IE212-LEAN PROCESS

Suppose that we have a process that produces two types of an item: Blue Item and Orange Item. Both of the items require the same pure sequential operations: O1, O2, O3. O1 and O3 are manual operations. O2 is the main and an automated operation which differentiates the items (e.g. gives different colors). Operation 1 takes 1 minutes per item. It is a manual operation that is common to both types. Operation 2 takes 4 minutes per item. It is an automated operation. Operation 3 takes 2 minute per item. It is a manual operation that is common to both types. Draw the GANTT Chart, calculate the flow time, cycle time, throughput, value added time and waste when the setup time for machine 2 where the Operation 2 occurs is 2 minutes and the batch size is 3 items per batch.

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ESPN is a global cable television network and media company with headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Founded in 1979, ESPN grew along with the cable television industry to become a mainstay of American popular culture. After a series of investments by Hearst Publications and ABC (the American Broadcasting Network), 80% of ESPN finally ended up in the hands of entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company, and 20% with the Hearst Corporation, a 100-year-old media company based largely on newspaper and magazine businesses. ESPN focuses on sports programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming. While originally a cable television network, ESPN has since expanded aggressively to the Internet as well as radio and print magazines.ESPN is actually a family of sports networks and individual shows. There are eight 24-hourdomestic television sports networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes (a Spanish language network), ESPNU (a network devoted to college sports), and the regionally focused Longhorn Network (a network dedicated to The University of Texas athletics) and SEC Network (focused on Southeastern Athletic Conference sports). ESPN also operates five high-definition television simulcast services: ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPNEWS HD, ESPNU HD, and ESPN Deportes HD. ESPN programs the sports schedule on the ABC Television Network, which is branded ESPN on ABC. ESPN International has ownership interests in 24 television networks that reach households in 61 countries and territories across seven continents. In addition to its media outlets, ESPN is well-known for its ownership of the rights to various professional and college sports programming.On the Internet, ESPN owns ESPN.com, which delivers comprehensive sports programming news, information, and video. ESPN3 is a broadband service that delivers thousandsof live events. Other sites include WatchESPN, ESPNRadio, ESPNDeportes, ESPNFC, ESPNCricinfo, ESPNScrum, ESPNFL, and a variety of market-specific sites. ESPN also owns the statisticallyfocused political and sports site FiveThirtyEight.In 2016, ESPN digital properties averaged approximately 80 million U.S. users per month who watched 7.0 billion minutes of content. In terms of reach, ESPN lead the Sports category, generating over 15% of all Sports category usage for the year and 55% more than its closest competitor. ESPN is also the industry leader in terms of unique visitors to, and minutes watched on, its mobile Web site and mobile apps, boasting the top two sports apps in its flagship ESPN app and WatchESPN digital streaming app.ESPN has also had to change core programming elements such as SportsCenter to fit the new digitally-dominated landscape. ESPN’s new SportsCenter set has 114 monitors compared to the older one’s 15, nearly 10,000 square feet of space, 1,100 miles of fiber optic cable, and the ability to accommodate emerging technologies that may arise. Thetrouble for ESPN is that even the most cutting-edge TV studio may not be enough to draw viewers, and the most comprehensive network of national and regional sports networks may no longer be ESPN’s greatest strength. More users are accessing ESPN content via mobile devices at the expense of TV, and services that allow users to avoid traditional cable packages that contain ESPN are proliferating. Typical sports fans are now interested in fantasy football and getting their sports news the instant it happens, not hours later. Still, ESPN has committed itself to embracing change, and maintains a dominant presence on mobile. Its media personalities are all extremely active on Twitter. If users should become interested in 3D technology, virtual reality, or something totally unforeseen, ESPN hopes that it’s taken the necessary steps to be at the cutting edge for years to come.

1.How has ESPN handled the rise of Twitter? How has it incorporated Twitter into SportsCenter?

2.What has ESPN, originally a cable-only service, done to adjust to the rise in users canceling their cable subscriptions in favor of unbundling services?

