What are some valid economic justifications for mergers? Please see chapter Ch.22 for references to this topic.

Attention: Explain. Please answer in the form of paragraph, no bullet points or numerical and I will rate. Thank you in advance!

Professor Solomon tells her class, "Neurocognitive disorders are diagnosed through a process of elimination. Neurocognitive disorders may be due to a specific medical condition, a substance-induced condition, or may result from multiple etiologies. The category of neurocognitive disorders is arbitrary because other mental disorders may be associated with neurocognitive disorders and organic involvement. It is always difficult to measure, assess, and determine the causes of neurocognitive disorders." Which part of Professor Solomon's statement is accurate?​

Analyze the leadership strategies individuals have used to manage this massive change of COVID-19 What has been effective? Ineffective? Explain your reasoning.

1. ABC Versus ABM

   Harvey Company produces two models of blenders: the “Super Model” (priced at $399) and the “Special Model” (priced at $201). Recently, Harvey has been losing market share with its Special Model because of competitors offering blenders with the same quality and features but at a lower price. A careful market study revealed that if Harvey could reduce the price of its Special Model to $181, it would regain its former share of the market. Management, however, is convinced that any price reduction must be accompanied by a cost reduction of the same amount so that per-unit profitability is not affected. Earl Wise, company controller, has indicated that poor overhead costing assignments may be distorting management’s view of each product’s cost and, therefore, the ability to know how to set selling prices. Earl has identified the following overhead activities: machining, inspection, and rework. The three activities, their costs, and practical capacities are as follows:

   Activity	Cost	Practical Capacity
   Machining	$5,310,000	88,500 machine hours
   Inspection	3,393,000	43,500 inspection hours
   Rework	1,822,800	43,400 rework hours

   The consumption patterns of the two products are as follows:

   	Special	Super
   Units	100,000	30,200
   Machine hours	49,500	39,000
   Inspection hours	9,200	34,300
   Rework hours	7,000	36,400

   Harvey assigns overhead costs to the two products using a plantwide rate based on machine hours.

   Required:

   1. Calculate the unit overhead cost of the Special Model using machine hours to assign overhead costs. Round intermediate calculations and your final answer to the nearest cent, if rounding is required.
   $fill in the blank 1 per unit

   Now, repeat the calculation using ABC to assign overhead costs. Round intermediate calculations and your final answer to the nearest cent, if rounding is required.
   $fill in the blank 2 per unit

   Did improving the accuracy of cost assignments solve Harvey’s competitive problem?

   2. Now, assume that in addition to improving the accuracy of cost assignments, Earl observes that defective supplier components are the root cause of both the inspection and rework activities. Suppose further that Harvey has found a new supplier that provides higher-quality components such that inspection and rework costs are reduced by 50 percent. Now, calculate the cost of the Special Model (assuming that inspection and rework times are also reduced by 50 percent) using ABC. The relative consumption patterns also remain the same. Round intermediate calculations and your final answer to the nearest cent, if rounding is required.
   $fill in the blank 4 per unit

   Comment on the difference between ABC and ABM.

Show, organize, and label (SOL) your work. Use correct notation as done in class or the book. If you use a calculator function to do a calculation, write down the keys used. You do not have to write down calculator steps if you’re just using a calculator to do arithmetic calculations.

1. At the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction (SVPA) a box contains 5 ghost pumpkins with the following weights: {5 lbs, 7 lbs, 8 lbs, 11 lbs, 14 lbs}. Let X = weight of ghost pumpkins in the box.

a) Fill in the missing cells in the table below. Calculate the mean and standard deviation for all 3 columns. Note: You should use the population standard deviation formula.

b) How did transforming the original data (X) by subtracting the mean of the original data change the mean? In other words, what is the mean of Y? How did dividing by the standard deviation change the standard deviation of the original data? In other words, what is the standard deviation of Z?

c) Does the variable Z have a standard normal distribution? Why did you answer the way you did? Think about what properties a standard normal distribution has.

d) What is the probability that X is greater than 7 if a pumpkin is randomly chosen from the box (should be very simple to answer)? How does this compare to the probability that the weight of a randomly chosen pumpkin has a Z-score greater than the z-score of 7 (again easy to answer)?

2.. The SVPA sells a box of 6 Blue Hubbard pumpkins. The mean weight of all the pumpkins in the box is 14.5 lbs. The table below shows the distribution of the sample mean weight if 3 pumpkins are selected randomly from the box.

a. Suppose the three pumpkins selected are 3lbs, 9 lbs and 21 lbs. Construct a 60% confidence interval on the population mean using this sample. Explain how you figured out the margin of error.

b. Interpret the 60% confidence interval found in part a. Give the full interpretation and use the context of the problem

c. The SVPA claims that based on years of data the mean weight of the pumpkins in the box is 14.5 lbs. Does the 60% confidence interval from part a contradict this claim?

d. What is the probability the mean weight of the pumpkins in the box is in the 60% confidence interval found in part a. Explain.

e. For the hypotheses H₀: μ = 14.5 lbs and H₁: μ ≠ 14.5 lbs on the mean weight of the pumpkins in the box, what would the p-value be for the hypothesis test using the sample from part a. Use correct notation. Explain what the p-value represents within the context of the problem.

f. For the hypothesis test in part e, what would be the lowest significance level at which we would reject the null hypothesis? Explain.

