Managing Diversity for Success:
The Case of IBM
When you are a company that operates in over 170 countries with
a workforce of over 398,000 employees, understanding and
managing diversity effectively is not optional—it is a key business
priority. A company that employs individuals and sells products
worldwide needs to understand the diverse groups of people that
make up the world.
Starting from its early history in the United States, IBM Corporation
(NYSE: IBM) has been a pioneer in valuing and appreciating its
diverse workforce. In 1935, almost 30 years before the Equal Pay
Act guaranteed pay equality between the sexes, then IBM
president Thomas Watson promised women equal pay for equal
work. In 1943, the company had its first female vice president.
Again, 30 years before the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
granted women unpaid leave for the birth of a child, IBM offered
the same benefit to female employees, extending it to one year in
the 1960s and to three years in 1988. In fact, the company ranks in
the top 100 on Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies”
list and has been on the list every year since its inception in 1986.
It was awarded the honor of number 1 for multicultural working
women by the same magazine in 2009.
IBM has always been a leader in diversity management. Yet, the
way diversity was managed was primarily to ignore differences and
provide equal employment opportunities. This changed when Louis
Gerstner became CEO in 1993.
Gerstner was surprised at the low level of diversity in the senior
ranks of the company. For all the effort being made to promote
diversity, the company still had what he perceived a masculine
culture.
In 1995, he created eight diversity task forces around demographic
groups such as women and men, as well as Asians, African
Americans, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)
individuals, Hispanics, Native Americans, and employees with
disabilities. These task forces consisted of senior-level, well
respected executives and higher-level managers, and members
were charged with gaining an understanding of how to make each
constituency feel more welcome and at home at IBM. Each task
force conducted a series of meetings and surveyed thousands of
employees to arrive at the key factors concerning each particular
group. For example, the presence of a male-dominated culture,
lack of networking opportunities, and work-life management
challenges topped the list of concerns for women. Asian
employees were most concerned about stereotyping, lack of
networking, and limited employment development plans. African
American employee concerns included retention, lack of
networking, and limited training opportunities. Armed with a list of
priorities, the company launched a number of key programs and
initiatives to address these issues. As an example, employees
looking for a mentor could use the company’s Web site to locate
one willing to provide guidance and advice. What is probably most
unique about this approach is that the company acted on each
concern whether it was based on reality or perception. They
realized that some women were concerned that they would have to
give up leading a balanced life if they wanted to be promoted to
higher management, whereas 70% of the women in higher levels
actually had children, indicating that perceptual barriers can also
act as a barrier to employee aspirations. IBM management chose
to deal with this particular issue by communicating better with
employees as well as through enhancing their networking
program.
The company excels in its recruiting efforts to increase the
diversity of its pool of candidates. One of the biggest hurdles
facing diversity at IBM is the limited minority representation in
fields such as computer sciences and engineering. For example,
only 4% of students graduating with a degree in computer
sciences are Hispanic. To tackle this issue, IBM partners with
colleges to increase recruitment of Hispanics to these programs. In
a program named EXITE (Exploring Interest in Technology and
Engineering), they bring middle school female students together
for a weeklong program where they learn math and science in a
fun atmosphere from IBM’s female engineers. To date, over 3,000
girls have gone through this program.
What was the result of all these programs? IBM tracks results
through global surveys around the world and identifies which
programs have been successful and which issues no longer are
viewed as problems. These programs were instrumental in more
than tripling the number of female executives worldwide as well as
doubling the number of minority executives. The number of LBGT
executives increased sevenfold, and executives with disabilities
tripled. With growing emerging markets and women and minorities
representing a $1.3 trillion market, IBM’s culture of respecting and
appreciating diversity is likely to be a source of competitive
advantage.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. IBM has been championed for its early implementation of
equality among its workforce. At the time, many of these
policies seemed radical. To IBM’s credit, the movement
toward equality worked out exceptionally well for them. Have
you experienced policy changes that might seem radical?
Have these policies worked out? What policies do you feel are
still lacking in the workforce?
2. If you or your spouse is currently employed, how difficult
would it be to take time off for having a child?
3. Some individuals feel that so much focus is put on making the
workplace better for underrepresented groups that the
majority of the workforce becomes neglected. Do you feel this
was the case at IBM? Why or why not? How can a company
ensure that no employee is neglected, regardless of
demographic group?
4. What types of competitive advantages could IBM have gained
from having such a diverse workforce?

