In 500 or more words, address the following:

Describe how Whole Foods built its competitive advantage.

What IT assets and capabilities does Whole Foods utilize?

Assess Whole Foods' competitive environment by describing the following five competitive forces:

1. The potential threat of new entrants/competitors
2. The bargaining power of buyers
3. The bargaining power of suppliers
4. The threat of substitute products/services
5. Industry competitors

In 500 or more words, address the following:

Describe how Whole Foods built its competitive advantage.

What IT assets and capabilities does Whole Foods utilize?

Assess Whole Foods' competitive environment by describing the following five competitive forces:

1. The potential threat of new entrants/competitors
2. The bargaining power of buyers
3. The bargaining power of suppliers
4. The threat of substitute products/services
5. Industry competitors

MegaCorp's corporate headquarters, built in 1970, has asbestos in its insulation. The company's financial statements reflect a $5 million asset retirement obligation (ARO) for the eventual remediation of the asbestos. This ARO was initially estimated and recorded in 2005 when the company adopted FIN 45, Accounting for conditional Asset Retirement obligations. (note: amounts recorded for ARO are generally estimated because it is not always possible to know how much remediating asbestos - or other like issues - will ultimately cost) MegaCorp is a public company with a calendar year-end.

While performing routing maintenance work on the facility, additional sampling identified that presence of asbestos in more places than the company had documented during its initial estimate. The company now believes that total cost to remediate the asbestos will be $9 million. The initial estimate ($5 million) was based on sampling around the plant for areas containing asbestos. The newly discovered areas wutg asbestis were in a part of the facility that was not sampled.

Required: Assume that you are in the controller's group of MegaCorp and have been asked to prepare an accounting issues memorandum documenting your consideration of the following issues. this should be complete memorandum with all sections and appropriate headings, etc.

1. the company's controller is questioning whether this liability for asbestos disposal is even necessary at all. He argues that asbestos must only be remediated if its is disturberd (such as through renovations), and points out that the company does not have any immediate plans to renovate the building. Respond to his question using authoritative guidance. is a liability even necessary if the company plans for disposal or renovation of this builidng are uncertan?

Determine whether the additional liability for the newly discovered asbestos is considered a change in accounting estimate or an error. Note that this is not a change in accounting principle. support your answer using authoritative guidance.

Describe how the company should record this $4 million change (prospectively, or through a retrospective adjustment). What accounts should be debited/credited? you can disregard the use of present value for this example.

The Way I Work: Blake Mycoskie of Toms Shoes

Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms Shoes, built a lifestyle business based on social entrepreneurship.

Blake Mycoskie doesn't like to sit still. A serial entrepreneur, Mycoskie got the idea for his latest company, Toms Shoes, while on vacation in Argentina. After spending time in several villages in which children didn't own shoes, he created a company -- originally dubbed Shoes for Tomorrow -- in which helping those kids, and others like them, is part of the business plan. For every pair of shoes Toms sells, it donates a new pair to a child in a developing country. In the four years since its founding, the Los Angeles-based company, which has 72 employees, has given away 600,000 pairs of shoes. The company's canvas slip-on shoes -- the same type it often donates -- now sell for $45 to $85 a pair in upscale retailers such as Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman.

The more Toms grows, the less time Mycoskie seems to spend in the office. He delegates the day-to-day operation of the company to his management team. That frees him up to spend much of his time traveling -- spreading the Toms gospel, delivering shoes to children in Africa and South America, and taking fairly lengthy vacations. When he is not on the road, Mycoskie, 33, reconnects with employees in quick, focused meetings and in relaxed afternoons on his sailboat.

My schedule varies depending on what city I wake up in. These days, I'm home in L.A. about five or six days a month, and the rest of the time I'm on the road.

I live on a boat in Marina del Rey. When I wake up on the boat, it's very relaxed. I usually get up at 8:30, have a Clif Bar for breakfast, and spend a few hours thinking and writing before going in to the office. Almost every morning I write in my journal. I've been keeping it for a long time -- I've filled more than 50 books. I write about what's going on in my personal and spiritual life or what's going on at work. It helps me keep things in perspective, especially when things get crazy or I get stressed or we have obstacles. When I go back a month later and read what I was feeling, I realize that it wasn't that big of a deal -- we got through it. And that helps me prepare for the next time that I deal with difficult stuff.

