**Only need the bold answered

Implement the Athlete, Swimmer, Runner, and AthleteRoster classes below. Each class must be in separate file. Draw an UML diagram with the inheritance relationship of the classes.

1. The Athlete class
a. All class variables of the Athlete class must be private.

b.is a class with a single constructor: Athlete(String lName, String fName, int birthYear, int birthMonth, int birthDay, char gender). All arguments of the constructor should be stored as class variables. There should only be getter methods for first and last name variables. There should be no getters or setters for birthYear, birthMonth, birthDay.

c. Getter and setter methods for the gender of the athlete. The method setGender accepts a character and store it as a class variable. Characters 'm', 'M' denotes male, 'f' or 'F' denotes male or female. Any other char will be treated as undeclared. The method getGender return either the word "male" or "female" or “undeclared”.

4. The method computeAge() takes no arguments and returns the athletes computed age (as of today's date) as a string of the form "X years, Y months and Z days". Hint: Use the LocalDate and Period classes.

   i. e.g. "21 years, 2 months and 3 days". ii. e.g. "21 years and 3 days".

   iii. e.g. "21 years and 2 months". iv. e.g. "21 years".

   v. e.g. "2 months and 3 days".

5. The method public long daysSinceBirth() takes no arguments and returns a long which is the number of days since the athlete’s date of birth to the current day. Hint: Use the LocalDate and ChronoUnit classes.

6. The toString method returns a string comprised of the results ofgetFname, getLName and computeAge. E.g.

   i. “Bunny Bugs is 19 years and 1 day old”

7. The equals method returns true if the name and date of birth of this athlete and the compared other athlete are the same, otherwise return false.

2. The Swimmer class
a. All class variables of the Swimmer class must be private.

2. inherits from the Athlete class and has a single constructor,

   Swimmer(String lName, String fName, int birthYear, int birthMonth, int birthDay, char gender, String team). There should be a class variable for team. There should be a getter method for team.

3. The Swimmer class stores swim events for the swimmer. There should be a class variable for events. A swimmer participates in one or more of these events. The addEvent method is oveloadedand either adds a single event for the swimmer public boolean addEvent(String singleEvent) or adds a group of events for the swimmer public boolean addEvent(ArrayList multiEvents). Each event is of type String. Duplicate events are not stored and return false if duplicate found.

4. There should be a getter method that returns the class variable events.

5. The overridden toString method returns a string comprised of the concatenation of the parent’s toString return plus " and is a swimmer for team: XXXXX in the following events: YYYYY; ZZZZZZ." E.g.

   i. “Missy Franklin is 24 years and 4 months old and is a swimmer for team: Colorado Stars. She participates in the following events: [100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 50m backstroke]”

3. The Runner class
a. All class variables of the Runner class must be private.

2. inherits from the Athlete class and has a single constructor,

   Runner(String lName, String fName, int birthYear, int birthMonth, int birthDay, char gender, String country). There should be a class variable for country. There should be a getter method for country.

3. The Runner class stores race events for the runner. There should be a class variable for events. Each event is a Distance. The list of valid events is given below:
   M100, M200, M400, M3000, M5000, M10000. A runner participates inone or more of these events. The addEvent method is oveloadedand either adds a single event for the runner public boolean addEvent(String singleEvent) or adds a group of events for the runner public boolean addEvent(ArrayList multiEvents). Each event is of type String. Duplicate events are not stored and return false if duplicate found.

4. There should be a getter method that returns the class variable events.

5. The toString method returns a String in the form: " AAA BBBB is XX years, YY months and ZZ days. He is a citizen of CCCCCCC and is a DDDDDDDD who participates in these events: [MJ00, MK00, ML00]”. If she does not participate in M3000 or M5000 or M10000 then she is a sprinter. If she does not participate in M100 or M200 or M400 then she is a long-distance runner. Otherwise she is a super athlete. E.g.

   i. “Bunny Bugs is 19 years and 1 day old. His is a citizen of USA and is a long-distance runner who participates in these events: [M10000]”

4. The AthleteRoster class
a. All class variables of the AthleteRoster class must be private.

2. Does not inherits from the Athlete class. The AthleteRoster class has a single constructor, AthleteRoster(String semster, int year). There should be class variables for semester and year. There should be getter methods for semester and year.

3. The AthleteRoster class has only one method for adding Athlete to the roster, by using the boolean addAthlete(Athlete a)method. The method returns true if the athlete was added successfully, it returns false if the athlete object already exists in the roster and therefore was not added.

4. Your AthleteRoster class will have only one class level data structure, an ArrayList, for storing athlete objects.

5. The String allAthletesOrderedByLastName() method returns a string object with of all the names of the athletes (Swimmers, Runners, etc.) in ascending order of last names(a-z).

6. The String allAthletesOrderedByAge() method returns a string object with of all the names of the athletes (Swimmers, Runners, etc.) in descending order of age(100-0).

7. The String allRunnersOrderedByNumberOfEvents() method returns a string object with of all the names of the Runners only in ascending order of number of events they participate in (0-100).

Complete the code before the due date. Submission of the completed eclipse project is via github link posted on the class page. Add your UML drawing to the github repo. ________________________________________________________________________ Example output:

__________Example from AthleteDriver shown below

Gender is undeclared
Gender is female
Gender is male
ComputeAge method says 19 years and 4 days
First name is : Duck

DaysSinceBirth method says 6943 days Last name is : Daffy
Output of our toString correct?:
Duck Daffy is 19 years and 4 days old =======================================

Did we add M10000 successfully?: true
Did we unsuccessfully try to add M10000 again?: false
Did we successfully add multiple events?: true
Did we unsuccessfully try to add multiple events?: false
How many events does Bugs participate in?: 3
Gender is male
Output of our toString correct?:
Bunny Bugs is 19 years and 3 days old. His is a citizen of USA and is a super athlete who participates in these events: [M10000, M100, M3000] =======================================

The article is after the questions

The July 6, 2011, edition of the Wall Street Journal Online includes an article by Michael Rapoport entitled “U.S. Firms Clash Over Accounting Rules.” The article discusses why some U.S. companies favored adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) while other companies opposed it.

Instructions

Read the article and answer the following questions.

(a) The articles says that the switch to IFRS tends to be favored by “larger companies, big accounting firms, and rule makers.” What reasons are given for favoring the switch?

(b) What two reasons are given by many smaller companies that oppose the switch?

(c) What criticism of IFRS is raised with regard to regulated companies?

(d) Explain what is meant by “condorsement.”

Ford Motor Co. has a special room for it.

