A company currently using an inspection process in its material receiving department is trying to install an overall cost reduction program. One possible reduction is the elimination of one inspection position. This position tests items for which the probability of a material defect averages 0.01. By inspecting all items, the inspector is able to remove all defects. The inspector can inspect 50 units per hour. The hourly rate including fringe benefits for this position is $10. If the inspection position is eliminated, defects will go into product assembly and will have to be replaced later at a cost of $11 each when they are detected in final product testing.

Assume that the line will operate at the same rate (i.e., the inspection rate) if the inspection operation was eliminated.

a-1. If the inspector position is eliminated, what will the hourly cost of defects be? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

Cost per hour            $

a-2. Should this inspection position be eliminated based on costs alone?

b. What is the cost to inspect each unit? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

Cost per unit            $

c. Is there benefit (or loss) from the current inspection process? How much? (Input all amounts as positive values. Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

The plaintiff says she had to drive home after the office party because the promised transportation wasn’t there. The defendant claims the plaintiff is responsible for drinking too much, staying too late, and choosing to drive home drunk. The plaintiff crashed her car and was charged with DUI.

Was the injury “proximately caused” by the employer’s negligence? Was it a foreseeable result of the employer’s act or omission? Yes or No? Please explain.

Was the Plaintiff’s knowledge of the danger [of driving while intoxicated] an intervening case of her injuries? Yes or No? Please explain.

Nike Big Data Management

With the analysis on the business of this leader in the sports industry, it indicates that NIKE is facing a problem in how to market their customers in a more customized way in order to regain the market share for the young market especially.

According to the 5-forces, Nike is suffering from the great level of competitive rivalry in a saturated market. People within this market have very low cost in switching to other brands while competitors are having similar features on their products. Obviously, NIKE’s young market is losing loyalty to it, while Adidas, New Balance and Puma in sports and Vans, Converse and Supreme in streetwear performance are gaining momentum. It is possible to say that they are not only competing on shoes and clothes but also technologies and stylish design nowadays as customers and even retailers have so much to choose from.

On the other hand, NIKE seems to be ignoring some speciality sports retailers while retailers have deep ties to the young market and community. They act an important role in the distribution chain to help promote the brands. NIKE has to closely work with its retail partners like Foot Locker and even more on its 200+ NIKE stores or other speciality sports retailers.

Moreover, young customers usually go to these stores looking for advice on fitting and matching which means stores seriously affecting teenagers’ selection. In this case, the taste and value of the young customer may have been changed a lot in these couple years due to the influence of social media. Therefore, to regain larger market share and create higher profit, NIKE can use BDA on issues like “The most influential athlete to teenagers'', “The fashion color of the coming year”, “Hot icon or images in the world”, “How many hashtags on the product” and “Most popular Internet celebrity” etc. Although NIKE have been innovative for a long time and equipped with advanced technologies, only further customized marketing can take it up to a notch.

- Please write considerations in developing a Strategy for Integrating Big Data Analytics into the selected company.

Design specifications require that a key dimension on a product measure 101 ± 8 units. A process being considered for producing this product has a standard deviation of five units.

a. What can you say (quantitatively) regarding the process capability? Assume that the process is centered with respect to specifications. (Round your answer to 4 decimal places.)

Process capability index            

b. Suppose the process average shifts to 98. Calculate the new process capability. (Round your answer to 4 decimal places.)

New process capability index            

c. What is the probability of defective output after the process shift? (Use Excel's NORM.S.DIST() function to find the correct probability. Round "z" values to 2 decimal places. Round probabilities to 4 decimal places (0.####).)

Probability of defective output            

Hints

1.     Precision Manufacturing, Inc. plans to open a new plant in Missouri. The company can open a full-sized plant now or a medium-sized plant now or a small-sized plant now depending on the levels of future demand. The future demand levels may be high, medium, or low. The following table gives the estimated annual income for each decision alternative under each level of future demand:

a.      Which decision alternative should Precision Manufacturing select using the MAXIMAX approach? What is the corresponding annual income?

b.     Which decision alternative should Precision Manufacturing select using the MAXIMIN approach? What is the corresponding annual income?

c.      Which decision alternative should Precision Manufacturing select using the Laplace (or equally likely) approach? What is the corresponding annual income?                                

