IN DETAIL

Explain three approaches that can be used in order to improve ROI.

The balanced scorecard contains four dimensions. Please explain each dimension and how they link to one another.

CASE Study of management of organization behavior :

Soltis & Sons is a management consulting firm that is attempting to grow its business by targeting small businesses that are run by women or immigrants. In pursuing this strategy, the company has hired employees of other cultures whose first language is not English. Many of these employees are under 30 and they do not have college degrees. While this effort is leading to a workforce that mirrors the clients, the company finds that employees and managers are experiencing difficulties communicating with one another. This leads to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity and customer satisfaction. For example, if a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who fails to fully comprehend the instructions, the employee may make mistakes.

The director of Human Resources is considering whether or not to offer some type of training, yet none has been offered to date. She thinks some employees may be

impacted by negative stereotypes associated with a lack of work experience with people from different cultures. She also noted that some work teams do not like to be

supervised by younger people of color. A few employees quit over this issue and management is trying to decide what to do.

Using the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach and the Organizing Framework, how can Soltis & Sons address the problem?

Step 1: Define the problem. What are the gaps between the desired outcomes and the current state?

Step 2: Identify causes of the problem. Remember, the diversity climate is an important situation factor. There are also relevant processes across the individual

level (perception, attributions, and psychological safety), the group/team level (group/team dynamics), and the organizational level (options to manage diversity).

These inputs and processes have critical outcomes.

Step 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. What options does Soltis & Sons have?

Word count should be more than 600 words( total of 3 steps ) .

Please help me !! Thank You.

A comprehensive analysis of how marketing analytics allows businesses to generate data-driven marketing and compete more effectively in the marketplace.

Duque Vergere manages a Do or Die Theater complex called Cinema I, II, III, and IV. Each of the four auditoriums plays a different film; the schedule staggers starting times to avoid the large crowds that would occur if all four movies started at the same time. The theater has a single ticket booth and a cashier who can maintain an average service rate of 280 patrons per hour. Service times are assumed to follow an exponential distribution. Arrivals on a normally active day are Poisson distributed and average 210 per hour. To determine the efficiency of the current ticket operation, Duque Vergere wishes to examine several queue-operating characteristics.
e.) What is the probability that there are more than two people in the system? More than three people? More than four?

Note: Plagiarism is strictly prohibited please do not copy paste from internet

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Question 01: Prepare a training method based on training and development objectives of an organization (300 words)

Question 02: Prepare a program of training and development using different evaluation methods and techniques. (300 words)

(PREFERABLY TO YOUR CURRENT JOB or IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS)

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Note: Plagiarism is strictly prohibited please do not copy paste from internet

do the second question as per chegg policy

1)how would you market a health club in the south versus in the east coast and versus the west coast?

Identify two critical stakeholders in the external environment that would affect the profitability of the U.S. Airline industry. Explain why they can affect the profitability and what can be done by a firm to improve the firm’s profitability.

Choose an organisation and a particular decision situation due to the current Pandemic.

Required:

1) Give examples using this context, of each step in the decision-making process.

2) It must include but is not limited to the following:

a) A summary of the nature and history of the company.

b) Background elements of the decision selected and what circumstances have resulted in the decision needing to be made.

c) The possible effects of the selected decision, if implemented.

d) Use of Quantitative data. (

• The case study for this term requires that, give detail information about the Zara company. After that, give an answer to the following question
• Identify the competitive strategy of Zara company, justify your answer?
• Based on your supply chain knowledge, suggest a distribution network for Zara company, justify your answer?
• In what aspect the Zara company has become leading in the supply chain. Discuss in detail these aspects.
• Explain how the Zara company benefited the information technology to achieve excellence in the supply chain.
• What was the supply chain management process adopted by Zara company? Discuss, how far was the effect of that approach to reach a competitive edge.

Answer all

Case Study I

HAIER’s foray into International Markets :

In the late 1990s, the Haier group (Haier) was the leader in the Chinese consumer appliances market (with a 39.7%, 50% and 37.1% market share in refrigerators, air-conditioners and washing machines respectively in December 1998). But deflation in the Chinese economy slowed sales.

ut deflation in the Chinese economy slowed sales growth from 50% in 1998 to around 30% in 1999. Haier decided to look for new markets. Since the US had a large demand for consumer appliances, Haier entered the US market in 1999. Analysts were doubtful about Haier's acceptability to American consumers, as there was a general perception in the US that Chinese goods were of low quality. Haier, however, was confident that with its product differentiation strategy it would be able to create a positive image for its products among the American public. In the early 2000s, the consumer appliances market in the US started hotting up as Haier entered the market. By 2009, Haier products were sold in 9 of the 10 top retail chains in the US.

