ToyWorks Ltd. is a company that manufactures and sells a single product, which they call a Toodle. For planning and control purposes they utilize a monthly master budget, which is usually developed at least six months in advance of the budget year. Their fiscal year end is June 30.
During the summer of 2019, Chris Leigh, the ToyWorks controller, spent considerable time with Pat Frazer, the Manager of Marketing, putting together a sales forecast for the next budget year (July 2020 to June 2021). Unfortunately, their collaboration worked so well they eloped to Las Vegas, were married by an Elvis impersonator, and settled down somewhere in the desert. Prior to their departure they e-mailed letters of resignation and a cryptic sales forecast to the President of ToyWorks. Their sales forecast consisted of these few lines:
*Expected sales for the year ended June 30, 2020 are based on actual sales to date and budgeted sales for the duration of the year.
ToyWorksâs President felt certain that the marriage wouldnât last, and expected Chris would be back any day. But time is passing quickly, and there is still no word from the desert. The President, desperately needing the budget completed, has approached you on April 20, 2020, a management accounting student, for help in preparing the budget for the coming fiscal year. Your conversations with the President and your investigations of the companyâs records have revealed the following information:
Training and development $ 43,200
Property and business taxes 39,000
Supervisorâs salary 149,400
Amortization on equipment 178,800
Insurance premium 24,000
Other 75,600
$ 510,000
Lowest level of sales: 375,000 units Total S & A Expenses: $596,100
Highest level of sales: 750,000 units Total S & A Expenses: $858,600
The High-Low method is used to determine the variable and fixed component of selling and administrative expense. It is estimated that both components of selling and administrative expenses for the budget year will be about 10% greater than the previous average. These costs are paid in the month in which they occur, with the exception of the only non-cash item: a monthly amortization of office equipment in the amount of $800. Not included in the above expenses is bad debt expense which should be considered. Bad debt expense in each month is equal to all sales that are considered uncollectible.
|
Cash |
$ 72,728 |
||||
|
Accounts receivable |
17,008 |
||||
|
Inventory-raw materials |
12,500 |
||||
|
Inventory-finished goods |
23,550 |
||||
|
Prepaid insurance |
16,000 |
||||
|
Prepaid tax |
19,200 |
||||
|
Capital assets (net) |
724,000 |
||||
|
$ 884,985 |
|||||
|
Accounts payable |
$ 19,497 |
||||
|
Income tax payable |
21,500 |
||||
|
Capital stock |
500,000 |
||||
|
Retained earnings |
343,988 |
||||
|
$ 884,985 |
|||||
Required:
You MUST follow the instructions below:
Sales Budget & Schedule of Cash Receipts (3.5 points)
Production Budget (2 points)
Direct Materials Budget & Schedule of Cash Disbursements (5.5 points)
Direct Labour Budget (1 point)
Manufacturing Overhead Budget (3 points)
Ending Finished Goods Inventory Budget (3 points)
Selling and Administrative Expense Budget (4 points)
Cash Budget (7 points)
In: Accounting
You are an auditor in Smit & Chandra, a mid-tier audit firm. Your firm is the incumbent auditor on Biotech Ltd, a pharmaceutical company. Since the previous audit, the company has listed on the Australian Securities Exchange which means the company has to meet additional reporting regulations. Due to rapid growth, Biotech Ltd is financially stretched and its accounting systems are struggling to cope with the growth in the business. You recently read an article in the Australian Financial Review, which stated that Biotech Ltd is currently under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for alleged failure to pay the appropriate amount of Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax on their payroll.
Biotech Ltd is a pharmaceutical company, developing drugs to be licensed for use around the world. Products include medicines such as tablets, medical gels and creams. The market is very competitive, encouraging rapid product innovation. New products are continually in development and improvements are made to existing formulations. Drugs must meet very stringent regulatory requirements prior to being licensed for production and sale. You are aware that during the 2020 financial year, Biotech Ltd lost several customer contracts to overseas competitors.
Biotech Ltd approached its bank during the year to extend its borrowing facilities. An extension of $20 million was sought to its existing loan to support the on-going development of new drugs. The long-term borrowings are subject to debt covenants in which the company must maintain a current ratio of 3.5:1.
In addition, the company asked the bank to make cash of $5 million available if an existing court case against the company is successful. The court case is being brought by an individual who suffered severe side effects when participating in a clinical trial in 2016.
On 8 June 2020, the Company announced to the market it had been the victim of a cyber-security incident that resulted in supplier and customer details being disclosed on the dark web. The Company is assessing the costs of the incident and the subsequent reduction in revenue. The Company expects this to have a material impact on future earnings.
In December 2019, the internal audit department of Biotech Ltd performed a review of the operation of controls over processing of overtime payments in the Payroll department. It was found that the companyâs specified internal control procedures in relation to the processing of overtime payments were not followed.
Below are some results of the analytical review procedures performed by the Senior Auditor (David) during the planning stage:
Sales 12.5% decrease since prior year
Net profit after tax 20% decrease since prior year
Accounts payable 15% decrease since prior year
Cash at Bank 16% increase since prior year
Accounts receivable 18% increase since prior year
Inventories 6% increase since prior year
Current ratio: 3.6:1
Debt to Equity ratio: 0.6
Minutes from the Audit Planning meeting with Simon Jones (Finance Director of Biotech Ltd) held on 30th April 2020:
Due to the current government restrictions, the planning meeting with Simon Jones was held via Zoom. In attendance at the meeting was the Audit Partner (Michael), the Audit Manager (Amanda) and the Audit Senior (David).
The following key items were discussed during the meeting:
The Audit Team
The audit team consists of 4 people. The partner is Michael. He has been the audit partner on the Biotech Ltd audit for 6 years. The audit manager is Amanda. This is Amandaâs first time on the Biotech Ltd audit. David is the audit senior and is responsible for the initial audit planning. David has recently completed the Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting. David has just been offered a well-paying accountant position at Biotech but he has not yet decided whether to accept the position. The graduate on the audit is Audrey. Audreyâs friend is the receptionist at Biotech Ltd. The receptionist has no accounting knowledge and has no involvement with the recording or processing of accounting transactions.
Accounts Receivable / Sales Accounting Cycle and Internal Control System
At the end of each month, the sales manager determines the amount of products required to meet sales demand for the following month based on sales orders received. He reviews the sales orders received from customers and then prepares the pre-numbered inventory requisition forms, which he then sends to the warehouse managers so that they can prepare the goods for delivery. One copy of the sales order and inventory requisition form is sent to the warehouse, one copy is sent to the accounts receivable department and one copy is filed in the sales department.
The warehouse prepares the goods for delivery to the customers and generates the delivery document. When the goods have been delivered, the signed delivery document, which includes the delivery details, is forwarded to the accounts receivable department. The other copy is filed in the warehouse. The accounts receivable clerk matches the signed delivery document with the sales order and inventory requisition form. Once satisfied that all of the details agree, the clerk generates the sales invoice. Once generated, the clerk does another check to ensure that all details per the sales invoice agrees to the delivery document and sales order. Once satisfied, she writes âcheckedâ on the sales invoice and sends it to the customer. At the end of every week, a different clerk in the Accounts Receivable team reviews the bank statements for receipt of payments from customers and performs a reconciliation against the sales invoices. Once a customer has paid the sales invoice, the clerk stamps âreceivedâ on the sales invoice and files that along with all the other documents in date order.
The walk-through of the accounts receivable/sales cycle confirmed that the accounting and internal control system was working as documented above.
