Fast-Track PMO Implementation Rescues Troubled Projects and Improves Customer Satisfaction In six months, a fully-functional PMO was implemented including Project Portfolio Management tools. The resulting visibility into projects allowed the client to recover 100% of the troubled projects in a portfolio valued at approximately $13M, while improving project manager morale as well as project performance and customer satisfaction. Company One of the largest privately-held staffing companies in the United States, the client’s team includes more than 8,000 internal employees and 90,000 contract employees working with customers around the world. Challenge While the client’s core business growth is phenomenal, they are also diversifying into new industries, such as health care. This growth puts tremendous strain on IT resources supporting the growing list of projects, from business-critical IT infrastructure to meet the ever-increasing demands of business growth. System enhancements are underway to standardize business practices across newly acquired business units. The CIO’s vision for the future of IT includes improved performance in delivering projects, while maintaining costs and holding staffing levels to the absolute minimum. Implementing a PMO seemed a logical approach to achieving this vision. Solution After an unsuccessful first attempt at implementing a PMO, the Company then turned to PM Solutions’ expertise in PMO implementation for very diverse clients over a wide range of industries. PM Solutions utilized a PMO Implementation Model developed over many years of experience. After conducting an assessment of existing levels of project management maturity and competency, the PM Solutions team converted their findings into actionable tasks grouped by actions to be taken in the short term for immediate gains, along with mid-term and long-term tasks. They customized a project management methodology for the client’s business climate that comprised traditional project management, agile project management and the touch points between project management and SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) methodologies. Culture change was sparked through the establishment of PM Workgroups and other professional training, performing project reviews and project health checks, addressing the need for a project governance structure, and implementing systems for improving project portfolio management and resource management/planning. Finally, metrics were introduced so that resulting gains in project performance and productivity due to the PMO implementation could be tracked. Results Within six months, PM Solutions delivered a PMO with industry standard functions, including a project management process methodology, resource management, and programs for project management training, coaching and mentoring. In addition, PM Solutions assisted the Company with the software selection process for a project portfolio management tool to address portfolio and resource management. The resulting visibility into projects allowed the client to identify those projects in need of corrective action and immediately implement project recovery strategies. All projects flagged as “red” by the new project status reporting system, valued at more than $13 million, were recovered. These successes significantly improved project manager morale as well as project performance and customer satisfaction. Because of these results, the Company also added a PM Solutions Program Manager to one of the more troubled IT projects. The project was experiencing severe scope creep, was not adhering to the project schedule, and was in danger of going over budget. Within four weeks, the PM Solutions Program Manager, working closely with the client’s project managers, was able to turn the project around, meeting project deliverable dates while keeping the project within budget. PM Solutions continues to partner with the Company to support the successful execution of this multi-year project.

By referring to the case study above for evidence, critically discuss the reasons for successful project management.

Analyse projects typical constraints as they apply to the case study.

The partially completed inventory record for the driveshaft subassembly in the table below shows gross​ requirements, scheduled​ receipts, lead​ time, and current​ on-hand inventory.

a. Complete the last three rows of the record for an FOQ of

60

units. ​(Enter your responses as integers. A response of​ "0" is equivalent to being not​ applicable.)

Complete the last three rows of the record by using the L4L​ lot-sizing rule. ​(Enter your responses as integers. A response of​ "0" is equivalent to being not​ applicable.)

CASE 1

Unethical practices of food industry

Tasty meal is one of the largest foodservice retailer having more than 200 restaurants across country. It has more than 3000 employees including staff members, waiters and chefs.

However, Tasty Meal has been criticized for

• Unfair treatment with its employees by taking too many hours of working against very low wages. Tasty Meal has no difficulty in hiring its employees on low wages due to poverty and unemployment in the region. Even some employees mentioned that the hiring process depends heavily on the hiring manager’s opinion and without clear criteria and selection procedures. It has also been criticized for taking work from children against one time meal. The situation is even worst in under developed cities of the country.
• For drivers working in a delivery process the company using a specific software to track the drivers all the time.
• The working conditions inside the company were criticized as very poor conditions, without any considerations for employee’s safety and wellbeing, and privacy.
• Meals served are mostly junk food, oily, having high calorie and could cause health issues if eaten regularly. And the company usually hiding some ingredients, and nutrition information in its products.
• Tasty Meal is not even environmental friendly. Using disposable stuff like wrapping paper, straws and tableware are comparatively cost effective but harmful to the environment, especially those which are non-recyclable. It has been criticized for over packaging and using extra wrapping papers.
• To recover its reputation the company start donating money from its net profit to NGOs to take care of the community.

Questions

Identify the main stakeholders in this case?

Using the main theories of ethics (e.g. utilitarian, human rights, fairness and justice) to understand the ethical issues in this case?

Do you think treating employees in Tasty Meal is unfair? Justify. (Keep the unemployment factor, poverty and economic environment in mind).?

Should Tasty Meal be accused for health issues by providing unhealthy food? (Note: Tasty Meal never sells its product forcefully, Customers have choices) ?

Do you think Tasty Meal is running an ethical and socially responsible business? Why or why not?