Managing Diversity for Success: The Case of IBM When you are a company that operates in over 170 countries with a workforce of over 398,000 employees, understanding and managing diversity effectively is not optional—it is a key business priority. A company that employs individuals and sells products worldwide needs to understand the diverse groups of people that make up the world. Starting from its early history in the United States, IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM) has been a pioneer in valuing and appreciating its diverse workforce. In 1935, almost 30 years before the Equal Pay Act guaranteed pay equality between the sexes, then IBM president Thomas Watson promised women equal pay for equal work. In 1943, the company had its first female vice president. Again, 30 years before the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) granted women unpaid leave for the birth of a child, IBM offered the same benefit to female employees, extending it to one year in the 1960s and to three years in 1988. In fact, the company ranks in the top 100 on Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies” list and has been on the list every year since its inception in 1986. It was awarded the honor of number 1 for multicultural working women by the same magazine in 2009. IBM has always been a leader in diversity management. Yet, the way diversity was managed was primarily to ignore differences and provide equal employment opportunities. This changed when Louis Gerstner became CEO in 1993. Gerstner was surprised at the low level of diversity in the senior ranks of the company. For all the effort being made to promote diversity, the company still had what he perceived a masculine culture. In 1995, he created eight diversity task forces around demographic groups such as women and men, as well as Asians, African Americans, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals, Hispanics, Native Americans, and employees with disabilities. These task forces consisted of senior-level, well- respected executives and higher-level managers, and members were charged with gaining an understanding of how to make each constituency feel more welcome and at home at IBM. Each task force conducted a series of meetings and surveyed thousands of employees to arrive at the key factors concerning each particular group. For example, the presence of a male-dominated culture, lack of networking opportunities, and work-life management challenges topped the list of concerns for women. Asian employees were most concerned about stereotyping, lack of networking, and limited employment development plans. African American employee concerns included retention, lack of networking, and limited training opportunities. Armed with a list of priorities, the company launched a number of key programs and initiatives to address these issues. As an example, employees looking for a mentor could use the company’s Web site to locate one willing to provide guidance and advice. What is probably most unique about this approach is that the company acted on each concern whether it was based on reality or perception. They realized that some women were concerned that they would have to give up leading a balanced life if they wanted to be promoted to higher management, whereas 70% of the women in higher levels actually had children, indicating that perceptual barriers can also act as a barrier to employee aspirations. IBM management chose to deal with this particular issue by communicating better with employees as well as through enhancing their networking program. The company excels in its recruiting efforts to increase the diversity of its pool of candidates. One of the biggest hurdles facing diversity at IBM is the limited minority representation in fields such as computer sciences and engineering. For example, only 4% of students graduating with a degree in computer sciences are Hispanic. To tackle this issue, IBM partners with colleges to increase recruitment of Hispanics to these programs. In a program named EXITE (Exploring Interest in Technology and Engineering), they bring middle school female students together for a weeklong program where they learn math and science in a fun atmosphere from IBM’s female engineers. To date, over 3,000 girls have gone through this program. What was the result of all these programs? IBM tracks results through global surveys around the world and identifies which programs have been successful and which issues no longer are viewed as problems. These programs were instrumental in more than tripling the number of female executives worldwide as well as doubling the number of minority executives. The number of LBGT executives increased sevenfold, and executives with disabilities tripled. With growing emerging markets and women and minorities representing a $1.3 trillion market, IBM’s culture of respecting and appreciating diversity is likely to be a source of competitive advantage.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. IBM has been championed for its early implementation of equality among its workforce. At the time, many of these policies seemed radical. To IBM’s credit, the movement toward equality worked out exceptionally well for them. Have you experienced policy changes that might seem radical? Have these policies worked out? What policies do you feel are still lacking in the workforce?

2. If you or your spouse is currently employed, how difficult would it be to take time off for having a child?

3. Some individuals feel that so much focus is put on making the workplace better for underrepresented groups that the majority of the workforce becomes neglected. Do you feel this was the case at IBM? Why or why not? How can a company ensure that no employee is neglected, regardless of demographic group?

4. What types of competitive advantages could IBM have gained from having such a diverse workforce?

When setting up a new Team member (member of your firm) in QuickBooks Online Accountant, you can assign which of the following user permissions to the new Team member.

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Accounts receivable

Accounts payable

Accounts receivable, Accounts payable and Reporting

Payroll

You cannot assign user permissions to Team members. The Accountant Team member setup includes unlimited access

To import a chart of accounts for your client which set of steps listed below would you follow:

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Go to the Home Page > click import Chart of Accounts

Right click on the Chart of Accounts > click import Chart of Accounts

Click the Gear Icon > Import Data > choose Chart of Accounts

None of the above. You cannot import the Chart of Accounts.

Which of these sales-related transactions are non-posting transaction?

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Invoice

Estimates

Sales Receipt

Delayed Charges

Which of the following navigation options in QuickBooks Online is BEST used to enter day-to-day transactions in QuickBooks Online?

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Gear icon/Company menu

Navigation Bar

Create Menu +

Transactions

All of the above

To setup QuickBooks Online to automatically enter transactions you'll choose which of the following?

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Make recurring

Memorize

Automatically Enter

Schedule

The QuickBooks mobile app can do which of the following functions? Choose all that apply?

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Reconcile bank accounts

File Sales Tax

Email invoices

Categorize bank feed items

All of the above

QuickBooks Online lets you add more than one A/P or A/R account on the same general journal entry?

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True

False

Which of the following processes would merge two accounts together in the chart of accounts?

One or more of your selected options was incorrect. Selecting even just one incorrect option will earn no credit for this question. Please try again.

Deactivate the old account

Click Gear > Chart of Accounts > Merge Accounts

Edit one account and name it exactly as the other

Add a new account and reclassify all transaction to the new account

To ensure that your clients are tracking sales tax on each sale and purchase in QuickBooks, you should add a tax rate to which of the following in QuickBooks Online? Select all that apply.

One or more of your selected options was incorrect. Selecting even just one incorrect option will earn no credit for this question. Please try again.

Products and Services

Customers

Suppliers

Expense accounts

None of the above

How can you easily toggle to another client's QuickBooks Online File?

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Click Home > Connect to another account

Click Accountant Toolbox > Change Client

Click on Client Name drop down menu > Choose Client

Click Create (+) > Choose Client

What is the purpose of the Expense transaction type?

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To report on all expenses

To create non-posting transactions

To enter different expense type of transactions like debit, interac, etc.

To enter accounts payable transactions

If your client wants to pay multiple bills at one time, you go to:

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Expenses > New Transaction > Bill

Create menu (+) > Pay Bills

Expenses > Select Bills > Pay Bills

Click Gear Icon > Manage Accounts Payable

Your client needs to enable some additional features for their company in QuickBooks Online. How do you find the Company Settings in QuickBooks to make changes?

