Case study:
The children’s party market is no jelly and trifling matter. “It’s a huge industry,” Tim Jenkins writes after his interview with Amanda Frolich from Amanda’s Action Kids. According to Frolich, “People spend an absolute fortune on their children’s birthday parties and fortunately the recession hasn’t affected our business.”
Like Paul Lindley, founder of Ella’s Kitchen, who used his parenting experience to launch a successful start-up, the party business with low barriers-to-entry sees numerous parent small business concepts. Michelle Hill incorporated her own party business called The Land of Make-Believe after spending hours creating props, themed food, and thinking up games suitable for her five-year-old son’s shared birthday party. This birthday spectacular experience helped her identify a clear gap in the market.
According to Tim Jenkins, a modest £50 party spend per UK child equates to an annual £35 million for a single school-year group. With £250 not untypical for an outsourced party service, it is easy to value the industry in the hundreds of millions.
The Land of Make-Believe party concepts include themes for cheerleaders, pirates, and fairies; cowboys and Indians; witches and wizards; Fairy Godmother, Teddy Bear picnic, glamor, and Grease the musical with Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Party concepts that tend to appeal more to boys, perhaps relying less on dressing up and dancing, include club energy sports, go-karting, football, army games, reptiles and pets, and fire engine–themed parties. Leisure venues also offer some stiff competition with swimming pool visits, laser quest, bowling, cinema, and restaurant visits also popular. Business Model Essentials Successful party concepts need a certain “wow” factor that is popular with the children, but also satisfies parents’ social needs too. Thus, it is important to also consider appropriate services for parents. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs framework perhaps offers some useful cues: shelter, comfort, psychological self-actualization—be that social linger space, self-service hot beverages, a glass of wine, or a latte bar. Party providers need to balance novelty with tried and tested formulas, perhaps offering evolving theme linkages that might anticipate new film releases, particularly sequels. They look to reduce parental hassle with branded off-the-shelf invitation cards and party bags that appeal particularly to cash-rich, often time-poor, parents. Entrepreneur.com neatly summarizes the party service offering: “You’ll plan the theme, provide costumes (unless guests arrive wearing their own), décor, food, favors and other assorted goodies, entertainment, and clean up afterward so parents can enjoy the festivities instead of running themselves ragged.”
The business model usually has relatively low start-up costs—a website and a telephone number will generally suffice. Wardrobe, props, and base supplies are not insignificant items and should be carefully considered in financial planning. There is some wide variation in the complexity of offerings in the sector from a light touch and self-contained entertainer magician or comedian whose equipment might be limited to a costume, a music system, and some props that fit into a large suitcase or two to the full-service party-planning-solution provider offering a venue, full catering, the all-important candle-covered cake, decorations, and party bags. Three core components are required for a successful party operation, namely venue, catering, and entertainment. Fixed costs can be kept low, but are dependent on avoiding the purchase of a specialized vehicle and/or long-term premises by using a client-arranged venue. Children’s party planning is clearly not a job for someone craving regular Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours. The ability to successfully interact with children and their parents, balancing controlled fun and calm authoritativeness, is particularly important but often rather taken for granted.
Marketing Communication Angles
A reputation for running successful parties is crucial to stimulate positive word-of-mouth referrals via parental social networks, accentuated by frequent contact at school pick-ups and drop-offs, but also on social media, and in particular parenting website communities such as mumsnet.com, which offers local listings, discussion boards, and advice-based content. In addition to successfully hosting enjoyable parties, which should drive positive referrals, a number of low-cost marketing activities can be implemented to help generate future bookings such as
Rugged Earth Adventures
One ex-army officer’s start-up inspiration led to a birthday party business centered on a military outdoor adventure theme. Having experimented with a number of temporary locations, the business finally settled on a large piece of underutilized agricultural land that comprises a mix of scrub land, combined with lines of commercially unsuccessful shrubs and trees.
The customer segment that this business proposition appeals to is mostly parents of boys—approximately 75 percent of participants are male, aged between 6 and 10 years. The children participate in a two-hour party that sees them run around outside in a natural environment. Issued with a foam bullet Nerf gun and protective glasses, participants are initially put into two teams, jungle versus desert, utilizing authentic British army terminology. A second game, the less frenetic snipers-and-seekers, is a form of hide-and-seek using realistic camouflage costumes. Then the young people are carefully instructed on how to thoroughly cook their own sausage, which is served as a hot dog, and the party concludes with toasted marshmallows. During one of the well-timed rest periods, a picnic basket is offered to the participants around the campfire with a variety of foods—an array that is low in chocolate and big on fruit and vegetables, which is appealing to parents, but it also includes less healthy but popular cupcakes and crisps. With overprotective parents, toy guns that fire projectiles, and an open fire, the safety briefing is taken very seriously and uses a highly authoritative army style. Children are regularly reminded about safe behavior requirements around the fire pit, particularly when wearing flammable costumes. Compliant use of safety glasses is paramount, with regular and direct reinforcement of the safety rules taking place. Hosting and supervising parents are made to feel at ease, provided with access to self-service hot and cold drinks and a place to perch. An informal satisfaction polling takes place just prior to the end around the campfire; positive responses are anticipated, thanks to a fairly simple formula that is well executed. The opportunity afforded to parents to relax while watching a group of children enjoy a totally stress-free afternoon is actually quite enjoyable. The business income comes predominantly from weekend parties, with the current site offering a capacity of three or possibly four parties per day. Each party can entertain 10 to 24 young people and costs between £120 and £295 (£12 to £20/child, excluding cake and party bags, which are £5 per child extra). Activity days, attractive for dual working parents, are also offered during the Easter and summer school holidays, priced at £26 to £34 per day. The revenue generated covers operating costs after a very short operational period.
In: Operations Management
Colombo Soft-Serve Frozen Yogurt Case
Questions
After reading the Colombo Soft-Serve Frozen Yogurt Case Study
(SEE BELOW) answer the first six questions below.
Please type your answer to the questions below in a Word document
and send in through the designated drop box. Please be sure to
fully answer each question. Most questions (with the exception of
question 3 and 4) will require at least three to five sentences to
answer.
