Critical Thinking

The global marketplace has witnessed an increased pressure from customers and competitors in manufacturing as well as service sector (Basu, 2001; George, 2002). Due to the rapidly changing global marketplace only those companies will be able to survive that will deliver products of good quality at cheaper rate and to achieve their goal companies try to improve performance by focusing on cost cutting, increasing productivity levels, quality and guaranteeing deliveries in order to satisfy customers (Raouf, 1994).

Increased global competition leads the industry to increasing efficiency by means of economies of scale and internal specialization so as to meet market conditions in terms of flexibility, delivery performance and quality (Yamashina, 1995). The changes in the present competitive business environment are characterized by profound competition on the supply side and keen indecisive in customer requirements on the demand side. These changes have left their distinctive marks on the different aspect of the manufacturing organizations (Gomes et al., 2006). With this increasing global economy, cost effective manufacturing has become a requirement to remain competitive.

To meet all the challenges organizations try to introduce different manufacturing and supply techniques. Management of organizations devotes its efforts to reduce the manufacturing costs and to improve the quality of product. To achieve this goal, different manufacturing and supply techniques have been employed. The last quarter of the 20th century witnessed the adoption of world-class, lean and integrated manufacturing strategies that have drastically changed the way manufacturing firm’s leads to improvement of manufacturing performance (Fullerton and McWatters, 2002).

Consult chapter 7 of your text book or secondary available data on internet and answer the following questions.

Question:

1. Why Companies adopted Lean Thinking and JIT model?
2. Discuss major types of Waste, companies has to keep in mind during production.
3. Assess the reasons for using lean thinking (suitable examples), what are the benefits from Suppliers to end users?
4. Due to COVID 19 emergency do you think agile supply chain is the right concept in this kind of situation? Give reason with example.

The Answer should be within 4- 5 pages.

The Answer must follow the outline points below:

• Lean Thinking and JIT Concept
• Agile Supply chain
• Their Main functions
• Reasons with suitable Examples
• Reference

with APA style reference

Critical Thinking

The global marketplace has witnessed an increased pressure from customers and competitors in manufacturing as well as service sector (Basu, 2001; George, 2002). Due to the rapidly changing global marketplace only those companies will be able to survive that will deliver products of good quality at cheaper rate and to achieve their goal companies try to improve performance by focusing on cost cutting, increasing productivity levels, quality and guaranteeing deliveries in order to satisfy customers (Raouf, 1994).

Increased global competition leads the industry to increasing efficiency by means of economies of scale and internal specialization so as to meet market conditions in terms of flexibility, delivery performance and quality (Yamashina, 1995). The changes in the present competitive business environment are characterized by profound competition on the supply side and keen indecisive in customer requirements on the demand side. These changes have left their distinctive marks on the different aspect of the manufacturing organizations (Gomes et al., 2006). With this increasing global economy, cost effective manufacturing has become a requirement to remain competitive.

To meet all the challenges organizations try to introduce different manufacturing and supply techniques. Management of organizations devotes its efforts to reduce the manufacturing costs and to improve the quality of product. To achieve this goal, different manufacturing and supply techniques have been employed. The last quarter of the 20th century witnessed the adoption of world-class, lean and integrated manufacturing strategies that have drastically changed the way manufacturing firm’s leads to improvement of manufacturing performance (Fullerton and McWatters, 2002).

secondary available data on internet and answer the following questions.

Question:

1. Why Companies adopted Lean Thinking and JIT model?

2. Discuss major types of Waste, companies has to keep in mind during production.

3. Assess the reasons for using lean thinking (suitable examples), what are the benefits from Suppliers to end users?

4. Due to COVID 19 emergency do you think agile supply chain is the right concept in this kind of situation? Give reason with example.

The Answer should be within 4- 5 pages.

The Answer must follow the outline points below:

• Lean Thinking and JIT Concept

• Agile Supply chain

• Their Main functions

• Reasons with suitable Examples

• Reference  

True or False:

Terrorism, or acts of violence by non-state actors, is distinguished from criminal acts on the basis of the purpose for which violence is carried out. In the case of terrorism, the purpose is making political changes.

