Suppose you calculated the mean, median, mode, and sample standard deviation of a data set. The results are shown below.

Mean: 44
Median: 31
Mode: 46
Sample Standard Deviation: 2

If each number in the data set was decreased by 4 units, what would be the new values of these statistics?

Fill in your results below.

New Mean:

New Median:

New Mode:

New Sample Standard Deviation:

n this chapter, we have noted how businesses are dynamic and constantly looking to exploit new opportunities that involve changing the way they operate production. What might not have been a success for some firms does not mean to say that there are no other firms that will be able to benefit. This article shows how problems faced by one firm in making sufficient profits are not necessarily shared by other firms as the use of factor inputs is changed.    

Best Buy Fails to Break UK Market.

US electrical retailer, Best Buy, made an attempt to enter the UK electrical retail market in 2010. The retailer is known across the united states for its high-quality sales staff and discount prices and attempted to bring its business model to the crowded UK market which features the likes of Currys, Argos, Dixons, and Comet.

The plans to enter the UK market arose when Best Buy Inc. brought half of the Carphone Warehouse's retail interests. Plans were made to open up to 200 so-called 'Big-Box' stores throughout the UK within the first one opening in Thurrock, Essex in April 2010. However, facing strong competition a lack of brand recognition by UK consumers, and the rapid growth of online retailing from firms like Amazon, Best Buy found things difficult and by January 2012 a decision was made to close down its 11bricks and mortar retail operations following losses of around 62 million pounds.

The decision to close down was made after consideration was given to commit more capital to its operations in an attempt to secure the advantages of large-scale production - economies of scale. In the end, the cost of such an investment in relation to the expected benefits in a market which was challenging (given the economic situation in the UK, the income elasticity of demand for electrical goods in general, and the increasing use of online as the medium of choice for shoppers), meant that option was discounted.

The decision to close down operations will have been takin in the light of the expected costs of trying to maintain its presence on the high street and the future of the industry as a whole. it would not have been taken lightly as reports suggested closing down would cost Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse around 100 million pounds.

One option being considered was selling its stores to the UK's fourth-largest supermarket group by share, Morrisons. Morrisons was reported to have expressed interest in acquiring the stores, mostly in large out-of-town retail sites, for its Kiddicare brand of baby, infant, and small children's products such as toys, pushchairs, costs, and so on.

The reports caused interest in the markets and some surprise given the challenges that exist in that market for some of the reasons that Best Buy found life difficult. An increasing trend to purchase goods online and the economic climate had already seen retailers like Mothercare and its Early Learning Centre stores facing declining sales and profits. Kiddicare had been an almost exclusively online operation and so the decision by Morrisons to move into the bricks and mortar sector was seen as a high-risk move.

Question:

How might Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy have gained economies of scale if they had committed new capital? Explain your reasoning.

Please provide with right and exact answer the one posted already is not accurate

n this chapter, we have noted how businesses are dynamic and constantly looking to exploit new opportunities that involve changing the way they operate production. What might not have been a success for some firms does not mean to say that there are no other firms that will be able to benefit. This article shows how problems faced by one firm in making sufficient profits are not necessarily shared by other firms as the use of factor inputs is changed.    

Best Buy Fails to Break UK Market.

US electrical retailer, Best Buy, made an attempt to enter the UK electrical retail market in 2010. The retailer is known across the united states for its high-quality sales staff and discount prices and attempted to bring its business model to the crowded UK market which features the likes of Currys, Argos, Dixons, and Comet.

The plans to enter the UK market arose when Best Buy Inc. brought half of the Carphone Warehouse's retail interests. Plans were made to open up to 200 so-called 'Big-Box' stores throughout the UK within the first one opening in Thurrock, Essex in April 2010. However, facing strong competition a lack of brand recognition by UK consumers, and the rapid growth of online retailing from firms like Amazon, Best Buy found things difficult and by January 2012 a decision was made to close down its 11bricks and mortar retail operations following losses of around 62 million pounds.

The decision to close down was made after consideration was given to commit more capital to its operations in an attempt to secure the advantages of large-scale production - economies of scale. In the end, the cost of such an investment in relation to the expected benefits in a market which was challenging (given the economic situation in the UK, the income elasticity of demand for electrical goods in general, and the increasing use of online as the medium of choice for shoppers), meant that option was discounted.