1. Briefly summarize Colombo’s competitive environment
2. Describe General Mills’ strategy in response to the competitive
environment?
3. Finish filling out the numbers on the Profit/Loss statement for
Colombo Yogurt (attached) using ABC techniques. Be sure and watch
the Colombo Yogurt teaching clip that explains in detail how to
break down the numbers on the Colombo Yogurt profit and loss
statement using ABC techniques.
4. Using the ABC analysis you completed on the worksheet answer the
following questions.
- Which segment has the most sales revenue?
- Which segment has the largest net income?
5. What does the ABC analysis reveal? Be sure and look at what
drives the cost and be specific.
6. What changes would you suggest to help General Mills? Your
answer should reflect something that you observed by looking at the
profit/loss statement before and after the activity
analysis.
5- 2 Colombo Soft-Serve Frozen Yogurt
In 1994, General Mills Incorporated, a $6 billion consumer goods
company, acquired Colombo Frozen Yogurt.
General Mills Inc. (GMI) believed they could add Colombo frozen
yogurt to their existing product lineup to increase
net sales with little addition in marketing cost.
, Frozen yogurt is sold through two distinct segments - independent
shops and impulse locations such as cafeterias,
icolleges, and buffets. Frozen yogurt is the main business for the
shops whereas yogurt is incremental to the impulse
locations' main business. GMl's large sales force already served
the impulse market.
The [mancial results in the first couple of years were mixed.
Earnings increased slightly and then dropped each year
even though sales volume was relatively flat. In total,
merchandising costs dropped, while pricing promotion rates
escalated. The GMI sales force focused on the impulse segments and
pricing promotions were believed to be driving
volume increases. However, volume in the shop segment declined at
alarming rates and there was widespread
dissatisfaction in the sales organization. While GMI knew sales by
segment, they didn't track costs by segment.
. Instead costs were allocated based on sales dollars. The
situation was ripe for a clearer look using ABC methods.
TODAY'S FROZEN YOGURT MARKET STRUCTURE:
When Colombo Yogurt Company began marketing soft-serve frozen
yogurt in the early 1980's, their main
distribution was through independent yogurt shops. In the early
90's, they faced competition from franchise
operations such as TCBY and Freshens that replaced many of the
independent yogurt shops. And the market
changed as Foodservice operators such as cafeterias, colleges, and
buffets started to add soft-serve yogurt to their
business. By the late 90's, these Impulse locations accounted for
2/3 of the soft-serve market.
:In the late 90's, Shop sales began to increase with the addition
of distinctive new products such as smoothies,
boosters, and granitas. The Shops make their living from the
soft-serve business and must innovate or go out of
business (as thousands have done in the last decade). On the other
hand, the Impulse locations make their living
from other items and the soft-serve trade is only performance
topspin. These firms are unwilling to take any risk
(new equipment or extra labor) to serve highly differentiated
products like smoothies or granitas.
THE GMI-COLOMBO MARKETING PLAN:
The GMI Foodservice Division markets brands such as Cheerios,
Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Gold Medal Flour,
Hamburger Helper, Pop-Secret, and Chex Snack to Food Management
Firms, Hospitals, and schools. Colombo
yogurt was added to this product lineup and the Foodservice sales
force covered both Shop and Impulse locations.
Salesforce: Colombo's salesforce was merged into the Foodservice
salesforce. Customers were reassigned to
salespeople who already serviced that geographical area. The
salespeople varied in their reaction to the product.
Some found shops easy to sell to while others avoided the shops
despite the possible lost commission. Many spent a
lot of time helping their impulse customers understand how to use
the machinery.
. Merchandising Promotions: Colombo traditionally charged the Shops
for merchandising that was large scale and
; eye popping (neon signs). The Shops used these signs to draw
customers inside. GMI chose not to charge for
merchandising and to provide the same large scale merchandising to
both Shops and Impulse locations. Shops were
very interested in the kits while many Impulse locations didn't
even hang them up.
Pricing Promotions: Pricing promotions are a mainstay ofGMI's
impulse location approach. GMI's salesforce
generally used these promotion events as an opportunity to visit
their accounts and take advantage of the occasion to
meet service needs and sell other products that may not be
featured.
5-8
Chapter 05 - Activity-Based Costing and Customer Profitability
Analysis
r"' GMI made price promotions available to both segments of the
market. While the deals were typically around $5 per
case, they averaged $3 per case against all the volume shipped
during the year. GMI marketing knew price was not a
major decision factor for Shops and they did not target pricing
promotions to them. However, Shops were aware of
the promotions and took advantage of them.
THE BUSINESS STATUS - PRE-ABC:
PROFIT AND LOSS BY SEGMENT - PRE-ABC
Cost of Goods Sold is made up of$14,250,OOOfor ingredients,
packaging, and storage and $3,000,000 for pick/pack
and shipping. Since the product is the same across segments, the
cost to produce should be the same. However,
pick/pack and shipping costs were found to vary with whether or not
the order was for a full pallet. Full pallets cost
$75 to pick and ship whereas individual orders cost $2.25 per case.
There are 75 cases in a pallet and the segments
, differ in their utilization of full pallets as shown below.
,
ABC ANALYSIS OF MERCHANDISING:
t :
Merchandising costs consist mainly of kits costing $500 each.
A
review of where the kits were sent indicated that
3,450 kits were sent out and 90 of them were sent to shops.
ABC ANALYSIS OF SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE:
Since sales representatives service several products, their costs
are allocated to the various products based on gross
sales dollars. GMI gave diaries to 10% of the sales force in
randomly selected markets of the country and asked
! them to track their time in activity classifications for 60 days.
The diaries indicated that sales reps spent almost 3
!times as much time on the yogurt than GMI had estimated. The total
allocation to Yogurt jumped from $1,185,000
to $3,900,000. Of their time spent on Yogurt, only 1%of the time
was spent on the shops.