According to a cultural explanation of terrorism, in an attempt to preserve their threatened identity and values, groups actively distinguish themselves from despised “others.” At the local level, the cultural friction may translate into conflicts divided along religious or ethnic lines that aim to safeguard identity.

Globalization has been an effective deterrent against terrorism. The processes of globalization prevent terrorist organizations from acquiring, manufacturing, and using weapons of mass destruction.

Liberal perspectives in the international political economy (IPE) contends that the global political economy is being shaped by competition among states, who seek to maximize their power and security.

Maintenance of fiscal discipline, trade liberalization, deregulation of the economy, etc. are examples of the set of policy prescriptions of the Washington Consensus promoted by the United States in developing countries.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was transformed into the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1995. The IMF is responsible for managing international trade.

The most favored nation principle has been a bedrock of international trade negotiations. The principle holds that any preferential trading agreement reached with one country should be extended to other countries.

The theory of comparative advantage argues that all countries stand to benefit by specializing in the production of goods to which they are relatively most suited and then trading their surplus production with one another.

In an attrition strategy (of terrorism), Terrorists try to convince the population that the terrorists are strong enough to punish disobedience and that the government is too weak to stop them, so that people behave as the terrorists wish.

Groups engaged in outbidding (a strategy of terrorism) use violence to convince the public that the terrorists have greater resolve to fight the enemy than rival groups, and therefore are worthy of support.

A spoiler strategy of terrorism is an attempt to induce the enemy to respond to terrorism with indiscriminate violence, which radicalizes the population and moves them to support the terrorists.

Terrorists sometimes resort to hostage taking, airline hijacking, and explosions announced in advance are generally intended to use the possibility of harm to bring issues to the attention of the target audience. These actions are referred to as demonstrative terrorism.

Part II: Case Study

Market Research Example: How Coca-Cola Lost Millions with This Mistake

Author: Scott Smith, Ph.D.

Source: Qualtrics

In the mid-1980s, the Coca-Cola Company made a decision to introduce a new beverage product (Hartley, 1995, pp. 129–145).

The company had evidence that taste was the single most important cause of Coke’s decline in the market share in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

A new product dubbed “New Coke” was developed that was sweeter than the original-formula Coke.

Almost 200,000 blind product taste tests were conducted in the United States, and more than one-half of the participants favored New Coke over both the original formula and Pepsi.

The new product was introduced and the original formula was withdrawn from the market. This turned out to be a big mistake! Eventually, the company reintroduced the original formula as Coke Classic and tried to market the two products simultaneously.

Ultimately, New Coke was withdrawn from the market.

What went wrong?

Two things stand out.

First, there was a flaw in the market research taste tests that were conducted: They assumed that taste was the deciding factor in consumer purchase behavior.

Consumers were not told that only one product would be marketed. Thus, they were not asked whether they would give up the original formula for New Coke.

Second, no one realized the symbolic value and emotional involvement people had with the original Coke.

The bottom line on this is that relevant variables that would affect the problem solution were not included in the research.

Check out these old school Coke commercials.

Link: https://youtu.be/o4YvmN1hvNA

Link: https://youtu.be/ky45YGUA3co

So, what’s the lesson?

Market research matters.

When done correctly you gain decision making power. If done incorrectly, it could end up costing your company millions.

Questions

1. What are the reasons for New Coke to be withdrawn from the market?

2. What is the emotional involvement people had with the original Coke?

3. How could companies avoid this type of market failure? Please list at list three factors that you would use to predict a new product’s market performance and explain.

course: MGT322 Logistics management

Critical Thinking

The global marketplace has witnessed an increased pressure from customers and competitors in manufacturing as well as service sector (Basu, 2001; George, 2002). Due to the rapidly changing global marketplace only those companies will be able to survive that will deliver products of good quality at cheaper rate and to achieve their goal companies try to improve performance by focusing on cost cutting, increasing productivity levels, quality and guaranteeing deliveries in order to satisfy customers (Raouf, 1994).  