Lately, my wake-up call has been around 4:45 a.m., so that I can catch early flights. Often, I'm traveling around the country to speak at companies and universities about our business model. I love teaching people about what we do. My goal is to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and company leaders to think differently about how they incorporate giving into their business models. Plus, many of the people who hear me speak eventually purchase a pair of Toms, share the story with others, or support our campaigns like One Day Without Shoes, which has people go barefoot for one day a year to raise awareness about the children we serve. I also travel to meet with organizations like CARE and the World Health Organization. Then I'll go to Ethiopia for three weeks to give away 3,000 pairs of shoes to kids.

I don't get jet lagged that much. I'm so used to traveling and being in different places every day that I can sleep anywhere. I read quite a bit when I'm on the road. I've read a lot of business biographies. I dropped out of college when I was a sophomore, so those were my education in business. I've probably read 40 to 50 of them -- on Michael Eisner, David Geffen, Howard Schultz. Ted Turner's autobiography is really interesting, and so is Sam Walton's. I read that one very early in my career. The great thing about biographies is the subjects have already been successful, so they're not insecure about their failures. Howard Schultz doesn't mind talking about all the dumb things he did when he started Starbucks. Reading about those mistakes taught me a lot.

I also use plane rides to catch up on e-mail. I go through these periods when I won't respond to e-mail for three or four days, and then I'll get on a plane and write 300 e-mails. People who work with me have gotten used to it. And they know when I've landed, because suddenly they'll get a bunch of e-mails from me on a Friday at 10 p.m. My staff members call it the "Toms bomb."

When I'm traveling, I usually send one e-mail a week to the whole staff. I try to stay connected to everyone through letters. Some people call them little manifestoes. I'm a very open person, so I really tell the staff what I'm struggling with and what I'm happy about. I tell them what I think the future of Toms is. I want them to understand what I'm thinking. It's like I'm writing to a best friend.

Anything that really inspires me and that I think is relevant to our overall mission, I try to share with them. Sometimes, I'll tell them about an amazing article I read in a magazine -- about an issue we should challenge ourselves to think about. When I was gone a few months ago, I was reading a lot of Emerson, so I started sending the staff a lot of my favorite Emerson quotes and poems. When I got back, I printed all of the Emerson e-mails and put them in a binder, so everyone could read it throughout the year.

Several times a year, I lead shoe drops in different parts of the world. I'll go with a group of 10 to 15 people -- Toms staff members and volunteers -- to hand out shoes. After an employee is with us for a year, he or she gets to go on a shoe drop. We're giving away shoes in 28 countries now. The shoes not only help kids go to school, but they prevent life-threatening diseases. We're helping to prevent hookworm in Guatemala. In Ethiopia, we're preventing podoconiosis, a disease that can cause the feet and legs to swell to dangerous proportions. Kids get it from walking barefoot on volcanic soil. We're getting more involved in getting the best doctors and clinics there, so we can take it to the next level of prevention.

When I go on shoe drops, I meet with our partners: nonprofits and other organizations involved in public health. They help us give away shoes all year long. We partner with organizations that are already in the community, because they really know what the kids need. They tell me what's working, what they need more help with.

When we're in these countries, we are in the field at least once a day hand-placing shoes on kids' feet. It's really important for us to go back and do that. It's a renewable energy source for me. Seeing the smiles on those kids' faces makes me excited to continue on.

When I'm traveling, I check in with the office occasionally, but I'm not the day-to-day manager. The reason I can travel so much is that I've put together a strong team of about 10 people who pretty much lead the company while I am gone. Candice Wolfswinkel is my chief of staff and the keeper of the culture. Candice has been with me from the beginning, and she tells me what the vibe is like in the office. That's really important to me, because when I'm gone, I can write a letter, but I don't get the feeling of the office.

