Should Amazon enter additional emerging markets immediately? If so, why and where? If not, why not and where should its focus be? More broadly, how sustainable is Amazon’s simultaneous pursuit of geographic, horizontal, and vertical expansion?

Did Amazon succeed in China? What did it learn?

Why is a visual analysis important in communicating findings in a business research paper or proposal? Give an example of a visual analysis that would be appropriate for your paper and presentation (rising health-care costs). Describe acceptable report page design methods to make your paper or presentation visually appealing.

Select one of the key concepts from below for your Discussion response for this week. Be sure to identify the name of the organization. If organization’s name needs to stay anonymous, please check with the instructor ahead of time regarding how to approach that.

• Discuss different types of operations management and project management activities that occur at the organization of your choice.
• Provide examples of single-factor and multifactor productivity measures.
• Provide two examples of operations management activities at an organization you considered and its inputs and outputs, productivity measures, and classify whether it is a goods or services producing organization.

Be sure to post an initial, about 250-word substantive response

Analyze one (1) human resource ethical issue that you believe is prominent in today’s organizations. Suggest two (2) approaches that organizations could take in order to resolve this issue. Provide a rationale for your response. Rank the major ethical issues and dilemmas in business in order of importance (one [1] being the most important). Provide a rationale for your response.

Another key objective for a firm is to "Retain Human Capital".  Given this, please read the passage below and answer the 2 questions that follow.

The Blurring Boundaries Between Work and Home

One of the most interesting transformations taking place in the work place today is the rapid blurring of the boundaries between home and office. The following numbers, based on a survey of large companies that employ more than 500 employees, tell an interesting story.

¨             40 percent of large companies allow part-time telecommuting.

                ¨             16 percent of large companies offer child care centers, some even subsidized by the company.

                ¨             3 percent of large companies allow employees to bring their pets to work.

1. Do these numbers surprise you?

2. Why do you think companies permit such flexibility, even in an environment where unemployment is high?

Managing the Productivity of Human capital under various Leadership approaches

major legislation, rules or regulations when running a restaurant and bar business in Trinidad and Tobago

Customer Empowerment

Customer empowerment is a relatively recent phenomenon. Give some examples of your own consumer activity in which you experienced empowerment.

19. The majority of customers who stop patronizing a particular store do so because
a. its prices are too high
b. its quality is too low
c. an indifferent employee treated them poorly
d. it failed to advertise enough

20. Which of the following is not an element of the marketing mix?
a. Price
b. Place
c. Profit
d. Promotion
e. None. All of the above are part of the marketing mix.

21. Without a clear picture of its target market, a small company will try to reach almost everyone and usually ends up appealing to almost no one.
a. True
b. False

23. An individualized (one to one) marketing campaign requires business owners to
a. collect information on their customers, linking their identities to their transactions.
b. calculate the long term value of their customers so they know which ones are most desirable and most profitable.
c. practice "just in time marketing" by knowing what their customers' buying cycle is and time their marketing efforts to coincide with it.
d. all of the above

24. When an employee in a business treats a customer poorly, that customer usually does not complain; however, she does tell her "horror story" about that business to at least nine other people.
a. True
b. False

25. Modem consumers are more concerned about health, nutrition, and the environment than in the past, and they shop accordingly
a. True
b. False

Tweeted Complaints

Some experts are beginning to question the value of immediately responding to every tweeted complaint with something free, arguing that consumers are wise to the ways of companies and tweeting false complaints in the hopes of getting something free. Have you known anyone to do this? How do you think companies should handle tweeted complaints?

In the competitive software development market, patent protection is imperative for new products. Electronic Solutions Incorporated (ESI), where you work, has spent millions of dollars and many years developing a new software platform. While ESI has been waiting for a patent to be granted, its revenues, profits, and stock prices have slipped to an all-time low because so much time, money, and energy have been devoted to the software development effort.

You, as director of public relations, have been called to a meeting with the company president and members of the executive team. They give you the bad news: The United States Patent and Trademark Office denied ESI's application for patent on the new software platform. The executives at ESI were counting on the new software to restore the company's prestige and save the company from financial ruin. In the meeting, you also learn that this patent was ESI's last hope to avoid bankruptcy. The company attorney explains that ESI might win an appealwith the Patent and Trademark Office, but winning an appeal is a "long shot at best."

After the meeting, Mr. Mateo, the president, asks you to stay. He reminds you that your job is to "make the best of a bad situation." He tells you to write a press release about the situation. He says, "You need to write a press release reassuring employees, shareholders, and the public that everything will be fine. Make sure you include the fact that we are planning an appeal and are confident that the patent will be issued when our appeal is heard. Your responsibility is to get the positive story out there so that ESI does not fall apart."

Questions for Discussion

1. Does Mr. Mateo have the right to ask you to create a misleading press release? Should you write a release according to Mr. Mateo's instructions? Do employees, shareholders, and the public have a right to know what is happening?

2. What are your options? What could you do to try to resolve the situation?