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There is no Company Settings page, but there is a Company Preferences button that can be reached from the home page

Click the Create menu at the top of the window and choose Company Settings

Click the Company tab on the left side of the QuickBooks window and click Company Settings

Click the Gear icon and click Account and Settings

Which of the following steps are used to add or remove columns?

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Right click the column header and click 'Delete'

Choose a report to edit > Click the Customize button and click 'Rows/Columns'

Click the 'Customize' button and click 'Add/Remove Columns'

Use the column width drag feature to remove the column from the report

When creating a new QuickBooks Online account, what company information does QuickBooks ask for? Select all that apply.

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The Name of the Company

The birth date of the owner

How long the company has been in business for

A list of company employees

Which versions of QuickBooks Online feature the ability to enter, track and pay bills?

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QuickBooks Online Plus only

QuickBooks Online Accountant only

QuickBooks Online Essentials and Plus

All versions of QuickBooks Online

You need to find an expense, but all you know is the amount (you can’t remember the date or supplier). What’s the best way to do this?

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Open the Audit log and go through the transactions until you find the correct one

Press Ctrl+F to search for the expense

Open a new expense form and press the previous button until you locate the expense

Click the magnifying glass icon, and search for the exact amount

If you DON’T download bank transactions, how do you enter a business lunch paid for with the company debit card?

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Click the Create button and select Expense. Fill out the expense and use Debit Card as the payment method

Click the Create button and click Bill. Enter a bill for the meal. Then click the Create button again and select Pay Bills. Now enter the payment of the bill for lunch

Click the Create button and click Debit Card. Fill out the debit card charge and save the transaction

Click the Create button and select Cheque. Fill out the expense and save the transaction.

Your client printed a cheque from QuickBooks. Before they can send it to the supplier, they spill coffee on it, ruining the cheque. How do you handle this?

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Delete the cheque

Void the cheque

Issue another cheque from QuickBooks with the same cheque number

Change the amount of the cheque to zero

Your company would like to sell their products online. They ask you to look for an app that makes it easy for customers to buy online. However, they also want you to be efficient. They do NOT want you to have to manually enter these sales into QuickBooks. They want the sales to automatically update QuickBooks. What’s a good place to start looking for an app that can do this?

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iTunes, Android Market, or Google Play

The Apps tab in QuickBooks

Click the Gear icon and select the “Find Integrated Apps” box

QuickBooks does not integrate with other software. This isn’t possible.

Select the statement that’s NOT true about using the QuickBooks app on a mobile device.

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There is a QuickBooks app for Android and Apple (IOS) devices

You can do everything (all QuickBooks functionality) on the app that you can do in your regular QuickBooks (using a browser)

The mobile app uses built in functionality of your device (e.g. the camera to take pictures of receipts or other documents to attach to transactions)

The mobile app is free

Which of the following features are exclusively offered in QuickBooks Online Plus? Choose all that apply.

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Budgeting

Inventory

Bank feeds

Class tracking

All of the above

How do I add the information below to my current code that I have also posted below.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>
<!-- The author of this code is: Ikeem Mays -->
<body>

<header>

<h1> My Grocery Site </h1>

</header>
<article>

This is web content about a grocery store that might be in any town. The store stocks
fresh produce, as well as essential grocery items. Below are category lists of products you can find
in the grocery store.

</article>
<div class = "myColumns">

<ul>

<li>Bread</li>

<li>Juice</li>

<li>Cereal</li>

</ul>

</div>

<div class="myColumns">

<ul>

<li>Apples</li>

<li>Bananas</li>

<li>Avocados</li>

</ul>

</div>

<div class="myColumns">

<ul>

<li>Rice</li>

<li>Olive Oil</li>

<li>Lettuce</li>

</ul>

</div>
</body>
<style>
.myColumns {

float: left;

margin: 0 20px 0 0;

}
</style>
</html>

PRG/280 Week Two Assignment:

Adding Navigation and CSS

This assignment walks you through the steps of adding one more page to your website and writing navigation (i.e., adding hyperlinks) between the two pages. The starting point will be the GroceryHome.html page from Week One.

Hint: Copy the GroceryHome.html file to a new folder (suggested name for the folder: Week_2_Assignment) for Week Two.

Step 1) First, modify the Week Two GroceryHome.html page to add the navigation. After the opening <body> tag, but before the opening <header> tag, add the following code:

            <nav>

               <a href="GroceryHome.html">Home</a> |

               <a href="Products.html">Products</a> |

               <a href="AboutUs.html">About Us</a> |

               <a href="Contact.html">Contact</a>

            </nav>

Step 2) Save and open the modified page in a web browser, such as IE or Chrome. The page will render like the image below with the navigation links at the top of the web page. If you recall from the Week One mock-up, we wanted the navigation to be at the top right of the page, but the navigation we just added appears at the top left.

Step 3) To align the navigation to the right, add the following CSS code to the <style> tag at the bottom, placing the code before the closing </style> tag. Be sure to leave the styling for the .myColumns elements as it is.

nav {

     float: right;

     display: block;

}

Step 4) Save and refresh the GroceryHome.html page in a browser. The page will render like the image below with the navigation now nicely positioned at the top right of the page.

Note: If you haven’t already, try resizing your browser window from full-screen to small and back again and notice how the links move automatically.

Step 5) To add a new page to the website, open a new blank document in NotePad++. Just as you did in the Week One instructions, begin your new web page with the following code:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

</html>

Step 6) From the menu, select File à Save As, and name the file Products.html, making sure to select the correct file extension to save the file as an HTML file (see the screenshot below of the Save dialogue box).

