Read the Following Case Scenario:

A recent survey was taken among employees at Biotech Health and Life Products (Biotech). The results were alarming, as it appeared the leadership has been less effective than in the past. Some of the common complaints seemed to focus on the lack of vision, a breakdown in communication and a lack of connection with staff. You have read the results and as Vice President of Biotech, you completely agree with employees. Leadership is the cornerstone to success in any organization and to permit poor leadership can only spell trouble. It occurred to you that the place to start change was starring you in the face - the new management hires planned for production in Detroit and Anaheim. Mumbling to yourself “but what do I want them to look like?” you decide that you must write a memo to HR Director, Judy Janks to make sure the “right” description of a leader is asked for in the soon-to-be released job description. Scrambling around on the desk, you find the old job announcement so that you can make some changes. It reads, “Biotech is looking for experienced production managers who focus on keeping the production high and costs low. Manager must be able to motivate employees to keep production moving smoothly and efficiently. Must be someone who can handle a fast-paced environment, is driven and results-oriented. Goal oriented and policy adherence critical to succeed in the department.” Instructions: You will act as the Vice President of Biotech. Write a memorandum to the HR Director, Judy Janks that explains the need for a new job announcement for managers at Biotech. The memorandum will explain how the business environment has changed the view of the leader and defines the vision you have based on synthesizing the course material about leadership theory and definition of a leader in today’s business environment opposed to leaders hired in the past. In writing the memorandum, use the course material from week 1 and week 2 to support the reasoning and conclusions made. Answer the following:

Explain how the existing job announcement for new hires was effective in the past based on the theories and view of leadership through the 1990’s.

Explain why the leader of today would no longer fit the definition set out in the old announcement. Describe what a leader looks like today and what theories and leadership definition support this description. Memorandum Set Up Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document (no pdf files allowed) using 12-point font. A memo is left justified with no indentations of paragraphs. A memo is single-spaced with a double space between paragraphs to make the memo easy to read. In business, writing must be concise, easy to read and free of writing and grammatical errors. You are required to use in-text citations with an associated reference list. Use headings for each element. It is suggested that you set up the memo with all of the required headings and then fill in each section of the memo. Use a memo format: To: From: Date: Subject: Remember, you are sending this memo to the HR Director so this is a formal memo. Proof the memo carefully for typos, grammatical errors and ensure the memo conveys the points you are to address. Why? Because your work products is a reflection of who you are – it is your brand! A good brand can lead to future opportunities in an organization such as a promotion. Make sure the memo is audience appropriate, concise, coherent, readable, uses appropriate terminology, is professional, provides a factual tone (no opinion and no recommendations), and is visually appealing. Memorandum Requirements You are sending this memo to the HR Director, Judy Janks. Read the memo to ensure all required elements are present. You also need to use facts from the case scenario and course material to support the ideas and reasoning put forth. The language in the announcement has to be just right so that Biotech attracts the best candidates. Therefore, it is important to help Judy capture the essence of a leader at Biotech. Make suggestions about language that should appear in the job announcement that supports the definition and characteristics you derived for the leader of today. Provide an explanation so Judy knows why the specified language is important to convey the definition and characteristics of a leader; Make suggestions about language that would not be in the job announcement for this leader; Provide an explanation why the specific language should not be in the job announcement. Not just anything is acceptable so make sure to read the course material and make wise selections in creating this memo. The following items are required in writing the memo. Check off to ensure compliance to the following requirements. Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade. Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing). Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them. Students will not use direct quotation marks but will instead paraphrase. What this means is that you will put the ideas of an author or article into your own words rather than lifting directly from a source document. You may not use more than four consecutive words from a source document (including the case scenario) or change words in a passage as doing so would require direct quotation marks. Use a passage from a source document by putting into your own words (paraphrase) and attribute the passage to the source document. Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having to have quotation marks. Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contain a reference associated with each in-text citation.

ACCOUNTING 3220 CORPORATE FINANCIAL REPORTING 1 Spring 2018

Assignment #9 – Noncurrent Liabilities

This assignment is due at 9:00am Monday, April 30, 2018 regardless of your section. The assignment must be submitted electronically via D2L. DO NOT EMAIL ME YOUR HOMEWORK.