5-9
- - - ---
Category Impulse Segment Yogurt Shops
Total
Sales in cases 1,200,000 300,000 1,500,000
Sales revenue $23,880,000 $5,970,000 $29,850,000
Less: Price Promotions -$ 3.600.000 -$ 900.000 -$ 4.500.000
Net Sales $20,280,000 $5,070,000 $25,350,000
Less: Cost of Goods Sold -$13.800.000 -$3.450.000
-$17.250.000
Gross Margin $ 6,480,000 $I,620,000 $ 8,100,000
Less: Merchandising -$ 1,380,000 -$ 345,000 -$ 1,725,000
!Less: SG&A -$ 948.000 - $ 237.000 - $ I.I 85.000
;Net income $ 4,152,000 $1,038,000 $ 5,190,000
ABC ANALYSIS OF COST OF GOODS SOLD:
""
Impulse Segment YOgurtShops Total
Cases in full Pallets 60,000 240,000 300,000
Individual cases 1,140,000 60,000 1,200,000
Total cases 1,200,000 300,000 1,500,000
In: Accounting
1. Your organization routinely uses scripts, but as some employees have left, there are scripts that contain only command lines and no one is certain of their purpose.What steps can be taken to ensure a way for others to know the purpose of a script?
a. Create text documentation of scripts and use the scriptdoc command to organize and display the documentation.
b. Use the whatis command to create and save new documentation for scripts.
c. Requirethatscriptwritersplacecommentlinesinsidethescriptsusingthe#symbol
to begin each comment line.
d. Require that scripts be named using the descriptive sentence naming function in UNIX/Linux.
2. Which of the following shells enables the use of scripts? (Choose all that apply.)
a. Bash
b. csh
c. sea
d. zsh
3. You frequently use the command ls -a and want to save time by just entering l to do the same thing.Which of the following commands enables you to set your system to view hidden files by only entering l?
a. put l= ls -a
b. setltols-a
c. set"ls-a"to"l"
d. alias l=" ls -a"
4. You have written a script, but when you run it there is an error.Which of the fol- lowing commands can you use to debug your script? (Choose all that apply.)
a. debug -all
b. sh -v
c. ./ -d
d. sh -x
5. You have written a shell program that creates four temporary files.Which of the fol- lowing commands can you use to remove these files when the script has completed its work?
a. trap
b. grep
c. del
d. clear
6. Which of the following commands works well for menus used in a script? (Choose all that apply.)
a. do
b. case
c. choose
d. Comm
7. You are currently in the source directory, which is the new directory you have just created for storing and running your scripts.You want to make certain that the source directory is in your default path.Which of the following commands enables you to view the current default path settings?
a. cat PATH
b. show path
c. sed PATH!
d. echo $PATH
8. You have created a script for use by your entire department in a commonly accessed directory. Only you are able to run the script, which works perfectly.Which of the following is likely to be the problem?
a. You did not link the script.
b. You did not give all users in your department execute permission for that script.
c. You did not designate to share ownership of the script.
d. There are two kinds of scripts, universal and private.You have created a private script and need to convert it to universal
9. Your current working directory contains a series of files that start with the word “account” combined with a, b, c, d, and e, such as accounta, accountb, and so on. Which of the following commands enables you to view the contents of all of these files? (Choose all that apply.)
a. ls account "a -e"
b. less account "a,e"
c. more account[ a,b,c,d,e ]
d. cat account{a to e}
10. For which of the following logic structures used within a script is fi the final line for that logic structure? (Choose all that apply.)
a. loop
b. case
c. for
d. If
11. Which of the following are examples of arithmetic or relational operators? (Choose all that apply.)
a. !
b. <
c. %
d. *
12. You have created a series of scripts that use the same environment variables. How- ever, when you run these scripts, some of them do not seem to recognize the envi- ronment variables you have set.What is the problem?
a. You need to use the export command so these variables have global use.
b. You are creating too many environment variables, because the maximum number is five.
c. You must use the home command to make these variables native to your home directory.
d. Only the system administrator can create environment variables and you should contact her to create the ones you need to use.
13. You have spent the last two hours creating a report in a file and afterwards you use cat to create a new file. Unfortunately the new file name you used was the same as the name you used for the report, and now your report is gone.What should you do next time to prevent this from happening?
a. Enter the cat -s command before you start.
b. Enter the command, set -o noclobber before you start.
c. Always use the cat -m command when you use cat to create a file, because this command checks to see if the file already exists.
d. After you created the report file you should have used the chmod a-o command to prevent the file from being deleted or overwritten.
14. You have remotely logged into a computer running UNIX or Linux, but you are not certain about which operating system you are using. However, when you display the contents of the variable it shows which operating system you are using.
a. OP
b. OPTIND
c. OID
d. OSTYPE
15. What command can you use to view the environment and configuration variables already configured on your system?
a. var
b. envar
c. printenv
d. let -all
16. Which of the following are valid expressions? (Choose all that apply.)
a. let x=5*9
b. let x=y+10
c. let m=12/4
d. let r=128-80
17. When you type for wood maple spruce oak pine at the command line and then press Enter, what should you type next at the > prompt?
a. do
b. go
c. fi
d. Term
18. You want to store a long listing of your files in a variable called myfiles.Which of the following commands enables you to do this?
a. let ls -l=myfiles
b. echo ls -l > myfiles
c. myfiles=‘ls -l‘
d. let ls -l > myfiles
19. What error is in the following script code?
case “selection” in “ i ”) ./listscript ;; “ ii ”) ./numberscript ;; “ iii ”) ./findscript ;; esac
a. All references to ;; should be replaced with a back quote.
b. There should be a dollar sign in front of selection, as in “$selection”
c. There should be no double quote marks in the code.
d. The code must end with the statement,“out”.
20. You are working with a colleague on a script called value that updates several files. You want to test the script, but not update the files.Which of the following com- mands can you use?
a. test -noupdate value
b. trap -u value
c. set -u value
d. sh -n value
21. You only have to enter the name of a script to have it run, such as entering myscript. What setting enables you to do this?
a. You have set the SCRIPT environment variable to 1 instead of the default 0.
b. Right after you logged in you entered setup scripts.
c. Thefirstlineinyourscriptsisalwaysrun,whichenablesscriptstoberuninthisway.
d. You have placed the directory from which you run the scripts in your PATH variable.
