Case Study

Case study: One garbled memo – 26 baffled phone calls

Joanne supervised 36 professionals in 6 city libraries. To cut the costs of unnecessary overtime, she issued this one-sentence memo to her staff:

After the 36 copies were sent out, Joanne’s office received 26 phone calls asking what the memo meant. What the 10 people who didn’t call about the memo thought is uncertain. It took a week to clarify the new policy.

Memos are the primary means of in-house communication in US businesses. After reading the case, answer the following questions:

1. what are the major mistakes in this memo that led to workers’ misunderstanding?

2.What are some of the techniques Joanne might follow to improve this memo?

Critical Thinking

3. Describe a situation in your experience where the communication went wrong. Analyze that situation taking the following criteria into your consideration:

– The type and the medium of communication

– The communication barriers

Activity I: Product Development. Consider the simplified set of activities in the Table below for the development of a consumer product from initiation through the market test phase.

1. Draw the AOA network for this project.
2. Calculate total slacks and free slacks, and interpret their meaning. .
3. Determine the critical path and interpret its meaning.
4. Construct a Gantt chart and mark the latest start times for each activity.

Activity II: A project has 11 activities that can be accomplished either by one person working alone or by several people working together. The activities, precedence constraints, and time estimates are given in Table below. Suppose that you have up to five people who can be assigned on any given day. A person must work full days on each activity, but the number of people working on an activity can vary from day to day.

1. Prepare an AOA network diagram, and calculate the critical path, total slacks, and free slacks assuming that one person (independently) is working on each task.
2. Prepare an early-start Gantt chart.
3. Prepare a daily assignment sheet for personnel with the goal of finishing the project in the minimum amount of time.
4. Prepare a daily assignment sheet to “best” balance the workforce assigned to the project.
5. By how many days could the project be compressed if unlimited personnel resources were available?

Building a Case Study Analysis 

Choose ONE of the three international topics each week and apply the guidelines: These case study assignments are meant for you to explore and research outside of your textbook, but you can still cite your textbook when needed. 

• Week 3: (a) Cultural Differences, (b) Corporate Responsibility, or (c) Economic Development.

The articles should be news articles, written by journalists for publication in newspapers or on news, websites (cannot be blogs or commercial sites). They may also be transcripts of news stories that were broadcast on television or radio. The article can be different versions of the same issue published in different countries. Many articles from other countries are supplied to library databases from the BBC Monitoring Service, which does no reporting of its own but collects articles from around the world and translates them into English (if they are originally in another language.) For these articles, there will be an indication of which newspaper, website, radio station, etc., was the original source of the article, and in which country it is located. This would be the country of origin.

Your responses should be well-rounded and analytical, and should not just provide a conclusion or an opinion without explaining the reason for the choice.

For full credit, you need to use the material from the week’s lectures, text and/or discussions when responding to the questions. It is important that you incorporate the question into your response (i.e., summarize the case in your introduction) and explain the principle(s) or concept(s) from the text that underlies your judgment.

For each Case (or critically thinking and discussion question) you should provide at least two references in addition to the textbook in APA format (in-text citations and references as described in detail in the syllabus). Each answer should be double-spaced in 12 pt. Use the following Headings and length in your paper:

Prepare a case study report that has three main parts:

1. Summary and Overview of the issue
2. Compare and contrast the perspective on the issue. How are the articles similar or different on how they expose the issues? What are the explicit and implicit issues?
3. Taking from the emergent literature (only journal articles or textbook), what are some of the implications and recommendations for conducting international business.
4. Write at least two questions that can be exposed (still without an answer) from analyzing this issue. These inquiries can be questions/issues that you were not able to answer or understand. Clarify where or how do you believe you can obtain this information. Mention specific sources (do not simply say, “Searching on the Internet”).

Imagine that you are the vice president of operations at a production or service organization. You have noticed that your organization’s current operations strategy is not supporting the challenges the organization is presently facing. In order to maintain a competitive edge, you must address these challenges with your chief executive officer immediately.

Note: You will assume this role of vice president of operations at a production or service organization in the assignments throughout this course.

Select an existing production organization. Analyze the organization’s current vision, mission, business strategy, operation strategy, supply chain, total quality management, just-in-time philosophy, forecasting method, statistical technique, facility location, work design, project life cycle, and project management.