Test of control:
As part of the audit, Audrey tested the controls over the accounts receivable system. She selected a sample of twenty sales transactions and tested the control that all details had been checked. Out of the 20 sales transactions that were selected for testing, 5 sales invoices in the sample did not have the word âcheckedâ written on them. When documenting the results of the test performed, Audrey concluded that the internal control did not operate effectively and consistently throughout the year but that no further audit work is required.
Substantive test
In order to test the occurrence of the sales transactions, Audrey selected a sample of sales invoices and traced them to the General Ledger to test that they were properly recorded.
Subsequent events not previously mentioned
What are the strengths and weaknesses in the payroll cycle?
What misstatements this control should prevent? State the control test that one could undertake to the test the control is operating as expected?
In: Accounting
The Person Class
The Player Class (with updates from the last lab)
The SoccerPlayer Class
The FootballPlayer Class
The Address Class
The ZipCode Class (updated to include encapsulation)
The App class
In: Computer Science
PLEASE MAKE THIS TWO DIFFERENT FILES. ONE FOR CLASS (temperature.h) AND ONE FOR temperature.cpp
Objective: This assignment will provide further practice with implementing classes.
Task: For this homework, you will write a class called Temperature, in the files temperature.h and temperature.cpp, for creating and using objects that will store temperatures (like for weather forecasting programs).
This class should be portable, so it should work with any up-to-date C++ compiler.
Program Details and Requirements:
1) An object of type Temperature should represent a temperature in terms of degrees and scale. Degrees should allow decimal precision (so use type double). The three scales possible are Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin. You may store the scale however you like inside the object, but for any keyboard input or function parameters, scales will come in as type char, where 'C', 'F', 'K' (as well as the lower case versions) are valid options. Your object must always represent a valid temperature -- remember that 0 Kelvin represents the lowest possible temperature in existence (the complete absence of heat). Your object should also store a format setting, to be used for display of temperatures to the screen. There will be more than one possible format. The class features (public interface) should work exactly as specified, regardless of what program might be using Temperature objects.
Note: For purposes of conversions between scales, please remember the following conversion relationships betweeen temperatures:
2) Your Temperature class must provide the following services (i.e. member functions) in its public section. These functions will make up the interface of the Temperature class. Make sure you use function prototypes as specified here. (You may write any other private functions you feel necessary, but the public interface must include all the functionality described here).
Examples: These declarations should be legal, and the comment gives the initialized temperature
Temperature t1; // initializes to 0 Celsius Temperature t2(23.5, 'F'); // initializes to 23.5 Fahrenheit Temperature t3(12.6, 'Z'); // invalid scale, initializes to 0 Celsius Temperature t4(-300, 'c'); // this is below 0 Kelvin, inits to 0 Celsius Temperature t5(15, 'k'); // initializes to 15 Kelvin
Legal: 43.6 k , 53.5 C , 100 F , -273.15 c Illegal: 12.3 q , -5 K , -278 C , -500 F // last 3 are below absolute zero
You may assume that the user entry will always be of the
form:
D S where D is a numeric value and S is a
character
| Name | Format | Example | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default | D S | 50.4316 C | This will look mostly like the input from the Input
function. Print the degrees and scale as double and char, with default precision on the degrees, and the scale as an uppercase letter |
| Precision-1 | D.d S | 50.4 C | Degrees printed to 1 place after the decimal, fixed format, and scale printed as an uppercase letter. This output will need to make sure to put the output stream BACK to its original format settings when you are done, (so that output from a main program isn't now set to 1 decimal place for the caller, for example). See this notes addendum for more details on this kind of thing |
| Long | D scale | 50.4316 Celsius | This display format should show the degrees in default precision, and the scale as the full word "Celsius", "Fahrenheit", or "Kelvin" |
'D' = Default format 'P' = Precision-1 format 'L' = Long format
If an invalid setting code is passed in, do not alter the current format setting. This function should return true for successful format change, and false for failure (invalid setting given).
Temperature t1(68.9, 'F'); // 68.9 Fahrenheit
t1.Convert('T'); // invalid scale, no change. Returns false
t1.Convert('c'); // t1 is now 20.5 Celsius
t1.Convert('K'); // t1 is now 293.65 Kelvin
Temperature t1(0, 'C'); // 0 Celsius Temperature t2(31.5, 'F'); // 31.5 Fahrenheit t1.Compare(t2); // returns 1 (since t2 comes first) t2.Compare(t1); // returns -1 (calling object is t2, comes first)
3) General Requirements:
Testing Your Class:
You will need to test your class, which means you will need to write one or more main programs that will call upon the functionality (i.e. the public member functions) of the class and exercise all of the different cases for each function. You do not need to turn any test programs in, but you should write them to verify your class' features.
Here is the beginning of a sample test program to get you started:
// sample.cpp -- sample test program starter for Temperature class
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#include <iostream>
#include "temperature.h"
using namespace std;
int main()
{
Temperature t1; // should default to 0 Celsius
Temperature t2(34.5, 'F'); // should init to 34.5 Fahrenheit
// display dates to the screen
cout << "\nTemperature t1 is: ";
t1.Show();
cout << "\nTemperature t2 is: ";
t2.Show();
t1.Input(); // Allow user to enter a temperature for t1
cout << "\nTemperature t1 is: ";
t1.Show();
t1.SetFormat('L'); // change format of t1 to "Long" format
cout << "\nTemperature t1 is: ";
t1.Show();
// and so on. Add your own tests to fully test the class'
// functionality.
}In: Computer Science
Write a paragraph (4 - 6 sentences) that summarizes the information that you have learned about Television. This summary should be in your own words, do not directly quote the source.
Write a thesis statement based on the information written in your summary. Be sure to create a thesis statement that is clear, specific, and thought-provoking. Create a thesis statement that argues a controversial position.
