Jeffery Smith founded Smith’s technology in 1994 in Melbourne, Australia, with $10,000 and a unique
vision of how technology should be designed, manufactured and sold. More than 5 million customers later
and with an annual IT budget of approximately $500 million per year, Smith has made an indelible mark
on the computer industry—and the world. The enterprise sells more than 1,000 apps every day to
customers in 120 countries and employs 40,000 people worldwide.

Covid has had a significant impact on the organisation where they have realise that a lot of their systems
across Australia (i.e. Sydney, Perth and Melbourne) are not integrated and therefore it is very difficult for
them to reconcile their accounts and inventory stocks using their Enterprise Resource Planning system
(ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) at the end of the every financial year. This year was worse
because their chief accountant could not travel to the other centres because of the Covid restrictions. As
the Chief Enterprise Architect, you have been hired to help their IT Strategy and Technology Department
to design a solution that would enable real-time updating of information across the three locations. You
would therefore have to map out future directions for the IT company, with a three-year roadmap which
involves investments in the tens of millions of dollars such as SAP ERP, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Data
Warehouse Systems and Business Intelligence Reporting Systems.

Discuss the business problems faced by Smith’s technology and is it a problem associated
with the lack of good enterprise architecture practice?

Federal Express (FedEx) was founded about 50 years ago. It handles on an average of 3 million package-tracking requests on a daily basis. To remain ahead of its competitors, FedEx strives on customer service by keeping a comprehensive website, FedEx.com. It increases customer service and reduces costs. For example, each request for information which can be retrieved from the website rather than by the call centre help FedEx to save an estimated $1.87. The costs for FedEx have been reduced from more than $1.36 billion per year to $21.6 million per year by customers using the website instead of the call centre calculating each package-tracking request costs Federal Express 3 cents.

Another know-how that improved its customer service is Ship Manager, an application installed on customers’ sites so users can determine shipping charges, weigh packages, and print shipping labels. Customers can also tie their invoices, billing, accounting and inventory systems to the application, Ship Manager.

Nevertheless, Federal Express still spend almost $326 million annually on its call centre to reduce customers’ annoyance when the website is down or when customers have difficulty using it. It uses CRM software called Clarify in its call centres to ensure customer service representatives’ job easier and to speed up response time.

Answer the following questions:

a)     What is the importance of technology to ensure high-quality customer service?

b)    Can you estimate Federal Express’ annual savings from using information technology?

c)     Can you give a few examples of information technologies used by Federal Express?

d)    What is the role of the application ‘Ship Manager’?

e)    Your overall observations and learning from the above case study.

Federal Express (FedEx) was founded about 50 years ago. It handles on an average of 3 million package-tracking requests on a daily basis. To remain ahead of its competitors, FedEx strives on customer service by keeping a comprehensive website, FedEx.com. It increases customer service and reduces costs. For example, each request for information which can be retrieved from the website rather than by the call centre help FedEx to save an estimated $1.87. The costs for FedEx have been reduced from more than $1.36 billion per year to $21.6 million per year by customers using the website instead of the call centre calculating each package-tracking request costs Federal Express 3 cents. Another know-how that improved its customer service is Ship Manager, an application installed on customers’ sites so users can determine shipping charges, weigh packages, and print shipping labels. Customers can also tie their invoices, billing, accounting and inventory systems to the application, Ship Manager. Nevertheless, Federal Express still spend almost $326 million annually on its call centre to reduce customers’ annoyance when the website is down or when customers have difficulty using it. It uses CRM software called Clarify in its call centres to ensure customer service representatives’ job easier and to speed up response time. Answer the following questions:

a) What is the importance of technology to ensure high-quality customer service?

b) Can you estimate Federal Express’ annual savings from using information technology?

c) Can you give a few examples of information technologies used by Federal Express?

d) What is the role of the application ‘Ship Manager’?

e) Your overall observations and learning from the above case study.

Founded in 2018, MGMT Crypto Inc. is a fledgling cryptocurrency exchange looking to make a big name for itself in the “blue ocean” sea of opportunities promised by this emerging technology. Cryptocurrency exchanges are websites where you can buy, sell or exchange cryptocurrencies for other digital currency or traditional currency like US dollars or Euros. Basically, an exchange is where buyers and sellers conduct their business.