Note: Be sure you spell this filename properly, as it must exactly match the value of the <a> tag’s HREF attribute that you typed into the navigation section earlier in this assignment.

Hint: Be sure to save your file in the same location on your computer where you saved the home page.

Step 7) Using what you learned from Week One, add the body, title, and article to the Products.html page, as follows:

<body>

<header>

            <h1> My Products Page</h1>

</header>

<article>

This web page shows an example of using a table to display seasonal vegetables. Below is an example of what the grocery store might stock during the spring, summer, fall, and winter.

</article>

</body>

Step 8) Save and open the Products.html file in a browser. The page will render similar to the image below with a title and article text below.

Step 9) Add the same navigation you added to the GroceryHome.html page to the Products.html page. Be sure to place the code between the opening <body> and the opening <header> tags, as follows:

            <nav>

               <a href="GroceryHome.html">Home</a> |

               <a href="Products.html">Products</a> |

               <a href="AboutUs.html">About Us</a> |

               <a href="Contact.html">Contact</a>

            </nav>

Step 10) Although the navigation is not properly formatted on the Products.html page, this is a good time to test the navigation between the two web pages.

Open the GroceryHome.html page, and click on the Products link at the top (the image below highlights the Products link in the navigation).

The Products.html page will render like the image below. Clicking on the Home link will navigate back to the GroceryHome.html page (the image below highlights the Home page link on the Products page).

Note: Clicking the About Us or Contact links will result in a File Not Found error, because the HTML file names (pages) associated with those links have not yet been created. You will add those pages in future assignments.

Step 11) To format the <nav> block so the navigation floats to the right, add an external CSS file. Open a new blank window in NotePad++ and add the following code at the top:

nav {

     float: right;

     display: block;

}

Note: Adding an external CSS file gives you a single place to specify formatting rules that you can then apply to multiple web pages by pulling in that CSS file (instead of copying-and-pasting CSS formatting code multiple times). Having all the formatting code in a single place means fewer errors!

Step 12) From the menu, select File à Save As, and name the file MyStyle.css, making sure to select the correct file extension to save the file as a Cascading Style Sheets file (see the screenshot below of the Save dialogue box).

Step 13) To pull in the MyStyle.css file and make that formatting rule available to the Products page, modify the Products.html page and add the following code between the <html> and <body> tags at the top of the page. Be sure to spell the CSS filename correctly.

<head>

   <link rel="stylesheet" href="MyStyle.css">

</head>

Step 14) Save and refresh the browser for the Products.html page. Using the external CSS, the page renders like the image below with the navigation floating to the right.

Step 15) Test the navigation between the Home and Products page. The About Us and Contact links will result in a “page not found” error, as you haven’t built those pages yet.

Step 16) Now it’s time to present some organized text on your web page. You’ll use an HTML table to do this, beginning with a single table row and multiple table header tags. In the Products.html page, insert the following code for a <table> after the closing </article> tag, but before the closing </body> tag:

<table>

     <tr>

<th>Spring</th>

<th>Summer</th>

<th>Fall</th>

<th>Winter</th>

     </tr>

</table>

Step 17) Save the Products.html page and refresh the web browser. Your page should look like the image below with the seasons aligned at the bottom of the page.

Step 18) Now begin to lay out the table text more attractively. Add the following code to the end of the MyStyle.css page, after the closing curly brace } that completes the nav declaration:

td, th {

     border: 1px solid #dddddd;

     text-align: left;

     padding: 8px;

     width: 75px;

}

Step 19) Save the MyStyle.css page, and refresh the Products.html page. Your page should render like the image below with the seasons evenly spaced and outlined in a table format.

Step 20) To the Products.html file, add the following <tr> table rows and <td> table detail data. The code will go after the closing </tr> table row for the <th>Winter</th> table header, but before the closing </table> tag.

   <tr>

      <td>Asparagus</td>

      <td>Squash</td>

      <td>Pumpkins</td>

      <td>Potatos</td>

   </tr>

   <tr>

      <td>Scallions</td>

      <td>Tomatoes</td>

      <td>Cabbage</td>

      <td>Leeks</td>

   </tr>

   <tr>

      <td>Green Peas</td>

      <td>Carrots</td>

      <td>Broccoli</td>

      <td>Turnips</td>

   </tr>

Step 21) Save and refresh the web browser. Your <table> should render like the image below with all of the vegetables laid out neatly in a table.

Step 22) Verify that the files (GroceryHome.html, Products.html, and MyStyle.css) are in the same folder. Keeping related files together is extremely important to avoid broken links (the screenshot below shows all three files: GroceryHome.html, Products.html, and MyStyle.css).

Step 23) To zip the files together, select the three files then right-click (alternately, press the Alt key while the files are highlighted, then F to bring up the File menu, navigate to the Send To menu with the up/down arrow keys, then arrow right to navigate to Compressed Folder). From the pop-up menu, select Send To à Compressed (Zip) Folder. Give the zip file an appropriate name with your name or initials at the end (the screenshot below shows all the files along with the ZIP file).

Hint: Verify that there are three files in the Week2.zip file before you submit the ZIP file. To do so, double-click Week2.zip file to view the three compressed files (or press the Enter key while the file is selected).

Step 24) Submit the website as a ZIP file using the Assignment Files tab.

