1. Service quality is not always consistent, largely because services are often performed by human beings.  Provide an example of what employers could do to reduce service variability.

2. Generally, when advertising to one’s supply chain, the objective is a ____________________ strategy, in which the goal is to motivate sellers– wholesalers, distributors, or salespeople – to highlight the product, rather than the competitors, and thereby induce consumers to buy the product

3. When determining how to best convey the message in a marketing campaign, often one will determine the unique selling proposition (USP). What is a USP intended to do?

4. In the early stages of an ad campaign, the objectives are established. After the campaign has run, to determine if those objectives are met, the marketer will _____________________.

5. Describe the difference between financial and non-financial incentives.

6.In the B2B buying process the ___________________________ is an activity through which buying organizations invite alternative suppliers to bid on supplying their required goods.

7. Name and explain three “rule-of-thumb” methods of setting Integrated Marketing Communications budgets.

How would a financial manager determine optimal capital structure? How this would fit in with the company's capital expenditures, growth plans and operating results?

Provide a comparison and contrast between dialogue and discussion. Which can be used in strategic conversation? Use examples to demonstrate your understanding.

In the Digital Marketing era it is easier market entry for smaller, more nimble competitors to compete head-to-head with established brands. Agree ? Yes or no and why?

Goals:

Apple’s mission statement is, “to bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.” This broad range of offerings ties directly into a good business practice and public statements. Tim Cook’s bold claim that Apple’s investment in health will be its “greatest contribution to mankind” speaks to its mission statement, trying to better the user experience in as many offerings as it can.

Products/Services:

Apple products have a wide variety of use-cases and target markets. These products include the average consumer’s iPhone, the video editor’s iMAC, the layman’s Macbook, the audio enthusiast’s AirPods, the fitness nut’s Apple Watch, the routine show binger’s Apple TV, and the power user’s iHome. These are just the products and offerings that you can physically interact with, Apple also sells a collection of software, from operating systems to versatile applications. To introduce, maintain, and provide support for their consumers, Apple also has a chain of retail stores available to accomplish these goals.

Industry:

The industry that Apple is in is the Consumer Electronics/ Technological Sector. Apple is known for their smartphone manufacturing and computers. One of Apple’s largest selling products is their iPhones. Some of their competitors are companies such as: Google, Dell, Sony, Samsung, Nokia and HP. With Apple’s growing product diversity, they will also find more competitors in each market.

Look over Apples performance summary with lots of detail and fill in there financial performance/ performance summary.

2. 2 Performance Summary

1. Financial Performance:

2. Performance Summary:

The PDQ system consists of the following six subsystems:

Pizza Factory Locator

Order Entry

Logistics

Order Submit

Routing

Inventory Management

Pick one of these subsystems and build a complete WBS. You may have to make assumptions in order to complete this exercise. If so, just state them with your rationale.

Find a scholarly article on stakeholders. In two to three pages, critique the article, relating it to a personal experience and a time when stakeholders were important in a negotiation you were involved in. Please include references

SCENARIO:

Eva Melon, the CEO and majority shareholder of OuterSpace Corp. (OSC) (incorporated in Delaware) founded the company to develop the technology needed to make commercial space flights available to the average citizen. She believed that space could be made available for colonization and that the energy and resources needed to sustain life in outer space could be harvested from other planets, such as Mars. Eva spent most of her substantial fortune investing in renewable energy and philanthropic endeavors aimed at making life more comfortable through technological breakthroughs. Because Eva’s mother was from the United States and Eva’s father was from France, she held citizenship in both countries. She frequently traveled back and forth operating OSC from her homes in both countries.

Eva’s most recent project for OSC involved the design and construction of a space vehicle. While Eva had initially planned on manufacturing the vehicle in the United States, she projected that she could save approximately $10 million dollars by manufacturing the vehicle in China. However, she wanted to launch the vehicle from a spaceport either in Russia or the United States. Several test flights were slated on the project’s schedule for the years 2020 and 2021 which included a standard flight into low earth orbit, a docking with the international space station, and finally, a trip to Mars for natural resource sample collection. If successful in all the test flights, OSC planned on launching short commercial trips to space for individuals in 2023 and “colonization” flights to Mars some time thereafter.

To help secure funding for the research and development of the project, OSC also developed and produced solar panels for sale to the public, which were very similar to the ones that they would be using on their space vehicles for energy while in space. The panels were highly successful not only because of their technological brilliance, but also thanks to the public’s fascination with Eva, who was portrayed in the media as the “architect of the future.” OSC’s solar panels dominated the solar panel market, effectively shutting down other solar panel companies both domestically and abroad. Upset by the shift in the market, a competing foreign company, SolarX, filed a suit against OSC in federal court for violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

Undeterred, OSC entered into agreement with a Chinese company to begin the manufacture of the space vehicle. However, upon learning of the agreement, the United States government immediately notified OSC that they were in violation of the U.S. Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulation laws and that OSC must cease all transfer of technology and data related to the manufacturing of the vehicle. Concurrently, the Chinese government, in learning of the agreement and realizing the benefit of the technology to its national government, seized control of the manufacturing facility. OSC immediately filed suit in the United States against the manufacturing facility and Chinese government. It also brought an injunction against the U.S. government to prevent the enforcement of any federal regulation prohibiting OSC from using the Chinese company to manufacture space vehicles.

Knowing how long the lawsuits would take and wanting to stay on schedule, OSC opened a manufacturing facility in France to continue the construction of the space vehicle through a wholly-owned subsidiary of OSC (rather than an outside company).

The publicity surrounding OSC’s struggle to get its vehicle built and operational was overwhelmingly in support of OSC. As a result, OSC hinted at solidifying its decision to launch the vehicle from the United States, at a spaceport which it would build in Texas, for use in all its testing operations.

ETHICS QUESTION:

1. In 5-10 sentences, answer the following question. Assume OSC grants an exclusive interview to a 24-hour news channel about the economic status of the company hours after the seizure of the manufacturing facility in China. Chen Li is the marketing director for OSC and is assigned to the interview. Li does not know if the news station yet knows about the seizure, but knows he will be asked about the financial state of the company. He confirms that the confiscation has actually cost the company millions, which will impact the company's finances significantly but has been told by Eva "not to spook investors because we will recover." When asked by the interviewer, "Where is the company financially today, and what can we expect in terms of company growth over the next year?" Li responds, "OSC's management is as strong as ever and we expect revenues to climb in the future." Li never mentions the losses incurred by the seizure. Is this an ethical answer and should Li have disclosed the company's losses? Is corporate marketing "spin" an ethical business practice?

Using Michael Porter's Five Forces Model as a framework, analyze Dell's competitive landscape.

1. On the subject of the Industry Life Cycle as it relates to business ethics: do you see any ethical risks when a Company is transiting through he growth stage of this theory? Answer the question and list at least two risks or present two arguments why you disagree that risks do not exist at all.

Compile a strategy recommendation for an HR Director to be used for southwest airlines company-wide decisions. Include the following information in your report:

• An executive summary of the HR strategy project
• An analysis of current strategies and issues
• Identify the type of strategy Southwest Airlines is following.
• Identify 3 HRM implications for Southwest Airlines.
• Develop and justify business strategies for each of the 3 HRM implications.
• Determine an HR strategy.

What is the most challenging strategic planning area? Why?

Does Dell have organizational capabilities that foster rapid adaptation? Explain.