You may submit your homework in Excel, Word, or .pdf style (not .zip or other). Please format the pages for printing and clearly state all group members’ names and section numbers on the first page.

The assignment may be done in groups (ideally, not more than 3 people). You may work with students across sections if you prefer. However, each person must submit a copy of the homework through D2L to ensure submission is done properly.

The standard university Honor Code applies to this assignment. Other than the members of your group, you may not consult with any other person about this assignment.

Kraft Foods Inc. issued four tranches of notes in 2010 to finance its acquisition of Cadbury. The four types of notes were individually priced. Below you will find excerpts from their prospectuses and 8-K disclosure of material events. The Settlement Date is the date on which Kraft Foods Inc. received the proceeds from the note issue (some terms were modified for analytical simplicity). Questions for the assignment follow the excerpts.

Kraft Foods Inc.'s notes prospectus

Filed pursuant to Rule 433 Relating to Preliminary Prospectus Supplement dated February 3, 2010 to Prospectus Dated December 4, 2007 Registration Statement No. 333-147829

Pricing Term Sheet

$9,500,000,000
$1,000,000,000 2.625% Notes due 2013 (the “2013 Notes”) $1,750,000,000 4.125% Notes due 2016 (the “2016 Notes”) $3,750,000,000 5.375% Notes due 2020 (the “2020 Notes”) $3,000,000,000 6.500% Notes due 2040 (the “2040 Notes”)

Issuer:
Offering Format: Size:

Maturity:

Coupon:

Price to Public:

Interest Payment Dates:

Kraft Foods Inc. (“Kraft”)

SEC Registered

$1,000,000,000 of 2013 Notes $1,750,000,000 of 2016 Notes $3,750,000,000 of 2020 Notes $3,000,000,000 of 2040 Notes

2013 Notes: May 8, 2013
2016 Notes: February 9, 2016 2020 Notes: February 10, 2020 2040 Notes: February 9, 2040

2013 Notes: 2.625% 2016 Notes: 4.125% 2020 Notes: 5.375% 2040 Notes: 6.500% 2013 Notes: 99.731% 2016 Notes: 99.658% 2020 Notes: 99.176% 2040 Notes: 99.036%

2013 Notes: Semi-annually in arrears on May 8 and November 8, commencing on November 8, 2010

Settlement Date:

2016 Notes: Semi-annually in arrears on February 9 and August 9, commencing on August 9, 2010

2020 Notes: Semi-annually in arrears on February 10 and August 10, commencing on August 10, 2010

2040 Notes: Semi-annually in arrears on February 9 and August 9, commencing on August 9, 2010

May 8, 2010

Interest on the 2013 Notes is payable semiannually on May 8 and November 8, commencing November 8, 2010, to holders of record on the preceding April 23 and October 24. Interest on the 2016 Notes is payable semiannually on February 9 and August 9, commencing August 9, 2010, to holders of record on the preceding January 25 and July 25. Interest on the 2020 Notes is payable semiannually on February 10 and August 10, commencing August 10, 2010, to holders of record on the preceding January 26 and July 26. Interest on the 2040 Notes is payable semiannually on February 9 and August 9, commencing August 9, 2010, to holders of record on the preceding January 25 and July 25. Interest on the Notes will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months.

The 2013 Notes will mature on May 8, 2013. The 2016 Notes will mature on February 9, 2016. The 2020 Notes will mature on February 10, 2020. The 2040 Notes will mature on February 9, 2040.

Answer the following questions based on the prospectus of Kraft Foods Inc.'s bond issue. You can provide your answers in the spaces below or in a separate document.

1. Are the notes issued at a premium or discount? How do you know?

2. What is the coupon interest rate on the “2013 Notes”?

3. What is the market rate of interest rate (also known as effective interest rate) on the “2013 Notes”?

4. Show the journal entry for the “2013 Notes” on May 8, 2010.

5. Construct an amortization schedule that shows premium/discount amortization over the life of the “2013 Notes” (similar to the examples in class).

6. Show the journal entries for the “2013 Notes” on November 8, 2010.

7. Assume the fiscal year ends on December 31, 2010. Show the appropriate adjusting entries related to the “2013 Notes” (round interest for the period to the nearest month for simplicity).

8. Show the entries on May 8, 2011 (related to the “2013 Notes”), assuming the financial statements were correct on December 31, 2010 (round interest for the period to the nearest month for simplicity).

