what intuitively occurs to us about the legal environment of doing international business vis-a-vis our supply chain notions?

I want an analysis of this case.

In recent years, a number of countries around the world have experienced banking crises, eroding trust in the system. Enter Bitcoin, a form of electronic currency that can be transferred from one person to another via peer-to-peer networks, without the need for a bank or other financial institution as intermediary. This ability to operate outside the banking system has made Bitcoin a favorite of hackers and buyers and sellers of illicit goods and services; but more recently, it has made Bitcoin a darling among many in the technological elite who believe that Bitcoin and the technology behind it could revolutionize the payments industry and challenge the future of paper currency Bitcoin has many unique attributes that differentiate it from traditional currencies. Bitcoins are not physically minted, but are generated by computer software at a predetermined rate. A finite amount of coins are "built into the software," and 16.5 million of a potential 21 million coins are cure rently in circulation. The program that is used to generate Bitcoins runs on a peer-to-peer network and requires powerful computer systems to operate. "Mining" a Bitcoin is the result of these powerful computers solving cryptographic problems in tandem with other similar computers--the computer that hits upon the solution is awarded the coin, and a record of all of the involved computers' attempts at mining the coin is logged. Bitcoins derive some of their initial value because of the time and computational effort required to mine them. There are many reasons to be skeptical of Bitcoin. Although law enforcement has improved its ability to apprehend criminals using Bitcoin, governments are justifiably concerned about the emergence of a new currency whose purpose is to avoid regulation. Bitcoin has been lauded for its democratic structure, under which anyone running the underlying software has a say in making future changes. However, that same democratic structure also leads to volatility and uncertainty. For example, in 2017, Bitcoin experienced a splitting of its currency, called a "hard fork." The split occurred because users disagreed over the best way to improve transaction processing speeds, which have slowed as Bitcoin has become more popular. Unable to compromise, Bitcoin was split into two competing variations: traditional Bitcoin, and a newer version called Bitcoin Cash, which allows for much faster transaction processing speeds. Security concerns have also ravaged some of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, including Mt. Gox and Flexcoin. Hackers stole $425 million and $600,000 in Bitcoins from the two exchanges, respectively, and many of the victims of the theft have yet to be compensated for their losses. 4.Many governments have responded to Bitcoin's increase in popularity with varying degrees of regulation or prohibition. For example, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Bangladesh have banned Bitcoin in their countries, and Russia has similar legislation in develop ment. However, China looms largest as a threat to Bitcoin's ongoing growth, as the Chinese central bank required the country's Bitcoin exchanges to halt all withdrawals and eventually cease operations by the end of October 2017. China's recent crackdown on Bitcoin is especially surprising given that China's share of Bitcoin trading worldwide has been as high as 90% of all trading. As of late 2017, that percentage cratered to a low of approximately 10% of worldwide Bitcoin trading. Despite Bitcoin's uncertainty, the currency continues to gain popularity, and more banks and regulators are recognizing that the underlying technology may be here to stay. Some traditional big banks are still skeptical: the CEO of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon, predicted in 2017 that Bitcoin was doomed to failure. But Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted that the company was considering beginning to trade Bitcoin, and in 2015, Goldman invested heavily in a peer-to-peer payment platform for Bitcoin. Elsewhere around the world, lapan and South Korea have warmed to Bitcoin nicking up much of the slack from China. Major Japanese companies like telecom giant DoCoMo and the Bank of Tokyo have thrown their support behind Bitcoin, and Japanese banks have also partnered to introduce a national digital currency using similar technology called J Coin. In 2015, the IRS began taxing Bitcoin earnings, legitimizing the currency in the eyes of regulators, and governments across the world are proposing rules for the regulation and use of virtual currencies. Many startup companies have experimented with digital currency to raise venture capital. Known as an initial coin offering (ICO), a company creates a proprietary currency and exchanges that currency for Bitcoins. in return, investors gain the ability to redeem the new proprietary currency for that company's goods and services in the future. /Needless to say, governments are not thrilled with the idea of any company being able to mint its own new currency, and many governments have banned this practice. 6.Bitcoin exchanges harness the system's decentralized network of computers to enable frictionless and inexpensive movement of currencies across international borders. Bitcoins and Bitcoin transactions are all logged on a public ledger known as the blockchain, which is updated and maintained by all of the members of the network. Contrast this with a bank, which is a central hub where all currency and financial information resides. With the blockchain, there isn't a single point of failure or vulnerability the way there may be with a bank, and no single entity must update and maintain the ledger. In countries where the banking system is less developed than in the United States, such as Argentina and Kenya, Bitcoin has proven itself a more reliable option. A number of high-profile online businesses accept Bitcoin, such as Dell, Microsoft, Expedia, and Newegg, as well as reportedly over 80,000 other merchants around the world. In 2017, Bitcoin's price rose dramatically from less than $1,000 at the beginning of the year to a high of almost $20,000 per coin in mid-December, before dropping sharply to below $11,000 and then rebounding to about $14,000 by the end of the year. The number of Bitcoin users has grown rapidly, with nearly 6 million people maintaining cryptocurrency wallets in 2017, most of which are Bitcoin wallets. Although some analysts believe that Bitcoin is experiencing a bubble that will eventually burst, Bitcoin proponents believe that the world is just now catching on to the usefulness of digital currency. Other rivals to Bitcoin emerged in 2017 as well, including Litecoin, which bills itself as the equivalent of silver to Bitcoin's gold, and Ethereum, a more robust blockchain platform offering more applications than just currency. However, for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to really take off, they must become more than trading commodities and prove themselves to be useful tools to actually purchase goods and services.