“Crypto-currencies have the potential to transform fundamental aspects of industry and society and make a considerable difference to the activities of government bodies and policy-making. They are perhaps the truest form of digital economy technology that has yet emerged – sitting at the crossroads of technology, economics, social sciences and business – where cryptography has managed to disrupt our established practices and notions of trust, identity and value. “

Exchanges come in a few flavours and the company is exploring the following structures:-Trading Platforms – These are websites that connect buyers and sellers and take a fee from each transaction.Direct Trading – These platforms offer direct person to person trading where individuals from different countries can exchange currency. Direct trading exchanges don’t have a fixed market price, instead, each seller sets their own exchange rate.Brokers – These are websites that anyone can visit to buy cryptocurrencies at a price set by the broker. Cryptocurrency brokers are similar to foreign exchange dealers.

The company has rented traditional office space in a small building, but expects the world to know it from its website and online presence in all its various forms e.g. blogs and social media.

Whatever its final form, MGMT Crypto Inc. will be a user centric online service, and by positioning itself as the hub in an emerging infrastructure, hopes to become the de facto exchange for several cryptocurrencies.

You got a lucky break and have been hired as a management intern by the new start-up. You instantly realize you need to do some research, as words and phrases like cryptocurrency, blue ocean, exchange, ATH, block chain, bitcoin, satoshi, ethereum etc. mean nothing to you. Your boss soon presents you with some historical data as well as a point-in-time dataset on currency trades for a subset of the more than 1500 cryptocurrencies in existence. As a new management intern, you are tasked with analysing the provided information and reporting your findings and possible recommendations at an upcoming meeting.

Cybercrimes, security breaches, election hacks and advertising blacklisting have been in the news recently and these are of concern to the company Also, remember that surge in Oct 2017 (Power BI)? Well recently, there has also been much volatility in the market with huge volumes moving between “fiat” and crypto currencies. Many start-ups, like your employer, have been trying to position themselves to ride the next wave of expected growth.Your company wishes to be the one leading the pack! This requires them to anticipate the true demand but also to know which products and likely to fail, but more importantly they have to decide on the final business model, and safeguard their electronic assets!

Still glowing from the praises for your earlier analysis, you have been given a new enormous responsibility. You are to assume the role of a functioning manager in the company, and report some findings and possible recommendations at the upcoming meeting.

REQUIRED                                                                                

Management Reporting

You need to research/analyse the above business models (don’t over think it, just the highlights), propose one to implement and also how the company will organize itself to handle security.

You are attending a number of routine meetings that are conducted online. You are to post questions and response with information related to your analysis. Posts can be conversational among managers asking and responding to questions. There is no requirement for groups to meet outside of the course for this discussion, as it is expected that the meetings/posts will proceed in a manner similar to messaging with acorporate collaboration tool.

1: Introduce yourself Identifying your Management Level and your Functional Area and your proposed company structure

My Management Level and Functional Area and proposed company structureis: Tactical Manager,Accounting and Finance, investigating Direct Trading.

2. Discuss your business structure

From the perspective of your department and management level, describe your business structure.

Suggest ONE contributing factor that may make yours the preferred structure.

Request information from TWO other departments that could assist in your investigation. Please specify both the TYPE, and specific CONTENTS of the report you are requesting (Unit 3 types of output)

3: Discuss the security implications

From the perspective of your department and management level, discuss the implications of a security breach in the company’s infrastructure (all forms - human, technology etc.)

Suggest ONE reason why such a breach could occur.

Critique TWO post made by group mates from other departments

4: Create the process diagram

DESIGN and DRAW a high level “as-is” process diagram depicting how a trade would be made, under your proposed structure. The diagram should be for the model you are supporting and should show the bands, process flows, roles and/or cross functional interactions required.

5: Summarise and make Recommendations

Summarise the information shared thus far, and discuss TWO findings about your analysis from your management level that can be used to decide on the final company structure. Make TWO recommendations to prevent security breaches.

Please assist in answering questions 2 - 5. Due at 12:00 p.m today, so would appreciate a quick yet thorough answer. Thank you.