9. Show the entries on November 8, 2011 (related to the “2013 Notes”).

10. Assume 60% of the “2013 Notes” are redeemed early on May 8, 2012 for $595,000,000 in cash. Provide all the journal entries required on this date related to the “2013 Notes,” assuming the financial statements were correct on December 31, 2011.

11. Does the early redemption affect the income statement? If so, what is the effect?

Description

The purpose of this challenge is to implement a circular doubly-linked list using a dummy node. This challenge simulates an operating system’s window manager.

Requirements

Write the following struct

struct Window { string appname; Window *next; Window *prev; };

Create a class called WindowManager. In this class, create a private variable Window * head. This will keep track of the location of the head node.

Create private variables Window * current, * dummy. current will keep track of the “current” program. Think of it as the program currently being used by the user in this simulated operating system. head and dummy will always paint to the dummy node. (You really could get by using just head or just dummy)

Add the following private function. This function will be used to dynamically create new nodes for the linked list.Window * create() { Window * newnode; try { newnode = new Window; } catch (bad_alloc) { newnode = NULL; } return newnode; } // USAGE: To create a new node, use as follows // Window * newnode = create();

Create a private function called void deallocate(). This function will traverse the entire list and delete each node. Remember to make a copy of head. Also, realize that if you delete the current node as you’re traversing, you may lose the reference to the next node. Make sure that the dummy node is also deleted.

Create a destructor which will call deallocate() and set head to NULL.

Create a default constructor which will instantiate a dummy node. Set head and dummy to point to this dummy node. Set the appname property of the dummy node to a blank string.

Create a public function bool start_app(string name). This function will create a new Window node and insert the new node to the left of the dummy node. (Remember that after adding the first node, this node’s next and prev will point to the dummy node. Also, next and prev of the dummy node will point to the first node. This only occurs with the addition of the first node). Set current to the node created in this function. (think of current as the last app launched by the user)

Create a public function Window * find_app(string name). This function will perform a traversal searching the queue for a node with appname equal to name. You can perform the traversal in any direction (going in the direction of next from the dummy node, or going in the direction of prev from the prev node). No matter which direction you choose to traverse to search for the node, you will either find a matching node, in which case you will return the address of that node, or you end up back at the dummy node without finding a match. If you traverse the entire queue without finding the matching node, the function should return a NULL. Remember to skip over the dummy node during any traversals.

Create a public function bool close_app(string name). This function calls find_app() to help find the app’s node. If a matching node is found, delete the node and take it out of the queue. If a matching node is found, return true. Otherwise, return false. Set current to the next node following the app that was just closed. Remember to skip over the dummy node during any traversals — current cannot point to the dummy node. If the queue is empty, then current is NULL.

Create a public function string get_current(). This function will return  appname of current. If current is NULL, it should return a blank string.

Create a public function string next(). This program advances current to the next app in the circular queue. Remember to skip the dummy node during the traversal. If the queue is empty, then current is NULL.

Create a public function string previous(). This program “advances” current to the previous app in the circular queue. Remember to skip the dummy node during the traversal. If the queue is empty, then current is NULL.

main() is given below. Use it exactly as is. Note that main uses the WindowManager class as an abstract data type (ADT). From the perspective of the object winman, it doesn’t even know or care that a linked-list is the mechanism that makes the circular queue work.

In main(),

Option 1 will prompt the user to enter a string, the app’s name. Call winman.start_app() to simulate running this app.

Option 2 will close the current running app

Option 3 will prompt the user to enter an app name. Use winman.close_app() to find the app, and then close it

After both option 2 and 3, show the name of the new current app by calling the get_current() function (If an app is closed, then the next app becomes the new current app as long as other apps are running).

Option 4 calls winman.next() and shows the current app

Option 5 calls winman.previous() and shows the current app

Option 0 exits your running program.

