The maintenance manager at a trucking company wants to build a regression model to forecast the time (in years) until the first engine overhaul based on four explanatory variables: (1) annual miles driven (in 1,000s of miles), (2) average load weight (in tons), (3) average driving speed (in mph), and (4) oil change interval (in 1,000s of miles). Based on driver logs and onboard computers, data have been obtained for a sample of 25 trucks. A portion of the data is shown in the accompanying table.

a. For each explanatory variable, discuss whether it is likely to have a positive or negative causal effect on time until the first engine overhaul.

b. Estimate the regression model. (Negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. Round your answers to 4 decimal places.)

c. Based on part (a), are the signs of the regression coefficients logical?

d. What is the predicted time before the first engine overhaul for a particular truck driven 55,000 miles per year with an average load of 22 tons, an average driving speed of 55 mph, and 15,000 miles between oil changes. (Round coefficient estimates to at least 4 decimal places and final answer to 2 decimal places.)

Graphic rating scale is the evaluation of employees’ performance by comparing employees against certain “absolute” standards along a number of performance dimensions.

Question 26 options:

Question 27 (2.5 points)

If an applicant takes a test today and then retakes it a week from now, we expect the scores to be similar. This correlation between the scores means there is ______.

Question 27 options:

Question 28 (2.5 points)

Which of the following is an acceptable interview question?

Question 28 options:

Question 29 (2.5 points)

A company that places a high value on learning is also known as a(n) ______.

Question 29 options:

Question 30 (2.5 points)

Selection bias is the extent to which a selection method measures what it is supposed to measure and how well it does so.

Question 30 options:

Business Ethics, book Velasquez 7th edition, pg.113

People in West African countries, among the poorest in the world, survive on $ 1 a day and have a life expectancy of 46 years. But in 2004, Equatorial Guinea had a GDP ( Gross Domestic Product) of $ 4,472 per person, the highest in West Africa. In 1995, Equatorial Guinea found oil off its coast, and by 2004 ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, and Marathon Oil all U. S. oil companies were helping that West African country produce $ 4 billion of oil revenues a year. Equatorial Guineas inexperienced government agreed to give 80 percent of these revenues to the oil companies that drilled the oil for them, although oil companies in developing nations usually take about 50 percent of revenues from oil projects. The oil companies channel through Riggs Bank, a 2004 Senate report revealed hundreds of millions of dollars to Equatorial Guineas president, T. Nguema, and his family for land purchases, security services, and office leases. A Department of Energy report says that because Nguema and his family run the government, the 20 percent of oil revenues that go to the government are spent on lavish personal expenditures, and so most oil money is concentrated in the hands of top government officials while the majority of the population remains poor. If Nguema had not been paid, of course, the Equatorial Guinea government would never have approved the oil project. ExxonMobil says it has spent $ 4 million and Marathon Oil and Amerado Hess claim to have invested millions of dollars on schools, libraries, programs for malaria, polio, and AIDS, health clinics, bridges, waterways, and electricity. A U. S. human rights report says Equatorial Guineas government violates citizens rights of free speech, of the press, of assembly, of due process, of association, of religion, and of movement and uses torture, beatings, and other physical abuse against political opponents.

1. What would utilitarianism, rights theory, and justice say about ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, and Marathon Oil activities in Equatorial Guinea?

What would utilitarianism, rights theory, and justice say about these activities of Exxon Mobile, Amerada Hess, and Marathon Oil in Equatorial Guinea?

Shoes Plus Information: A Winning Formula

Skechers USA, Inc., a $2-billion-a-ycar company, describes itself as "an award-winning global leader in the lifestyle footwear industry, [and] designs, develops and markets lifestyle footwear that appeals to men, women, and children of all ages.... With more than 3,000 styles, Skechers meets the needs of male and female consumers across every age and demographic " Any shoe company could say something similar. What separates one from another? Increasingly, it isn't the shoes. It's the information.

