Building a Bad System?
Several years ago, a well-known national real estate company built a computer-based system to help its real estate agents sell houses more quickly. The system, which worked in many ways like an early version of realtor com, enabled its agents to search the database of houses for sale to find houses matching the buyer's criteria using a much easier interface than the traditional system. The system also enabled the agent to show the buyer a virtual tour of selected houses listed by the company rel. ll was believed that by more quickly finding a small set of houses more closely matching the buyer's desires, and by providing a virtual tour the buyers and the agent) would waste less time looking at unappealing houses. This would result in happler buyers and in agents who were able to close sales more quickly leading to more sales for the company and higher commissions for the agent.
The system was designed with input from agents from around the country and was launched with great hoopla The initial training of agents met with a surge of interest and satisfaction among the agents and the project team received many congratulations.
Six months later, satisfaction with the system had dropped dramatically, absenteeism had increased by 300%, and agents were quitting in record numbers turnover among agents had sen by 5005, and in mai interviews many agents mentioned the system as the primary reason for leaving. The company responded by eliminating the system with great embarrassment.
One of an agent's key skills was the ability to find houses that match the buyer's needs. The system destroyed the value of this skil by providing a system that could enable less skilled agents to perform almost as well as highly skilled ones. Worse Tom the viewpoint of the agent the buyer could interact directly with the system, thus bypassing the expertise of the agent.
Questions
1. How were the problems with the system missed?
2. How might these problems have been foreseen and possibly avoided?
3. In perfect hindsight, given the widespread availability of such systems on the Internet today, what should the company have done?
In: Operations Management
Several years ago, a well-known national real estate company built a computer-based system to help its real estate agents sell houses more quickly. The system, which worked in many ways like an early version of realtor.com, enabled its agents to search the database of
houses for sale to find houses matching the buyer's criteria using a much easier interface than the traditional system. The system also enabled the agent to show the buyer a virtual tour of selected houses listed by the company itself. It was believed that by more quickly finding a small set of houses more closely matching the buyer's desires, and by providing a virtual tour, the buyers (and the agent) would waste less time looking at unappealing houses. This would result in happier buyers and in agents who were able to close sales more quickly, leading to more sales for the company and higher commissions for the agent.
The system was designed with input from agents from around the country and was launched with great hoopla. The initial training of agents met with a surge of interest and satisfaction among the agents, and the project team received many congratulations.
Six months later, satisfaction with the system had
dropped dramatically, absenteeism had increased by 300%, and agents were quitting in record numbers;
tumover among agents had risen by 500%, and in exit interviews, many agents mentioned the system as the primary reason for leaving. The company responded by eliminating the system-with great embarrassment.
One of an agent's key skills was the ability to find houses that match the buyer's needs. The system destroyed the value of this skill by providing a system that could enable less skilled agents to perform almost as well as highly skilled ones. Worse still-from the viewpoint of the agent-the buyer could interact directly with the system, thus bypassing the "expertise" of the agent.
Questions
1. How were the problems with the system missed?
2. How might these problems have been foreseen and possibly avoided?
3. In perfect hindsight, given the widespread availability of such systems on the Internet today, what should the company have done?
Adapted from: "The Hidden Minefields in Sales Force Automation Technologies," Journal of Marketing, July 2002, by C. Speier and V. Venkatesh.
In: Computer Science
Peggy Vizente, a clinical nurse on a 57-bed internal medicine ward at a medium-sized teaching hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has identified a problem of wasted nursing time spent acquiring supplies for client care. Nurse Vizente begins keeping track of the time she spends locating supplies for her clients’ care. She notes that at least 30 minutes per day are spent gathering supplies for clients. Nurse Vizente identifies a list of those items that she most frequently has to acquire to perform care. Systematically, she begins to develop a plan to present to her nurse manager to correct this situation. Nurse Vizente designs a nurse server—a container built into the room—to hold essential supplies. She also develops a procedure for how the supplies will be stocked and by whom. She takes her ideas to the nurse manager and proposes a change in procedure and in equipment (nurse server).