SARAH LUBBERS AND CHRIS RUSCHE, GRAND VALLEY
STATE UNIVERSITY
Farmers Restaurant is a full service restaurant offering a variety
of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items. Currently, Kristin Davis is
the general manager for the Farmers Restaurant located in the
Grand Rapids/ Wyoming metro area of Michigan. Since becoming
manager, Kristin has faced some difficulties with ordering the
right amounts of food items for the restaurant. Because of this,
there are some weeks the restaurant has a surplus of menu items
that are no longer fresh, and must be discarded. At other times,
the restaurant has experienced shortages of some items. The
fact that inventory accounts for an average cost of 26 percent
of the restaurant’s total revenues underscores the importance
of managing inventory. Kristin would like to find a way to ensure
that she is maintaining the proper amount of inventory. Customer
counts at Kristin’s restaurant have been declining recently, so
one of Kristin’s greatest focuses is to keep current customers and
attract new customers. She believes that a key aspect of this is
having all of the items on the menu in stock.
The restaurant industry is competitive. In the Grand Rapids/
Wyoming metro area alone there are over 1,600 restaurants.
Some of Farmers Restaurant’s most serious competitors are IHOP,
Applebee’s, and Big Boy, all of which are located within 20 miles
of the Farmers Restaurant, so customers have many alternatives
from which to choose.
Online inventory systems are used to assist restaurant man-
agers in determining on-hand inventory and gauging how well
the restaurant is controlling food costs. The fiscal week for Farm-
ers Restaurant starts on Thursday and ends on Wednesday of the
following week. Each Wednesday, the manager physically counts
the inventory on hand and enters the data into the online inven-
tory system. The computer software system then compares the
on-hand inventory for that week, the amount of food ordered,
and the inventory on hand for the end of the previous week with
the sales for the current week. By doing so, it is able to deter-
mine a total food cost. The manager compares this cost with the
benchmark cost to see how well the restaurant has been man-
aging its inventory. This is one of the most important numbers
to managers at the Farmers Restaurant because it accounts for
approximately 30 percent of total costs in terms of a store’s cost
structure.
The computer software system also compares the total cost of
food on hand with the total amount of sales for that week and
computes a percentage of on-hand inventories. As a guideline, the
company has set a standard of having between 29 and 36 percent
for its on-hand inventory level. The company feels that this level of
inventory is an appropriate average to ensure quality food that is
fresh and within expiration. Lastly, it is better to keep the inventory
at a minimum level to ensure the accuracy and ease of inventory
counts.
The Farmers Restaurant Kristin manages has been running
above average in terms of food costs. For this reason, her boss
has become concerned with the performance of the ordering sys-
tem she is using at her restaurant. Kristin has been using her intu-
itition to decide how much product to order despite the fact that
the product order sheets provide a moving average usage of each
product. Kristin bases her inventory management on her intuition
because she does not understand how to utilize the moving aver-
age forecasting technique when placing orders. An additional
complication with ordering inventory is that each item is packed in
multiple quantities, so she cannot order the exact amount that she
needs. Her boss requested that she create a more accurate way
of ordering food and to report back to him in one month. Kristin is
worried that if she cuts inventory levels too low she will run out of
products, which may result in a decrease in customer counts.
After Kristin met with her boss, she began to think about what
changes she could make. She knows that inventory has been a
weak point for her, but she remembers one of her employees talk-
ing about inventory management from one of his college courses.
Kristin decides to ask the employee if he would be willing to help
her try and come up with a better way for her to order products.
Kristin tells him how the ordering system works, shows him the
ordering form, and relates the given information.
Suppose you have been asked to work with Kristin to improve
inventory ordering.

Questions
1. Describe the importance of inventory management as it
relates to the Farmers Restaurant.

2. What ordering system would be best for this situation?

3. Given the following information, provide an example of how
much of Farmers Sausage Gravy Mix should be ordered. You are
doing the order for Thursday. Also, Kristin would like a service
level of 95 percent, and you have found that there is a standard
deviation of 3.5 units per week, and a moving average weekly
demand of 35 servings. The gravy mix comes in packs of two
servings. There are currently three packs in inventory.

4. Given the above information and an on-hand inventory of
12, determine the risk of stock out at the end of initial lead
time and at the end of the second lead time. The lead time is
2 days and orders are placed once a week.

5. The supplier Kristin uses is located in Ohio. Why might Kristin
consider dealing with a nearby supplier instead of the one
in Ohio? What reasons might there be for not switching
suppliers?

For the assignment, please  completing a post summary of what you read in this article below   ( No PLAGIARISM PLEASE ).

Caring for Patients With Substance Use Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic

is creating unprecedented impacts and risks across the United States. But other threats to Americans’ health and well-being have not gone away and may indeed be exacerbated. The opioid epidemic continues to affect communities across the nation. And many people who suffer from substance use disorders (SUD) face new challenges resulting from social distancing and shifting priorities for health care resources.

Addiction is a chronic condition that can be worsened by emotional and social loneliness – and policies designed to contain the spread of COVID-19 also put people suffering from SUD at risk of relapse. Patient access to care may be disrupted, including regular in-person care and access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT), clinicians, peer support, or routines that help them manage their conditions. People who are in long-term recovery still need access to the medication and supports required for continued management of SUD. As the demands for medical resources have shifted to the immediate needs of patients with or suspected of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, clinicians, care teams, and health insurance providers must find new ways to meet the ongoing needs of people suffering from SUD.