Ragan, Inc. was founded nineteen years ago by brother and sister Carrington and Genevieve Ragan. The

company manufactures and installs commercial heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) units. Ragan,

Inc. has experienced rapid growth because of a proprietary technology that increases the energy

efficiency of its units. The company is equally split between the two siblings. The original partnership

agreement between them gave each 500,000 shares of stock. The company has since gone public. At

that time, the siblings retained their shares and 1,000,000 shares of new stock were issued.

The firm anticipates needing to raise a large amount of capital ($10 million) in the coming year to

facilitate further expansion and are evaluating several financing options. The first option is to issue

zero-coupon bonds that mature in 20 years. Similar zero-coupon bonds currently have a YTM of 4.5%.

The second option is to issue 4% coupon bonds that mature in 20 years. Similar bonds have a YTM of

4%. The third option is to issue preferred stock with a fixed dividend of $0.85 per share. These

preferred stock would have a required return of 7.5%. The firm currently has no preferred stock

outstanding. The fourth option is to issue common stock.

The stock is currently trading on the market for $20 per share. The firm most recently paid a dividend

on common stock of $0.50 and plans to increase that dividend by 25% per year for the next five years.

After that, the firm will level off at the industry average of 5% per year, indefinitely. Carrington and

Genevieve estimate the required return on the stock to be 15%.

1. The firm already has some public bonds outstanding. Those bondholders may not be

comfortable with the idea of issuing new bonds. How might the firm reassure existing

bondholders?

2. What additional (qualitative) considerations must be made with respect to issuing preferred

stock? How might existing shareholders feel about this?

3. Are there any additional factors you believe should be considered? If so, what are they and how

might they impact your recommendation?

Federal Express (FedEx) was founded about 50 years ago. It handles on an average of 3 million package-tracking requests on a daily basis. To remain ahead of its competitors, FedEx strives on customer service by keeping a comprehensive website, FedEx.com. It increases customer service and reduces costs. For example, each request for information which can be retrieved from the website rather than by the call centre help FedEx to save an estimated $1.87. The costs for FedEx have been reduced from more than $1.36 billion per year to $21.6 million per year by customers using the website instead of the call centre calculating each package-tracking request costs Federal Express 3 cents. Another know-how that improved its customer service is Ship Manager, an application installed on customers’ sites so users can determine shipping charges, weigh packages, and print shipping labels. Customers can also tie their invoices, billing, accounting and inventory systems to the application, Ship Manager. Nevertheless, Federal Express still spend almost $326 million annually on its call centre to reduce customers’ annoyance when the website is down or when customers have difficulty using it. It uses CRM software called Clarify in its call centres to ensure customer service representatives’ job easier and to speed up response time. Answer the following questions: a) What is the importance of technology to ensure high-quality customer service? b) Can you estimate Federal Express’ annual savings from using information technology? c) Can you give a few examples of information technologies used by Federal Express? d) What is the role of the application ‘Ship Manager’? e) Your overall observations and learning from the above case study.

Federal Express (FedEx) was founded about 50 years ago. It handles on an average of 3 million package-tracking requests on a daily basis. To remain ahead of its competitors, FedEx strives on customer service by keeping a comprehensive website, FedEx.com. It increases customer service and reduces costs. For example, each request for information which can be retrieved from the website rather than by the call centre help FedEx to save an estimated $1.87. The costs for FedEx have been reduced from more than $1.36 billion per year to $21.6 million per year by customers using the website instead of the call centre calculating each package-tracking request costs Federal Express 3 cents.

Another know-how that improved its customer service is Ship Manager, an application installed on customers’ sites so users can determine shipping charges, weigh packages, and print shipping labels. Customers can also tie their invoices, billing, accounting and inventory systems to the application, Ship Manager.

Nevertheless, Federal Express still spend almost $326 million annually on its call centre to reduce customers’ annoyance when the website is down or when customers have difficulty using it. It uses CRM software called Clarify in its call centres to ensure customer service representatives’ job easier and to speed up response time.