What are your recommendations for this company in order to be more ethical (for both internal and external stakeholders)?

Name at least 7 challenges of a NYS manufacturing corporation managing a global supply chain?

Your Company has five distribution centers located throughout the world. Management has decided to shut down two. Write a one-page memo to all employees stating the company’s plan to shut down two distribution centers. The decision has not been made as to which two will close.

Explain 1) why needs-based segmentation is recommended more than descriptor-based segmentation. Then, describe 2) how you can develop needs-based segmentation (segmentation step)

You are the logistics manager for a large retail store chain. The Christmas decorations that will go on sale next week are stuck in the port of Los Angeles due to a strike by longshoremen. What can you do to save Christmas for the year and what should you do to protect yourself next year?

What is the difference between “forward” and “backward” scheduling; and why would a business use each?

Despite all the significant benefits that arise of of the practice of marketing, it remains a human activity. Marketing has flaws which have been highly publicised in recent times. "Despite the social criticisms of marketing that Hungry Lion should be cognisant of. Your answer should include the impact of those criticisms on the operations of Hungry Lion. 25 Marks

The Continent’s Progressive QSR Player Stellenbosch-based fast food specialist Hungry Lion has found ideal footing for expansion over the coming years, owed to optimised operations and an admirable outlook Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Josh Hyland Adrian Basson is a self-described Afro-optimistic. “There’s no hiding from the fact that there are a lot of challenges in Africa, but retail is a promising sector when it comes to facilitating opportunities, creating employment and generally building a business that can have a widespread impact,” he says. “When you reach a remote town with an empty plot, the local people don’t often have much. But as we’ve built new stores and helped to launch new shopping centres, we’ve been able to not only witness, but also facilitate the construction of new, thriving ecosystems. We’re proud to be a business that contributes to the success of these societies – I guess you could say we’re a capitalist business with a socialist outlook.” Basson, now CEO, became part of the Hungry Lion story in 2001 and has seen the company come a long way over the past two decades to be the responsible, esteemed organisation it is today. Having opened its first restaurant in South Africa in 1997, the business today proudly operates a network constituting over 200 stores across South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Angola, with over 4,000 Hungry Lion employees. Looking at the bigger picture, however, such statistics only touch the surface of what the brand is bringing to the region. “In many ways I like to think that our product is an afterthought in what we’re looking to achieve,” explains Basson. “Yes, serving bigger portions, more chips and more smiles is key to our operations, but it’s just one part of our overriding goal – providing joy to our employees, customers and local communities through food, served with passion.” This ethos is relatively new to the firm, becoming more of a core focus during the company’s major rebranding process that kickstarted in 2014. Having originally been part of the Shoprite Group, Africa’s largest food supermarket chain, Hungry Lion is now a totally independent company in its own right with a unique brand and character. “In the beginning, we weren’t really building a brand,” reveals Basson. “We purely sold chicken and chips at an affordable price on a somewhat ad-hoc basis. However, we eventually found ourselves with 100-plus stores, and with the economic challenges that came around in 2008/09, we realised that stores without a brand, a story, and an experience would fail to deliver in the long term. It was a case of changing with the times and we invested a lot into the design of our stores, our product quality and consistency, together with the development of the brand itself.” Since transitioning from being a business-centric to a customer-centric brand, Hungry Lion has reaped the rewards with the business undergoing stratospheric growth over the past few years. Adding a modern twist Moving in this re-energised direction, strategy changes quickly followed for Hungry Lion, evidence of which can be found in the firm’s increasing use and the implementation of revolutionary technologies. Fast forward to today, the company now benefits from artificial intelligence, automated system checks, cloud computing and live dashboards – technologies which serve multiple purposes in the way of driving the business forward. This together with an always connected workforce, makes executing operationally so much more efficient. “I’ve always had a connection with technology,” Basson reveals. “I used to work in the technology division of Compaq in London and also formerly as the Chief Digital Officer of Shoprite for a period. We live in an era where we can augment the people with technology to do the repetitive stuff, so that they can focus on the more human touches.” In a space where most others in the fast food industry are franchised and owner-managed, Hungry Lion is unique in the African landscape, with almost all stores being fully-owned and managed from its Head Office. This is where automated systems and clever use of technology comes to the forefront in managing the business over vast distances and across borders. “With technology comes data and with data comes insight,” Basson continues. “Using our systems, we’re able to see the performance of each of our stores in real time, have an overview of customer experience, and execute plans to fix problems at speed and scale. These capabilities would never have been possible if we didn’t have the right technologies in place.” With full visibility of information comes accountability, since everyone can see what needs to be done and if it was done. Transparency is a crucial merit of these technologies, a cultural trait of Hungry Lion that is accentuated in other ways. Basson adds: “We have a network of area, country and regional managers who act as an extension of our Head office in Stellenbosch. Head office employees pay regular visits to different regions to keep a finger on the pulse of local operations. Our area and country managers, in turn, come to Head Office regularly for updates to business processes, training, and meetings. This constant exposure in both directions ensures that best practises are shared and implemented to all stores quickly.” Prosperous career