22. What would you expect to find in the HOME environment variable?
23. What is the difference between a compiler and an interpreter?
24. What command would you use to place the cursor in row 10 and column 15 on the screen or in a terminal window?
25. What is the purpose of a login script?
In: Computer Science
In: Operations Management
In: Operations Management
On the Job: Zappos' Retail Experiment Selfies as a Sales Tool
>> Will, you're based out in San Francisco.
>> Yep.
>> You've got a dozen people working in this Zappos Skunkworks. What are you doing out there?
>> Yeah, I think we created this labs office because we've seen just retail and ecommerce change so quickly. You know--
>> But surely Zappos is already at the forefront of ecommerce.
>> Yeah. And I think what we do exceptionally well is if you want those black beautiful dress shoes and you have them in mind, you come to Zappos and you type black dress shoes. We find them for you, we ship them to you next day, we're amazing, great customer service. I think as we're trying to evolve our brand is we look at like people are spending so much time on Pinterest and Instagram. What does that mean to Zappos as a brand. And so that's one of the things we really think about as a retailer.
>> Yeah, as you think about people like us who use it, as you say, to deliver a product, now you're trying to transition us to make it part of our lifestyle. Is that?
>> I wouldn't say transition because it doesn't have to be either or, right? We're never going to stop being that amazing experience when you want to find great black dress shoes, a nice suit. Some people are surprised we sell suits and wedding dresses on Zappos. So, the works. I think as we're seeing just consumer behavior change and people obviously move to their phones, what does that mean to that shopping experience?
>> Will, you make an important point. Mark and I might shop with our phones but we're not likely to do that much shopping with our phone. My kids, on the other hand--
>> Absolutely.
>> And Mark's do a lot of shopping on their phones. You're trying to reach the millennials and even the next generation. How do you do that?
>> I think it's, to kind of, I think in the early days when everyone saw Facebook being big and Pinterest blowing up, every big retailer's like let's build our own social network. And I think everyone failed at that, including us. So, it really was, like, how do we be a natural part of that conversation. So we've, people are doing stuff naturally on Instagram, for example.
>> Like what? Posting selfies.
>> Selfies. And it's, I think to us older folks, like, we kind of joke about it but there's this hashtag on Instagram called OOTD. You know, they do the hashtag OOTD. It stands for outfit of the day.
>> And you do this every day, right?
>> Every day. And I get an opinion. Pink tie, purple tie. But there's 30 million pictures on Instagram with that hashtag.
>> Seriously?
>> 30 million.
>> 30 million.
>> So, it's 30 million, or 30 million pictures that've said this is my style, this is what I care about, and I want the world to know. As a retailer, how do we not be a part of that conversation, right?
>> Embrace the narcissism.
>> And actually, I would call it self-expression. I call it self-expression.
>> But how do you become a part of that? As a retailer, how do you get your brand to be tied to those things?
>> Absolutely. So one of the, we did a small pilot a couple months ago and we saw some really interesting engagement. We asked actually people, you're already going an outfit picture. We don't want you to do anything else. Just add the hashtag, Next OOTD. And that was a signal to Zappos, Zappos, look in my Instagram account and make a personalized recommendation for me. So, that's what we did. So we actually, and you know, Zappos is very good at doing things manual. We're famous for 10 and a half hour phone calls in our call center. So, when we see someone do that hashtag, we actually look in their Instagram account, look at what they wear, look at their friends' style, look at the places they go and make some recommendations. And we have a huge catalog, 180,000 items.
>> Okay.
>> And we just take, like, we think you'll like--
>> What's the follow through like, though? When you make, when those recommendations are made to these people who put hashtag NOOTD--
>> Yeah, and--
>> What do they do? Do they shop?
>> So we've seen them, they all go to the recommendations. And it's interesting, I think, that a thing we're seeing is if you're on Instagram, you might check out one of our recommendations. And you don't necessarily feel like buying right away. Because, you know, you're on Instagram. I think a lot of, we've heard a lot of feedback, like Zappos sells clothing? Like, that's a big surprise to a lot of people. You know, because we're known for shoes, and--
>> But, Will, is it a bot that's creating that?
>> No.
>> Or is it a human?
>> It's a stylist on our end.
>> Yeah, see that's cool, because now we're going to create jobs. So it's not that technology is going to take the jobs away. This actually is going to create jobs.
>> Absolutely.
>> And cool jobs. Stylist jobs.
>> And a big reason we moved our headquarters to Las Vegas. Our lab team is in San Francisco. A big reason we moved the headquarters to Las Vegas is to grow our call center locally and not outsource it. And so we actually have stylists that are kind of on our team that do some of these stylist recommendations as well.
>> What interests me about this, though, is it is very commercially focused. There are a lot of companies that spend time on social media trying to build brand awareness, loyalty, affinity, without any real sense as to whether there's a clickthrough or a follow through. That seems to be different at Zappos.
>> Well, I think we do both. I think building brand affinity's extremely important. I think if you look at our huge investment in our call center, it's hard to measure the ROI. Like, when we do a 10-hour phone call with a customer who just wants to talk for 10 hours, like, you can't measure that. There's no immediate short-term ROI.
>> It's, I would venture to say it might be negative.
>> Exactly, right?
>> That's a lot of sales.
>> But it becomes, like, the story of legend. It becomes, like, the old-fashioned way of brand building, word of mouth and all that stuff. So, people tell their friends and--
>> Well, it's Nordstrom-esque.
>> Yeah, I would absolutely say--
>> It's Nordstrom-esque and if you can achieve that level of branding and be the go-to store--
>> Absolutely.
>> Or you're not a store. A go-to experience?