Exponential Leadership vs. Linear Leadership

Compare the two

Who uses them?

How can they be implemented into business models?

What are they used for?

Disruptive Technologies

Diruptive technologies. The latest discussion between entreprenurial gurus are the so called disruptive technologies within entrerpeneurs.
investigate this topic and discuss the below
1. what do we mean by disruptive technologies.
2. examples of disruptive technolgies,
3. latest technologies, that can be called "disruptive".
4. Benefits of disrubtive technolgies.

Visit the source (kiva.org) and answer the following questions:

Name the middle East regions in which Kiva operates, and Write examples of the loans Kiva is providing in the following categories:

1. Livestock
2. Food
3. Water and Sanitation

and how you connect Kiva with concept of ‘Microfinance’ you studied in Chapter 6?

What potential issues have you notice when examination of Amazon company that may pose a problem for the company? please respond in at least 250 words of more

Create a risk management plan including contingency plans for the identified risks for Apple Inc.

i want you find business articles from business news web-sites such as: marketwatch, CNBC,Fox Business, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, etc...........

Pick one article from four (4) different business web-sites, read the article and write a 1 paragraph summary on that article. So in the end you will have a short summary of 4 business article, each coming from a different source.

please Conduct a Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence portfolio for healthcare organization . Score the organization's performance across the 7 categories and provide explanations on how you arrived at these scores.

The Seven Categories of CPE

Leadership;

Strategic Planning;

Customer and Market Focus;

Measure­ment, Analysis and Knowledge Management;

Workforce Focus;

Process Manage­ment;

Results.

recommend any organizational change management strategies that may enhance successful implementation for Apple Inc.

Prepare your own Cover Letter to go together with your Resume to apply for a job in the position of Human Resource Manager at any private company in Malaysia. Make sure to include all necessary important information in your cover letter.

You are interested in the Food and Drug Administration and its most recent new role of oversight of e-cigarettes. Many of your friends use e-cigarettes and you are not sure if they are a healthy alternative to cigarettes.

Activity: Perform an internet search of the FDA and its regulation of e-cigarettes and the health implications of e-cigarettes, and present your findings to the class.

what is Kroger's Market Profile?

COMPANY Case: Porsche: Guarding the Old While Bringing in the New

Porsche (pronounced Porsh-uh) is a unique company. It has always been a niche brand that makes cars for a small and distinctive segment of automobile buyers. In 2009, Porsche sold only 27,717 cars in the five models it sells in the United States. Honda sold about 10 times that many Accords alone. But Porsche owners are as rare as their vehicles. For that reason, top managers at Porsche spend a great deal of time thinking about customers. They want to know who their customers are, what they think, and how they feel. They want to know why they buy a Porsche rather then a Jaguar, a Ferrari, or a big Mercedes coupe. These are challenging questions to answer; even Porsche owners themselves don’t know exactly what motivates their buying. But given Porsche’s low volume and the increasingly fragmented auto market, it is imperative that management understands its customers and what gets their motors running.

Since its early days, Porsche has appealed to a very narrow segment of financially successful people. These are achievers who see themselves as entrepreneurial, even if they work for a corporation. They set very high goals for themselves and then work doggedly to meet them. And they expect no less from the clothes they wear, the restaurants they go to, or the cars they drive. These individuals see themselves not as a part of the regular world but as exceptions to it. They buy Porsches because the car mirrors their self-image; it stands for the things owners like to see in themselves and their lives.

Most of us buy what Porsche executives call utility vehicles. That is, we buy cars primarily to go to work, transport children, and run errands. Because we use our cars to accomplish these daily tasks, we base buying decisions on features such as price, size, fuel economy, and other practical considerations. But Porsche is more than a utility car. Its owners see it as a car to be enjoyed, not just used. Most Porsche buyers are not moved by information but by feelings. A Porsche is like a piece of clothing—something the owner “wears” and is seen in. They develop a personal relationship with their cars, one that has more to do with the way the car sounds, vibrates, and feels, rather than the how many cup holders it has or how much cargo it can hold in the trunk. They admire their Porsche because it is a competent performance machine without being flashy or phony.

