Conventional thinking in product development has been that
innovation starts in advanced
developed countries like the United States and Japan. Products
marketed in
countries where the average income is much lower often are older
models of U.S. products
or used but still serviceable equipment. Several U.S. multinational
companies have
established R&D labs in India and China. Originally this was to
take advantage of the
large number of well-educated engineers who could be employed at
salaries much lower
than the going U.S. rate, but soon it was found that these
engineers were adept at developing
products for sale to the mass markets in these local countries.
Typically these are
products with somewhat reduced functionality, but they still are
useful quality products.
Now these U.S. companies are beginning to market these products in
the United States
as a low-cost product line that is attractive to a new low-end
market segment.
Search the business literature for examples of this new approach to
trickle-up product
innovation. Discuss advantages of this new approach to product
development and discuss
possible risks.
In: Mechanical Engineering
examine the effects of industrialization and globalization through an anthropologist’s lens using the concept of cultural relativism. The discussion will take the form of a debate in which you will examine sweatshops as places that offer valuable opportunities to workers. In your initial post, be sure to do the following:
Explain how industrialization and globalization—including technological innovation—contribute to the existence of sweatshops.
Defend your assigned position, citing specific information from the provided resources.
Use clear statements as to how cultural relativism influences your position.
examine the effects of industrialization and globalization through an anthropologist’s lens using the concept of cultural relativism. The discussion will take the form of a debate in which you will examine sweatshops as places that offer valuable opportunities to workers. In your initial post, be sure to do the following:
Explain how industrialization and globalization—including technological innovation—contribute to the existence of sweatshops.
Defend your assigned position, citing specific information from the provided resources.
Use clear statements as to how cultural relativism influences your position.
In: Operations Management
Vertical Analysis of Income Statement
Revenue and expense data for Innovation Quarter Inc. for two recent years are as follows:
| Current Year | Previous Year | |||
| Sales | $432,000 | $372,000 | ||
| Cost of goods sold | 267,840 | 212,040 | ||
| Selling expenses | 64,800 | 63,240 | ||
| Administrative expenses | 73,440 | 59,520 | ||
| Income tax expense | 8,640 | 14,880 | ||
a. Prepare an income statement in comparative form, stating each item for both years as a percent of sales. If required, round percentages to one decimal place. Enter all amounts as positive numbers.
| Innovation Quarter Inc. | ||||
| Comparative Income Statement | ||||
| For the Years Ended December 31 | ||||
| Current year Amount | Current year Percent | Previous year Amount | Previous year Percent | |
| Sales | $432,000 | % | $372,000 | % |
| Cost of goods sold | 267,840 | % | 212,040 | % |
| Gross profit | $ | % | $ | % |
| Selling expenses | 64,800 | % | 63,240 | % |
| Administrative expenses | 73,440 | % | 59,520 | % |
| Total operating expenses | $ | % | $ | % |
| Income from operations | % | % | ||
| Income tax expense | 8,640 | % | 14,880 | % |
| Net income | $ | % | $ | % |
In: Accounting
Total Manufacturing Cost, Income Statement, Unit Cost, and Selling Price Two inventors, recently
organized as Innovation, Inc., consult you regarding a planned new product. They have estimates of the
costs of materials, labor, overhead, and other expenses for 2016 but need to know how much to charge for
each unit to earn a profit in 2016 equal to 15% of their estimated total long-term investment of $400,000
(ignore income taxes). Their plans indicate that each unit of the new product requires the following:
Direct material
4 lb. of a material costing $5/lb.
Direct labor
2 hrs. of a metal former’s time at $11/hr.
0.6 hr. of an assembler’s time at $8/hr.
Major items of production overhead would be annual rent of $46,460 for a factory building, $28,660
rent for machinery, and $21,700 of indirect material. Other production overhead is estimated to be
$233,280. Selling expenses are an estimated 30% of total sales, and non-factory administrative expenses
are 20% of total sales.
The consensus at Innovation is that during 2016 10,000 units of product should be produced for
selling and another 2,000 units should be produced for the next year’s beginning inventory. Also, an
extra 3,000 pounds of material will be purchased as beginning inventory for the next year. Because
of the nature of the manufacturing process, all units started must be completed, so work in process
inventories are negligible.
Required
a. Incorporate the above data into a schedule of estimated total manufacturing costs and compute
the unit production cost for 2016.
b. Prepare an estimated income statement that would provide the target amount of profit for 2016.
c. What unit sales price should Innovation charge for the new product?
