1. (a) Draw the market for SUVs in equilibrium. Label your graph neatly and correctly.

(b) Now show what happens in the market when the price of gas falls dramatically and the technology used to manufacture SUVs improves, if the drop in gas has a much bigger impact on the market than the technology improvement.

( c) What will happen to the new equilibrium price and quantity of SUVs?

. What are the current issues with managing the supply chain? In general, how can blockchain technology address some of the issues facing the supply chain?

2. Discuss challenges of adopting blockchain technology into a company’s existing supply chain.

3. Ideally, what kinds of companies and businesses can benefit from adopting and implementing blockchain within their supply chain?

1. What are the current issues with managing the supply chain? In general, how can blockchain technology address some of the issues facing the supply chain?

2. Discuss challenges of adopting blockchain technology into a company’s existing supply chain.

3. Ideally, what kinds of companies and businesses can benefit from adopting and implementing blockchain within their supply chain?

Superior Markets, Inc., operates three stores in a large metropolitan area. A segmented absorption costing income statement for the company for the last quarter is given below:

The North Store has consistently shown losses over the past two years. For this reason, management is giving consideration to closing the store. The company has asked you to make a recommendation as to whether the store should be closed or kept open. The following additional
information is available for your use:

a. The breakdown of the selling and administrative expenses is as follows:

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

b. The lease on the building housing the North Store can be broken with no penalty.

c. The fixtures being used in the North Store would be transferred to the other two stores if the North Store were closed.

d. The general manager of the North Store would be retained and transferred to another position in the company if the North Store were closed. She would be filling a position that would otherwise be filled by hiring a new employee at a salary of $11,000 per quarter. The general manager of the North Store would be retained at her normal salary of $12,000 per quarter. All other employees in the store would be discharged.

e. The company has one delivery crew that serves all three stores. One delivery person could be discharged if the North Store were closed. This person’s salary is $4,700 per quarter. The delivery equipment would be distributed to the other stores. The equipment does not wear out through use, but does eventually become obsolete.

f. The company’s employment taxes are 15% of salaries.

g. One-third of the insurance in the North Store is on the store’s fixtures.

h. The “General office salaries” and “General office—other” relate to the overall management of Superior Markets, Inc. If the North Store were closed, one person in the general office could be discharged because of the decrease in overall workload. This person’s compensation is $6,000 per quarter.

Required:

1. Prepare a schedule showing the change in revenues and expenses and the impact on the company’s overall net operating income that would result if the North Store were closed. (Any losses/ reductions should be indicated by a minus sign.)

2. Based on your computations in (1) above, what recommendation would you make to the management of Superior Markets, Inc.?

3. Assume that if the North Store were closed, at least one-fourth of its sales would transfer to the East Store, due to strong customer loyalty to Superior Markets. The East Store has enough capacity to handle the increased sales. You may assume that the increased sales in the East Store would yield the same gross margin as a percentage of sales as present sales in that store.

a. Calculate the net advantage of closing the North Store. (Any losses should be indicated by a minus sign.)

b. What recommendation would you make to the management of Superior Markets, Inc.?

Superior Markets, Inc., operates three stores in a large metropolitan area. A segmented absorption costing income statement for the company for the last quarter is given below:

The North Store has consistently shown losses over the past two years. For this reason, management is giving consideration to closing the store. The company has asked you to make a recommendation as to whether the store should be closed or kept open. The following additional
information is available for your use:

a. The breakdown of the selling and administrative expenses is as follows:

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

b. The lease on the building housing the North Store can be broken with no penalty.

c. The fixtures being used in the North Store would be transferred to the other two stores if the North Store were closed.

d. The general manager of the North Store would be retained and transferred to another position in the company if the North Store were closed. She would be filling a position that would otherwise be filled by hiring a new employee at a salary of $11,600 per quarter. The general manager of the North Store would be retained at her normal salary of $12,600 per quarter. All other employees in the store would be discharged.

e. The company has one delivery crew that serves all three stores. One delivery person could be discharged if the North Store were closed. This person’s salary is $5,200 per quarter. The delivery equipment would be distributed to the other stores. The equipment does not wear out through use, but does eventually become obsolete.

f. The company’s employment taxes are 15% of salaries.

g. One-third of the insurance in the North Store is on the store’s fixtures.

h. The “General office salaries” and “General office—other” relate to the overall management of Superior Markets, Inc. If the North Store were closed, one person in the general office could be discharged because of the decrease in overall workload. This person’s compensation is $6,300 per quarter.

