Discuss the rationale behind airport drainage. Problems that might arise through poor drainage and the legislation that includes airports.

Write 2/3 page and explain eight ways to gain a competitive advantage and provide an example for each. You can write a scenario for a business of your choice to answer this assignment.

Define capacity and delay. Define causes of delay and factors that affect airport capacity. What is the annual service volume?

Brutus Auto is a thriving, independently owned and operated firm located in Westerville. It was founded in 1986 by “Brutus” Cooper. Brutus was born and raised in Westerville, OH. Brutus is well-known and trusted by the residents of the town. As a teenager, he was a star football player for the high school team. In his spare time, he enjoyed working on cars and had a special talent when it came to cars. After college, this hobby led Brutus to start his own business – Brutus Auto Tire and Lube.

Brutus does a wide variety of work on vehicles of all makes and models. The shop also offers a variety of parts and supplies at retail. Brutus spends a great deal of time conversing with customers, most of whom he has known his whole life. His reputation for honest and reliable work has earned him many repeat customers, with the positive word of mouth helping him to expand his business.

His wife, Diane, runs the office, and takes special care to acknowledge customers on their birthdays with hand-written cards that include coupons for discounted services. Customers often reflect that Brutus offers the kind of service you can only find from a small-town mechanic. While Brutus is slightly more expensive than the chain establishments that have recently moved into town, customers testify that the friendly environment and quality service are worth the price.

Operational details

Brutus’s shop has grown steadily over the years. Originally, Brutus maintained a modest three automobile bays at his shop, and he and his long-time buddy, Fred, conducted most of the work except oil changes which were handled by a part-time apprentice. Currently, Brutus shop has six bays (the layout of the shop is shown in Figure 1) and seven mechanics (as not all of the service activities require a bay). Each of the bays is identical so that any employee can work at any station.

Four of the employees (including Brutus and Fred) are full-time (work at least 40 hours per week), and three are interns who work part-time (work fewer than 40 hours per week). Brutus and Fred are the only two mechanics permitted to do work beyond the basics, and so more involved car services can take some time getting through the shop. Most mechanics at Brutus Auto were trained at the area vocational school, and those with particular skill are taken on as apprentices who work under Fred and Brutus on the more involved projects. Cooper provides all the tooling necessary, and is respected as a fair and caring boss. In return, Brutus’ employees are loyal and hard-workers; seldom is absenteeism a problem, and turnover is rare.

The employee schedule for a typical week is shown in Table 1. The numbers shown in Table 1 are all devoted to working on vehicles. The shop closes for one week in the winter.

Inventory

Although the shop is primarily a service provider, all of the services require materials in addition to labor, and so there are inventory considerations that Brutus must manage.

A variety of other parts and supplies (for example, oil filters and oil) must be kept available due to the regularity of use; it would be difficult to meet the high expectations of customers if these items are not available. This has become a particularly high priority ever since national service chains moved into town, as the speed of their services such as oil changes is already far superior to that of Brutus. As a result of these competitive pressures, Brutus sets a 98% target service level.

Brutus is dedicated to using a high-quality brand of parts and supplies, most of which are available from a single supplier. Note that these parts and supplies are not only used to support services but also sold as retail transactions to customers who wish to perform their own repair work.

Currently, a continuous review policy is used for all car parts and supplies, but Brutus believes this system may require too much time to maintain for all inventory items. A sample of some of the items offered, the volumes used in services and sold at retail, and the associated costs are shown in Table 2. Brutus has determined that to call the supplier, pay for transportation, and put a shipment away costs approximately $50. The stockroom is relatively small and does not require special equipment or personnel. There is virtually no theft of product, so the annual holding costs are approximately 25% of unit cost. Delivery of orders takes about one week from the local supplier.

Adding Tire Service

The owners believe that adding tire replacement would increase revenues with a negligible increase to fixed (facility) costs other than tire inventory. However, in order to be competitive with the discount chains, Brutus must target a maximum of 30 minutes total time for each customer visit specific to tires since pricing was already competitive. They estimate that the time between arrivals for cars needing such replacement would be ten minutes. A dedicated and secure parking lot with a limit of 6 spots is available specifically for cars awaiting tire service. While service requirements vary, they estimate that a dedicated technician should finish up 3 tire service jobs each hour.

1. - Identify and describe TWO recommendations you would make to

                           Brutus Cooper to improve Operations and/or to lower costs.

