Using THIS template, answer the three questions concluding the summary (minimum four sentences, per question).

Fast-Fashion and the Ethics of Low-Cost Labor

Who wants to wait six months for runway looks to hit the stores? In today’s fast-fashion world, six months is an eternity. Nearly extinct is the tradition of three luxurious fashion seasons per year (fall, spring, resort). Those seasons have been replaced by rock-bottom prices on 30 to 50 trend-driven cycles—per year. Consumers in the United States and Europe have embraced the entire fast-fashion approach—inexpensive apparel and high turnover of designs. In fact, their shopping behaviors have allowed companies like H&M and Zara to grow into international retailing behemoths.

The speed of fast-fashion goes beyond the production cycle. Europe’s fast-fashion chains have grown faster than the retail fashion industry as a whole, partly because the combination of low cost, fresh designs, and quick turnover is extremely successful in fueling consumer demand. Fast-fashion companies also boast higher margins that those reported by their traditional counterparts—an average 16% compared to an average of 7%. Undeniably, the application of planned obsolescence to fashion has been financially successful.

The fast-fashion approach is not without controversy, however, particularly when it comes to outsourcing production. Companies like Benetton, Walmart, and Disney place huge orders with offshore vendors who often cannot deliver the entire order without enlisting the help of additional subcontractors. Unauthorized subcontracting is the end result, and brands don’t always know who is producing their products or where. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, affirms this, saying, “I’ve talked to Thai workers who are three or four levels down from the original orders. If the brands don’t know, they should know. A lot of them are turning a blind eye to outsourcing.”

One country that has grown from outsourcing in the garment industry is Bangladesh. With labor rates averaging $40 per month, Bangladeshi garment workers are the cheapest around. (Compare that to approximately $120 per month on average for garment workers in China.) Those low labor costs have caused explosive growth in the size and scope of the country’s garment industry. In 2005, the country exported $6.9 billion worth of clothing. By 2011, that figure had risen to $19.9 billion, making the Bangladesh the world’s third largest exporter of clothing, behind China and Italy.

Makeshift garment factories have popped up all over Bangladesh. It now has roughly 4,500 garment factories, and disasters have ensued from the rapid growth. In November 2012, the fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory resulted in 112 deaths. In the subsequent five months, over 40 other fire-related accidents occurred in Bangladesh, and in April 2013, Rana Plaza, a building housing numerous garment factories, collapsed killing over 1,000 people.

Bangladesh isn’t the only country where concerns about subcontracting are growing. Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia also regularly face issues with multilayer outsourcing, and each of them could be next in line to wear the lowest-labor-cost title.

Subcontracting to vendors to produce garments at lower costs can be beneficial to companies in the following ways:

• Having access to a network of subcontracts provides companies with the flexibility they need to produce last-minute orders. In the same vein, relying on subcontractors allows companies to adapt their production schedules depending on consumer demand and keep fixed costs lower than if they built their own production infrastructures.
• Regularly moving manufacturing work to low-cost labor centers keeps labor costs low and allows companies to compete more ardently against each other.
• Garment work is often the only industry that poorer nations can attract as they develop into more robust economies. Threatening to revoke trade agreements or exit countries risks putting workers desperate for income out of work. One government official said off the record, “If they are really trying to help garment workers in Bangladesh, this is not really the way. These are people who need the work…What use is compassion if it takes away the livelihood of thousands of workers?”
• Using a network of subcontractors insulates brands from direct contact with unsavory work environments with unsafe working conditions.
• Using low-cost labor has created value for the consumer who benefits from lower prices in the store. Fewer household resources need to be spent on the same basket of apparel goods as a decade ago.

Despite the benefits, subcontracting to low-cost providers with unsafe working conditions has generated much controversy, not only in fast-fashion, but in the broader apparel and footwear industry as well:

• The European Union is considering revoking a favored trading status it had awarded to Bangladesh as a result of the series of workplace disasters that happened in that country in 2012 and 2013. The EU is Bangladesh’s larges trading partner. Women’s Wear Daily reported that EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht told Belgian media, “The government of Bangladesh must change something. Otherwise, I am ready to launch an investigation, which may lead to the suspension of Bangladesh’s trade status with the EU.”
• According to an analysis by the Workers Rights Consortium, it would take roughly $3 billion and five years to upgrade Bangladesh’s garment factories to Western standards. However, because the relationships are based on short-term contracts, WRC director Scott Nova told The Atlantic, “Long-term commitments they don’t want to make.”
• Bangladeshi suppliers say Western companies put heavy pressure on prices, resulting in bad pay and unsafe conditions for workers. In fact, demands for ultralow prices and ultrafast turnaround times put extreme pressure on garment manufacturers throughout the developing world. Auret van Heerden, CEO of the Fair Labor Association, argues, “The manufacturing industry is running out of low-cost sourcing destinations, and it’s time to invest in making factories safer and better, rather than searching for cheaper labor.”
• Hopscotching throughout the developing world looking for the lowest labor costs ultimately threatens brands’ reputations. Even Helena Helmersson, head of sustainability for H&M, seems to agree. She told The Observer, “Remember that H&M does not own any factories itself. We are to some extent dependent on the suppliers—it is impossible to be in full control.”
• Sourcing practices have exposed sharp contrasts between fast-fashion and luxury designers and exposed hypocrisy among critics. Italian designer Miuccia Prada, who also holds a PhD in political science, told Women’s Wear Daily, “People who are intellectual leftists, they say I am expensive and horrible, ‘How can you sell clothes at that price?’ Simply, it’s the cost. If you pay people to do everything with the right system, things are expensive. And the same people who criticize the dangerous production environments, when it comes to cost, they like the inexpensive pieces because they think it’s more democratic.”

