From Washington’s point of view, what were the chief obstacles to be overcome in fighting the war? How did he address those problems? In your own words. I can tell when you just copy and paste.

Explain what means by barriers of effective listening to your audience?

Baker has been assigned to research the literature for a possible solution to a major operational problem at his employer. Baker spends many weeks searching the literature and finds a common solution theme for similar problems at various companies in various industries. Baker is somewhat dubious that the commonly reported solution would actually work at his employer. He has been thinking, and has a thought about a different solution that has never been tried before. He must report to the Board of Directors in three days. They are a no-nonsense Board and they expect results. The operational problem must be solved. What should Baker do?

Based on article below, What internal and external factors impacted the pricing decisions of IKEA in the Russian market?

(word limit: 250)

IKEA is a leading home furnishing company with around 340 stores in 40 countries, selling a range of some 10’000 articles and having more than 150’000 employees. The company was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Småland, a province in Southern Sweden where people are renowned for working hard, being thrifty and innovative, and achieving big results with small means. Today, the IKEA group is controlled by a private foundation and the company is thus not on the stock market. Ingvar Komprad’s innovative idea was to offer home furnishing products of good function and design at prices much lower than competitors by using simple cost-cutting solutions that did not affect the quality of products. This is a prominent philosophy at IKEA, which is now realizing its ambitious plans in Russia. IKEA opened its first store in Moscow, Khimki, in March 2000, followed by one more in Moscow in 2001, one in St Petersburg in 2003, and one in Kazan in March 2004. In 2012, IKEA had 14 stores in Russia and some of them in distant places such as Novosibirsk (2007) and the newest ones in Ufa (2011) and Samara (2012). All Russian operations are controlled as fully owned ventures by the IKEA group. IKEA is characterized by a strong brand based on its vision to create a better everyday life for many people. A set of explicit values is linked to the vision and plays a guiding principle in the strategy development. The values are the foundation of a culture called internally the ‘IKEA Way’, which is an expression of lKEA's history, the product range, the distribution system, the management style, the human resource idea, etc. Brand and cultural values coincide and affect the strategy, organizational processes product development and customer relationship. Thus the key value of cost-consciousness that lies at the heart of IKEA's flat-package concept dictates the necessity of global sourcing, define the customer relationship where 'IKEA does a half and customers do a half' and guides the product design, choice of material and logistics. The value of simplicity is reflected in the fast planning process, behaviours and routine governed by common sense, straightforward relationships with suppliers and customer as well as in the product development process. By linking vision and values, IKEA thus create a firm platform for entering a new market. In each new market lKEA enters it must recreate its company culture from scratch. In Moscow that included the replication of the store design and layout in accordance with the latest version of the existing store and extensive cultural education that was implemented by the team of experienced IKEA people. It was the overall company vision that guided the desire to establish business in Russia; most particularly, the impression that few companies in Russia focused on solving the needs of the many people by offering attractive products at reasonable prices. However, knowledge of the Russian market when IKEA initially decided to open its first store in Moscow was very scarce. No special market research was carried out before setting up the store. IKEA’s basic strategy is to neither adjust the style of products to local needs nor follow the competitors’ products development was central as the cornerstone in preserving the IKEA concept and image: ‘The range is supposed to be IKEA – unique and typical IKEA’. All products are divided into four major categories or styles – Scandinavian, Country, Modern, and Young Swede – which are clearly distinguished in all business areas across the store. One of the reasons why IKEA was successful with its standard product ranges in Russia was the fact that several of these IKEA ranges emphasis the modern style, which is very different from the traditional Russian style but is attractive and fresh for the Russian customers because it symbolizes change. An important factor in the market approach was to identify needs that are not fully recognized and to teach customers what IKEA is about. IKEA's retail proposition is based to a large extent on its Swedish roots and history, which is, in turn, very different from Russian traditions. Therefore, learning as much as possible about the local culture and customer needs was considered essential. For example, lKEA made home visits to customers to talk to people, see how they lived and used their homes and to identify potential needs and wants not fully acknowledged by customer themselves. Understanding local family conditions and furnishing traditions then provided a basis for the effective introduction and marketing of the IKEA concept. As exemplified by a store manager, the main priority for Russians is normal living costs; then comes the car and TV; and afterwards maybe a trip abroad. The idea of changing people's priorities by explaining to them that a beautiful home does not have to cost a fortune and they can afford both the wardrobe and a trip abroad is an essential leitmotif of the marketing campaigns in Russia. The importance of aligning the IKEA concept with the desired image was critical from the very beginning. The intention was to build an image with a low price brand that also guaranteed attractive and modern products of good quality. To achieve this, IKEA has faced many challenges such as: high customs fees; the requirement to purchase more from the local producers; difficulties in finding and developing suppliers in Russia; still low buying-power of Russian customers etc. For IKEA, it was critical to associate the low price with the desired significance. An increased capacity and bigger volumes by the Russian suppliers will allow the company to cut costs and reduce prices in Russia as well as to export the Russian made furniture to its other markets. As a matter of fact, IKEA prices are still very high for many ordinary Russians. For example, even in St Petersburg, the second-largest city, shopping power is, according to different estimate, 30 to 50 per cent lower than in Moscow, where an average purchase value equals that in Stockholm. But for Russian customers low price was very strongly related to unattractive products of poor quality, and one challenge has been to overcome this and explain how it is possible to offer good product at low prices. Therefore, it has also been an ambition to provide the Russian market with the best and most attractive IKEA products. Marketing communications became an important tool in creating the right image of IKEA in Russia. The ways to communicate the image were many: the outdoor product ads (price), image ads in the glossy magazine, TV (though IKEA has used this very restrictively due to high cost), and articles in the newspapers (press coverage has become very broad and quite positive towards the IKEA culture and philosophy). Another very important communication means in Russia is the buzz network or word-of mouth communication that works very effectively. In addition, IKEA had an open and friendly approach towards Russian journalists. This was in sharp contrast to most other large organizations. IKEA was completely open to the journalists and introduced them to the IKEA way and values by organizing press trips to Älmhult in Sweden to learn how the range is created. The result was that the press coverage of IKEA in Russia became much more positive. In the spring of 2009 IKEA thus had 11 stores operating in Russia. Most of these locations were mega mall shopping complex operated by IKEA. The shopping complex at the Tyoplyi Stan site in Moscow for example accommodate around 210,000 square meters of retail space and 240 retail outlets. The mega malls were treated as a separate business, and were an addition to IKEA's core concept. Normally, IKEA does not manage or develop shopping centres but this was considered necessary in Russia due to its lack of an existing structure of large branded stores and external as well as central shopping centres of a Western kind. Previously, many Russians have shopped for furniture as well as other products in outdoor markets or at smaller, local stores. From IKEA’s perspective developing a whole mega mall was part of attracting Russian customers to the stores. As a whole, IKEA has made substantial investments in Russia, and turnover is increasing rapidly. However, a major principle has been that monetary returns are needed to back up further expansion: ‘As soon as we make a profit, I can see at least ten years ahead when we will need all the money that is generated in Russia. So, the day when we will start to take out profit from Russia and use it in other countries is perhaps 15 years away'.

