauty sections. BULLET’S biggest competitor is BOX MART, the leading discount retailer. BULLET does not come close to the number of store locations nor the revenue that BOX MART produces each year. Aside from similar store layouts and product offerings, there are notable differences between the two discount retailers. Although product offerings are similar, BULLET has a much different image than BOX MART. BULLET is perceived to be better organized, with a more streamlined store layout. They are also more in touch with fashion trends and home décor. BULLET also markets higher quality house brands in all departments, most notably in its food and beverage departments. BULLET offers a wide variety of fresh, ready-to-eat meals that beat BOX MART’S offerings in customer ratings each year. Executives at BULLET have decided to test market a concept for a BULLET branded convenience store. The BULLET convenience store will be located away form BULLET stores and will offer fuel and the loyal BULLET customer, and also new clientele who does not usually shop at BULLET stores. They are also hoping to attract the BOX MART customer. YOUR CHALLENGE The senior VP wants you to determine how a BULLET C-store can feel like a BULLET store, rather than a typical convenience store. You are to suggest techniques tha can expose BULLET C-store customers to BULLET retail store products, ideally resulting in a larger clientele for BULLET retail stores. In addition, you need to plan the product mix the BULLET C-stores; what typical convenience store products should be sold and what other products should be sold to keep up with BULLET’S well-regarded image? Are there store services that should be offered or not?

Write down a detailed role of succession planning and management in human resource planning with diagram.

Create 4-page (not including the cover or reference page) paper on a hot topic in Human Resource Management.

Paper Topics:

1. Remote Work/Telecommuting Increasing in Popularity
2. Health Care Reform and its Impact on Businesses
3. Trends in Minimum Wage and the Impact on Businesses
4. Employee/Workforce Literacy: Issues and Solutions
5. Background Checks and Neglect Hiring
6. The Impact of Baby Boomers on the Workforce
7. Is the Interview a Valid Predictor of Employee Success?  How to Improve the Interview Process.  
8. The Importance of Work-Life Balance:  Benefits to the Employee and Company.
9. The Use of Social Media in the Hiring Process
10. The Benefits of Teamwork in Business.  How to Develop and Manage High-Performance Work Teams.
11. Employees Use of Social Media at Work: Pros and Cons
12. Sexual Harassment Issues in Corporate America
13. How HRM deals with absenteeism of the employees in a specific sector?

Content: paper should consist of information that cannot be found in your text.  

Provide a thorough response to each question, please.

1. Briefly discuss Porter's three competitive strategies and provide an example of an existing business for each strategy.

2. Briefly explain the concepts of line and staff departments and authority.

3. Compare and contrast the Type A and Type B behavior patterns.