Preparation

In this assignment, we’ll return to Sun City Boards and the management challenges they face. (You can refresh your memory of Sun City Boards by reading the Why It Matters (Links to an external site.) and Putting It Together (Links to an external site.) sections of the Planning and Mission module.) With your advice, Tom Wilson (the owner) has continued to make strategic planning progress, but you and Tom realize that a new organizational structure is needed for the company to grow as you envision. Plans include expanding beyond a single store/manufacturing shop and reaching new markets via an Internet presence and e-commerce. The following is a summary of the current staff and loose descriptions of job functions:

• Owner/CEO – Tom Wilson (Designs the boards, sets their selling price, and establishes sales channels with local surf shops)
• Bookkeeper – Sarah Balanced (Sarah also doubles as order-taking clerk, cash register attendant, and customer complaint listener)
• Board Maker – Jack Ovalltrades (If Tom invents it, Jack can make it!)
• Board Making Assistants – 3 Jills (Assignments change almost daily as Jack decides what needs to be done next)
• Sales Associate – Kelly Dude (Named after famed surfer Kelly Slater and a business icon for Sun City Boards; visits surf shops and occasionally closes a sale)
• Part-time Associates – Hired as needed for inventory management (cleanup), promotional events, etc.

The Organizational Structures module of your text provides numerous examples and illustrations of organizational structures. As Tom’s advisor, your assignment now is to select one of the organizational structures presented in the reading, describe how it works, chart the future structure for Sun City, and explain why you prescribe it. The following steps will help you prepare for your written assignment:

1. Thoroughly read the Organizational Structures module.
2. Carefully consider the various organizational structures, their key structural components, and organizational timing relevant for Sun City. Consider the internal and external environmental factors, as well as current trends.

Your Task

1. Select one of the Organizational Structures from your reading for Sun City.
2. Create a Future State Organizational Chart for Sun City. You may use a presentation tool of your choice. There are numerous organizational chart format inserts available in popular software. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint have Hierarchy charts found on the Insert tab under SmartArt. Your org chart should contain the title of the job function, even if no Sun City employee currently fills that role. You may also recommend a reporting structure for the existing employees within the new structure.
3. Write at least two paragraphs describing your chosen structure and why you selected it. Your written explanation must include three properly referenced and defined terms from the module reading. For example, if you select a functional structure, explain each relevant function.

In addition to the text, you are encouraged to research your organizational structure using reliable and properly cited Internet resources. You may also draw from your personal work experience with appropriate examples to support your references.

In this discussion board assignment, you will critically evaluate the following scenario using the four basic critical questions. Here is the scenario:

Researchers wanted to study the relationship between pizza consumption by college freshmen and academic achievement. The researchers selected a freshmen history class with 900 students. The class lasted for 16 weeks and had weekly quizzes.

The researchers used random sampling and got two equivalent groups of participants from the class. Each group had 35 students. One group was the pizza group and one was the non-pizza group. To prepare for the experiment, the researchers compared the average quiz results of both groups for the first three weeks of the course and found no statistically significant difference between quiz scores.

In weeks 4 - 12, the researchers provided pizza dinner for everyone in the pizza group but those in the non-pizza group were told not to eat pizza 48 hours before the weekly quizzes. After week 12, the researchers compared the average quiz scores in each group and found that the non-pizza group had a statistically higher average quiz score than the pizza group. The researchers concluded that pizza consumption hinders academic performance of college freshmen.

Here are the basic 4 critical questions:

The next step to critically evaluate correlational claims is asking our four basic CRITICAL QUESTIONS applied to correlation (p. 118):

What does the claim of correlation mean? Which two variables, changing events, factors, or things co-vary? Do they exhibit a positive or negative relation?

How good is the evidence? Are two relevant groups being compared? Is the difference between the groups large enough (i.e., outside the margin of error of both samples) so that it is unlikely that these differences are the result of chance sampling variation? Were the groups being compared appropriately selected?

What other information is relevant? What is the context? Have other researchers found similar correlations? Of similar strength? Did other researchers use different types of samples and groups?

Are relevant fallacies avoided? For example, consider the fallacies of No comparison, Biased Sampling, Small Sample, Unclear Target Population, and of Significance.