Health Insurance Providers Innovate for Continued Access

Insurance providers are working with clinicians and recovery teams to deliver necessary care to those in need, and they are looking into new ways of delivering those services. Telehealth has rapidly gained traction in protecting patients and clinicians from the spread of COVID-19. It also helps ensure continuity in SUD management. For example, during the fight against COVID-19, Highmark has extended tele-addiction services to members who are in addiction treatment and need immediate help, but cannot see their provider in-person given the need for widespread social distancing. Telehealth can also connect patients with counseling, peer support, and other behavioral health services remotely to support access to care on an ongoing basis. Maintaining contact with behavioral health support is particularly important during times of need and physical isolation. Tools used to host conference calls for office workers can also be used to connect SUD patients with support groups. Passport Health, for example, is using online platforms to connect patients with support groups. For those patients who may not have a smartphone or Internet connection, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has loosened restrictions on telehealth, allowing audio-only connections with providers (including via telephone). Several health insurance providers, such as Humana, have taken similar steps to ensure that patients with SUD have access to ongoing care and assistance. Recognizing the need for continued access to MAT during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued guidance that allows providers to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth without a prior in-person exam, including medications such as buprenorphine used to treat opioid use disorders. To further expand access to care, some insurance providers have waived rules to allow virtual behavioral health practitioners to be the sole health care provider for SUD patients, rather than acting only as complementary care. Easing the DEA rules makes prescribing MAT easier particularly when patients are unable to access in-person care, as do insurance provider initiatives to address gaps in treatment. For patients with other medical conditions, remote patient monitoring tools can be used to maintain a connection between a patient and provider to help ensure the patient stays in good physiological health in addition to good mental health. Health insurance providers are supporting their provider partners in managing their patients’ access to SUD treatment and recovery services. Some health insurance providers are working with clinicians to dispense MAT for longer periods of time for patients who are stable, for example.

Challenges

Despite the promise of telehealth and other tools to support people with SUD, challenges to ideal care remain: • With group meetings banned, many state residents grapple with challenges of addiction without in-person group support. Small gatherings should be deemed “essential” given the needs of attendees. • Inconsistent telehealth regulations between states make practicing across state lines challenging. When resources in certain states may be limited, patients should be able to easily access services across state lines without significant disruption. During this epidemic, the federal government should align state policies so that people can access care when needed. • Inconsistent state laws on MAT dispensing can create challenges. While some states have sufficient supply of methadone clinics to serve patient needs, for example, other states have much lower ratios for how many methadone clinics can be present based on the state population. These rules should be aligned across states especially during a public health emergency to ensure that all patients have access to MAT. • The DEA should eliminate the need for providers to be waivered to prescribe MAT. There are millions of people in need of medication for SUD, and the DATA 2000 waiver stands in the way of getting help for those seeking treatment. • There have also been concerning security breaches of some online platforms that are used to enable virtual meetings including support groups for people with SUDs. While it is important to relax some rules and enforcement during a public health crisis, it is also important for the government and private sector to monitor for bad actors who may take advantage of a crisis and for there to be appropriate recourse.

Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new and significant strains on the American health care system and society as a whole. Patients suffering from SUD suffer from unique challenges to their ongoing health, and those challenges can be magnified in times of high stress or isolation. We are committed to working with state, federal and local officials in every way possible, from supporting our public health heroes, to offering specific policy and regulatory changes, to assisting governors, legislatures, the Congress and the Administration. Together, we can and will meet this challenge.

For the assignment, please  completing a post summary of what you read in this article below   ( No PLAGIARISM PLEASE ).

Caring for Patients With Substance Use Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic

is creating unprecedented impacts and risks across the United States. But other threats to Americans’ health and well-being have not gone away and may indeed be exacerbated. The opioid epidemic continues to affect communities across the nation. And many people who suffer from substance use disorders (SUD) face new challenges resulting from social distancing and shifting priorities for health care resources.

Addiction is a chronic condition that can be worsened by emotional and social loneliness – and policies designed to contain the spread of COVID-19 also put people suffering from SUD at risk of relapse. Patient access to care may be disrupted, including regular in-person care and access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT), clinicians, peer support, or routines that help them manage their conditions. People who are in long-term recovery still need access to the medication and supports required for continued management of SUD. As the demands for medical resources have shifted to the immediate needs of patients with or suspected of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, clinicians, care teams, and health insurance providers must find new ways to meet the ongoing needs of people suffering from SUD.

Health Insurance Providers Innovate for Continued Access

Insurance providers are working with clinicians and recovery teams to deliver necessary care to those in need, and they are looking into new ways of delivering those services. Telehealth has rapidly gained traction in protecting patients and clinicians from the spread of COVID-19. It also helps ensure continuity in SUD management. For example, during the fight against COVID-19, Highmark has extended tele-addiction services to members who are in addiction treatment and need immediate help, but cannot see their provider in-person given the need for widespread social distancing. Telehealth can also connect patients with counseling, peer support, and other behavioral health services remotely to support access to care on an ongoing basis. Maintaining contact with behavioral health support is particularly important during times of need and physical isolation. Tools used to host conference calls for office workers can also be used to connect SUD patients with support groups. Passport Health, for example, is using online platforms to connect patients with support groups. For those patients who may not have a smartphone or Internet connection, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has loosened restrictions on telehealth, allowing audio-only connections with providers (including via telephone). Several health insurance providers, such as Humana, have taken similar steps to ensure that patients with SUD have access to ongoing care and assistance. Recognizing the need for continued access to MAT during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued guidance that allows providers to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth without a prior in-person exam, including medications such as buprenorphine used to treat opioid use disorders. To further expand access to care, some insurance providers have waived rules to allow virtual behavioral health practitioners to be the sole health care provider for SUD patients, rather than acting only as complementary care. Easing the DEA rules makes prescribing MAT easier particularly when patients are unable to access in-person care, as do insurance provider initiatives to address gaps in treatment. For patients with other medical conditions, remote patient monitoring tools can be used to maintain a connection between a patient and provider to help ensure the patient stays in good physiological health in addition to good mental health. Health insurance providers are supporting their provider partners in managing their patients’ access to SUD treatment and recovery services. Some health insurance providers are working with clinicians to dispense MAT for longer periods of time for patients who are stable, for example.