There is a 95.05% chance the project below can be completed in X days or less. What is X? In the space provided below type in the values for each activity’s expected time, variance, list of critical activities, Project duration and value of X. Draw the network diagram (diagram required only in the pdf file). Activity ----- Predecessors----------- Optimistic (days)----------- Most likely (days) ------------pessimistic(days) ------A ------------none ---------------------------1 --------------------------------4 --------------------------------------- 7 ------B------------none ----------------------------2 --------------------------------2 --------------------------------------- 2 ------C---------------A-------------------------------2 --------------------------------5 --------------------------------------- 8 ------D---------------A-------------------------------3 --------------------------------4 --------------------------------------- 5 ------E--------------B,C -----------------------------4 --------------------------------6 --------------------------------------- 8 ------F--------------B,C------------------------------0---------------------------------0 --------------------------------------- 6 ------G--------------D,E -----------------------------3 --------------------------------6 --------------------------------------- 9

1. Expected value for each activity: BLANK-1

2. Variance for each activity: BLANK-2

3. Critical activities: BLANK-3

4. Project duration: BLANK-4

5. X = BLANK-5

Marketing Reflection:

• Analyze data sources and uses in the local, national, and global marketplaces.
• Evaluate various methods for creating customer value.
• Compare and contrast the ways that a company can create a brand identity.

Consider the five survey questions below from a job satisfaction survey, and indicate the levels of measurement used for each question (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio). Briefly explain your rationale for each decision.

A. I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do (Fields, 2002).

1. Disagree very much
2. Disagree moderately
3. Disagree slightly
4. Agree slightly
5. Agree moderately
6. Agree very much

B. My primary role within the company is:

1. administrative.
2. maintenance.
3. laborer.
4. manager.
5. driver.

C. A reasonable amount I should be expected to contribute annually to the company's health plan is:

1. 0 to $2,000.
2. $2,001 to $4,000.
3. $4,001 to $6,000.
4. $6,001 to $8,000.
5. $8,001 or greater.

D. Indicate the highest amount you were able to contribute to your 401k in 2017.

1. $1,000
2. $2,000
3. $3,000
4. $4,000
5. $5,000
6. $6,000
7. $7,000
8. $8,000
9. $9,000
10. $10,000
11. $11,000
12. $12,000
13. $13,000
14. $14,000
15. $15,000
16. $16,000
17. $17,000
18. $18,000
19. $19,000
20. $20,000
21. $21,000
22. $22,000
23. $23,000
24. $24,000

Reference

Fields, D. L. (2002). Taking the measure of work: A guide to validated scales for organizational research and diagnosis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Please include the name of the person or question to which you are replying in the subject line. For example, "Tom's response to Susan's comment."

Compare and contrast the four responses to interpersonal conflict other than

collaborating. Also, briefly identify the situation where each response would be most

appropriate.

What is Tiffany & Co.'s product assortment? In terms of breadth, length, depth for stock.

1. How do “buy one, get one free” deals sometimes deceive customers?

2. Why do retailers like Amazon show customers a product’s original list price along with the discounted price?

3. Discuss sales promotions in general. Compare/contrast this type of sales promotions to other promotional tools (e.g. commercials). Consider objectives, costs, and how it can be integrated into a comprehensive, unified promotion message. Use examples from businesses you've seen using this strategy. Think about how it fits into their overall marketing campaign.

What does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describe? what are Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory.

Motivation is of how many types? what are each one of them. What is the examples of motivation.

Value is the ratio of costs now and benefits in the future.

what would be the appropriate performance appraisal method to assess students' performance in class? What would be the key areas that you would focus on? What areas would you consider less important? How would you approach increasing performance?

HRM

Using THIS template, answer the three questions concluding the summary (minimum four sentences, per question).

Fast-Fashion and the Ethics of Low-Cost Labor

Who wants to wait six months for runway looks to hit the stores? In today’s fast-fashion world, six months is an eternity. Nearly extinct is the tradition of three luxurious fashion seasons per year (fall, spring, resort). Those seasons have been replaced by rock-bottom prices on 30 to 50 trend-driven cycles—per year. Consumers in the United States and Europe have embraced the entire fast-fashion approach—inexpensive apparel and high turnover of designs. In fact, their shopping behaviors have allowed companies like H&M and Zara to grow into international retailing behemoths.

The speed of fast-fashion goes beyond the production cycle. Europe’s fast-fashion chains have grown faster than the retail fashion industry as a whole, partly because the combination of low cost, fresh designs, and quick turnover is extremely successful in fueling consumer demand. Fast-fashion companies also boast higher margins that those reported by their traditional counterparts—an average 16% compared to an average of 7%. Undeniably, the application of planned obsolescence to fashion has been financially successful.

The fast-fashion approach is not without controversy, however, particularly when it comes to outsourcing production. Companies like Benetton, Walmart, and Disney place huge orders with offshore vendors who often cannot deliver the entire order without enlisting the help of additional subcontractors. Unauthorized subcontracting is the end result, and brands don’t always know who is producing their products or where. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, affirms this, saying, “I’ve talked to Thai workers who are three or four levels down from the original orders. If the brands don’t know, they should know. A lot of them are turning a blind eye to outsourcing.”