It isn't a new hybrid car. The auto maker is preparing for a possible switch by U.S. companies to a new set of accounting rules already used in most of the rest of the world.

Ford supports the move to International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, saying the company would save money by simplifying and standardizing its accounting across all 138 countries where Ford operates.

Charts, posters and other details about how Ford would make the switch fill the company's "IFRS Energy Room," a converted conference room at the company's headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. "For two days, we were thinking of it as the IFRS 'war room,"' says Susan Callahan, Ford's manager of global accounting policies, "but we couldn't think of who we were at war with."

The answer: companies like Hallador Energy Co., a small Denver coal-mining company that doesn't do business outside the U.S. and opposes moving to the international standards.

"We didn't join the metric system when everybody else did," says W. Anderson Bishop, Hallador's chief financial officer. U.S. accounting rules are "the gold standard, and why would we want to lower our standards just to make the rest of the world happy?"

The clash between big and small companies is likely to come up at a discussion session Thursday at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington.

U.S. and global rule makers already have worked for years to eliminate many of the biggest differences between IFRS and the U.S.'s generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The SEC is expected to decide by year end whether to require U.S. companies to shift to IFRS altogether.

If U.S. companies are required by the SEC to move to IFRS, which wouldn't happen until at least 2015, some numbers on their financial statements will have to be calculated differently. (For example, a widely used method to value inventory under GAAP isn't allowed under IFRS.) Accounting could become simpler and more flexible, since IFRS is based on guiding principles rather than GAAP's detailed rules.

Larger companies, big accounting firms and top rule makers favor the switch. They contend that global unity would save companies money by consolidating their bookkeeping and make it easier to raise capital around the world. Investors would have less trouble comparing companies based in different countries, and global securities-law enforcement would improve, supporters say.

"It puts everybody on the same language and gives everybody a chance to coalesce along the same standards," said Joel Osnoss, Deloitte & Touche LLP's global IFRS leader for clients and markets. "The quality of financial reporting is going to improve globally."

But some smaller U.S. companies complain that the change will be a costly headache. Estimates for how much the move would cost vary. James Barlow, chief financial officer of drug company Allergan Inc. and an opponent of IFRS, estimates the change could cost companies as much as 1% of revenues.

Smaller companies also are less likely to have operations outside the U.S., or to have aspirations to expand or raise money globally.

"We don't see why the current reporting framework is insufficient," says Jim Lynch, chief financial officer of SJW Corp., a water utility in San Jose, Calif. IFRS lacks the specific rules GAAP has to deal with regulated companies like utilities, he adds.

Shannon Greene, finance chief of Tandy Leather Factory Inc., says the leather-products maker in Fort Worth, Texas, "won't get any benefit whatsoever" from switching to IFRS, though she accepts it as "one of those necessary evils." Once more small firms find out about the potential change, "you're going to see an outcry."

Given the sluggish economy and the far-off nature of the change, some companies have paid little attention to the debate. "I'm not only the CFO, but I'm also the 'OFO': the only financial officer," says Stephen Kuchen, chief financial officer at PacificHealth Laboratories, a Matawan, N.J., nutrition-technology company. "I'm not really thinking about 2016. I'm thinking about making payroll next week and making sure we have a sound business plan."

Not all small companies are opposed to IFRS. For instance, Cuisine Solutions Inc., an Alexandria, Va., maker of prepared gourmet foods, has a subsidiary in France, so standardized accounting would help the company, says Ron Zilkowski, its finance chief. Mr. Zilkowski and Ms. Greene are scheduled to speak at the SEC on Thursday.

SEC officials are concerned about IFRS's potential impact as well. "There are immediate questions when you talk to smaller companies as to whether they have the same benefits," SEC Chief Accountant James Kroeker said. Some of them also think the costs of a switch can't be scaled to their company's size, he said, so the expense would be a greater burden on them than on large companies.

There might be a compromise. Under an idea dubbed "condorsement"--a combination of "convergence" and "endorsement"--floated by the SEC, U.S. companies would stay under GAAP but efforts to move GAAP closer to IFRS would continue. At the same time, the Financial Accounting Standards Board would consider absorbing new IFRS rules into GAAP, based on whether each rule is in the best interest of U.S. investors and financial markets. The SEC says such a method would help align rules, while keeping down the costs of an accounting change.

One way or another, the U.S. needs to adopt the global accounting standards in IFRS or else "the whole idea of having one single global market starts to fall apart," says David Tweedie, who stepped down last week as chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board.

Write to Michael Rapoport at [email protected]

Credit: By Michael Rapoport

Word count: 946

(c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

Each question refers to the same initial data. Treat each Part individually. Ignore income taxes. Assume no beginning or ending inventories. Unless stated otherwise, all calculations and income statements should be based on a one-month period. Calculations and backup should be completed and submitted in Excel. Use proper Contribution Income Statement formatting – example below. Analysis can either be typed into cells in Excel (formatted to be easily legible) or typed into a text box in Excel. One Excel file is to be submitted for this case study. No additional files (Word documents or otherwise) will be accepted or graded.

Contribution Margin Format Example:

Volume                                                                  XX

Sales                                                                       XX

Variable Costs (Listed)                    XX

Variable Costs (Total)                      XX

Contribution Margin                       XX

Fixed Costs (Listed)     XX

Fixed Costs (Total)                           XX

Operating Income                           XX

Data for all questions:

Stuckie produces white school glue. Their glue bottles are primarily sold at department stores across the country. The cost of manufacturing and marketing their glue, at their normal factory volume of 20,000,000 bottles of glue per month, is shown in the table below. Stuckie sells their glue bottles for $1.50 each. Stuckie is making a small profit, but they would prefer to increase their Operating Income.

Hint: Fixed costs are shown on a per-unit basis in the table based on normal volume. However, fixed costs as a total do not change when volume changes, so you will need to determine total fixed costs first.