So, who is ethically responsible?

You Decide:

• Do you agree with the EU’s threat to use trade agreements as a weapon in the fight against low-cost subcontracting? If governments were to regulate the number of subcontractors that can be involved in the production of a product, do you believe businesses that outsource their work would be more prone to respond ethically to catastrophes and to working conditions in general?

• If a brand explicitly forbids a vendor from subcontracting, but the vendor subcontracts anyway, which company bears the responsibility for any tragedy that ensues? In other words, who is ethically responsible for events like Tazreen Fashion factory fire and the New Wave Style building collapse, both in Bangladesh?

• What level of ethical responsibility does the end consumer of fast-fashion apparel bear for those tragedies?

in java

Design and implement a class named Person and its two subclasses named Student and Employee. Make Faculty and Staff subclasses of Employee. A person has a name,address, phone number, and email address. A student has a class status (year 1,year 2,year 3,or year 4). An employee has an office, salary, and date hired. Use the Date class from JavaAPI 8 to create an object for date hired. A faculty member has office hours and a rank. A staff member has a title. Override the toString method in each class to display the class name and the person’s name.Design and implement all 5classes. Write a test program that creates a Person,Student,Employee,Faculty, and Staff, and iinvokes their toString()methods

My business would be computer repair/custom computer building. Once you have chosen a product/service, write a business plan. Below you will find information needed to execute your business plan. The Business Plan Cheat Sheet is helpful! Use the Business Plan Cheat Sheet to help you understand what information is needed to complete your Business Plan. Order of Business Plan Cover Page (2.5) Executive Summary (5) Business Description Mission Statement (2.5) Type of Business (2.5) Product Description (2.5) Position (2.5) Pricing Strategy (2.5) Market and Industry Analysis Customer Profile (2.5) Market Segment (2.5) Target Market and Demographics (2.5) Competition (2.5) Sales and Marketing Method of sales (2.5) Advertising and Promotion (2.5) Slogan (1) Management Ownership (1) Financials Risk (2.5) Expenses and Capital requirements (2.5) Total= 42 Points

A manufacturer of microwaves has discovered that female shoppers have little value for microwaves and attribute almost no extra value to an auto-defrost feature. Male shoppers generally value microwaves more than women do and attribute greater value to the auto-defrost feature. There is little additional cost to incorporating an auto-defrost feature. Since men and women cannot be charged different prices for the same product, the manufacturer is considering introducing two different models. The manufacturer has determined that men value a simple microwave at $67 and one with auto-defrost at $124, while women value a simple microwave at $57 and one with auto-defrost at $67.

Suppose the manufacturer is considering three pricing strategies:

For simplicity, assume there is only 1 man and 1 woman and that if the price of a microwave is equal to an individual's willingness to pay, the individual will purchase the microwave.

Strategy

Revenue from Men

Revenue from Women

Total Revenue from Strategy

1. Auto-Defrost Microwave only at $67

2. Auto-Defrost Microwave only at $1243. Simple Microwave at $57, Auto-Defrost Microwave at $113

Suppose that, instead of one man and one woman, the market for this microwave consisted entirely of men. For simplicity, you can assume this means that there are two men, and no women.

Under these conditions, pricing strategy   would maximize revenue for the manufacturer.

For C++ Use arrays and or vectors, no classes.

Visualize and consider 100 lockers all lined up horizontally in a row
Each locker is numbered from 1 to 100 in sequential order

Every locker can be fully closed (open state = 0.00)
Every locker can be fully opened (open = 1.00)
Every locker can be partially open with any possible value between 0.00 and 1.00 inclusive on both ends
A locker cannot ever be more closed than fully closed (open cannot be less than 0.00)
A locker cannot ever be more open than fully opened (open cannot be greater than 1.00)

All 100 lockers start in the fully closed state
100 students will be walking by the lockers and opening/closing them in the following manner:

The 1st student will OPEN EVERY LOCKER       1/2 of the way (ADD 0.50 TO LOCKERS 1,2,3,4...)

The 2nd student will CLOSE EVERY SECOND LOCKER 1/3 of the way (SUBTRACT 0.333333333333 FROM LOCKERS 2,4,6,8...)

The 3rd student will OPEN EVERY THIRD LOCKER   1/4 of the way (ADD 0.25 TO LOCKERS 3,6,9,12...)

The 4th student will CLOSE EVERY FOURTH LOCKER 1/5 of the way (SUBTRACT 0.20 FROM LOCKERS 4,8,12,16...)

