Traditional retail in the United States, the kind you find at the malls, and urban department stores, is in trouble. The very large retailers such as Walmart, Macys, Kohls, Sears, and Nordstrom all have reported about 1% to 2% sales growth since the recession of 2008. In 2016, Target, Macys, Sears, JCPenny, and others are closing hundreds of stores. Since 2000, consumers have been shifting away from traditional retail goods like apparel and electronics(the mainstays of retail stores), and buying more services like vacations, exercise, dining, and health care. The much bigger threat to traditional retail is coming from online retail, mostly Amazon, that has gobbled up the lion’s share of online retail (about 25% of all online retail), and has been growing at astounding rates like 15% to 20% a year since 2008. Apparel and electron-ics are also the largest sales items for online retailers, so the physical stores and the online giant all compete selling the same goods. Traditional retailers have spent over a billion dollars in the last decade trying to become online retailers, and meet consumers wherever they want to buy, online, or at the store. It’s called an “omnichannel” strategy: using multiple channels like physical stores and online Web and mobile apps to sell products. Many traditional large retailers such as Walmart, Macys, and Costco, have wound up in the top ten online retail rankings. But so far the omnichannel strategy has not been especially successful in keeping up with Amazon’s growth. In what promises to be the online battle of the decade, the two biggest players, the heavy weights, Walmart and Amazon, are going head to head for the consumer dollar. In a broader sense, it’s the online-business model versus the physical- department-store busi-ness model which was invented by Macy’s in 1870. But to be fair to the traditional retailers who have developed their online and mobile sales channel, it’s more accurate to say it’s the omnichannel model versus the pure-online digital model of Amazon. Here’s how the two heavy weights shape up. Walmart’s revenues in 2015 were $485.6 billion (the largest Fortune 500 company), it had earnings of $15 billion (about a 3% margin) , and e-commerce sales of 13.7 billion (around 3% of total sales revenue). Walmart has about 5,200 stores of all kinds in the U.S. It produces around $15 billion in free cash flow a year, and has about $9 billion cash on hand. In 2016 Walmart’s market value is in the area of $230 billion. It’s sales growth in 2015 was 1.8%. Walmart employs about 2.1 million people (1.4 million in the U.S. alone), making it the largest employer in the world and the U.S. That works out to $231,000 of revenue for each employee. Amazon’s revenues in 2015 were $107 billion (the largest e-commerce company, but only 35 in the Fortune 500), it had earnings of $596 million (about a 1.8% margin), and e-commerce sales of $92 billion. Amazon has about $8 billion in cash on hand. In 2016 Amazon’s market value is about $366 billion, and its sales growth in 2015 was about 20%. Amazon employs about 222 million people. That works out to $481,000 of revenue for each employee. The retail battle of the decade shapes up as a contest between a giant traditional retailer that is growing very slowly, and has only a tiny online presence, versus the largest online retailer which is growing very rapidly, and has no physical store presence. Both companies have significant financial assets, and nearly limitless credit, to build or acquire whatever capabilities they choose. Walmart needs to develop new systems and capabilities both in-house, and through acquisitions. In 2016 Walmart bought the start up Jet.com, and small but fast-growing Amazon competitor. Videos 1 and Video 2 describe Walmart’s senior management strategy for developing a competitive online presence. The outcome will in part be determined by how well Walmart can develop a competitive logistics system to compete with Amazon. The Instructional Videos for this chapter describe how both Walmart and Amazon are devel-oping their fulfillment systems, and their plans to compete on delivery and fulfillment.

1. What are the three key assets that Walmart can leverage (build on) to compete with Amazon and other online retailers?

2. What is Walmart’s e-commerce strategy?

3. Why isn’t Walmart worried about the channel conflict between its online sales and its store sales?

Can you explain Netflix's rising content costs and how it can maintain market share due to competition. What should be Netflix's strategy on expanding into future?

WK 3 ASS- BUS 307

Data Analysis Skills and Thinking

Submit a paper of at least four pages in length, excluding the title and reference pages, that includes at least three sources, including a minimum of two scholarly sources and the text. Explain in detail why data analysis skills are so important to Spend Analysis. Describe how a structured process such as Six Sigma methodology (Chapter 4) can be useful to identify spending patterns and identify opportunities for improvement. Recommend which functional areas of the business, such as finance, should be involved in Spend Analysis efforts and justify the rationale for your choices.

