>> Hi, everyone. Thank you each for coming to the meeting today. As you know from the agenda I e-mailed to you earlier, we're experiencing declining sales with our Critter Comb, which is very worrying.

>> I saw the report, Amy. I can't believe how quickly sales have fallen.

>> Yeah. The competitor's combo kit really took off after they launched it last month.

>> Yes. They are really eating our lunch on this one.

>> Well, wasn't our Critter Comb one of the most popular items last year?

>> It sure was.

>> I wish we'd recognized the threat sooner. We knew they were coming out with a competing product.

>> Yeah. But we never believed that their combo kit would be more popular than our item.

>> It would take at least nine months for us to get a similar combo set out there.

>> I agree. They absolutely trumped us on this one. If only we'd seen the combo set coming, we could have done something to counter it. Or at least have been better prepared. We lost out on a lot of money here.

>> So what can we do to prevent something similar from happening again in the future? It's a real concern that we didn't see this coming. Okay team, what can we do to best keep up with the competition?

>> I think a better way to keep up with what our competitors are up to is through a little corporate espionage.

>> Really?

>> Interesting.

>> You mean planting spies?

>> Sure. You know, maybe we can interview some of their employees. And ask them details about their products and what they're working on.

>> Well, I can see how that would give us better information.

>> Yeah, sure. And companies do it all the time. It's the best way to collect industry intel.

>> We do need a better way of learning what our, you know, what our competition is up to.

>> I think we should also try to get some Happy Time people hired by our competitors too. That way we wouldn't have to wait for the right job applicant to get information. We'd get it a lot faster.

>> That's a good point.

>> We could do both.

>> Okay, I'll run it by the leadership team and see what they say. Sorry for the short notice, everyone. I wanted to let you know to expect a call from our ethics officer.

>> Why?

>> When I ran our ideas for improving competitor intelligence past the leadership team, they were shocked. I heard an earful about how unethical we were being. Once they said it, it was pretty obvious that we were out of line. So they're calling us to make sure that we know our company's code of ethics. And that we follow it more closely in the future. This behavior is not consistent with our company's culture or ethics code.

>> I guess that wasn't a very good idea after all.

>> We deserve the reprimand. We won't make that mistake again.

>> Okay team. Should we be worried?

>> I don't think we should worry. It's probably just a fluke that we didn't see the competitor's product coming.

>> We do try to stay informed about potential threats in the industry's up and coming products. We just underestimated this one.

>> I think Alex is right. You know, maybe we shouldn't worry about it.

>> All right. I just wanted to get your thoughts on it. Back to work. Have a great day, everyone. Okay, the only item on the agenda today is the sales of the Cavity Crusher. Since our competitor released the Dual Defense a year ago, we've been quickly losing market share.

>> Kids definitely seem to prefer theirs.

>> I'm more concerned that we underestimated the popularity of the Dual Dental Defense. We were caught totally off guard by this.

>> Just like the Critter Comb, remember?

>> And it's so obvious now. But we really should have paid attention to what happened during the Critter Comb slide. We really should have learned from that situation.

>> That's what I'm thinking. We need to figure out how to prevent this problem in the future. I hate repeating mistakes. And the company can't afford to have this happen. I think it's totally preventable.

>> Absolutely.

>> Yeah.

>> I agree.

>> Yeah.

>> So.

>> It shouldn't, it should never be --

>> Okay team. What can we do to improve our product launching?

>> We should consider after action reviews every time we launch a product and a year afterwards. You know, a competitor analysis would also help us understand our relative position in each market too.

>> Yeah. We did those at my last company. They were really great at helping us understand why some things succeeded or failed. And they helped us anticipate and handle similar situations more effectively.

>> All right. And it doesn't have to take very long. It's a very simple process. First, we identify what should have happened. And then what actually happened. And then we see what differences occurred and what we learned.

>> What do we think actually happened here?

>> Well, we wanted to maintain or enhance the Critter Comb sales in the face of the new competition. But we really underestimated the popularity of the combo kit.

>> That's an understatement. We knew about it, but we didn't recognize its popularity. We were over confident about the Critter because it was selling so well. We didn't really evaluate whether the combo kit would be better or more popular.