With Wal-Mart agreeing to stock Haier products, many analysts believed that Haier would be able to shake up the US consumer appliances market. In 2009, Haier had a 6% market share in the US refrigerator market; it stated that it was aiming for a 15% market share by 2015.

The history of Haier dates back to 1984 when Ruimin Zhang (Zhang), a bureaucrat with the local government was asked to take charge of Qingdao General Refrigerator Factory, a state-owned enterprise that is manufacturing refrigerators for sale in China. When Zhang took over the management, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, with no funds to pay the salaries of its employees or to invest in new product development. When Zhang took charge of the company, he realized that the company did not look after the quality of its products; nor did it bother about customer satisfaction. In 1985, Zhang started importing technology from a German firm and began manufacturing technically sophisticated refrigerators.

Zhang emphasized the elements of customer satisfaction and quality control in the company. In 1985, when a customer complained about the poor performance of his refrigerator, Zhang conducted a quality check and found that out of 400 refrigerators inspected, 76 were defective.

He had all the defective refrigerators destroyed with a sledge-hammer. According to Zhang, this made the workers realize that quality is of only two types - acceptable and unacceptable. In 1989, the company changed its name to Qindao Refrigerator Co. Ltd., and it was restructured with funds raised from banks and government agencies. In 1991, the company once again changed its name to Qindao Haier Group Co. and in the same year it merged with Qingdao Air-conditioner Plant and Qingdao Freezer General Plant. In 1992, the company set up Qingdao Freezing Equipment Co. In the same year, it merged with another previously state-owned enterprise Qingdao Condenser Factory, which manufactured refrigerator condensers.

In the same year it became the first company in China to get ISO 9001 certification, and the company's name was changed to the Haier Group. In 1993, Haier went in for an IPO of RMB 50 million and got listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).

During the mid-1990s, Haier began to grow through mergers and acquisitions. In 1995, it merged with Red Star Electric Appliance Company (and five of its subsidiaries). This company manufactured washing machines. It also acquired Wuhan Elec-appliance Co., which manufactured freezers and air conditioners. Between 1995 and 1997, Haier acquired seven companies and started exporting its goods to foreign markets.

By 1997, Haier was the number one consumer appliances brand in China and the market leader in all its product segments, which included refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and freezers and its revenues were reported at $1.15 billion (10 billion Yuan)...

Haier's Competitors in the US Market

USA was the world's largest and most competitive market for consumer appliances. The consumer appliances market can be segmented on the basis of products into kitchen appliances and home comfort products. Included in kitchen appliances are products such as dishwashers, disposers, compactors, food preservation appliances, refrigerators, freezers etc.

In the home comfort segment are included products such as room air-conditioners and dehumidifiers. The home appliances market in the US was dominated by American companies, namely GE Appliances (a subsidiary of General Electricals), Whirlpool and Maytag. The only strong foreign player in this market was Sweden's Electrolux. GE Appliances, Whirlpool, Maytag and Electrolux together accounted for around 98% of the 9 million standard refrigerators sales in the US every year. In the 1990s, many Asian players such as LG Electronics and Samsung entered the US market in a big way. The big four companies in the US market concentrated on the high- end market comprising full-size refrigerators and washing machines, since the margins in this segment were high...

Strategies in the US Market

Haier decided to compete with the US brands on the quality plank rather than on price. However, analysts felt that it would be very difficult for the company to win over American consumers who associated Chinese goods with low quality. To strengthen its presence in the US market, Haier adopted a localization strategy.

It opened a design center in the Los Angeles and employed US designers for designing its products for the US market. Haier also opened a marketing center in New York. The company focused on enhancing consumer awareness about the company and its products. Commenting on Haier's strategy, Zhang said, "We want consumers to feel that Haier is the one company that comes closest to satisfying their needs." For instance, none of the consumer appliances companies in the US offered a compact refrigerator to satisfy demand from college students who could not afford normal size refrigerators...

Going High-End

Most analysts felt that Haier would feel the real competition only when it entered the high-end market. In the compact refrigerator segment, Haier did not face much competition from established players in the US, who did not focus on the low margin segment.

However, the major US players were keeping track of Haier's activities. Commenting on the competition from Haier, GE Appliances Chief Executive, Jim Campbell said, "I take it very seriously. They may be producing only 200,000 refrigerators per year now, but that's going to get bigger."