Sample main()

int main() { WindowManager winman; // simulate some apps running winman.start_app("Microsoft Word"); winman.start_app("Firefox"); winman.start_app("Halo"); winman.start_app("Calculator"); // at this point, Calculator is the last app launched // and should be the value of current in winman int action; do { cout << "1 - Launch new app" << endl; cout << "2 - Close current app" << endl; cout << "3 - Find app, then close it" << endl; cout << "4 - Go to next app" << endl; cout << "5 - Go to previous app" << endl; cout << "0 - Shutdown" << endl; cin >> action; // fill in the rest of the necessary code to perform // menu actions } while (action != 0); cout << "Shutting down..." << endl; return 0;}

Big Time Videos Inc. makes DVDs to sell to stores around the country. Top management meets on the first Tuesday of the month to evaluate the previous month’s performance. Prior to your arrival at the company the accounting department produced the following Static Budget Performance Report for the meeting.

The company had expected to sell 9,800 units but the actual results revealed that only 8,200 units were sold during the month. You notice right away that the actual sales price per unit was $21 and that was more that the budgeted sales price per unit. There were no changes in inventory levels.

You are the new financial consultant to the company, and you know that variable costs such as direct materials, direct labor, manufacturing overhead costs vary with the sales volume (units). Moreover, you know that fixed costs are expected to remain the same regardless of the sales volume but it is not likely that fixed costs can be estimated (budgeted) exactly so some differences can be expected.

At the beginning of the meeting the CEO of company blurts out “Operating Income so low…only $9,700”….then pointing to the favorable variable cost variances…..how in the world can there be so many favorable variances in the Static Budget Performance Report?” There is silence. More silence….then you hear it (you knew this was coming). “As our new financial consultant, what are your thoughts on the subject?”

Your reply….”Thank you for asking, the Static Budget Performance Report does not explain how much of the variances are a result of the difference in the sales PRICE per unit and COSTS per unit, nor does it explain how much of the variances are a result of the difference in the number of UNITS sold. To help explain the variances I will prepare a Flexible Budget Performance Report.

Your Plan:

1. Prepare a report that provides more information (prepare a flexible budget performance report for the
   actual number of units sold)…so you will need to complete the Flexible Budget column based on your
    knowledge of the behavior of variable cost and fixed cost. Then identify the variance caused by
    Price/Cost and the variance caused by the difference in the number of units sold. Complete your work
    using this Word document. After completing Flexible Budget Performance Report answer questions 2
    thru 7 below in the response space provided.

2. Identify the amount of Flexible Budget Variance, Sales Volume Variance and Static Budget Variance.
    Discuss the meaning/relevance of each.
    Response:

3. Answer the CEO’s question about the low operating income of $9,700….yet there are so many
    Favorable variances, including the Favorable Operating Income Variance of $10,355. How can that be?

    Response:

4. Which of the variances in the performance report should be investigated and why? What are the
   possible explanations for each variance (we don't have all of the underlying information but will want
    to discuss some of the possible reasons for Sales Revenue and Costs being higher or lower than
    expected (no exact perfect answer...just think logically about what may have happened).

    Response:

5. Based on your analysis, how would you rate the company’s performance? Why?
    Response:

6. To help explain what happened, provide a brief description of the information that the report provides
    including the basic difference between variable and fixed costs.
    Response:

7. You want to impress the CEO, so you want to go above and beyond what you were asked to do.
    Calculate the breakeven point in Sales Revenue in Dollars and Units and calculate the Sales Revenue in
    Dollars and Units that would be required for the company to make $20,000 (target profit). (chapter 20)
    Response:

Python Assignment

You will be writing an inventory system that is backed by JSON data and will be working with a starter file that contains a JSON string. The code you write will need to follow the following guidelines.

The what

You’re at work one day and your boss asks you about that fancy programming language you’ve been learning, Python. She asks you if you can use it to read JSON data from a supplier and build an inventory. “Of course!” you say. She tells you that your parts supplier, Midwest Widget Co, has sent the company JSON data that needs to be loaded and then checked against orders. You’ll need to load the JSON data, and then take input from a user to order new parts. If the part is not in stock, or the number of parts is greater than the available inventory, you need to alert the user and show them that its either out of stock or that there are less available than requested. Once the user is done entering in their order, you’ll need to package up their order in JSON format, since that’s what Midwestern Widget Co uses after all!