READ THIS ARTICLE:
Television is one of the most significant communications inventions. Television has fundamentally changed the political process, our use of leisure, as well as social relations among family and friends. Television was not developed by any single individual or even a group of people working together. Scientists and visionaries imagined a device that would capture images with sound and transmit them into homes since the 1880s. The word television was first used at the 1900 Exhibition in Paris. Scottish inventor John Logie Baird (1888â1946) was the first person to provide a television transmission in October 1925, and he subsequently demonstrated it to the British public on January 26, 1926. On December 25, 1926, Kenjiro Takayanagi (1899â1990) displayed the first image in Japan. The technology improved slowly with athletes participating in the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin able to see some poor quality images of the games. In 1936 France and Page 319 | Top of Article Germany began television programming. In Great Britain King George VIâs coronation from Hyde Park Corner on May 12, 1937, was the first broadcast of its kind, and the first U.S. election reported on television was on November 8, 1941, where news of Franklin Delano Rooseveltâs victory was transmitted to an estimated 7,500 sets. The development of television was halted during the Second World War in Europe and North America where manufacturers directed their attentions to munitions. Regular television service reached ninety-six countries by 1973. Many of the things we associate with modern television technology were patented or devised in televisionâs infancy. In 1928 Vladimir Zworyking (1889â1982) owned the first U.S. patent for an all-electronic color television; however, the development did not come to fruition for another twenty-five years. During the 1939 Worldâs Fair in New York, television could not only receive audio and video images, but it was also designed to record those images, foreshadowing video recording devices (VCRs). And Baird later patented a 600-line electronic high definition color system in Britain in 1945. TELEVISIONâS GOLDEN AGE The golden age of television is associated with the years 1949 to 1960 when American television viewing consisted of a variety of entertainment programming. The burgeoning prosperity and optimism of post-World War II influenced the spread of television. As more people were able to purchase televisions the demand for content grew. Early television programs offered revamped radio programs. There was some news and information programming, but those tended to be of short duration. A similar golden age is associated with British television. Early programs were reworked vaudeville acts and radio shows. Later situational comedies such as I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners would create new talent and genres. The shared experience of watching key television programming provided an avenue for discussion and next-day water cooler conversation. As television matured so did the content, with programs such as All in the Family offering political and social commentary on issues ranging from race relations to the Vietnam War. Televisionâs depiction of the family changed through time as well. While initial programming presented unified traditional families with bread-winning fathers and stay-at-home mothers, later programs depicted the breakdown of the traditional family dealing in both fiction and nonfiction with divorce, remarriage, blended families, and later, with same-sex unions. Not only did television provide scripted programming, but it also broadcasted major sporting events. The first televised hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens losing six-to-two to the New York Rangers in Madison Square Gardens was seen on February 25, 1940. Television is also closely associated with the increasing popularity of the Olympic games, soccer, American football, and baseball. With technological improvements, viewing time increased as well as televisionâs influence on the public and politics. In 1947 there were only 60,000 American homes with television sets; by 1950 this figure grew to 12.5 million. Televisions are now found in nearly every home in the United States and Europe. In the developing world, the allure of television is so great that some want television before other communications devices such as telephones. The hold of major networks on audiences soon dissipated with the advent of cable and specialty television programming. Rather than having a system where the networks catered to a common denominator of programming, the proliferation of specialty programs allowed people to view content that interested them specifically. Moving from analog to digital signals allowed for a so-called 500-channel universe where any specific interest could be satisfied, from golf to cooking; from sport to fashion; and from all news to pornography. As a result of these technological changes, the era of the mass audience was over. While there remain a few programs that can attain mass audiences, the market has been so fragmented that networks must compete for an ever-shrinking television audience. EFFECTS ON CHILDREN The rapid adoption of television fundamentally changed modern society. Television has been blamed for the decline in civil society, the breakdown of the family, suicide, mass murder, childhood obesity, and the trivializing of politics. Children have been the target of broadcasters since the 1950s. Initially American broadcasters provided twenty-seven hours a week of childrenâs television programming. By the 1990s there was twenty-four hour a day programming available to children. Children in Canada spend fourteen hours per week (Statistics Canada) watching television, while American children spend twenty-one hours per week (Roberts et al. 2005, p. 34). Some surveys suggest that British children have the highest rate of television viewing in the world. There are several concerns associated with television and childrenâs viewing patterns. Many researchers have noted the link between the advent of television and increasing obesity and other weight-related illnesses. The time spent watching television is time not spent playing outdoors or in other physically challenging activities. High television viewership of violence is linked to an increase in violent children. Prolonged exposure to violent Page 320 | Top of Article television programming has shown that children can become more aggressive, become desensitized to violence, become accepting of violence as a means to solve problems, imitate violence viewed on television, and identify with either victims or victimizers. Despite the negatives associated with television, it remains a powerful tool in shaping and educating children. While many point to the destructive nature of television, there are others who acknowledge televisionâs positive impact. Researchers and programmers have developed content that has positively influenced children. Early studies on the PBS program Sesame Street found that children who viewed the program were better readers in grade one than students who had not watched the program. Programs were developed not only to help with literacy, but with other subjects as well as socialization, problem solving, and civic culture. Notwithstanding the positive effects of children and television viewing, high television viewing has been associated with a decline in civic culture. As people have retreated to their homes to watch television, they have been less inclined to participate in politics either by voting or by joining political parties. In addition television viewing means that people are not interacting as much with friends or neighbors. What is more, television viewing also has been associated with an overall decline in group participation as well as volunteerism. ADVERTISING AND OWNERSHIP The issue of ownership of content and transmission was debated from televisionâs onset. In 1927 the U.S. Radio Act declared public ownership of the airways. They argued that the airwaves should âserve the PICNâpublic interest, convenience, and necessity.â Because of this understanding of the public owning the airwaves, it set the stage for regulatory bodies around the world licensing stations according to content regulations. Taking the issue of public interest one step further, the British government founded the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1927. Other countries followed establishing their own public broadcasting systems. The United States lagged behind other nations by adopting a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1968. With the increasing adoption of television, many countries found the need to create new regulatory agencies. In the United States, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created as an act of Congress on June 19, 1934. The most successful television enterprises are closely associated with advertising. From the outset the way in which television content was funded was through the pursuit of advertising dollars. As a result it has often been said that television does not bring content to audiences, but instead it brings audiences to advertisers. The propaganda model of the media, coined by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky in their 1988 publication Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, argues that the media uphold the dominant ideology in America. The five pillars of the model focus on ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and anticommunism. This model has been linked to other western media systems, but is most fitting in the United States where the power of the media rests with the owners. Televisionâs hold on the public imagination stems in part because of its ease of transmission. No one needs any special skill to receive the messages. All that is required is a television that can pick up a signal. More important, television influences our view of the world precisely because images are transmitted into peopleâs homes. Since its inception, television transmissions have had the power to change our perceptions of world events. Starting with the Vietnam War and continuing to a myriad of events from the arms race to Tiananmen Square, and from the Civil Rights movement to the war in Iraq, television has become synonymous with the phrase âthe whole world is watching.â
In: Psychology
Scenario
Pigs R Us is a second generation, family-owned Richmond-based company with about 400 employees. It slaughters, manufactures, and sells pork food products. Pigs R Us (PRU) is a low-tech, hands-on, âbricks and mortarâ type of company with solid brand recognition, an impeccable reputation for high quality and ethical standards. The processes used in manufacturing are with the highest ISO20002 standards, and the plant is maintained immaculately. The personnel are comprised of an older work force (average employee age is late 40s). There is little staff turnover, though lately there have been a diverse group of younger workers joining the company. There has been an impressive record of speedy state and federal new-product approvals, and solid working relationships with their large and small customers.
The company prides itself on the close "southern family," culture of the business. The company logo features a pig with a smile on its face surrounded by small pictures of some of its oldest serving employees. The organization's structure is âold-fashionedâ. It is hierarchical with rigid management divisions and reporting policies. Research, manufacturing, and sales and marketing operate in traditional fashion, with employees reporting to supervisors or mid-level managers. By the 1990s, sales and distribution grew from Richmond into a regional market, establishing a competitive advantage throughout the US South. Despite downward economic times in the US and the South, the pork business does well. This is due largely to the fact that Pork is one of the cheaper meat products and there is a variety of ways it can be prepared.
Owned by the Morris family for the last 60 years, Pigs R Us is a key player in the Richmond based food industry. Various Morris family members sit on the board of charities throughout the city and it is not unusual to see the name at society events. Further, the Company sponsors its own Little League Team and has built a recreation center and assisted living facility for the elderly, guaranteeing space for all former 20+ year veteran workers of the company for free. So, it was no surprise, that the whole community was devastated when it was announced by the Morris family that Vance Morris the CEO of Pigs R Us was killed while driving back from a Pigs R US board meeting. The plant closed for a week to show respect and to determine how it would function until the family could make its succession decisions.
Vance Morris was the only son of James and Kathleen Morris. Vance took over the business 10 years before when his father had a heart attack and died. Fresh out of graduate school when his father died. He took over the business that he had known well much to the pleasure and keen eye of the workers. Vance made some marketing changes that allowed for the growth of the company and with the help of the employees brought the plant into its current state. Vance had just gotten married the year before to a young Richmond artist he had met at one of his charity benefits. He had no heirs and no plans for succession as he was in his mid-thirties and had just gotten married. While Vance had cousins in the area they were all professional people who knew nothing about business or pork. The workers could only surmise that the company would be sold, but speculation as to whom it might be did not include someone from out of the city.