                                                                                                    Per Unit                         Per Unit

Unit Manufacturing Costs:

                    Variable Materials                           $0.30

                    Variable Labor                                                      $0.35

                    Variable Overhead                          $0.10

                    Fixed Overhead                                                   $0.25

Total Unit Manufacturing Costs:                                                             $1.00

Unit Marketing Costs:

                    Variable Marketing Costs               $.05

                    Fixed Marketing Costs                    $.20

Total Unit Marketing Costs:                                                                                         $.025

Questions:

1. Stuckie wants to understand their basic starting financial data.

1. What is their monthly fixed cost, variable cost per bottle of glue, and contribution margin per bottle of glue? Show your calculations for each.
2. Prepare a one-month Contribution Margin Income Statement for the company using the given financial data at their normal factory volume. Include line items for each type of cost as well as subtotals for the variable and fixed costs.
3. What is the break-even point in units? (Show your calculations.)
4. What is the break-even point in sales dollars? (Show your calculations.)
5. Using a one-month Contribution Margin Income Statement, verify that your calculated break-even volume results in Operating Income of Zero. (Prepare the entire Contribution Margin statement at the break-even level.)
6. An office supply chain has offered to purchase 10,000,000 bottles of glue (one time in one month) if the sales price was lowered to $1.25 per bottle for that one-time sale. (This specific sale is all or nothing – they will not purchase less than 10,000,000 bottles). Stuckie’s maximum capacity is 25,000,000 units, and this special sale would not impact the sales price of Stuckie’s normal sales to their usual customer base.
7. Prepare a monthly contribution margin income statement to show what would happen if Stuckie’s accepted the special sale to the office store chain and didn’t sell any other glue that month.
8. Prepare a monthly contribution margin income statement to show what would happen if Stuckie’s accepted the special sale to the office store chain and produced at maximum capacity to sell as much glue as possible to their normal customers.
9. Compare Stuckie’s normal contribution margin income statement (from question 1) to the options available through the office supply chain (2A & 2B). Should Stuckie’s accept the specific sale from the office supply chain? Why or why not?

Question 3:

Slime-making is a current fad, and this is creating a demand for larger bottles of glue. Stuckie’s would like to offer larger bottles of glue to their customers (to support slime making). In order to have a second bottle size option, Stuckie’s would need to invest in a new bottling line. This would increase fixed overhead costs by $4,000,000 per month. All variable costs (materials, labor, overhead & marketing) would increase 5X (500%) because of the bigger bottles and additional glue put into each bottle. Market research estimates that 5,000,000 of the larger bottles of glue could be sold per month.

A) If Stuckie’s ONLY sells these new, larger bottles of glue, what is the minimum sales price per bottle they could accept and still have the same operating income (as question 1)? Show your results in a contribution margin income statement.

B) If Stuckie’s can sell the larger bottles of glue for $10 each, what is the break-even point in units for the larger bottles of glue? (Show your calculation.)

C) If Stuckie’s can sell the larger bottles of glue for $10 each, what is the break-even point in sales dollars for the larger bottles of glue? (Show your calculation.)

D) If the slime-making fad goes away, and Stuckie’s needs to go back to selling only the small bottles of glue, what would be their maximum net operating income (based on maximum capacity and the additional factory investment)? Show your results in a contribution margin income statement.

Question 4:

Stuckie’s is thinking of cutting costs by switching to a different material supplier. Their variable material costs would decrease by 50% (only variable material costs – not all variable costs). The quality of the ingredients is lower, so Stuckie’s estimates that their additional fixed scrap costs related to the ingredient quality would be $1,000,000 per month. They would not change the pricing of their glue bottles.

Note: Use the initial data provided for all questions. Ignore the special sale and larger bottle data from Parts 2 & 3.

A) Prepare a revised monthly Contribution Margin Income Statement to include the revenues, costs and profits of using the different raw material (ingredient) supplier. (At normal volume.)

B) What is the break-even point in units? (Show your calculations.)

C) What is the break-even point in sales dollars? (Show your calculations.)

D) If their sales end up decreasing because of the change in quality, how much of a reduction in sales (dollars and units) could Stuckie’s handle and still keep their net operating income the same as before the supplier change? Show your data in a Contribution Margin Income Statement.

E) What are the potential impacts – both Qualitative and Quantitative – of the material supplier change? If you had to make the decision of whether to switch suppliers or not, what would you do? Why?

Assume you have recently been hired as a new manager of EyeTech Company, an innovative company that sells specialized eye care treatment equipment to Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, clinics, and hospitals. Over the course of your first year, you will face 4 challenges as set forth below: 1. March 2. June 3. September 4. December. Respond to each and every challenge one at a time with insights you have gained from your study of the material presented in modules 1 through 5.

You must use at least 2 different resources (the textbook can be one of the resources) to support each of your responses.  

All of the resources you use for each response must be cited as specific references in accordance with APA formatting requirements . To assist your efforts, access the link to APA Formatting by clicking onto the Course Syllabus tab in the Course Menu, and then scroll down to APA Formatting.

Place your references used for each specific challenge at the end of your response to each specific challenge.  Do not include a separate reference page at the end of all of your work.

1.March

The company’s finance department has recently concluded some research regarding the elasticity of demand for the company’s primary products. The results show that the company’s primary products now face an elastic demand that is likely to continue for many months.  

1. Explain in detail the basic meaning of elastic demand, and then explain in detail the basic meaning of inelastic demand.

2a. Next, based on the information provided by the company’s finance department, set forth whether you will recommend to the company CEO either a price increase or price decrease of your primary products, and explain why. Note that one or the other must be chosen because the prices must either be increased or decreased. Keeping the current prices is Not an option.

2b. Also set forth what is likely to happen if the CEO ignores your advice and does the opposite of what you recommend, and explain why.

2. June

As manager, you have decided that it's time for some price discrimination to benefit EyeTech Company. There are typically three different "degrees" of price discrimination to choose from: First Degree, Second Degree, and Third Degree.

1. Explain in detail the basic meaning of First Degree Price Discrimination, Second Degree Price
Discrimination, and Third Degree Price Discrimination.

2. Assume that each degree (including the typically impractical first degree form) can be successfully
implemented by EyeTech Company. Select the degree of price discrimination you would recommend
for EyeTech Company that you believe will be the most successful in improving sales, and explain
why. (Note that you can only select one specific degree. Do not select more than one degree or a
combination of degrees.)  

3. September

Assume the year is 2025. The CEO and Board of Directors of EyeTech Company have decided to expand the company's operations into a foreign country, and they have narrowed it down to three countries to choose from: Freedonia, Verpaly, and New Bazoga. Data collected regarding the three countries for the past three years is as follows (note that bil = billions in US dollars):

Freedonia Verpaly   New Bazoga

Years   2022   2023   2024 2022   2023   2024 2022   2023   2024

GDP 20 bil 22 bil 23 bil 15 bil 18 bil 20 bil   17 bil 14 bil 16 bil

Unemployment 7% 7% 6% 9% 8% 9% 5% 5% 4%

Inflation 3% 4% 5% 2% 3% 2% 5% 6% 3%

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The company now calls on you as the business manager to analyze the data and provide recommendations to the board regarding the three countries. Be sure to take into account the changes from one year to the next in your analysis to avoid looking only at the data from 2024 and making your recommendations based on that year alone.