1. Identify some criteria that you think Szaky would use in establishing performance standards for TerraCycle. What methods might be used to measure this performance?
   
2. What elements of budgetary control does Szaky use to help his business develop and grow?

QUESTION 1

1. Use the following scenario and data for all questions
   An auto service center provides two types of services, Tire Replacement (T) and Oil Change (O). About 30% of the customers are for Tire Replacement and the other 70% are for Oil Change. All customers are serviced on a first come first served basis. During regular hours, customers arrive at the service center according to the probability distribution in the following table
   
   Two technicians are working at the service center and both of them are skillful enough for both Tire Replacement and Oil Change. Once finishing the job for a customer, a technician will take care of the next customer waiting in line. When both technicians are idle, the one who finished the last job earlier will take care of the next incoming customer. The times taken by the two jobs by any of the technicians follow the probability distributions in the following tables. You are required to simulate the operations of the auto service center for 15 customers.
   
   Before answering the following questions, you may use the following tables to determine the cumulative probability distributions and assign random number intervals for customer arrivals, customer service types, and time needed for both types of services.
   
   
   You may also simulate the operations of this auto service center for the 15 customers using the random numbers given in the following table. The “Start Time” is the time point when the job for the customer starts and the “Finish Time" is the time point when the job for the customer finishes.
   
   
   
   
   For customer arrivals, the random number interval assigned to the Time between Arrivals of 5 minutes is

   		0.0000-0.1499
   		0.1500-0.3999
   		0.4000-0.7999
   		0.8000-0.9999
   		None of the above

1 points   

QUESTION 2

1. For customer arrivals, the random number interval assigned to the Time between Arrivals of 15 minutes is

   		0.0000-0.1499
   		0.1500-0.3999
   		0.4000-0.7999
   		0.8000-0.9999
   		None of the above

1 points   

QUESTION 3

1. For the Customer Service Type, the random number interval assigned to Tire Replacement is

   		0.0000-0.6999
   		0.0000-0.2999
   		0.2999-0.9999
   		0.3000-0.9999
   		None of the above

1 points   

QUESTION 4

1. For the Customer Service Type, the random number interval assigned to Oil Change is

   		0.0000-0.6999
   		0.0000-0.2999
   		0.2999-0.9999
   		0.3000-0.9999
   		None of the above

1 points   

QUESTION 5

1. For the Tire Replacement, the random number interval assigned to Service Time 25 minutes is

   		0.0000-0.1999
   		0.2000-0.4499
   		0.4500-0.8499
   		0.8500-0.9999
   		None of the above

1 points   

QUESTION 6

1. For the Tire Replacement, the random number interval assigned to Service Time 35 minutes is

   		0.0000-0.1999
   		0.2000-0.4499
   		0.4500-0.8499
   		0.8500-0.9999
   		None of the above

1 points   

QUESTION 7

1. For the Oil Change, the random number interval assigned to the Service Time 15 minutes is

   		0.0000-0.2999
   		0.3000-0.6999
   		0.7000-0.8999
   		0.9000-0.9999
   		None of the above

. What is public relations advertising and how is it different from commercial, sales-oriented advertising? Thoroughly explain and give examples of the three primary categories of PR advertising we discussed in class. Next, assume you are PR director for a corporation such as General Motors or IBM. How would you use PR advertising to support the goals of your organization?