>> Yeah, I would say we're a whole experience. A shopping experience online for people. And I think it's, yeah. So, Zappos, I think we started with shoes but developed a lot--
Discussion Questions:
In: Operations Management
Between 1988 and 1990 three $150 million amusement parks opened in France. By 1991 two of them were bankrupt and the third was doing poorly. Despite this, the Walt Disney Company went ahead with a plan to open Europe’s first Disneyland in 1992. Far from being concerned about the theme park doing well, Disney executives were worried that Euro Disneyland would be too small to handle the giant crowds. The $4.4 billion project was to be located on 5,000 acres in Seine-et-Marne 20 miles east of Paris. And the city seemed to be an excellent location; there were 17 million people within a two-hour drive of Euro Disneyland, 41 million within a four-hour drive, and 109 million within six hours of the park. This included people from seven countries: France, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Britain. Disney officials were optimistic about the project. Their US parks, Disneyland and Disneyworld, were extremely successful, and Tokyo Disneyland was so popular that on some days it could not accommodate the large number of visitors. Simply put, the company was making a great deal of money from its parks. However, the Tokyo park was franchised to others—and Disney management felt that it had given up too much profit with this arrangement. This would not be the case at Euro Disneyland. The company’s share of the venture was to be 49 per cent for which it would put up $160 million. Other investors put in $1.2 billion, the French government provided a low-interest $900 million loan, banks loaned the business $1.6 billion, and the remaining $400 million was to come from special partnerships formed to buy properties and to lease them back. For its investment and management of the operation, the Walt Disney Company was to receive 10 per cent of Euro Disney’s admission fees, 5 per cent of food and merchandise revenues, and 49 per cent of all profits. The location of the amusement park was thoroughly researched. The number of people who could be attracted to various locations throughout Europe and the amount of money they were likely to spend during a visit to the park were carefully calculated. In the end, France and Spain had proved to offer the best locations. Both countries were well aware of the park’s capability for creating jobs and stimulating their economy. As a result, each actively wooed the company. In addition to offering a central location in the heart of Europe, France was prepared to provide considerable financial incentives. Among other things, the French government promised to build a train line to connect the amusement park to the European train system. Thus, after carefully comparing the advantages offered by both countries, France was chosen as the site for the park. At first things appeared to be off to a roaring start. Unfortunately, by the time the park was ready to open, a number of problems had developed, and some of these had a very dampening effect on early operations. One was the concern of some French people that Euro Disney was nothing more than a transplanting of Disneyland into Europe. In their view the park did not fit into the local culture, and some of the French press accused Disney of “cultural imperialism.” Others objected to the fact that the French government, as promised in the contract, had expropriated the necessary land and sold it without profit to the Euro Disneyland development people. Signs reading “Don’t gnaw away our national wealth” and “Disney go home” began appearing along roadways. These negative feelings may well have accounted for the fact that on opening day only 50,000 visitors showed up, in contrast to the 500,000 that were expected. Soon thereafter, operations at the park came under criticism from both visitors and employees. Many visitors were upset about the high prices. In the case of British tourists, for example, because of the Franc exchange rate, it was cheaper for them to go to Florida than to Euro Disney. In the case of employees, many of them objected to the pay rates and the working conditions. They also raised concerns about a variety of company policies ranging from personal grooming to having to speak English in meetings, even if most people in attendance spoke French. Within the first month 3,000 employees quit. Some of the other operating problems were a result of Disney’s previous experiences. In the United States, for example, liquor was not sold outside of the hotels or specific areas. The general park was kept alcohol free, including the restaurants, in order to maintain a family atmosphere. In Japan, this policy was accepted and worked very well. However, Europeans were used to having outings with alcoholic beverages. As a result of these types of problems, Euro Disney soon ran into financial problems. In 1994, after three years of heavy losses, the operation was in such bad shape that some people were predicting that the park would close. However, a variety of developments saved the operation. For one thing, a major investor purchased 24.6 per cent (reducing Disney’s share to 39 per cent) of the company, injecting $500 million of much needed cash. Additionally, Disney waived its royalty fees and worked out a new loan repayment plan with the banks, and new shares were issued. These measures allowed Euro Disney to buy time while it restructured its marketing and general policies to fit the European market. In October 1994, Euro Disney officially changed its name to “Disneyland Paris.” This made the park more French and permitted it to capitalize on the romanticism that the word “Paris” conveys. Most importantly, the new name allowed for a new beginning, disassociating the park from the failure of Euro Disney. This was accompanied with measures designed to remedy past failures. The park changed its most offensive labor rules, reduced prices, and began being more culturally conscious. Among other things, alcohol beverages were now allowed to be served just about anywhere. The company also began making the park more appealing to local visitors by giving it a “European” focus. Ninety-two per cent of the park’s visitors are from eight nearby European countries. Disney Tomorrowland, with its dated images of the space age, was jettisoned entirely and replaced by a gleaming brass and wood complex called Discovery land, which was based on themes of Jules Verne and Leonardo da Vinci. In Disneyland food services were designed to reflect the fable’s country of origin: Pinocchio’s facility served German food, Cinderella’s had French offerings, and at Bella Notte’s the cuisine was Italian. The company also shot a 360-degree movie about French culture and showed it in the “Visionarium” exhibit. These changes were designed to draw more visitors, and they seemed to have worked. Disneyland Paris reported a slight profit in 1996, and the park continued to make a modest profit through to the early 2000s. In 2002 and 2003, the company was once again making losses, and new deals had to be worked out with creditors. This time, however, it wasn’t insensitivity to local customs but a slump in the travel and tourism industry, strikes and stoppages in France, and an economic downturn in many of the surrounding markets.
In: Operations Management
// TASK #2 Add an import statement for the Scanner class
// TASK #2(Alternate)
// Add an import statement for the JOptionPane class
/**
This program demonstrates how numeric types and
operators behave in Java.