1. Based only on GDP, identify the country you would recommend be chosen by the board, and explain why.

2. Based only on Unemployment, identify the country you would recommend be chosen by the board, and explain why.

3. Based only on Inflation, identify the country you would recommend be chosen by the board, and explain why.

4. Lastly, based on all of the data, which country would you recommend be chosen by the board, and explain why.

4. December

The word has gotten out that EyeTech Company and other companies selling similar products are quite successful, so many groups of wealthy investors are in the process of putting together more companies to compete directly against EyeTech Company and others. Because of the additional competition, you are tasked with coming up with several strategies to help EyeTech Company maintain its competitive advantages.

1. With respect to pricing, you have three basic choices: lower the prices, raise the prices, or maintain current prices. Explain the pros and cons of each option in the face of the new competition.

2. How would you approach any of your customers that have been consistent buyers of EyeTech Company's products over many years, but they advise you that they like what the newcomers are offering, and they are also offering to sell their products at lower prices that EyeTech Company cannot match? What would you do to try to keep the customers loyal to EyeTech Company?

3. You soon discover that the new competition is offering equipment that is more advanced than EyeTech Company's equipment. Two options present themselves to you: A. Immediately invest in and offer the same quality of equipment to your buyers so you can compete more equally with the new competition, or B. Invest the same amount of money into researching even more advanced equipment to more than likely enjoy a competitive advantage over all of your competitors. However, this will take some two to three years to develop and offer on the market, plus the costs will be significant and could diminish your overall profits for many years. Also note that if you go with option A, the investment cost would be such that EyeTech Company will not be in a position to develop new equipment for at least 4 years.

Select the option you believe will work best for EyeTech Company, and explain why you believe that option is the best one. Then explain why you believe the option you selected is a better option than the option you did not select.

Please read the following article: Whole Foods_ Walmart, Costco Steal Grow:

Over much of the past 30 years, Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey enjoyed wild success selling organic groceries to the masses. That brought media buzz, fast growth, and high profit margins to his grocery chain. It's also attracted imitators. Now, with the likes of Kroger and Wal-Mart Stores muscling into everything from organic milk to sustainably raised salmon, Mackey finds himself fending off challenges from bigger rivals intent on eating Whole Foods' lunch. Just how well the competition is doing became clear on May 6 when Whole Foods reported that sales growth at stores open more than 57 weeks had slowed to 3.6 percent in the most recent quarter, well off the 5.3 percent gain forecast by analysts. Mackey also announced a plan to revive growth by starting a lowerpriced chain aimed at millennials next year. The disappointing growth and seeming change in strategy spooked investors, who trimmed almost 10 percent from Whole Foods' stock price on the day after the news. "Business has really slowed down compared to what it used to be," says Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones. "I fear they're being a little complacent about what's going on in the competitive environment." So far, Whole Foods has said only that its as-yet-unnamed chain for millennials will be smaller and more focused on value, convenience, and technology than traditional Whole Foods markets. They'll also be cheaper to open and build, Mackey said.

With the new stores, Whole Foods is targeting younger consumers who may not be as dazzled by its organic offerings, particularly when many of those items are increasingly available at their neighborhood grocery stores, says Virginia Morris, vice president for global consumer strategy at retailing consultant Daymon Worldwide. "It's not unique to millennials-they've grown up with it," she says. "There's no cachet."

The grocer was founded in 1978 in Austin, Texas, by Mackey and a former girlfriend. It expanded quickly in the 2000s-there were fewer than 200 Whole Foods stores in 2006, compared with more than 400 nowas it helped introduce items such as kale and quinoa to mainstream Americans. In its glory days, from 2000 to 2008, Whole Foods' average annual sales growth was 20.4 percent. Stores opened quickly, as the company snatched up cheap real estate that defunct retailers such as Circuit City had abandoned. Those gains slowed to 9.9 percent in the fiscal year ended Sept. 28, 2014, the smallest annual increase since 2009. Kroger and Fresh Market, which sells high-end produce, both logged better sales growth in their latest fiscal years. To hold on to shoppers, Whole Foods since 2014 has focused on lowering prices, especially on fresh fruits and vegetables. It also started running its first national ads, dubbing its campaign "Values matter." But it hasn't pulled back on the fancy amenities that have given it an image to match its prices. A new store in Boston, for instance, has a spa; many others offer valet parking. Sales of organic foods in the U.S. jumped 11.3 percent, to $39.1 billion, last year, according to the Organic Trade Association. The problem for Whole Foods is that an increasing share of those sales is going to mainstream players in the U.S. grocery store business, which logged $1.07 trillion in sales last year, according to Euromonitor International.

Kroger's natural and organic Simple Truth line has become a $1 billion-a-year brand. Costco Wholesale sells organic and grass-fed beef and organic coconut oil under its Kirkland Signature brand; its total organic sales were close to $3 billion last year. Even Wal-Mart is hawking everything from organic chia seeds to its Wild Oats Marketplace organic marinara sauce. There are about 3,800 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. that have at least 30 Wild Oats items, the company says, plus about 2,300 Walmarts have separate organic produce sections. "You've got a number of competitors out in the marketplace that are growing very rapidly -Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market, Trader Joe's, Fresh Market," says Bruce Cohen, senior partner at consulting firm Kurt Salmon. "It's caused Whole Foods to pause." Whole Foods concedes that rivals are encroaching on its sales gains. "Everybody is jumping kind of on the natural and organic food bandwagon, and that's really frankly due to our success," Mackey said on a May 6 analyst call. He and co-Chief Executive Officer Walter Robb declined to be interviewed for this story. Developing a grocer specifically for millennials could be a gamble. Americans under the age of 35 prefer natural and organic food, which often costs more, and seek more transparency on labels, according to recent Goldman Sachs research. Yet, while millennials tend to marry later and put off having kids, once they settle down and form families, their shopping habits aren't that unusual, says Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research retail analyst. "It's all delayed, but once those things happen, they spend just like their parents." That means the biggest determinants of where they will shop will be value, convenience, and selection.

Even if Mackey is right about a need for stores tailored to a younger demographic, his new tack could present problems, says Edward Jones's Yarbrough. The smaller locations will likely have lower profit margins and may cannibalize customers from Whole Foods' namesake chain, he says. Some analysts think Whole Foods may be taking aim at Trader Joe's with its new concept. That 440-store chain appeals to young consumers who have broad, global tastes and like to hunt for items they might not find elsewhere, Daymon's Morris says. But Trader Joe's benefits from a perception that its products are cheap-chic, while Whole Foods continues to grapple with its "Whole Paycheck" image. Says Morris: "That's something they really haven't been able to shake."