>> Right.

>> You know, maybe we should have collected some of our own market information. And also we should have been more open to threat. And less arrogant about our product's ability to compete.

>> We might be able to require product teams to include outside members when reviewing possible competitive threats. Their distance from the product might enhance their objectivity. And they might have some good insights.

>> I agree. You know, and hopefully what we learn will keep it from happening again.

>> Great. I'll get this moving. Thanks, everyone.

>> Hey, guys. What's the news?

>> Our Cavity Crusher is really dominating the market. Did you see our latest sales numbers?

>> Oh, wow. They look great.

>> With the success of the Cavity Crusher, I think we should make after action reviews a part of our culture here. We should do them for every product.

>> I agree. They don't take much time. But, when we're all so busy and ready to move onto the next project, it can be easy to move on without reflecting on what could have been done better.

>> Well, that's also a great way of making mistakes stop. And these after action reviews are perfect for preventing that. And my team has been very engaged in doing them so.

>> Thanks, folks.

>> Thanks.

>> Let's keep this up.

>> Yeah.

>> All right.

>> You got it.

1. In what ways might culture influence how responsive Happy Time Toys is to competitor threats?

2. How are ethics illustrated in these videos? What is the best way to ensure decisions are made ethically?

3. Based on the chapter, what other suggestions would you make to change the culture to enhance responsiveness to the environment and why would you suggest them?

Instructions: Read the following case study and answer the questions at the end.

Devin is a sixteen year old male with moderate mental delays, living with his parents in an upscale neighbourhood. Since he turned 15, Devin has begun to grab at his genitals and emit loud grunting noises whenever he is in the vicinity of girls his own age. This has caused Mr. and Mrs. Quentin a tremendous amount of distress. Because Mrs. Quentin’s profession requires them to entertain clients both at their home and at other venues, this is becoming a very big problem. Here are the results of an interview with Mr. and Mrs. Quentin:

Who is present and what happens just prior to the behaviour?

Well, actually a variety of things typically happen. When there is a girl present who is between the ages of 14 and 20, when we are in a group of people at a party and when his father and I are engaged in conversation with clients.

Has it ever been the case when it hasn’t happened?

Hmmm, only once. The second to last party we were determined not to be embarrassed and so one of us stayed with him all night, engaging him in conversation and getting him food and drinks. Other than that, it always happens. There have been a few parties where no young girls are present and he’s done it to my client’s wives. It’s so embarrassing. That one time we thought it was over, but the last party was horrible. He came across the room toward a young girl and oh, it was horrible.

Has there ever been a time when it’s just been one of you there?

Only a couple of times…he still acted up. It didn’t seem to matter whether or not it was his father or myself.

Is he equally likely to emit the behaviour when the parties are at home versus away?

Yes.

Is there any variation to the party? Time of day? Dinners versus non-dinners, entertainment?

He’s less likely to do it at sit-down dinners, but time doesn’t seem to make a huge difference.

Let’s specifically define the behaviours involved.

He grunts (short, loud, low-pitched vocalizations that sound like short U sound (uh, uh) repeats this sound 6-10 times). He walks quickly (twice normal speed) toward female coming within 18 inches proximity. He places right hand over his genitals and contracts and releases his hand repeatedly. The grunting typically happens 1-2 seconds before he starts to walk and grab (those behaviours happen simultaneously). It can occur any number of times from once in an evening to 7-8 incidences per party.

What happens following the behaviour?

Many different things, depending on the occasion. The girl screams, backs away or cries for help; his father or I rush to him , scold him and lead him from the room. Others at the party rush in to hold him back, others gasp or scold him.

Anything he consistently gets following his behaviour?

Hmmm…a reaction from the female and a scolding from us, I guess.

Anything removed from his environment?

Just him!

Questions:

1. After implementation of treatment what would you do and why?

2. The managers of three different supermarkets in the US desire to test the effectiveness of a new store design on sales. The manager of supermarket A decides to let store directors choose on their own whether they judge appropriate to implement the new design. The manager of supermarket B randomly chooses stores to assign the new design. The manager of supermarket C randomly draws stores in each US State separately.