*/
public class NumericTypes
{
public static void main (String [] args)
{
// TASK #2 Create a Scanner object here
// (not used for alternate)
// Identifier declarations
final int NUMBER = 2 ; // Number of scores
final int SCORE1 = 100; // First test score
final int SCORE2 = 95; // Second test score
final int BOILING_IN_F = 212; // Boiling temperature
int fToC; // Temperature Celsius
double average; // Arithmetic average
String output; // Line of output
// TASK #2 declare variables used here
// TASK #3 declare variables used here
// TASK #4 declare variables used here
// Find an arithmetic average.
average = (SCORE1 + SCORE2) / NUMBER;
output = SCORE1 + " and " + SCORE2 +
" have an average of " + average;
System.out.println(output);
// Convert Fahrenheit temperature to Celsius.
fToC = 5/9 * (BOILING_IN_F - 32);
output = BOILING_IN_F + " in Fahrenheit is " +
fToC + " in Celsius.";
System.out.println(output);
System.out.println(); // To leave a blank line
// ADD LINES FOR TASK #2 HERE
// Prompt the user for first name
// Read the user's first name
// Prompt the user for last name
// Read the user's last name
// Concatenate the user's first and last names
// Print out the user's full name
System.out.println(); // To leave a blank line
// ADD LINES FOR TASK #3 HERE
// Get the first character from the user's first name
// Print out the user's first initial
// Convert the user's full name to uppercase
// Print out the user's full name in uppercase
System.out.println(); // To leave a blank line
// ADD LINES FOR TASK #4 HERE
// Prompt the user for a diameter of a sphere
// Read the diameter
// Calculate the radius
// Calculate the volume
// Print out the volume
}
}
Task #2a Using the Scanner Class for User Input (4 pts)
⦁ Add an import statement above the class declaration
to make the Scanner class available to your program.
⦁ In the main method, create a Scanner object and
connect it to the System.in object.
⦁ Prompt the user to enter his or her first name.
⦁ Read the name from the keyboard using the nextLine
method and store it into a variable called firstName (you will need
to declare any variables you use).
⦁ Prompt the user to enter his or her last name.
⦁ Read the name from the keyboard and store it in a
variable called lastName.
⦁ Concatenate the firstName and lastName with a space
between them and store the result in a variable called
fullName.
⦁ Print out the fullName.
⦁ Compile, debug, and run, using your name as test
data.
⦁ Since we are adding on to the same program, each time
we run the program we will get the output from the previous tasks
before the output of the current task.
Task #2b (alternate) Using Dialog Boxes for User Input (4
pts)
⦁ Add an import statement above the class declaration
to make the JOptionPane class available to your program.
⦁ In the main method, prompt the user to enter his or
her first name by displaying an input dialog box and storing the
user input in a variable called firstName (you will need to declare
any variables you use).
⦁ Prompt the user to enter his or her last name by
displaying an input dialog box and storing the user input in a
variable called lastName.
⦁ Concatenate the firstName and lastName with a space
between them and store the result in a variable called
fullName.
⦁ Display the fullName using a message dialog
box.
⦁ Compile, debug, and run, using your name as test
data.
⦁ Since we are adding on to the same program, each time
we run the program we will get the output from the previous tasks
before the output of the current task.
Task #3 Working with Strings (4 pts)
⦁ Use the charAt method to get the first character in
firstName and store it in a variable called firstInitial (you will
need to declare any variables that you use).
⦁ Print out the user’s first initial.
⦁ Use the toUpperCase method to change the fullName to
uppercase and store it back into the fullName variable.
⦁ Add a line that prints out the value of fullName and
how many characters (including the space) are in the string stored
in fullName (use the length method to obtain that
information).
⦁ Compile, debug, and run. The new output added on
after the output from the previous tasks should have your initials
and your full name in uppercase.
Task #4 Using Predefined Math Functions (4 pts)
⦁ Add a line that prompts the user to enter the
diameter of a sphere.
⦁ Read in and store the number into a variable called
diameter (you will need to declare any variables that you
use).
⦁ The diameter is twice as long as the radius, so
calculate and store the radius in an appropriately named
variable.
⦁ The formula for the volume of a sphere is:
r3
Convert the formula to Java code and add a line which calculates
and stores the value of volume in an appropriately named variable.
Use Math.PI for and Math.pow to cube the radius.
⦁ Print your results to the screen with an appropriate
message.
⦁ Compile, debug, and run using the following test data
and record the results.
Diameter Volume (hand calculated) Volume
(resulting output)
2
25.4
875,000
Task #5 Create a program from scratch (4 pts)
In this task you will create a new program that calculates gas
mileage in miles per gallon. You will use string expressions,
assignment statements, input and output statements to communicate
with the user.
⦁ Create a new file in your IDE or text
editor.
⦁ Create the shell for your first program by
entering:
public class Mileage
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
// Add your declaration and code
here.
}
}
⦁ Save the file as Mileage.java.
⦁ Translate the algorithm below into Java code. Don’t
forget to declare variables before they are used. Each variable
must be one word only (no spaces).
Print a line indicating this program will calculate mileage
Print prompt to user asking for miles driven
Read in miles driven
Print prompt to user asking for gallons used
Read in gallons used
Calculate miles per gallon by dividing miles driven by gallons
used
Print miles per gallon along with appropriate labels
⦁ Compile the program and debug, repeating until it
compiles successfully.
⦁ Run the program and test it using the following sets
of data and record the results:
Miles driven Gallons used Miles per
gallon (hand calculated) Miles per gallon
(resulting output)
2000 100
500 25.5
241.5 10
100 0
⦁ The last set of data caused the computer to divide
100 by 0, which resulted in what is called a runtime error. Notice
that runtime can occur on programs which compile and run on many
other sets of data. This emphasizes the need to thoroughly test you
program with all possible kinds of data.
Task #6 Documenting a Java Program (2 pts)
⦁ Compare the code listings of NumericTypes.java with
Mileage.java. You will see that NumericTypes.java has lines which
have information about what the program is doing. These lines are
called comments and are designated by the // at the beginning of
the line. Any comment that starts with /** and ends with */ is
considered a documentation comment. These are typically written
just before a class header, giving a brief description of the
class. They are also used for documenting methods in the same
way.
⦁ Write a documentation comment at the top of the
program which indicates the purpose of the program, your name, and
today’s date.
