Consulting: INITIAL INTERVIEW

You are a CEO (Michelle Royal) of Goodwill Industries of Boston, which serves twelve locations in the greater Boston area.  Overall, the stores are doing very well but you know they can be more successful and productive.  For example, you have experienced positive retail revenue growth over the past three years; however, the growth was still lower than the average and your donor volume is down. On the other hand, your sales per square foot outperformed the national average.

Consequently, you called Headquarters (HQ) and investigated the possibility of having a consultant come to Boston to review your situation and give recommendations for improvement.  You were talking to the CEO in Chicago and she explained that she found the consulting to be a very helpful exercise.  The contact at HQ asked you a few questions and said that Jane/Joe Reynolds, an inhouse retail consultant, would be giving you a call.

You have been in your position for one year.  You did not have any previous retail experience before taking the Goodwill position.  You have pretty much continued the work of your predecessor and have tried to remain very independent and creative.  For example, you and your staff like to create your own signage as opposed to using the standard Goodwill prototypes. Your expertise is finance and you have been able to implement and maintain excellent financial reports.

You suspect that improvement can be made through increased efficiency and production.

Some areas that you think might need attention:  merchandise layout, pricing, sorting and processing, transportation.  Furthermore, your new Retail Manager thinks one of your store managers might be ineffective. Your style has been rather formal.  You tend to work one-on-one with your key managers and supervisors.

Though you want help (you really want to surpass all Goodwill averages), you are concerned about having a consultant come and "snoop around."  You realize that this is the only way, however, so you decide to talk to the consultant and see what he suggests in terms of coming to Boston.  You are very concerned about how he/she is going to go about the project.  You would like to keep things very quiet, not involve too many people, and not stir things up.  After all, it seems to you that things are going generally well.

Background info: The mission of Goodwill is to provide work for underprivileged and to do that through retail stores. The underprivileged are trained for a period of time by working in the stores and then sent out into the broader marketplace. Consequently, the Goodwill Stores (collecting old stuff and selling it), is only a means for the real mission.

Goodwill HQ has a team of internal consultants, each with different areas of expertise, who are available to travel to the different locations when they need help. The individual Goodwill locations are independent and are “loosely” tied to HQ, more as nonprofit associations, not industry. Consequently, the CEOs of the various Goodwill locations want assistance but also want to remain independent—the classic “push-pull” that consultants encounter.

Assignment:

You are the Goodwill HQ Consultant that Michelle calls. Since she is in Boston and you are in D.C., you decide to conduct the conversations (which you two have formally scheduled) through visual WEBX so you can see one another faces.

Brainstorm and jot down how you would go about the interview. Following the information in your consulting packet on how to conduct the exploratory phase of formulating an intervention, what questions would you ask? How would you explain your role and the parameters of the consulting arrangement? How would you gain Michelle’s trust? What kind of resistance do you think she will demonstrate? How will you handle that resistance?

Then, actually write out an entire conversation, making it up as you go, demonstrating the skills sets that you know you have to demonstrate. Have Michelle challenge you and deal with her resistance and getting through all phases of the exploratory phase. End the session by summarizing next steps.

You:

Michelle:

You:

Michelle:

Etc.

In 2020, John and Emma, married filing joint taxpayers, have adjusted gross income of $430,000. Their AGI includes $10,000 of interest income. They have no dependents and have $50,000 of itemize deductions. What is their 2020 federal income tax?

A) $83,631 B) $83,829 C) $89,212 D) $89,404

In December 2019, Emily, a cash basis taxpayer, received a $2,500 cash scholarship for the spring semester of 2020. However, she did not use the funds to pay the tuition until January 2020. Emily can exclude the $2,500 from her gross income in 2019.

a. True

b. False  

Using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, what is the price of a $1,310 2020-04-24 European call option for Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) stock purchased on 2020-03-16, assuming that the option implied volatility is 53%, the stock price is $1,084, and the risk-free rate is 1.5%?

