When would you use ANOVA instead of a chi-square test?

Is it possible to establish through a regression analysis if a variable is a dependent or an independent variable? Why or why not?

Write oral bad news.

Be sure to use the correct indirect strategy sequence for giving the bad news (do NOT begin the message with it). Pretend that you have actually walked into Bob's office to tell him face-to-face that you are not able to give him what he is asking for. Remember to use a neutral (buffered) opening like a compliment or appreciation (these work best). Then, move to your reason, but keep it separate from the bad news itself. The bad news comes next, followed quickly by a counterproposal if one seems possible. The ending is a future oriented closing.

The message might go something like this:

Good Morning, Bob. Thank you for letting me stop by today. You are doing an excellent job.... (or thank you for.....). I have been studying your proposal for laptops for employees to be able to work at home and working on the numbers... Our budget is.... right now...and our funds are committed to... leaving us with little room for extra purchases.... Unfortunately, the laptops fall into the extra purchases category, and we cannot fund them at this time. However, we believe that...I look forward to working more on this idea in the next few months so that all employees can...

Obviously, you would fill in your own material in the ... sections. You do not have to follow this model, but you must use the same indirect strategy for negative messages that it uses.

A mail-order house uses 15,890 boxes a year. Carrying costs are 60 cents per box a year, and ordering costs are $96. The following price schedule applies.

a. Determine the optimal order quantity. (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)
  
Optimal order quantity              boxes

b. Determine the number of orders per year. (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)
  
Number of order              per year

What is a fair wage? What does fair mean? What is the lowest hourly wage for which you would be willing to work? Think of some of the jobs you have done – would you have worked harder if your pay has been higher?

The book is Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility CSR,

Why is Strategic CSR not a choice for you companies?

The book is Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility CSR chapter#10

Please read the background information and answer the following questions

Background: Country Table Potato Chip Company is a small, privately owned company that produces a limited line of snack foods sold in a three-state range including most of Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa. The company has been in business for 57 years and was started by Franklin Brewster. Frank developed a faithful following for his chips as a result of a cooking process that sealed in flavor. The brand name is well respected in the region. The company was run by George Brewster (third generation) for the past 31 years until his recent death. The company has been handed over to the fourth generation of the Brewster family, Ms. Emily Brewster. Emily has a financial background and has worked in the company in the accounting department for the past eight years.

She wants to take the company in a new direction, knowing from her accounting knowledge of the company that some changes need to be made. She admittedly understands the “bottom line”, but little else about running a business. She has brought in a new team to assist her. You have been hired as the marketing team member to develop the new direction for the company.

From background interviews, you have learned the basics of the company’s history. The company has been regional since its inception. There was some interest in a potential buyout of the company by Frito-Lay five years ago, but the negotiations stalled and Frito-Lay lost interest. Emily has expressed interest for some sort of merger of the company in the future.

The company’s product line consists of six types of potato chips (regular, barbeque, and cheddar cheese flavors all in a thin chip and ruffled chip texture). In addition, the company has regular and cheese flavored popcorn, pretzels, and peanuts. All potato chip products are fried in peanut oil while the other products are baked. Ten products in all, with no change to the product line in the past eight years. Products are packaged in “family sized” bags of seven to ten ounces, depending upon the product.

Years ago, Country Table chips were seen as a “premium” product and priced above other competitors. In the last five years, retail prices to consumers have decreased in response to competition and to the large grocery chains pushing for lower prices to them. Originally, the company sourced their potatoes from a premium supplier in Idaho. Those potatoes were part of the original “flavor formula” that gave their chips a distinctive taste. A few years ago, George Brewster decided to source potatoes from a co-op in order to lower costs. These potatoes were indeed cheaper, but the quality and flavor profile were not as good.

All products are made in five factories, spread out across the three states mentioned above. All distribution is done through a fleet of company owned trucks and delivery vehicles working out of a total of 27 regional offices. Frank Brewster relied on “word of mouth” advertising based on the company’s brand. Also, their fleet of company trucks acted as rolling billboards for the products. Country Table has concentrated on placing their products in grocery store chains and larger convenience stores.

The company is “old school” in that very little has been done to keep up with technology. The company does have a website and offers customers a way to suggest improvements. One consistent theme from customers is a need to expand the flavors of potato chips to keep up with competitor product offerings.

Overall, the industry for snack foods has been increasing. In the past five years, industry sales have increased at a rate of 3% per year. However, the mix of product lines has been shifting. Traditional fried chip products have seen an annual decrease of 4% over the same period. Other new, more healthy snack products have seen a growth rate of over 6% a year.