People buy Porsches because they enjoy driving. If all they needed was something to get them from point A to point B, they could find something much less expensive. And while many Porsche owners are car enthusiasts, some of them are not. One successful businesswoman and owner of a high-end Porsche said, “When I drive this car to the high school to pick up my daughter, I end up with five youngsters in the car. If I drive any other car, I can’t even find her; she doesn’t want to come home.”

For its first few decades, Porsche AG lived by the philosophy of Ferry Porsche, Ferdinand’s son. Ferry created the Porsche 356 because no one else made a car like he wanted. But as the years rolled on, Porsche management became concerned with a significant issue: Were there enough Porsche buyers to keep the company afloat? Granted, the company never had illusions of churning out the numbers of a Chevrolet or a Toyota. But to fund innovation, even a niche manufacturer has to grow a little. And Porsche began to worry that the quirky nature of the people who buy Porsches might just run out on them.

This led Porsche to extend its brand outside the box. In the early 1970s, Porsche introduced the 914, a square-ish, mid-engine, two-seater that was much cheaper than the 911. This meant that a different class of people could afford a Porsche. It was no surprise that the 914 became Porsche’s top selling model. By the late 1970s, Porsche replaced the 914 with a hatchback coupe that had something no other regular Porsche model had ever had: an engine in the front. At less than $20,000, more than $10,000 less than the 911, the 924 and later 944 models were once again Porsche’s pitch to affordability. At one point, Porsche increased its sales goal by nearly 50 percent to 60,000 cars a year.

Although these cars were in many respects sales successes, the Porsche faithful cried foul. They considered these entry-level models to be cheap and underperforming. Most loyalists never really accepted these models as “real” Porsches. In fact, they were not at all happy that they had to share their brand with a customer who didn’t fit the Porsche owner profile. They were turned off by what they saw as a corporate strategy that had focused on mass over class marketing. This tarnished image was compounded by the fact that Nissan, Toyota, BMW, and other car manufacturers had ramped up high-end sports car offerings, creating some fierce competition. In fact, both the Datsun 280-ZX and the Toyota Supra were not only cheaper than Porsche’s 944 but also faster. A struggling economy threw more sand in Porsche’s tank. By 1990, Porsche sales had plummeted, and the company flirted with bankruptcy.

But Porsche wasn’t going down without a fight. It quickly recognized the error of its ways and halted production of the entry-level models. It rebuilt its damaged image by revamping its higher-end model lines with more race-bred technology. In an effort to regain rapport with customers, Porsche once again targeted the high end of the market in both price and performance. It set modest sales goals and decided that moderate growth with higher margins would be more profitable in the long term. Thus, the company set out to make one less Porsche than the public demanded. According to one executive, “We’re not looking for volume; we’re searching for exclusivity.”

Porsche’s efforts had the desired effect. By the late 1990s, the brand was once again favored by the same type of achiever who had so deeply loved the car for decades. The cars were once again exclusive. And the company was once again profitable. But by the early 2000s, Porsche management was again asking itself a familiar question: To have a sustainable future, could Porsche rely on only the Porsche faithful? According to then CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, “For Porsche to remain independent, it can’t be dependent on the most fickle segment in the market. We don’t want to become just a marketing department of some giant. We have to make sure we’re profitable enough to pay for future development ourselves.”

So in 2002, Porsche did the unthinkable. It became one of the last car companies to jump into the insatiable sport utility vehicle (SUV) market. At roughly 5,000 pounds, the new Porsche Cayenne was heavier than anything that Porsche had ever made, with the exception of some prototype tanks it made during WWII. Once again, the new model featured an engine up front. And it was the first Porsche to ever be equipped with seatbelts for five. As news spread about the car’s development, howls could be heard from Porsche’s customer base.

But this time, Porsche did not seem too concerned that the loyalists would be put off. Could it be that the company had already forgotten what happened the last time it deviated from the mold? After driving one of the first Cayenne’s off the assembly line, one journalist stated, “A day at the wheel of the 444 horsepower Cayenne Turbo leaves two overwhelming impressions. First, the Cayenne doesn’t behave or feel like an SUV, and second, it drives like a Porsche.” This was no entry-level car. Porsche had created a two-and-a-half ton beast that could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over five seconds, corner like it was on rails, and hit 165 miles per hour, all while coddling five adults in sumptuous leather seats with almost no wind noise from the outside world. On top of that, it could keep up with a Land Rover when the pavement ended. Indeed, Porsche had created the Porsche of SUVs.