Required:

1. Prepare a schedule showing the change in revenues and expenses and the impact on the company’s overall net operating income that would result if the North Store were closed. (Any losses/ reductions should be indicated by a minus sign.)

2. Based on your computations in (1) above, what recommendation would you make to the management of Superior Markets, Inc.?

3. Assume that if the North Store were closed, at least one-fourth of its sales would transfer to the East Store, due to strong customer loyalty to Superior Markets. The East Store has enough capacity to handle the increased sales. You may assume that the increased sales in the East Store would yield the same gross margin as a percentage of sales as present sales in that store.

a. Calculate the net advantage of closing the North Store. (Any losses should be indicated by a minus sign.)

Analysis Essay

The evolution of technology is changing every day with those changes we find the version of norm adapts. Radios, computers, cell phones, and even household items have taken a technological route to make a human's life easier. The technology was created to make life easier, using these machines increases productivity. The changes in technology will have society always adapting to the new world, generations before and after will also continue to adapt to the advancement of these changes. Advancement of technology has impacted generations from the past and now in various ways including communication, news flow, an industry of jobs, and the general use of technology now in the 21st century. The similarities and differences will be discussed comparing the impacts from now and then identified by generations.

     Technology has improved over the last one hundred years starting from the invention radio in 1849. In history, inventions are always being created to keep in touch with one another, like cell phones or video messages. Communicating has always evolved through the years before texting and Facetime calls people would write, commute, or even send a page to contact them on the one telephone shared among a family. Ten years ago a family of five might have at least two cell phones in the family now everyone in a family will have a phone regardless of age. The use of a cell phone to communicate with others has become the number one way to do as opposed to those who wrote letters back and forth. The advancement of technology makes it easier to communicate with others by allowing more effective ways to reach someone.

    In the past ten years, our world changed from sending letters, postcards, or even digital photos to one another to all being posted online. Social media is one of the biggest changes between generations. Students to teachers to parents to children and everyone between using social media. Social media is an online site to communicate, share, and explore online without leaving just through a screen. The Internet is fairly new; older generations would not know about social media from when they were young since it is still fairly new and developing every day. The Internet was invented in the late 1900’s back then no one depended on the access of the internet like they do now. Every phone, tablet, laptop even refrigerator has access to the internet to surf the world wide web. One of the famous websites includes Google being one of the number 1 search browsers in the world. Google allows internet surfing for anything from cooking, random questions, maps, images even education. The use of the internet begs the question: Are we dependent on the internet? Nicholas Carr in the Is Google Making Us Stupid, explains the decency that has formed through the huge use of the internet. Carr references the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy, that we will rely on the use of the internet instead of actually learning content which makes humanity more artificially intelligent.

    Technology is evolving, cell phones, laptops, TVs and refrigerators are just the beginning of the advancement we are going to see. Generations from now will be following the advancements of technology because it is just at the beginning. Advancement of technology has impacted generations from the past and now in various ways including communication, news flow, an industry of jobs, and the general use of technology now in the 21st century.

Please edit this and what I did wrong.