These fallacies are clearly described in our textbook. Since most have been already covered in the previous chapters of our textbook, corresponding online links, and in the Keynotes, we need only introduce the new fallacy of Significance. The error of reasoning here for this fallacy is to argue that the difference between two (sample) groups, in a strict statistical or scientific sense, is important—relying on the common usage of the word “significant.” In contrast, the “[d]ifferences are said to be ‘statistically significant’ when…we can theoretically be 95% confident that the differences are not due to chance” (according to what we learned about statistical reasoning in Chapter 3 of our textbook; p. 105, emphasis added). This, therefore, merely provides a probabilistic judgement about a result that is basically not significant or important in any ordinary sense. As Mark Battersby notes, “[a] ‘statistically significant difference’ between two groups means that it’s very likely that there’s a correlation; but this says nothing about the strength of the correlation or about whether the correlation is of any human, scientific, or personal significance” (pp. 114-115, emphasis added).

Complete the Information Technology Self-Assessment Tool below. When completed review and determine at least three new goals you would like to achieve. with a brief description of your experience and comfort level with the use of technology not only in your Program but as a practicing nurse.

Information Technology Self-Assessment Tool

Virginia Niebuhr, Donna D’Alessandro, Marney Gundlach

This tool is designed to help you to assess your information technology skills and to develop short-term goals.

Rate yourself on how successfully you can complete the following skills:

1. I have never done this before

2. I could do this with help

3. I can do this alone, but might some mistakes

4. I can do this alone with confidence

5. I can teach others to do this skill

MY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GOALS

Ready, Steady, Ride: Careem versus Uber in the Middle East The immersion of technology within our lives has made it pos¬sible not only to deliver customer value more efficiently in B2B and B2C exchanges but has also made it much easier to have peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. This concept was brought into the transport sector by Uber, which created a digital app-based platform to connect people who needed a reliable ride with people looking to earn money from their car. Although the service they provide custom¬ers is not a new one, their innovative market¬ing and targeting strategies created a new burgeoning segment, with the result that its service concept has become a generic term: “Uberfication.” The concept expanded rapidly to other parts of the world, with Uber successfully establishing itself as the leader in most global markets. Uber has now moved to 376 cities worldwide and has a net value of $50 billion, making it the fastest start-up ever to get to that value in such a short amount of time. However, in the Middle East, Uber’s app-based taxi-booking concept was ad¬opted effectively and pre-emptively by Careem, a local start-up, before Uber could enter the region. It has since given tough competition to the global leader. In the Middle East, the Uberfication of the transport sector was started in 2012 by two entrepreneurs, Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson. The former McKinsey consultants launched the app-based ride-hailing service Careem in the city of Dubai in the UAE. Careem is among country’s most successful start-up stories, with a 30 percent growth month on month. In just four years, it has expanded to 44 cities across 10 countries in the region and claims to have over 6 million registered users. Sheikha and Olsson’s story is not very dif¬ferent from that of Kalanick and Camp. The Careem founders say that they were looking to do something meaningful and were looking for opportunities. As consultants, both of them traveled a lot for work and felt that there was a gap in the region in finding quick, efficient, and reliable means of transportation—some¬thing like Careem. In 2013, the competitive landscape of private taxi hiring in the MENA region changed as Uber also entered the re¬gion by making its debut in the UAE. By then, however, Careem already had the first-mover advantage. The Middle East Market Both companies had their own competi¬tive advantages. Uber was a well-established international company with a strong reputa¬tion and track record of success. On the other hand, Careem was the local favorite and launched first in the regional markets, so it was more trustworthy. In the UAE, the private-taxi sector is highly regulated, espe¬cially with regard to pricing and drivers’ licens¬ing requirements. For instance, in the UAE, the law requires private-taxi companies to operate with a minimum of 30 percent higher fare than public taxis. This makes the private-sector taxi services more of a luxury in this market, with both Uber and Careem trying to compete and differentiate against each other. Careem aims to be the largest “mover of people” in the wider MENA region, from Pakistan to Turkey. The brand name worked particularly well in the UAE and Middle East. The word “Car-eem” is a play on a car-based service, but it is also derived from the Arabic word “Ka-reem,” which means “generous.” This communicates the value proposition of Careem very effectively as a company that takes good care of its customers and tries to do more, with a big heart. This blended English–Arabic brand worked well to target the large multicultural expat population in the UAE and also helped to position it as a home-grown local brand for the wider Arab-speaking consumers through¬out the Middle East. Careem drivers are called captains, and it differentiates itself by saying that where other companies call themselves limo services, Careen has a ride for everyone. The market coverage strategy used by Careem is to offer differentiated services to different cus¬tomers by adapting to the local needs. For exam¬ple, in Dubai, “Economy” Careem offers budget taxis, “Business” and “First¬class” options are high-end luxury rides, and “MAX” cars are SUVs that can seat a larger number of people. “Ameera” offers ladies-only rides with a woman chauffer. “Careads” allow parents to order books free of charge through the Careem app. “Careem kids” offers cars with baby car seats. Careem’s operational model and its “generous” value proposition blends well with the Middle Eastern context. Key features of its model include the following: Customer call center: A large popu¬lation in the Middle East prefers to call instead of using apps, and Careem built an entire call center for bookings and re¬porting issues. Pay by cash: This provision addressed the population’s general antipathy to¬ward credit cards and their preference for cash transactions. Careem’s own location database: The GoogleMaps in the Middle East is not very accurate and there are frequent road works, so Careem built its own database of locations. This worked well for the later booking option, which is a unique feature of Careem. Book for someone else: This worked well in cases where bookings were made by secretaries for bosses or clients and also for school pickups. Captain call center: A centralized call center helped in coordinating and com¬municating with the customers, ensuring better security and privacy of customer information. Captain Loyalty: A four-tiered loyalty points system ensured minimum earning for the drivers and that there would be more cars on the roads for bookings and pickups. Uber has already found competition in many of the regions it seeks to expand into, often because of the very model it pioneered. Many of these aspects are difficult to incorporate in Uber’s global model. However, a score-based study in the UAE found that, overall, both Uber and Careem score similarly on aspects like the app, cars, booking process, prices, free rides, and community service. Uber scored more points for the app, prices, and free rides, and Careem scored better on certain as¬pects of the cars, the booking process, and community service. Although in the past the UAE has been the main battle-expand aggressively to more cities and ground for Uber and Careem in the re-even add more differentiated services in region, both companies are now looking to their offerings.