Increased global competition leads the industry to increasing efficiency by means of economies of scale and internal specialization so as to meet market conditions in terms of flexibility, delivery performance and quality (Yamashina, 1995). The changes in the present competitive business environment are characterized by profound competition on the supply side and keen indecisive in customer requirements on the demand side. These changes have left their distinctive marks on the different aspect of the manufacturing organizations (Gomes et al., 2006). With this increasing global economy, cost effective manufacturing has become a requirement to remain competitive.

To meet all the challenges organizations try to introduce different manufacturing and supply techniques. Management of organizations devotes its efforts to reduce the manufacturing costs and to improve the quality of product. To achieve this goal, different manufacturing and supply techniques have been employed. The last quarter of the 20th century witnessed the adoption of world-class, lean and integrated manufacturing strategies that have drastically changed the way manufacturing firm’s leads to improvement of manufacturing performance (Fullerton and McWatters, 2002).

Consult chapter 7 of your text book or secondary available data on internet and answer the following questions.

Question:

1. Why Companies adopted Lean Thinking and JIT model?  

2. Discuss major types of Waste, companies has to keep in mind during production.  

3. Assess the reasons for using lean thinking (suitable examples), what are the benefits from Suppliers to end users?  

4. Due to COVID 19 emergency do you think agile supply chain is the right concept in this kind of situation? Give reason with example.

The Answer should be within 4- 5 pages.  

The Answer must follow the outline points below:

• Lean Thinking and JIT Concept

• Agile Supply chain  

• Their Main functions

• Reasons with suitable Examples

• Reference

Suppose that you are part of the Management team at Porsche. Suppose that it is the end of December

2019 and a novel coronavirus that causes a respiratory illness was identified in Wuhan City, Hubei

Province, China. The illness was reported to the World Health Organization and there is heightened

uncertainty around the Globe.

You (as part of the management team) are reviewing Porsche’s hedging strategy for the cash flows it

expects to obtain from vehicle sales in North America during the calendar year 2020. Assume that

Porsche’s management entertains three scenarios:

Scenario 1 (Expected): The expected volume of North American sales in 2020 is 35,000 vehicles.

Scenario 2 (Pandemic): The low-sales scenario is 50% lower than the expected sales volume.

Scenario 3 (High Growth): The high-sales scenario is 20% higher than the expected sales volume.

Assume, in each scenario, that the average sales price per vehicle is $85,000 and that all sales are

realised at the end of December 2020. All variable costs incurred by producing an additional vehicle to

be sold in North America in 2020 are billed in euros (€) and amount to €55,000 per vehicle. Shipping

an additional vehicle to be sold in North America in 2020 are billed in € and amount to €3,000 per

vehicle.

The current spot exchange rate is (bid-ask) $1.11/€ - $1.12/€ and forward bid-ask is $1.18/€ - $1.185/€.

The option premium is 2.5% of US$ strike price, and option strike price is $1.085/€. Your finance team

made the following forecasts about the exchange rates at the end of December 2020:

• bid-ask will be $1.45/€ - $1.465/€ if the investors (and speculators) consider the euro (€) a safe

haven currency during the pandemic.

• bid-ask will be $0.88/€-$0.90/€ if the investors (and speculators) consider the U.S. dollar ($) a

safe haven currency during the pandemic

1. As the CFO, you decided to hedge using option contracts. Assuming expected final sales

volume is 35,000, what are your total revenue and the percentage revenue from hedging

(compared to no hedging) (do not use any variable costs to calculate in this question)

a) if the exchange rate (bid-ask) remains at $1.11/€ - $1.12/€?

b) if the investors consider the U.S. dollar a safe haven currency during the pandemic?

2. Assume that the Scenario 2 (Pandemic) took place in 2020 and the euro became a safe haven

currency during the pandemic. What are your euro cash flows if you did not hedge, hedged

using forward contracts, and hedged using option contracts?