Case Study -ZaraManufacturing doesn’t get much older than the textile and clothing industry. Since the earliest days when we lived in caves there’s been a steady demand for something to wrap around us to keep warm and to protect the more sensitive bits of our anatomy fromthe worst of the elements. What began with animal hides and furs gradually moved into a more sophisticated activity with fabrics woven from flax or wool –and with people increasingly specializing in the business.In its early days this was very much a cottage industry –quite literally people would spin wool gathered from sheep and weave simple cloths on home-made looms. But the skill base–and the technology –began to develop and many of the family names we still have today –Weaver, Dyer, Tailor, for example –remind us of the importance of this sector. And where there were sufficient cottages and groups of people with such skill we began to see concentrations of manufacturing –for example the Flemish weavers or the lace-makers in theEnglishMidlands.Astheirreputation–andthequalityoftheirgoods–grewsothebasis of trading internationally in textiles and clothing wasestablished.The small-scale nature of the industry changed dramatically during the Industrial Revolution. Massive growth in population meant that markets were becoming much bigger while at the same time significant developments in technology (and the science underpinning the technology) meant that making textiles and clothing became an increasingly industrialized process. Much of the early Industrial Revolution was around the cotton and wool industries in England and many of the great innovations and machinery –such as the spinning jenny –were essentially innovations to support a growing international industry. And the growth of the industry fuelled scientific research and led to developments like the invention of synthetic dyes (which allowed a much broader range of colour) and the development of bleaching agents.There’s a pattern in this in which certain manufacturing innovation trajectories play a key role. For example, the growing mechanization of operations, their linking together into systems of production and the increasing attempts to take human intervention out through automation. Of course this was easier to do in some cases than others –for example one of the earliest forms of programmable control, long before the invention of the computer, was the Jacquard punched-card system which could control the weaving of different threads across a loom. But actually making material into various items of clothing is more difficult simply because material doesn’t have a fixed and controllable shape –so this remained increasingly a labour-intensive process.By the twentieth century, the industries had become huge and well established, with growing international trade in raw materials such as cotton and in finished goods. The role of design became increasingly important as basic demand was satisfied and certain regions –for example, France and Italy –began to assume strong reputations for design. Branding became increasingly important in a world where mass communications began to make the telling of stories and the linking of images and other elements into advertising, which fuelled demand for clothing as much more than a basic necessity purchase.©2013 Joe Tidd, John Bessant, Keith Pavitt2Mass production methods and the scientific management approaches underpinning them diffused rapidly and, in the case of clothing assembly which remained a labour-intensive process, led to the quest for lower-wage-cost locations. So began the migration of clothing manufacture around the world, visiting and settling in ever cheaper locations across the Far East, through much of Africa and Latin America to its present home in China.Today this is a global industry embracing design activities, cutting and processing operations, assembly, distribution and sales –all fuelled by a huge demand for differentiation and personalization. This is an industry in which price is only one element –non-price factors such as variety, speed, brand and quality matter. And it’s an industry dominated by the need for high-frequency product innovation –fashion collections no longer run along the old seasonal track with winter and summer collections. In some cases the range is changed every month and innovation in information and communications technology means that this cycle is getting shorter still.All of this has shaped an industry which is highly networked across global ‘value chains’ and coordinated by a few major players. Much of the ‘front’ end of the industry is about major brands and retail chains while the ‘backroom’ operations are often small-scale subcontractors often in low-wage-cost areas of the world.Like so many industries it has become somewhat footloose and wandered from its origins –leaving behind only a small reminder of its original dominance. Compared with countries like India and China today’s European clothing industry is a small player on the global stage. There are some exceptions to this –and they underline the power of innovation and entrepreneurship.Just because the dominant trends lead in one direction doesn’t mean that there isn’t scope for someone to spot and deploy ways of bucking this trend. One such player was a young clerk working in a small clothing retailing business in northern Spain. Frustrated with his career prospects Amancio Ortega Gaona decided to strike out on his own and in 1963 invested his savings –the princely sum of US$25 –into a small manufacturing operation making pyjamas and lingerie. In classic fashion he peddled (and pedalled –his earliest transport was a bicycle!) his wares around the region and built the business over the next 10 years and then decided to move into retailing as well, opening his first shop in the north-western town of La Coruna in 1975.Things have movedon somewhat since then. Industria de Diseno Textil –Inditex –the holding company which he established –is now worth around US$8 billion and has just opened its two-thousandth store in Hong Kong. Active in nearly 70 countries this textile and clothing business has 8 key brand groups, each targeted at particular segments or product types –for example, ‘Pull and Bear’ for children, ‘Massimo Dutti’ for older men and women or ‘Oysho’ in lingerie. Best known of these is ‘Zara’ –a global brand with strong design and fashion identity running through both the clothes and the stores in which they are sold.Its clothes combine stylish designs with a strong link to current high fashion themes with moderate prices. The company have become leaders by exploiting some of the key non-price trends in the industry –for example, variety and product innovation. For example, over 10 000 different©2013 Joe Tidd, John Bessant, Keith Pavitt3clothing models are created and sold every year –this ismost certainly not a case of ‘one size fits all’ or of long-lasting product types! Ortega has taken the entire system for creating clothes and built a business –and originally did so in an area which did not previously have any textile tradition.At an early stage in the development of the manufacturing business he moved back into textile-finishing operations to make sure that the colours and quality of the material he used to make the clothes were up to scratch. Not only did this give better quality control but it also opened up the road to offering exciting and different fabric designs and textures. There are now 18 textile-designing and -finishing operations in the group as well as the clothing manufacturing.A major part of the company’s success comes from a strong commitment to design –they employ over 200 designers and make extensive play of this commitment. It’s a theme which doesn’t stop with the clothes themselves but also extends to the presentation of the stores, their window displays, their catalogues, Internet advertising and so on. Part of the headquarters building in Arteixo La Coruna, Spain contains 25 full-size shop windows with display platforms and lighting which allow the team to see what real store windows would look like –not only under normal conditions but also on rainy days, at night and so on.Another key aspect of Zara’s success is the flexibility which comes from having a very different model for manufacturing. Around 2500 employees work directly in manufacturing operations –but behind them is a much larger workforce spread across villages and small communities in Spain and northern Portugal.Once the new design has been approved the fabric is cut and then distributed to this network of small workshops –and these represent an outsource capability delivering a high degree of flexibility. Pre-cut pieces and easy-to-follow instructions are given to workers in what is still largely an informal economy –and their output then flows back into the massive Zara distribution centre like tributaries to a fast-flowing river. (This is not a small operation –the centre has around 200 kilometres of moving rails on which the products flow. Highly automated and with extensive in-line quality checking, the process transfers the incoming pieces into production lots which are then allocated to a fleet of trucks for fast shipment, mostly by air from the nearby airport at Santiago de Compostella.)Needless to say this places significant demands on a highly flexible and innovative coordination system which Zara have developed in-house. In this way they make use of a model which dates back hundreds of years (the idea of industrial districts and clusters) but use twenty-first-century technologies to make it work to give them huge flexibility in both the volume and variety of the things they make. Where competitors such as H&M and Gap have to start planning and producing their new lines three to five months before goods finally make it to the stores, Zara manages the whole process in less than three weeks!Their flexibility is also based on rapid response and extensive use of information and communication technologies. At the end of the day as the customers leave their 950 stores around the world the sales staff use wireless handsets to communicate inventorylevels to the store manager who then transmits this intelligence back to Spain as a feed into the design order and distribution system. This gives an up-to-the-minute idea of what is selling –and what isn’t, so the stores can be highly responsive to customer preferences –which colours ‘work’, which themes are popular, which designs aren’t hitting the spot. But it’s not just following the market –Zara also push the game by making sure that no model is kept on sale for more than four weeks –no matter how well it is selling. This has a strong impact on their©2013 Joe Tidd, John Bessant, Keith Pavitt4brand –they are seen as very original and design-led –but it puts even more pressure on their ability to be agile in design and manufacture.