Specifics

The JSON data is comprised of a few nested dictionaries. In the top level, there is a key called “parts” that maps to a list that contains all the parts available for ordering. Each of those parts is also a key into the dictionary. That key maps to dictionary that has two values, quantity and price. The quantity maps to an integer with the number of parts available for order, the price maps to a float with the price of the part. A sample JSON object is provided below:

{
"parts":[

"widget",

"sprocket",

"thing-a-ma-bob"

],

"widget":{

"price":0.99,

"quantity":74

},

"sprocket":{

"price":3.99,

"quantity":123

},

"thing-a-ma-bob":{

"price":1.78,

"quantity":57

}

}

The strings in the list in parts are the keys for the rest of the data in the dictionary. Those keys map to separate dictionaries with the prices and quantities. The json string is provided in the code, it is called supplier_data.

The ordering system will work like this:

Prompt the user for input, and indicate they can enter in the word “quit” to quit. The user should enter in a part and then the quantity on two separate lines (so you’ll need two input statements). After both pieces of information have been entered in, check if the order is allowed or not, and display an error message with the appropriate information (part doesn’t exist, part exists but not enough quantity). If the order is valid, store it and continue. Once the user enters quit, print out an order summary showing the part, number ordered, the price per part and total per part with a grand total at the end. The order data MUST be stored in a dictionary. You must also allow the user to order a part more than once and validate that both orders are not exceeding the total amount available!

Sample Output

Your program should produce output that is very similar if not identical to this. Major deviations from the formatting will result in points lost. The error handling behavior should be the same.

Welcome to the parts ordering system, please enter in a part name, followed by a quantity

Parts for order are:

sprocket

gizmo

widget

dodad

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: blargh Error, part does not exist, try again
Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: quit

Your order
Total: $0
Thank you for using the parts ordering system!

And another run with an actual order

Welcome to the parts ordering system, please enter in a part name, followed by a quantity

Parts for order are:

sprocket

gizmo

widget

dodad

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: gizmo

Please enter in a quantity to order: 1000

Error, only 2 of gizmo are available!

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: gizmo

Please enter in a quantity to order: 1

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: sprocket

Please enter in a quantity to order: 15

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: widget

Please enter in a quantity to order: 1

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: quit

Your order
gizmo - 1 @ 7.98 = 7.98
sprocket - 15 @ 3.99 = 59.85
widget - 1 @ 14.32 = 14.32
Total: $82.15
Thank you for using the parts ordering system!

Another run with multiple orders for a single part

Welcome to the parts ordering system, please enter in a part name, followed by a quantity

Parts for order are:

sprocket

gizmo

widget

dodad

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: gizmo

Please enter in a quantity to order: 2

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: gizmo

Please enter in a quantity to order: 2

Error, only 0 of gizmo are available!

Please enter in a part name, or quit to exit: quit

Your order
gizmo - 2 @ 7.98 = 15.96
Total: $15.96
Thank you for using the parts ordering system!

Tips and Hints

1. Start on something small and get it working before moving on. Don’t try and tackle it all at once!

2. You’ll need to validate the input between inputs

3. You can use print() with no arguments to print out extra blank lines

4. A while loop is ideal for the main program loop

5. You’ll need to check if a part has already been ordered before checking if sufficient quantity is available. If it has been ordered, you’ll need to account for that when checking the inventory levels

6. supplier_data in the provided code is a JSON string. You need to convert it to a dict with json.loads

Good luck!

Sunburst Veggies is a vertically-integrated company which both grows[1] and processes organic vegetables. Their company-grown vegetables are canned and then sold wholesale to grocery stores. The company began their operations in San Marcos, Texas in the mid-1990s and the corporate headquarters remain there. Sunburst grows a wide variety of organic (non-GMO) vegetables in greenhouses, some of which cover more than 200 acres. The vegetables are shipped from manufacturing facilities near the greenhouses. This assures the vegetables are processed as quickly as possible after being picked which inspired the company’s marketing tag line: “fresh from the field.”

Consumer demand for organically-grown vegetables has increased tremendously since Sunburst began operations 10 years ago. Gross revenues have increased 500% since year 1. The firm now has five greenhouses and processing plants in locations near the following cities: Sacramento, CA; San Marcos, TX; Baton Rouge, LA; Montgomery, AL; and Jacksonville, FL. They employ nearly 600 people.

Potential Sites: Sunburst is at maximum capacity in all locations and must add another greenhouse and processing plant in order to continue their sales growth to new customers (and to assure they have no out-of-stock issues for existing customers). Both the greenhouse operations for growing the vegetables and the canning facility require large volumes of fresh water. It is essential to locate near an interstate highway because all shipments are shipped via semi-trucks.