3. Giant pumpkins frequently don’t contain seeds when cut open because of excessive in-breeding. This is unfortunate since seeds can sell for $30 each or more. In a sample of 50 giant pumpkins, 23 did not contain seeds.

a) What is the point estimate for the proportion of giant pumpkins that don’t have seeds?

b) Show that the necessary conditions are satisfied for the sample proportion to have an approximately normal distribution.

c) Using the sample above an obstreperous giant pumpkin researcher wants to use the unusual confidence level of 75% to create a confidence interval for the true proportion of giant pumpkins not containing seeds

                i) What would be the standard error for the sample proportion? Use p-hat as an estimate of p.

                ii) What is the critical value for this confidence interval?

                iii) What is the margin of error?

                iv) What is the75% confidence interval?

d) Interpret the 75% confidence interval within the context of the problem.

e) What sample size would be necessary to produce a margin of error equal to 5 percentage points assuming the true proportion is equal to the sample proportion from above?

Answer all the following questions, using essay format Pick a firm/company/organization from your country that you are familiar with for example apple, ikea or mcdonalds

Question 1 Business strategy allows organizations to develop a clearer understanding of their own organization and what’s required for them to succeed.

a- Explain what business strategy is and discuss why the competitive advantages are temporary along with the four key areas of a SWOT analysis.

b- Give an example to show how you may apply the SWOT. (1000 Words)

Question 2

Define critical success factors (CSFs) and key performance indicators (KPI) Explain how managers use them to measure the success of MIS projects. (1000 Words)

Give an example in which potential energy is transformed to thermal energy (U goes to Eth)

Using any existing 2D or 3D graphics library ( such as Java 2D, Java 3D or OpenGL ) draw a scene featuring various elements. You are to choose from one of the following categories:

1. Any man-made landscape ( using Java 2D, or Java 3D, or OpenGL)
   
2. Promoting a cause (Using Java 3D or OpenGL )

3. Any visual landscape element of your choice (Using OpenGL with Java or Python )

You are free to create whatever you choose but it must conform to the following guidelines.  

• Show evidence of at least four colors.  
• Have a textual composition on the finished product.
• Imagery or images
• Scene composition of at least six (6) elements
• One of the following 1) shadows or glows.
• Duplication of at least one element coming from an existing class.

Q. Discuss factors affecting the adoption of environmentally friendly technological innovation among firms. From your perspective what is the most important factor with realistic examples? (maximum 400 words )

In chapter 8 we can see how the course of both Weses' lives have gone in completely different directions. Author Wes is accepted at a prestigious university and receives a scholarship. Other Wes sentenced to life in prison. What do you think was Author Wes Moore's purpose in writing this book? What evidence do you have from the book to back up your answer?

1. In the command fprintf within the string statement what operator executes a linefeed?

() (4 points).

A. \n B. \l C. \d D. /n

2. To multiply two arrays element-by-element, what operator must you use? ( ) (4 points).

A. + B. * C. .* D. ./

3. The default base of log function in MATLAB is ( ) (4 points).

A. e B. 2 C. 10 D. 5

4. Which one of the following is a valid placeholder in an fprintf statement ( ) (4

points).

A. %d B. %n C. %p D. %r E. %v

5. Which of the following names is NOT a valid name for a user-defined function? ( )

(4 points).

A. Poker B. Bla4jack C. Solitare8 D. Card-Pickup

6. If mathematical expressions are written in MATLAB without required parentheses,

operations start from left to right in order. (True or False) ( ) (4 points).

7. A MATLAB code is saved with .m extension while functions are saved with .f

extension. (True or False) ( ) (4 points).

8. Every variable used in a MATLAB code appears in the workspace until they are

cleared. (True or False) ( ) (4 points).

9. MATLAB automatically puts comments in our codes when we create codes and save

them in an M-File. (True or False) ( ) (4 points).

10. A function must return numerical outputs. (True or False) ( ) (4 points).

11. Write commands to generate a 3x5 array containing random numbers between 1 to 21 and then assign this array to A. Transpose A and assign to B. Sort the rows of B based on the 2nd column in a descending order and assign it to C. (15)

12. Write commands to create the following graph using the following parameters. All the elements in the graph must be addressed by commands. (20

-? < ? < ?

Y=sin(?),

Z=log(?).

13. According to the trajectory line (below), the height(m) y=v0sin(?)t-gt2/2. Given the initial velocity is 2 m/s, please write a user-defined function to calculate the initial ? degree, and write commands to test your function program to calculate ? in degree when height=0.0786 m and t=0.2 s. (25)

PART I - In the chapter on sexual behavior, we learned that different cultures and countries view sexual orientation in various ways. For example, in some places, sexual orientation is viewed as a learned behavior that people have a choice over, and individuals are ostracized if their orientation or behavior is not the same as the majority’s behavior. In other areas, sexual orientation is considered a biological matter, implying that choice is not part of it. In other locations, sexual orientation is considered a mixture of biology and environment, where both influences are present.

Please remember your readings on genetics and epigenetics, or any related studies or concepts as you answer the following.

Do you believe that it is ethical for agencies, institutions, or organizations to try to change people’s sexual orientation through means of punishment or suppression? Why? In what ways have institutions and organizations done this? Give examples.

Do you believe sexual orientation is an issue that we, as a society, should be involved in? Assuming that there is no abuse (e.g., child abuse, animal abuse, rape and violence, etc.) present in your bedroom, would you want society to tell you the gender of the person that you are allowed to have sex with? Why or why not?

PART II - Reflect upon late adulthood. How do people in your country or culture generally view the process of getting older? You may include your thoughts on values, beliefs, expectations, and cultural practices surrounding late adulthood. Relate your answers to lifespan theories and to death and dying.
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Please cite any sources if applicable.

It is critical to remember that this is an intellectual discussion and your peers may have different points of view and experiences; therefore, be sensitive and respectful to your peers’ comments. This discussion is about learning with our peers, so keep in mind the open-minded and multi-perspective aim of this discussion.

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.

Utilize the behavioral Personality theory and write a journal entry