3.What is the most important show on ESPN? What has ESPN done to upgrade it?3

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Today’s digital media companies are locked in an arms race to generate original, high- quality content that can only be seen on their proprietary platforms. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have all been developing their own TV shows to lure users to their services, for example. Although most people don’t think of it in the same way as those sites, YouTube is no different. For much of its existence, YouTube has been synonymous with “home videos” and other less professional offerings. More recently, YouTube has struck agreements with other media companies to offer paid streams of television shows and movies. However, many completely original, high-quality content creators on YouTube have developed fan bases consisting of millions of subscribers, forging lucrative careers for themselves in the process.The top earning YouTube channel belongs to Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, whose videos of himself playing frightening video games have become so popular that he now has nearly 43 million subscribers. Kjellberg earned an estimated $12 million in 2015. Other popular content creators such as the Fine Brothers and Smosh, both comedians, each made $8.5 million. Violinist Lindsey Stirling began posting music videos to YouTube in 2007 after failing to land a record deal. In 2015, she made $6 million through her YouTube channel. YouTubers earn money primarily from the advertising associated with their videos. However, these numbers are deceptively large. Becoming a YouTube Partner allows content creators to earn 55% of the ad revenue generated by their videos, which means that these high-flying YouTube stars keep only a little more than half of their sizable earnings right from the get-go, even before taxes.Even so, there are now plenty of content creators making a living simply by posting videos to YouTube, and once users have built a brand, they can monetize it in many other ways beyond YouTube, such as live events or concerts for musicians or comedians, TV appearances, product lines, and so on. YouTube wants these users to be successful, since it enriches their platform as a source for original content on practically any topic of interest to people. In 2014, YouTube launched its YouTube Red service, which will offer original, premium content to paying subscribers, including a new show in 2016 starring PewDiePie, and allows users to watch videos on YouTube without advertisements. YouTube hopes that YouTube Red will allow it to compete more directly with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and other similar platforms.

1.What are Koval’s “ten fundamentals” of top YouTube creators?

2.List some ways that YouTube content differs from traditional TV and movie content using the ten fundamentals.

3.What three levels of targeting does Koval describe and how are they different?

4.What is the difference between “trending topics” and “evergreen topics?” Which fundamental deals with these ideas?

Boys & Girls (a new e-dating service) undertakes two different online dating events that are popular items in the online-dating market: Hot (H) and Cool (C).  The profit margin on (Hot) H is $ 300; on C is $ 200.  For each couple that signs up with Hot (H), it takes the firm 6 hours of back-up checks (B), 4 hours of data entry (D), and 5 hours of interview (I). For each couple that signs up with Cool (C), it takes the 3 hours of B (back-up checks), 6 hours of D (data entry), and 5 hours of interview (I).  If 54 hours are available for B, 48 hours for D, and 50 hours for I, then how many slots of Hot (H) and Cool (C) should the company make available for potential customers.  Obviously, the company wants to maximize profits.              

Use this space to graph the constraints and derive the feasible set.  If you want you can scan the image and paste it here, or you can upload it in BB as another document.  Or the simplest is to copy and paste my figure from Unit 11 and relabel and change the entries on the axes.

Q2 – How can innovation and entrepreneurship influence a company’s business strategy? Meaning of the Question – Again, the question deals with the business strategy perspective that demonstrates the operational aspects of the organization and how innovation and entrepreneurship can determine the approach that is taken on a daily basis. You need to understand innovation and entrepreneurship characteristics utilized in operations and its relationship to strategic management. Many concepts and terms are related to innovation and entrepreneurship that deal with external and internal analysis, formulation, and implementation.

Part 1: Product Strategy Youth Program

Briefly describe your product or service. Where is it in the product development life cycle? What recommendations do you have for improving the offering to fit your target market’s needs? Be sure to consider the following:

• What level of quality and consistency does the offering have?

• How many features does it have and can they be removed or added?

• Does the design and/or service deliver what the customer values? If not, how can it improve?

• What improvements would help your offering compete more effectively?

Question #3 – How does vertical integration and diversification impact a company’s organizational structure and activity?

Meaning of the Question – This is a strategic management question that deals with a broad-based and long-term view on the use of vertical integration and diversification that would determine how the organization is structured to achieve its goals and objectives. The reader must see that an understanding of vertical integration, diversification, and the impacted organizational structure options are presented. Again, there are many concepts and terms to support your response.