Challenges

Despite the promise of telehealth and other tools to support people with SUD, challenges to ideal care remain: • With group meetings banned, many state residents grapple with challenges of addiction without in-person group support. Small gatherings should be deemed “essential” given the needs of attendees. • Inconsistent telehealth regulations between states make practicing across state lines challenging. When resources in certain states may be limited, patients should be able to easily access services across state lines without significant disruption. During this epidemic, the federal government should align state policies so that people can access care when needed. • Inconsistent state laws on MAT dispensing can create challenges. While some states have sufficient supply of methadone clinics to serve patient needs, for example, other states have much lower ratios for how many methadone clinics can be present based on the state population. These rules should be aligned across states especially during a public health emergency to ensure that all patients have access to MAT. • The DEA should eliminate the need for providers to be waivered to prescribe MAT. There are millions of people in need of medication for SUD, and the DATA 2000 waiver stands in the way of getting help for those seeking treatment. • There have also been concerning security breaches of some online platforms that are used to enable virtual meetings including support groups for people with SUDs. While it is important to relax some rules and enforcement during a public health crisis, it is also important for the government and private sector to monitor for bad actors who may take advantage of a crisis and for there to be appropriate recourse.

Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new and significant strains on the American health care system and society as a whole. Patients suffering from SUD suffer from unique challenges to their ongoing health, and those challenges can be magnified in times of high stress or isolation. We are committed to working with state, federal and local officials in every way possible, from supporting our public health heroes, to offering specific policy and regulatory changes, to assisting governors, legislatures, the Congress and the Administration. Together, we can and will meet this challenge.

INSTRUCTIONS

Read the following case study about Amazon, and then submit a posting with answers to the 5 questions below. Your answers will be graded primarily on content, but grammar, spelling, syntax, etc will also count. Please make sure that your answers are labeled to match the Question numbers so that I can easily read (and grade) your submissions

CASE STUDY: THE AMAZON OF INNOVATION

On December 2, 2013, Amazon.com customers ordered 36.8 million items worldwide, an average of 426 items per second, with more than half of the orders from mobile devices. At the peak of sales for the Xbox One and the Playstation 4, Amazon customers purchased more than 1,000 of those units per minute. The last local express delivery was ordered by a customer in Everett, Washington at 12:26pm and was delivered at 3:56pm that same day.

You may think of Amazon as simply an online retailer, and that is indeed where the company achieved most of its success. To do this, Amazon had to build enormous supporting infrastructure – just imagine the information systems and fulfillment facilities needed to ship 36.8 million items on a single day. That infrastructure, however, is needed only during the busy holiday season. Most of the year, Amazon is left with excess infrastructure capacity. Starting in 2000, Amazon began to lease some of that capacity to other companies. In the process, it played a key role in the creation of what are termed “cloud services,” which you will learn about shortly. For now, just think of cloud services as computer resources somewhere out in the Internet that are leased on flexible terms.

Today, Amazon’s business lines can be grouped into three major categories:

• Online Retailing
• Order fulfillment
• Cloud services

Consider Each.

ONLINE RETAILING

Amazon created the business model for online retailing. It began as an online bookstore, but every year since 1998 it has added new product categories. The company is involved in all aspects of online retailing. It sells its own inventory. It incentivizes you, via the Associates program, to sell its inventory as well. Or it will help you sell your inventory within its product pages or via one of its consignment venues. Online auctions are the major aspect of online sales in which Amazon does not participate. It tried auctions in 1999, but it could never make inroads against eBay.

Today it’s hard to remember how much of what we take for granted was pioneered by Amazon. “Customers who bought this, also bought that;” online customer reviews; customer ranking of customer reviews; books lists; Look Inside the Book; automatic free shipping for certain orders or frequent customers; and Kindle books and devices were all novel concepts when Amazon introduced them.

Amazon’s retailing business operates on very thin margins, meaning it makes very little money off of any one item. Products are usually sold at a discount from the stated retail price, and 2-day shipping is free for Amazon members (who pay an annual fee of $99) How does it do it? For one, Amazon drives its employees incredibly hard. Former employees claim the hours are long, the pressure is severe, and the workload is heavy. But what else? It comes down to Moore’s Law and the innovative use of nearly free data processing, storage, and communication.

ORDER FULFILLMENT

In addition to online retailing, Amazon also sells order fulfillment services. You can ship your inventory to an Amazon warehouse and access Amazon’s information systems just as if they were yours. Using technology known as Web services your order processing information systems can directly integrate, over the Web, with Amazon’s inventory, fulfillment, and shipping applications. Your customers need not know that Amazon played any role at all. You Can also sell that same inventory using Amazon’s retail sales applications.

CLOUD SERVICES

Amazon Web Services (AWS) allow organizations to lease time on computer equipment in very flexible ways. Amazon’s Elastic Cloud 2 (EC2) enables organizations to expand and contract the computer resources they need within minutes. Amazon has a variety of payment plans, and it is possible to buy computer time for less than a penny an hour. Key to this capability is the ability for the leasing organization’s computer programs to interface with Amazon’s to automatically scale up and scale down the resources leased. For example, if a news site publishes a story that causes a rapid ramp-up of traffic, that news site can, programmatically, request, configure, and use more computing resources for an hour, a day, a month, or whatever it needs.