In: Nursing
Using a Python environment of your choice –
Gary = {
"name": "Gary",
"homework": [90.0,97.0,75.0,92.0],
"quizzes": [88.0,40.0,94.0],
"tests": [75.0,90.0]
}
Alice = {
"name": "Alice",
"homework": [100.0, 92.0, 98.0, 100.0],
"quizzes": [82.0, 83.0, 91.0],
"tests": [89.0, 97.0]
}
Tyler = {
"name": "Tyler",
"homework": [0.0, 87.0, 75.0, 22.0],
"quizzes": [0.0, 75.0, 78.0],
"tests": [100.0, 100.0]
}
In: Computer Science
Using a Python environment of your choice –
Gary = {
"name": "Gary",
"homework": [90.0,97.0,75.0,92.0],
"quizzes": [88.0,40.0,94.0],
"tests": [75.0,90.0]
}
Alice = {
"name": "Alice",
"homework": [100.0, 92.0, 98.0, 100.0],
"quizzes": [82.0, 83.0, 91.0],
"tests": [89.0, 97.0]
}
Tyler = {
"name": "Tyler",
"homework": [0.0, 87.0, 75.0, 22.0],
"quizzes": [0.0, 75.0, 78.0],
"tests": [100.0, 100.0]
}
In: Computer Science
The Province of Quebec is facing power shortfalls. Quebec Hydro plans to address this problem by investing in developing coal fired energy and hydropower facilities in the coming seven years, and have $1.5 billion with which to do so. Every $ million spent on coal fired plants will result in 15 megawatts of power capacity when the plant construction is completed, and every $ million spent on hydropower dams will result in 20 megawatts of power capacity when the dam construction is completed. Completion of coal fired plants takes 3 years and completion of hydropower dams takes 4 years. Once these facilities are built they will require additional operating funds that are equivalent to 25% of their initial cost annually. Funds set aside for plant operations cannot be used to invest in new plants or dams, but can be invested in the stock market and net an interest of 12%. Any unspent funds can also be invested in this way. Quebec Hydro currently has 40 megawatts of capacity and it can price energy so as to keep the demand at this level in the next two years. Thereafter, however demand will rise to 56, 60, 68, 75, and 87 megawatts of additional power in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years, respectively. Assume that once a plant is operational, it is always operational.
a) FORMULATE the Linear Programming decision model that meets the power demand, and maximizes the funds available to Quebec Hydro at the end of the seventh year. Define all decision variables and label (1-5 word description) each constraint. Define Ct and HPtto be the amount invested in coal fired plants and hydropower dams, respectively, in year t. Define Ft to be the money invested into the stock market in year t. NOT SOLVE THE MODEL.
In: Accounting
In 2021, the Marion Company purchased land containing a mineral
mine for $1,770,000. Additional costs of $590,000 were incurred to
develop the mine. Geologists estimated that 250,000 tons of ore
would be extracted. After the ore is removed, the land will have a
resale value of $110,000.
To aid in the extraction, Marion built various structures and small
storage buildings on the site at a cost of $127,500. These
structures have a useful life of 10 years. The structures cannot be
moved after the ore has been removed and will be left at the site.
In addition, new equipment costing $102,000 was purchased and
installed at the site. Marion does not plan to move the equipment
to another site, but estimates that it can be sold at auction for
$4,500 after the mining project is completed.
In 2021, 67,000 tons of ore were extracted and sold. In 2022, the
estimate of total tons of ore in the mine was revised from 250,000
to 341,500. During 2022, 102,000 tons were extracted.
Required:
1. Compute depletion and depreciation of the mine
and the mining facilities and equipment for 2021 and 2022. Marion
uses the units-of-production method to determine depreciation on
mining facilities and equipment.
2. Compute the book value of the mineral mine,
structures, and equipment as of December 31, 2022.