Information systems are woven into every part of Skechers's business. Its recent investment in Oracle applications, including cloud computing (introduced in the "Telecommunications, Networks, and the Internet" section of this chapter) demonstrates the company's commitment to information systems. Mark Bravo, Skechers senior vice president of finance, says, "As we manage growth, we are establishing a business structure that lowers costs and creates more value and flexibility across the business. The ... cloud services help us to lighten our lT overhead and enable us to respond more quickly to market opportunities." Therefore, it was natural that Skechers would turn to information systems to help with customer retention. In a fast-moving consumer product category like shoes, using information to understand, attract, and retain customers is even more important than having the latest technology. Many companies use loyalty programs to help retain customers. A pizza shop might give its customers a card that is punched every time they buy a pizza. When the card has 10 punches, the customer can order a free medium pizza with two toppings. Loyalty programs reduce the chances of a regular customer switching suppliers even if another shop sells pizza for less during a promotion or offers a different advantage. After Skechers decided to offer a loyalty program, their challenge was this: How to design the program for greatest

sales impact? The company had to balance ease of earning rewards, the value of the rewards, and other factors so they gave away as little as possible while retaining as many loyal customers as possible. In the pizza shop, a free pizza after buying five might cost too much revenue; a free pia after twenty might put the rewards too far out in the future to be attractive. Ten is a good middle ground. The loyalty program that Skechers designed, planned jointly by their marketing and information systems departments, is called Skechers Elite. Members earn free merchandise ($10 credit for every $150 spent), get free shipping, and enjoy special promotions. In addition, Gold members (who spend at least $750 on Skechers shoes in a calendar year) and Platinum members ($1,000) get higher merchandise credits, sneak peeks at future products, and earn other higher benefits. Skechers couldn't operate Skechers Elite without information systems. The system that supports this loyalty program records information about members, their purchases, and the rewards they're entitled to, so members can track their participation online. In addition, the system provides Skechers's management with information about the purchase patterns of regular customers, such as shoe designs that appeal to them. The system also lets Skechers send targeted promotional materials to its best customers. Does this use of information technology pay off? According to analyst Peter Chu, it does. He found on November 2, 2011, that Skechers (SKX) stock performance outpaced that of the other shoe manufacturers he tracked. He considers that performance "a bullish sign of underlying fundamental and technical strength

."

Discussion Questions 1. Which information systems applications described in the case are unique to Skechers and would not benefit other shoe manufacturers? Which aspects of their loy- alty program could other firms duplicate and quickly benefit from? Which would take competitors longer to use or offer?

2 What kind of information does the Skechers Elite pro- gram use? Aside from its direct benefit in increasing customer loyalty, what other benefits might the pro- ram have? How could Skechers use the information in its planning and sales activities?

The following selected transactions were completed by Capers Company during October of the current year:

Journalize the entries to record the transactions of Capers Company for October. Refer to the chart of accounts for the exact wording of the account titles. CNOW journals do not use lines for journal explanations. Every line on a journal page is used for debit or credit entries. CNOW journals will automatically indent a credit entry when a credit amount is entered.

PAGE 10

JOURNAL

ACCOUNTING EQUATION

The restaurant owner Lobster Jack wants to find out what the peak demand periods are, during the hours of operation, in order to be better prepared to serve his customers. He thinks that, on average, 60% of the daily customers come between 6:00pm and 8:59pm (equally distributed in that time) and the remaining 40% of customers come at other times during the operating hours (again equally distributed). He wants to verify if that is true or not, so he asked his staff to write down during one week the number of customers that come into the restaurant at a given hour each day. His staff gave him the following data:

Help the manager figure out if his instincts are correct or not. Use a Chi-Squared test to see if the observed distribution is similar to the expected. Use the average demand for a given time as your observed value.

Part 1:

What is the p-value of your Chi-Square test?

Parts 2:

The owner now wants you to help him analyze his sales data. The restaurant is famous for its Lobo lobster roll. You were given some information based on which you deduced that the demand for the lobster roll was normally distributed with a mean of 220 and standard deviation of 50. You also know that the lobster supplier can provide lobster at a rate that mimics a uniform distribution between 170 and 300. One Lobster is used per roll and the lobsters need to be fresh (i.e. the restaurant can only use the lobsters that are delivered that day).

You decide to run 200 simulations of 1000 days each.

1. Calculate the expected sales of Lobster roll per day based on your simulation results. I solved

201

2. Use the expected sales from each of your 200 simulations to create a confidence interval for the average expected sales. What is the 95% confidence interval, L (Your confidence interval is mean +/- L), for this estimate?

Scenario:

You’ve just secured a new client in your accounting practice, the Rawls Repair Corporation, (RRC) a brand new small business specializing in bicycle repair. The owner, Rob Rawls, is a terrific cyclist and bike repair specialist, but definitely not an accountant. Your job is to help Rob put his affairs in order. Luckily Rob has only been in operation for a month and things have not gotten too out of hand yet! Rob has to submit his financial statements to his investors and doesn’t know where to begin. It’s your job to go through the complete Accounting cycle to prepare the financial statements for the RRC.

