Differentiate between focus groups and other forms of data collection, such as surveys and interviews?

New Product Market Capstone Scenario

A leading multinational firm operating within the medical industry is completing the development of adhesive drapes used primarily for pediatric burn victims. These surgical drapes reduce patient infections, are easy to use, and provide affordability and access within even the lowest of GDP emerging markets

Currently, the only existing drapes cost the hospital $200 per set and can only be used for one procedure. It is estimated that this new product innovation will cost the hospital $10 per unit and the manufacturer will have 20% variable cost. All products are shipped directly from the firm to the hospitals. Shipping and handling is factored into this cost-structure. Overall fixed costs are estimated at $3 million.

Miraculously, these new drapes will reduce the current infection rate of 9% by 66.67%. it is estimated that with the older drapes 20% of all such infections led to morbidity.

Based upon market analysis, it is estimated that the new product market share will be 66.67% of 30 million procedures annually. Currently, the market for drapes is segmented based upon type of application (burns, blunt injuries, and birthing), age of the patient, income/ability to pay, gender, and country of the hospital. Purchasing decisions are made by hospitals buyers who are influenced by trained medical staff

Scenario Assignment

As a newly hired product manager within this leading firm, you are requested to analyze and report the following to the leadership committee:

1. Demonstrate and understanding of marketing opportunity analysis in marketing decision making:

Question: Conduct a SWOT analysis making sure you address strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

2. Demonstrate and understanding of the role of product in planning and implementing a marketing strategy:

Question: Introduce and describe the steps involved in a new product development process to provide enhanced innovations withing the scenarios context. Take a 7-step approach to new product to new product development.

This discussion has 3 parts:

1. In your experience, how do human resources managers cope with demands, constraints, and choices confronting them with reference to employee rights and policies and procedures?
2. What are the benefits or consequences that you have witnessed when it comes to employee rights?
3. What steps do you believe human resources managers use to solve problems and make decisions? If you have experienced this first hand, please feel free to share your experience.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

Discussion Board Reminders:

Selecting a performance management process and appraisal method requires significant levels of analysis. These would include the amount and quality of input, the time available to complete the appraisal, the value of the appraisal to both the employee and the company, and the clarity associated with the performance objectives that are developed.

This discussion has three parts, as follows:

1. Using your own personal experiences and opinions, discuss what you believe are the benefits and concerns associated with each of the following types of performance appraisal methods:
   • Supervisor-conducted
   • Supervisor-conducted with input from the employee
   • 360-degree appraisal
2. Discuss the benefits of management by objectives and how this impacts the performance management process in a real-life situation. Your response should include the basic steps that are associated with this process.
3. Discuss the steps that are associated with a job analysis process. Based on your personal experience, why do you think the job analysis process is important?

You can provide the experiences of your family or friends in your responses if you do not have your own in these areas.

Chap. 6:- Honda was the first Japanese auto manufacturer to produce cars in the United States. At that time there was much skepticism as to whether U.S. workers could adapt to the Japanese emphasis on high quality. Honda has succeeded in the United States, and other Japanese auto manufacturers have followed. At Honda, why is it so important to plan ahead, as much as five years, for quality of vehicle models? How is the design process related to quality management? What is the role of the PDCA cycle at Honda ? Why does Honda produce new and old models simultaneously? What is “quality fatigue”? How does Honda address it in its plant?

The ABC Manufacturing Co. has made a decision to replace an existing production line with new equipment. This project will require several tasks (jobs) with precedence relationships and duration (weeks) as shown in the following table. The project will be finished when activities A-J are all finished.

a)       Create an Activity-On-Node network diagram for this Project.

b)       Calculate the earliest start (ES) and finish (EF) times and latest start (LS) and finish (LF) times, the total slack (TS) and free slack (FS) for each of the activities in the network.

c)       Identify the critical path(s).

d)       What is the project completion duration?

What are some of the advantages for Sony, Toshiba, and LG Electronics to outsource TV manufacturing from South Korea, Japan, and Mexico to plants in China and Taiwan?

