Wilson, Inc., is a wholesaler of Protoxid for industrial clients. Demand for Protoxid is stable at 350,000 units per year. Wilson orders the product from its supplier four times a year. An order is placed when the total Protoxid on hand amounts to 25,000 units. This represents a nine-day working supply plus safety stock. The company works 300 days per year. Recently, Wilson management has expressed concern over the costs of carrying inventory and is seeking to evaluate the present inventory order and safety stock policies.

As a part of the study, the following costs were identified with respect to Protoxid:

Invoice price                                                    $ 32.92

Weight per unit                                               1.5 Kg

Shipping charges                                             $1.05 + $640 per truck + $0.40 per Kg

Special packaging per unit                            $3.65 ($1 is refunded on return of the shipping container)

Insurance on shipment                                  $1.76 per unit, $415 per shipment

Processing order documents                       $183

Unloading operations                                    $0.82 per unit + $1,800 per week.

Inspect for annual inventory                        $2.63 per unit

Estimated obsolescence costs                     $1.35 per unit

Inventory record maintenance                    $0.92 per unit + $2,200 per week

Inventory tax                                                   3% of invoice price

Inventory insurance                                       15% of invoice price + $4,100 per month.

The company estimates its cost of capital is 22%. In addition, it conducted a study on the costs of a stockout. The average stockout costs $5,400 due to the need to request special shipments from alternative suppliers. With various safety stock levels, the probabilities of a stockout decrease as follows:

                              Safety stock                      Probability of stockout

........................................0.............................................50%

     7,000                                             10%

   14,000                                             2%

   21,000                                             1%

To determine order quantity, assume a stockout probability per order of 2%. Order sizes are restricted to round lots of 5,000 units. The company has the capacity to store 90,000 units.

REQUIRED

a. What are the annual costs under the present order and safety stock system?

b. What is the EOQ?

c. What are the annual costs under the optimal order and safety stock system?

d. What is the reorder point under the optimal order and safety stock system?

Leading Organizational Change

Leadership is perhaps never more important than when it comes to making a change in the organization. Leaders provide a sense of direction, increase motivation for the change, and communicate necessary information. Managers must fill these roles if they expect to successfully lead changes in their organizations.

In this exercise you'll read about a manager who failed to take on these important roles. Then you'll answer questions about what this manager missed in his effort to drive an important organizational change. As you complete the exercise, think about how you would head up a major change if you were in the leader's position. Many people believe an autocratic leadership style is the most effective because they assume leaders can simply draw on their legitimate power to push the change forward on their own. If the change is of any significant magnitude, however, it's going to require the support of employees to be successful.

Leadership plays a critical role in organizational change. Change agents are more successful when they champion a vision of a better future, communicate that vision in ways that are meaningful to others, make decisions and act in ways that are consistent with that vision, and build commitment to that vision. They also are more effective when they take advantage of coalitions and social networks. A pilot project is a useful way to introduce change on a small scale before diffusing it untested throughout the organization.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

TOK Consulting had been a one-of-a-kind business in its geographic region for nearly a century. It specialized in developing and delivering training programs for a variety of industries and had achieved a reputation for high quality and customer service. However, with virtually no competitors nearby, TOK had little incentive to improve or update its approach or service offering. As the years passed, TOK fell into a pattern of indifference toward the environment, always certain that its monopoly within its geographic region would ensure its survival.

Not surprisingly, eventually a competitor did enter TOK's market and began to offer an identical service at a substantially lower cost. Customers began to drift away, and although TOK was never in danger of going out of business, it would never achieve its former stature without making some major changes. A new president was brought in by the board of directors and was charged with making TOK more efficient and more competitive. He started by announcing that he was going to hire a new senior manager to run the management training center. This was welcome news since the center had been led by an interim director for two years. The interim manager had done the best she could, but lacking real authority and clear direction from the former president, she had been able to do little to change the status quo.

The new president began the search for the new center director by asking employees to attend presentations by the applicants and then provide feedback on their preferences. By the time the four top applicants had completed their visits to the organization, widespread support had formed around one of the candidates. In addition, serious reservations had developed about a second candidate, despite an impressive resume. Neither of the other two candidates had demonstrated much potential, so they had been eliminated from future consideration. To the surprise of almost everyone, the president hired the candidate the employees had rejected because of their concerns.