a. Using full spectrum of segmentation variables, describe how careem segments and targets the market for the transport sector.

b. Which market targeting strategy is Careem following? Justify your answer

c. Write a positioning statement for Careem

d. What are the potential issues for Careem after Uber entered the market? Will they continue to appeal to the same types of customers? Why or why not?

Southwest Airlines

Listening to customers is the main way a customer service professional can determine the customer’s needs. Skilled listeners listen actively and use cues to understand the message the customer is sending. This activity is important because poor listening skills can result in a loss of business. Listening breakdowns are common but can be avoided by understanding how to listen and practicing good listening skills.

The goal of this activity is to demonstrate the steps in the listening process and recognize the ways listening can be hampered.

Read the case discussing how Southwest Airlines implements good listening skills and answer the questions that follow.

Southwest Airlines had a rocky road to its startup. Incorporated in 1967, it never actually started flying until June of 1971 because of lengthy legal challenges by other major airlines. When it finally started services between Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Dallas and San Antonio, Texas, it used three Boeing 737 aircraft and offered $20 one-way fares. In October of that same year, it offered 14 every-hour flights between Dallas and Houston and seven bi-hourly flights between Dallas and San Antonio, and in November added scheduled flights between Houston and San Antonio. That same month it introduced a $10.00 “night fare.” Needless to say, the competition was a bit worried about this young upstart airline that began taking business away from them in these three markets and had the potential to expand into other areas. In 1973, Braniff Airlines began a “fare war” that resulted in $13 fares for both airlines, with Southwest upping the stakes by offering customers a choice of a $13.00 fare or a free bottle of premium liquor with every $26.00 full-fare ticket. The result was that Southwest ended the year with its first profits since starting operation and started developing a loyal customer base. By January 1974, it had carried its one-millionth passenger.

Fast forward to 1979, when Southwest got approval to fly to other states after lengthy court battles and began service to Louisiana. This was the first venture outside the state of Texas and was followed by expansion eastward into numerous other states.

As it entered its second decade of service, the airline had over 2,000 employees and over $34 million in revenue. It also launched its successful “Loving you is what we do” customer campaign. As the decade progressed, the airline continued efforts to attract flyers from competing airlines and endear itself to customers by initiating policies such as a senior fare between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday for people over the age of 65. In 1986, the airline introduced its “Fly Now, Pay Less” fare that lowered all long-distance fares across its 25-city system to a ceiling of $98 each way. By the end of its second decade of operation, Southwest was winning accolades and awards. According to its website, “For an unprecedented second time since the DOT began keeping records on the performance of the nation’s largest carriers, Southwest captured the top rating in all three categories of the DOT operating statistics report.” That same year, it reported a net income of over $71 million, with 94 aircraft and over 7,700 employees. It also was given major carrier status by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which meant that it had operating revenue exceeding $1 billion in a 12-month period.