Case Study Questions

1.Is the Zara model sustainable? What would you do to preserve their edge over the next 5–10 years, given that many other players are now looking to follow their example? If you don’t think it can survive, give your reasons for why you think the model is unsustainable and will fail.

2.You have been hired as a consultant to a small clothing manufacturer who wants to emulate the success of Zara and Benetton. She wants advice on an innovation strategy which takes the key lessons from these successful firms. What would you offer?

3.Zara Home has just opened using the same basic business model and deploying the same innovative approach as there s tofthe business but in the home goods field.Do you think it might succeed and why?

Question 3: For the last two decades, foreign direct investment (FDI) has been offering an unprecedented opportunity for developing countries to achieve faster economic growth. Through FDI, foreign investors benefit from utilizing their firm-specific assets and resources efficiently, such as technology and managerial know-how. For capital-scarce developing economies, FDI implies access to not only capital but also the benefit of acquiring advanced technology, managerial expertise, employment productivity, human resource development, global marketing networks, and best-practice systems of corporate governance. In particular, Asian countries have been successful in attracting FDI. Consequently, FDI in Asian developing countries increased from $396 million in 1980 to $275 billion in 2010, 1 indicating Asia as a main destination of FDI. While dramatic shifts in the composition of recipient countries have changed over time, with China currently becoming an attractive destination for FDI, Southeast Asia continues to remain an attractive hub for foreign investors. Although Southeast Asian countries have been successfully attracting FDI inflows, success in attracting FDI has varied widely between countries. Some countries fare much better than others in attracting and hosting foreign investment projects within Southeast Asia. Within this context, this study aims to understand the reasons behind why certain countries have high FDI inflows while other countries have low FDI inflows, with special reference to countries in Southeast Asia. In particular, the Philippines and Thailand will be examined. The two countries share many of the economic determinants of FDI in common, however, the level of FDI inflows differ substantially Answer the following questions each one carries 10 marks a. Do you think the political institutions can be considered as significant incentives or deterrents to FDI inflows in the Philippines and Thailand? b. What are the factors contributing for the inflow of FDI in Southeast Asian countries? c. Do you think the trade and investment policies in the Philippines and Thailand play an important role in inviting more FDI? d. Trade liberalization is an essential engine for growth for developing countries, Explain this statement with reference to Southeast Asian countries. e. Higher GDP level of economic development attracts higher levels of FDI inflows. Critically evaluate this statement.