Country Tables’ unit sales have been essentially flat for the past three years. Profits have been decreasing about 3% per year as a result of higher costs and lower prices. Lower prices have been offered in order to offset competitive efforts to take sales away from Country Table.

Questions:

• If you proposed any new products in the product section, what promotional activities would you recommend for those new products?
• Emily has a financial background. What stage(s) of the product development process do you think she would be most interested in?
• If you proposed new products in the product section, what impact does that addition have on distribution?
• Are there any packaging changes you would recommend?

How can advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion complement each other for a retailer, especially a small, independent retailer?

Evaluate your company(Starbucks) and make an assessment of how you think customers value their products and services. Do they simply meet expectations or do they consistently exceed the levels of expectations?

Based on Consumer Behavior 8th Edition by Babin + Harris. Chapter 14: Consumption to satisfaction.

Discuss and differentiate between atmosphere and visual merchandising.  Then provide personal examples of each that you have seen effectively implemented.

In your view, what are the most significant obstacles or challenges hindering the development and implementation of truly reliable and interoperable public safety or emergency communications systems among all jurisdictions, disciplines, agencies and level of governments? What would you recommend in terms of a single, overarching policy or approach to achieve this goal, or at least facilitate significant progress?Do you think any progress has been made in this area since events like the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995, the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, Hurricane Katrina, or other major disasters? Why or why not?

Walmart: Pioneer in Supply Chain Management

Walmart dominates the retailing industry in terms of its sales revenues, its tremendous customer base, and its ability to drive down costs and deliver value to customers. Walmart takes pride in having received numerous accolades for its ability to continuously improve efficiency in the supply chain while meeting its corporate mandate of offering customers everyday low prices.

Supply chain management refers to a set of approaches and techniques firms use to streamline the flow of merchandise. Firms with a supply chain management focus strive to efficiently and effectively integrate their suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, stores, and transportation intermediaries into a seamless value chain in which merchandise is produced and distributed in the right quantities, to the right locations, and at the right time. Supply chain management also focuses on minimizing systemwide costs while satisfying the service levels customers require.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

Walmart dominates the retailing industry in terms of its sales revenue, its customer base, and its ability to drive down costs and deliver good value to its customers. After all, the world’s largest corporation takes pride in having received numerous accolades for its ability to continuously improve efficiency in the supply chain while meeting its corporate mandate of offering customers everyday low prices.

Tight inventory management is legendary at Walmart through its just-in-time techniques that allow the firm to boast one of the best supply chains in the world. Walmart has not only transformed its own supply chain, but influenced how vendors throughout the world operate because the company has the economic clout to request changes from its vendor partners and to receive them. Recognized for its ability to obtain merchandise from global sources, Walmart also pioneered the strategy of achieving high levels of growth and profitability through its precision control of manufacturing, inventory, and distribution. Although the company is not unique in this regard, it is by far the most successful and most influential corporation of its kind and has put into practice various innovative techniques.

When Walmart does something, it does it on a massive scale. Walmart’s computer system, for example, is second only to that of the Pentagon in storage capacity. Its information systems analyze more than 10 million daily transactions from point-of-sale data and distribute their analysis in real time both internally to its managers and externally via a satellite network to Walmart’s many suppliers, who use the information for their production planning and order shipment.

Much of the popularity of supply chain management has been attributed to the success of Walmart’s partnership with Procter & Gamble (P&G). During the 1980s, the two collaborated in building one of the first CPFR systems, a software system that linked P&G to Walmart’s distribution centers, taking advantage of advances in the world’s telecommunications infrastructure. When a Walmart store sold a particular P&G item, the information flowed directly to P&G’s planning and control systems. When the inventory level of P&G’s products at Walmart’s distribution center got to the point where it needed to reorder, the system automatically alerted P&G to ship more products. This information helped P&G plan its production. Walmart was also able to track when a P&G shipment arrived at one of its distribution warehouses, which enabled it to coordinate its own outbound shipments to stores. Both Walmart and P&G realized savings from the better inventory management and order processing, savings that in turn were passed on to Walmart’s consumers through its everyday low prices.

A history of success does not mean Walmart executives can rest. Changes in social values, economic fluctuations, technology advances, and other marketplace factors demand that Walmart continue its search for innovative ways to keep consumer prices down.

