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General Motors (GM), a multinational American automotive company must explore several avenues and make decisions in regards to pricing and production in order to maximize profits in the short and long-term. Generally speaking, if a business such as GM is unable to cover production costs through revenue generation, they will be operating at a loss and will not be able to provide earnings to the shareholders in the short-run. If one were to sit on GM’s board of directors, they would likely have to weigh risk factors and decide which business ventures would promote company growth and yield profit. In regards to pricing, GM would benefit by finding creative ways to cut costs, which will influence the pricing of the products and services offered. For example, outsourcing a particular part in instead of creating it in-house may be a less expensive alternative. However, last minute decisions to cut costs may put additional strain on the employees, thus affecting the company’s culture (Deans & Watanabe, 2005). GM will also need to make decisions in production, which could exist in lowering the cost of production or exploring the production of new and innovative products. GM has worked on several alternative energy vehicles over the years, including ethanol, hybrid, and electric vehicles, which have steadily increased in popularity over the last decade. However, the decision to increase the production of electric vehicles could prove extremely lucrative for GM in the future. Lastly, GM could also make decisions in production that align with the economic and environmental status of their consumers. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, GM has helped to lessen the critical shortage of face masks across the world by producing up to 50,000 face masks per day or 15 million per month (GM, 2020). Although, this may not be largely profitable at the time, this will build public and shareholder confidence in the company and keep workers gainfully employed during a national crisis. Such actions will inevitably bolster corporate social responsibility, leading to profits in the long-run.

D.B. Smith Company produces machine tools. The company conducted a cost-of-quality study and found the following:

What quality cost categories should each of these costs be associated with? What does a Pareto analysis reveal? The data has been collected in the Microsoft Excel Online file below. Open the spreadsheet and perform the required analysis to answer the questions below.

Questions

1. Classifying the D.B. Smith Company cost elements into the appropriate cost-of-quality categories, calculate the total costs in each category and their percentages of the total and cumulative percentages. Round your answers for the total costs to the nearest dollar and round your answers for the percentages to two decimal places.

2. Choose the correct graph for the cost-of-quality categories.

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There are many things that GM’s leadership must consider withing managerial economics and pricing and production are two f the most important. When picking a price for a vehicle, the company was look at the target market they are trying to reach. They need to pick an appealing price for the vehicle that is competitive with similarly price cars from competitors like Ford and Dodge but is also profitable enough to fund current operations and future vehicle production. With alternative fuel vehicles like the Chevy Bolt, the company must figure out what level pf premium customers are willing to pay in order to avoid fossil fuels. GM must also decide which incentive to provide to entice would be car buyers to step on a GM lot before going anywhere else. There are many major decisions that must be made through the production process as well. Using more automation comes with higher upfront costs but allows for quicker production. Determining the types of materials used and complexity of design will affect how fast the vehicles can be made and how much the cost of good sold will be. This will also play a big a play a big part in determining what the minimum price GM must charge for a given model of vehicle. Both factors when it comes to introducing a new product. Automakers are constantly trying to add new features while keeping vehicles at an attractive price. The manufacturers that lack agility and an efficient production process will be less successful than others (Prasad, 1997). We are starting to see this with Tesla vehicles. The big automakers initially thought that Tesla pricing and production would never work in this work, but since Tesla has become successful the other companies have had to rethink their businesses.

Express how your vision of contributions compares to the examples of contributions given (how you would contribute to the situation. How would you solve it?)

1. This research seeks to provide a framework for the application of quality tools for the improvement of the healthcare in Puerto Rico. Understanding the current practice for disease diagnosis in Puerto Rico can help establish the parallelism between disease diagnosis and problem solving models used in manufacturing and quality engineering. Moreover, based on the findings of this research, recommendations can be made to propose a model to structure and assist clinical reasoning, screening guidelines and differential diagnosis thus promoting the health and wellness of patients.

2. “The main objective of this design project is a reduction of Customer Complaints and Federal Drug Administration’s Field Alerts related to counterfeiting and bottle tampering for the pharmaceutical Product Z, and to gain customer satisfaction and their loyalty to the Company’s trademark".