Write a 500 Word document. Please respond to the following questions:

After reading "Whole Foods or Walmart?" what is your opinion about whether they believe that the new concept from Whole Foods will work.

What are at least three ways that companies can develop innovative practices based on demographic trends?

How can companies make good decisions about what trends should impact their corporate strategies?

Please write queries based on the following requirements using labdata.sql. For each question, you are required to submit 1) SQL query code; 2) a screen shot of your query result. You should copy and paste your SQL query code to the word document instead of taking a screenshot of your code. Missing either part for each question will result in 0 for this question.

1. List all the order date and the number of orders placed on each date. Rank your results in descending order on the number of orders.
2. List the warehouse number and the average unit price for warehouses other than number 2.
3. List the stored part information for SG parts stored in warehouse 2 or 3.
4. List the part number and part description for each part with letter D (or d) in the part_description. Rank your results in ascending order on item class and then descending order on units_on_hand.
5. List the average unit price among all the parts. Rename the column as AVG_UNIT_PRICE
6. List the part number and part description for each part with nine characters or ten characters in the part_description. Rank your results in ascending order on part number.
7. Find the item classes and the number of parts under each class. Only show those classes with at least 3 types of parts.
8. List the stored part information for SG parts or parts with more than 60 units stored in warehouse 3.
9. List the number of different part stored in each warehouse, only include those warehouse with at most 3 parts.

labdata.)

create table sales_rep (
slsrep_number number(5) constraint pk_sales_rep primary key,
srlast       varchar2(8),
srfirst       varchar2(7),
street       varchar2(13),
city       varchar2(7),
state       varchar2(2),
zip_code   number(5),
total_commission   number(7,2),
commission_rate       number(3,2));

insert into sales_rep values(3, 'Jones', 'Mary', '123 Main', 'Grant', 'MI', 42919, 2150, .05);
insert into sales_rep values(4, 'Morton', 'Tom', '300 College', 'Flint', 'MI', 49227, 2075, .06);
insert into sales_rep values(6, 'Smith', 'William', '102 Raymond', 'Ada', 'MI', 49441, 4912.5, .07);
insert into sales_rep values(12, 'Diaz', 'Miguel', '419 Harper', 'Lansing', 'MI', 49224, 2150, .05);

create table customer
   (c_number number(3) not null,
   clast varchar2(8),
   cfirst varchar2(7),
   street varchar2(13),
   city varchar2(7),
   state varchar2(2),
   zip_code number(5),
   balance number(7,2),
   credit_limit number(4),
   slsrep_number number(3),
constraint customer_pk primary key (c_number),
constraint fk1_customer foreign key (slsrep_number) references sales_rep(slsrep_number));

insert into customer values
(124, 'Adams', 'Sally', '418 Oak', 'Lansing', 'MI', 49224, 818.75, 1000, 3);

insert into customer values
(256, 'Samuels', 'Ann', '215 Pete', 'Grant', 'MI', 49219, 21.5, 1500, 6);

insert into customer values
(311, 'Charles', 'Don', '48 College', 'Ira', 'MI', 49034, 825.75, 1000, 12);

insert into customer values
(315, 'Daniels', 'Tom', '914 Cherry', 'Kent', 'MI', 48391, 770.75, 750, 6);

insert into customer values
(405, 'Williams', 'Al', '519 Watson', 'Grant', 'MI', 49219, 402.75, 1500, 12);

insert into customer values
(412, 'Adams', 'Sally', '16 Elm', 'Lansing', 'MI', 49224, 1817.75, 2000, 3);

insert into customer (c_number, clast, cfirst, street, city, state, zip_code, balance, credit_limit) values
(522, 'Nelson', 'Mary', '108 Pine', 'Ada', 'MI', 49441, 98.75, 1500);

insert into customer values
(567, 'Dinh', 'Tran', '808 Ridge', 'Harper', 'MI', 48421, 402.40, 750, 6);

insert into customer values
(587, 'Galvez', 'Mara', '512 Pine', 'Ada', 'MI', 49441, 114.60, 1000, 6);

insert into customer values
(622, 'Martin', 'Dan', '419 Chip', 'Grant', 'MI', 49219, 1045.75, 1000, 3);

create table part (
part_number varchar2(5) constraint pk_part primary key,
part_description varchar2(12),
units_on_hand number,
item_class char(2),
warehouse_number number,
unit_price number(7,2));

insert into part
values ('AX12', 'Iron', 104, 'HW', 3, 24.95);

insert into part
values ('AZ52', 'Dartboard', 20, 'SG', 2, 12.95);

insert into part
values ('BA74', 'Basketball', 40, 'SG', 1, 29.95);

insert into part
values ('BH22', 'Cornpopper', 95, 'HW', 3, 24.95);

insert into part
values ('BT04', 'Gas Grill', 11, 'AP', 2, 149.99);

insert into part
values ('BZ66', 'Washer', 52, 'AP', 3, 399.99);

insert into part
values ('CA14', 'Griddle', 78, 'HW', 3, 39.99);

insert into part
values ('CB03', 'Bike', 44, 'SG', 1, 299.99);

insert into part
values ('CX11', 'Blender', 112, 'HW', 3, 22.95);

insert into part
values ('CZ81', 'Treadmill', 68, 'SG', 2, 349.95);

create table orders (
order_number number(5) constraint pk_orders primary key,
order_date date,
c_number number(3) constraint fk1_orders references customer(c_number));

insert into orders values (12489, '02-AUG-2013', 124);

insert into orders values (12491, '02-AUG-2013', 311);

insert into orders values (12494, '04-AUG-2013', 315);

insert into orders values (12495, '04-AUG-2013', 256);

insert into orders values (12498, '05-AUG-2013', 522);

insert into orders values (12500, '05-AUG-2013', 124);

insert into orders values (12504, '05-AUG-2013', 522);
create table order_line (
order_number number(5),
part_number varchar2(5),
number_ordered number,
quoted_price number(6,2),
constraint pk_order_line primary key (order_number, part_number),
constraint fk1_order_line foreign key (order_number) references orders(order_number),
constraint fk2_order_line foreign key (part_number) references part(part_number));

insert into order_line values (12489, 'AX12', 11, 21.95);
insert into order_line values (12491, 'BT04', 1, 149.99);
insert into order_line values (12491, 'BZ66', 1, 399.99);
insert into order_line values (12494, 'CB03', 4, 279.99);
insert into order_line values (12495, 'CX11', 2, 22.95);
insert into order_line values (12498, 'AZ52', 2, 12.95);
insert into order_line values (12498, 'BA74', 4, 24.95);
insert into order_line values (12500, 'BT04', 3, 149.99);
insert into order_line values (12504, 'CZ81', 2, 325.99);

Walmart, America’s largest retailer had the market’s second largest debt issuance in the U.S. in 2019, selling $16 billion in 30 year bonds. The funds were to help finance the purchase of Flipkart, India’s largest online seller. Thanks to Walmart’s high credit rating, the bonds were classified by Moody’s (one of the top bond rating agencies) as Aa2, or very highly rated. The bond sale was managed by a syndicate of investment banks, including Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., HSBC Holdings Plc and Wells Fargo & Co.