One of the ways that Walmart has been able to reduce the prices of its products, and add value to its customers, is by its continuing focus on streamlining all its _____ functions.

Multiple Choice

• supply chain management

• RFID

• marketing

• sales

• production management

Walmart probably has the most ____ in its supply chain relationships because of its size, negotiating power, and its commitment to improvement in its supply chain performance.

Multiple Choice

• weakness

• power

• franchises

• justice

• solidarity

By combining their resources and developing shared goals, Procter & Gamble and Walmart were able to increase the value to the final consumer. Their relationship is considered

Multiple Choice

• balanced.

• strategic.

• conflicting.

• combined.

• contentious.

Walmart and Procter & Gamble effectively implemented ________, which allowed for information to flow directly from Walmart's store to Procter & Gamble's production facilities. This streamlined production as well as distribution, thus reducing costs and getting products to Walmart’s customers sooner.

Multiple Choice

• electronic data interchange

• a new franchise

• horizontal channel conflict

• a corporate vertical marketing system

• ticketing and marking

The strategic relationship between Walmart and Procter & Gamble is based on __________ because both firms realize that investments in supply chain management will create savings for consumers.

Multiple Choice

• logistics

• independence

• interdependence

• conflict

• channel management

The WIZARD system at Avis

It is possible to rent cars at almost every major airport and city centre in the world, and there is

invariably intense competition to attract and keep customers. Since the hire companies all offer

similar ranges of relatively new vehicles, and the reliability of these cars is taken for granted by

most customers, competition is generally on service and/or price. The most critical service

factor is the availability of the desired category (size and specification) of car, and the speed

with which all the hire contract paperwork can be completed, so that the customer is not

unnecessarily delayed. This depends on the effectiveness of the hire company’s planning and

control system. One of the most important Avis sites in Belgium is the operation at Brussels

National Airport at Zaventem, which deals predominantly with business customers, and hires

out up to 200 cars on a busy day. Avis’s advertisement, targeted at the business market,

emphasizes its ability to process customers quickly and efficiently. The objective is to complete

the transaction in less than two minutes and this is facilitated by Avis’s well-developed

computer system, known as WIZARD, which handles all reservations, preparation of hire

contracts at the service desks, inventory management and invoicing systems. WIZARD is a

globally integrated system, with over 15,000 terminals in Avis branches worldwide, allowing

international reservations to be made with accuracy and certainty, and helping to maximize the

utilization of vehicles throughout the network.

Regular customer surveys and analyses of actual demand patterns are carried out to determine

the customers’ preferences in terms of type and category of vehicles, providing a guide to the

Belgian fleet composition, which is managed from the central ‘clearing house’ at Machelen.

Because each of the Belgian branch offices has access to a pool of cars held at Machelen, their

local buffer stock requirements can be minimized. The requirements for the movement of car

inventory between branches and between countries is centralized in this way, allowing the

branches to concentrate on the task of providing good customer service. Each regular business

customer has a unique reference number in WIZARD, allowing reservations to be made and

rental contracts to be completed quickly, with only three pieces of information: the customer’s

number, the type of car required and the duration of the hire. This type of transaction is usually

completed within two minutes, after which the customer goes directly to the car park and

collects the car.

Questions

1. What do you see as the main planning and control tasks of the Wizard system?

2. How would you evaluate the effectiveness of the planning and control activity at Avis?

East Texas Seasonings is preparing to build one processing centre to serve its four sources of seasonings. The four source locations are at coordinates shown below. Also, the volume from each source is provided. What is the centre of gravity?

The following questions are based on the letter below.

Dead Madam:

Unfortunately, because you have not paid your account for the last three months, we have absolutely NO CHOICE but to turn off your heat soon. We know that winter is upon us and it’s a horrible time to be without heat, but you really brought this on yourself.

Next time, we recommended PAYING your bills ON TIME.

If you get us your outstanding payments soon, you can keep your heat.

As always, we appreciate your business and value you as our customer.

Sincerely,
Tenaga Api Customer Service Team

1. Evaluate THREE (3) effectiveness of the letter. You are expected to include aspects of you-attitude and positive emphasis in building goodwill.
2. Rewrite the letter in a way that builds goodwill to the customer and at the same time, delivers the message.

How does population health and the necessities of financial management mesh to enable care facilities to function today toward achieving “population health” goals, while affording both existing current care physical and mental health facilities? How does this mesh with growing those which we expect to open to support and protect against the Covid-19 threats of tomorrow to operate