Given the context of the new director's hiring, it wasn't surprising that the center's employees weren't excited about his arrival. However, the new director did little to alleviate their concerns. He demonstrated a very autocratic management style and immediately began changing things in the center. The past directors had stayed focused on external relations and general oversight of the center, but the new director began meddling in every level of the operation, from regulations on using office supplies to leave policies for the staff. No one really knew what to expect next because the changes were so random, so quick, and so apparently disconnected.

The biggest change the new director decided to champion was adding an online consulting option to the center. Historically, the center had prided itself on high levels of direct contact with clients and frequent face-to-face meetings. The new director, in contrast, seemed obsessed with launching an online version of the center's vanguard service. Not only did this directly contradict the traditional approach, but it also was sure to result in lower quality consulting, at least in the minds of the employees. The director began holding open forums to discuss the online option, but each time he did, the employees expressed additional concerns. Soon, the open forums were discontinued and the director met with a smaller group of assistant managers to promote the idea.

The assistant managers were also against the idea, but could see that the idea wasn't going away. The director had convinced the organization president that the online option was the way of the future, and with the president's backing, he effectively told the assistant managers that the online option would soon be a reality. Still, he wanted their endorsement so it would appear to the rest of the employees that he hadn't forced this through on his own.

After months of forums and meetings and backroom discussions, the day finally came for the assistant managers to vote on whether to launch the online option. The discussion that day was just as intense as it had been for weeks, but finally the assistant managers relented and gave their approval. The director was ecstatic and thanked them for their support. He began to divide up responsibilities for the project and set target deadlines for key steps. Although many of the employees still resisted the idea of online consulting, the center as a whole breathed a collective sigh of relief that the contentious debate over the idea had finally cooled down.

The debate over the new director, however, continued to heat up. Two days after the assistant managers' final meeting in which they approved the online option, a new edition of a popular trade magazine hit the newsstands. In it was a full-page advertisement announcing TOK's new online consulting package that would launch the following January. The appearance of the ad left the assistant managers speechless and made the employees furious. To be printed in this edition of the magazine, the ad had to have been placed several weeks earlier, well before the assistant managers met and gave their approval. In fact, it soon became obvious that all the involvement of the employees and assistant managers had simply been a charade. The director had moved ahead without them, had underestimated the time it would take to force their approval, and now had been exposed by a formal announcement of the online option that appeared in a widely circulated publication. His response to the situation? "The online option is the right thing to do."

1. Which element of leading change did the new director fail to establish?

Multiple Choice

• Independent action

• Widespread publicity

• Risk taking

• An innovative idea

• A strategic vision

2. The new director could have formed a guiding coalition to facilitate the change. Which of the following is a reason that a guiding coalition would probably have been ineffective in this situation?

Multiple Choice

• The executive team did not wish to serve on a coalition.

• The employees overwhelmingly supported the change.

• The employees would not be affected by the change.

• The employees were not committed to the change.

• The new Director empowered the employees to make the decision.

3. The new director might have had more success if he had introduced the online option first as a pilot project. Which of the following best illustrates a pilot project?

Multiple Choice

• Performing an extensive environmental scan to determine the best course of action for the project

• Having the new director himself prepare one of the initial modules to begin at the same time as the others

• Testing one or a small number of online modules before introducing the full range of online modules

• Convincing one influential employee to act as the "pilot" for the project and champion its cause

• Scheduling simultaneous launches of multiple online modules to beat the competition to market

4. Many employees resisted the online consulting program because in their minds the only "real" consulting was done face-to-face, the way they had done it for years. Consulting online undermined their confidence in doing their jobs. Which ethical concern does this raise?

Multiple Choice

• Some change activities potentially increase management's power by inducing compliance and conformity.

• Some change interventions violate basic principles of fairness.

• Organizational changes may risk violating individual privacy rights.

• Organizational change may harm more people than it helps.

• Some organizational change interventions undermine the individual's self-esteem.

5. The new director's decision to place the advertisement seemed to be as much about gaining control as it was about improving the organization. Once the advertisement was released to the public, the employees would have to go along. Which ethical concern about organizational change does this raise?

Multiple Choice

• Some change activities potentially increase management's power by inducing compliance

• and conformity.

• Some change interventions violate basic principles of fairness.

• Organizational change may risk violating individual privacy rights.