3. “The main objective of this project is to identify opportunities to reduce the time required to prepare Analytical data section of the Annual Product Review by re-distributing tasks and practices or processes standardization. If possible, eliminate manual process and utilize current systems such as: SAP, GLIMS, OCM, and Track wise; remove repetitive tasks or waste. All the improvements should maintain compliance with Standard Operating Procedures, corporate policies and regulatory agencies.

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In regard to this week’s forum post and the information presented this week, General Motors better known as GM is a corporation that has been around for years. In order to be successful like GM, they have established a foot hold in over 26 countries selling its product in over 150 different countries. This will allow them to maximize profits. The term profit maximization refers to an organizations ability to sell products, services, and or goods so they can achieve a marginal revenue that is equal to the marginal cost when the value of that marginal cost increases. Corporations are in the business of making as much profit as possible, this can be achieved by two different concepts of profit maximization and revenue maximization (Cromwell, 2019).

            As for General Motors, a company that understands profit and revenue, in order to maximize its profits, they have to understand how to utilize the Profit Maximization Rule. This rule states that GM needs to designate a specific level of output where the Marginal Cost (MC) is equal to the Marginal Revenue (MR). From there the marginal cost curve will begin to rise, the most important detail of this procedure is that the marginal cost, it must be equal to the marginal revenue to see the curve elevate. Marginal cost can be defined as the increase in cost by which one or more items are produced. Marginal revenue is the change in total revenue, this is dictated by the change in rate of sales the company has. In order for GM to maximize their profit they will have to take the total revenue minus the total cost to achieve their total profit. Future more the profit maximization will occur at the period of time when the total cost and the total revenue is at the largest point away from each other (Agarwal, 2019).

            For example, if GM laid out one specific item on a spreadsheet, where the company labels their output (0-5), then variable cost, fixed cost, total cost, and marginal cost. In order to see a profit, they might have to reach output number 5 in order to see a profit. In fact when they bring in to account the other outlaying factors of their item, they might be making a profit at output number 2 or 3 because at output 5 this is where they were maximizing profit knowing at Output 2 and 3 the profit was minimal but not maximin (Clifford, 2014). For as long as GM has been around, it’s important for them to be able to increase their output. With increased output they will see an increase in their revenue over the cost associated with production (Principles of Management Economics, n.d.). It’s also important for GM to keep in mind the importance of quality of their product and services, if their product and service quality diminish then their profit will be affected in a negative way affecting the maximization profit curve.

In the scenario below, What assumptions will you need to make, what is your strategy and how will you structure your solution as proposed. Finally, describe what needs to be done and who in the organization is to do it and when.

The scenario for Final Paper.

Amanda Smiley became president and CEO of Purest Medical about two months ago. Prior to that, she was vice-president of marketing and sales at Ferraro Products, a smaller medical products company. Amanda has a Ph.D. in chemistry and an MBA with a specialty in marketing. She and her husband Dustin do not have children. Dustin is a professor of philosophy at the U of M and the author of several books on the philosophy of mind. In their spare time, they play a little golf, travel to Italy, and participate in road rallies. Amanda is honest, open, demanding, and fair. She is a good coach and is always offering encouragement. When you are talking with Amanda, as soon as she senses that you have not done your research and thinking, she cuts off the discussion and sends you on your way. You don’t want to come unprepared a second time.  

Purest Medical is a company that designs and sells a variety of medical products. Performance at Purest has slipped the last two years, mostly due to the prolonged ill health of the founder, Dr. Nathan Dooley. The Board hired Ms. Smiley and she has replaced 75% of the senior management team, most of whom were very close to, or past, retirement age, and had lost motivation. The situation: sales have increased only 2 – 4 % per year over the past three years, below the industry average. Manufacturing waste has also lagged behind industry averages. Inventory levels of raw materials and finished products are too high, tying up much-needed capital. The company has to become much more efficient and effective. Manufacturing technology is strength. On the employee side, job stress levels seem to be climbing, based on a recent employee satisfaction survey taken just before Ms. Smiley’s arrival. However, employee turnover is still at a low level.  

