A fundamental assumption of administrative reformers in the late 1800s and early 1900s was that politics could have only adverse affects on administration. How valid is that belief? How, and to what extent, do current administrative structures and practices reflect that assumption? And do you see politics as a contructive force in governance?

For the following systems discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using an agile approach (for the software components):

       a) Pet store POS system

enhancing and optimizing customer retention and loyalty is a major business strategy . Explain why , and list two example of companies which follow this strategy.

There's a 5 step process in risk management. What are they? Comment on them.

Please no handwritten answers.

Describe the alignment between the three different types of business strategies and its association with HRM strategies and functions. What business strategy has Xiaomi adopted and how would this strategy impact their SHRM approach? ( should apply on Xiaomi about 600 words)

Please describe Walmart business environment and challenges the company faces in at least 2 pages.

**Please include sources**

A pharmacist has been monitoring sales of a certain over-the-counter pain reliever. Monthly sales during the last 15 months were:

1. Using 3-Month Weighted Moving Average using 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 with the heaviest weights applied to the most recent months, develop forecasts for months from 11 to 16.
2. Using Exponential Smoothing using an α = 0.4 and the 10^th Month forecast of 50, develop forecasts for months from 11 to 16.  
3. Using Trend Projection, develop forecasts for months from 11 to 16.
4. Justify which method you would suggest using to predict future sales.

GLOBAL BUSINESS AND STRATEGY

Impact of Culture on Business – Deloitte Insights The importance of culture is readily apparent when things go wrong. When two large companies merged last year, for example, it became clear that one company had a culture of “low cost” while the other had a culture of “quality service.” Employees received mixed signals for months until the new management team took the time to carefully diagnose and redefine many business processes throughout the company. Given the importance of culture and the consequences of cultural issues, many companies are proactively defining culture and issuing culture “manifestos.” The Netflix culture presentation, often used as an example, has been downloaded more than 12 million times since 2009. The presentation clearly describes a culture that combines high expectations with an engaging employee experience: Generous corporate perks such as unlimited vacation, flexible work schedules, and limited supervision balance a strong focus on results with freedom and appreciation for the expected achievement. The financial services industry, still restoring its brand after the 2008 financial crisis, is sharply focused on culture. One organization is using a variety of initiatives to help employees understand “how the bank does business,” including offering speaker series on topics such as compensation packages, customer satisfaction, and maintaining regulatory standards. Citigroup has an entire committee focused on ethics and culture and has implemented a series of web-based videos detailing real workplace ethical dilemmas.

America is focusing its corporate culture transformation on encouraging employees to report and escalate issues or concerns, as well as incorporating a risk “boot camp” into their current training. Wells Fargo is increasing its efforts to gather employee survey feedback to understand current trends and potential areas of weakness in its culture. A new industry of culture assessment tools has emerged, enabling companies to diagnose their culture using a variety of well-established models. Yet despite the prevalence of these tools, fewer than 12 percent of companies believe they truly understand their culture. That’s where HR can help. As businesses try to understand and improve their culture, HR’s role is to improve the ability to curate and shape culture actively. An organization’s capabilities to understand and pull the levers of culture change can be refined and strengthened. HR has a natural role to play in both efforts. As operations become more distributed and move to a structure of “networks of teams,” culture serves to bind people together and helps people communicate and collaborate. When managed well, culture can drive execution and ensure business consistency around the world. HR has an opportunity to assume the role of champion, monitor, and communicator of culture across, and even outside, the organization. Once culture is clearly described, it defines who the company hires, who gets promoted, and what behaviours will be rewarded with compensation or promotion. Nordstrom has formed a People Lab Science Team in an effort to define and curate a culture that will attract top talent and enable the retailer to compete with tech companies such as Tableau and Microsoft. The team takes a multidisciplinary approach to designing programs to define and reinforce Nordstrom’s culture. Starbucks analyzed thousands of social media entries to gain an objective view of its culture through the eyes of its employees and take specific actions to reinforce its cultural strengths and address cultural weaknesses. Securitas Belgium has defined the behaviors associated with its vision for culture, performed an analysis of its current state, and developed a detailed, measurable change plan for 150 of its managers. Software giant SAS was recently rated the best place to work by the Great Place to Work Institute. It is also highly successful, with 37 consecutive years of record earnings (it earned $2.8 billion in 2012). SAS has identified trust as a critical cultural attribute and regularly surveys its employees on elements of trust: communication, respect, transparency, and being treated as a human being. Once an organization develops a clear understanding of its culture and decides on a direction for cultural change, it is critical to move rapidly from analysis to action. Moving from talking to doing is the only way to build
momentum. For companies pondering a cultural transformation, the time to start is now—because many companies are already way ahead.

Question 1 How do you see the cultural transformation for companies in South Africa? Comment

Question 2) Discuss the role of Religion and Education in modern business transformation with appropriate examples.

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NEED ANSWER ASAP / ANSWER NEVER USED BEFORE, COMPLETELY NEW ANSWER PLEASE

There are four market models: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. Briefly discuss the assumptions of each of these four models and give examples of each. Explain the long run economic profit earned by each of the four. Explain how the concept of economic profit might help explain the rationale for the government’s granting of monopolies to those firms that protect their product with a patent.

ANSWER THROUGHLY 1-2 pages

COPY AND PASTE NOT ATTACHMENT PLEASE

NEEDS TO BE AN ORIGINAL SOURCE ANSWER NEVER USED BEFORE

*****NEEDS TO BE A ORIGINAL SOURCE****

• Please describe the differences between the two types of corporations.
• Include a pro and con chart that describes the advantages and disadvantages of the two forms of corporations.
• Discuss why you believe to prefer one form of a corporation over the other.

Explain how diversity and inclusion may be addressed at a talent planning and recruitment level?

Question 3: Graphically solve the following problem.

Minimize the cost = X + 2 Y

Subject to:      X+3Y  >=  90

                        8X + 2Y >= 160

                        3X + 2Y >= 120

                        Y  <=   70

                        X,Y  >=  0  

1. What is the optimal solution?
2. Change the right hand side of constraint 2 to 140 (instead of 160) and resolve the problem. What is the new optimal solution?

Alice and Bob Ray use cabbages, tomatoes and onions to make two kinds of relish: chow-chow and tomato. A jar of Chow-chow contains 8 ounces of cabbage, 3 ounces of tomatoes, and 3 ounces of onions. A jar of tomato relish contains 6 ounces of tomatoes, 6 ounces of cabbage, and 2 ounces of onions. The Rays have 120 ounces of cabbages, 90 ounces of tomatoes and 45 ounces of onions each week. The profit for a jar of chow-chow is $2.25 and the profit for a jar of tomato relish is $1.95. The Rays want to know how many jars of each kind of relish to make each week to maximize the profit. What is the shadow price for a tomato?