The decision to close down operations will have been takin in the light of the expected costs of trying to maintain its presence on the high street and the future of the industry as a whole. it would not have been taken lightly as reports suggested closing down would cost Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse around 100 million pounds.

One option being considered was selling its stores to the UK's fourth-largest supermarket group by share, Morrisons. Morrisons was reported to have expressed interest in acquiring the stores, mostly in large out-of-town retail sites, for its Kiddicare brand of baby, infant, and small children's products such as toys, pushchairs, costs, and so on.

The reports caused interest in the markets and some surprise given the challenges that exist in that market for some of the reasons that Best Buy found life difficult. An increasing trend to purchase goods online and the economic climate had already seen retailers like Mothercare and its Early Learning Centre stores facing declining sales and profits. Kiddicare had been an almost exclusively online operation and so the decision by Morrisons to move into the bricks and mortar sector was seen as a high-risk move.

Questions:

1. For Morrisons, what is the difference between the short run and the long run in this case?

3. How might Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy have gained economies of scale if they had 'committed new capital'?

4. Why might Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy 'incur a cost of as much as 100 million pounds' in closing down the stores?

5. If Mothercare is 'troubled' why might Morrisons believe it can succeed with Kiddicare?

In case you have never viewed Kitchen Nightmares or Bar Rescue, here’s the drill: a beleaguered owner of a 1970s roach-infested bar/grille/restaurant featuring freezer-burned food sautéed with bacteria “cooked” in a non-functioning microwave reaches out to Gordon Ramsay or Jon Taffer for help. Apparently, he or she cannot imagine why the business is failing. Yet, despite the owner’s insistence that the food is awesome, the patrons have disappeared and mountains of unpaid bills (including delinquent—most likely payroll taxes) are piled high on the owner’s desk in a makeshift fire hazard cluttered office. Although Jimmy Buffett might say “there is a woman to blame,” the owners blame the economy or a disrespectful staff, or both, (never the food or themselves) for their dire economic situation. Go figure.

In Kitchen Nightmares, for example, after hearing a barrage of excuses and finger pointing, Gordon Ramsay scratches his head and says “Right.” Then, after sampling each “dish” on a menu with more pages than the Internal Revenue Code and spitting it out in disgust, he compares the food unfavorably to inedible scraps he would not even feed to a mouse or other rodent. In response to Ramsay’s profanity-laced, bleeped-out assertions that the owner is delusional and in denial for not acknowledging indisputable evidence that the food is lousy, the owner stubbornly insists that it is the best cuisine in town loved by loyal diners (of which there are none).

Predictably, after 50 television minutes of air time, the poor soul owner suddenly realizes that being reamed out, degraded, and exposed as a selfish and disrespectful owner who has “given up” or “doesn’t care” on national television is actually constructive criticism rather than the very personal character assassination it had originally seemed to be. After finally acknowledging that he or she is the blame, there is an emotional epiphany followed by happy talk about looking forward optimistically into the future.

Finally, waiving a magic wand that would be the envy of Cinderella’s fairy godmother, miraculously and literally overnight, Ramsay’s crew of carpenters, designers and electricians the size of a small (or not so small) army transforms the roach infested dump that should have been condemned into a five-star fine dining establishment. The transformation often includes the installation of state-of-the-art kitchen equipment, a professional cleaning, a new eye-catching sign, a complete inside and outside renovation (including new floors, art work, high definition televisions, lighting and other expensive décor), and maybe an executive chef to run the kitchen for six months.

In the aftermath of the smiles and hugs followed by the closing credits, there is an inconvenient tax issue. Cleary any owner on the verge of financial ruin would gladly accept Ramsay’s or Taffer’s offer to transform the failing restaurant or bar from a dump to palace.

Wow! Check please. In other words, who pays the exorbitant cost of the transformation? Obviously, it is the network, certainly not the hopelessly-in-debt owner, who pays.

Submit a thoughtful analysis of income tax issues you glean from the fact pattern. There may be tax issues with respect to the network as well as the downtrodden owner. In order to get full credit, you must fully analyze each issue and explain your conclusion. For example, if you determine whether something is taxable or non-taxable, simply stating that is not sufficient. Instead, you must explain the rationale for your conclusion.

A data audit is a critical activity that must be done at the beginning of any analytics project when you are working with an existing workbook or are given a dataset from another person. The purpose of this exercise is to conduct a data audit on a worksheet that contains sales data for a hypothetical apparel retailer.