In this problem, you will be provided with publicly available data on Walmart and other economic data. Certain assumptions have been made about flotation costs in order to expand the analysis. Using the given data and assumptions, answer each of the questions below. If you prefer to do the analysis in Excel, that is fine. You will need to submit your Excel file along with this word file. Both files must have your last name included in the file names (several students incorrectly submitted only the original file, with no work shown). I strongly suggest you download this file and make a copy with your name and PA2 file name. Your Excel file must be clear and easy to follow (also with your name and PA2 in the file name). Final answers must be clearly labeled, and all backup work shown. All solutions must be in the correct order.

Data for Walmart as of April 2019

Basic “starting point” data:

You are to calculate each of the following based on the data provided above.

Show your inputs and/or calculations below (add space as necessary, make it very clear how you arrived at your final answers above)

Calculate the cost of equity:

The growth rate (assumed constant) for dividends can be calculated two different ways, 1) Calculate “g” using historic or projected trends in dividends per share or 2) Calculating “g” from ROE and reinvestment in the firm:   g = ROE * (1-payout ratio). Read the following questions and clearly answer the question as asked, using the appropriate estimation method for the growth rate.

5. What is the 3 year growth rate (2020-2023) of expected dividends?

Calculate and describe how you arrived at your answer (what were the inputs).

6. What is the 4 year growth rate (2015-2019) of actual dividends?

Calculate and describe how you arrived at your answer (what were the inputs).

7. DISCUSS: Do either of these values seem appropriate? If so, which one and why?

I expect a few sentences that discuss issues you see with using the dividend discount model in this situation. Your answer should reference what you see for the two different values you have just calculated.

Now, what about calculating g from ROE and reinvestment in the firm, where g = ROE*(1-payout ratio)? You have net income and book value of equity trends, from this, I calculated ROE (NI/Book value of common equity) and that is provided in the table above. The firm’s dividend payout ratio trends are also provided above.

8. What are the difficulties in estimating the "constant" growth rate for Walmart using the firm's ROE and payout ratio? [g = ROE*(1-payout ratio]

I expect a discussion of specific input values and issues here.

[Discuss issues here, add more space as needed]

9. Using the CAPM equation for the required cost of capital, r = rf + β(market risk premium), what is the required cost of equity (r_e)?

Calculate and describe how you arrived at your answer (what were the inputs).

Based on the issues with using the dividend discount model to estimate “g”, we will proceed from here using the estimated CAPM cost of equity.

Calculate the cost of debt

The cost of debt, on a pre-tax basis, is the yield on a firm's bonds. Walmart has at least 50 long-term bonds, the weighted average yield on these bonds is 3.2%. On the other hand, a simplified cost of debt can be calculated as the interest expenses divided by two year average of book value of debt. For Walmart, the book and market value of debt is nearly identical. This estimated cost of debt is 4.49%.

For our purposes, we will take the average, and use 3.85% as the pre-tax cost of debt (preliminary)

Now that we have the average pre-tax cost of debt, we need to account for the underwriter spread. We are simplifying from flotation costs calculated for equity. The adjusted pre-tax cost of debt should be estimated rate (from above)/(1-UW spread). Estimated pre-tax cost after accounting for underwriter spread and other flotation costs (the total of 1.5%). We calculate this adjusted pre-tax cost of debt as: original pre-tax estimate/(1-flotation cost %)

10. What is the adjusted pre-tax cost of debt (r_d)? [show your work below]

Weighted average cost of capital

11. Weighted average cost of capital =

1. Be sure to show your inputs in your WACC above and be sure to adjust for taxes as appropriate.
2. Discuss: Is this weighted average cost of capital a “good” hurdle rate to use for all new Walmart projects?

.

please provide 3-5 questions with answers from the article below

Since the early days of Google, people throughout the company have ques- tioned the value of managers. That skepticism stems from a highly techno- cratic culture. As one software engineer, Eric Flatt, puts it, “We are a company built by engi- neers for engineers.” And most engineers, not just those at Google, want to spend their time designing and debugging, not communicating with bosses or supervising other workers’ progress. In their hearts they’ve long believed that management is more de- structive than beneficial, a distraction from “real work” and tangible, goal-directed tasks.

A few years into the company’s life, found- ers Larry Page and Sergey Brin actually wondered whether Google needed any managers at all. In 2002 they experimented with a completely flat organiza- tion, eliminating engineering managers in an effort to break down barriers to rapid idea development and to replicate the collegial environment they’d enjoyed in graduate school. That experiment lasted only a few months: They relented when too many people went directly to Page with questions about

expense reports, interpersonal conflicts, and other nitty-gritty issues. And as the company grew, the founders soon realized that managers contributed in many other, important ways—for instance, by com- municating strategy, helping employees prioritize projects, facilitating collaboration, supporting career development, and ensuring that processes and sys- tems aligned with company goals.

Google now has some layers but not as many as you might expect in an organization with more than 37,000 employees: just 5,000 managers, 1,000 direc- tors, and 100 vice presidents. It’s not uncommon to find engineering managers with 30 direct reports. Flatt says that’s by design, to prevent micromanag- ing. “There is only so much you can meddle when you have 30 people on your team, so you have to fo- cus on creating the best environment for engineers to make things happen,” he notes. Google gives its rank and file room to make decisions and innovate. Along with that freedom comes a greater respect for techni- cal expertise, skillful problem solving, and good ideas than for titles and formal authority. Given the overall indifference to pecking order, anyone making a case

for change at the company needs to provide compel- ling logic and rich supporting data. Seldom do em- ployees accept top-down directives without question.

Google downplays hierarchy and emphasizes the power of the individual in its recruitment efforts, as well, to achieve the right cultural fit. Using a rigor- ous, data-driven hiring process, the company goes to great lengths to attract young, ambitious self- starters and original thinkers. It screens candidates’ re?sume?s for markers that indicate potential to excel there—especially general cognitive ability. People who make that first cut are then carefully assessed for initiative, flexibility, collaborative spirit, evi- dence of being well-rounded, and other factors that make a candidate “Googley.”