In: Accounting
Fostering Innovation This activity is important because as a manager, you must be able to create an atmosphere that encourages employee creativity, learning and exploration. This in turn improves the company’s ability to effectively respond to opportunities and threats. The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate your understanding of the steps managers can take to encourage innovation so employees can solve problems and create distinctive new products and services. Hover cursor over the names to read the description and then drag it to the characteristic that creates innovation in a company.
Creativity:
Learning organization:
Intraprenerurship:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each need to go to one of the above categories.
Facebook: Encourages empoyees to experiment and even make mistakes
Logan: Was just given six months sabbaatical from her current job to lead the creation and launch of a new servie she recommended.
Jordan: encourages departmental teams to share both successes and failures with the larger organization
Jennifer: is very excited that the company wants her develeop personal mastery by experimenting, creating, and exploring what she wants
Rewards: some companies use contests, rewards, and even time off to encourage employees to generate and share new ideas
Bailey: works diligently to make sure the team understands and shares the organization's vision.
Jonathan: is not allowed to explore his ideas for imporoving the company's product, he may leave and start his own company offering a competing product.
Google:As part of its hiring process, google asks prosective brain teaser questions to see if candidates respond with original novel ideas.
Jorge: has been designated as the product champion for the company's fledgling new product.
In: Operations Management
Why was the sequencing technology of next-generation a breakthrough relative to classical gene-by-gene sequencing technology?
In: Biology
Explain in detail 5 benefits of technology audit checklists and 5 limitations of the technology audit checklist
In: Operations Management
Discuss the role of technology in the health care industry today. What are the positive and negative implications of the growth of technology in the health care industry? Regarding implications, is there any distinction(s) to make between medical and health information technology(HIT)? Will HIT lead to reduced cost savings in healthcare?
In: Nursing
6. We have successfully edited eukaryotes (human embryos), bacteria, and viruses using modifications of the CRISPR technology. What are some positive aspects of this technology?
7. What are your concerns with this technology? Consider: bioethics, biosecurity, and how can we manipulate organisms to be greater bioweapons.
In: Nursing
Case Study - Kozmo, the online convenience store to shut down
Read out the case study given below and answer the questions that follow.
New York-based Kozmo, the 3-year-old company announced that it would stop delivery service in all nine cities it operates. New York-based Kozmo, which dispatched legions of orange-clad deliverymen to cart goods to customers' doors, is the latest dot.com dream to evaporate in the market downturn. Amazon com, venture capital firm Flatiron Partners and coffee giant Starbucks were among the investors in Kozmo.
Kozmo said in December that investors promised a total of $30 million in private funding. But last month the company learned that an investor had backed out of a $6 million commitment. Kozmo executives had been working on a merger deal with Los Angeles-based PDQuick, another online grocer, sources said. The deal collapsed when funding that was promised to PDQuick did not materialize. Sources said Kozmo still has money but decided to close now and liquidate to ensure that employees could receive a severance package.
Just last month, Kozmo Chief Executive Gerry Burdo was upbeat about Kozmo's future, saying he was looking to steer Kozmo away from its Internet-only business model and toward a "clicks and bricks" approach. But some analysts say Kozmo's business model only made sense in the context of a densely packed city such as New York. Vern Keenan, a financial analyst with Keenan Vision, said the service had a chance to work in only a few other cities around the world, such as London, Stockholm or Paris. "This seemed like a dumb idea from the beginning," Keenan said. "This grew out of a New York City frame of mind and it simply didn't translate."
Kozmo was started by a pair of twenty-something former college roommates. They got the idea for the company on a night when they craved videos and snacks and wished a business existed that would deliver it to them. Kozmo offered free delivery and charged competitive prices when it launched in New York. Though customers loved the service, the costs of delivery were high.
After co-founder and former Chief Executive Joseph Park stepped down, Burdo slashed Kozmo's overhead, instituted a delivery fee and oversaw several rounds of layoffs. The company also closed operations in San Diego and Houston. Burdo said last month that profitability was not far away. The company had reached a milestone last December when it reported profits at one of its operations for the first time. Kozmo later saw two more operations reach profitability as a result of brisk holiday business.
Online delivery companies have been among the most ravaged by the Internet shakeout. Kozmo's rival in New York, Urban fetch, shuttered its consumer operations last fall. Online grocers such as Webvan and Peapod have also struggled, and smaller operations such as Streamline.com and ShopLink.com have dosed down. Peapod was days away from closing last year when Dutch grocer Royal Ahold agreed to take a majority stake.
From the very beginning, supply chain management was to be a core competency of Kozmo. The promising dot.com would deliver your order everything from the latest video to electronics equipment in less than an hour. The technology was superior, the employees were enthusiastic, the customers were satisfied. But eventually, Kozmo ran out of time and money.
Questions:
4. What could have prevented the shutting down of KOZMO?
In: Operations Management