Compute depletion and depreciation of the mine and the mining facilities and equipment for 2021 and 2022. Marion uses the units-of-production method to determine depreciation on mining facilities and equipment. (Do not round intermediate calculations.)
|
Compute the book value of the mineral mine, structures, and equipment as of December 31, 2022. (Do not round intermediate calculations.)
|
In: Accounting
Q 1
(Investor, capital gains)
Karl Kruger is a 38 year-old single Australian resident taxpayer. During the 2017/18 tax year, Karl received and retained the following records:
|
Account Summary received from XYZ Bank |
|
|
Interest from Term Deposits |
$ 17,200 |
|
Interest from Savings Account |
350 |
|
Bank Charges relating to Term Deposits |
40 |
|
Interest charged on line of credit (used for personal expenses) |
715 |
|
4 February 2018 Dividend Statement from Eccy Ltd |
|
|
Franked Dividend |
2,100 |
|
Franking Credits |
900 |
|
Rental Summary from Hawkeye Real Estate |
|
|
Gross Rent Received |
15,200 |
|
Rental expenses: |
|
|
Agent’s Commission |
920 |
|
Council Rates |
1,490 |
|
Landlord Insurance |
290 |
Other Information:
|
ASSET |
PURCHASE COST |
ACQUISITION DATE |
DISPOSAL DATE |
SALE PRICE |
|
Quality shares |
$12,000 |
12 Apr 12 |
10 May 18 |
$18,600 |
|
Oil Painting (collectable) |
6,000 |
03 Mar 98 |
26 Feb 18 |
5,200 |
|
Crummy shares |
4,000 |
21 Aug 08 |
03 May 18 |
2,500 |
Required:
In: Accounting
Surrounding the Great Lake are four paper-mills, each producing 100 tons of paper per year. The paper is sold on the national market for $2 per ton, and including all the costs of production, costs for each firm are $1 per ton. Thus each firm earns a pure economic profit of $1 per ton. These paper mills require fresh water to operate, and also produce a pollutant called gunk, which they dump into the Great Lake.
New paper mills can also locate on the Great Lake, and produce at a base cost of $1 per ton. However, for each new paper mill which arrives, the water will become more polluted with gunk, and each firm will have to install a water treatment facility to obtain fresh water. This externality associated with new plants will raise the costs of paper production at all facilities, including the new one, by $.15 per ton for each new mill.
1. Assume there is free access to the Great Lake. If paper mills will continue to locate as long as there is any economic profit to be earned, how many new mills will be built? What is the number of mills that maximizes total combined profits for the paper producers? (Hint: Average revenue remains constant at $2. Create a table which compares average revenues with average and marginal costs as new firms locate around the lake.)
2. Suppose that government regulation reduced the number of mills by one from the number that would have resulted given free access. Show that the increase in profits to the remaining firms (the resource rent) is sufficient to compensate the firm that is denied access for its lost profits.
In: Economics
Project Scope Statement: The scope statement is the “top-level document for articulating the overall project goals, objectives, and mission-critical parameters, such as overall timing and resource constraints. It defines the project baseline for all other documentation and management actions.” (Thamhain, 2005, p. 148) The scope of a project defines what is included in and excluded from the project. Based on your project proposal and the information provided in the project charter, submit a list of what will be included in the scope of your project and what will be excluded. Include the following headings and include the necessary information under each heading based on your individual project. The Project Scope Statement should be no longer than a page or page and half (single spaced). • Project objective – 1-2 sentences o Example: To construct a high-quality custom insulated doghouse within 4 weeks at a cost not to exceed $5,000. • Deliverables: What are you going to accomplish. o Example: § A 5’ x 7’ finished doghouse with one doorway § White aluminum siding § Shingled Roof § One (1) Doorway • Milestones: Dates for specific high-level milestones for the project. o Example: § Permits approved – June 1, 2016 § Foundation poured – June 10, 2016 § Framed, siding and roof completed – June 25 § Final inspection – June 30 • Technical Requirements: o Examples: § Doghouse must meet local building codes. § Wall and ceiling insulation must meet ______. § Floor insulation must meet ______. • Limits and Exclusions o Examples: § The doghouse will be built to the specifications and designed provided by the customer. § Owner is responsible for landscaping. § Doghouse does not include windows or a door. § Site work will be limited to Monday through Friday, 8:00am5:00pm
In: Civil Engineering