Suppose that you are part of the Management team at Porsche. Suppose that it is the end of December 2019 and a novel coronavirus that causes a respiratory illness was identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The illness was reported to the World Health Organization and there is heightened uncertainty around the Globe. You (as part of the management team) are reviewing Porsche’s hedging strategy for the cash flows it expects to obtain from vehicle sales in North America during the calendar year 2020. Assume that Porsche’s management entertains three scenarios: Scenario 1 (Expected): The expected volume of North American sales in 2020 is 35,000 vehicles. Scenario 2 (Pandemic): The low-sales scenario is 50% lower than the expected sales volume. Scenario 3 (High Growth): The high-sales scenario is 20% higher than the expected sales volume. Assume, in each scenario, that the average sales price per vehicle is $85,000 and that all sales are realised at the end of December 2020. All variable costs incurred by producing an additional vehicle to be sold in North America in 2020 are billed in euros (€) and amount to €55,000 per vehicle. Shipping an additional vehicle to be sold in North America in 2020 are billed in € and amount to €3,000 per vehicle. The current spot exchange rate is (bid-ask) $1.11/€ - $1.12/€ and forward bid-ask is $1.18/€ - $1.185/€. The option premium is €0.025, and option strike price is €0.922. Your finance team made the following forecasts about the exchange rates at the end of December 2020:

• bid-ask will be $1.45/€ - $1.465/€ if the investors (and speculators) consider the euro (€) a safe haven currency during the pandemic.

• bid-ask will be $0.88/€-$0.90/€ if the investors (and speculators) consider the U.S. dollar ($) a safe haven currency during the pandemic 1. You decided not to hedge Porsche’s currency exposure. If the expected final sales volume is 35,000, what are your total revenues

1. You decided not to hedge Porsche’s currency exposure. If the expected final sales volume is 35,000, what are your total revenues

a) if the exchange rate (bid-ask) remains at $1.11/€ - $1.12/€? Let’s call this the baseline scenario.

b) if the investors consider the euro a safe haven currency during the pandemic? How does this compare to the baseline case?

c) if the investors consider the U.S. dollar a safe haven currency during the pandemic? How does this compare to the baseline case?

Life science 2 thx a lot!

1. Challenges to living on Mars include

A. that it is far too cold to be outside on Mars without protection

B. the thin and toxic atmosphere means we would need breathing apparati and oxygen

C. frozen, not liquid, water

D. human bodies would be dramatically changed over time

E. all of the above

2. People with damage to their amygdala do not experience a memory enhancement effect.

true

false

3. Factors that facilitate cross-species transfer of novel human pathogens include

A. encountering the habitat of the disease vector

B. migration of the reservoir species

C. climate change

D. global change

E. all of the above

4. Because of a change in blood vessels as aging occurs

A. diabetes becomes more common

B. circulation is affected

C. wrinkles develop in the skin

5. Ex-vivo studies support the notion that memories and complex information could be transferred from one neuronal network to another.

true

false

6. The major muscular changes associated with aging occur because of

A. hypertrophy

B. overuse

C. disuse

D. relaxation

7. Auxins

A. regulate pollination

B. regulate photosynthesis

C. regulate growth

D. regulate nutrient flow

8. Gametophytes

A. consume spores

B. generate spores

C. generate pollen and eggs

D. comsume pollen and eggs

9. Vision is affected by aging because

A. pupil size shrinks

B. sensitivity to glare increases

C. the lens loses flexibility

D. dryness of the eye increases

E. all of the above

10. Onset and progress of aging is affected by

A. genetics

B. environmental factors

C. lifestyle

D. gender

E. all of the above

11. Living on Mars would reduce the body's ability to synthesize

A. vitamin C

B. vitamin B12

C. vitamin D

D. folate

12. Length of time for radio signals to travel to other systems may explain why we have not been contacted by extraterrestrial life.