The data shown in the file named Chapter 1 DA Exercise 2 contains data that was provided to you by a coworker. The Excel file should contain sales data for two years by month. You intend to use this data to evaluate the company’s sales trend by season. In addition, you will need to analyze the average price per month to determine if there are months where customers are spending more money for each item purchased. The data should contain sales in units and dollars. For any given month, the sales in units multiplied by the average price should equal the sales in dollars. Open the file named Chapter 1 DA Exercise 2. Audit the data in the Sheet1 worksheet. Record any problems you find in the dataset in the AnswerSheet worksheet. Note that there are more rows to document problems in the dataset than are needed.

Small, energy-efficient, Internet-centric, new computers are increasingly gaining popularity (The New York Times, July 20, 2008). Some of the biggest companies are wary of the new breed of computers because their low price could threaten PC makers’ already thin profit margins. An analyst comments that the larger companies have a cause for concern since the mean price of these small computers has fallen below $350. She examines six popular brands of these small computers and records their retail prices as: (You may find it useful to reference the appropriate table: z table or t table).

a. What assumption regarding the distribution of the price of small computers is necessary to test the analyst’s claim?

b. Select the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses to test the analyst’s claim.

• H₀: μ ≥ 350; H_A: μ < 350

• H₀: μ = 350; H_A: μ ≠ 350

• H₀: μ ≤ 350; H_A: μ > 350

c-1. Calculate the value of the test statistic. (Negative value should be indicated by a minus sign. Round intermediate calculations to at least 4 decimal places and final answer to 2 decimal places.)

c-2. Find the p-value

• p-value < 0.01

• 0.01 ≤ p-value < 0.025

• 0.025 ≤ p-value < 0.05

• 0.05 ≤ p-value < 0.10

• p-value ≥ 0.10

d-1. What is the conclusion at the 5% significance level?

• Reject H₀ since the p-value is greater than significance level.

• Reject H₀ since the p-value is smaller than significance level.

• Do not reject H₀ since the p-value is greater than significance level.

• Do not reject H₀ since the p-value is smaller than significance level.

d-2. Should the larger computer companies be concerned?

• Yes, since we reject H₀.

• Yes, since we do not reject H₀.

• No, since we reject H₀.

• No, since we do not reject H₀.

Question 1: Austin v. New Hampshire (P&I Clause) New Hampshire, which levies no personal income taxes, adopted an income tax that effectively applied only to nonresidents. The Commuters Income Tax was imposed on the income of nonresidents earned in New Hampshire. The state also levied a tax on residents income earned outside the state, but immediately nullified its effect through another provision that exempted such income from tax. Does the New Hampshire Commuters Income Tax violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause? Why or why not?

Question 2: Michelin Tire Corp v. Wages (I&E Clause) Michelin stored tires and tubes imported from France and Nova Scotia in a warehouse in Georgia while they were awaiting distribution to franchised dealers throughout the Southeast. The county assessed ad valorem property taxes against the tires and tubes, and the taxpayer challenged the assessment under the Import-Export Clause. What was the ruling of the Court and why?

If the hospital keeps and overhauls its present generator, then the generator will be usable for eight more years. If a new generator is purchased, it will be used for eight years until a new hospital building is opened. The new generator would be diesel-powered resulting in a substantial reduction in annual operating costs as shown above.

The hospital computes depreciation on a straight-line basis. All purchases are evaluated using a 16% discount rate.

Required:

Determine the net present value for each option.

What option would you advise be selected and why?

College students nationwide crave and rave about the sandwiches served up at their campus Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches, but what they likely don't know is that the restaurant's founder was merely a fresh-faced high school graduate when he opened the chain's first location.

Using a loan of $25,000 from his father, Jimmy John Liautaud planned to open a Chicago-style hot dog stand in Charleston, Ill. But when he realized the equipment involved exceeded his budget, the 19-year-old turned his attention to dell-style sandwiches, opening the first Jimmy John's outlet in 1983 on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Liautaud worked open to dose, usually by himself, in what was then a single-unit restaurant serving four sandwiches and 25-cent sodas. He has since grown the Champaign, Ill.-based brand into the second fastest-growing sandwich chain in the United States based on percentage growth in systemwide sales, according to Nation's Restaurant News' Top 200 census. In 2011 systemwide sales reached $1.01 billion, a 30-percent increase from the prior year.