Precision’s analysis resulted in the following probabilities for the three future demand levels: P(high demand) = 0.70; P(medium demand) = 0.20; and P(low demand) = 0.10.

d.     Construct a decision tree for this problem.

e.      If maximum expected monetary value (EMV) is used as the decision criterion, which decision alternative should Precision Manufacturing select? What is the corresponding expected annual income?

f.      Suppose a marketing research firm is trying to sell the perfect information about the future demand to Precision Manufacturing, which will help Precision select the best alternative. What would be the expected value of perfect information (EVPI) for Precision?

If the marketing research firm were asking $39,000 for the perfect information, would you advise Precision to buy the information? Explain your reasoning.             

Assume that the following relationship holds:

Maintenance Costs = (v * Machine Hours) + f

REQUIRED

Estimate the values of v and f and the cost equation, using,

1. The Linear Regression method.

Note, to use the linear regression method, you MUST use the Microsoft Excel program.

Make sure to report

1. The values of v and f;

2. A scatter plot of the data points, and

3. The adjusted R-square; explain what the adjusted R-square means.

4. The cost equation in the form of Y = vx + f, substituting the values for v and f from the regression output.

YOUR SUBMISSION MUST BE IN EXCEL.

Visit the Amadeus or Travelport website and compare their products and services with Sabre’s. What are the differences and similarities?

A primary difference between B2B purchasing decisions and the Consumer Buying Decision process is businesses’ focus on ______________.

a recognition

b buyer gratification

c brand awareness

d problem solving

Visit the Sabre Holdings website and explore their range of services and technology solutions. Indicate if there are any gaps in their portfolio of products?

Question : 1000 words illustrating the topic: How Education and Technology are evolving together.

Discuss the control mechanisms and role of structure in strategy implementation and evaluation. Technology may play a role in this to some extent.

Analyze a recent purchase you made of a durable good (durable goods are goods that don't wear out quickly or those that have a lifespan of more than three years - computers, cars, mobile phones, kitchen appliances, etc.)

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you review the steps that you took in making this purchasing decision.

Base your review on the following six steps in the consumer decision process:

1. Problem recognition
2. Information search
3. Alternative evaluation
4. Purchase
5. Use
6. Evaluation

Answer the following questions in your paper:

• How many of these stages did you go through?
• Which stage(s) in the purchasing process was/were most important to you?
• If you skipped certain stages, what marketing or previous experience influenced you to skip this stage?
• What could the selling organization have done more effectively from a marketing standpoint to help you move through these stages?

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Positioning

WWA purchases a variety of products and services to manufacture its product. The table below provides insight into these purchases on an annual basis:

Linear Averaging

The supply chain team has identified 4 suppliers in Low Cost Regions and evaluated them on Quality, Price, OTD, and transportation costs. The price evaluation uses an inverted scale, the lower the score the higher the price. Use Excel perform linear averaging and select the best supplier. See for the details of each supplier and their evaluation.

            TOPIC:   EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE ORGANIZATION

Organization officials have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that the workplace is free from unnecessary hazards. Employers hold responsibility for understanding what is necessary to keep workers safe from harm. Conditions surrounding the workplace must be secure for employee’s physical and mental health. As many organizations have implemented wellness program, that focus on smoking cessation, weight control, stress management, early diagnosis of health problems, prevention and education about life-style related and contagious illness. Wellness program can cut Employers health cost and lower absenteeism by preventing health related problems.

Reference: Textbook- DeCenzo, D. A., & Robbins, S. P. (2013). Human resource management , Chapter 13 Health and Safety.

Assignment Questions:

2. Discuss the purpose and significance of Wellness Programs/Disease Management in the Organization. Support your answer with the example of two companies that provide these programs to their workers.  (Marks 2.5)