2. What were the main obstacles the AppleWatch team faced and how did the team deal with them?

This week involves a case scenario that is loosely based on real events that I'm aware of occurring. I've changed a good bit for privacy reasons but the basic conflict presented here for the leader is the same. You are not being assessed on your understanding of all aspects related to the discipline process but rather how you process through the competing elements of the situation to make a fair decision that accomplishes the short term objective while maintaining a long term view for successful outcomes later.

Allan is on your staff and has been for the last 6 years. He is very likeable and does a great job working with clients but his documentation is weak and organization as a whole is a challenge. He's mentioned some issues with emotional problems and attention deficit disorder.  He's confided that he's under doctor's care for these things but has never provided any documentation asking for accommodations in the workplace.

In the past two years you've seen more examples of Allan's disorganization and documentation issues causing problems within your department. At times it has affected his capacity to serve his clients.  You've talked with him periodically about it and had he's expressed understanding of the need to improve, making promises to do so.  Things didn't improve though and you had to start making more formal steps, such as doing special audits of the files.  You attempted to set incremental benchmarks to get them into good shape but progress was always uneven. There are often good excuses for not being able to get it done - some kind of indisputable family emergency or other distraction - but progress has been tepid at best and often met by regression in performance.

After one such instance where Allan did not meet your expectations for documentation and you issued a written reprimand. This was about 5 months ago. He accepted responsibility and said he'd improve.

About two months ago you did an audit and found that the files were still a mess - not anywhere near even minimum expectations. At that point you issued clear expectations for improvement and gave a month to accomplish them. The expectations were achievable but did not happen.

Simultaneously, elsewhere in your company, another employee was involved in an investigation after their lack of documentation was discovered in a bad situation that caused some significant embarrassment to the CEO. That investigation involved documentation deficits much like the ones seen in Allan's case only there had been no prior discipline / written reprimand. It resulted in a 7 day suspension without pay.

Though in this situation there isn't a union involved there is pressure to be consistent and fair, and employees do talk. You will have major dissention and other fall out if you don't handle this correctly.

After concluding your investigation into Allan's documentation problems you really want to do a lesser suspension but you don't think your CEO will go for it. One of his VP's go as far as to tell you not to even ask for less, that it won't end well - the implication being you might lose some favor with the CEO if you appear too soft on the topic. You do see the merits of being consistent and that it would create some major issues and possibly allegations of favoritism, etc. if you did less than the other person's suspension, but you think that sanction, which has already been levied, was too much.

1. Pretend you are sitting down for the meeting with the CEO to discuss the sanction. The facts proving Allan's guilt are rock solid so the punishment is the only lingering point of discussion. Given the above, what is the recommendation you are going to make for the sanction, and how are you going to justify it?

2. Now you are at the point of sharing the outcome with your staff member. How do you present it to them? How do you explain the rationale for the sanction to your employee in a way that motivates them to change and preserves the working relationship you've had thus far?

You are hired as the Training & Development Specialist at a manufacturing company. The Director of HR has asked you to complete small project in two parts, detailed below.

PART A

You have been tasked by the Director of HR with developing the training for a new Human Resources Assistant

This employee will be supporting a Manager and two HR Consultants by doing the following:

·      reception duties

·      looking after all paperwork

·      formatting union contracts and

·      providing general admin support to the department.

You are tasked to develop and write 5 different objectives for the training.

Each objective must be measured by the end of training by the trainer.

Each objective must be divided into the parts of performance, condition and

criterion using the following format for each:

Objective 1: write out your objective out in full; - then separate it into the following parts:

Performance 1: write the performance portion of your objective

Condition 1: write the condition portion of your objective

Criterion 1: write the criterion portion of your objective

Please note that each objective, including all 3 parts of that objective, must be

completely different from each other objective. This means that conditions should not be repeated.

PART B

The Director of HR has tasked you with some research as the organization is going to be embarking on some company-wide training initiatives.

1. The CEO has heard of the terms "on-the-job training" and "off-the-job training". How might you define them, and could you provide an example for each?

2. As part of her presentation to the Sr. Leaders meeting, the Director of HR has asked you to describe things sources of data for your ANALYSIS, provide a list of training METHODS, and how you might EVALUATE the training in these company-wide initiatives.