Last year, Porsche upped the ante one more time. It unveiled another large vehicle. But this time, it was a low-slung, five-door luxury sedan. The Porsche faithful and the automotive press again gasped in disbelief. But by the time the Panamera hit the pavement, Porsche had proven once again that Porsche customers could have their cake and eat it to. The Panamera is almost as big as the Cayenne but can move four adults down the road at speeds of up to 188 miles per hour and accelerate from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in four seconds flat.

Although some Porsche traditionalists would never be caught dead driving a front engine Porsche that has more than two doors, Porsche insists that two trends will sustain these new models. First, a category of Porsche buyers has moved into life stages that have them facing inescapable needs; they need to haul more people and stuff. This not only applies to certain regular Porsche buyers, but Porsche is again seeing buyers enter its dealerships that otherwise wouldn’t have. Only this time, the price points of the new vehicles are drawing only the well heeled, allowing Porsche to maintain its exclusivity. These buyers also seem to fit the achiever profile of regular Porsche buyers.

The second trend is the growth of emerging economies. Whereas the United States has long been the world’s biggest consumer of Porsches, the company expects China to become its biggest customer before too long. Twenty years ago, the United States accounted for about 50 percent of Porsche’s worldwide sales. Now, it accounts for only about 26 percent. In China, many people who can afford to buy a car as expensive as a Porsche also hire a chauffeur. The Cayenne and the Panamera are perfect for those who want to be driven around in style but who may also want to make a quick getaway if necessary.

The most recent economic downturn has brought down the sales of just about every maker of premium automobiles. When times are tough, buying a car like a Porsche is the ultimate deferrable purchase. But as this downturn turns back up, Porsche is better poised than it has ever been to meet the needs of its customer base. It is also in better shape than ever to maintain its brand image with the Porsche faithful and with others as well. Sure, understanding Porsche buyers is still a difficult task. But a former CEO of Porsche summed it up this way: “If you really want to understand our customers, you have to understand the phrase, ‘If I were going to be a car, I’d be a Porsche.’

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Required Questions

Question 01: You are asked to develop a Mission statement and four Marketing objectives for Porsche for the next ten years (2021- 2025) . Draft an ideal mission statement and outline your four marketing objectives (5 marks

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Question 02: Identify , explain and justify the main consumer behaviour characteristics that influences the Porche buyers.

The current demand is 40 customers per day. Mr. Miller expects that the demand grows to 50 customers per day with the promotion. The shop has four technicians and they receive $15 per hour. In addition to the labor cost, the shop incurs overhead that is 1.2 times the labor cost and the equipment cost that is $10 per customer. The shop operates 8 hours per day. In order to meet the larger demand, Mr. Miller considers the following three options:

The important information is summarized in Table 4:

Table 4: How to Meet Growing Demand?

Calculate the current labor cost.

1. 10 dollars per day
2. 12 dollars per day
3. 60 dollars per day
4. 120 dollars per day
5. 480 dollars per day

Calculate the current equipment cost.

1. 80 dollars per day
2. 100 dollars per day
3. 320 dollars per day
4. 400 dollars per day
5. 3,200 dollars per day

Calculate the current overhead cost.

1. 12 dollars per day
2. 14 dollars per day
3. 72 dollars per day
4. 144 dollars per day
5. 576 dollars per day

Calculate the labor cost in Option A.

1. 13 dollars per day
2. 14 dollars per day
3. 68 dollars per day
4. 170 dollars per day
5. 680 dollars per day

Calculate the equipment cost in Option C.

1. 120 dollars per day
2. 188 dollars per day
3. 480 dollars per day
4. 750 dollars per day
5. 6,000 dollars per day

Calculate the current multifactor productivity (labor cost + equipment cost + overhead). Round the number to four decimal places.

1. 0.0275 customers per dollar input
2. 0.0752 customers per dollar input
3. 0.1099 customers per dollar input
4. 0.2326 customers per dollar input
5. 0.3640 customers per dollar input

Calculate the multifactor productivity (labor cost + equipment cost + overhead) for Option A. Round the number to four decimal places.

1. 0.0063 customers per dollar input
2. 0.0251 customers per dollar input
3. 0.0770 customers per dollar input
4. 0.1002 customers per dollar input
5. 0.2637 customers per dollar input

Calculate the multifactor productivity (labor cost + equipment cost + overhead) for Option B. Round the number to four decimal places.

1. 0.0069 customers per dollar input
2. 0.0091 customers per dollar input
3. 0.0275 customers per dollar input
4. 0.0752 customers per dollar input
5. 0.2326 customers per dollar input

Calculate the multifactor productivity (labor cost + equipment cost + overhead) for Option C. Round the number to four decimal places.

1. 0.0069 customers per dollar input
2. 0.0277 customers per dollar input
3. 0.0567 customers per dollar input
4. 0.2637 customers per dollar input
5. 0.3612 customers per dollar input

Which option(s) has the highest multifactor productivity?

1. Option A
2. Option B
3. Option C
4. Option A and Option C
5. Option B and Option C