Q5 What would motivate a company to pursue a global strategy and what is necessary to achieve a successful program?

Meaning of the Question – This is a strategic management question that requires your understanding of what global strategy is, why the strategy is desirable, and what is required organizationally to be successful. This brings in many concepts and terms, such as AFI, external and internal analysis, vision, goals and objectives, strategic management, business strategy, organizational structure, and many more.

Please read case and answer questions thank you.

Etsy is more than a marketplace: it’s a community of artists, creators, collectors, thinkers and doers. This e-commerce Web site focuses on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies, including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, quilts, knick-knacks, and toys. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee of $0.20 plus a sales commission of 3.5% for each item. Etsy has been described as “a crafty cross betweenAmazon and eBay,” “your grandma’s basement,” and as “one of the largest, most chaotic flea markets the world has ever known.”Etsy says its mission is to empower people to change the way the global economy works, to bring heart to commerce, and make the world more fair, more sustainable, and more fun.Etsy is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and also has offices in Hudson, New York, San Francisco, California, as well as international offices in Berlin, Dublin, London, Melbourne, Paris, and Toronto. The Hudson, New York location is an old cannonball factory housing Etsy’s call center and Web site design facilities.Etsy’s head office in Brooklyn houses the company’s technology, customer support, public relations, business, and communications teams as well as “Etsy Labs,” where employees can experiment with handmade projects themselves. It also features a Monday craft night where Etsy Labs is open to the public.In 2016, Etsy has over 800 employees and 24 million active buyers. About 1.6 million active shops sell on Etsy, and in 2015, these sellers moved $2.39 billion worth of merchandise. Etsy offers multiple options for paying for items, including credit card, money order, and PayPal.Very few of these sellers make a living solely through Etsy, but according to Etsy’s 2014 Seller Survey, 76% of sellers in the US consider their Etsy store to be a business, and a third of respondents said they were focusing on their Etsy store as their primary job.Etsy requires that all new products listed on the site be made by the people selling them—the use of mass production is prohibited. Etsy has made it possible for a lot of small businesses to get off the ground. According to Etsy, about 30% of Etsy entrepreneurs sell creative goods as their sole occupation, while around 45% use their earnings to cover household expense.Meanwhile, the site has been adding features at a furious pace. For instance, Etsy now provides social networking functions similar to those of Facebook that allow users to make friends with other Etsy members and keep track of their friends’ favorite shops and purchases. There’s also a gift service, which looks at the Facebook profiles of your friends and suggests items they might like, and something called Taste Test, which asks you to rate a smattering of random items and then suggests things to buy. You are invited, of course, to share the recommendations with your friends on Facebook and Twitter and with other Etsy members.Etsy’s founder and former CEO Rob Kalin hopes that these moves will make it easier for buyers to discover new products, but he also sees the new emphasis on social networking as part of a deepening of Etsy’s mission that goes beyond buying and selling. Etsy is also committed to its core values of craftsmanship, transparency, and responsibility. In 2016, Etsy became the first U.S. company to change its standing to a Certified B Corporation after going public in 2015. B Corporation certification requires the company to maintain a high level of social and environmental sustainability as well as transparency to the public with every aspect of their business.

1.What is Etsy’s business model and revenue model?

2.How important is “community” at Etsy? Visit Etsy’s website and describe its community-building features.

3.Visit the Help page on Etsy’s website and do a search on SEO to learn about search engine optimization. What tips does Etsy offer to sellers about this topic?

Question #4 – How are mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances used to achieve a company’s goals and objectives?

Meaning of the Question – Again, this is a strategic management question, and simply requires the presentation of how these various organizational actions and relationships are used to achieve their goals and objectives. This requires a presentation of what is a merger, acquisition, and a strategic alliance, since they are distinctly different in many ways. Each of these organizational processes have a number of supporting and related concepts and terms.

Q1. How does differentiation, cost leadership, and Blue Ocean strategies support a forward-looking business strategy?