planning Combined with both these expansive technologies and a transparent, remodelled structure, Hungry Lion recognises that its staff are key to achieving the firm’s ongoing ambitions. To this end, the company ensures that it provides extensive benefits to its employees, bolstering its position as an employer of choice and equally its talent retention capabilities. Such initiatives include the introduction of E-learning materials in five languages and the company’s live in-house training platform from LessonDesk, a comprehensive new employee assistance programme, access to affordable healthcare for employees and more specialised and tailored training programmes. What’s more, Hungry Lion has a strong focus on career planning, testament to its culture of internal promotion. “Typically speaking, joining a fast food business as the lowest level of employee, the pay isn’t fantastic and it’s not uncommon for these workers to have bigger aspirations,” explains Basson. “What we’ve realised is you can either listen to and facilitate these ambitions, or your workers will leave and look for opportunities elsewhere. We like to pursue the former, providing clear career paths for our inspirational and aspirational workers. From cashiers to controllers to junior managers to regional managers, and so on, this personal growth structure is in place at Hungry Lion.” A core part of the company’s ethos, providing key opportunities to reward loyalty and ambition, Hungry Lion offers not just a job but an all-encompassing opportunity to build a prosperous career. A sound, responsible outlook Such a humble and grounded approach is not only applied internally, but equally externally through a number of corporate social responsibility initiatives. These are built around Hungry Lion’s three-pillar CSR strategy, with the organisation contributing towards hunger alleviation, championing change in local communities and promoting skills development. Between February and March of this year alone, for example, the company provided food for the attendees of a seminar addressing the issue of domestic violence, pupils of an underprivileged primary school during a field trip and fire fighters in the Western Cape, while also supporting a Soweto children’s home and a local police station’s cricket tournament for rural schools. “It’s an element to our business that we take pride in,” reveals Basson. “We like to show that we care for our communities, customers and especially our employees and their families. There’s a lot of need in Africa from a poverty standpoint and being in the food business we’re able to help local communities in addressing such issues. I wouldn’t say we have a set agenda – ad hoc opportunities arise, and we react accordingly in each of the locations that we’re based, helping to give people a sense of purpose and promote skills of local communities.” Asked about a particular such initiative that springs to mind, Basson is quick to highlight the company’s efforts in supporting the Zambian people during a cholera outbreak at the beginning of 2017. He continues: “We immediately lowered the prices of our food, ensuring people could get nutritious, safe and affordable food, we donated money to the government that was used to help with the clean-up process. We even provided sanitation kits to our staff, helping them clean their own living environments to ensure their family’s health.” Having developed a culture that is firmly centred around providing benefit to all people, whether it’s supporting local communities or providing unrivalled, progressive career opportunities, Hungry Lion’s outlook is unique and admirable. Opportunity is a word that is creating an atmosphere of excitement within the company at the moment, with continued expansion firmly on the table for Hungry Lion after experiencing double digit percent organic growth over the past two years. “We’ve set 20 new stores as a benchmark, but realistically this is a ball-park figure on the conservative side,” reveals Basson. “If we can open 50 stores then we’ll do it – if we find a good site where we can profitably trade, we will open. There aren’t any specific limitations.” New systems and optimised procedures in place, last year’s corporate action, focus on organic growth, and consolidation allowed Hungry Lion to not only transition into independence, but equally provided the platform for the company to gear up for full throttle expansion over the coming years. “We’re realistic at the same time,” Basson continues. “We understand that we cannot conquer the whole continent in 2019 or 2020, but the plan is to grow as fast as possible. Africa has around 1.2 billon people but in the next three decades this number will double. Further, there are 54 countries across Africa, countries that we know we’ll have a good chance of being able to expand into, whether it be through franchises, joint ventures, or other kinds of partnerships. The opportunities are immense, and I feel our business is a prime example as to why it’s a great time to be investing on the continent right now. I just hope that others will come and join us in the fun!”

Q1: Discuss why an organization would need to understand global enterprise architectures when expanding operations abroad, with example (200 words)Q1: Discuss why an organization would need to understand global enterprise architectures when expanding operations abroad, with example (200 words)

Consumers have gotten used to seeing products placed in movies and TV shows. We see cars, food, beverages, clothing, electronics, stores, and more on a regular basis inserted into entertainment.

Discuss product placement as a tactic in marketing. What are the advantages/disadvantages of this type of promotional tool compared to other types of advertising?

Identify three key sources of digital competitive advantage. For each source, identify a company that you believe exemplifies that digital competitive advantage in today's world and specify the ways you see them using Information Technology to achieve that advantage. In each key area, you should explain based on your understanding.

Marketing Assignment

Find a brand that is utilizing all five promotion tools (Advertising, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling, Public Relations, Direct and Digital Marketing) and describe how they are using each. You must cite SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. Please don't write that they are using digital marketing like social media or that they have advertisements on TV. Please point to specific executions.

The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is largely a product of Game Theory. Describe MAD and describe the tenents of Game Theory utilized when developing this policy. please no plagiarism. I need 2 pages of work.