By the 1990s, Southwest had become well established as a major passenger carrier with popular campaigns that focused on families such as the “Family Fare” from Salt Lake City, Utah, to anywhere Southwest flew. Anyone purchasing a full-fare adult ticket could take up to seven other people traveling with them for half price. It also implemented programs that offered to military families and dependents one-way fully-refundable leisure fares that did not require advance purchase. By the end of the decade, the airline had entered the Internet age with online booking and had generated over $478 million in net revenue, had 312 aircraft, and had over 27,000 employees. It was also ranked fourth on Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.

By 2000, the company had moved up to number 2 on Forbes List and had expanded the Rapid Rewards program for customers that it had started several years earlier. Beyond that, as the decade progressed and moved into the second decade of the century, Southwest instituted other discount flight initiatives that encouraged air travel and expanded its customer reach. For its efforts, it won additional accolades, including the 2012 Top Military Friendly Employer award.

Update

In September of 2017, Southwest Airlines released its newest advertising campaign that’s designed to “remind customers that they are at the core of the carrier’s purpose: to connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.” The campaign is named “Behind Every Seat is a Story: Behind Every Story is the Reason for Transfarency.” The advertising campaign focuses on customer stories and their reasons for flying.

“At Southwest Airlines, our customers are the reason we fly,” said Ryan Green, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Southwest Airlines. “This campaign is an opportunity for us to remind the world that there is a personal reason someone chose to fly Southwest Airlines with our low fares, no hidden fees, and exceptional hospitality. We're honored and pleased to tell stories inspired by the more than 115 million people who fly Southwest Airlines every year.” (Southwest Media, September 25, 2017)

Questions

1- Identify the steps to the listening process. How would you evaluate Southwest Airlines listening technique giving examples from the article.

2- Southwest Airlines newest advertising campaign is designed to “connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.” What characteristic of a good listener is Southwest Airlines employing through this campaign? Do you think it was an effective strategy? why or why not?

3- When Southwest Airlines launched the “Loving you is what we do” customer campaign, the company backed up the campaign by offering lower fares to customer groups. By matching the nonverbal message of “loving you…” with the actions of lower fares, Southwest Airlines demonstrated ________________ in its message. Identify a suitable word to complete this sentence.

4- Southwest Airlines implemented a senior fare policy that provided lower rates for people over age 65 during certain time periods. The airline may have implemented this policy after hearing that senior citizens were choosing not to fly because of high costs. When the airline began the senior fare policy, it was engaging in the ____________ phase of the listening process. Identify a suitable word to complete this sentence.

Part 1

The questions in this part of the assignment will be graded.

The Hay System is a job performance evaluation method that is widely used by organizations around the world. Corporations use the system to map out their job roles in the context of the organizational structure. One of the key benefits of the method is that it allows for setting competitive, value-based pay policies. The main idea is that for each job evaluation, a number of factors (such as Skill, Effort, Responsibility and Working Conditions) are evaluated and scored by using a point system. Then, the cumulative total of points obtained will be correlated with the salary associated with the job position. As a Comp208 student, you have been commissioned to implement a simplified version of the Hay method. Particularly, the hiring company (which is called David and Joseph Ltd) is interested in getting the salary (or hay system score) for several job descriptions currently performed in the company.

Data Representation

Unfortunately, the company David and Joseph Ltd. has very strict security policies. Then, you will not be granted access to the main data base (which is called mycourses). Instead, all the information needed has been compiled in files with the following characteristics.

File 1

1. The first line of the file contains 1 positive integer: num words≤ 10000, the number of words in the Hay Point dictionary.
2. num words lines follow; each contains a word (a string of up to 16 lower-case letters) and a dollar value (an integer between 0 and 1000000). You can safely assume that the num words words in the dictionary are distinct. Each description word-value is terminated by a line containing a period.

You can take a look about how File 1 looks below.

7 administer 100000 .

spending 200000 .

manage 50000 .

responsibility 25000 .

expertise 100 .

skill 50 .

money 75000 .

Please note that for this file, num words is equal to 7.

File 2

1. The first lines of the file contains a varyingly number of comments that must be ignored. You can recognize a comment line because it always start with the # character.
2. Following the comments there is one job description. A job description consists of between 1 and 200 lines of text; for your convenience the text has been converted to lower case and has no characters other than letters, numbers, and spaces. Each line is at most 200 characters long.

You can take a look about how File 2 looks below.

#Comp208 is an amazing class

# This comment does not make sense

# It is just to make it harder

# The job description starts after this comment, notice that it has 4 lines.

# This job description has 700150 hay system points the incumbent will administer the spending of kindergarden milk money and exercise responsibility for making change he or she will share responsibility for the task of managing the money with the assistant whose skill and expertise shall ensure the successful spending exercise

Below, you can find a second example of how File 2 could look like.