Question 3: For the last two decades, foreign direct investment (FDI) has been offering an unprecedented opportunity for developing countries to achieve faster economic growth. Through FDI, foreign investors be and managerial know-how. For capital-scarce developing economies, FDI implies access to not only capital but also the benefit of acquiring advanced technology, managerial expertise, employment productivity, human resource development, global marketing networks, and best-practice systems of corporate governance. In particular, Asian countries have been successful in attracting FDI Consequently, FDI in Asian developing countries increased from $396 million in 1980 to $275 billion in 2010, 1 indicating Asia as a main destination of FDI. While dramatic shifts in the composition of recipient countries have changed over time, with China currently becoming an attractive destination for FDI, Southeast Asia continues to remain an attractive hub for foreign investors. Although Southeast Asian countries have been successfully attracting FDI inflows, success in attracting FDI has varied widely between countries. Some countries fare much better than others in attracting and hosting foreign investment projects within Southeast Asia. Within this context, this study aims to understand the reasons behind why certain countries have high FDI inflows while other countries have low FDI inflows, with special reference to countries in Southeast Asia. In particeular, the Philipines and nefit from utilizing their firm-specific assets and resources efficiently, such as technology Thailand will be examined. The two countries share many of the economic determinants of FDI in common, however, the level of FDI inflows differ substantially Answer the following questions each one carries 10 marks Do you think the political institutions can be considered as significant incentives or deterrents to FDI inflows in the Philippines and Thailand? What are the factors contributing for the inflow of FDI in Southeast Asian countries? a. b. role in inviting more FDI? d. Trade liberalization is an essential engine for growth for developing countries, Explain this statement with reference to Southeast Asian countries. e. Higher GDP level of economic development attracts higher levels of FDI inflows. Critically evaluate this statement. Question 2: What do you mean by the concept of Circular Economy and Mechanisms of Protection to the Environment, and Renewable Energy Generation? Explain I detail with relevant examples. 20 Marks

Smooth Sailing is a private company that operates one cruise ship. Smooth Sailing’spurchase of the cruise ship was financed with nonrecourse debt. (Nonrecourse debt is a loan that is secured by a pledge of collateral, in this case the cruise ship, but for which the borrower is not personally liable. If the borrower defaults, the lender can seize the collateral, but the lender’s recovery is limited to the collateral.) The cruise ship has its own identifiable cash flows that are largely independent of the cash flows of other asset groups.

Because of an increased presence of pirates in the area in which Smooth Sailing cruises, the cruise ship’s operating performance has significantly declined, which has directly contributed to a decline in the ship’s overall fair value. In the current year (2010), Smooth Sailing’s annual operating cash flows have declined by 30 percent to $1.0 million, and its annual operating cash flows are expected to continue to decline in the near term. Because of this decline in the cruise ship’s fair value and operating performance, Smooth Sailings’ management is evaluating the following possible options for proceeding into 2011 and beyond:

These events indicate that the carrying amount of the asset group may not be recoverable and, therefore, Smooth Sailing will test the asset group for recoverability and potential impairment in accordance with ASC 360-10 as of the end of the current fiscal year, December 31, 2010.

As of December 31, 2010, the cruise ship’s estimated fair value is $4.0 million, net book value is $5.4 million, and estimated remaining useful life is five years. In addition, there is $0.2 million of net working capital (carried at fair value) directly attributable to the cruise ship.

HowshouldSmoothSailings’managementperformtherecoverabilitytestfor the cruise ship as of December 31, 2010? In addressing this question, consider:

a) What assets and liabilities should be included in the “asset group” as defined by FASC 360-10 for purposes of performing the recoverability test?

b) Howshouldthemultipleoperatingscenariosimpacttherecoverabilitytest?

2) What impairment loss, if any, should be recorded as of December 31, 2010?

3) Would the outcome of the recoverability and impairment tests change if the probability assessment was revised such that there was a 20 percent, 70 percent, and 10 percent probability of scenarios A, B, and C occurring, respectively? If so, how?