Amanda (she demands everyone call her by her first name) has set some aggressive goals to improve the overall performance of the 305-person firm. Her goals:

Increase sales by 15% this year and at least 20% next year

Reduce manufacturing waste by 20% this year and an additional 20% next year

Increase the number of viable ideas in the product pipeline by 66%

Improve order response rate by at least 85%

Improve communication across the company to convey a sense of urgency

You were hired as Purest’s HRD specialist two weeks ago. You are learning a lot quickly about the company, but there is much more to learn since this is the first time you’ve worked in the medical products (or any health-related) field. You recently completed your BS at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and after a short vacation to Europe, you were able to land this job. You haven’t even had the time to join a professional association yet, although you have that as a goal for this month. You did keep your Human Resource Development textbook.

Just the other day you and your boss, Genna Hamilton, the vice-president of HR, had an informal discussion with Amanda over pizza in her office. Amanda asked you to help her put in place a training program to improve performance across all areas of the company. She knows something has to be done. She expects you to lead this critical project. She mentioned that she feels some across-the-board training for all supervisory positions, including herself, needs to be a part of the program. She even wondered if the senior management team needs some extra attention. Further, Amanda is concerned about getting people to change their behaviors after training – she expressed that this has frustrated her throughout her managerial life. Amanda also emphasized that she always wants to see a strong business justification for any investment of people and money. She asked Genna if it is easy to calculate ROI for a comprehensive HRD program, and Genna didn’t know. You didn’t want to show up your boss in front of Amanda, so you simply said yes; later you explained it in detail to Genna. Amanda also suggested that one of your recommendations be a thorough communication plan, detailing exactly what she and others in supervisory positions need to do to encourage all employees to participate with passion and urgency in this program. As you were leaving her office, Amanda said that getting something done very quickly was an absolute necessity. She asked for a plan to achieve her goals through training, and she added that maybe training isn’t always the solution. She hinted strongly that maybe there are other types of HRD interventions. In any case, she expects a prioritized list of activities. And then she said: “Let’s meet next Monday at 9:00 a.m. to review your plan and suggestions. I don’t expect you to cover every detail, especially with the ROI, and I assume you have some kind of process that we’ll need to follow. I’m really excited about getting started on this pronto. See you then. By the way, I hope you’re settling in here. Genna has spoken well of you and I have high expectations. Let me know if you need anything. You can’t do this alone.”

What are your recommendations and plans to address all the goals of Amanda’s

Operations Management concepts can be observed almost everywhere in our regular lives. The following assignment is focused on the process flow concept. The purpose is to recognize the Operations Management concept and its applicability in everyday life.

Think about how you study or studied for a particular course. Construct a process flow diagram representing your study approach. Make sure to include three lanes: professor (1), student (aka you) (2), and system (e.g., D2L). The process flow should contain three (3) elements: process step box, decision box, and arrows.

After you construct the process flow, analyze it, and think about how you can improve it.

Construct the second process flow that will show the improvements. Briefly describe your reasoning for the improvements.

The assignment must contain the following:

1. Title page with your name, course, and date
2. Description of your experience
3. Process flow diagrams
4. Proper grammar and punctuation
5. Reference(s) in the APA format at the end as the last page.
6. Recommended assignment length approximately four pages, including the title and reference pages.

Based on the book : Buckingham, Marcus and Coffman, Curt, First Break All the Rules

Please answer the bold question below with at least a 1-2 paragraphs explaining your answer

What are the three most important ideas you personally learned from this reading and why were are these three ideas so important to you personally? How would you intend to use what you’ve learned in real-life? Be specific.

Scenario

John’s wife is suffering from a severe cold and can’t stop coughing and sneezing. At 9:00pm, John decided to go to the supermarket and buy some cold medicine for his wife. John arrived at the supermarket and started looking for the aisle with the cold medicine. He was walking down the aisle with the frozen food coolers, looking at the signs, when he suddenly slipped in a pool of muddy water on the floor next to the ice cream freezer. John lay in the water in intense pain from an injury to his knee. Another customer saw the fall and called for help from the store employees. John was transported to the hospital by ambulance with a severe injury to his right knee.

Directions

You are the Store Manager. Review the above scenario and answer the following questions.