Before the deal was announced publicly, Johnâs widow, Arleen, reported to the workers that a Chinese company, Shanghou (SHU), would be buying Pigs R US. Mrs. Morris assured the workers that the SHU promised not to cut workers' wages and benefits, and to keep the current management team in place. She said that SHU also promised to keep Pork R US headquarters in Richmond. Arleen assured the workers that SHU promised that there would be no changes for the first year and that almost everything would remain the same. From her talks with SHU, Arleen is a bit worried about future changes that SHU may implement.
SHU is a large manufacturer and distributor of food and beverages with, headquarters in Hong Kong. Manufacturing plants operate in mainland China, and the company has additional offices in Europe and Australia. By acquiring the smaller, well-respected Pork R US, SHU aims to diversify and expand its consumer base by including tailor-made pork products globally to meet market projections of a customer upsurge in sustainable, non-beef meats in the next decade. Given SHUâs current availability of telecommunications software and hardware, the deployment of the Pigs R US refrigeration trucks should not be an insurmountable issue.
Many PRU employees, especially the older workers and some of the older managers, are dispirited about the acquisition, and anxious about working for foreigners, downsizing, less face-to-face interaction, language differences, and more electronic systems that are to be put in place. Some of the of the more experienced workers are considering a move or an early retirement due to the ongoing rumors about the acquisition. To make matters worse, recent news media have printed stories about tainted food made by other companies in China. Employees fear loss of product quality and damage to PRUâs reputation as well as the loss of the family southern culture that was their pride and joy.
SHU has told PRU workers that for now, most employees will be retained. However, all employees will be evaluated, and reassigned to teams as the new flat structure is put in place. The new CEO is Harvard-educated Daniel Chinn. He supports increasing the company's competitive edge by discovering and developing existing individual potential through group collaboration and team synergy. Ever since his days as a brilliant, hard-driving MBA student; he has been known to be an enthusiastic supporter of job training and career growth. Like many of SHUâs employees, David is in his early thirties. He speaks four languages and is ambitious, self-directed, tech-savvy, accustomed to working remotely, and experienced with a culturally diverse staff. David is eager to make his newest acquisition a success. He wants to move forward on the integration of "Pork R USâ workers into SHU because Chinn believes they are the âgreatest asset have a rich knowledge base and experience can be tapped into to bring the company success." Chinn is concerned about the mix of culture and how his ideas of incorporating artificial intelligence and more robotics into the manufacturing processes will be received by management and the workers at the newly acquired plant.
Daniel Chinn is anxious to keep the âsouthern familyâ culture of Pigs R Us but at the same time wants to use the most modern of manufacturing techniques. He decided that the best way to do this was to start a pilot change operation in the packaging area to demonstrate to the workers the effectiveness of technology. He bought and set up for use 3D printers in the packaging room. The printers were able to create reusable shipping materials and operate in conjunction with the product conveyor for fast and easy packaging. He brought in two trained 3D printer operators from China to handle the work along with two robots that would move the package material and create shrink-wrapped pallets for loading on to the trucks.
The current packaging department employs 5 workers on day shift and 3 newer workers on the night shift. All the day shift workers are in their early fifties and have been working for Pigs R Us all their lives. John Mellon, the lead line man, exemplifies the group. He is 53 years old. He has a family of three children most all are grown. One works in the business with him as the manager of accounting department having gotten a college degree unlike his father. John rarely travels out of state and has never been abroad. He is not terribly familiar with technology. He has a Smart TV but his children have set it up for him to use Netflix.
When the new employees arrived, the packaging staff tried to get to know them but had little in common and found it hard to communicate with them. The new workers ate together at lunch and always with food they brought with them despite offers of food brought in by the older employees to show their âsouthern rootsâ. Things are strained between the groups because the older employees thought they were being snubbed and many are uncertain as to the customs and language unable to communicate their real feelings. This all operated to create a schism among the workers which escalated into job performance and employment commitment issues when the six-month results from the 3D/Robot pilot showed the following success in favor of new technology.
|
Measurable Factors Day Shift |
Standard |
3D Printing |
|
Cost |
5.56 |
5.01 |
|
Time |
2.36 |
2.69 |
|
Quality Control Problem Ratio (per 500 units) |
1 |
8.75 |
|
Training Time (per hour) |
30 |
25 |
|
Shipping Problems/Damage (per 10,000 units) |
1 |
0.4 |
|
Production Problems (per 10,000 units) |
0.2 |
0.4 |
|
Total Number of Pieces Produced per year |
375,000 |
525,000 |
|
Measurable Factors Night Shift |
Standard |
3D Printing |
|
Cost |
5.56 |
4.98 |
|
Time |
2.36 |
2.27 |
|
Quality Control Problem Ratio (per 500 units) |
1 |
5.75 |
|
Training Time (per hour) |
30 |
25 |
|
Shipping Problems/Damage (per 10,000 units) |
1 |
0.35 |
|
Production Problems (per 10,000 units) |
0.2 |
0.23.5 |
|
Total Number of Pieces Produced per year |
375,000 |
645,000 |
The results showed such a marked process improvement with the added benefit of creating materials that were sustainable. The immediate reaction among the older workers was fear for their jobs. The new workers suddenly were the enemy. Chinn was pleased with the new process and indicated that the 3D printing approach would be continued. The word of the decision spread among the families in the company and the âsouthern familyâ culture was now closing ranks on the newcomers both in the packaging room and in the other departments thus confirming their fears when news of the buyout surfaced.
1. Write SWOT analysis
2. Write the current state of the company as supported by the SWOT and its relevance to the scenario.
3. Identifie the OD challenges in the case.
4. Recommend and describe the quantitative approach for diagnosing the situation at Pinyin Foods.
In: Operations Management
Starbucks after Schultz
This activity is important because, as a manager, you must be able to identify your companyâs core competency and select an appropriate business-level strategy to optimize its competitive value.
The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate your understanding of core competency and business-level strategies by applying these concepts to Starbucksâ recent experience in identifying and regaining its competitive advantage.
Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.
Case
Inspired by Italian coffee bars, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz set out to provide a completely new consumer experience. The trademark of any Starbucks is its ambienceâwhere music and comfortable chairs and sofas encourage customers to sit and enjoy their beverages and, more recently, food and (at some locations) even wine. Customers can use the complimentary wireless service or just visit with friends. The barista seems to speak a foreign language as she rattles off the offerings: CaffĂ© Misto, Caramel Macchiato, Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Espresso Con Panna, or Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino, among some 30 different coffee blends. Dazzled and enchanted, customers pay $4 or more for a venti-sized drink. Starbucks has been so successful in creating its ambience that customers keep coming back for more.
Starbucksâ core competency is to create a unique consumer experience the world over. Schultzâ strategic intent was to create a âthird place,â between home and work, where people wanted to visit, ideally daily. Customers are paying for the unique experience and ambience, not just for the cup of coffee. The consumer experience that Starbucks created is a valuable, rare, and costly to imitate intangible resource. This allowed Starbucks to gain a competitive advantage. Since 2000, Starbucksâ revenues have grown almost 15-fold, from less than $2 billion to some $27 billion in 2017.
While core competencies are often built through learning from experience, they can atrophy through forgetting. This is what happened to Starbucks. Between 2004 and 2008, Starbucks expanded operations rapidly by doubling the number of stores from 8,500 to almost 17,000 stores (see Exhibit MC8.1). It also branched out into ice cream, desserts, sandwiches, books, music, and other retail merchandise, straying from its core business.