Note: As you collect the information for the first and second assignments, keep in mind that in the third assignment you must prepare a presentation for your chief executive officer.

Instructions

Write a 3–5 page paper in which you:

1. Evaluate key elements of the selected production or service organization’s operational efficiency with its operational strategy. Determine three tasks that do not align with the operational strategy. Determine the weaknesses that are evident in each task.
2. Formulate a new operations strategy for the selected organization based on the four competitive priorities (cost, quality, time, and flexibility).
3. Analyze both the structure of the competitive priorities and infrastructure of the production process. Develop three new tasks that are aligned with the long-term plan of the selected organization. Evaluate three pros and three cons of the new tasks.
4. Use three sources to support your writing. Choose sources that are credible, relevant, and appropriate. Cite each source listed on your source slide at least one time within your assignment. For help with research, writing, and citation, access the library or review library guides.

Assignment Content

1. Purpose? This assignment is intended to give you an opportunity to strengthen your skills in gathering and analyzing business-related information. It provides a deeper understanding of how companies can look at globalization as part of their strategic and operational plans. The assignment has two parts: one focused on information research and analysis, and the other is on applied analytics.  Resources:?
   • Microsoft® Excel® 
   • “How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 7 Years” from Harvard Business Review
   • Call Center Waiting Time
   • Part 1: Globalization and Information Research Context:?Companies that perform well in their country of origin usually consider expanding operations in new international markets. Deciding where, how, and when to expand is not an easy task, though.  
     Many issues need to be considered before crafting an expansion strategy and investing significant resources to this end, including:  
   • the level of demand to be expected for the company’s products/services 
   • presence of local competitors 
   • the regulatory, economic, demographic, and political environments 
   • Carefully researching and analyzing these and other factors can help mitigate the inherent risk associated with an overseas expansion strategy, thus increasing the likelihood of success.
     As a data analyst in your company’s business development department, you’ve been tasked with the responsibility of recommending countries for international expansion. You’ll write a report to the company’s executive team with your research, analysis, and recommendations. 
2. Instructions:  Write a 525-word summary covering the following items: 
   • According to the article listed above, what were the most important strategic moves that propelled Netflix’s successful international expansion? 
   • The article mentions investments in big data and analytics as one of the elements accompanying the second phase of overseas expansion. Why was this investment important? What type of information did Netflix derive from the data collected? 
   • According to the article, what is exponential globalization? 
   • Not all international expansion strategies are a resounding success, however. Research an article or video that discusses an instance in which an American company’s expansion efforts in another country failed. According to the article/video you selected, what were the main reasons for this failure? Do you agree with this assessment? 
   • Explain some of the reasons why certain companies’ expansion plans have failed in the past. 
   • Part 2: Hypothesis testing  Context:?Your organization is evaluating the quality of its call center operations. One of the most important metrics in a call center is Time in Queue (TiQ), which is the time a customer has to wait before he/she is serviced by a Customer Service Representative (CSR). If a customer has to wait for too long, he/she is more likely to get discouraged and hang up. Furthermore, customers who have to wait too long in the queue typically report a negative overall experience with the call. You’ve conducted an exhaustive literature review and found that the average TiQ in your industry is 2.5 minutes (150 seconds). Another important metric is Service Time (ST), also known as Handle Time, which is the time a CSR spends servicing the customer. CSR’s with more experience and deeper knowledge tend to resolve customer calls faster. Companies can improve average ST by providing more training to their CSR’s or even by channeling calls according to area of expertise. Last month your company had an average ST of approximately 3.5 minutes (210 seconds). In an effort to improve this metric, the company has implemented a new protocol that channels calls to CSR’s based on area of expertise. The new protocol (PE) is being tested side-by-side with the traditional (PT) protocol. 
3. Instructions: Access the Call Center Waiting Time file. Each row in the database corresponds to a different call. The column variables are as follows: 
   • ProtocolType: indicates protocol type, either PT or PE
   • QueueTime: Time in Queue, in seconds
   • ServiceTime: Service Time, in seconds
   • Perform a test of hypothesis to determine whether the average TiQ is lower than the industry standard of 2.5 minutes (150 seconds). Use a significance level of ?=0.05.  
   • Evaluate if the company should allocate more resources to improve its average TiQ. 
   • Perform a test of hypothesis to determine whether the average ST with service protocol PE is lower than with the PT protocol. Use a significance level of ?=0.05.  
   • Assess if the new protocol served its purpose. (Hint: this should be a tests of means for 2 independent groups.) 