⦁ Add comment lines after each variable declaration,
indicating what each variable represents.
⦁ Add comment lines for each section of the program,
indicating what is done in that section.
⦁ Finally add a comment line indicating the purpose of
the calculation.
In: Computer Science
Susan G. Komen for the Cure: Can This Relationship Be Saved?
Written by Mary Anne Doty, Texas A&M University– Commerce
On January 31, 2012, news reports circulated that Susan G. Komen for the Cure had decided to stop funding clinical breast exams through a grant to Planned Parenthood. Initially, Komen cited the congressional investigation of Rep. Cliff Stearns, a conservative legislator who has pushed for abortion restrictions, as the reason for the change in policy barring grants to groups under government investigation. This decision had been made quietly in late November, 2011, with notification to Planned Parenthood in mid- December. As the story broke, Komen found itself in the middle of a controversy. Overnight the organization faced severe criticism (and some praise) as the story mushroomed through television and newspapers, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.1
Susan G. Komen for the Cure has become the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world, investing more than $1.9 billion since 1982. In April 2012 their website listed 124 corporate sponsors from varying organizations, including product brands (American Airlines, Ford Motor Company, Mohawk Flooring, and Yoplait Yogurt), retailers (Belk, Lowe’s, Old Navy, Walgreens), and sports organizations (Dallas Cowboys, Major League Baseball, Ladies PGA).2 In thirty years the brand had reached iconic proportions, beloved by people on all parts of the political spectrum. Charity Navigator, a website that rates nonprofit organizations on the percentage of funds used for the organization’s mission and on transparency, gave Komen a rating of 4/4 stars, with a score of 62/70.3 Supporters have a very personal link with the organization because volunteers have given (or walked) in honor of loved ones affected by breast cancer.
As word trickled out about the Komen decision, supporters and critics began sharing opinions through social networking sites. Former Komen supporters responded with anger and disappointment, many expressing feelings of betrayal. While the Komen grants totaled only $680,000 in 2011, an outpouring of donations to Planned Parenthood raised $3 million in three days, including over 10,000 new donors. As the lines were drawn for supporters of both organizations, most chose Planned Parenthood.4
The negative publicity also drew attention to many of Komen’s practices that had not faced public scrutiny.5 Among the complaints were: (1) the relatively small percentage of Komen funds that go to medical research for a cure (less than 19%); (2) high salaries of the founder and board members (founder Nancy Brinker is reportedly paid over $400,000 annually); (3) large legal expenses incurred from suing other charities defending the words “for the Cure” in their trademark; and (4) making women’s health a political issue.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure did not respond to the social media uproar initially, which angered many of their former supporters.6 Komen received a strong defense from people who disapproved of Planned Parenthood. Many of these were people who previously did not support Komen’s activities because of their grants to Planned Parenthood. In spite of the approval, it was not clear that this segment would replace the funding and other support at risk by the decision.
Corporate sponsors, who generally fear controversial issues, complained that Komen had not informed them of the policy change in advance.7 While none of the sponsors publicly abandoned Susan G. Komen for the Cure in the short term, they made it clear that better communication was expected if the relationship was to thrive.
After four days of intense negative publicity, Komen announced they were reversing their decision and would consider reinstating the Planned Parenthood grants.8 Komen founder Nancy Brinker apologized and announced that in the future groups will only be disqualified from receiving grants when they are under investigations that are “criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”
This response was probably a case of “too little, too late” that angered those on both sides of the debate. Planned Parenthood supporters claimed the wording was full of loopholes and not a strong repudiation of the initial decision. Planned Parenthood opponents were angry that the decision was reversed and vowed not to support Komen in the future. The slow response managed to alienate a majority of the public.9
When the decision to defund Planned Parenthood’s grant became public on February 1, 2012, a number of Komen executives and employees resigned in protest, including a medical advisory board member, a health official, and the directors of several large Komen chapters. After the reversal on February 3, public outcry did not fade away. Karen Handel, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs, received most of the blame for the initial decision and for politicizing Komen policies by focusing on abortion politics rather than detecting and treating breast cancer. Handel, a former political candidate who had campaigned on an anti–Planned Parenthood platform, resigned on February 7.10
By February 23, news stories reported Komen hired a consulting firm to assess damage to their brand among supporters.11 The 20-minute survey tested the wording of various apologies and then measured the credibility of the Komen foundation and its leaders, along with the credibility of other public figures. Komen’s problems continued into March when two top executives resigned, the Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer, as well as the CEO of Komen’s New York City affiliate. As the organization struggled to repair its relationship with supporters, some Komen affiliates reported revenues were substantially lower than in previous campaigns, and participation in the Race for the Cure was also down.
It may take years to determine if Komen can repair its relationships and be restored as a premiere charity brand. The damage of these events affects employees in the form of poor morale, former supporters who are angered by Komen’s initial decision and are not mollified by the reversal of that decision, corporate sponsors who are leery of future controversy, a public that views Susan G. Komen for the Cure as a tarnished organization, and disappointed anti-abortion groups who remain opposed to Komen. Moving forward, it may be time to reexamine their mission. When the organization was founded in 1982, breast cancer was often a death sentence for women (and a few men) because the prognosis was poor when cancer was detected in later stages. Komen raised awareness of breast cancer and spent millions of dollars on public education and breast cancer screening. By any measure, those efforts were a resounding success. It may be time for Komen to focus their strategy on research and treatment (as implied by the trademark name, “…for the Cure”) and save their education campaigns for less informed segments.
Question 1: How did social media impact the complaining behaviors of donors and participants for Susan G. Komen for the Cure activities?
Question 2: What types of complaining behaviors were most apparent? What was the response by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to negative public publicity after their decision to stop funding mammograms in partnership with Planned Parenthood? Would you have responded differently had you been in charge?
Question 3: Officials at Susan G. Komen for the Cure seemed unprepared for the intensity of response that they encountered. How would an understanding of the difference between customer loyalty and customer inertia have prepared the Komen officials for the reactions they experienced?
Question 4: Does the Komen organization demonstrate I characteristics of relationship loyalty with their donors? Why or why not?