Trying to keep up with its explosive growth in both number of stores and product offerings, Starbucks began to forget what made it unique. It lost the appeal that made it special, and its unique culture got diluted. For example, baristas used to grind beans throughout the day whenever a new pot of coffee had to be brewed (which was at least every eight minutes). The grinding sounds and fresh coffee aroma were trademarks of Starbucks stores. Instead, to accommodate its fast growth, many baristas began to grind all of the dayâs coffee beans early in the morning and store them for the rest of the day. New espresso machines, designed for efficiency, were so tall that they physically blocked interaction between baristas and customers. Although these and other operations changes allowed Starbucks to reduce costs and improve efficiency, they undercut Starbucksâ primary reason for successâthat going to Starbucks was not simply a stop for caffeine; it was a sensory experience. The negative impact of cost-reduction measures was underscored when Starbucks lost a blind taste-test to fast food giant McDonaldâs. Among six coffees tested, Starbucks came in last. Even run-of-the-mill supermarket coffees sold in huge cans were rated higher. Some customers donât like Starbucks coffee and gave the chain the nickname âCharbucksââbecause critics say that a lot of the coffee has an overly roasted quality, a dark and bitter taste.
To make matters worse, the global financial crisis (2008â2009) hit Starbucks hard. The first items consumers go without during recession are luxury items such as a $4 coffee at Starbucks (see revenue drop in Exhibit MC8.1).
Coming out of an eight-year retirement, Howard Schultz again took the reins as CEO in January 2008, attempting to re-create what had made Starbucks special. He immediately launched several strategic initiatives to turn the company around. Just a month after coming back, Schultz ordered more than 7,000 Starbucks stores across the United States to close for one day so that baristas could learn the perfect way to prepare coffee. The company lost over $6 million in revenue on that one day. This exacerbated investor jitters, but Schultz felt the importance of relearning how to create a unique Starbucks experience was key to bringing back its corporate culture.
In 2009, Starbucks introduced Via, its new instant coffee, a move that some worried might further dilute the brand. In 2010, Schultz rolled out new customer service guidelines: Baristas would no longer multitask, making multiple drinks at the same time, but would instead focus on no more than two drinks at a time, starting a second one while finishing the first. Schultz also focused on readjusting store managersâ goals. Before Schultzâ return, managers had been given a mandate to focus on sales growth. Schultz, however, knew that Starbucksâ main differentiator was its special customer experience. The CEO instructed managers to focus on what had made the Starbucks brand successful in the first place.
Although its earlier attempt to diversify away from its core business in the mid-2000s failed, under Schultz, Starbucks was able to successfully introduce food items. Attempting to drive more store traffic in other than the morning hours where customers need their daily caffeine shot, the chain has added baked goods, sandwiches, and other food items to its menu. To get more customers into its stores in the late afternoon and early eveningâtraditionally its slowest timeâStarbucks stores now offer items such as vegetables, flatbread pizza, plates of cheese, and desserts. It even introduced alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer, available after 4 p.m., as part of an âEveningsâ program.
Starbucks also continues its efforts to find new levels of luxury offerings catering to higher end customers within its existing customer base. Online and in stores it produces limited-run exclusive batches of varietal coffees for home use, at high price points. Some stores also offer individually brewed cups of the same higher-priced roasts. Since 2014 Starbucks has created something called a Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room. The first of super high-end stores appeared in Starbucksâ home, in Seattle, with more planned domestically and around the world.
Most of these initiatives continue. It has retooled its Evenings program of alcohol, for example, and in 2017 announced such offerings would be scaled back to continue only at its Roastery locations. Otherwise its ambitions continue. Starbucksâ goal is to double its revenues from food over the next few years and to be seen as an evening food-and-wine destination. To symbolize its transition from a traditional coffeehouse, Starbucks dropped the word coffee from its logo.
Schultz also pushed the adoption of new technology to engage with customers more intimately and effectively. Starbucks now uses social media platforms Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers more or less in real time. Its highly successful Starbucks loyalty program has over 12 million regular users. Some 27 percent of all transactions in U.S. stores are now made using mobile devices. The Starbucks app allows customers to order and pay for drinks and food ahead of time, so that they can bypass standing in line and just need to pick up their order.
Finally, as the U.S. market appears to be saturated with some 12,000 stores, Schultz believes that Starbucks has a great growth opportunity by opening more cafés overseas. Starbucks is planning to have more than 3,000 stores in China by 2019, up from 1,500 in 2015. Starbucks also plans to double its number of cafés elsewhere in Asia to more than 4,000 in the next few years.
As the creator of Starbucks, however, Schultz enjoyed a degree of freedom that an ordinary CEO would not have had. Howard Schultz is to Starbucks much like Steve Jobs was to Apple. Schultz has the reputation and power of personality to implement a change that reduces operational effectiveness in favor of delighting customers. Schultz was able to orchestrate a successful turnaround, and with it Starbucks was able to gain and sustain a competitive advantage. Exhibit MC8.2 shows that Starbucks outperformed the wider stock market by a huge margin.
1.The success of Starbucks lies in its ability to create for the customer a unique experience or âthird placeâ between home and work. This unique experience is also known as Starbucksâ
A. patch dependence
B. core competency
C. tangible resources
D. value chain
E. resource heterogeneity
2.Between 2004 and 2008, Starbucks expanded operations rapidly and attempted to diversity from its core business. These efforts diluted its core culture, resulting in competitive parity because the customer experience that was its core competency was no longer
A. tangible
B. rare
C. valuable
D. organized to capture value
E. imitable
3. Starbucksâ adoption of social media and an app that focuses on customer satisfaction suggests that competitive advantage is more likely to spring from ___________ resources than from __________ resources.
A.equivalent; substitutable
B.intangible; tangible
C. costly; reputational
D. visible; rare
E. tangible; intangible
4.One of Howard Schultzâs strategic initiatives after retaining the reins of Starbucks in 2008 was to shut the companyâs 7,000 stores for one day so baristas could relearn what makes the Starbucks brand unique. This initiative reflects a focus on which type of strategy?
A. Differentiation
B. cost leadership
C. blue ocean
D. industry effect
E. strategic tradeoff
In: Operations Management
Steps to making your Netbeans IDE (Interactive Development Environment):
Download and install Netbeans 8.2 IDE (Java SE version only). If you do not have the latest Java installation to match, Netbeans will direct you to download the needed version of Java.
If needed, download and install the latest Oracle Official Java Software Development Kit Standard Edition (Java SDK SE), and JUnit. I suggest you do this via the bundle referred to as The Java Development Kit (JDK). Download the architecture specific bundle for your computer. (When in doubt of your computerâs architecture (on a PC) itâs probably âWindows x86â)
Part 1: Create a new Java application Lab2Part1 and then enter the code below in the main routine. Be careful about cutting and pasting. The character representations from MS Word or other editors may not all work the same in NetBeans.
int item1 = 5;
int item2;
double num1 = 3.0;
double num2 = 24;
item2 = 6;
int titem = item2;
System.out.println("Printing values");
System.out.println("int item1 value = "+item1);
System.out.println("int item2 value = "+item2);
System.out.println("double num1 value = "+num1);
System.out.println("double num2 value = "+num2);
System.out.println();
item2 = item2 / item1;
System.out.println( "orig item2/item1 "+titem+"/"+item1+" = item2 = "+item2 );
item2 = 15;
System.out.println("resetting item2 value = "+item2);
System.out.println();
num2 = item2 / num1;
System.out.println( "item2/num1 "+item2+"/"+num1+" = num2 = "+num2 );
item1 = 8;
num2 = item1 * num1 / 2;
System.out.println( "item1* num1/2 "+item1+"*"+num1+"/2 = num2 = "+num2 );
System.out.println();
System.out.println("int item2 value = â+item2);
System.out.println("double num1 value = "+num1);
item2 = (item2 â 1) / 3;
num1 *= item2 + 2.1;
System.out.println(âafter item2=(item2-1) / 3: item2 value = "+item2);
System.out.println("after num1 *= item2+2.1: num1 value = "+num1);
System.out.println();
System.out.println("num1 < item1 is "+( num1 < item1));
System.out.println( "num2 != item2 is "+(num2 != item2));
System.out.println();
System.out.println("Printing values");
System.out.println("int item1 value = "+item1);
System.out.println("int item2 value = "+item2);
System.out.println("double num1 value = "+num1);
System.out.println("double num2 value = "+num2);
1.a) If you execute this program, what will be printed in the output window? (5 points)
1.b) Rewrite the statement num1 *= item2 + 2.1; to use only assignment and arithmetic operators. (5 pts)
1.c) Give three examples of shortcut arithmetic operators that are NOT used in the program above. Write the symbols for the operators and the names of the operations they are shortcuts for. (5 pts)
Put your answers for 1.a, 1.b, and 1.c in your answers file.