3. She has also asked you to describe 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of asynchronous and synchronous methods for any new training programs.

write about The expected role and direction of education quality after IR 4.0

note:

- minimum 150 words

- please don't copy-paste from websites

- this the 4th time I post this question, they all copy-paste from the website, so please write by your own words

How should I write the executive summary for a strategic analysis? What the different between the executive summary and the introduction?

Answer all 10 questions about having a Business in the " AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY "

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1. Do I have the persistence and patience necessary to be a business owner?

2. Does this business idea really energize me? Am I really excited about it?

3. Can I generate enthusiasm about my idea from others?

4. Am I convinced that I am exactly the right person to own this business? Can I articulate why?
Self-confidence is important in the success of the business. You must believe in yourself before others will believe in you.

5. Do I have the commitment necessary to put aside other interests to focus my energy on this business?

6. Am I able to quickly recover from setbacks and not take things personally?

7. Who will support me in this endeavor?

8. Do I have enough financial reserves to carry me until I am profitable?

9. What weaknesses do I have that may get in my way as I start this business? What will I do about them?

10. What is my intuition telling me about this venture?

Discussion Questions:

1. What impact will Brisson’s decision to manufacture MS-7 have on the cost structure of Stimgro for Carmichael?
2. Should Amanda Tellford do anything at this stage?
3. What alternatives are open to Amanda Tellford?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative?
5. What is the cost structure for Stimgro and the margin?
6. Since Stimgro is very profitable, with a good margin, why does it matter if the cost of MS-7 increases?

Main Question:

7. As Amanda Tellford, what alternatives would you consider regarding MS-7? Which alternative would you pursue and how would you go about it?

Carmichael Corporation

Amanda Tellford, purchasing manager for Carmichael Corporation, became increasingly concerned about the purchase of MS-7, a special ingredient used in Stimgro, one of her company’s new products. It appeared that a major cost increase might threaten the product’s profitability, and Amanda was anxious to explore any alternatives that promised at least some cost relief.

CARMICHAEL CORPORATION

Carmichael Corporation was the U.S. subsidiary of Carmichael International, a UK-based producer of veterinary products and feed additives. Total U.S. sales were expected to be about $20 million with profits before taxes of about $1.2 million. Carmichael occupied a special niche in the market, offering small-volume specialty products that the bigger producers considered uneconomical. However, if sales of these products grew, the possibility existed that a larger producer might become interested. Carmichael had an exclusive distribution agreement with three distributors who covered all parts of the United States. Each distributor sold Carmichael products to feed stores, cooperatives, and farm supply stores, which, in turn, sold to the farmer. For Stimgro, the pricing structure through the distribution chain was approximately as follows:

The Carmichael plant located in Chicago employed about 70 hourly rated people. The premises were leased, and primary activities involved the mixing of ingredients and the bottling and packing of finished products. About half of the $8 million worth of ingredients was imported from the UK parent; the remainder and all packaging were purchased in the United States. The executive team consisted of Tim Paterson, president and treasurer; Charles Godfrey, sales manager; Amanda Tellford, manager of accounting and purchasing; and Andrew Hartwick, plant manager.

Carmichael Corporation concentrated on poultry medicines and feed additives. Three years earlier, Carmichael had introduced Stimgro, a feed additive for young turkeys, which had shown unusual promise in promoting rapid, healthy development in birds less than one month old. Shortly thereafter, a competitor, Brisson, introduced a similar product. Because Brisson, like Carmichael, had its own exclusive distributors, Brisson’s entry into the market did not result in lower Stimgro sales for Carmichael. Small specialty producers like Carmichael and Brisson did not compete on price or manufacturing cost. Their big concern was finding new products to sell and making sufficient profit before the product was taken over by a larger company or lost its market appeal. Carmichael and Brisson had about equal shares in the Stimgro market with annual sales of about $1.4 million each.

Carmichael imported the two primary ingredients for Stimgro from its UK parent and mixed and packaged them in the Chicago plant. The manufacturing cost for Stimgro is shown in Exhibit 1. Carmichael’s selling price of Stimgro was $360 per kilogram. Amanda Tellford had tried to find a North American source for MS-7 over the past few years but had found that all potential sources, pharmaceutical, and specialty chemical firms had declined serious interest. They claimed the volume was far too low, and the price would have to be at least $800 per kilogram before they could be persuaded to manufacture MS-7.