Why do you think government expenditures as a percentage of GDP have increased in the U.S. and other countries?

Draw the Product Life Cycle figure of Samsonite, in which stage of the Product Life Cycle is Samsonite currently standing? How can the company extend its life cycle?

ThyssenKrupp Elevator Canada

INTRODUCTION During a lunchroom break, a male employee at ThyssenKrupp decided to take up a dare from a fellow colleague for $100 and the Jackass-like prank was videotaped then posted to YouTube. When it came to the attention of the HR manager and other senior management, the employee was fired for violating company policy. The employee argued in court that the organizational culture allowed such behaviour. But would the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) agree?

BACKGROUND ThyssenKrupp Elevator Canada was subcontracting elevator installation at a construction site in downtown Toronto where a large office building was being built. All the workers on the site, including those from ThyssenKrupp, and the main contractor of the site, PCL Construction, were male and the culture of the workplace was described as a “macho” environment where pranks were played. There were reportedly pictures of women and provocative calendars hanging on walls, as well as signs displaying vulgar humour. There was little concern about these as access to the building was restricted to people involved in the construction project. One of ThyssenKrupp's employees at the site was an elevator mechanic. He and several other employees engaged in what he called “picking” on each other and playing pranks to keep things light at work. They also watched pornographic scenes on a worker's iPod and episodes of the television show Jackass, which features individuals doing stupid activities on dares.

ESCALATION OF PRANK BEHAVIOUR Over a period of a few weeks, the mechanic and other employees performed more and more pranks that copied some of the ones they saw on the Jackass show. Typically these events took place in the basement lunchroom where employees gathered for breaks and meals, to change clothes, and to socialize. Soon, money was being offered on dares to do certain actions. For example, one ThyssenKrupp employee accepted a dare that involved a $60 payment—money collected from fellow employees, including three foremen. The dare involved the employee eating spoiled food found in the common refrigerator of the lunchroom. A couple of weeks after the first dare, the mechanic was observed playing with a stapler in the lunchroom on a break. One of the foremen walked in and jokingly said, “What are you going to do with that? Why don't you staple your nuts to something?” The mechanic jokingly replied that he'd do it “if you get enough money.” Though he claimed it was intended as a joke, word spread within a few hours, and soon $100 was raised among seven other ThyssenKrupp and three PCL employees. Another four people were in the lunchroom later that afternoon watching when the mechanic decided to go ahead with the staple dare. He proceeded to drop his work uniform trousers and staple his scrotum to a wooden plank, which was met by “cheering and high fives,” according to the mechanic. With the mechanic's knowledge, the prank was filmed on video. Included on-camera were all those employees present, wearing full worksite uniforms, PCL logos on hats, and TK shirt patches—all easily identifiable and recorded by a worker who was present that day. The mechanic was advised at a later date that the event was posted on YouTube. Initially, the mechanic did nothing about the YouTube posting, but eventually asked for it to be taken off the site. To ensure this was done, the mechanic went back to YouTube searching for the video clip, but couldn't find it. He assumed it had been removed, however it was not—he just didn't search correctly. In total, the video clip was assessable on YouTube for two weeks, during which time many employees in the construction industry watched it. It was during these two weeks that ThyssenKrupp became aware of the video after the HR department received an email with a link to the video, and several people discussed it with a ThyssenKrupp executive at a construction labour relations conference. Conference participants insisted the employee was from ThyssenKrupp, and they questioned how the company could allow something like that to happen during work hours. At this point, ThyssenKrupp management reviewed the video one more time and decided that the mechanic had violated its workplace harassment policy, which prohibited “practical jokes of a sexual nature which cause awkwardness or embarrassment.” The mechanic was fired for “a flagrant violation” of ThyssenKrupp's harassment policy and risking the company's reputation.

CULTURE AT FAULT Upon being fired from his job, the mechanic filed a grievance with the OLRB. He argued that dismissal was too harsh given the culture of the workplace which was accepting of that type of behaviour. He also said no one told him not to do it, no one expressed displeasure, and no one mentioned they were offended. He argued that other employees had done stunts but questioned why he was the only one disciplined for his actions. He also claimed to have never seen the workplace harassment policy, even though it was part of the orientation package.