Part 2: Use the code below, including the comment section, in the main method of a new Java application called Lab2Part2a.
/** ** **
Declare the needed input object here using the names shown below in the program.
Also add any other needed lines to make the input object function.
** ** **/
//input here should be "1310 or 1320"
System.out.print("Please enter a 4-digit course number of 1310 or 1320: ");
String courseNum = input.next();
System.out.print("Please enter the current semester (Fall, Spring, or Summer): ");
String sem = input.next();
String dept = "CSE";
char comma = ',';
String sectionNum = "005";
char dash = '-';
int year = 2017;
String sp = " ";
String course; // output should be semester, year, comma, space,
// then dept, course number then section number
course = sem+sp+year+comma+sp+dept+courseNum+dash+sectionNum;
System.out.println("The course is "+course);
2.a) Add the needed code to the program above to make it run. There is one missing line of code in the main method and you need to add it at the location of the first comment. There will also be a line that needs to be added above the class declaration (NetBeans will help you with this). Save the program as Lab2Part2a.java . (5 pts)
2.b) In the answers file, show two of the six possible outputs produced by the program if all instructions in the program are followed. (4 pts)
2.c) What is different about variables dash and comma from the other variables in the program? How are they like Strings and how are they different from Strings? Put your answer in the answers file. (4 pts)
2.d) Rewrite the program so that it accepts the same inputs and produces the same output but variable course is removed from the program. Do not create a new variable to replace course. Save this modified program as Lab2Part2d.java . (7 pts)
Part 3: The code below does not work. Create a new Java program called Lab2Part3.java starting with this code (and answering questions 3.a and 3.b) and then modify the code so that it correctly calculates the area of a right triangle which has a vertex at (4, 5) â however :
You may not ADD any lines (if there are needed import statements, they may be added)
You may only modify Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 as labeled below
you may NOT change the data type of variable base in Line 1
you may NOT change the data type of height in Line 2
you must add the area formula for Line 3
you must modify Line 4 so that is works and calculates the circumference
// code starting here should be put in main
double x1 = 4;
double y1 = 1;
double x2 = 1;
double y2 = 5;
double x3, y3;
int base = (x1 - x2); // Line 1
int height = (y1 - y2); // Line 2
double hypotenuse = Math.sqrt(Math.pow(base,2)+ Math.pow(height,2));
double area;
area = ; // Line 3 - Look up the formula for area and insert it here
System.out.printf("The base is length %d and the height is %3d \n", base, height);
System.out.print("The distance between ("+x1+","+y1+") and" );
System.out.printf("(%.0f,%2.0f) is %4.1f \n", x2, y2, hypotenuse);
System.out.print("The area of the right triangle is "+area);
circumference = ; // Line 4 - Insert correct calculation here and other as needed
System.out.print("The circumference of the right triangle is "+ circumference);
3.a) List each different type of error, giving the NetBeans error message, that you find after typing this program into Netbeans exactly as given. (Do not copy and paste.) Put these in your answer file. (4 pts)
3.b) Also, in your answers file, for each error, explain exactly (only a few words are needed) why the code, as given above, does not work, i.e. why did each error occur? (4 pts)
3.c) Now correct all the errors and run the program, debugging until it works properly. Only four lines of the program need to be modified to remove the compiling errors including one of the output statements. Be sure to follow any restrictions specified in the program comments. Once the program works, save it as Lab2Part3.java . (8 pts)
3.d) In your answers file, show the EXACT output that is produced by the program after it is fixed. (4 pts)
Part 4: Given the information below, write a Java program to implement this algorithm.
Define a variable called âboxHeightInFeetâ and give it the value 1.5 .
Define a variable called âboxWidthInFeetâ and give it the value 0.5 .
Define a variable called âboxDepthInFeetâ and give it the value 0.75 .
Define a variable called âboxWeightInKilogramsâ and give it the value 4.5.
Using a built-in Math function, increase the box height to the next higher whole number
value. [Hint: look at round, floor, and ceiling functions.]
// Remove the requirement below
//Using a built-in Math function change the box depth to the closest whole number.
Calculate the volume of the box in inches using the modified height, depth, and width.
Calculate the weight in Kg per cubic inch of the box. Also calculate other values as needed to produce the output below.
Your program should produce the following output (donât worry about the indentation level of the output) :
Box height in feet is 2.0 and Box height in inches is 24.0
Box width in feet is 0.5 and Box width in inches is 6.0
Box depth in feet is 0.75 and Box depth in inches is 9.0
Box volume in inches is 1296.00
Box weight in Kg is 4.50
Box weight in Kg per inch is 0.003472
Box weight in Lb is 9.90
4) Save your working program as Lab2Part4.java . (20 pts)
Part 5: Given the program you created for Part 4, modify that program in the following ways.
a. Accept user input values for height, depth, width and weight then do the same modifications and calculations.
b. Produce output that has the same titles and is spaced EXACTLY like the output below: [Your font does NOT have to be the same but it helps if your font is a monospaced or fixed-width font.] The first title is in a 10 char space length then has spaces separating it from the next 10 char title.
c. Have the user input values such that the output below is produced exactly. This means that the values that are put in the program must produce the table below:
Unit Height Width Depth Volume
Inches 24.0 6.0 9.0 1296.0
Feet 2.00 0.50 0.75 0.75
Weight in Pounds Kilograms Kg per In
9.9000 4.5000 0.0035
5.a) Save your working program as Lab2Part5.java . (13 pts)
5.b) Give two different sets of height, depth, and width input values that will produce the output shown above for volume where the height, depth, and width are not the same values as shown above. This means that the height cannot be 2.00, width cannot be 0.50, and the depth cannot be 0.75. Put your two sets of input values in your answers file. Write one set of three values for H, W, and D on one line then write the second set of three values (using a different height, width, and depth) on the next line in the answers file. (12 pts)
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In: Computer Science
Scenario
Pigs R Us is a second generation, family-owned Richmond-based company with about 400 employees. It slaughters, manufactures, and sells pork food products. Pigs R Us (PRU) is a low-tech, hands-on, âbricks and mortarâ type of company with solid brand recognition, an impeccable reputation for high quality and ethical standards. The processes used in manufacturing are with the highest ISO20002 standards, and the plant is maintained immaculately. The personnel are comprised of an older work force (average employee age is late 40s). There is little staff turnover, though lately there have been a diverse group of younger workers joining the company. There has been an impressive record of speedy state and federal new-product approvals, and solid working relationships with their large and small customers.
