Starbucks SWOT Analysis

1. Strengths:

2. Weaknesses:

3. Opportunities:

4. Threats

Slick oil company has 3 warehouses from which it can ship to 4 retailers. The demand at Retailer 1 is 350 cans, at Retailer 2 it is 100, at Retailer 3 it is 50 and at Retailer 4 it is 150 cans. Warehouse 1 has an inventory of 250 units, Warehouse 2 has an inventory of 150 units, and Warehouse 3 has an inventory of 300 units. Given the costs below, they need to determine how product should be shipped between the warehouses and the retailers.

Transportation Costs ($)

a) Write a formulation for this problem, following the 4 Step approach (Include this in your submission too).

b) Solve this problem with the Excel Solver and type a short report on findings:

• What is the total shipping cost?

• How many units should be shipped between each warehouse and each retailer to reach that minimized shipping cost?

For the best Parmesan cheese for one’s chicken parmigiana recipe, one might try Wegmans, especially if one happens to live in the vicinity of Pittsford, New York. Cheese department manager Carol Kent will be happy to recommend the best brand because her job calls for knowing cheese as well as managing some 20 subordinates.

Wegmans Food Markets, a family-owned East Coast chain with over 80 outlets in six states, prides itself on its commitment to customers, and it shows. It consistently ranks near the top of the annual Consumer Reports survey of the best national and regional grocery stores.

Kent and the employees in her department also enjoy the best benefits package in the industry, including fully paid health insurance. And that includes part-timers, who make up about two-thirds of the company’s workforce of more than 37,000. At 15 to 17 percent of sales, for example, Wegmans’ labor costs are well above the 12 percent figure for most supermarkets.

Besides, employee turnover at Wegmans is about 6 percent—a mere fraction of an industry average that hovers around 19 percent (and can approach 100 percent for part-timers). And this is an industry in which total turnover costs have been known to outstrip total annual profits by 40 percent. Wegmans employees tend to be knowledgeable because about 20 percent of them have been with the company for at least years, and many have logged at least a quarter century.

Wegmans usually ranks high on Fortune magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” In addition to its healthcare package, Wegmans has been cited for such perks as fitness center discounts, compressed work weeks, telecommuting, and domestic-partner benefits (which extend to same-sex partners).

Finally, under the company’s Employee Scholarship Program, full-time workers can receive up to $2,200 a year for four years and part-timers up to $1,500. Since its inception in 1984, the program has handed out $80 million in scholarships to more than 24,000 employees.

Granted, Wegmans, which has remained in family hands since its founding in 1915, has an advantage in being as generous with its resources as its family of top executives wants to be. It doesn’t have to do everything with quarterly profits in mind, and the firm likes to point out that taking care of its employees is a long-standing priority.

Think It Over

1. Why does Wegman’s approach to compensation seem to work so well?

2. In your opinion, why don’t other grocery chains use the same compensation model as Wegman’s?

Do an assessment of the production strategy and supply chain of Samsung. Be sure to address outsourcing and TQM. Where does Samsung produce product? Apply in detail the country, technological and production factors involved.

Name and identify four (4) challenges that a manager may confront in over-seeing a centralized structure. Back each of your four statements up with a minimum of four sentences, for each challenge cited. Providing a realistic example is a great way, as part of each explanation. I wish to see a separate paragraph for each of the challenges?

Topic: Business Ethics
1. Introduction (50 words)
2. Why Business ethics is important (100 words)
3. How Business ethics bring success for an organization (150 words)
4. Examples (100 words)
5. Conclusion (50 words)
.
Note: Plagiarism is strictly prohibited please do not copy from internet

Carolyn Bivens: Change Agent at the Ladies Professional Golf Association

In 2005 when Carolyn Bivens became commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), she was surprised to learn that 70 percent of tournaments were losing money. Many of these events hardly compensated the tour for its support. She also inherited unsigned contracts and different financial practices for different tournaments. She was also shocked to see the differences between the PGA and LPGA. At many events, women passed on the smaller women’s locker rooms and instead used the more spacious men’s locker rooms, where pots of geraniums sometimes disguised urinals. The difference between winning a PGA event and an LPGA event often approached $1 million.

