I am a US chocolate importer who is importing Belgian chocolate from Belgium worth € 1 million and the amount is due in 360 days. I want to hedge my Belgian euro payables using a money market hedge and obtain the following quotes from my banker:

Spot rate is: $1.1000 – $ 1.1100 / €

The Belgium interest rates are:                  3.0 % - 3.4 % annually and

US interest rates are:                                   2.1 % – 2.5 % annually.

Using a money market hedge and bid-ask spreads, what are my $ payables in 360 days?

Martin, the director of HR at Austin Designs, is meeting with the career development team. The firm's CEO has decided that the company needs to invest the time and effort into improving the direction and development phases of the current career development program; however, development funds are limited. The CEO and most of the executive management team are self-made professionals who believe strongly in individual responsibility. The organizational structure of Austin Designs is very flat. The company has a wide variety of jobs but few levels of high responsibility. Feedback from employees suggests that they don't know when promotional opportunities are available. 1. Answer the following questions: A. What would be best directional tool for addressing the employees' complaint? Justify your answer.

After receiving your bachelor’s degree in personnel management, you were hired by a small but expanding life insurance company. Your first assignment is to develop a more efficient technique for the preliminary screening of applicants for sales positions. Since the firm employs only college graduates, you decide to work with information focusing on their performance during college. A random sample of 25 from the firm’s current sales force is selected and the following information is obtained:

Last year’s performance evaluation score

College grade point average (GPA)

Percent of total college expenses earned by the individual

Number of social organizations the individual belonged to

                                    Percent of       Number of

Performance               Expenses         Social

Score               GPA    Earned                        Organizations

43                    2.1       50                    2

47                    2.8       20                    5

53                    2.6       10                    3

56                    2.7       60                    1

57                    3.8       0                      0

64                    2.6       30                    2

68                    3.2       10                    1

68                    2.8       30                    2

74                    2.6       10                    2

75                    2.9       40                    1

77                    3.0       30                    0

78                    3.2       15                    1

81                    3.4       20                    2

83                    2.8       40                    3

87                    2.6       60                    5

88                    3.1       50                    0

89                    2.4       80                    4

90                    3.3       10                    2

91                    2.9       50                    6

92                    3.5       40                    1

93                    3.7       30                    2

94                    3.1       20                    5

95                    3.6       70                    1

96                    3.2       10                    4

97                    3.4       40                    0

On the basis of the data obtained, what recommendations can you make regarding the preliminary screening of applicants for sales positions?

Topic: Productivity cost and contingent market valuation.

Suppose the faith-based organization has three leaders: - a 52 year old, African American male physician in private practice who also holds a PhD; - a 29 year old Native American female lawyer also holds and MBA and who works for a large firm that specializes in medical malpractice claims; and - a 38 year old, Caucasian male with an MA in art history who works as cook at a local restaurant.

Suppose that each of them uses their free time to be a group leader at the faith- based organization. Each person spends three hours a week as a group leader.

Question: How might a researcher following a more traditional human capital approach put a value on each person’s time?

The starting salaries of individuals with an MBA degree are normally distributed with a mean of $90,000 and a standard deviation of $20,000. Suppose we randomly select 16 of these individuals with an MBA degree. What is the probability that the average starting salary for these individuals is at least $85,800?

1. 0.7995
2. 0.9131
3. 0.2005
4. -0.2611

HAIER’s foray into International Markets :

In the late 1990s, the Haier group (Haier) was the leader in the Chinese consumer appliances market (with a 39.7%, 50% and 37.1% market share in refrigerators, air-conditioners and washing machines respectively in December 1998). But deflation in the Chinese economy slowed sales.

ut deflation in the Chinese economy slowed sales growth from 50% in 1998 to around 30% in 1999. Haier decided to look for new markets. Since the US had a large demand for consumer appliances, Haier entered the US market in 1999. Analysts were doubtful about Haier's acceptability to American consumers, as there was a general perception in the US that Chinese goods were of low quality. Haier, however, was confident that with its product differentiation strategy it would be able to create a positive image for its products among the American public. In the early 2000s, the consumer appliances market in the US started hotting up as Haier entered the market. By 2009, Haier products were sold in 9 of the 10 top retail chains in the US.

With Wal-Mart agreeing to stock Haier products, many analysts believed that Haier would be able to shake up the US consumer appliances market. In 2009, Haier had a 6% market share in the US refrigerator market; it stated that it was aiming for a 15% market share by 2015.

The history of Haier dates back to 1984 when Ruimin Zhang (Zhang), a bureaucrat with the local government was asked to take charge of Qingdao General Refrigerator Factory, a state-owned enterprise that is manufacturing refrigerators for sale in China. When Zhang took over the management, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, with no funds to pay the salaries of its employees or to invest in new product development. When Zhang took charge of the company, he realized that the company did not look after the quality of its products; nor did it bother about customer satisfaction. In 1985, Zhang started importing technology from a German firm and began manufacturing technically sophisticated refrigerators.

Zhang emphasized the elements of customer satisfaction and quality control in the company. In 1985, when a customer complained about the poor performance of his refrigerator, Zhang conducted a quality check and found that out of 400 refrigerators inspected, 76 were defective.

He had all the defective refrigerators destroyed with a sledge-hammer. According to Zhang, this made the workers realize that quality is of only two types - acceptable and unacceptable. In 1989, the company changed its name to Qindao Refrigerator Co. Ltd., and it was restructured with funds raised from banks and government agencies. In 1991, the company once again changed its name to Qindao Haier Group Co. and in the same year it merged with Qingdao Air-conditioner Plant and Qingdao Freezer General Plant. In 1992, the company set up Qingdao Freezing Equipment Co. In the same year, it merged with another previously state-owned enterprise Qingdao Condenser Factory, which manufactured refrigerator condensers.