Meaning of the Question – This question is straight-forward in that you are looking through the “lens” of business strategy as to how differentiation, cost leadership, and Blue Ocean strategies can be carried-out and be in alignment with the organization’s goals and objectives that are visionary and aspirational. It is important to demonstrate that you have command of what differentiation, cost leadership, and Blue Ocean strategy are and how they are utilized. The business strategy approach deals with how the organization competes and utilizing these specific strategies are ways to reach the goals and objectives of the organization.

Please read case and answer the questions thank you.

In 2016, Target, Macys, Sears, JCPenny, and others are closing hundreds of stores. Since 2000, consumers have been shifting away from traditional retail goods like apparel and electronics (the mainstays of retail stores), and buying more services like vacations, exercise, dining, and health care.The much bigger threat to traditional retail is coming from online retail, mostly Amazon, that has gobbled up the lion’s share of online retail (about 25% of all online retail), and has been growing at astounding rates like 15% to 20% a year since 2008. Apparel and electronics are also the largest sales items for online retailers, so the physical stores and the online giant all compete selling the same goods.Traditional retailers have spent over a billion dollars in the last decade trying to become online retailers, and meet consumers wherever they want to buy, online, or at the store. It’s called an “omnichannel” strategy: using multiple channels like physical stores and online Web and mobile apps to sell products. Many traditional large retailers such as Walmart, Macys, and Costco, have wound up in the top ten online retail rankings. But so far the omni channel strategy has not been especially successful in keeping up with Amazon’s growth.In what promises to be the online battle of the decade, the two biggest players, the heavy weights, Walmart and Amazon, are going head to head for the consumer dollar. In a broader sense, it’s the online-business model versus the physical- department-store business bmodel which was invented by Macy’s in 1870. But to be fair to the traditional retailers who have developed their online and mobile sales channel, it’s more accurate to say it’s the omni channel model versus the pure-online digital model of Amazon.Here’s how the two heavy weights shape up. Walmart’s revenues in 2015 were $485.6 billion (the largest Fortune 500 company), it had earnings of $15 billion (about a 3% margin) , and e-commerce sales of 13.7 billion (around 3% of total sales revenue). Walmart has about 5,200 stores of all kinds in the U.S. It produces around $15 billion in free cash flow a year, and has about $9 billion cash on hand. In 2016 Walmart’s market value is in the area of $230 billion.It’s sales growth in 2015 was 1.8%. Walmart employs about 2.1 million people (1.4 million in the U.S. alone), making it the largest employer in the world and the U.S. That works out to $231,000 of revenue for each employee.Amazon’s revenues in 2015 were $107 billion (the largest e-commerce company, but only 35 in the Fortune 500), it had earnings of $596 million (about a 1.8% margin), and e-commerce sales of $92 billion. Amazon has about $8 billion in cash on hand. In 2016 Amazon’s market value is about $366 billion, and its sales growth in 2015 was about 20%. Amazon employs about 222 million people. That works out to $481,000 of revenue for each employee.The retail battle of the decade shapes up as a contest between a giant traditional retailer that is growing very slowly, and has only a tiny online presence, versus the largest online retailer which is growing very rapidly, and has no physical store presence. Both companies have significant financial assets, and nearly limitless credit, to build or acquire whatever capabilities they choose. Walmart needs to develop new systems and capabilities both in-house, and through acquisitions. In 2016 Walmart bought the start up Jet.com, and small but fast-growing Amazon competitor.

1.What are the three key assets that Walmart can leverage (build on) to compete with Amazon and other online retailers?

2.What is Walmart’s e-commerce strategy?

3. Why isn’t Walmart worried about the channel conflict between its online sales and its store sales?

4.Why is Walmart in-sourcing the development of its online operation, in part by acquiring technology companies rather than outsourcing development to low-cost countries and other domestic firms?

5. Why did Walmart acquire Jet.com?

6.How does Walmart’s fulfillment operation differ from Amazon’s?

How can employees learn through interaction? Are some types of interaction best for learning in some situations but not others? Explain.

How can the work environment inhibit learning and transfer of training? Explain. In your opinion, what work environment characteristics have the largest influence on transfer of training? Justify your answer.