Two sites are being considered near the towns of Gulfport, Mississippi and Little Rock, Arkansas. Because of extensive damage caused in Gulfport by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 (and more recently by Hurricane Harvey), the cost of real estate in that area is significantly lower than in Little Rock.

Estimated Operating Costs: Estimates of operating costs for the two locations are as follows:

                                                                                        Gulfport             Little Rock

         Life of greenhouse & processing plant                        50 years                  50 years

         Expected annual sales (# cases)                                   300,000                  300,000

         Selling price (average per case)                                         $90                         $90

         Variable costs (average per case)                                  $60.00                    $60.00

         Fixed Costs (annual):

       Salaries & fringe benefits (labor is higher in L.R.)   $1,300,000              $1,500,000

       Depreciation* (see calculations on pg. 2)                   $455,000                $485,000        

       Other fixed costs                                                      $655,000                $655,000

         Total Fixed Costs                                                  $2,410,000              $2,640,000

*Straight-line depreciation on buildings is over 50 years, based on the initial investment with -0- salvage. Equipment is depreciated using straight-line over 20 years with -0- salvage value. Land is not depreciated. Calculations have been simplified more than would be in business (only for use in this problem).

Estimated Capital Investment: Sunburst owns some used greenhouse equipment that they could transfer from one of their existing locations to either Gulfport or Little Rock. The book value of that equipment is $1,900,000 and requires some modifications up-front (cost of $300,000) to get it ready for use in either location. They already own some used manufacturing equipment that can be transferred to either new location; this has a book value of $1,000,000 (and, does not require any modification). Both types of equipment have been sitting idle (unused) for the past year. There is no other alternate use for the equipment.    The summary of estimated initial capital investment in each of the two locations follows:

                                                                               Gulfport                      Little Rock

         Land                                                            $4,000,000                       $7,500,000

         Greenhouse Buildings                                   $3,500,000                       $4,000,000

         Manufacturing Building                              $10,000,000                     $11,000,000

                    Sub-total for Buildings                     $13,500,000                     $15,000,000

         Greenhouse Equipment (used):

              Book value (transferred)                           $1,900,000                       $1,900,000

              Modifications (up-front)                              $300,000                         $300,000

         Manufacturing Equipment (used):

              Book Value (transferred)                          $1,000,000                       $1,000,000

         Other equipment (to be capitalized)                  $500,000                         $500,000

                    Sub-total for Equipment                     $3,700,000                       $3,700,000        

              Total                                                     $21,200,000                     $26,200,000

Depreciation Calculations (as shown in *total on previous page):

Gulfport Buildings              $13,500,000 / 50 years = $270,000  

Gulfport Equipment              $3,700,000 / 20 years = $185,000

                             Total Depreciation – Gulfport = $455,000

Little Rock Buildings                                                 $15,000,000 / 50 years = $300,000

Little Rock Equipment                                                 $3,700,000 / 20 years = $185,000

                                                                Total Depreciation – Little Rock = $485,000

Other Relevant Information:

Minimum desired rate of return is 11%.

All current locations are earning an average 14% return on sales.

Payback period for all prior capital investments has been not more than 3.75 years.

For simplicity, assume there are no income taxes.

REQUIREMENT #1 - QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS (MUST be in Excel & use Excel functionality for ALL calculations):

Prepare an Income Statement in the Contribution Margin format for each location.

Identify which of the items on the Income Statement are “relevant” for each location.

Calculate Breakeven Point (in Sales Dollars) for each location

REQUIREMENT #2 – RECOMMENDATION & QUALITATIVE FACTORS: (MUST be in Word and must use 1-inch margins on all sides and Times Roman 12-point font.)

Based on the quantitative analysis, which location would you recommend and why?

Would your recommendation change based on qualitative factors? These might include available workforce, logistical considerations, risk from weather events, potential impact of global warming. Students must do some research of their own to identify the difference in such factors for the two locations. Because qualitative factors cannot be quantified, how would you evaluate the importance of such non-financial items?

Do the qualitative factors impact your recommendation? If “yes,” in what way?

- Dont worry about excel file not being attached. I only need help with qualitative analysis.(#2 of the question).