On the negative side, some analysts felt that Haier lacked the brand image to make a dent in the high-end segment. They pointed out that in general US consumers were brand-conscious, and this was especially true in the case of high-end products. The lack of a positive brand image in this consumer segment would probably make it difficult for Haier to succeed in the high-end markets. Analysts felt that Haier had an additional weakness in its distribution and service centers...

Future Prospects

Despite a few reservations, analysts too were, by and large, upbeat about the company because of its strong performance in breaking into the American market in a short time.

Said Nicholas Heymann of Prudential Securities, "Over five years, it could become a force." With quality products and lower prices, it was felt that Haier would be able to garner a sizeable market share in the US. Haier's experience in the geographically vast and diversified Chinese market would serve it well in catering to the US market.

However, a major worry for Haier is how to fund its expansion plans. Increasing competition in the domestic markets is bringing Haier's finances under pressure.

Questions 1:

What in your opinion is the significance of an organization entering into International Markets for business? Is it advantageous or disadvantageous?

Are you listening? Data, Privacy, and Ethics

We are all aware that the data we share online is often used to send us ads for items that may be of interest to us. Amazon is a perfect example of this. As you search, purchase, and comment on products on the Amazon website, Amazon collects that data and using an algorithm analyzes that data and provides you with suggestions for products you may be interested in purchasing. Most of us don’t see this as an intrusion of our privacy since we freely gave the information by using the Amazon website. In fact, when you initially used Amazon you agreed to their privacy policy allowing Amazon to collect information about you when you interact with Amazon.

The same is true for social media websites/apps. For example, Facebook collects data about you and uses the data to put ads onto your newsfeed for products you may be interested in. However, how would feel about a social media app that also listens to what you discuss and uses that information to send you advertisements for products? If you use Instagram and have posted a picture or shared a video, you would have been asked “Instagram would like access to your camera and microphone”. You probably said yes, after all you wanted to post the picture or video and it made sense that the app needed permission to access your camera and microphone. However, once you click agree then you have given access to your camera and microphone to Instagram anytime you have the app open (unless you go back into your settings and disable access). Is this ethical? If you gave access for the sole purpose of sharing a picture or video, does that give Instagram the right to continue to use that access for other purposes?

Assignment:

• Conduct your own experiment to see if Instagram is listening to your conversations.
  • Check the settings on your phone for your Instagram account. Microphone and Camera should both be enabled.    Here is an example of what it may look like:
  • With the app open, discuss with a friend something you are thinking about purchasing that you have never searched for online or purchased. For example, if you have never searched for baby strollers, spend some time discussing with someone how you are looking for a new baby stroller.
  • Wait and see how long it takes for you to start to receive ads for the product you discussed.
  • Document your findings
• Whether or not your experiment resulted in you receiving ads for the product you discussed, write a 1 page reflection on the ethical implications of apps listening to your conversations and using that information to send you targeted ads.

In New York, which has the largest ride-for-hire fleet in the United States, licenses have been issued for 13,437 taxicabs. There are an estimated 42,000 drivers in the city, with a licensed vehicle being used by two or three drivers a day. In 2014, only 6% of cab drivers in New York were born in the United States, and 36% came from Bangladesh and Pakistan. The New York taxi fleet picks up 600,000 passengers per day. An estimated 25,000 livery cars provide for-hire service by prearrangement and carry 500,000 passengers per day. 10,000 “black cars” provide services mostly for corporate clients.

Regulators have long required that taxicabs available to be hailed on the street be licensed. The license is to ensure that the taxi service is safe and reliable, and that fares are fair. For-hire vehicles must be insured to cover drivers and passengers, meet safety standards, and (if taxicabs) have a sealed meter. Regulations also require that licensed cabs be quickly and easily identifiable. This is normally achieved by a distinctive color (e.g., yellow). Cabs must also display whether or not they are in service.

Taxicabs charge a regulated fare, set by a government agency, based on the time and distance of the trip, as measured by a meter. Some trips to and from established destinations, such as an airport, may have a fixed price and will displayed in the cab. Taxicabs are required to carry standardized meters that must be prominently displayed, are sealed and periodically checked to ensure that the proper fare is being charged. Limousine services are generally prohibited from charging fares based on time and distance, and they do not carry a meter. Typically, fees are based on time, often with a minimum billed time. The fee normally has to be agreed on in advance.