Step 1 – Analyze Business Transactions (Accounting Cycle) Assume that you are the Financial Accountant of a newly started business from your chosen in August 2020: You are requested to assume the chosen business transactions during the month of August 2020 and analyze it by shown the impact of these transactions on the accounting equation!

1. Review   and discuss the collapse of the Futures Oil Market, which   fell into the negative realm in May 2020.

What were the main reasons for this fall into the negative realm? Critically discuss.

2. After May 2020, what are the prospects of futures contracts as a significant risk management tool for firms? Discuss critically.

Given this HTML form

<div class="mymargin">

<h2>iTunes Popular Music by Genre</h2>

<table>

<tr>

<td width="100px">&nbsp;</td>

<td>

<form >

<span><b>Filter by Genre:</b></span> <br />

  <select name="genre" id="genre">

    <option value="">Select Genre</option>

    <option value="Alternative Rock">Alternative Rock</option>

    <option value="Country">Country</option>

    <option value="Hip Hop/Rap">Hip-hop/Rap</option>

    <option value="pop">Pop</option>

    <option value="R&B/Soul">R&B/Soul</option>

  </select>

  <input type="button" id="mymusic" name="mymusic" value="Filter Songs">

</form>

</td>

</tr>

</table>

<table id="top25"></table>

</div>

and a JSON array

var arrJson = {"iTunes Top Song":[

{"Song": "Mood (feat. iann dior)",

"Artist": "24kGoldn",

"Genre": "Hip Hop/Rap",

"Release Date": "July 24, 2020",

"Image": "24kGoldn.png"},

{"Song": "One of Them Girls",

"Artist": "Lee Brice",

"Genre": "Country",

"Release Date": "April 10, 2020",

"Image": "lee_brice.png"},

{"Song": "Commander In Chief",

"Artist": "Demi Lovato",

"Genre": "Pop",

"Release Date": "October 14, 2020",

"Image": "demi_lovato.png"},

{"Song": "Bang!",

"Artist": "AJR",

"Genre": "Alternative Rock",

"Release Date": "February 12, 2020",

"Image": "ajr.png"},

{"Song": "Blinding Lights",

"Artist": "The Weeknd",

"Genre": "R&B/Soul",

"Release Date": "November 29, 2019",

"Image": "weeknd.png"},

{"Song": "Never Break",

"Artist": "John Legend",

"Genre": "R&B/Soul",

"Release Date": "June 19, 2020",

"Image": "john_legend.png"},

{"Song": "Before You Go",

"Artist": "Lewis Capaldi",

"Genre": "Alternative Rock",

"Release Date": "November 1, 2019",

"Image": "lewis_capaldi.png"},

{"Song": "Dynamite",

"Artist": "BTS",

"Genre": "Pop",

"Release Date": "August 21, 2020",

"Image": "dynamite.png"},

{"Song": "Better Together",

"Artist": "Luke Combs",

"Genre": "Country",

"Release Date": "November 8, 2019",

"Image": "luke_combs.png"},

{"Song": "Got What I Got",

"Artist": "Jason Aldean",

"Genre": "Country",

"Release Date": "October 11, 2019",

"Image": "jason_aldean.png"},

{"Song": "Circles",

"Artist": "Post Malone",

"Genre": "Hip Hop/Rap",

"Release Date": "August 31, 2019",

"Image": "post_malone.png"},

{"Song": "WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)",

"Artist": "Cardi B",

"Genre": "Hip Hop/Rap",

"Release Date": "August 7, 2020",

"Image": "cardi_b.png"},

{"Song": "Holy (feat. Chance the Rapper)",

"Artist": "Justin Bieber",

"Genre": "Pop",

"Release Date": "September 18, 2020",

"Image": "justin_bieber.png"},

{"Song":"Someone You Loved",

"Artist": "Lewis Capaldi",

"Genre": "Alternative Rock",

"Release Date": "November 8, 2018",

"Image": "breach.png"},

{"Song": "Lovely Day",

"Artist": "Bill Withers",

"Genre": "R&B/Soul",

"Release Date": "January 1, 1977",

"Image": "bill_withers.png"},

{"Song": "Free Your Mind",

"Artist": "En Vogue",

"Genre": "R&B/Soul",

"Release Date": "March 24, 1992",

"Image": "en_vogue.png"},

{"Song": "Come & Go",

"Artist": "Juice WRLD & Marshmello",

"Genre": "Hip Hop/Rap",

"Release Date": "July 9, 2020",

"Image": "juice_etal.png"},

{"Song": "More Than My Hometown",

"Artist": "Morgan Wallen",

"Genre": "Country",

"Release Date": "April 17, 2020",