The company prides itself on the close "southern family," culture of the business. The company logo features a pig with a smile on its face surrounded by small pictures of some of its oldest serving employees. The organization's structure is âold-fashionedâ. It is hierarchical with rigid management divisions and reporting policies. Research, manufacturing, and sales and marketing operate in traditional fashion, with employees reporting to supervisors or mid-level managers. By the 1990s, sales and distribution grew from Richmond into a regional market, establishing a competitive advantage throughout the US South. Despite downward economic times in the US and the South, the pork business does well. This is due largely to the fact that Pork is one of the cheaper meat products and there is a variety of ways it can be prepared.
Owned by the Morris family for the last 60 years, Pigs R Us is a key player in the Richmond based food industry. Various Morris family members sit on the board of charities throughout the city and it is not unusual to see the name at society events. Further, the Company sponsors its own Little League Team and has built a recreation center and assisted living facility for the elderly, guaranteeing space for all former 20+ year veteran workers of the company for free. So, it was no surprise, that the whole community was devastated when it was announced by the Morris family that Vance Morris the CEO of Pigs R Us was killed while driving back from a Pigs R US board meeting. The plant closed for a week to show respect and to determine how it would function until the family could make its succession decisions.
Vance Morris was the only son of James and Kathleen Morris. Vance took over the business 10 years before when his father had a heart attack and died. Fresh out of graduate school when his father died. He took over the business that he had known well much to the pleasure and keen eye of the workers. Vance made some marketing changes that allowed for the growth of the company and with the help of the employees brought the plant into its current state. Vance had just gotten married the year before to a young Richmond artist he had met at one of his charity benefits. He had no heirs and no plans for succession as he was in his mid-thirties and had just gotten married. While Vance had cousins in the area they were all professional people who knew nothing about business or pork. The workers could only surmise that the company would be sold, but speculation as to whom it might be did not include someone from out of the city.
Before the deal was announced publicly, Johnâs widow, Arleen, reported to the workers that a Chinese company, Shanghou (SHU), would be buying Pigs R US. Mrs. Morris assured the workers that the SHU promised not to cut workers' wages and benefits, and to keep the current management team in place. She said that SHU also promised to keep Pork R US headquarters in Richmond. Arleen assured the workers that SHU promised that there would be no changes for the first year and that almost everything would remain the same. From her talks with SHU, Arleen is a bit worried about future changes that SHU may implement.
SHU is a large manufacturer and distributor of food and beverages with, headquarters in Hong Kong. Manufacturing plants operate in mainland China, and the company has additional offices in Europe and Australia. By acquiring the smaller, well-respected Pork R US, SHU aims to diversify and expand its consumer base by including tailor-made pork products globally to meet market projections of a customer upsurge in sustainable, non-beef meats in the next decade. Given SHUâs current availability of telecommunications software and hardware, the deployment of the Pigs R US refrigeration trucks should not be an insurmountable issue.
Many PRU employees, especially the older workers and some of the older managers, are dispirited about the acquisition, and anxious about working for foreigners, downsizing, less face-to-face interaction, language differences, and more electronic systems that are to be put in place. Some of the of the more experienced workers are considering a move or an early retirement due to the ongoing rumors about the acquisition. To make matters worse, recent news media have printed stories about tainted food made by other companies in China. Employees fear loss of product quality and damage to PRUâs reputation as well as the loss of the family southern culture that was their pride and joy.
SHU has told PRU workers that for now, most employees will be retained. However, all employees will be evaluated, and reassigned to teams as the new flat structure is put in place. The new CEO is Harvard-educated Daniel Chinn. He supports increasing the company's competitive edge by discovering and developing existing individual potential through group collaboration and team synergy. Ever since his days as a brilliant, hard-driving MBA student; he has been known to be an enthusiastic supporter of job training and career growth. Like many of SHUâs employees, David is in his early thirties. He speaks four languages and is ambitious, self-directed, tech-savvy, accustomed to working remotely, and experienced with a culturally diverse staff. David is eager to make his newest acquisition a success. He wants to move forward on the integration of "Pork R USâ workers into SHU because Chinn believes they are the âgreatest asset have a rich knowledge base and experience can be tapped into to bring the company success." Chinn is concerned about the mix of culture and how his ideas of incorporating artificial intelligence and more robotics into the manufacturing processes will be received by management and the workers at the newly acquired plant.
Daniel Chinn is anxious to keep the âsouthern familyâ culture of Pigs R Us but at the same time wants to use the most modern of manufacturing techniques. He decided that the best way to do this was to start a pilot change operation in the packaging area to demonstrate to the workers the effectiveness of technology. He bought and set up for use 3D printers in the packaging room. The printers were able to create reusable shipping materials and operate in conjunction with the product conveyor for fast and easy packaging. He brought in two trained 3D printer operators from China to handle the work along with two robots that would move the package material and create shrink-wrapped pallets for loading on to the trucks.
The current packaging department employs 5 workers on day shift and 3 newer workers on the night shift. All the day shift workers are in their early fifties and have been working for Pigs R Us all their lives. John Mellon, the lead line man, exemplifies the group. He is 53 years old. He has a family of three children most all are grown. One works in the business with him as the manager of accounting department having gotten a college degree unlike his father. John rarely travels out of state and has never been abroad. He is not terribly familiar with technology. He has a Smart TV but his children have set it up for him to use Netflix.
When the new employees arrived, the packaging staff tried to get to know them but had little in common and found it hard to communicate with them. The new workers ate together at lunch and always with food they brought with them despite offers of food brought in by the older employees to show their âsouthern rootsâ. Things are strained between the groups because the older employees thought they were being snubbed and many are uncertain as to the customs and language unable to communicate their real feelings. This all operated to create a schism among the workers which escalated into job performance and employment commitment issues when the six-month results from the 3D/Robot pilot showed the following success in favor of new technology.
|
Measurable Factors Day Shift |
Standard |
3D Printing |
|
Cost |
5.56 |
5.01 |
|
Time |
2.36 |
2.69 |
|
Quality Control Problem Ratio (per 500 units) |
1 |
8.75 |
|
Training Time (per hour) |
30 |
25 |
|
Shipping Problems/Damage (per 10,000 units) |
1 |
0.4 |
|
Production Problems (per 10,000 units) |
0.2 |
0.4 |
|
Total Number of Pieces Produced per year |
375,000 |
525,000 |
|
Measurable Factors Night Shift |
Standard |
3D Printing |
|
Cost |
5.56 |
4.98 |
|
Time |
2.36 |
2.27 |
|
Quality Control Problem Ratio (per 500 units) |
1 |
5.75 |
|
Training Time (per hour) |
30 |
25 |
|
Shipping Problems/Damage (per 10,000 units) |
1 |
0.35 |
|
Production Problems (per 10,000 units) |
0.2 |
0.23.5 |
|
Total Number of Pieces Produced per year |
375,000 |
645,000 |
The results showed such a marked process improvement with the added benefit of creating materials that were sustainable. The immediate reaction among the older workers was fear for their jobs. The new workers suddenly were the enemy. Chinn was pleased with the new process and indicated that the 3D printing approach would be continued. The word of the decision spread among the families in the company and the âsouthern familyâ culture was now closing ranks on the newcomers both in the packaging room and in the other departments thus confirming their fears when news of the buyout surfaced.
TO DO:
Summarize the situational analysis including your approach(s) and diagnosis of the situation.