• Some organizational change interventions undermine the individual's self-esteem.

• Organizational change may harm more people than it helps.

6. The new director lost the trust of almost all the employees. This most reduced his ability to use which of the following to build support for the change?

Multiple Choice

• Global change

• Pilot program

• Cross-cultural change

• Diffusion of change

• Social network

Discuss the strategies that can be used to enhance and maintain customer relationships. Identify the key advantages and disadvantages of each strategy, as well as examples of the marketing tactics that may be used.

Explain how your recruitment and selection strategies adhere to EEO guidelines. Justify the validity (relationships of selection procedures to actual job performance) of your selection procedures. What are the pros and cons of your selection process?

Why Costco is considered a conscious Capitalism company?

How the 4 tenets: higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, conscious leadership, and conscious culture are exist in Costco performance?

Thank you,

1. Despite increases in diversity training programs, outcomes are not consistently leading to increases of diversity within upper management. What might be the reason for this phenomenon and how might it be addressed?

The main difference between linear (LP) and nonlinear programming problems (NLP) is that

The standard prediction error is

The GRG algorithm terminates when it

The regression function indicates the

Which of the following is an advantage of using the TREND() function versus the regression tool?

According to political scientist Graham Allison, in 12 of 16 past cases in which a rising power has confronted a ruling power the result has been bloodshed. Some analysts worry that as China closes the power gap between itself and the US tensions will rise and create opportunities for misperception and war. Is there evidence that tensions between China and the US are increasing in a dangerous fashion? Also, do you believe conflict can be avoided, if so how?

Throughout history empires have portrayed their power and governance of others as benevolent and just. The US characterizes itself as a champion of democracy, human rights, and free markets but on numerous occasions it has abandoned these values in the name of national interest. Is the US just another Empire indistinguishable from past empires, why or why not?

The soccer-ball company has a sampling plan in which the circumference of 25 randomly-selection soccer balls is selected from each day’s production. The measurement system is crude (a tape measure) and the % GRR is 50 %.

What is the most likely cause for the high GRR?

How would you mitigate the cause identified?

1. You are estimating costs for installing undersea cable in the Persian Gulf (aka the Arabian Gulf). You have the following information concerning installation costs:

• The material cost per kilometer for cable is $100,000.

• You are installing 100 kilometers of cable.

• The cost per kilometer for installation depends on the sea conditions (sea state). Sea State Cost/kilometer I $15,000 II $75,000

a. What would be the estimated cost of the project if you knew with certainty that, during the time you were installing the cable, you would encounter sea state I 75% of the time and sea state II 25% of the time?

b. Run a Crystal Ball calculation of the total estimated cost of the project, assuming the probability of sea state 1 is normally distributed with a mean of 25% and a standard deviation of 5%. Only sea states I and II are possible. Post your result, including your cost forecast.

c. What is your mean expected cost?

d. What estimated cost provides you 95% assurance that your actual cost will be less than that amount?

Q2. What are the 9 steps of Conducting Design Reviews (in the Detail Design and Development phase)?

List and describe these steps. Give an example from a system of your organization.

Each PART should be 1–2 paragraphs in length. PART 1: IDENTIFYING THE CUSTOMER AND PROBLEM Choose a target segment for a Louis Vuitton product or service. Describe the typical primary decision maker in this segment: who they are, what they like, how they make buying decisions. Describe the primary problem(s) your organization, product or service will help them solve and what needs or wants your product/service will fulfill. PART 2: FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER DECISIONS Provide a brief profile of the target segment you selected using specific variables from at least three of the following categories: Geographic characteristics: e.g., location, region, population size or climate. Demographic characteristics: e.g., age, gender, family size, family life stage, income, occupation Social and Psychological characteristics: e.g., culture, social class, lifestyle, motivation, personality, attitudes, reference groups, beliefs. Behavioral: e.g., buying situation, level of involvement, frequency of use, brand loyalty. B2B/organizational buying considerations: e.g., individual factors, organizational factors, business environment factors, type of business PART 3: REACHING THE CUSTOMER Based on this profile, identify 2 to 3 marketing communication or promotional tactics you believe would be effective at reaching this target segment and briefly explain why they are a good fit.

In a narrative format, discuss Auto Zone from a strategic perspective. Information concerning recent changes in the firm is readily available online and should be accessed. Strategic issues should be discussed in “real time.”