The company currently has 26 corporate units and 1,415 franchised locations, and it continues to expand, opening approximately one new store every day.

Liautaud, who refers to himself as "a 30-year overnight success," didn't have a business plan when he started, and he claims he still doesn't. He attributes the brand's success to keeping it simple and staying informed.

"I didn't have a business philosophy or plan," he said. "What I did do was balance the checkbook every day and keep a bank balance. I was very keen on understanding what drove that balance up and down."

He grew that understanding by listening to Jamie Coulter, then a Pizza Hut franchisee who would go on to lead Lone Star Steakhouse. In 1987, after opening his second and third Jimmy John's units on the campus of Western Illinois University, Liautaud began attending monthly operations-review meetings that Coulter was holding for Pizza Hut franchisees.

"I told him to take notes and not ask any questions," said Coulter, chief executive and chairman of Coulter Enterprises Inc. "After the fourth meeting he did ask me some questions and showed me a financial statement. I was impressed with his numbers. He left with a lot of confidence, and he has just grown into a giant."

As he continued to expand the brand, Liautaud sold the first Jimmy John's franchise in 1994 and made a point to put his time and energy into developing a strong system of franchisees, which he maintains to this day with an intense hands-on approach.

"From my experience, Jimmy's attention to detail is without comparison," said Peter Fox, a Jimmy John's franchisee and part owner of the company, which he bought into when Liautaud sold a 33-percent stake to private equity firm Weston Presidio in 2007.

Fox, who was formerly a Wendy's franchisee and partner at Bear Steams, explained that corporate officials audit each franchised unit every 28 days. That audit includes the findings of a full day spent in the store rating and evaluating every detail. It is a process that Fox cited as drastically different and more involved than the one at Wendy's, and one that Liautaud himself continues to take part in because of mistakes made early in his career.

"I didn't lead by example and set people up to fail," he said. "I thought the definition of a good employee was someone that you didn't have to tell what to do and they just did it. Now I realize a good employee does exactly what you tell them to do."

Meticulous standards outlining how restaurants appear and are managed have helped Liautaud move closer to his goal of having every outlet, regardless of location, provide the same experience, environment and product.

"I really want them to be the same all the time, and I really want to be good at what I do," he said.

For this reason he sticks to a core menu and follows his guiding principles no matter what his competition is doing. While the product line has grown beyond the four original sandwiches--the cold-cut deli sandwich and sub remain the chain's bread and butter--Liautaud has resisted the temptation to add items such as hot sandwiches to better compete with brands like Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Subway.
"He's never deviated from trying to keep it simple," Fox said.

In line with its slogan, "Subs so fast you'll freak," Jimmy John's has also differentiated itself from competitors in the sandwich segment by investing time, training and money in its POS system to make sure that delivery is as quick and efficient as possible.

Liautaud claims to not know how he stands out from his competitors, who he says "are all great." He said he does not spend a lot of time thinking about what others in the business are doing. However, the difference is evident to those around him.

"I talk to Jimmy several times a week," Coulter said. "He just seems to have acquired more knowledge about the restaurant business than most of his competitors, and he executes his concept."

In addition to finance, Liautaud said he learned from Coulter that surrounding himself with good people was as important as anything else. That lesson has prompted Liautaud to eschew large development deals and big money and instead to focus on growing intelligently.

"I have no interest in being the biggest; I want to be the best," he said. "I'm going to focus on the people, focus on the team and focus on the franchisees being successful."

The company, which expanded outside of college campuses in the late 1990s, currently has more than 2,000 units in development. Despite that apparent success, however, Liautaud said he remains focused on keeping his business simple and developing strong business relationships.

"It's kind of old school, and it's not sexy," Liautaud said. "I wish I had a big, macro, super Harvard-Stanford-Yale plan to tell you about, but I just don't have one."

This case is about Jimmy John Liautaud, the founder and CEO of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches and the evolution of his business. He began in 1983 with a single store. During the 1980s, the number of company owned stores grew, and in 1994, he began franchising. He shares how he built a strong brand so the in-store experience is consistent.

Answer the following questions: When he started his business, did Jimmy have a business plan? What was his focus to ensure success in the beginning? How has Jimmy built such a strong brand such that the customer experience is consistent regardless of location? What types of control are evident in the company’s franchise system?