1. Domino brand sugar and C&H brand sugar are perfect substitutes in production for Paradise Bakery and the slope of its isoquants is 1 (in absolute value). In January of 2014 Paradise Bakery used 200 bags of Domino sugar and 20 bags of C&H sugar. (The bags of sugar from both companies are the same size and Paradise Bakery behaves optimally.)

Domino sugar costs less to use than C&H sugar

Domino sugar costs more to use than C&H sugar

Domino sugar and C&H sugar cost the same

Paradise enjoys a lower marginal product from C&H sugar than Domino sugar

None of these.

2.Which of the following statements about the short-run production function is true?

MP always equals AP at the maximum point of MP.

MP always equals zero when TP is at its maximum point.

TP starts to decline at the point of diminishing returns.

When MP diminishes, AP is at its minimum point.

None of these options are true.

3.If a firm moves from one point on a production isoquant to another point on the same isoquant, which of the following will certainly not happen?

A change in the level of output

A change in the marginal products of the inputs

A change in the rate of technical substitution

A change in profitability

All of these.

4.Which of the following holds true?

When the Marginal Product (MP) is rising, Marginal cost (MC) is rising; and when MP is falling, MC is falling.

When MP is rising, MC is constant, and when MP is falling, MC is negative.

There is no relationship between MP and MC.

When MP is rising, MC is falling, and when MP is falling, MC is rising.

You have been tracking how much you spend on gas every month for several months and found that on average you spend about $60 per month. If you had to guess, what would you expect the IQR (Interquartile Range) of your gas spending to be? Would $1, $10 or $100 be most logical? Give statistical reasoning to back up your answer.

SECTION A: COMPUSORY QUESTION

Question One –Hypothetical Case Study

The Public Health Directorate in November 2015 anticipated the outbreak of Yellow Fever in the first quarter of the ensuing year 2016. The Directorate subsequently asked the procurement officer to place an order for the supply of Yellow Fever vaccines.

In December, 2015, the Procurement officer placed an order for the supply of the vaccines but the order was silent on the strengths of the vaccine and delivery date. In January 2016, the Head of Entity requested the Procurement Officer to brief him on the preparedness towards the anticipated outbreak. The procurement officer confirmed placing an order in December 2015 for the supply of the vaccines. Delivery was expected in the first quarter of 2016 before the anticipated outbreak. In February 2016, the Procurement Officer got anxious that the vaccines had not been delivered as expected. Sporadic cases of Yellow Fever were reported in endemic districts in the Asempa region of Ghana.

The Head of Entity convened a meeting to discuss the outbreak. Public Health practitioners in the Region confirmed their preparedness through treatment protocols to support fieldwork in the event of an epidemic. It became obvious that the delivery could not be made before the outbreak. The Head of Entity accordingly requested the Procurement Officer to brief the meeting on arrangements made for the delivery of the vaccines.

In response, the Procurement Officer presented volumes of files in support of orders placed. It took the meeting three sittings to retrieve a copy of the particular contract.

When the supplier was contacted to explain the delivery, he intimated that he had an unlimited time for delivery as the contract was not explicit on the delivery date. He however informed the entity that he had pediatric doses of the vaccine which he could immediately supply

Eventually there was an outbreak which claimed several lives. The Procurement Officer insisted that he was not blamable because he had placed the order as far back as December, 2015.

Tasks:

Discuss the issues in the case study as related to contracting and contract management

Is the Procurement Officer justified in not accepting blame? Explain your answer?

Can the use of emerging technologies used in supply chain management help to avert such situations?

                                    SECTION B

INSTRUCTION: ANSWER ANY TWO QUESTIONS

Question One

Procurement performance evaluation is regarded as a key catalyst to the success of any procurement process. The previous Procurement Officer had a lot of conflict with the Entity Tender Committee (ETC) during planning and discussions for performance evaluation of major contracts. You have just been appointed as the new Procurement Manager and now preparing for ‘the crucial works on the procurement performance review strategy’. As the Team Leader, management has asked you to organize a meeting and discuss what you will consider as relevant indicators to be considered in such a plan.

Question Two

The emerging trends in Procurement and Supply chain continued to create both positive and negative effects on global supply systems. Identify any five (5) emerging trends currently impacting on global procurement and supply chain system (15marks)

Question Three

Briefly explain the difference between Competitive and collaborative relationship procurement (5marks)

Discuss how the kraljic matrix can be employed in managing supplier relationships in a company of your choice.

Question Four

You work with the procurement department of Ghana Water Company Ltd. You have been appointed to lead a team to discuss a deal with a large supplier of heavy duty pipes. This is in connection with the extension of pipe borne water to a new plant built at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region. Discuss FIVE factors which could affect the relationship strategy when considering a contract in the public sector with this large supplier. (15marks)

Question Five

The Bullwhip Effect has been one common issue in businesses. It starts from the downstream (end customers) side of the supply chain and swings in larger and larger “wave” hits to the upstream manufacturer/supplier. Discuss Five ways of dealing with such a phenomenon. (15marks)

Question Seven

The concept of Total Quality Management is an integral part of the success story of most businesses. Discuss Five factors which affirms the relevance of this concept in a firm seeking to be the most competitive in the market. (15marks)

On 3/31/2020, Company ABC released its quarterly report, showing the sales in the first quarter had tumbled 30% as pandemic hit. However, the stock price for company ABC rose by 3% (instead of fell by 3%) after the report is released. Does this mean a failure of the Market Efficient Theory?

