Houston-based Advanced Electronics manufactures audio speakers for desktop computers. The following data relate to the period just ended when the company produced and sold 40,000 speaker sets:

Management is considering relocating its manufacturing facilities to northern Mexico to reduce costs. Variable costs are expected to average $18.00 per set; annual fixed costs are anticipated to be $1,986,000. (In the following requirements, ignore income taxes.)

Required:

1. Calculate the company’s current income and determine the level of dollar sales needed to double that figure, assuming that manufacturing operations remain in the United States.
2. Determine the break-even point in speaker sets if operations are shifted to Mexico.
3. Assume that management desires to achieve the Mexican break-even point; however, operations will remain in the United States.

1. If variable costs remain constant, by how much must fixed costs change?
2. If fixed costs remain constant, by how much must unit variable cost change?

4. Determine the impact (increase, decrease, or no effect) of the following operating changes.

Calculate the company’s current income and determine the level of dollar sales needed to double that figure, assuming that manufacturing operations remain in the United States. (Do not round intermediate calculations and round your final answers to nearest whole dollar.)

Calculate the company’s current income and determine the level of dollar sales needed to double that figure, assuming that manufacturing operations remain in the United States. (Do not round intermediate calculations and round your final answers to nearest whole dollar.)

Determine the break-even point in speaker sets if operations are shifted to Mexico. (Do not round intermediate calculationsand round your final answer up to nearest whole number.)

• Assume that management desires to achieve the Mexican break-even point; however, operations will remain in the United States.

  a. If variable costs remain constant, by how much must fixed costs change? (Round your intermediate unit calculations to the nearest whole number and round your final answers to the nearest whole dollar.)

  b. If fixed costs remain constant, by how much must unit variable cost change? (Round your intermediate unit calculations to the nearest whole number and round your final answer to 2 decimal places.)

  Show less

  	a. Fixed costs not attempted by not attempted b. Variable costs not attempted by not attempted per unit

• Determine the impact (increase, decrease, or no effect) of the following operating changes.

  	a. Effect of an increase in direct material costs on the break-even point. not attempted b. Effect of an increase in fixed administrative costs on the unit contribution margin. not attempted c. Effect of an increase in the unit contribution margin on net income. not attempted d. Effect of a decrease in the number of units sold on the break-even point. not attempted

Most motivation theories in use today were developed in the United States by Americans and about
Americans. Of those that were not, many have been strongly influenced by American theories. But
several motivation theories do not apply to all cultures. For example, Maslow’s theory does not often
hold outside the United States. In countries higher on uncertainty avoidance (such as Greece and Japan)
as compared with those lower on uncertainty avoidance (such as the United States), security motivates
employees more strongly than does self-actualization. Employees in high-uncertainty-avoidance
countries often consider job security and lifetime employment more important than holding a more
interesting or challenging job. Also contrasting with the American pattern, social needs often dominate
the motivation of workers in countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden that stress the quality of
life over materialism and productivity.

When researchers tested Herzberg’s theory outside the United States, they encountered different
results. In New Zealand, for example, supervision and interpersonal relationships appear to contribute
significantly to satisfaction and not merely to reducing dissatisfaction. Similarly, researchers found that
citizens of Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Republic of Panama, and the West Indies cited certain
extrinsic factors as satisfiers with greater frequency than did their American counterparts. In other
words, the factors that motivate U.S. employees may not spark the same motivation in employees in
other cultures. Some of the major differences among the cultural groups include the following:

1. English-speaking countries such as England and the United States rank higher on individual
achievement and lower on the desire for security.
2. French-speaking countries and areas such as France and the province of Quebec in Canada,
although similar to the English-speaking countries, give greater importance to security and
somewhat less to challenging work.
3. Northern European countries such as Sweden have less interest in getting ahead and work towards
recognition goals and place more emphasis on job accomplishment. In addition, they have more
concern for people and less for the organization as a whole (it is important that their jobs not
interfere with their personal lives).
4. Latin American and Southern European countries find individual achievement somewhat less
important; Southern Europeans place the highest emphasis on job security, whereas both groups of
countries emphasize fringe benefits.
5. Germany ranks high on security and fringe benefits and among the highest on getting ahead.
6. Japan, although low on advancement, also ranks second-highest on challenge and lowest on
autonomy, with a strong emphasis on good working conditions and a friendly working environment.

Critical Thinking Questions
1. In today’s global business environment, with its diversity of perspectives, can a manager ever
successfully use equity theory? Why or why not?
2. What impact, if any, do these cultural differences have on managers managing an entirely American
workforce? Explain.

I need help with both questions

Implementation strategy of Ashland University MBA program

Strategic Planning and Business Policy

Suppose that GMAT scores of all MBA students in Canada are normally distributed with a mean of 550 and a standard deviation of 120.

a. A university (that is representative of the MBA students in the U.S.) claims that the average GMAT scores of students in its MBA program are at least 550. You take a sample of 121 students in the university and find their mean GMAT score is 530. Can you still support the University’s claim? Test at 5% significance level. Interpret the test result.

b. Calculate the p-value for the test in part (a). If the hypothesis was to be tested at 10% significance level instead of 5% would your answer to part (a) change? Explain why without actually conducting the test.

c.Do you need the assumption that “GMAT scores of all MBA students in the U.S. are normally distributed” to answer part (a) or (b)? Explain.

d. You discover that the population standard deviation you’ve been using is actually the sample standard deviation. All other sample information holds. If you were still conducting the hypothesis test as you set up in part (a), would your test statistic/ distribution change? How?

And would you need the assumption of normality of the population now? Why?

ENMA 480: ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Cigarettes   kill   more   than   400,000   Americans   each   year,   which   is   more   than   the   combined   deaths   caused  
by   alcohol   and   drug   abuse,   car   accidents,   homicide,   suicide,   and   acquired   immunodeficiency   syndrome  
(AIDS).   Cigarette   companies   do   much   good   by   providing   jobs   (Philip   Morris   employs   more   than   150,000  
people   worldwide),   through   taxes   (more   than   $4   billion   paid   by   Philip   Morris   in   a   typical   year),   and  
through   philanthropy.   Most   new   users   of   cigarettes   in   the   United   States   are   teenagers   (younger   than  
eighteen   years   of   age).   There   is   disagreement   over   just   how   addictive   cigarettes   are,   but   adults   have  
some   choice   in   deciding   whether   to   continue   using   cigarettes,   and   they   may   choose   to   continue   using   for  
reasons   beyond   the   addictive   potential   of   nicotine.  
Can   utilitarianism   provide   a   moral   justification   for   engineers   who   work   for   tobacco   companies,   for  
example,   in   designing   cigarette- making   machinery?   In   your   answer   take   account   of   the   following   facts  
(and   others   you   may   be   aware   of).
(Roger   Roseblatt,   “How   Do   Tobacco   Executives   Live   with   Themselves?”   New   York   Times   Magazine,   March   20,   1994,   34–41,   55)

United States Steel Corporation has a receivables collection period of thirty three days, a days inventory of sixty-eight days, and a payables period of forty-nine days. How long is its funding gap?

Assume that you buy some shares of Nokia in the United States in dollars. Your friend in France buys some Nokia shares in Europe in euros. Will your rate of return over the next year be the same as your friend’s? Is your market beta risk different from your friend’s risk? Explain.

Explain the three types of exchange rate systems: free-floating, managed, and fixed. Discuss the differences between them. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each system? Which system is the United States currently operating? Do you think the U.S. should change the type of exchange rate system? Why or why not?