The R&D department is planning to bid on a large project for the development of a new communication system for commercial planes. The accompanying table shows the activities, times, and sequences required:

ACTIVITY              IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR          TIME (WEEKS)

b. What is the critical path? More than one answer can be selected.

A-C-F-G-I

A-B-E-I

A-D-H-I

A-D-F-G-I

c. Suppose you want to shorten the completion time as much as possible, and you have the option of shortening any or all of B, C, D and G each one week. Which would you shorten? More than one answer can be selected.

B

C

D

G

E

F

d-1. What is the new critical path? More than one answer can be selected.

A-C-F-G-I

A-B-E-I

A-D-H-I

A-D-F-G-I

d-2. What is the earliest completion time for the new critical path?

Completion time ________ weeks

Complete the following information about the organization and products and/or services you will focus on as you develop a complete marketing plan throughout the course. You may need to do research to get answers to the questions below. Be sure the organization and offer you select will 1) remain interesting to you for the duration of the course, and 2) have sufficient information available for you to conduct research and make informed recommendations in your marketing plan.

Company Profile

• Company Name: southwest airlines
• Industry:
• Major products and/or services (names, types):
• Products and/or services your marketing plan will focus on:
• Target customers:
• Distribution channel(s):
• Headquarters (city, state, country):
• Year founded:
• Number of employees:
• Annual revenue (estimated)
• Key competitors:
• Link to Web site:
• Link to Yahoo! Finance information page (for public companies):

Market Segmentation and Targeting

• What problem does your product or service solve?
• Describe the total market for your solution: Who are potential customers?
• What are the key segments within this market?
• Identify and briefly describe 1–3 segments that this company serves.
• Which segment does this marketing plan focus on, and why? Why do you believe this segment will offer growth and profit opportunities?

Situation and Company Analysis

Economic Environment

Discuss factors that affect your consumers’ purchasing power and spending patterns. What is the economic environment that you are operating in? Is it growth, recovery or recession? Will it be easy to find staff? What is the current interest rate i.e. is it increasing or decreasing? What is consumer confidence like?

Technical Environment

The technological environment changes rapidly. You need to make sure that you are aware of trends in your industry and other industries could affect your business. New technologies create new markets and can influence you, consumers and competitors. Industry environment What are the trends in your industry? Are there new entrants in the market? Has a substitute product been introduced? Are there changes in industry practices or new benchmarks to use?

Competitive Environment

How many competitors do you have? Who are the key competitors? What are the key selling points or competitive advantages of each one? What is your advantage over competitors? Is the market large enough to support you and competitors?

Political Environment

Consider the political environment for the areas that your business will trade and operate in. Is there a stable political system? Are there any licenses and regulations that you should be aware of? Do you need to win support to be able to operate?

SWOT Analysis

Instruction: Complete the table below with descriptive responses and explanation as you answer the questions below.

Mission, Objectives, and Goals

State the mission or business purpose: what the organization wants to achieve, in market-oriented terms. (Example: Disney’s mission could be, “We create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages.)

List 1–3 objectives that move the organization a step closer to achieving the mission. (Example: A Disney objective could be, “To be the most popular theme park for international visitors.”)

Convert objectives into specific marketing goals that are easy to measure and evaluate. (Example: Our goal is to increase the market share of international theme park visitors by 10% in the next two years.”)

Sherry Shellenbocker, the CFO of a Canadian multinational, was arguing for the establishment of a shared services center. The center would be owned an operated by an external provider. She recommended starting with back-office payment processing for all of the corporations six divisions. Payment processing was a hassle, and Sherry was glad to hand this over to a capable service provider if she can find one. What advice would you give to Sherry?

Shared services is most typically a company-owned service unit that allows for greater efficiencies without giving up control. Sherry should get more clarity on what she is trying to accomplish before moving forward with this initiative.  

She is on a good path. By outsourcing shared services, Sherry will be able to focus on higher value-added activities.

Payment processing should never be outsourced.

Sherry should first determine if the shared services center satisfied the "Rules of Nine" criteria for supplier partnerships.

1) Discuss two challenges that companies from developing countries face in order to implement a quality management system.

2) what are some of the main causes of accidents in the workplace?

1. Argo Oil & Gas Company was loading a tanker with fuel oil when the loading hose snapped for an unknown reason and about 2,000 gallons of fuel oil poured into the Pacific Ocean. Argo was sued for this water pollution. Argo raised the defense that it had exercised the outmost due care, was not at fault in any way, and had not intended to pollute the ocean. What laws could be used to prosecute Argo? What are the potential penalties and overall outcome of the lawsuit?  

Give a marketing example of each component of marketing design:

1. A definition of the information that is needed.
2. The phases of the research should be designed using one of the three available designs: descriptive and/or causal, and exploratory.
3. The measurement scaling procedures must be identified and utilized:
4. Construct and pretest a proper form for data collection.
5. Identify and specify the sampling process and sample size.
6. The data should then be subject to analysis under a proscribed methodology.

5. CarPoint is a comprehensive consumer-oriented automotive web site offering users

complete car-buying and care information on all makes and models. It provides fast, convenient

access to detailed specifications and pricing information on both new and used

cars. It also provides reviews and advice from leading automotive writers, and personalized

maintenance and recall information. Ford Motor Company was CarPoint’s first

partner. Ford’s concept is to allow consumers to order any model car to their exact specifications

and receive immediate feedback on availability. Consumers are able to schedule

delivery and service at their local dealership, making it easier for consumers to buy cars

over the Internet.