1. Complete requirements 1-3 on the journal entries. General ledger and trial balance worksheets

2. Put work into worksheets

Journal entries

November 9 The business purchased building worth $75000; paying $15,000 cash and the bank financed the balance with a note for 10 years at 9% annual interest rate. Interest is payable annually on november 1st of each year. The principal will be paid when the note matures.

November 11The Company purchased Copier, Computer, and Printer from Office Equipment, Inc. for $35,000. Terms are 2/10, n/30.

November 14 Purchased merchandise inventory from Madison Supply Company $15,000 on account. Credit term: 2/10, n/30.

November 14 Contracted with Truly Blessed, Inc. on Windsor Drive. The deal terms are: the business performs Accounting and Bookkeeping services, at a weekly rate of $3,500 per week. The customer gave the business a deposit on the contract of $6,500. Services start 15th of November 2020.

November 14 Hired Betsy Green at the rate of $700 per 5-day week (Monday - Friday), to be paid bi-weekly. Green will start work on November 16th.

November 15 Received accounting and bookkeeping contract from LittleTot Day Care, work starts November 16th. Terms are n/30.

November 17 The business borrows $20,000 from the Berks County bank; interest rate is 5% due 18 months from now.

November 18 The business joined Professional Associations of Bookkeepers. Membership dues paid $3,200 for 1 year.

November 20 Paid the amount due to Madison Supply Company

November 21 Ordered $1,000 of Office Supplies from Supplies We Are, Inc. The supplies will be delivered second week of December.

November 22 Performed accounting service to a client on account $20,000.

November 24 Received utility bill from Gas Company for the month and paid immediately $650.

November 25 Returned $450 of office supplies purchased on March 3 to We-Know-You Supplies, Inc. Vendor issued a credit memo to reduce the amount due on account.

November 26 Paid Betsy Green’s salary, for the first 2 weeks of work.

November 27 Received April Electric Bill from Reading Energy company, $650.

November 27Received payments in full from Fit-for-U Beauty Shop.

Novemer 27 Paid We-Know-You Supplies, Inc. account balance.

November 31 Sold 575 units of inventory item to a customer at $60 each for cash (cost $20 each). Assume the company uses a perpetual inventory system. This transaction requires two journal entries.

11. Tybee Industries Inc. uses a job order cost system. The following data summarize the operations related to production for January, the first month of operations:

General Ledger

1. Journalize the entries to record the summarized operations. Record each item (items a-f) as an individual entry on January 31. Record item g as 2 entries. Refer to the Chart of Accounts for exact wording of account titles.

Thirty years ago, Starbucks was a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market selling premium roasted coffee. Today it is a global roaster and retailer of coffee with some 13,000 stores, more than 3,750 of which are to be found in 38 foreign countries. The strategy of its owner was to sell to the company’s own premium roasted coffee and freshly brewed espresso-style coffee beverages, along with a variety of pastries, coffee accessories, teas and other products, in a tastefully designed coffeehouse setting.

In 1995, with 700 stores the United States, Starbucks began exploring foreign opportunities. Its first target market was Japan. Although Starbucks had resisted a franchising strategy in North America, where its stores are company owned, Starbucks initially decided to license its format in Japan. However, the company also realized that a pure licensing agreement would not give it the control needed to ensure that the Japanese licenses’ closely followed Starbucks’ successful formula.

So the company established a joint venture with a local retailer, Sazaby Inc. Each company held a 50% stake in the venture, Starbucks Coffee of Japan. Starbucks initially invested $10 million in this venture, its first foreign direct investment. The Starbucks format was then licensed to the venture, which was charged with taking over responsibility for growing Starbucks’ presence in Japan.

After Japan, the company embarked on an aggressive foreign investment program. In 1998, it purchased Seattle Coffee, a British coffee chain with 60 retail stores, for $84 million. In Asia, Starbucks’ most common strategy was to license its format to a local operator in return for initial licensing fees and royalties on store revenues.

In 2006, Starbucks announced that it believed there was the potential for up to 15, 000 stores outside of the United States, with major opportunities in China, which the company now views as the largest single market opportunity outside of the United States. Currently the company only has 350 stores in China.

1. What could be the main reason that triggered Starbucks to pursue FDI in Britain? .

2. Starbucks decided to pursue international investment through licensing, what would be the cause of that? .

3. Assess the reasons why Starbucks chose to embark on a foreign market expansion strategy outside of the USA.

4. In your opinion what type of international business activity should have Starbucks used? Explain your answer.