"Image": "morgan_wallen.png"},

{"Song": "Be Like That",

"Artist": "Kane Brown, Swae Lee, Khalid",

"Genre": "Pop",

"Release Date": "July 10, 2020",

"Image": "kane_etal.png"},

{"Song": "Dance Monkey",

"Artist": "Tones And I",

"Genre": "Alternative Rock",

"Release Date": "May 10, 2019",

"Image": "tones.png"},

{"Song": "Go Crazy",

"Artist": "Chris Brown & Young Thug",

"Genre": "R&B/Soul",

"Release Date": "May 5, 2020",

"Image": "chris_young.png"},

{"Song": "ROCKSTAR (feat. Roddy Ricch)",

"Artist": "DaBaby",

"Genre": "Hip Hop/Rap",

"Release Date": "April 17, 2020",

"Image": "dababy.png"},

{"Song": "I Hope (feat. Charlie Puth)",

"Artist": "Gabby Barrett",

"Genre": "Country",

"Release Date": "May 1, 2020",

"Image": "gabby_barrett.png"},

{"Song": "Baby, I'm Jealous (feat. Doja Cat)",

"Artist": "Bebe Rexha",

"Genre": "Pop",

"Release Date": "October 8, 2020",

"Image": "bebe_rexha.png"},

{"Song": "my ex's best friend",

"Artist": "Machine Gun Kelly & blackbear",

"Genre": "Alternative Rock",

"Release Date": "August 7, 2020",

"Image": "machine_etal.png"}

        ]}

Please help me write a Javascript function to filter and display them by genres

Promotion and pricing of a product or service involves consideration of the strategies as well as how the strategies will be carried out, in line with the organization’s values. You read about promotion and pricing (two of the 4 P’s of the marketing mix) and had an opportunity to review the 4 P’s tutorial. You read about ethics and social responsibility in Chapter 3 and had an opportunity to discuss these topics in the Discussion. In this Assessment you will apply these concepts to a real-world company scenario. In addition you will add audio to your presentation which speaks to the audience specified in the scenario. Being able to prepare a professional audio visual presentation is an important career skill and can be added to your resume once you have become proficient.

Read the scenario below and address all the checklist items.

Scenario:

A start-up company, Senuvis is a United States (U.S.) pharmaceutical products firm that is growing very rapidly at home and abroad. Integrity and honesty regarding product quality and concern for consumer well-being are values of the founders of the firm.

Recently Senuvis developed several new products to service customers who cannot afford the pricier life-saving anti-allergen medications and the self-injecting devices currently on the market. These products can be self-injected by the person suffering from a life-threatening allergic reaction and were just recently approved for the marketplace by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.

In order to respond to the projected rapid growth of the firm, they are going to be hiring an additional 200 employees in the next two months to cope with the demand for these new life-saving products. Because the company is hiring so many new employees, they are concerned with maintaining the founders’ original values of social responsibility while ensuring a quality product.

They are also concerned with promoting and pricing these new products fairly, based on the company values along with their concern for affordability for the middle-class in the U.S. and other consumers and client companies abroad.

As a marketing consultant to the president of the company and executive management, address the items pertaining to the promotion and pricing strategy for the company’s new products in line with the company founders’ values and their social responsibility.

Checklist:

Provide a public relations strategy to promote the new product line while considering the social responsibility involved.

Prepare 1 tool each for consumer sales promotion, personal selling, and social media.

What companies do you think would be good merged or one acquired by the other? What do you think would be the worst possible mergers/acquisitions that have not happened and could? Why?