#This example has only one comment

this individual must have the skill to perform a heart transplant and expertise in rocket science

The Hay System

When applying the Hay System to the latest File 2 example (i.e., this individual must have the skill to perform a heart transplant and expertise in rocket science ) on the Hay Point dictionary coded in File 1, the job description gets a total of 150 points (or salary in dollars). This score is obtained because exactly two words (i.e., expertise and skill) of the job description are found in the dictionary. Particularly, expertise and skill have a score of 100 and 50 dollars, respectivelly.

Question 1: create dictionary             (24 points)

Complete the create dictionary function, which reads the information coded in the File 1 and returns a hay points dictionary. See below for an explanation of exactly what is expected.

from typing import Dict, TextIO def create_dictionary(file1: TextIO) -> Dict[str, int]:

’’’Return a dictionary populated with the information coded in file1.

>>> File_1 = open(’File1.txt’)

>>> hay_dict = create_dictionary(File_1)

>>> hay_dict

{’administer’: 100000,

’spending’: 200000,

’manage’: 50000,

’responsibility’: 25000,

’expertise’: 100,

’skill’: 50,

’money’: 75000}

"""

Please note that the variable file1 is of type TextIO, then you can assume that file was already open and it is ready to be read.

Question 2: job description          (24 points)

Complete the job description function, which reads the information coded in the File 2 to return a list of strings with the job description. See below for an explanation of exactly what is expected.

def job_description(file2: TextIO) -> List[str]:

’’’Return a string with the job description information coded in file2.

>>> File_2 = open(’File2_1.txt’)

>>> job_desc = job_description(File_2)

>>> job_desc

[’the’, ’incumbent’, ’will’, ’administer’, ’the’, ’spending’, ’of’, ’kindergarden’, ’milk’,

’money’, ’and’, ’exercise’, ’responsibility’, ’for’, ’making’, ’change’, ’he’, ’or’,

’she’, ’will’, ’share’, ’responsibility’, ’for’, ’the’, ’task’, ’of’, ’managing’,

’the’, ’money’, ’with’, ’the’, ’assistant’, ’whose’, ’skill’, ’and’, ’expertise’,

’shall’, ’ensure’, ’the’, ’successful’, ’spending’, ’exercise’]

’’’

Please note that the variable file2 is of type TextIO, then you can assume that file was already open and it is ready to be read.

Question 3: hay points          (24 points)

Complete the hay points function, which for a job description, output the corresponding salary computed as the sum of the Hay Point values for all words that appear in the description. Words that do not appear in the dictionary have a value of 0. See below for an explanation of exactly what is expected.

def hay_points(hay_dictionary: Dict[str, int], job_description: List[str]) -> int:

’’’Returns the salary computed as the sum of the Hay Point values for all words that appear in job_description based on the points coded in hay_dictionary

>>> File_1 = open(’File1.txt’)

>>> File_2 = open(’File2_1.txt’)

>>> hay_dict = create_dictionary(File_1)

>>> job_desc = job_description(File_2)

>>> points = hay_points(hay_dict, job_desc)

>>> print(points) >>> 700150

’’’

Question 4: my test            (0 points)

The function my test is there to give you a starting point to test your functions. Please note that this function will not be graded, and it is there only to make sure that you understand what every function is expected to do and to test your own code. Note: In order for you to test your functions one at a time, comment out the portions of the my test() function that call functions you have not yet written. The expected output for the function calls is as follows:

The dictionary read from File1.txt is: {’administer’: 100000, ’spending’: 200000, ’manage’:

50000, ’responsibility’: 25000, ’expertise’: 100, ’skill’: 50, ’money’: 75000}

The string read from File2_1.txt is: [’the’, ’incumbent’, ’will’, ’administer’, ’the’,

’spending’, ’of’, ’kindergarden’, ’milk’, ’money’, ’and’, ’exercise’, ’responsibility’,

’for’, ’making’, ’change’, ’he’, ’or’, ’she’, ’will’, ’share’, ’responsibility’, ’for’,

’the’, ’task’, ’of’, ’managing’, ’the’, ’money’, ’with’, ’the’, ’assistant’, ’whose’,

’skill’, ’and’, ’expertise’, ’shall’, ’ensure’, ’the’, ’successful’, ’spending’, ’exercise’]

The salary computed is 700150

Part III – Something's Not Right

“It’s good to have you home, honey. I missed you. How was the flight?” Stacey had come to the airport to pick Frank up and she leaned over to kiss him as he climbed into the car with his luggage. “How were the meetings? You look tired,” she added.