In the same year it became the first company in China to get ISO 9001 certification, and the company's name was changed to the Haier Group. In 1993, Haier went in for an IPO of RMB 50 million and got listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).

During the mid-1990s, Haier began to grow through mergers and acquisitions. In 1995, it merged with Red Star Electric Appliance Company (and five of its subsidiaries). This company manufactured washing machines. It also acquired Wuhan Elec-appliance Co., which manufactured freezers and air conditioners. Between 1995 and 1997, Haier acquired seven companies and started exporting its goods to foreign markets.

By 1997, Haier was the number one consumer appliances brand in China and the market leader in all its product segments, which included refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and freezers and its revenues were reported at $1.15 billion (10 billion Yuan)...

Haier's Competitors in the US Market

USA was the world's largest and most competitive market for consumer appliances. The consumer appliances market can be segmented on the basis of products into kitchen appliances and home comfort products. Included in kitchen appliances are products such as dishwashers, disposers, compactors, food preservation appliances, refrigerators, freezers etc.

In the home comfort segment are included products such as room air-conditioners and dehumidifiers. The home appliances market in the US was dominated by American companies, namely GE Appliances (a subsidiary of General Electricals), Whirlpool and Maytag. The only strong foreign player in this market was Sweden's Electrolux. GE Appliances, Whirlpool, Maytag and Electrolux together accounted for around 98% of the 9 million standard refrigerators sales in the US every year. In the 1990s, many Asian players such as LG Electronics and Samsung entered the US market in a big way. The big four companies in the US market concentrated on the high- end market comprising full-size refrigerators and washing machines, since the margins in this segment were high...

Strategies in the US Market

Haier decided to compete with the US brands on the quality plank rather than on price. However, analysts felt that it would be very difficult for the company to win over American consumers who associated Chinese goods with low quality. To strengthen its presence in the US market, Haier adopted a localization strategy.

It opened a design center in the Los Angeles and employed US designers for designing its products for the US market. Haier also opened a marketing center in New York. The company focused on enhancing consumer awareness about the company and its products. Commenting on Haier's strategy, Zhang said, "We want consumers to feel that Haier is the one company that comes closest to satisfying their needs." For instance, none of the consumer appliances companies in the US offered a compact refrigerator to satisfy demand from college students who could not afford normal size refrigerators...

Going High-End

Most analysts felt that Haier would feel the real competition only when it entered the high-end market. In the compact refrigerator segment, Haier did not face much competition from established players in the US, who did not focus on the low margin segment.

However, the major US players were keeping track of Haier's activities. Commenting on the competition from Haier, GE Appliances Chief Executive, Jim Campbell said, "I take it very seriously. They may be producing only 200,000 refrigerators per year now, but that's going to get bigger."

On the negative side, some analysts felt that Haier lacked the brand image to make a dent in the high-end segment. They pointed out that in general US consumers were brand-conscious, and this was especially true in the case of high-end products. The lack of a positive brand image in this consumer segment would probably make it difficult for Haier to succeed in the high-end markets. Analysts felt that Haier had an additional weakness in its distribution and service centers...

Future Prospects

Despite a few reservations, analysts too were, by and large, upbeat about the company because of its strong performance in breaking into the American market in a short time.

Said Nicholas Heymann of Prudential Securities, "Over five years, it could become a force." With quality products and lower prices, it was felt that Haier would be able to garner a sizeable market share in the US. Haier's experience in the geographically vast and diversified Chinese market would serve it well in catering to the US market.

However, a major worry for Haier is how to fund its expansion plans. Increasing competition in the domestic markets is bringing Haier's finances under pressure.

Questions 1:

What in your opinion is the significance of an organization entering into International Markets for business? Is it advantageous or disadvantageous?

Questions 2:

Is it possible for an organization like Haier to sustain its competition in brand conscious and quality conscious markets such as US and other countries?

Questions 3:

What are the countries that you would suggest Haier should concentrate upon? Why?

Questions 4:

What should be the marketing strategies that Haier should employ in Emerging Markets, Maturing Markets and Declining Markets ? Explain the reasons behind it.

1. GMAT scores are required for admission to JHJ’s MBA program. GMAT scores are known to be normally distributed with a mean of 490 points and a standard deviation of 61 points.

1. 25% of the scores of applicants are less than what score?
2. 75% of the scores of applicants are less than what score?
3. 25% of the scores of applicants are less than what score?
4. 80% of the scores of applicants are more than what score?
5. Only applicants in the top 10% of all GMAT scores, are admitted to the MBA program. What score is required to be admitted to the MBA program.

Dahl (2000) explained that the United States was and never has been a democracy due to the way the US treats its citizens. What did he mean by that thesis?

Reference

Dahl, R. A. (2000). How democratic is the American Constitution? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

subject: political science

The dollar has been steadily depreciating in value relative to other major global currencies, including the Japanese Yen, over the past six months.

a) How would this impact the competitiveness of US automotive firm General Motors competing with Japanese automotive firm Toyota in global markets?

b) How would the Bank of Japan implementing expansionary monetary policy impact the competitiveness of Toyota? How do you know?

c) Suppose the US government wants to, at a minimum, maintain its market share in the domestic automobile market, so they implement tariffs on cars imported from Japan. Illustrate and describe how such a policy will redistribute welfare within the US. Who gains and who loses? How does this trade policy impact the volume of trade?