EXHIBIT 1Stimgro manufacturing

page 329

BRISSON

Brisson Corporation was a U.S.-owned manufacturer of products similar to those marketed by Carmichael. Brisson’s range of products was greater than Carmichael’s, and its annual sales volume was about $24 million. Brisson had originally obtained its MS-7 from a UK competitor of Carmichael International, but in the spring of the current year it had placed orders for equipment to manufacture its own MS-7. This action had surprised Amanda Tellford because, like Carmichael, Brisson had been relatively poorly prepared to take this step. For example, the North American market demand for MS-7 was limited to its use by Carmichael and Brisson. Although future growth might show a healthy increase, total current market demand certainly did not warrant the $1 million investment Brisson had to make.

Moreover, MS-7 was tricky to produce, requiring very careful temperature, pressure, and timing control. The main equipment item was a large glass-lined autoclave ingeniously instrumented and constructed to deal with the unusual demands of MS-7 production. The autoclave was normally a fairly general-purpose type of equipment in the chemical industry. However, the special conditions required for the manufacture of MS-7 made this reactor a special-purpose tool, certainly overdesigned and overengineered for the other uses to which Brisson might apply it. MS-7 manufacture was a batch production process, and the expected capacity of the equipment was about 40,000 kilograms per year based on two-shift operation.

In Amanda Tellford’s eyes, Brisson’s action affected her own purchases of MS-7, which up to this point had been at an advantageous transfer price from the UK parent. Although the exact impact was still not entirely clear, she expected at least a 40 percent increase in her laid-down cost. Amanda had no doubt that Brisson would aggressively seek customs protection from undervalued MS-7 imports and that at least a 20 percent duty would be applied on the American selling price.

Amanda Tellford, therefore, requested information from the parent company concerning manufacturing costs of MS-7. She added several other data from her own knowledge and prepared the following summary:

Amanda Tellford went to see Charles Godfrey, Carmichael’s sales manager, to discuss possible sales requirements for the future. Charles said, “It’s really anybody’s guess. First, it depends on the popularity of turkeys. We are banking on continued growth there. Second, as soon as the feed companies can develop a suitable substitute for our product, they will go for it. We appear to be very expensive on a weight basis, although research and actual results show we represent excellent value. It takes such tiny quantities of Stimgro to improve the overall quality of a mix that it is difficult to believe it could have any impact. More competition can enter this market any day. We are just not large enough in the U.S. market to have any strong promotional impact. Each of our product lines is specialized, of relatively small volume, in an area where the big firms choose not to operate. Should a larger firm enter this market, they could flatten us. Now you tell me how to turn this into a reasonable forecast.”

Amanda Tellford replied, “I’m glad that’s your problem and not mine, Charles. Anytime you feel you’re ready to put some figures down, please let me know, because it may become very important for us in the near future.”

In looking over past figures, Amanda estimated that the second half of this year’s requirements would total about 1,000 kilograms of MS-7. Amanda decided that she had better think out the effect that Brisson’s decision to make MS-7 might have on her future purchasing strategy.

Due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus, representatives from athletic leagues across the globe have announced that they will temporarily halt play. On Wednesday, the National Basketball Association was the first to suspend competition after a player on the Utah Jazz tested positively for COVID-19. The next day, the National Hockey League similarly put games on hold while Major League Soccer delayed the start of its upcoming season as well. Shortly after these announcements, Major League Baseball canceled the rest of spring training and pushed the league’s opening day back by at least two weeks. The NCAA also announced the cancellation of all winter and spring championships, including the multi-billion dollar March Madness basketball tournament.

“This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities,” said the NCAA in a statement. Global sports competitions are taking similar precautions, with both Spain and England’s soccer leagues suspending play for the foreseeable future. Men’s professional tennis will also take a six-week hiatus, affecting tournaments like the Miami Open, the US Men’s Clay Court Championship, and the Barcelona Open. “This is not a decision that was taken lightly and it represents a great loss for our tournaments, players, and fans worldwide,” said Andrea Gaudenzi, chairman of the Association of Tennis Professionals.