I'm on the phone a lot with my assistant Megan Memmott, who handles my schedule and requests for meetings. She will even respond to my e-mails for me if something's a high priority. I have an amazing CFO, Jeff Watts, and I'll check in with him twice a week. I talk to my sales managers on a weekly basis. I also call my younger brother Tyler a lot -- he's head of corporate sales. We're eight years apart, so we weren't that close growing up. But when he came out to L.A. in 2006, he started interning at Toms, and since then, we've grown a lot closer. Since I'm gone so much, it's nice having family in the office. I can just call Tyler up and say, "OK, what's the real deal?" and he'll tell me.

When I return to the office, I make sure to hold an all-staff meeting. We all gather on one side of our warehouse. It's a chance for me to tell everyone what I've been doing, where I've been, and usually I have something pretty exciting to share. It's nice to come home and reconnect with my Toms family that way.

When I am in the office, there's a certain energy. Maybe because I'm such an anomaly now. There's all this excitement, and everyone wants to grab me. I have very focused meetings and sign off on things. I like making decisions, but I'm not big on sitting around and talking about ideas. I get bored really quickly in brainstorming meetings. I like it when the creative team has already thought of 10 ideas, and then we can just pick one. I prefer to be involved in the first meeting -- to put my thumbprint on, say, a big marketing initiative or a new design -- and the last meeting.

June and July are slow travel months for me, so I'm in L.A. working in the office four or five days a week. It's a very open office environment. I sit next to the customer service people in a cubicle, just like everyone else. I like to stand up, walk over to people, and find out what they're working on. I bounce around from department to department. Sometimes it's disruptive, I think, but it's just the way I build things.

I usually work until 7 or 8 p.m. In the summertime, I leave early and go sailing almost every day. A lot of times, I'll invite employees to go with me, or I'll bring friends. It's my way of staying connected with my social group in L.A. I'm out there sailing and entertaining people and having a good time.

I'm a pretty social person, so almost every night when I'm in town, I also have some type of dinner or event scheduled. A lot of times, I'll have dinner with one of my employees. For instance, if I haven't had the chance to catch up with my CFO that day, we'll go to dinner. I'm not a late-night person. After 10 p.m., I'm falling asleep. If I'm out at that time, I'll be the one falling asleep at dinner.

For two or three months of the year, I kind of do my own thing. That's one of my dirty little secrets: I take a lot of time off. I went surfing for a month in Costa Rica last November. I went to Uruguay and spent some time there. I'm going to Colorado for three weeks to go fly-fishing. Getting away from work helps me sustain my passion. And I do my best thinking when I'm on vacation. I'm not just sitting on the beach drinking piña coladas. I'm exploring and meeting new people. I'm getting inspired.

Traveling as much as I do, I get lonely sometimes. I have friends now in cities all over the world, so I get to be social, but it's hard to have the deep meaningful relationships, especially an intimate one. With my guy friends, I can show up once a month and go to dinner with them and they're happy. But that doesn't work so well with a girlfriend. Right now, that's a sacrifice I'm making. I do want to have a family -- I'm from a big family. In a year, I think I'll make some different life choices, but I'm just not ready yet.

Contemporary Management McGraw Hill Education 11th ed.

1. How would you describe Blake Mycoskie's leadership style?
2. Would you say that he's a charismatic leader? Why?
3. What sources of power does he have?
4. How does he motivate his followers?

Python has built-in methods to support different manipulations of string data types. Answer what the following code will print following each Python method.

Str = "Tennessee State University"

      print(len(str))
      print(str.lower())
      print(str.upper())

      substr = “State”

      print (str.index(substr))
      print (str.startswith(“State”))
      print (str.split())
      print (str.find(substr))
      print (str.partition(“State”))

myList = str.split()
for words in myList:
       print (words)

newStr = “TN, TX, NY, MA, VA, PA, LA, CA”
myStates = newStr.split(‘,’)
print (myStates)

Show with examples if the above string operations are supported by C++ library OR the Java String class.