(a) State whether each of the three experimental designs is observational or experimental, providing an explanation. (7.5p)

(b) Which experimental design is implemented in each of the three studies? (7.5p)

(c) Which kind of bias will arise from design A? Why? (5p)

(d) Compare the quality of statistical results from Designs B and C.State which of the two prevails on your opinion and why. (5p)

China has recently retaliated to US tariffs on steel and aluminum and has imposed a wide range of tariffs on U.S agricultural export that are destined to China. These tariffs are expected to have a significant negative impact on the U.S. agriculture products.

If the U.S. Agricultural products, which are heavily subsidized by the US government are not exportable to China due the existing trade war, how does this affect:

1) the U.S. farmers

2) the American tax payer

3) short term food supply in America

4) long term food supply in America

Discuss each in detail.

5) Assuming that China seeks its food supply from Africa, do you think that China might get cheaper agricultural products from Africa and as a result, America, but not China will be on the losing side?

We have a lot of data and information. If you want to forecast something, find data for it from the library. Let us call this data Dependent variable . Also find data for variables,( let us call them Independent Variables) that influence dependent variables.

Your task is to find data for one dependent variable and more than one independent variables. The independent variables must be related to the dependent variable.

Using your data,  run the regression on Excel and comment on how good and robust is the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables.

Important: You must indicate the source of data.(failure to indicate this gets automatic zero).  Data should be original. No data from the text books or data that has been already used for regression may be used.

Usually, Djikstra’s shortest-path algorithm is not used on graphs with negative-weight edges because it may fail and give us an incorrect answer. However, sometimes Djikstra’s will give us the correct answer even if the graph has negative edges.
You are given graph G with at least one negative edge, and a source s. Write an algorithm that tests whether Djikstra’s algorithm will give the correct shortest paths from s. If it does, return the shortest paths. If not, return ‘no.’ The time complexity should not be longer than that of Djiksta’s algorithm itself, which is Θ(|E| + |V | log |V |).
(Hint: First, use Djikstra’s algorithm to come up with candidate paths. Then, write an algorithm to verify whether they are in fact the shortest paths from s.)

Matt and Meg Comer are married. They do not have any children. Matt works as a history professor at a local university and earns a salary of $64,000. Meg works part-time at the same university. She earns $21,000 a year. The couple does not itemize deductions. Other than salary, the Comers’ only other source of income is from the disposition of various capital assets (mostly stocks). Assume they file a joint return. (Use the tax rate schedules.) (Round final answers to the nearest whole dollar amount.)

A. What is the Comers’ tax liability for 2017 if they report the following capital gains and losses for the year?

PhD candidates should provide an authentic personal statements to each of the five following questions/prompts reflecting on their own personal interest. In the event that any outside resources are used, resources should be cited in APA format. Submissions should be a maximum of 500 words or 125 words per question/prompt. It is best to respond to each prompt/question individually for clarity of the reviewer. Documents should be submitted in Microsoft Word format.

PhD IT

1. What are your research interests in the area((big data science)) of Information Technology? Why do you think it is important to research in this area?
2. Why did you select to pursue a program at ABC university instead of other institutions?
3. As an individual, what are your strengths and weaknesses? How will these impact you as a doctoral information technology student?
4. Where do you see the future of Information Technology heading?
5. How can obtaining a doctorate impact your contribution to the practices of information technology? Where do you see yourself after obtaining a doctorate from ABC university?

The average exam score for students enrolled in statistics classes at Indiana University Northwest is 80 and grades are normally distributed. A professor decides to select a random sample of 25 students from his CJ statistics class to see how CJ students compare to the student body in terms of exam performance. The average exam score of this sample is 78 with a variance equal to 100. Are the stats exam scores of the students in the CJ class significantly different when compared to the average university student at IUN?

a. Reach a statistical conclusion

b. Interpret your results

c. What would be your statistical conclusion and interpretation if the size of the selected sample would be 100?

2. Using the information provided at Q1, calculate the 95% confidence interval of the mean stats exam scores for the population of CJ students enrolled at IUN. [sample size = 25]

a. Interpret the 95%CI

b. Test the hypothesis that the CJ students’ population mean at stats exam is 80. Do you reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis? Justify your conclusion.