So here’s the challenge Google faced: If your highly skilled, handpicked hires don’t value manage- ment, how can you run the place effectively? How do you turn doubters into believers, persuading them to spend time managing others? As it turns out, by applying the same analytical rigor and tools that you used to hire them in the first place—and that they set such store by in their own work. You use data to test your assumptions about management’s merits and then make your case.

Analyzing the Soft Stuff

To understand how Google set out to prove man- agers’ worth, let’s go back to 2006, when Page and Brin brought in Laszlo Bock to head up the human resources function—appropriately called people operations, or people ops. From the start, people ops managed performance reviews, which included annual 360-degree assessments. It also helped con- duct and interpret the Googlegeist employee survey on career development goals, perks, benefits, and company culture. A year later, with that foundation in place, Bock hired Prasad Setty from Capital One to lead a people analytics group. He challenged Setty to approach HR with the same empirical discipline Google applied to its business operations.

Setty took him at his word, recruiting several PhDs with serious research chops. This new team was committed to leading organizational change.

“I didn’t want our group to be simply a reporting house,” Setty recalls. “Organizations can get bogged down in all that data. Instead, I wanted us to be hypothesis-driven and help solve company prob- lems and questions with data.”

People analytics then pulled together a small team to tackle issues relating to employee well-being and productivity. In early 2009 it presented its ini- tial set of research questions to Setty. One question stood out, because it had come up again and again since the company’s founding: Do managers matter?

To find the answer, Google launched Project Oxygen, a multiyear research initiative. It has since grown into a comprehensive program that measures key management behaviors and cultivates them through communication and training. By November 2012, employees had widely adopted the program— and the company had shown statistically significant improvements in multiple areas of managerial effec- tiveness and performance.

Google is one of several companies that are ap- plying analytics in new ways. Until recently, organi- zations used data-driven decision making mainly in product development, marketing, and pricing. But these days, Google, Procter & Gamble, Harrah’s, and others take that same approach in addressing human resources needs. (See “Competing on Talent Analyt- ics,” by Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne Harris, and Jeremy Shapiro, HBR October 2010.)

Unfortunately, scholars haven’t done enough to help these organizations understand and improve day-to-day management practice. Compared with leadership, managing remains understudied and undertaught—largely because it’s so difficult to describe, precisely and concretely, what managers actually do. We often say that they get things done through other people, yet we don’t usually spell out how in any detail. Project Oxygen, in contrast, was designed to offer granular, hands-on guidance. It didn’t just identify desirable management traits in the abstract; it pinpointed specific, measurable be- haviors that brought those traits to life.

That’s why Google employees let go of their skep- ticism and got with the program. Project Oxygen mir- rored their decision-making criteria, respected their need for rigorous analysis, and made it a priority to measure impact. Data-driven cultures, Google dis- covered, respond well to data-driven change.

“Frankly speaking, Jeff, I didn’t think we would stand a chance in winning this $20 million program. I was really surprised when they said that they’d like to accept our bid and begin negotiations. As Chief contract administrator, you will head up the negotiation team, “remarked Gus Bell, vice president and general manager of Cory Electric. “You have two weeks to prepare your data and line up your team. I want to see you when you’re ready to go”. Jeff Stokes was chief contract negotiator for Cory Electric, a $250- million-a year electrical components manufacturer serving virtually every major U.S industry. Cory Electric had a well-established matrix structure that had withstood fifteen years of testing. Job casting standards were well established, but did include some “fat” upon the discretion of the functional manager. Two weeks later, Jeff met with Gus Bell to discuss the negotiation process. Gus Bell: “Have you selected an appropriate team? You had better make sure that you’re covered on all sides” Jeff: “There will be four, plus myself, at the negotiating table; the programme manager, the chief engineer who developed the engineering labour packages; the chief manufacturing engineer who developed the production labour package; and a pricing specialist who has been on the proposal since the kick-off meeting. We have a strong team and should be able to handle any questions” Gus Bell: “Okay, I’II take your word for it. I have my own checklist for contract negotiations. I want you to come back with a guaranteed fee of $1.6 million for our stockholders. Have you worked out the possible situations based on the negotiated costs?” Jeff: “Yes! Our minimum position is $20 million plus an 8 percent profit. Of course, this profit percentage will vary depending on the negotiated cost. We can bid the programme at $15 million cost; that’s $5 million below our target cost and still book a 1.6 million profit by overrunning the cost-plus-fee contract. Here is a list of the possible cases. See Exhibit one below. Jeff: “I’ve read over all terms and conditions, and so have all the project office personnel as well as the key functional managers. The only major item is that the customer wants us to qualify some few vendors as sources for raw material procurement. We have included in the package the cost of qualifying two new raw material suppliers” Gus Bell: “Where are the weak points in our proposal? I’m sure we have some” Jeff: “Last month, the customer sent in a finding team to go over all of our labour justifications. The impression that I get from our people is that we’re covered all the way round. The only major problem might be where we’ll be performing on our learning curve. We put into the proposal 45 percent learning curve efficiency. The customer has indicated that we should be up around 50 to 55 percent efficiency based on our previous contracts with him. Unfortunately, those contracts the customer referred to were four years old. Several of the employees who worked on those programs have left the company. Others are assigned to on-going projects here at Cory. I estimate that we could put together about 10 percent of people we used previously. That learning curve percentage will be a big point for disagreements. We finished off the previous programs with the customer at 35 percent learning curve position. I don’t see how they can expect us to be smarter, given these circumstances.” Gus Bell: “If that’s the only weakness, then we’re in good shape. It sounds like we have a fool proof audit trail. That’s good! What’s your negotiation sequence going to be? Jeff: “I’d like to negotiate the bottom line only, but that’s a dream. We’ll probably negotiate the raw materials, the man-hours and the learning curve, the overhead rate, and finally the profit percentage. Hopefully, we can do it in that order.” Gus Bell: “Do you think that we’ll be able to negotiate a cost above our minimum position?” Jeff: “Our proposal was $22.2 million. I don’t foresee any problem that will prevent us from coming out ahead of the minimum position. The 5 percent change in learning curve efficiency amounts to approximately $ 1 million. We should be well covered. “The first move will be up to them. I expect that they’ll come in with an offer of $ 18 to $19 million. Using the binary chop procedure, that’ll give us our guaranteed minimum position. Gus Bell: “Do you know the guys who you’ll be negotiating with?” Jeff: “Yes, I’ve dealt with them before. The last time, the negotiations took three days. I think we both got what we wanted. I expect this one to go just smoothly” Gus Bell: “Okay, Jeff. I’m convinced we’re prepared for negotiations. Have a good trip” The negotiations began at 9:00 A .M on Monday morning. The customer countered the original proposal of $22.2 million with an offer of $15 million. After six solid hours of arguments, Jeff and his team adjourned. Jeff immediately called Gus Bell at Cory Electric. Jeff: “Their counteroffer to our bid is absurd. They’ve asked us to make a counteroffer to their offer. We can’t do that. The instant we give them a counter-offer, we are in fact giving credibility to their absurd bid. Now, they’re claiming that, if we don’t give them a counteroffer, then we’re not bargaining in good faith. I think we’re in trouble” Gus Bell: “Has the customer done their homework to justify their bid?” Jeff: “Yes, very well”. Tomorrow we’re going to discuss every element of the proposal, task by task. Unless something drastically changes in their position within the next day or two, contract negotiations will probably take up to a month” Gus Bell: “Perhaps this is one program that should be negotiated at the top levels of management. Find out if the person that you’re negotiating with reports to a vice president and general manager, as you do. If not, break off contract negotiations until the customer gives us someone at your level. We’ll negotiate this at my level, if necessary.”