Built-Tight is preparing its master budget for the quarter ended September 30. Budgeted sales and cash payments for product costs for the quarter follow:

Sales are 20% cash and 80% on credit. All credit sales are collected in the month following the sale. The June 30 balance sheet includes balances of $15,000 in cash; $45,000 in accounts receivable; $4,500 in accounts payable; and a $5,000 balance in loans payable. A minimum cash balance of $15,000 is required. Loans are obtained at the end of any month when a cash shortage occurs. Interest is 1% per month based on the beginning-of-the-month loan balance and is paid at each month-end. If an excess balance of cash exists, loans are repaid at the end of the month. Operating expenses are paid in the month incurred and consist of sales commissions (10% of sales), office salaries ($4,000 per month), and rent ($6,500 per month).

2. Prepare a cash budget for each of the months of July, August, and September. (Negative balances and Loan repayment amounts (if any) should be indicated with minus sign. Enter your final answers in whole dollars.)

[Refer to the first venture (Intertactical-See reference below). Use Excel built-in functions, include in the Excel file.] (a) Use PV function to calculate the present worth (i.e., at time zero) of each year’s CF. Find the total present worth. (b) Use NPV function to calculate the present worth (i.e., at time zero) of the venture. (c) Use FV function to calculate the future worth (i.e., at year 5) of each year’s CF. Find the total future worth. (d) Use PMT function to calculate the value of equivalent uniform cash flows over the given study period of 5 years. The discount rate is 8% Reference: You have been tasked with fielding an interactive video communications systems. Your job is to provide the U.S. Army with the least expensive system (for the next 5 years) Intertactical: An interactive communications system designed to rely on current satellite systems. The Army must spend $10,590,843.42 now. (t = 0) and $1.7 million this year. (t= 1), increasing that investment by 13% in subsequent years for 4 additional years. (t = 2 through 5).

The Statute of Frauds. Kendall Gardner agreed to buy from B&C Shavings, a specially built shaving mill to produce wood shavings for poultry processors. B&C faxed an invoice to Gardner reflecting a purchase price of $86,200, with a 30 percent down payment and the “balance due before shipment.” Gardner paid the down payment. B&C finished the mill and wrote Gardner a letter telling him to “pay the balance due or you will lose the down payment.” By then, Gardner had lost his customers for the wood shavings, could not pay the balance due, and asked for the return of his down payment. Did these parties have an enforceable contract under the Statute of Frauds? Explain. [Bowen v. Gardner, 2013 Ark.App. 52, __ S.W.3d __ (2013)] (See The Statute of Frauds.) What is the discussion and what is the legal reason?

Robert Perez is a contractor specializing in custom-built jacuzzis. On May 1, 2017, his ledger contains the following data.
Raw Materials Inventory $30,000 Work in Process Inventory 12,200 Manufacturing Overhead 2,500 (dr.) The Manufacturing Overhead account has debit totals of $12,500 and credit totals of $10,000.

Subsidiary data for Work in Process Inventory on May 1 include: Job Cost Sheets Job Manufacturing by Customer Direct Materials Direct Labor Overhead Stiner $2,500 $2,000 $1,400 Alton 2,000 1,200 840 Herman 900 800 560 $5,400 $4,000 $2,800

During May, the following costs were incurred: Raw materials purchased on account $4,000, Labor paid $7,000, and Manufacturing Overhead paid $1,400.

A summary of materials requisition slips and time tickets for the month of May reveals the following. Job by Customer Materials Requisition Slips Time Tickets Stiner $ 500 $ 400 Alton 600 1,000 Herman 2,300 1,300 Smith 1,900 2,300 5,300 5,000 General use 1,500 2,000 $6,800 $7,000

Overhead was charged to jobs on the basis of $0.70 per dollar of direct labor cost. The Jacuzzis for customers Stiner, Alton, and Herman were completed during May. The three Jacuzzis were sold for a total of $36,000.
Instructions (a) Prepare journal entries for the May transactions: (i) for purchase of raw materials, factory labor costs incurred, and manufacturing overhead costs incurred; (ii) assignment of raw materials, labor, and overhead to production; and completion of jobs and(iii) sale of goods. (iii) Post the entries to Work in Process Inventory. Reconcile the balance in Work in Process Inventory with the costs of unfinished jobs. (MAKE A SHORT SCHEDULE FOR THIS.)