Many employers are monitoring employees to see how many and what types of phone calls they are making. Some companies also monitor emails employees send and receive and websites they access. In your initial discussion post, respond to the following questions:

How might a company benefit from gathering this type of information?

Why might employees object to being monitored?

Do you think this type of monitoring is appropriate or inappropriate, from a security perspective? Explain your answer.

annual meeting, the board of directors, and the advisory board of the family business

1. Describe their role and function in the company of the family business and discuss how their utilization could be improved

Is the evaluation and control process appropriate for a corporation that emphasizes creativity? Are control and creativity compatible? Explain.

(300 words)
No Plagiarism (copying) please.

How can corporate culture be changed? Give examples.

(250 words)
No Plagiarism (copying) please.

Evaluate the competitive advantage of Starbucks Corporation on its market. Suggest some recommendations for the managers of Starbucks Corporation to improve competitive advantage.

(250 words)
No Plagiarism (copying) please.

How does Starbucks Corporation manage the environmental risks?

(250 words)
No Plagiarism (copying) please.

Evaluate the performance of the main activity of Starbucks Corporation (performance of principal product/service). What type(s) of criteria do you use to evaluate this performance?

(250 words)
No Plagiarism (copying) please.

2. Provide answers to the following questions:

• How would you recognize a phishing scam?
• How does one avoid becoming a victim of a phishing scam?
• What kind of information should you protect?

Original work only please!

• How has the development of the internet affected the way companies forecast in support of their supply chain planning process?
• Provide an example of a successful or unsuccessful forecast.

Managing Diversity for Success:
The Case of IBM
When you are a company that operates in over 170 countries with
a workforce of over 398,000 employees, understanding and
managing diversity effectively is not optional—it is a key business
priority. A company that employs individuals and sells products
worldwide needs to understand the diverse groups of people that
make up the world.
Starting from its early history in the United States, IBM Corporation
(NYSE: IBM) has been a pioneer in valuing and appreciating its
diverse workforce. In 1935, almost 30 years before the Equal Pay
Act guaranteed pay equality between the sexes, then IBM
president Thomas Watson promised women equal pay for equal
work. In 1943, the company had its first female vice president.
Again, 30 years before the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
granted women unpaid leave for the birth of a child, IBM offered
the same benefit to female employees, extending it to one year in
the 1960s and to three years in 1988. In fact, the company ranks in
the top 100 on Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies”
list and has been on the list every year since its inception in 1986.
It was awarded the honor of number 1 for multicultural working
women by the same magazine in 2009.
IBM has always been a leader in diversity management. Yet, the
way diversity was managed was primarily to ignore differences and
provide equal employment opportunities. This changed when Louis
Gerstner became CEO in 1993.
Gerstner was surprised at the low level of diversity in the senior
ranks of the company. For all the effort being made to promote
diversity, the company still had what he perceived a masculine
culture.
In 1995, he created eight diversity task forces around demographic
groups such as women and men, as well as Asians, African
Americans, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)
individuals, Hispanics, Native Americans, and employees with
disabilities. These task forces consisted of senior-level, well
respected executives and higher-level managers, and members
were charged with gaining an understanding of how to make each
constituency feel more welcome and at home at IBM. Each task
force conducted a series of meetings and surveyed thousands of
employees to arrive at the key factors concerning each particular
group. For example, the presence of a male-dominated culture,
lack of networking opportunities, and work-life management
challenges topped the list of concerns for women. Asian
employees were most concerned about stereotyping, lack of
networking, and limited employment development plans. African
American employee concerns included retention, lack of
networking, and limited training opportunities. Armed with a list of
priorities, the company launched a number of key programs and
initiatives to address these issues. As an example, employees
looking for a mentor could use the company’s Web site to locate
one willing to provide guidance and advice. What is probably most
unique about this approach is that the company acted on each
concern whether it was based on reality or perception. They
realized that some women were concerned that they would have to
give up leading a balanced life if they wanted to be promoted to
higher management, whereas 70% of the women in higher levels
actually had children, indicating that perceptual barriers can also
act as a barrier to employee aspirations. IBM management chose
to deal with this particular issue by communicating better with
employees as well as through enhancing their networking
program.
The company excels in its recruiting efforts to increase the
diversity of its pool of candidates. One of the biggest hurdles
facing diversity at IBM is the limited minority representation in
fields such as computer sciences and engineering. For example,
only 4% of students graduating with a degree in computer
sciences are Hispanic. To tackle this issue, IBM partners with
colleges to increase recruitment of Hispanics to these programs. In
a program named EXITE (Exploring Interest in Technology and
Engineering), they bring middle school female students together
for a weeklong program where they learn math and science in a
fun atmosphere from IBM’s female engineers. To date, over 3,000
girls have gone through this program.
What was the result of all these programs? IBM tracks results
through global surveys around the world and identifies which
programs have been successful and which issues no longer are
viewed as problems. These programs were instrumental in more
than tripling the number of female executives worldwide as well as
doubling the number of minority executives. The number of LBGT
executives increased sevenfold, and executives with disabilities
tripled. With growing emerging markets and women and minorities
representing a $1.3 trillion market, IBM’s culture of respecting and
appreciating diversity is likely to be a source of competitive
advantage.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. IBM has been championed for its early implementation of
equality among its workforce. At the time, many of these
policies seemed radical. To IBM’s credit, the movement
toward equality worked out exceptionally well for them. Have
you experienced policy changes that might seem radical?
Have these policies worked out? What policies do you feel are
still lacking in the workforce?
2. If you or your spouse is currently employed, how difficult
would it be to take time off for having a child?
3. Some individuals feel that so much focus is put on making the
workplace better for underrepresented groups that the
majority of the workforce becomes neglected. Do you feel this
was the case at IBM? Why or why not? How can a company
ensure that no employee is neglected, regardless of
demographic group?
4. What types of competitive advantages could IBM have gained
from having such a diverse workforce?