true

false

13. Lyme disease is likely to be acquired

A. by campers, hikers, outdoor works, or those people who frequent wooded, brushy, and grassy places

B. if the nymph attaches and feeds for greater than 24 hours

C. a person resides in the Northeastern, North-Central, or Northern California portions of the United States

D. all of the above

There has been increasing discussion with respect to the accounting treatment of trade payable programs and whether the obligations of the entity that owes the receivable (the “company”) under these programs should continue to be treated as trade payables on their balance sheet or, instead, be reflected as short-term debt obligations. These trade payables programs - also known as supply chain finance programs, structured payables programs and reverse factoring arrangements, among other labels - have grown in popularity since the 2008-10 financial crisis and have recently drawn more attention from auditors and ratings agencies. The question of whether a payables program is treated as trade payables or short-term debt is critical not only for the purpose of financial disclosures, but also because of knock-on effects in many areas, including loan agreement covenants, executive compensation and rating agency and investor analysis. The 2018 bankruptcy of Carillion plc in the United Kingdom cast a spotlight on the trade payable financing products, with critics arguing that Carillion’s use of the product obscured the ability of investors and other third-parties to assess the financial health of the company. In the fall of 2019, this issue was pushed to the forefront as the “Big Four” accounting firms submitted a joint letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) asking that FASB clarify the financial statement disclosure requirements for trade payable programs. In its Report on Activities for Fiscal Year 2019, the Office of the Investor Advocate of the SEC reiterated the call for FASB to provide clarity on the issue. Rating agencies and industry groups have also been actively focused on this issue, especially since the advent of “fintechs” and artificial intelligence has led to a proliferation of novel structures and approaches in this product area. While the supply chain and receivables finance industry awaits clarification from FASB, the general consensus seems to be that the core question for determining whether a trade payable financing program obligation constitutes a trade payable or a short-term debt obligation is whether the program changes the fundamental character of the payment obligations. As this is largely a facts and circumstances determination, a review of all the features of a trade payables program is important. Discuss your opinion on this issue, providing examples of your prior experience or current experience on the matter as necessary to support your arguments. What key factors should be included in the discussion? Conclude with supporting arguments and research if necessary, on the issue. .

Suppose that you are part of the Management team at Porsche. Suppose that it is the end of December

2019 and a novel coronavirus that causes a respiratory illness was identified in Wuhan City, Hubei

Province, China. The illness was reported to the World Health Organization and there is heightened

uncertainty around the Globe.

You (as part of the management team) are reviewing Porsche’s hedging strategy for the cash flows it

expects to obtain from vehicle sales in North America during the calendar year 2020. Assume that

Porsche’s management entertains three scenarios:

Scenario 1 (Expected): The expected volume of North American sales in 2020 is 35,000 vehicles.

Scenario 2 (Pandemic): The low-sales scenario is 50% lower than the expected sales volume.

Scenario 3 (High Growth): The high-sales scenario is 20% higher than the expected sales volume.

Assume, in each scenario, that the average sales price per vehicle is $85,000 and that all sales are

realised at the end of December 2020. All variable costs incurred by producing an additional vehicle to

be sold in North America in 2020 are billed in euros (€) and amount to €55,000 per vehicle. Shipping

an additional vehicle to be sold in North America in 2020 are billed in € and amount to €3,000 per

vehicle.

The current spot exchange rate is (bid-ask) $1.11/€ - $1.12/€ and forward bid-ask is $1.18/€ - $1.185/€.

The option premium is 2.5% of US$ strike price, and option strike price is $1.085/€. Your finance team

made the following forecasts about the exchange rates at the end of December 2020:

• bid-ask will be $1.45/€ - $1.465/€ if the investors (and speculators) consider the euro (€) a safe

haven currency during the pandemic.

• bid-ask will be $0.88/€-$0.90/€ if the investors (and speculators) consider the U.S. dollar ($) a

safe haven currency during the pandemic

1. As the CFO, you decided to hedge using option contracts. Assuming expected final sales

volume is 35,000, what are your total revenue and the percentage revenue from hedging

(compared to no hedging) (do not use any variable costs to calculate in this question)

a) if the exchange rate (bid-ask) remains at $1.11/€ - $1.12/€?

b) if the investors consider the U.S. dollar a safe haven currency during the pandemic?

2. Assume that the Scenario 2 (Pandemic) took place in 2020 and the euro became a safe haven

currency during the pandemic. What are your euro cash flows if you did not hedge, hedged

using forward contracts, and hedged using option contracts?