I’m studying for my Accounting class and don’t understand how to answer this. Can you help me study?

In this module, we focus on the concept of conversion, which is the actual monetizing of the fraudulent activity of the perpetrator. Please read the following scenario:

Your boss has presented you with a fraud case which occurred at a manufacturing plant of a major auto supplier. In this case, circumstantial evidence has been collected that indicates the plant manager has been incorrectly booking revenues and costs to increase the performance level of the plant, and thus increase the bonus payout for himself and the remainder of the plant leadership team.

You have been asked to employ the net worth method to provide evidence to support these claims. Available information includes the financial statements of the facility for the past five years and access to base activity information (invoices, etc.) to support the financial statements. Note: this information is not provided, you will develop your plan based on knowing the information is available.

• How would you go about this investigation and why?
• What key information would you request to support the analysis and why?
• What specific steps would you take to identify the fraud and why? Integrate the specific Internet search tips in your answer

Consider a product you are familiar with.

• Discuss its brand equity in at least 2 of the following areas: brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand associations, or brand assets.

APRIL HUTCHESON

Respond to the following in a minimum of 125 words:

Brand equity is defined as “a set of assets (and liabilities) linked to a brand’s name and symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a product or service to a firm or that firm’s customer.” (Marshall and Johnston, 2019) The product that I am familiar with is the Energizer batteries. This brand was founded in 1896. However, the brand Energizer was created in 2000. The brand awareness of the Energizer batteries is the longevity of their batteries and their iconic mascot, Energizer Bunny. The perceived quality of this brand is best known for their marketing strategy built around their mascot, the Energizer Bunny. In all of the commercials is repeatedly announced that this is the battery that keeps going and going. Customers tend to remain loyal to this brand because of how long they have been in business and how they have capitalized on the “green marketing”. One of their brands of batteries is made with 4% recycled batteries.

Marshall, G. and Johnston, M. (2019) Marketing management (3rd ed.) McGraw-Hill

Energizer Holdings (2021). https://www.energizerholdings.com/company/our-lega…

CODY WALRAVEN

Respond to the following in a minimum of 125 words:

I feel I will go back to an earlier discussion as the conversation of when I recently purchased my wife a Subaru Acsent. Subaru is honestly what I think about when I think brand loyalty, other than cigarettes and beer which is a bit outside the college discussion. Jordan Almond writes in Motor Biscuit (2020), “J.D. Powers reviewed automotive brands last year and Subaru still held the top spot.” (para. 1). This top spot has been held by Subaru for three consecutive years now. This means a lot with auto manufactures pushing to be more customer facing and building this loyalty.

The brand screams quality as they advertise the vehicles being passed down from generation to generation and watching the families go from dating to children to long down the life with the same vehicle. Their awareness is wide spread as well as they focus highly on brand awareness with the campaigns like the “Share the Love” events and the overall all use of the phrase “Love” in their advertisements.

On a personal note, the team that sold us our vehicle was not like a typical dealership, they seemed to actually care which is surprising. We have also received calls after the purchase from the sales person, the service manager, the sales manager, the assistant manager, and the store manager personally thanking us, providing us with their direct line and mobile number, and telling use that no matter the issue with the vehicle to call. Not a normal dealership or brand for sure.

I just upload my product function， can you write 20 reviews to me ? you can make a story, I also will send you some example for you, you can take look

https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews//B07TC75S8X…

https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B08M6H284G/…

I’m trying to study for my Management course and I need some help to understand this question.

There are many costs associated with poor quality and processes, including, but not limited to, expense. Describe an example within your organization that illustrates one of the four parts of the cost of quality. Which methodology, Lean, Six Sigma or Theory of Constraints, would work best to improve this within your organization? Discuss with your group why, highlighting some of the differences between the methodologies.

Also, if you have had LEAN or Six Sigma training, or worked in an organization where these methods were core to improvement efforts, please consider sharing your experience with your group.Lean & Six Sigma Discussion