Identify which IT governance processes should be initiated to prevent re-occurrence of a project failure using COBIT framework?

Case: Airport Authority

The Airport Authority (AA) has been under considerable pressure from the Regional Government to increase capacity at Changow Airport. Originally built fifty years ago as a small regional airport serving a population of 250000, Changow's single runway is at full capacity for 20 hours of the day. The region's population has climbed to over 5 million and much of this growth in air travel is due to the rapid economic expansion of the region from industry and tourism.

The options facing the AA are not attractive. To increase capacity at Changow presents some serious engineering problems on the only available land to the north, over which a new runway must be built. The problems are due to local geology and some regular flooding from the Hankse River delta flowing nearby. A residential population of about 1 million lives within an area of 15 kilometers to the north of the airport and they believe that their lives would be affected severely by a major new runway.

Moreover, economic developments close to the airport crowd right up to the southern boundary, which is the only suitable means of access from Changow city for a wider road. The land close to the east and west boundaries contains mainly high income residential properties, mixed with isolated green sites, containing rare natural plants, exotic birds and other small wildlife. The State Government recently designated some of these areas as ‘National Heritage Sites’.

The other option is to build a completely new airport at Fongow, at a distance of forty kilometers from Changow, in agricultural land, presently farmed by thousands of small holders, whose families have worked the land there for many generations. New access roads would be needed, plus, perhaps a railway system which would require many bridges and tunnels, and the airport would be close to high wooded hills. There are doubts about the operational feasibility of building an airport so far from the regional capital.

The local political representatives, all members of the governing coalition, favor expansion of Changow airport on the grounds of ‘national economic development’, ‘social progress’ and national pride. So does local business, which claims that the current airport is holding back economic expansion in the region. Airport passengers, business and tourist alike, are plagued by long delays to flights and missed connections, and traffic jams during access and egress/way out along the airport's single and inadequate southern road to Changow city.

Public disquiet/worry about proposals to expand Changow airport have surfaced and are attracting media interest. The main opposition comes from local residents around the airport, though they do not yet form a majority. On the southern boundary, people living along the main road to the airport oppose widening the road because this would mean demolishing many thousands of homes. People living just behind these houses oppose widening because this brings the new road right up to their properties. A ‘Homes Before Roads’ campaign is underway.

People to the north oppose a new airport runway because of the impact during construction and afterwards on the residents who would have to move to make way for it, and on those left behind, who would be near aircraft taking off and landing. A ‘Hands off the Hankse’ campaign has been formed.

1. Summarize the main finding(s) of the case.