“The past week was intense and I am exhausted. I thought I would manage some R & R during the trip, but no such luck. John and Dan were fired and we were told that there would be more layoffs in the future if business doesn’t pick up. Everyone is feeling stressed. “

“You’re one of the hardest workers they have Frank, they can’t let you go.”

“I hope you’re right. They gave us tomorrow off in lieu of making us work for 7 days straight, but I can’t help but think I should go in and get a jump on the week.”

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have an appointment for that glucose tolerance test first thing in the morning. We’ll need to eat soon because the instructions say you are not allowed to eat for 8 hours before the test.”

Frank felt miserable. “I’m really not hungry. Maybe it was the change in diet, but I’ve had a persistent stomach ache and I didn’t eat much when I was away.

“Well, we need to take extra special care of you until we find out what’s wrong. I am sure everything’s going to be okay.”The next morning the alarm went off and Frank felt refreshed after a good night’s sleep.

“What’s the matter Stacey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Stacey brought him her pocket mirror so that he could see for himself. “Forget the glucose tolerance test. I think we need to go to the Emergency Room right now.”

* ************

Doctor Smithers looked into Frank’s eyes. “It’s a good thing you came in because even a first year medical student could see that you are jaundiced.”

Stacey looked concerned. “What does that mean? Is he going to be okay?”
“Well it could mean a few different things,” replied the doctor, “so we are going to have to run some tests to be sure.”

Fill in Flow Chart 1 with the best choices from the provided word list.

Questions

5. Use Flow Chart 1 to suggest possible reasons for Frank’s jaundiced appearance.

6. Do you think that Frank’s jaundice is connected to the high blood glucose levels seen on the morning before his business trip? Why or why not?

7. Would you like to make a diagnosis to explain Frank’s jaundiced appearance?

8. What tests would you run to determine or confirm any of your diagnoses?

Part IV – The Test Results

“What does it mean to be jaundiced, doctor? Why did the whites of my eyes turn yellow?” “It’s usually caused by a high level of a molecule called bilirubin in your blood, Frank.”
“I was a biology major in college, but I don’t remember where bilirubin comes from.”

“Your blood has cells called erythrocytes or red blood cells; they contain hemoglobin which gives blood its red color. Cells in the spleen break down red blood cells and the products are reused by your body. The heme portion of hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin, which is the molecule that is responsible for your yellow color.”

“I remember now, isn’t bilirubin involved in digestion?”

“Yes. Bilirubin leaves the spleen in the blood and, because it’s not soluble in water, it binds with blood proteins called albumens to form unconjugated bilirubin. This bilirubin is taken up by the cells in the liver, where it combines with glucuronic acid to form conjugated bilirubin. It is one component of the bile, which travels down the bile duct to the gall bladder and the small intestine. When you eat, the gall bladder contracts and pushes the stored bile into the small intestine to aid in the digestion of fat.”

“So what do my tests show?”
“Your hematocrit and your liver enzymes are at normal levels.” “So, my liver’s okay?”

“These enzymes are normally confined to the liver cells and would only be found in large amounts in the blood if your liver was damaged. So these results indicate that there is no liver damage; that’s good. But I am concerned that there is tenderness in the upper left quadrant of your abdomen ... sorry, around your stomach,” the doctor smiled at Frank and Stacey.

“As I explained before, a jaundiced appearance is often produced by a buildup of bilirubin in the blood and your results confirm this (Table 3).”

Table 3 – The Level of Bilirubin in Blood

“One more thing concerns me,” continued the doctor. “There is almost no urobilinogen or urobilin in your urine.”

“What are they?” asked Frank.

“Bacteria in your intestines change bilirubin to urobilinogen. This urobilinogen can be reabsorbed back into your body and some is converted to urobilin. These two molecules circulate in your blood and are excreted in your urine; it is the urobilin that produces the straw color of urine. The low level of these two molecules in your urine plus the high level of bilirubin in your blood and the pale color of your stools indicates to me that, for some reason, bilirubin is staying in your body instead of going into your intestines.”

Questions

1. Where is unconjugated bilirubin formed?
2. Is the level of unconjugated bilirubin in Frank’s blood within the normal range? 3. Where is conjugated bilirubin formed?
4. Is the level of conjugated bilirubin in Frank’s blood within the normal range?

5. Using Flow Chart 1, outline some possible reasons for the high level of conjugated bilirubin; remember Frank’s liver enzymes are normal.

6. Frank experienced tenderness in the upper left quadrant of his abdomen. Use the word list in Figure 1 to label the major organs in this area.

7. Consider your diagnosis for Frank’s high blood glucose levels. Which gland secretes insulin?

8. Which organs are involved in creating Frank’s jaundiced appearance?

9. Look at Figure 1 and determine whether this gland and these organs (answers to Questions 7 and 8) are connected in any way.