The 5th student will OPEN EVERY FIFTH LOCKER   1/6 of the way (ADD 0.166666666666 TO LOCKERS 5,10,15,20...)

The 6th student will CLOSE EVERY SIXTH LOCKER 1/7 of the way (SUBTRACT 0.142857142857 FROM LOCKERS 6,12,18,24...)

The 99th student will OPEN EVERY 99TH LOCKER   1/100 of the way (ADD 0.01 TO LOCKER 99)

The 100th student will CLOSE EVERY 100TH LOCKER 1/101 of the way (SUBTRACT 0.009900990099 FROM LOCKER 100)

NOTE: Remember that the locker open state must always stay within 0.00 <= value <= 1.00

1) Develop C++ code that will generate the open state values for all 100 lockers

2) Also develop C++ code that will output answers to the following questions:

Which lockers are left fully closed (open state == 0.00)?

Which lockers are left fully open (open state == 1.00)?

Which locker is the one opened the least and what is its value (open state closest to 0.00)?

Which locker is the one closed the least and what is its value (open state closest to 1.00)?

Analyze the process by which U.S. judges are nominated and confirmed. Does this seem like a fair process?

The following are selected account balances from Penske Company and Stanza Corporation as of December 31, 2021:

Note: Parentheses indicate a credit balance.

On January 1, 2021, Penske acquired all of Stanza’s outstanding stock for $929,000 fair value in cash and common stock. Penske also paid $10,000 in stock issuance costs. At the date of acquisition, copyrights (with a six-year remaining life) have a $616,000 book value but a fair value of $706,000.

1. As of December 31, 2021, what is the consolidated copyrights balance?

2. For the year ending December 31, 2021, what is consolidated net income?

3. As of December 31, 2021, what is the consolidated retained earnings balance?

4. As of December 31, 2021, what is the consolidated balance to be reported for goodwill?

You need a 25-year, fixed-rate mortgage to buy a new home for $240,000. Your mortgage bank will lend you the money at a 7.1 percent APR for this 300-month loan. However, you can afford monthly payments of only $850, so you offer to pay off any remaining loan balance at the end of the loan in the form of a single balloon payment. How large will this balloon payment have to be for you to keep your monthly payments at $850?
A) $687,844.56

B) $737,482.82

C) $101,874.08

D) $709,118.1

E) $120,814.04

I need a very simple examples of Transactional, Transformational and Charismatic Leadership Styles

1)         On October 1, 20X1, Kelly Company leased a boat from Grant Company. The lease is noncancelable and requires five equal annual payments of $50,000 each. The lease payments are due each October 1, beginning October 1, 20X1. The boat is recorded on Grant’s books at $207,542, which is equal to its fair value. Grant expects that the boat’s residual value at the end of the lease term will be $10,000, but it is not guaranteed by Kelly. However, Kelly has an option to purchase the boat for $10,000 at the end of the lease term. At the inception of the lease, the boat has a remaining economic life of six years with a $2,500 estimated salvage value at the end of its life. Both firms use the straight-line method of amortization and have December 31 year-ends for financial reporting purposes. The interest rate used by Grant Company to calculate the annual lease payment is 12%, and known by Kelly. Collection of the lease payments is reasonably predictable by Grant.  

Required:

Complete the following table for Grant’s and Kelly’s December 31, 20X1 income statements:

Be sure to show and clearly label all calculations.

Assume a project information is given in the table below:

1. What is the minimum number of activities that have to be delayed for the project to get delayed?

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. None of the above (What is your answer?)

1. What is the minimum number of non-critical activities that have to be delayed for the project to get delayed?

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. None of the above (What is your answer?)

1. What is the maximum number of activities that can be delayed for the project not to get delayed?

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. None of the above (What is your answer?)

1. What is the maximum number of activities that can be delayed for the project not to have additional critical activities?

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. None of the above (What is your answer?)

Now you will need to use your data to calculate velocities and accelerations. Recall that we have discussed average velocity as vavg = Δx/Δt as well as vavg = (vi + vf)/2. We also discussed average acceleration as aavg = Δv/Δt. Using these equations, calculate the instantaneous velocity of your cart at each distance/time data point and the average acceleration between each pair of distance/time data points. When you have completed your calculations, organize your results into a table with four columns: time, position, velocity, and average acceleration.

Construct two small C programs, compile and set up two executable files for the two commands world and mars. Both commands simply print out messages on the screen:

world n - print the message hello world on the screen n times

mars n - print the message HELLO MARS on the screen n times

Thanks a lot for your help!!!

Contrast leadership and management, and what implications for managers offer theories of leadership?

When creating the Academic Database, there were several instances of data validation. Data types were assigned to each field in the table to stop undesirable values from being placed into certain fields. A presence check was used on fields that were listed as NOT NULL, requiring some data to be input. Uniqueness validation was automatically assigned for fields that were primary keys. Describe at least one field in the Academic Database a table where range validation could have been used and describe at least one field in the Academic Database where choice validation could have been used. Your answer should be addressed in 100 to 150 words.