On 3/31/2020, Company ABC released its quarterly report, showing the sales in the first quarter had tumbled 30% as pandemic hit. However, the stock price for company ABC rose by 3% (instead of fell by 3%) after the report is released. Does this mean a failure of the Market Efficient Theory?

On 3/31/2020, Company ABC released its quarterly report, showing the sales in the first quarter had tumbled 30% as pandemic hit. However, the stock price for company ABC rose by 3% (instead of fell by 3%) after the report is released. Does this mean a failure of the Market Efficient Theory?

On 3/31/2020, Company ABC released its quarterly report, showing the sales in the first quarter had tumbled 30% as pandemic hit. However, the stock price for company ABC rose by 3% (instead of fell by 3%) after the report is released. Does this mean a failure of the Market Efficient Theory? please write equations and solve step by step

calculate an independent t-test and describe the results.

Use the following for the standard deviations:

.555 for the group without a support system

.324 for the group with a support system

You are a researcher examining student success at Kern County colleges and universities. You noticed that majority of students in Kern County are not performing as well as the students in Los Angeles County and San Luis Obispo County. Therefore, you decided to research factors that influence student success. One factor repeated in several literatures is a support system. Previous literature indicated that students who have a support system that values education will perform better in higher education than students who do not have a support system that values education. You decided to assess the support system of students in Kern County. Your independent variable is “support system.” You have two levels for your support system “students with a support system that values education” and “students without a support system that values education.” Your dependent variable that you are measuring is “college success.” You are measuring college success by assessing the student’s GPA. You interview 80 students with and without support systems and measured their GPAs. You obtained 41 student participants with a support system and 39 students without a support system. With the results obtained from the data, you will be able to generalize from the sample of 41 Kern County colleges and universities students to the population of all students in Kern County colleges and universities. Here is the GPA data that you obtained:

Waterways Corporation has recently acquired a small manufacturing operation in British Columbia that produces one of its more popular items. This plant will provide these units for resale in retail hardware stores in British Columbia and Alberta. Because the budget prepared by the plant was incomplete, Jordan Leigh, Waterways’ CFO, was sent to B.C. to oversee the plant’s budgeting process for the second quarter of 2021.

Jordan asked the various managers to collect the following information for preparing the second-quarter budget.

Based on the experience in the home plant, Jordan has suggested that the B.C. plant keep 10% of the next month’s unit sales in ending inventory. The plant has contracts with some of the major home hardware giants, so all sales are on account; 50% of the accounts receivable is collected in the month of sale, and the balance is collected in the month after sale. This was the same collection pattern as the previous year. The new plant has no bad debts.

Direct Materials

The combined quantity of direct materials (consisting of metal, plastic, and rubber) used in each unit is 1.30 kg. Metal, plastic, and rubber together amount to $1.50 per kg. Inventory of combined direct materials on March 31 consisted of 14,365 kg.

This plant likes to keep 10% of the materials needed for the next month in its ending inventory. Fifty percent of the payables is paid in the month of purchase, and 50% is paid in the month after purchase.

Accounts payable on March 31 will total $124,800.

Direct Labour

Labour requires 15 minutes per unit for completion and is paid at an average rate of $10 per hour.

Other Information

The cash balance on March 31 will be $136,500, but Waterways has decided it would like to maintain a cash balance of at least $500,000 beginning on April 30. The company has an open line of credit with its bank. The terms of the agreement require borrowing to be in $1,000 increments at 2% interest. Borrowing is considered to be on the first day of the month and repayments and interest payments are on the last day of the month.

In May, $900,000 of new equipment to update operations will be purchased.

Three months’ insurance is prepaid on the first day of the first month of the quarter.

1) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a sales budget.

2) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a schedule for expected cash collections from customers.

3) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a production budget.

4) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a direct materials budget.

5) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a schedule for expected payments for materials purchases.

6) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a direct labour budget.

7) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a manufacturing overhead budget

8) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a selling and administrative expenses budget.

9) For the second quarter of 2021, prepare a cash budget

Exercise 8-10 Production and Direct Materials Budgets [LO8-3, LO8-4]

Pearl Products Limited of Shenzhen, China, manufactures and distributes toys throughout South East Asia. Three cubic centimeters (cc) of solvent H300 are required to manufacture each unit of Supermix, one of the company’s products. The company now is planning raw materials needs for the third quarter, the quarter in which peak sales of Supermix occur. To keep production and sales moving smoothly, the company has the following inventory requirements:

1. The finished goods inventory on hand at the end of each month must equal 2,000 units of Supermix plus 25% of the next month’s sales. The finished goods inventory on June 30 is budgeted to be 20,250 units.

2. The raw materials inventory on hand at the end of each month must equal one-half of the following month’s production needs for raw materials. The raw materials inventory on June 30 is budgeted to be 111,375 cc of solvent H300.

3. The company maintains no work in process inventories.

A monthly sales budget for Supermix for the third and fourth quarters of the year follows.

Required:

1. Prepare a production budget for Supermix for the months July, August, September, and October.

3. Prepare a direct materials budget showing the quantity of solvent H300 to be purchased for July, August, and September, and for the quarter in total.