Having a deficit was not an option that Bivens could live with. She moved quickly and unilaterally, bluntly telling tournament owners that they needed to pay for services rendered. In some cases, fees were raised from $15,000 to $100,000. Tournament sponsors balked at the increase and some left, including Corning Glass, which had been a sponsor of the Corning Glass tournament for more than 31 years, and McDonald’s. Corning Classic’s sponsorship dollars had declined more than 20 percent and Corning’s board chairman, Jack Benjamin, said, “We want to be part of the LPGA, but I want to make sure that everybody understands this—if the revenue side of the ledger does not match with the expense side—we cannot support the LPGA.” Even long-time partner Anheuser-Busch, sponsor of the Michelob Ultra Classic, started rethinking its sponsorship.

Bivens was described as the proverbial bull in a china shop, causing controversy since she replaced Charlie Mechem, whom players called affectively “Uncle Charlie.” Bivens maintained a vision that she could make the LPGA a model for 21st-century sports organizations. To keep the LPGA on solid financial footing, after looking at each event’s profit and losses and severing ties with long-time sponsors, she found new sponsors that were willing to pay bigger purses. For example, she secured Ginn as a sponsor for two new LPGA events and touted the real estate developer as a new partner who could offer the bigger purses that her players deserved. She even moved some long-standing tournament dates around to satisfy Ginn, causing certain long-time sponsors to question her judgment. Unfortunately, when the real estate market crashed in 2008 and 2009, Ginn foreclosed on its tournament commitments. Bivens also battled the media over control of image rights, and imposed an English-proficiency policy for the tour’s international players. She took the latter action to make the tour and its players more marketable. This action caused such an uproar that she had to rescind the policy.

She landed a 10-year deal with the Golf Channel that was worth between $3 and $4 million a year depending on the tour’s ability to get TV sponsors. Historically, the LPGA had jumped among channels, on network and cable, making it difficult to develop a fan following. She worked on improving the meager LPGA pension plan. At that time, the LPGA had no medical benefits for its members. Bivens aimed to leverage the LPGA brand by going international. She signed a 5-year broadcasting-rights tour exclusive contract with J. Golf, a South Korean TV company, for more than $4 million dollars a year. This was a major feat during the recession of 2009 when most companies dramatically cut sports marketing programs. In 2009, she traveled to India, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai to determine interest in those countries. She stated that players would have to adjust to a globetrotting schedule if that’s what it took to make the tour financially viable.

For the most part, at that time, the LPGA did not own its events. Rather, it extended contracts to third parties to host them. But in 2010, the LPGA finally established ownership of a major championship, the LPGA Championship. Unfortunately, McDonald’s then ended its sponsorship of that event and many began questioning the LPGA’s ability to raise more than $3 million to stage it. The loss of local sponsors and rising operating costs was taking a toll on LPGA tour events as well. The title sponsorship of a regular PGA tour event, such as the HP Byron Nelson or Shell Houston Open, costs $6 to $8 million annually (including a TV commitment of $3 million). Sixty-eight percent of the LPGA’s future tour events did not have sponsors, which meant that the tour’s schedule was cloaked with uncertainty. In fact, Bivens acknowledged that it was “high risk and high reward” time for the LPGA.

Adding to the LPGA’s challenge was a backlash against golf sponsorships in general at that time due to the economy. Bivens knew that companies still wanted the business opportunities that tournaments created, but with less fanfare and spectacle to avoid public backlash. At the 2009 Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill, Virginia, for example, Anheuser-Busch cancelled its annual champions’ dinner, which mingled past champions with Anheuser-Busch executives, because InBev, the Belgian brewer that now owns Anheuser-Busch, thought that such an expense was not needed. Even so, Bivens believed that the LPGA’s hospitality benefits would save the LPGA. The networking that occurred in the Wednesday pro-amateur rounds could not be duplicated anywhere else. “The fact that a sponsor can spend five hours with its biggest three or four customers away from the office is something that money can’t buy,” she says. The LPGA pro-ams are played in a scramble format, ensuring participants the opportunity to share their experience with their LPGA hosts. Because of these issues, in July 2009 Bivens resigned her position as commissioner of the LPGA.