Discuss the DMAIC methodology of six sigma. provide relevant examples of each phase

As a media buyer working on behalf of a large toy company, it is your job to buy media space for the launch of the KissKiss doll, which all advertising research shows will be a tremendous profit maker for the Cooper-Fitts Toy Company. Create a plan for a year’s advertising (Jan.-Dec.) for KissKiss. Explain your decisions about the types of media involved, when to use which types, and for how long each type should run. Make assumptions as needed.

List and define the factors that contribute to perceptual differences and the perceptual process among people at work.

You’re a physician in a practice group that became involved with PhyCor, Inc. Your group eliminated its entire management structure when PhyCor took over. Now, with PhyCor collapsing, you are being offered repurchase of your assets from PhyCor. What strategic planning steps do you propose to your group for going forward and selecting among options such as dissolving the group, purchasing the assets and finding another management firm, purchasing the assets and establishing in-house management, or other alternatives?

"Physician Practice Management Companies and PhyCor, Inc. Physician practice management (PPM) fi rms grew very rapidly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. PPMs promised to infuse physician practices with needed capital and provide signifi cant cost savings and increased revenues through economies of scale and improved management. They also promised to allow physicians to negotiate better contracts with the emerging HMOs and PPOs. However, by the end of the century, all of the major PPMs had gone out of business or signifi cantly downsized, with their valuations a tiny fraction of prior capitalization. Some, such as MedPartners, declared bankruptcy. Others saw their valuation plummet to almost nothing. What went wrong? This case examines the history of PPMs and the story of PhyCor, one of the prominent players.PPMs were created in response to the lack of retained earnings and marginal management that existed in many physician practices and the growth of HMOs and PPOs. As a result of increased managed care, physician organizations/medical groups experienced increased costs and lower net revenues. HMOs and PPOs also demanded large discounts from physicians. Capital was also needed to buy out senior partners, install information systems, and change their structures and governance. PPMs with signifi cant venture and Wall Street capital backing purchased prestigious medical groups, consolidated independent practices, and acquired staff clinics being divested by HMOs. Consolidation of PPMs left three large companies by the early 1990s.315Many of the physician practices signed 30- to 40-year management services contracts with the PPMs. These most often specifi ed that physicians would receive a split of revenues after payment of clinic expenses. The lower cost of capital, centralized purchasing, and greater bargaining leverage with insurer organizations were to lower costs and increase revenues.Phycor, Inc., incorporated in 1988, became by 1995 a medical network management company that managed multispecialty medical clinics and other physician organizations, provided contract management services to physician networks owned by health systems, and developed and managed independent practice associations (IPAs).1 The company also provided health care decision-support services, including demand management and disease management services, to managed care organizations, health care providers, employers, and other group associations."

1. Your company is entering into a contract with an overseas company. Without further information, name two (2) legal, two (2) ethical, and two (2) contractual considerations you would likely include in your deliberations. Please do not use my exact sample language found below (lengthier examples lost when Blackboard logged me out).

please answer with bullet points

please answer

1. The trend in global business and IT strategies is towards a:   (Ch. 9)

a.Transnational structure

b.Inter-multinational strategy

c. International structure strategy

d.Intra-regional structure strategy

e. None of the Above

2. Mobile computing refers to your ability to:

a.Transport computer equipment such as laptops or PDAs to the necessary location

b.Wirelessly connect and use centrally located information and/or application software

c.Transport data from location to location using portable media such as flash drives or diskette

d.None of the above

e.All three of the first, three possible answers.

3. Which of the following is the main function of an Information-Sharing Technologies network?

a. Understanding what is “behind” applications you use in your organization

b.Providing input to enhance your organization's applications

c.Helping to select new applications

d.Keeping abreast of new technologies

e.Allowing users to share information.

4.  A service-oriented architecture_________________.

a. is one in which the servers are supporting multiple mobile devices.

b.enables Web services to be reused across an organization.

c.is focused on user response.

d.places servers closest to the primary user.

e.All of the above

5.  A key feature in Extreme Programming approach is the ___________ to improve a systems quality.

a.adaptive

b.persistent

c.incremental

d.predictive

e.prototype

Which political, economic, and technological developments (institutions and innovations) contributed to the growth of world trade?

There are three classifications of crimes, violations, misdemeanors, & felonies? Can you tell me if there are a precise means to determine how the law determines which category the crime fits into?