One country that has grown from outsourcing in the garment industry is Bangladesh. With labor rates averaging $40 per month, Bangladeshi garment workers are the cheapest around. (Compare that to approximately $120 per month on average for garment workers in China.) Those low labor costs have caused explosive growth in the size and scope of the country’s garment industry. In 2005, the country exported $6.9 billion worth of clothing. By 2011, that figure had risen to $19.9 billion, making the Bangladesh the world’s third largest exporter of clothing, behind China and Italy.

Makeshift garment factories have popped up all over Bangladesh. It now has roughly 4,500 garment factories, and disasters have ensued from the rapid growth. In November 2012, the fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory resulted in 112 deaths. In the subsequent five months, over 40 other fire-related accidents occurred in Bangladesh, and in April 2013, Rana Plaza, a building housing numerous garment factories, collapsed killing over 1,000 people.

Bangladesh isn’t the only country where concerns about subcontracting are growing. Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia also regularly face issues with multilayer outsourcing, and each of them could be next in line to wear the lowest-labor-cost title.

Subcontracting to vendors to produce garments at lower costs can be beneficial to companies in the following ways:

• Having access to a network of subcontracts provides companies with the flexibility they need to produce last-minute orders. In the same vein, relying on subcontractors allows companies to adapt their production schedules depending on consumer demand and keep fixed costs lower than if they built their own production infrastructures.
• Regularly moving manufacturing work to low-cost labor centers keeps labor costs low and allows companies to compete more ardently against each other.
• Garment work is often the only industry that poorer nations can attract as they develop into more robust economies. Threatening to revoke trade agreements or exit countries risks putting workers desperate for income out of work. One government official said off the record, “If they are really trying to help garment workers in Bangladesh, this is not really the way. These are people who need the work…What use is compassion if it takes away the livelihood of thousands of workers?”
• Using a network of subcontractors insulates brands from direct contact with unsavory work environments with unsafe working conditions.
• Using low-cost labor has created value for the consumer who benefits from lower prices in the store. Fewer household resources need to be spent on the same basket of apparel goods as a decade ago.

Despite the benefits, subcontracting to low-cost providers with unsafe working conditions has generated much controversy, not only in fast-fashion, but in the broader apparel and footwear industry as well:

• The European Union is considering revoking a favored trading status it had awarded to Bangladesh as a result of the series of workplace disasters that happened in that country in 2012 and 2013. The EU is Bangladesh’s larges trading partner. Women’s Wear Daily reported that EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht told Belgian media, “The government of Bangladesh must change something. Otherwise, I am ready to launch an investigation, which may lead to the suspension of Bangladesh’s trade status with the EU.”
• According to an analysis by the Workers Rights Consortium, it would take roughly $3 billion and five years to upgrade Bangladesh’s garment factories to Western standards. However, because the relationships are based on short-term contracts, WRC director Scott Nova told The Atlantic, “Long-term commitments they don’t want to make.”
• Bangladeshi suppliers say Western companies put heavy pressure on prices, resulting in bad pay and unsafe conditions for workers. In fact, demands for ultralow prices and ultrafast turnaround times put extreme pressure on garment manufacturers throughout the developing world. Auret van Heerden, CEO of the Fair Labor Association, argues, “The manufacturing industry is running out of low-cost sourcing destinations, and it’s time to invest in making factories safer and better, rather than searching for cheaper labor.”
• Hopscotching throughout the developing world looking for the lowest labor costs ultimately threatens brands’ reputations. Even Helena Helmersson, head of sustainability for H&M, seems to agree. She told The Observer, “Remember that H&M does not own any factories itself. We are to some extent dependent on the suppliers—it is impossible to be in full control.”
• Sourcing practices have exposed sharp contrasts between fast-fashion and luxury designers and exposed hypocrisy among critics. Italian designer Miuccia Prada, who also holds a PhD in political science, told Women’s Wear Daily, “People who are intellectual leftists, they say I am expensive and horrible, ‘How can you sell clothes at that price?’ Simply, it’s the cost. If you pay people to do everything with the right system, things are expensive. And the same people who criticize the dangerous production environments, when it comes to cost, they like the inexpensive pieces because they think it’s more democratic.”

So, who is ethically responsible?

You Decide:

• Do you agree with the EU’s threat to use trade agreements as a weapon in the fight against low-cost subcontracting? If governments were to regulate the number of subcontractors that can be involved in the production of a product, do you believe businesses that outsource their work would be more prone to respond ethically to catastrophes and to working conditions in general?

• If a brand explicitly forbids a vendor from subcontracting, but the vendor subcontracts anyway, which company bears the responsibility for any tragedy that ensues? In other words, who is ethically responsible for events like Tazreen Fashion factory fire and the New Wave Style building collapse, both in Bangladesh?

• What level of ethical responsibility does the end consumer of fast-fashion apparel bear for those tragedies?