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In: Operations Management
PLEASE READ AND ANSWER QUESTIONS
Global View: International Privacy Laws
Todayâs online world, including the increasing use of the cloud to store data on remote third-party servers, offers unprecedented opportunities for the global storage and transfer of personal information. To address the risks associated with the unregulated exchange of personal information, many jurisdictions around the world have enacted privacy laws, regulations, and rules dealing with data collection, processing, storage, disclosure, and use. Although definitions of the term privacy vary, common elements include freedom or protection of individuals and sometimes groups from unauthorized or unwanted intrusion into, or observation of, their personal information and from violation of the integrity of this information.
The type of protection, as well as the speed, level of completeness, and depth of regulation and implementation, varies from country to country. Increasingly, countries have addressed the cross-border transfer of personal information and taken steps to prevent the circumvention of existing national laws governing the storage, processing, and disclosure of information through the âoff-shoringâ of these activities. Accordingly, when multinational companies do business outside their home country, including offering products or services on the Internet, and collect personal information from residents of a foreign country, they are likely to fall under the privacy laws and regulations in that country.
The following is a brief overview of privacy laws and regulations in several key jurisdictions.
European Union
The European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC), adopted in 1995, requires its Member States to safeguard the privacy of personal data by
(1)
giving notice to individuals about how their information will be used;
(2)
offering a choice when disclosing information to third parties (with opt-in consent required for sensitive information);
(3)
maintaining the security of personal information;
(4)
ensuring that the data are reliable, accurate, and current; and
(5)
giving individuals access to examine, correct, and delete information about themselves.
Because each EU Member State had to incorporate the provisions of the Data Protection Directive into national law for them to be binding, there is some variation in the privacy laws among the states.
The EU adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2016. It will enter into full force across all Member States on May 25, 2018. The GDPR will replace Directive 95/46/EC and affect organizations based within the EU, as well as foreign organizations doing business there. Although the GDPR is intended to make it easier for multinational entities operating across the EU to comply with data protection law, certain aspects of the regulation permit Member States to enact their own legislation, so inconsistencies in application may exist.
An important principle of both the Data Protection Directive and the GDPR is that personal information generally should not be collected unless the collection is
(1)
proportional (meaning adequate and not excessive relative to its purpose),
(2)
transparent (meaning that the affected individual must be informed as to the circumstances of the collection and consent to it), and
(3)
for a legitimate purpose.
The GDPR will make it easier for individuals to access and control their own data, including information on how their data are processed; make it easier to transfer personal data between service providers; clarify the âright to be forgotten,â which allows an individual to require that certain personal data be deleted (the subject of the âInside Storyâ in Chapter 24); and, under certain circumstances, require notification when data have been hacked (e.g., if the breach is likely to result in a âhigh riskâ to the data subject). Additionally, a data subjectâs consent to process personal data must be âas easy to withdraw as to give.â In the case of âsensitive data,â consent must be explicit.
By modernizing and unifying the rules, cutting red tape, and reinforcing consumer trust, the GDPR will help businesses reap the benefits of the âDigital Single Market.â The legislation will create a âone-stop-shopâ so that businesses can deal with only one privacy supervisory authority, making it less costly to do business in the EU; require companies based abroad to apply the same rules as EU-based firms when offering services inside the EU; provide for a ârisk-based approachâ to incorporating the rules; and require firms to build in data protection safeguards when developing products and services in the beginning stages of development (so-called data protection by design).
The GDPR broadened the definition of personal and sensitive data to include political opinions, religious and philosophical beliefs, health and sex life, and genetic and biometric data. The regulation applies both to data controllers (the entities determining how and why personal data are processed) in the EU and to data processors (the entities that process the personal data on behalf of data controllers) in the EU. The GDPR also applies to controllers and processors outside of the EU whose processing activities involve offering goods or services to EU data subjects or monitoring these subjectsâ behavior within the EU.Penalties for breaching the GDPR can be significant.
Unlike the Data Protection Directive, the GDPR does not require a company that processes personal information (âpersonal dataâ) to register or notify data protection supervisory authorities before it starts collecting personal information. Instead, data controllers are required to maintain appropriate records to evidence compliance with the GDPR. Personal information may be transferred into third countries (countries outside the EU) only if the third country provides an adequate level of protection for the information.
Although the United States is not regarded as providing adequate protection, the EU and the United States adopted the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield in 2016 to permit the transfer of personal information from any EU member state to the United States under certain circumstances. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield requires U.S. companies to ensure that individualsâ digital information, âfrom social media posts and search queries to information about workersâ pensions and payroll,â is not misused. Companies must adhere to seven principles: notice; choice; accountability for onward transfer; security; data integrity and purpose limitation; access; and recourse, enforcement, and liability, all as determined by self-assessment or assessment of a third party, with recertification required each year. The rules apply to all companies regardless of whether they are social media platforms, pharmaceutical companies, or industrial conglomerates subject to the jurisdiction of the FTC or the U.S Department of Transportation. In addition, the agreement requires the United States to provide an annual guarantee that its intelligence agencies will not have âindiscriminate accessâ to Europeansâ digital data when these data are sent to the United States. The agreement enables about $260 billion of trade in digital services, with nearly 2,000 companies (including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft) relying on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to store data about EU citizens on U.S. servers. A separate Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield became effective in April 2017 and covers data transfers from Switzerland.
In January 2017, the European Commission proposed a revision to the ePrivacy Directive that aims to reinforce the right to privacy and control of data for European citizens. (Directive 2002/58/EC, referred to as the ePrivacy Directive, protects the privacy of communications over public electronic networks.) The revision would require messaging, email, and voice service providers to guarantee the âconfidentiality of conversations and metadata around the time, place and other factors of those conversations.â The rules would prohibit service providers, such as Facebook Messenger, Google, WhatsApp, Skype, and others, from listening to, tapping, intercepting, scanning, or storing communications without usersâ consent (except for certain âcriticalâ functions); require âexplicit consentâ before data could be used for advertising; and eliminate consent requirements for cookies that do not affect privacy (âprivacy intrusiveâ cookies would still require consent). As with the GDPR, the fines for noncompliance would be significant. The proposed rule was designed to close the âperceived regulation gap between traditional telecom[] companies and predominantly US-based internet communications companiesâ and to also allow telecom companies to use certain metadataâfor example, the length and location of callsâto provide more services and earn more revenue. Although one EU regulator asserted that the proposed regulation is balanced because it gives consumers a high level of protection while also permitting businesses to innovate, others have stated that the EU is âon the verge of a regulation overload,â as this proposal follows shortly after the adoption of the GDPR.Further, an industry spokesperson representing Google and other companies argued that the proposed revision risks âincoherence and confusionâ because the GDPR requires one approach to safeguarding privacy and ePrivacy calls for another approach.
Exercise:
Read Global View article on international privacy laws [pages 247-249 of textbook.]
Note especially the European Union General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] which entered into force on May 25, 2018. Note that the EU approach to data privacy is that the data is a digital asset of the owner and that organizations seeking to use your data must secure your affirmative consent and that the consent needs to be proportionate, transparent and for a legitimate purpose, including the right to be forgotten. The regulation applies to organizations outside the EU to the extent that they handle the data of EU nationals.
You are the Chief Privacy Officer of Facebook. Facebook accumulates and analyzes the data of persons accessing its service [even if open on your computer when doing other activities.] Facebook then sells advertising to third parties based on the data. Facebook currently considers your accession to their service as consent for the collection and use of your data. Facebook currently benefits from increased use. This is called a network effect. 'Network effect' is a phenomenon whereby a product or service gains additional value as more people use it.
Write a one [1] paragraph response in Word format and post to the Course Discussion Board:
If data is a digital asset owned by the individual, do individuals in the EU have the right to charge Facebook for each use of the individual's data? If so, what impact will this have on the market value of Facebook's stock
In: Operations Management