1. Which of the facts in the scenario would be important in determining if a legal issue existed?

2. If a legal issue exists, is the issue a civil, criminal, or administrative issue?

3. What actions should the employees have taken after John’s fall?

4. What type of tort is indicated by the scenario?

5. List the elements of the cause of action and apply the facts to each element.

5. You are preparing a project to lay fiber optic cable. The first task is to mobilize the team. You estimate this will take one week and cost $4000. The second task is to lay the cable. This will take three weeks and will cost $30,000. The total length of the cable is 15 miles. The last task, which will take one week, is to terminate and test the cable. You budget $6000 for this. At the end of the first week, you have completed mobilization, but it cost a total of $4500. At the end of the third week, you have completed five miles of cable at a total cost of $28,000 (installation only). It takes you a total of 10 weeks to complete the entire project, for a total cost of $75,000.

a. At the end of week 1: i. What is your SPI? ii. What is your CPI? iii. What is your EAC?

b. At the end of week 3: i. What is your SPI? ii. What is your CPI? iii. What is your EAC?

c. At the end of the project: i. What is your SPI? ii. What is your CPI? iii. What is your EAC?

Can someone show me how to do this on Excel?

Thanks

5._____ Which of the following statements about MBO is FALSE?

A) It compares quantifiable target goals with actual results achieved by an employee.

B) It has been shown to be useful for defining individual or unit performance related to strategic plans.

C) It is recommended as a method for comparing people or units.

D) It is a popular method of managerial appraisal.

E) It may be effective approach to motivating and improving employee performance.

6._____ Each of the following is TRUE regarding Comparisons to Anchors (e.g., BARS, MBO, graphic rating scales, and summated rating scales) EXCEPT:

A) Method requires rater to compare the employee's performance with specified anchors or descriptors.

B) Method is very useful for providing feedback to employee.

C) Is easy and inexpensive to construct.

D) For the BARs method, actual behaviors are documented.

E) Generally, graphic rating scales use adjectives or numbers as anchors or descriptors.

7._____ One of the primary reasons that companies have turned to using forced distribution in their performance management systems is to overcome __________.

A) fundamental attribution error

B) representativeness bias

C) availability bias

D) leniency bias

E) anchoring bias

8._____ An employee does an excellent job at answering customer’s technical questions related to software. However, they are not effective or efficient when it comes to completing paperwork, or working well with their peers. The manager rates this employee as excellent in all performance categories. This is an example of what performance appraisal error?

A) Halo effect

B) Horns effect

C) Recency

D) Severity

E) Central tendency

9._____ A manager believes that older workers are less likely to be able to improve performance than younger workers. This thinking could lead to what form of performance appraisal error?

A) attribution error

B) bias

C) contamination

D) frame of reference

E) accountability

Please state the letter answer for each question and also provide justification for the answer. Please either restate definitions or provide evidence of the answer for justification.

Trust, or lack of trust, is an increasingly important issue in today’s organizations.71 In today’s uncertain environment, leaders need to build, or even rebuild, trust and credibility. Before we can discuss ways leaders can do that, we have to know what trust and credibility are and why they’re so important. The main component of credibility is honesty. Surveys show that honesty is consistently singled out as the number one characteristic of admired leaders. “Honesty is absolutely essential to leadership. If people are going to follow someone willingly, whether it be into battle or into the boardroom, they first want to assure themselves that the person is worthy of their trust.”72 In addition to being honest, credible leaders are competent and inspiring. They are personally able to effectively communicate their confidence and enthusiasm. Thus, followers judge a leader’s credibility in terms of his or her honesty, competence, and ability to inspire.

Review some of the news items in the current environment and share your opinion of both corporate and political leaders and how you perceive their decisions and whether you trust their actions taken to help the citizens during the crisis.

The project has a critical path that is 4 months long. We are now part way into the execution phase where we had planned to have 47% of the work done by now. We have spent $369,178 of the total budget of $846,984. We have completed 63% of the activities. What is the ETC?

(a) $313,384 (b) $369,178 (c) $682,562 (d) $846,984

The project has a critical path that is 4 months long. We are now part way into the execution phase where we had planned to have 47% of the work done by now. We have spent $369,178 of the total budget of $846,984. We have completed 63% of the activities. What is the PV?

The project has a critical path that is 4 months long. We are now part way into the execution phase where we had planned to have 47% of the work done by now. We have spent $369,178 of the total budget of $846,984. We have completed 63% of the activities. What is the cost variance (CV)?