Questions

• Q1: Which forces did Bivens face that supported change and which resisted change? support change:(Technology, globalization, generational differences, social networks)
• Q2: Did she use an economic or an organizational development approach to create change? Was it effective?

Discuss in detail the Receiving Warehouse and Receiving function in a warehouse, steps involved in receiving and documents used in receiving with the help of neat sketches (examples).

True or False

1. When presenting to a neutral audience, you should present both sides of the issue.

2. Surveys can generate primary data economically and efficiently from large groups of people.

3. One of the goals of delivering bad news is to regain the confidence of the receiver.

4. One effective strategy for crafting online sales messages is letting receivers know how they may opt out of receiving future messages.

5. Report graphics should include a caption or title.

What are some disadvantages of web based businesses in general? Have you seen a downfall in customer service when using web based businesses?

a) Discuss in detail the preservation of materials, causes of deterioration of materials in a warehouse and explain how the following common materials are preserved (show the sketches where required) o Paints o Rubber and Rubber Products o Fragile items.

1. Scenario 11.4 - The Gutter
   
   A rodent infestation has left a landlord with a major cleanup job; in fact, the cleanup will consist of ripping out all the walls and ceilings of an 1860 square foot house to replace them. A trip to the local home improvement store reveals that 4'x8' sheets of drywall have three price points as indicated in the table. Another consideration for the landlord is that he is equipped with only a humble half-ton pickup truck, that can hold at most 20 sheets. His truck sips fuel, so he considers only wear and tear on his vehicle at $5 to haul all the sheets he will use for the job. The holding percentage is 20%. The landlord believes the entire job - all walls and ceiling - will require 10,080 square feet of drywall.
   

   Purchase Quantity	Price Per Sheet
   1-20	$9.40
   21-100	$9.30
   101 or more	$9.20

   
   
   Use the information in Scenario 11.4 to determine the total holding cost resulting from purchasing the optimal number of sheets per order. Assume he can buy only an integer-multiple of sheets.

   		$38.27
   		$92.92
   		$64.23
   		$15.59

What about the process employed to recruit an external leader? How does this process contrast with the process that should be followed to recruit an internal candidate?

Maura Currier has been working for ComputerTech for four years as a lead supervisor. During the past two year, Currier's mother has needed frequent medical attention for her diabetes. Being the only child, Currier has helped her mother, Jane Currier, as often as her work schedule would allow. Unfortunately, during the past two years, her mother's condition has worsened.

Currier asked the first for, and was granted, an unpaid leave until FMLA to care for her mother. The agreement states that Currier could miss work every Friday for 60 weeks rather than take off 12 straight weeks. At the end of the 60 weeks, Currier returned to work full time and immediately began missing work to care for her mother until all of her allotted vacation and sick leave days were exhausted. She then asked that her Friday leave be extended indefinitely, because her mother's condition remained serious and she required ongoing assistance.  

The firm's human resource director was uncertain what her response should be in this situation. ComputerTech needed Currier to be at work regularly because of the increasingly heavy workload, the fact that her job duties were critical, and because other supervisors and employees preferred not to have to cover for her. On the other hand, Currier was an excellent supervisor and had worked four years for ComputerTech. In addition, everyone was concerned about the welfare of both Currier and her mother and wanted to be supportive of them.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of extending Maura Currier's leave?

2. Refer to the fact sheet on calculating the 12-month period in the W11 Learning Materials. Does that matter in this case? How might the calculation change the outcome?

2. If you were the HR director, would you grant her request? Explain your answer.  

• Analyze HR strategies for promoting a successful alliance.
  • Cite specific steps from the Required Resources and your own research that are essential to take before an alliance agreement can be reached.
  • Describe the importance of relationship management to the success of an alliance.
• Evaluate challenges to implementing a successful alliance.
  • Identify potential obstacles that could prevent alliance partners from maintaining productivity, retaining key talent, and promoting long-term implementation of the buy decision.
    • Describe the obstacles and suggest actions that could be taken to prevent or mitigate their effects.
    • Support your analysis with specific examples