For the case study above, Create a PERT schedule with the key activities for the $20 million contract negotiation project. There should be between 6 to 10 activities identified from the case study. Additional relevant activities may be included. Create an AON network diagram and find the critical path using slack once estimated activity time is established.

Frankly speaking, Jeff, I didn’t think we would stand a chance in winning this $20 million program. I was really surprised when they said that they’d like to accept our bid and begin negotiations. As Chief contract administrator, you will head up the negotiation team, “remarked Gus Bell, vice president and general manager of Cory Electric. “You have two weeks to prepare your data and line up your team. I want to see you when you’re ready to go”. Jeff Stokes was chief contract negotiator for Cory Electric, a $250- million-a year electrical components manufacturer serving virtually every major U.S industry. Cory Electric had a well-established matrix structure that had withstood fifteen years of testing. Job casting standards were well established, but did include some “fat” upon the discretion of the functional manager.

Two weeks later, Jeff met with Gus Bell to discuss the negotiation process.

Gus Bell: “Have you selected an appropriate team? You had better make sure that you’re covered on all sides”

Jeff: “There will be four, plus myself, at the negotiating table; the programme manager, the chief engineer who developed the engineering labour packages; the chief manufacturing engineer who developed the production labour package; and a pricing specialist who has been on the proposal since the kick-off meeting. We have a strong team and should be able to handle any questions”.

Jeff: “Yes! Our minimum position is $20 million plus an 8 percent profit. Of course, this profit percentage will vary depending on the negotiated cost. We can bid the programme at $15 million cost; that’s $5 million below our target cost and still book a 1.6 million profit by overrunning the cost-plus-fee contract. Here is a list of the possible cases. See Exhibit one below

Jeff: “I’ve read over all terms and conditions, and so have all the project office personnel as well as the key functional managers. The only major item is that the customer wants us to qualify some few vendors as sources for raw material procurement. We have included in the package the cost of qualifying two new raw material suppliers”

Gus Bell: “Where are the weak points in our proposal? I’m sure we have some”

Jeff: “Last month, the customer sent in a finding team to go over all of our labour justifications. The impression that I get from our people is that we’re covered all the way round. The only major problem might be where we’ll be performing on our learning curve. We put into the proposal 45 percent learning curve efficiency. The customer has indicated that we should be up around 50 to 55 percent efficiency based on our previous contracts with him. Unfortunately, those contracts the customer referred to were four years old. Several of the employees who worked on those programs have left the company. Others are assigned to on-going projects here at Cory. I estimate that we could put together about 10 percent of people we used previously. That learning curve percentage will be a big point for disagreements. We finished off the previous programs with the customer at 35 percent learning curve position. I don’t see how they can expect us to be smarter, given these circumstances.”

Gus Bell: “If that’s the only weakness, then we’re in good shape. It sounds like we have a fool proof audit trail. That’s good! What’s your negotiation sequence going to be?

Jeff: “I’d like to negotiate the bottom line only, but that’s a dream. We’ll probably negotiate the raw materials, the man-hours and the learning curve, the overhead rate, and finally the profit percentage. Hopefully, we can do it in that order.”

Gus Bell: “Do you think that we’ll be able to negotiate a cost above our minimum position?”

Jeff: “Our proposal was $22.2 million. I don’t foresee any problem that will prevent us from coming out ahead of the minimum position. The 5 percent change in learning curve efficiency amounts to approximately $ 1 million. We should be well covered.

“The first move will be up to them. I expect that they’ll come in with an offer of $ 18 to $19 million. Using the binary chop procedure, that’ll give us our guaranteed minimum position.

Gus Bell: “Do you know the guys who you’ll be negotiating with?”

Jeff: “Yes, I’ve dealt with them before. The last time, the negotiations took three days. I think we both got what we wanted. I expect this one to go just smoothly”

Gus Bell: “Okay, Jeff. I’m convinced we’re prepared for negotiations. Have a good trip”

The negotiations began at 9:00 A .M on Monday morning. The customer countered the original proposal of $22.2 million with an offer of $15 million. After six solid hours of arguments, Jeff and his team adjourned. Jeff immediately called Gus Bell at Cory Electric.

Jeff: “Their counteroffer to our bid is absurd. They’ve asked us to make a counteroffer to their offer. We can’t do that. The instant we give them a counter-offer, we are in fact giving credibility to their absurd bid. Now, they’re claiming that, if we don’t give them a counteroffer, then we’re not bargaining in good faith. I think we’re in trouble”

Gus Bell: “Has the customer done their homework to justify their bid?”

Jeff: “Yes, very well”. Tomorrow we’re going to discuss every element of the proposal, task by task. Unless something drastically changes in their position within the next day or two, contract negotiations will probably take up to a month”

Gus Bell: “Perhaps this is one program that should be negotiated at the top levels of management. Find out if the person that you’re negotiating with reports to a vice president and general manager, as you do. If not, break off contract negotiations until the customer gives us someone at your level. We’ll negotiate this at my level, if necessary.”

Source: John Wiley & Sons Inc

Gus Bell: “Okay, I’II take your word for it. I have my own checklist for contract negotiations. I want you to come back with a guaranteed fee of $1.6 million for our stockholders. Have you worked out the possible situations based on the negotiated costs?”

Analyse the various types of Gantt charts Gus bell and Jeff can use to schedule preparations for the above negotiation.