Although the Olympics are still scheduled for this summer in Japan, organizers will be closely watching how global athletic associations continue to respond to the coronavirus crisis. With so much uncertainty surrounding this unprecedented situation, there’s no telling what the long-term consequences will be for the world’s sports leagues. Along with creating massive scheduling conflicts and logistical problems, competitions around the globe also stand to lose out on millions of dollars in revenue.

Questions:

1. Besides athletes and fans, who else is affected by the temporary shutdown of the world’s major sports leagues? Identify at least 5 different business operations.
2. Pick one pro team and identify and describe the impact of this team’s shutdown on these 4 businesses activities: Retail Sales and Marketing; Hospitality Management; Production and Supply Chain; Corporate Finance.
3. Going forward, what Opportunities and what Threats do you see for this professional sports team?

For this assignment it requires a composition, and it will be a Synthesis of all the effort spent during the semester to develop and improve your business Idea. Be creative, be precise. You are to create a pitch presentation!

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Ideal Proposal: Automobile Industry

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You will need to include: ( PARAGRAPH FORM )

- Problem definition (What’s the problem that your idea solves?)

- Solution (Your idea! Product/technology /service offering)

- Target market

- Competitive advantage (Unique selling point)

- Key competitors

- Mission Statement

Assume you are a manager of a small business that employs about 25 people. You need to hire additional people to accommodate an increase in sales. Using your own experiences and information from the textbook, respond to the following points and questions. Any information taken from the book should be cited.

• Identify one screening process you would recommend the hiring manager uses to find the best applicants. Explain why you selected this screening process.
• Salary is one form of compensation. Benefits and incentives are other forms of compensation. Benefits and incentives can range from flex time to paid time off, health insurance, bonuses, and commissions. Providing benefits can be very expensive for companies to provide.  
• Identify the three most important benefits you look for in a company.
• Explain your answer.
• Compensation is often tied to evaluation. Select the best method to use for evaluating employee performance. Identify and describe this method.

Hello, this question was not answered correctly. It did not give suggestions nor contain any paragraph. Please take these questions serious. thanks

• Alternatives (a few suggestions on how to fix the problem; Here is a great spot to tie in the functional areas) What are some suggestions on how to fix Comcast customer service department issues and suggestions on how Comcast can fix their unethical behavior, functional areas must be tied in. Must have a paragraph for each.

According to the resource-based view of the firm, internal resources can be instrumental in attaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Using company examples, describe the various types of firm resources. Also, describe the specific criteria managers can use to decide which resources/capabilities have the potential to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

(any company can be used as an example)

Two routes are under consideration for a new highway that will take two years to complete. The long intervalley route would be 25 miles in length and would have an initial cost of $50 million for the 1^st year and $30 million for the 2^nd year. The short transmountain route would be 10 kilometers long and would have an initial cost of $75 million for the 1st year and $50 Million for the 2^nd year. Maintenance costs are estimated at $2.5 Million per year for the long route and $1.0 Million per year for the short route for the first year. The maintenance cost is expected to rise with estimated US inflation over time. (You can estimate the inflation increase and distribution based on historical information). Based on historical information, the average US inflation rate is 3.22%. Regardless of which route is selected, the initial volume of traffic (start of 3^rd year) is expected to be 400,000 vehicles per year (normally distributed with the std dev at 20,000 vehicles). The estimated driving growth in vehicles is 2% per year starting in the 2^nd year after opening. This increase is uniformly distributed +/- 0.5%. Each option would have to be repaved every 5 years at a cost of $500,000 per mile in today’s cost (assume the same inflation rate at above). Assume a 20 year project window and an interest rate of 6%, what is the least expensive investment using NPV (Monte Carlo simulation of the cost)?

If the vehicle operating expenses are assumed to be $0.20 per mile, how might this analysis differ when considering the public benefit?

GLO-BUS

Are there any driving forces in the two market segments/product categories where your company competes? What impact will these driving forces have? What external market opportunities for growth and increased profitability in wearable video cameras exist for your company? What external market opportunities for growth and increased profitability in UAV drones exist for your company? What external threats to your company's future well-being and profitability do you and your co-managers see? (Market overview and relevant factor/PESTEL analysis).