Question 5: Many Komen supporters switched their donations to Planned Parenthood after the negative public publicity. Use the concept of share of wallet to explain why this might have happened.
In: Operations Management
Please study the article below and choose one specific corporation & business at your choice from the most unstable industries in the U.S. right now, in April 2020 due to corona virus impact and discuss in a word document the following topics (please do a brief research using external internet resources, website of the corporation, annual or quarterly company reports or your required book and OSM 311 power points):
-Company products & services
-The impact on sales or revenue or profit for this corporation of the corona virus effect on customers, supply chain, operation & employees, distribution, shelter in place government & state decision.
-What should you decide on inventory management (Anticipation inventory or Seasonal Inventory and safety inventory) as an operation manager for this company
-How can you reduce the inventory cost (slide 14) and Total cost minimization (slide 22-25).
-Losses & how to maximize the gross profit (review the break-even point)?
-Operations Strategies that your recommend for this business & corporation in this difficult situation of the economy (required book, page 581).
Airlines
With people around the world being asked to stay home and travel bans preventing people from entering and leaving certain countries becoming more common, the airline industry has been suffering major losses. Vertical Research Partners said that passenger revenues could decline to zero by the end of the first quarter and stay there for the whole year, Reuters reported.
Many major airlines have taken a hit. For example, Lufthansa has idled 700 of its 763 aircraft, and Qantas made plans to cut all international flights, which means 30,000 of its workers would need to take paid or unpaid leave.
The airline industry has been asking for government aid to get through the crisis, and on March 27, the U.S.’s coronavirus aid package passed, which would provide $58 billion to the American airline industry, Business Insider reported. The bill protects airline employee jobs through Sept. 30.
Many stakeholders see this as a win, including Delta Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants.
“This is an unprecedented win for frontline aviation workers and a template all workers can build from,” Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson said in a statement obtained by Business Insider. “The payroll grants we won in this bill will save hundreds of thousands of jobs and will keep working people connected to healthcare many will need during this pandemic.”
However, other experts think the bailout won’t be enough to save the industry, which relies on passengers to make revenue.
“We have an airline industry right now that is flying empty planes,” airline consultant Mike Boyd told CNN. “This isn’t going to save the industry unless we get back in [the] business of flying people.” And it’s unknown when that time might come.
“We’re talking about at least six to eight months down the road before flying starts to resume at anything approaching normal,” Boyd said. “And even then, we’re likely to see a significant reduction. One way or another, we’re going to have a smaller airline industry.”
Auto Manufacturing
Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai have all shut down manufacturing plants amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, ABC News reported. The closing of Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler’s Detroit facilities will leave 150,000 workers without jobs, though they are likely to receive supplemental pay in addition to unemployment benefits.
However, the slowdown in demand for cars as a result of the coronavirus could have major ripple effects. According to one projection, for every seven-day period that consumers stop buying new vehicles, the U.S. economy would lose roughly 94,400 jobs and $7.3 billion in overall earnings, NBC News reported.
Construction
Although the construction industry is pushing to be seen as “essential” to keep their projects running, there could still be some major impacts to the industry. The shutdown of the production of construction materials in China could lead to material delays and more expensive materials stateside, Construction Dive reported. It could also lead to fewer projects, especially in the realm of hospitality, as clients and lenders pull back on funding and expansion in these times of uncertainty.
“My gut tells me we’re going to see higher prices and projects canceled, although I can’t point to the extent of it,” Joe Natarelli, national construction industry leader at accounting services firm Marcum, told Construction Dive.
Cruises
All the major cruise lines have ceased operations as countries continue to close their ports. Thousands of workers have lost their jobs — both those who work on the cruise ships and those who work at the ports — and the values of the three biggest U.S. cruise lines — Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian — have all plummeted, The Guardian reported.
“This will be a disastrous time for the industry,” Dr. Christopher Muller, a senior professor at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration, told The Guardian. “When you have 3,500 people booked on one of these mega cruises and the boat doesn’t go, it’s an enormous expense. Someone’s paying for that boat that’s sitting idle in the harbor and it’s very hard to recapture those ongoing fixed-cost losses.”
However, he believes the industry will be able to bounce back eventually.
“The logical thing is they will have to have very deep discounts, and those deep discounts will be especially present in the next cycle of cruise seasonality in September,” Muller said. “By August and September, the consuming public will be enticed to go back on cruises because the pricing is going to be outrageously good with enormous discounts.”
Film and TV Production
Major networks and film studios have put a halt on production as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Netflix has stopped production on all shows in the U.S. and Canada, including “Stranger Things” season four; NBC Universal has suspended production on 35 or more shows; and Warner Bros., Disney +, Apple TV +, CBS, AMC and Viacom have all also paused production on their shows, Forbes reported.
The release dates of several major films have also been pushed, including “Wonder Woman 1984,” “In the Heights,” “Black Widow” and “A Quiet Place Part II,” while others have been released straight to streaming.
Over 100,000 entertainment industry workers have lost their jobs, while studios, networks and producers face major losses, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“There may be irrecoverable losses to the movie and entertainment industry,” Brian Kingman, who helps film and television companies find insurance policies, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s going to take a long time to sort out.”
Gambling
As a result of the coronavirus, 92% of all of the casinos in America are now closed, including those in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. In addition, the legal sports betting industry is also suffering as live sporting events have been canceled or postponed, Business Insider reported.
These closures not only affect the hospitality and gaming employees who are now out of work, but also the U.S. economy as a whole. If casinos remain closed for two months, it would rob the U.S. economy of $43.5 billion in economic activity, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Gyms
Many gyms and fitness studios have temporarily closed as a result of the coronavirus. But the pandemic hasn’t been bad for all sectors of the fitness industry — it’s actually been good news for Peloton, which has seen an increase in share prices, CNBC reported. But as people invest more in their at-home gyms while traditional gyms and fitness studios are closed, they might be reluctant to go back once they are open, feeling that they need to justify the thousands they just spent on new equipment.
In: Operations Management