Once a consumer decides what car she wants to buy, CarPoint locates an existing car,

regardless of where in the country it is, or they place an order for a new custom car to be

built at the factory and delivered to the consumer’s local dealership. During the process,

both the manufacturer and the dealer will get instant, online status reports on the order

from the time the order is placed until it is delivered to the customer.

Ford sees its advantage in better managing its order-fulfillment process. It streamlines

production and allows better inventory management through its supply chain.

b. List the steps in the Internet value chain, and discuss the time, quality, and cost of the

experience to the consumer.

c. What cost, quality, and time benefits will Ford likely encounter with their new

arrangement with CarPoint? What causes these benefits?

d. How will a service like CarPoint likely affect dealers’ behavior toward their customers?

Laura, a new graduate from Cornell Unversity’s School of Hotel Administration, could not believe her good luck. She was recently offered a new entrylevel position as an operations analyst at ARAMARK, one of the most admired U.S. companies, according to Fortune magazine (ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world). The reason for Laura’s excitement was also because of the unique opportunity she was getting in her first assignment: she was going to Beijing during the 2008 Olympics to work for ARAMARK food services. Over the years, ARAMARK has provided food services to many large-scale events, including the last 13 Olympic Games. For example, during the 2004 Athens Olympics, ARAMARK worked with its partner, the Daskalantonakis Group (the leading Greek hospitality and tourism group), to provide meals for the largest Olympic Village in history. The Olympic Village in Athens hosted Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games participants, coaches, officials and Games personnel. ARAMARK and the Daskalantonakis Group served more than two million meals to participants, coaches, and officials throughout the 60-day duration of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Some of the other large-scale food service events managed by ARAMARK included serving over 340,000 motor fans who attended one of the biggest events in Spain last year: the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix in Barcelona. More than 1,100 ARAMARK employees served attendees more than 9,000 fruit dishes, 120,000 sandwiches, 40,000 hot dogs, and 40,000 cups of coffee during the three-day event. Some specialty gourmet dishes were also served, such as barbequed lamb steak, pumpkin and orange soup, and sole rolls with shrimp cream. While preparing for her job interview, Laura had become aware of the large scale of ARAMARK’s food service engagements. However, nothing had prepared Laura for the scale of the Beijing 2008 Olympics food service operations; Laura and all the other new employees had received a pre-event memo from their new boss, which stated that the ARAMARK team would be responsible for serving 3.5 million meals during the event (or 10,000 people per hour) that would not only pack a punch for peak performance but had to have the smells and tastes of home. The food service operations would have a staff of nearly 7,000—including some 230 chefs from 10 countries— to feed almost 65,000 athletes, coaches, officials, and members of the media throughout the Olympics. The memo further stated that ARAMARK’s biggest challenge would be to ensure that the food arrived at the right time, at the right temperature, and in the right quantities. In addition, dining during the Olympics would also be a social experience. Therefore, ARAMARK had to ensure that the athletes and visiting dignitaries got the highest quality service for a great experience. The memo also included a table (see Table 12.4), which listed some of the key inventories that needed to be managed to ensure that the food service operation was successful. After going through the memo and the attached table, Laura wondered if she should still feel lucky or she should start panicking. Her job was to support the assistant director in effectively managing inventory for the food service operations. She wondered if she could apply the concepts she learned about lean enterprise in her final semester operations management class to this first “real-world” job. Table 12.4 Inventory for 2008 Beijing Olympics Food Service Operations To serve a “world menu” of more than 800 recipes throughout the Games requires: • 93,000 pounds of seafood • 130 tons of meat • 38,000 pounds of pasta (dry) • 134,000 pounds of rice (about 20 million half-cup servings when cooked) • 743,000 (or 232 tons) potatoes • 800,000 (or 44 tons) eggs • 1 million apples • 936,000 bananas • 312,000 oranges • 684,000 carrots • Nearly 24 tons of onions • 50,000 pounds of mushrooms • 57,000 pounds of cheese • 190,000 loaves of bread • 5,500 pounds of butter • 16,000 pounds of tofu • 20,000 heads of lettuce All those ingredients will create a rotating menu of: • 320 hot main entrée dishes • 160 vegetable and potato dishes • 128 rice and pasta dishes • 400 different dessert, pastry, and bakery items

QUESTIONS

1. What are the unique aspects of inventory management in large-scale food services such as ARAMARK’s Olympic Games operations?

2. What lean production concepts can Laura apply in the above context? What challenges will she face?

3. What are the limits to applying lean principles in large food service operations such as ARAMARK’s Olympic Games operations?

two minute speach on canada current dissaperance or child of death leave

Communication Styles,

Advising,?

Deflecting?

Probing?

Reflecting?

Chapter 12 Discussion questions: Ethics

Discuss lying.

Discuss cheating

.Discuss a person’s word.

Discuss stealing.

PRODUCT QUALITY LEADERSHIP – is where a company aims to provide the best quality product in the market, and therefore charges more than its competitors. These companies are usually market leaders. Pricing objectives for particular products or services can also vary according to the stage in the product life cycle.

Identify a non-tech brand that appears to follow the product-quality leadership pricing objective. Support your selection

Please choose ONE non-tech brand company and answer in paragraph form.

L. Houts Plastics is a large manufacturer of​ injection-molded plastics in North Carolina. An investigation of the​ company's manufacturing facility in Charlotte yields the information presented in the table below. How would the plant classify these items according to an ABC classification​ system?

​(Round

dollar volume to the nearest whole number and percentage of dollar volume to two decimal​ places.)