With its Kindle devices, Amazon has become both a vendor of tablets and, even more importantly in the long term, a vendor of online music and video. And to induce customers to buy Kindle apps, in 2013 Amazon introduced its own currency, Amazon Coins. And, recently Amazon opened a 3D printing store from which customers can customize their own toys, jewelry, dog bones, and dozens of other products. Amazon is also beginning its foray into drone delivery.

QUESTIONS

1. Based on the facts presented, what do you think is Amazon.com’s competitive strategy?
2. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com has stated that the best customer support is none. What does that mean?
3. Suppose you work for Amazon. What do you suppose is the likely reaction to an employee who says to his or her boss, “But, I don’t know how to do that”?
4. Using your own words and your own experience, what skills and abilities do you think you need to have to thrive at an organization like Amazon?
5. What should UPS and FedEx be doing in response to Amazon’s interest in drone delivery?

INSTRUCTIONS

Read the following case study about Amazon, and then submit a posting with answers to the 5 questions below. Your answers will be graded primarily on content, but grammar, spelling, syntax, etc will also count. Please make sure that your answers are labeled to match the Question numbers so that I can easily read (and grade) your submissions

CASE STUDY: THE AMAZON OF INNOVATION

On December 2, 2013, Amazon.com customers ordered 36.8 million items worldwide, an average of 426 items per second, with more than half of the orders from mobile devices. At the peak of sales for the Xbox One and the Playstation 4, Amazon customers purchased more than 1,000 of those units per minute. The last local express delivery was ordered by a customer in Everett, Washington at 12:26pm and was delivered at 3:56pm that same day.

You may think of Amazon as simply an online retailer, and that is indeed where the company achieved most of its success. To do this, Amazon had to build enormous supporting infrastructure – just imagine the information systems and fulfillment facilities needed to ship 36.8 million items on a single day. That infrastructure, however, is needed only during the busy holiday season. Most of the year, Amazon is left with excess infrastructure capacity. Starting in 2000, Amazon began to lease some of that capacity to other companies. In the process, it played a key role in the creation of what are termed “cloud services,” which you will learn about shortly. For now, just think of cloud services as computer resources somewhere out in the Internet that are leased on flexible terms.

Today, Amazon’s business lines can be grouped into three major categories:

• Online Retailing
• Order fulfillment
• Cloud services

Consider Each.

ONLINE RETAILING

Amazon created the business model for online retailing. It began as an online bookstore, but every year since 1998 it has added new product categories. The company is involved in all aspects of online retailing. It sells its own inventory. It incentivizes you, via the Associates program, to sell its inventory as well. Or it will help you sell your inventory within its product pages or via one of its consignment venues. Online auctions are the major aspect of online sales in which Amazon does not participate. It tried auctions in 1999, but it could never make inroads against eBay.

Today it’s hard to remember how much of what we take for granted was pioneered by Amazon. “Customers who bought this, also bought that;” online customer reviews; customer ranking of customer reviews; books lists; Look Inside the Book; automatic free shipping for certain orders or frequent customers; and Kindle books and devices were all novel concepts when Amazon introduced them.

Amazon’s retailing business operates on very thin margins, meaning it makes very little money off of any one item. Products are usually sold at a discount from the stated retail price, and 2-day shipping is free for Amazon members (who pay an annual fee of $99) How does it do it? For one, Amazon drives its employees incredibly hard. Former employees claim the hours are long, the pressure is severe, and the workload is heavy. But what else? It comes down to Moore’s Law and the innovative use of nearly free data processing, storage, and communication.

ORDER FULFILLMENT

In addition to online retailing, Amazon also sells order fulfillment services. You can ship your inventory to an Amazon warehouse and access Amazon’s information systems just as if they were yours. Using technology known as Web services your order processing information systems can directly integrate, over the Web, with Amazon’s inventory, fulfillment, and shipping applications. Your customers need not know that Amazon played any role at all. You Can also sell that same inventory using Amazon’s retail sales applications.

CLOUD SERVICES

Amazon Web Services (AWS) allow organizations to lease time on computer equipment in very flexible ways. Amazon’s Elastic Cloud 2 (EC2) enables organizations to expand and contract the computer resources they need within minutes. Amazon has a variety of payment plans, and it is possible to buy computer time for less than a penny an hour. Key to this capability is the ability for the leasing organization’s computer programs to interface with Amazon’s to automatically scale up and scale down the resources leased. For example, if a news site publishes a story that causes a rapid ramp-up of traffic, that news site can, programmatically, request, configure, and use more computing resources for an hour, a day, a month, or whatever it needs.

With its Kindle devices, Amazon has become both a vendor of tablets and, even more importantly in the long term, a vendor of online music and video. And to induce customers to buy Kindle apps, in 2013 Amazon introduced its own currency, Amazon Coins. And, recently Amazon opened a 3D printing store from which customers can customize their own toys, jewelry, dog bones, and dozens of other products. Amazon is also beginning its foray into drone delivery.

QUESTIONS

1. Based on the facts presented, what do you think is Amazon.com’s competitive strategy?
2. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com has stated that the best customer support is none. What does that mean?
3. Suppose you work for Amazon. What do you suppose is the likely reaction to an employee who says to his or her boss, “But, I don’t know how to do that”?
4. Using your own words and your own experience, what skills and abilities do you think you need to have to thrive at an organization like Amazon?
5. What should UPS and FedEx be doing in response to Amazon’s interest in drone delivery?