10. Can you think of a reason that would explain the high levels of glucose and conjugated bilirubin in Frank’s blood?

11. Would you like to make any adjustments to your diagnoses?

PLEASE DO ONLY THE "JOURNAL" SECTION. I ALREADY HAVE ANSWERS TO ALL THE OTHER ONES!!!

Beacon Signals Company maintains and repairs warning lights, such as those found on radio towers and lighthouses. Beacon Signals Company prepared the following end-ofperiod spreadsheet at December 31, 2019, fiscal year:

Required:

1. Prepare an income statement for the year ended December 31. If a net loss has been incurred, enter that amount as a negative number using a minus sign. Be sure to complete the statement heading. Use the list of Labels and Amount Descriptions for the correct wording of text items other than account names. You will not need to enter colons (:) on the income statement.

Score: 136/136

2. Prepare a statement of owner’s equity for the year ended December 31. No additional investments were made during the year. For those boxes in which you must enter subtracted or negative numbers use a minus sign. Be sure to complete the statement heading. Use the list of Labels and Amount Descriptions for the correct wording of text items.

Score: 54/54

3. Prepare a balance sheet as of December 31. Fixed assets must be entered in order according to account number. Be sure to complete the statement heading. Use the list of Labels and Amount Descriptions for the correct wording of text items other than account names. You will not need to enter colons (:) or the word "Less" on the balance sheet; they will automatically insert where necessary.

Score: 177/177

4. Based upon the end-of-period spreadsheet, journalize the closing entries. If you are unsure of account titles, see the chart of accounts.

Question not attempted.

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Score: 0/171

In three units of study, there will be application-focused cases due at the beginning of the class that will be provided by the instructor. These cases will be complex in nature and will require the application of course concepts to real-word business situations. Each case will have an associated rubric to highlight expectations. All submissions must be of professional quality and done in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or submitted as a PDF. Case: Investment Proposals for Ontario Coffee Home It is January 1, 2019. You are a Senior Analyst at Ontario Coffee Home (OCH), one of the leading coffee chains and wholesaler of coffee/bakery products in Ontario. The CEO of Ontario Coffee Home, Jerry Donovan, has reached out to you to draft a report to evaluate two investment proposals. Requirements 1. Identify which revenues and costs are relevant to your analysis, and which costs are irrelevant. Summarize all the information that will be required for each investment proposal, including describing the proposal and identifying the time horizon for each proposal evaluation. 2. Calculate the after-tax cash flows during the life of each of the projects. 3. Utilizing the after-tax cash flows from question 2, evaluate each investment proposal utilizing the following criteria (unless directed otherwise): a. Payback b. NPV 4. Clearly indicate whether any of the above criteria support each of the project proposals, and what the company should ultimately decide to do. Investment Proposals Jerry Donovan, CEO of OCH, wants you to evaluate two investment proposals that the company is considering: 1. The purchase of a coffee roaster plant in Cuba. 2. The re-development of coffee shops to accommodate the selling of frozen yogurt. Mr. Donovan reminds you that only relevant costs and revenues should be considered. “Relevant costs have to be occurring in the future,” explained Mr. Donovan. “And have to differ from the status quo. For example, if we choose to buy the roaster plant, it is only the incremental revenue and costs related to the purchase that should be considered. We also need to take into account the opportunity cost associated with the alternatives.” More details on each investment proposal are included below. Mr. Donovan wants you to recommend if OCH should invest in one, both, or none of the investment proposals. Required Return Mr. Donovan wants you to use 7% as the discount rate (i.e., the required return). Investment in Roasted Coffee Plant Mr. Donovan is considering purchasing a coffee plant in Cuba where labour is cheap and there are proximal coffee farms to help lower transportation costs. The acquisition price of the plant is $6M, which includes roasting equipment that originally cost $14M when it was purchased 8 years ago. Some of the equipment is on its last legs, so an additional $2M of equipment has to be purchased. The roaster plant currently has $2M of available tax shield left, excluding any tax shield related to the equipment to be purchased. The direct materials and direct labour used to manufacture these products are 8% and 7% of sales, respectively. The actual roasting processing costs are approximately 17% of sales. These costs as a percentage of sales are expected to remain consistent over the time horizon. The plant also requires two managers with fixed salaries of $50,000 each per year. Insurance for the plant and equipment is $40,000 per year. Other incremental manufacturing overhead costs (property taxes, maintenance, security, etc.) excluding depreciation are estimated to be $75,000 annually. Wages are expected to increase with inflation (estimated to be 2%) over the time period, while other fixed costs are expected to remain steady. Transportation variable costs (gas, variable overhead, etc.) are estimated to be 12% of revenue, and include transportation of raw materials to the roaster and finished products to the port for delivery to OCH coffeehouses. The roasted coffee plant is expected to produce 1.1M pounds of coffee for the first two years, with production dipping by 100,000 pounds per year after this due to lower productivity from the deteriorating equipment. Each pound of roasted coffee can be sold at $3.25 per pound (either to retail cafes, franchise cafes, or to wholesale partners), with the price expected to rise with inflation over time. Each pound of coffee can make 30 cups of coffee that can sell at an average retail price of $4.00 per cup. Mr. Donovan has stressed that the profitability of the plant base has to be looked at on a stand-alone basis, i.e., from the sales from the plant to buyers, not from retail cafés to customers. Mr. Donovan wants to see if the project will reach profitability after 5 years, as significant reinvestment will be needed after five years to keep the plant operational, so he wants you to evaluate the return on investment in that period using the investment criteria of payback period, NPV, and IRR. The following table will help in the calculations of the tax shield for the new equipment: Class CCA Rate Description 43 30% Machine and equipment to manufacture and process goods for sale Tax Shield Formula Assume no salvage value when calculating the tax shield, and that the half-year rule applies for Class 43. The tax rate Mr. Donovan wants you to utilize is 25%. When calculating the tax shield, the present value should be in the same period as the initial investment (Year 0), which also means that deprecation (i.e., CCA) should not be taken from the cash flows in subsequent years since their tax shelter effects are already accounted for in the tax shield. Redevelopment of Coffee Shops Mr. Donovan also wants you to evaluate the potential of developing several hundred stores into new store models with frozen yogurt services. Five hundred stores have been selected as candidates for development. It will cost $80,000 to convert each store, including modifications to refrigeration equipment, with these costs being capitalized with a 6% applicable CCA rate. The average modified coffee shop is expected to generate an additional $30,000 in after-tax cash flow every year. However, OCH is also estimated to lose about $15,000 in annual after-tax cash flow from these cafés due to yogurt sales cannibalizing existing coffee shops. In other words, some customers who normally would have purchased coffee would instead purchase yogurt. The five hundred stores have average annual rent of $36,000 each. Mr. Donovan wants you to evaluate the profitability of this investment after a seven-year period using the investment criteria of NPV.