Answer the following questions:

a)     What is the importance of technology to ensure high-quality customer service?

b)    Can you estimate Federal Express’ annual savings from using information technology?

c)     Can you give a few examples of information technologies used by Federal Express?

d)    What is the role of the application ‘Ship Manager’?

e)    Your overall observations and learning from the above case study.

Q-Cells exemplifies the successes and challenges of global importing and exporting. Founded in Germany in 1999, the company became the largest manufacturer of solar cells worldwide. By 2010, however, it was experiencing losses due, in part, to mistiming some of the entry strategies.

First, it is important to know that Germany is a high-cost manufacturing country compared to China or Southeast Asia. On the other hand, Germany is known for its engineering expertise. Q-Cells gambled that customers would be willing to pay a premium for German-made solar panels. The trouble was that solar cells aren’t that sophisticated or complex to manufacture, and Asian competitors were able to provide reliable products at 30 percent less cost than Q-Cells.

Q-Cells recognized the Asian cost advantage—not only are labour and utility costs lower in Asia, but so are the selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs. What’s more, governments like China provide significant tax breaks to attract solar companies to their countries. Therefore, Q-Cells opened a manufacturing plant in Malaysia. Once the Malaysian plant is fully ramped up, the costs to manufacture solar cells there will be 30 percent less than at the Q-Cells plant in Germany.

Then, Q-Cells entered into a joint venture with China-based Lightweight Devise Co. (LDC), in which Q-Cells used LDC silicon wafers to make its solar cells. The two companies also used each other’s respective expertise to market their products in China and Europe. Although the joint venture gave Q-Cells local knowledge of the Chinese market, it also locked Q-Cells into buying wafers from LDC. These wafers were priced higher than those Q-Cells could source on the spot market. As a result, Q-Cells was paying about 20 cents more for its wafers than competitors were paying. Thus, in the short term, the joint venture hurt Q-Cells. However, the company was able to renegotiate the price it would pay for LDC wafers.

To stay cost competitive, Q-Cells has decided to outsource its solar-panel production to contract manufacturer Flextronics International. Q-Cells’ competitors, Sun Power Corp. and BP’s solar unit, also have outsourced production to contract manufacturers. The outsourcing has not only saved manufacturing costs but also brought the products physically closer to the Asian market where the greatest demand is currently. This has reduced the costs of shipping, breakage, and inventory carrying.

Case Exercises:

1. Explain the framework that help an organization to choose a country-entry mode.

2. Do you think Q-Cells could have avoided its current financial troubles? How?

3. Do you see import or export opportunities for entrepreneurs in the solar industry?

4. What advice would you give small entrepreneurs when they try to enter foreign markets?

Ragan, Inc. was founded nineteen years ago by brother and sister Carrington and Genevieve Ragan. The company manufactures and installs commercial heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) units. Ragan, Inc. has experienced rapid growth because of a proprietary technology that increases the energy efficiency of its units. The company is equally split between the two siblings. The original partnership agreement between them gave each 500,000 shares of stock. The company has since gone public. At that time, the siblings retained their shares and 1,000,000 shares of new stock were issued.

The firm anticipates needing to raise a large amount of capital $10 million in the coming year to facilitate further expansion and are evaluating several financing options. The first option is to issue zero-coupon bonds that mature in 20 years. Similar zero-coupon bonds currently have a YTM of 4.5%. The second option is to issue 4% coupon bonds that mature in 20 years. Similar bonds have a YTM of 4%. The third option is to issue preferred stock with a fixed dividend of $0.85 per share. These preferred stock would have a required return of 7.5%. The firm currently has no preferred stock outstanding. The fourth option is to issue common stock.

The stock is currently trading on the market for $20 per share. The firm most recently paid a dividend on common stock of $0.50 and plans to increase that dividend by 25% per year for the next five years. After that, the firm will level off at the industry average of 5% per year, indefinitely. Carrington and Genevieve estimate the required return on the stock to be 15%.

1. What would the shares of preferred stock sell for and how many would they have to sell? How would this impact the firm’s dividend expenses going forward?

2. Based on the information about the common stock dividends, what should the value of the stock be today?

3. What do you think about the estimate of a 15% required return? What does the current stock price suggest about the required return?

Please show all steps. Thank You.