THE DECISION In July 2011, the OLRB found the mechanic's misconduct on the employer's premises, plus his permission to record it, “patently unacceptable in almost any workplace.” The fact that his employer was easily identified in the video clip contributed to the decision. The fact that the mechanic claimed not to have known about the corporate harassment policy was irrelevant—he should have known better. The OLRB also dismissed as irrelevant that no one protested or objected to the prank during the lunch break, which the mechanic argued was “not during work hours.” The court stated that ThyssenKrupp has an interest in preventing such horseplay and stunts in the workplace. They are in a safety-sensitive industry and such employee misconduct places the firm's reputation in jeopardy. The seriousness of the mechanic's misconduct also superseded any other factors, such as his claim of being a good employee with a clean record and the argument around the culture. There was no evidence that the company was aware of other pranks, and his role as the principle offender wasn't diminished by the culture, said the board. In dismissing the mechanics grievance, the board stated, “If (ThyssenKrupp) employees want to emulate the principles of Jackass by self-abuse, they may be free to do so when they are not on the (employer's) premises and cannot be identified as being associated with (ThyssenKrupp).”

(2) Considering that the mechanic claimed that the ThyssenKrupp culture contributed to such behaviour, in your opinion, does ThyssenKrupp need to change its corporate culture? If not, why not?   

(3)  You have to take one side, either the company ThyssenKrupp or the fired employee. If you decide to represent ThyssenKrupp, then you are the defense lawyer. If you decide to represent the fired mechanic, you are the Plaintiff’s Lawyer. Present your arguments with evidences and supporting matter to the Judge.

Write research paper about:

Implementing a Performance Management System

You can follow these steps:

-Introduction

-Body – More Information

Recommendations. -

Conclusion -

References-

A Detailed Pros and Cons analysis with at least 7 Pros and 5 Cons of the Strategic Action. This section should lead with statement that, describes what the strategic action is, what primary level or secondary level strategy the action is meant to achieve, and how that fits with the firm’s Generic Strategy. Then the Pros and Cons will help you evaluate how well the strategic action fulfills the strategy. The pros and cons should not be vague positives from the book or the article but specific to your understanding of the companies involved. Use of Numbers or Bullet points are also strongly recommended for each unique pro or con.

TOPIC- On November 1, Google paid $2.1 billion to acquire Fitbit, one of the most well-known fitness tracker brands in the world

1- Create a study guide students can use as a supplement to tutoring in business/cis

research and document additional tutoring methods that can be used for various learning styles.

Document effective ways of tutoring in the online learning age.

Share multiple tutoring learning practices that can be used in future tutoring formats.

Consider finding policies and procedures for tutoring in business/cis

Finally share with me ways that can make you a better tutor.

A: Abilene paradox

After viewing the video, discuss times when you (personally and professionally) have gone to Abilene or noticed that your work group or company is on the way. Give examples of those experiences. These can be very simple every day examples, e.g. going along on a project at work you held reservations about, having a preference for where you eat dinner, but going to a place you dislike because you didn't want to hurt someone's feelings, marrying the person you didn't love, buying a car you didn't like, moving when you didn't want to (you get the point). Try to post one professional and one personal (e.g. one work setting and one life setting example) if you can. How can you stop Abilene from happening in your organization?

Abilene Paradox video clip: 3528 - De Abilene Paradox; groepsconformisme (preview)

B: Characteristics of an effective team
Briefly describe a group or team that you have been a part of that you felt was particularly effective. Determine what specific characteristics of that team made it so (e.g., group or team structured, roles, norms, etc.). Provide specific examples to support your response on techniques, theories, steps, etc..

*A complete initial discussion post answer both parts A and B.

**Please remember to include references and to extend your posts to include outside sources.

Search entries or author

1. Will online retailers, in general, experience a positive outcome in opening physical stores?

2. For what types of online retailers does opening stores make the most sense? Why?

3. Is it more challenging for traditional retailers to build an online space, or for online retailers to build a physical store presence?