Foxy Investigative Services is an investigative services firm that is owned and operated by Shirley Vickers. On November 30, 2018, the end of the fiscal year, the accountant for Foxy Investigative Services prepared an end-of-period spreadsheet, a part of which follows:

LabelsCurrent assetsCurrent liabilitiesExpensesFor the Year Ended November 30, 2018November 30, 2018Property, plant, and equipmentRevenuesAmount DescriptionsChange in retained earningsDividendsNet incomeNet lossRetained earnings, December 1, 2017Retained earnings, November 30, 2018Total assetsTotal current assetsTotal expensesTotal liabilitiesTotal liabilities and stockholders’ equityTotal property, plant, and equipmentTotal revenuesTotal stockholders’ equity

1A. Prepare an income statement for the year ended November 30, 2018. If a net loss has been incurred, enter that amount as a negative number using a minus sign. Be sure to complete the statement heading. Use the list of Labels and Amount Descriptions for the correct wording of text items other than account names. You will not need to enter colons (:) on the income statement. Refer to the Chart of Accounts for exact wording of account titles.

1B. Prepare a retained earnings statement for the year ended November 30, 2018. If a net loss is incurred or dividends were paid, enter that amount as a negative number using a minus sign. Be sure to complete the statement heading. Refer to the Chart of Accounts for exact wording of account titles. Refer to the lists of Labels and Amount Descriptions for exact wording of the answer choices for text entries other than account names.

1C. Prepare a balance sheet as of November 30, 2018. Fixed assets must be entered in order according to account number. Be sure to complete the statement heading. You will not need to enter colons (:) or the word "Less" on the balance sheet; they will automatically insert where necessary. Refer to the Chart of Accounts for exact wording of account titles. Refer to the lists of Labels and Amount Descriptions for exact wording of the answer choices for text entries other than account names. For those boxes in which you must enter subtracted or negative numbers use a minus sign.

2. Based upon the end-of-period spreadsheet, journalize the closing entries. Refer to the Chart of Accounts for exact wording of account titles.

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3. If Retained Earnings had instead decreased $46,000 after the closing entries were posted, and the dividends remained the same, what would have been the amount of net income or net loss? If required, use a minus sign to indicate a net loss.