Hooters, Inc.: A Macro-Marketing Evaluation

All economies must have a macro-marketing system. The economies may take many forms, but all must have some way of deciding what and how much is to be produced and distributed by whom, when, and for whom.

Our macro-marketing system is basically a market-directed economy. The key decisions are made fairly automatically and democratically, through the micro-level decisions made by individual producers and consumers. Together these individual decisions determine the macro-level decisions and provide direction for the whole economy.

Does our macro-marketing system work in an efficient and fair way that achieves our social objectives? This question is very subjective, and we usually analyze the performance of our marketing system in terms of how well it satisfies consumer needs, as consumers see them. But remember, not all consumers have the same needs!

The marketing concept suggests that a firm should try to satisfy the needs of some consumers (at a profit). But, what is "good" for some producers or consumers may not be "good" for society as a whole. This is the "micro-macro dilemma." It means that in running our macro-marketing system some compromises must be made to balance the needs of society and the needs of individual producers and consumers. Making these compromises and still protecting individual freedom of choice is not easy. This exercise will help you understand the difficulty of resolving micro-macro dilemmas.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case and answer the questions that follow.

Founded in 1983, Hooters of America, Inc. is the franchiser of over 455 locations spread throughout forty-four states in the United States and twenty-eight countries and territories worldwide. The company employs more than 25,000 people, of which 17,000 are Hooters Girls.

While often credited with popularizing the concept of "hot wings," Hooters is also known for the costumes of its female employees. According to the company's website, "The element of female sex appeal is prevalent in the restaurants, and the company believes the Hooters Girl is as socially acceptable as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, or a Radio City Rockette."

Over the years, the company has faced several sexual harassment lawsuits and in 1991, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission initiated an investigation into the hiring practices of the company. While the investigation was ultimately discontinued, many consumers argue that the company exploits beautiful women. The terms "demeaning" and "degrading" were used by members of the general public when CEO Coby Brooks went undercover in an episode of Undercover Boss. While those terms were disturbing to him, the arguments certainly were not new and, as the company website states, "To Hooters, the women's rights movement is important because it guarantees women have the right to choose their own careers, be it a Supreme Court Justice or Hooters Girl."

Yet, many persist in their perception that the company basically exists to take advantage of a woman's economic vulnerability and a man's stupidity. Since the airing of the Undercover Boss episode, some minor protests have occurred at the opening of new Hooters sites. In the extreme, some consumer groups have petitioned to have the store openings blocked. In a down economy, some see such protests as a problematic due the potential jobs that would be lost.

2.

value:
3.00 points

1-How does the "sex appeal" format of Hooters affect society's views of women?

A-Reflects existing social values in the short run

B-Does not reinforce these values in the long run

C-Focuses on unsubstantiated wants

D-Forces men to behave as dummies

E-Forms societal values which did not exist before

3.

value:
3.00 points

2-What parties would NOT be negatively affected by the successful blocking of a new store opening?

A-Hooter’s Girls

B-Hooter’s shareholders

C-Consumer groups

D-CEO Coby Brooks

E-Current customers

4.

value:
3.00 points

3-If Hooters of America attempted to completely redesign its brand based on the criticisms of some consumers to become a more wholesome, family-oriented business, what would be its best overall strategy?

A-It should rely on word-of-mouth and social media to show consumers how it has changed.

B-It should raise prices and make it harder for consumers to choose.

C-New advertising could suggest that consumers will not need to be manipulated into buying Hooters products.

D-Hooters would need to develop a new competitive advantage.

5.

value:
3.00 points

1-Sex appeal has a very strong influence in advertising and promotion. Critics of Hooter’s advertising likely believe which of the following statements?

A-Hooter’s advertising reduces economies of scale in marketing.

B-Hooters uses clever ads to manipulate men into buying its products.

C-Women are economically empowered through Hooters advertising.

D-Advertising lowers Hooter’s prices and thus harms society.

E-Hooter’s advertising has a positive effect on the economy.

6.

value:
3.00 points

6-Marketing systems are evaluated on the macro level for _______ and on the micro level for ________.

A-general profitability; how individual firms gain or lose profits

B-how consumer needs are satisfied; overall effect on society

C-overall effect on society; how consumer needs are satisfied

D-overall effect on the global market; limited effect on the U.S. market