In many jurisdictions the licensing system limits the supply of taxicabs. One common variant of licensing is the medallion system that is used in cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. Medallions are small metal plates attached to the hood of a taxi certifying it for passenger pickup throughout a defined area (normally metropolitan boundaries). When the medallion system was first introduced in New York in 1937, the idea was to make sure that taxi driver was not a criminal luring passengers into his vehicle. To get a medallion, the taxi service has to adhere to the regulatory requirements in that jurisdiction and be approved by the appropriate regulatory agency. Medallions may be given to individual taxi drivers who own their own cars, but more typically taxi companies that own fleets of cars acquire them. The taxi companies then lease cars and medallions to drivers on a daily or weekly basis. In some locations the driver may own the car, but lease or purchase the medallion from an agent who has acquired it. An example would be Medallion Financial, a publicly traded company that owns hundreds of medallions in New York, sells them to aspiring young cabbies, and arranges for loans to finance their purchase.

In cities that utilize a medallion system the supply of medallions has often been limited. The rationalizations for doing this include ensuring quality, guaranteeing a fair return to taxi companies, and helping to support demand for other forms of public transportation, such as buses, trains and the subway. It has also been argued that limiting the number of cabs helps to reduce congestion and pollution.

In practice, the supply of medallions has often not kept pace with growing population. In New York, Chicago and Boston for example, the number of medallions issued has barely budged since the 1930s. In New York, there were 11,787 medallions issued after World War II, a number that remained constant until 2004. By 2014 there were 13,437 medallions issued in New York.

Medallions can be traded. Thus, over time, a secondary market in medallions has developed. In this market, the price is not set by the agency issuing them, but by the laws of supply and demand. The effect of limited supply has been to drive up the price of medallions. In New York, taxi medallions were famously selling for over $1 million in 2012. In Boston the price was $625,000. In San Francisco the price was $300,000 and the city took a $100,000 commission on the sale of medallions. The average annual price of medallions surged during the 2000s. In New York, prices increased 260% between 2004 and 2012. The inflation adjusted annualized return for medallions over this time period in New York was 19.5%, compared to a 3.9% annual return for the S&P 500.

As noted above, drivers often do not own the medallions. There are three players in many taxi markets: the medallion holders (often taxi companies) who have acquired the right to operate a taxi from the regulatory agency, the taxi driver, and taxi dispatch companies. A taxi dispatch company is a middleman or broker, who typically matches available cabs with customers and takes a fee for its scheduling services. While an individual taxi driver may own a medallion, most often taxi companies own them. Tax companies own a fleet of cabs, which they lease out to drivers (with a medallion). A minority of drivers may own their own cab. In New York, about 18% of cabs were owner operated in 2014, putting most medallions in the hands of taxi companies.

In New York, regulations allow medallion owners to lease them out to drivers for 12-hour shifts. The critical problem facing a driver is that they must get access to a medallion in order to make a living. Due to this, companies that own medallions can extract high fees from drivers. There are also reports that some taxi dispatch companies use their position as schedulers to extract payment in the form of bribes from drivers in return for good shifts.

Drivers, who legally are viewed as “independent contractors”, can begin a 12-hour shift owing as much as $130 to their medallion leasing company. They may not break even until half way through their shift. One consulting company report found that in 2006 a driver’s take home pay in New York for a 12-hour shift averaged $158. In 2011, the New York transportation authority calculated that it was $96. A study of taxi drivers in Los Angeles found that drivers worked on average 72 hours a week for a median take home wage of $8.39 an hour. The LA drivers were paying $2000 in leasing fees per month to taxi companies. None of the drivers in the LA study had health insurance provided by their companies, and 61% were completely without health insurance. Given the compensation, it is perhaps not surprising that some drivers can be rude, impatient, and prone to drive fast and take poor care of their cabs.

The LA study noted that because city officials heavily regulate the taxi business, taxi companies are active politically, paying lobbyist to advocate their interests and contributing to the campaign funds of local politicians. The same is true in New York, where the medallion owners trade association, the Metropolitan Taxi Board of Trade, lobbies hard to influence public policy. In 2011, for example, medallion owners were initially able to block plans to create a fleet of green “Boro” cabs to serve New York’s outer boroughs. They argued that doing so would drive down the price of their medallions. In June 2013, however, the New York Supreme Court overruled lower court rulings and allowed the licensing of Boro cabs to go ahead. The intention now is to issue 18,000 new licenses to green cabs. These cabs, however, will not be able to pick up passengers in lower Manhattan, which remains the territory of yellow cabs.

Analyze the competitive structure of the taxi market such as New York prior to the introduction of Uber?

Discuss clearly, what is meant by resource smoothing and what steps would a project manager in a project of your choice, undertake to smooth a resource?