Day: April 26, 2018

Welcome to the world of New York. all the toy companies display their products. It is also where the major trade shows and competitions are held. Buyers frequently come to the showroom to preview new and exciting products.

For Briggs (fictitious company for school assignment), maintaining the right image is critical. Most of their marketing people are in New York for that reason. However, the marketers are also on the road a lot. Therefore, the receptionist at the showroom may need to show clients around when the marketers are not present. She is not alone in stepping in to cover for people in higher positions. As a non-exempt worker, you would not compensate her for sales commissions. So, what else can you do for her and the other employees who step in like this for higher-level positions.

Create a list of suggestions for the manager that do not include any changes to the base pay or benefits programs in place at Briggs Toys. You may not suggest changes in bonus plans, or long-term incentive plans. Once you have completed your list, prepare a presentation that highlights your suggestions and presents them as options to management for consideration. You may submit a PowerPoint file or a Word document.

rry is the computer systems director for a medium-sized consulting firm. One night Barry is at happy hour at a local bar talking about his job with some people he has just met. Barry mentions that he needs to buy computers for the three new persons the firm has recently hired. One of the persons he has just met, Tom, asks Barry what kind of computers he plans to purchase. Barry says, “I am not sure. I’m still checking out what’s available.” Tom says, “Well, I can get you anything you want for much less than the stores.” A week later Barry calls Tom and says he is interested in the Cybermega 4000 model, and would order three if the price was right. Tom quotes a price, which is about half the normal price. Three days later Tom comes to Barry’s office with the three computers. Barry is curious why only one is in a box and Tom replies. “Oh, I thought you wouldn’t want the trash in your office. I also already sent in the warranty cards for you to save you the trouble.” Later it is learned that the computers were stolen a few days before Tom took them to Barry. Is Barry or the consulting firm guilty of receiving stolen property? What actions should Barry take? Please present your reasons.

Night Tran Construction Company

Night Tran Construction Company specializes in building small power plants, mostly for utility companies. The company was awarded a contract approximately two years ago to build such a power plant. The contract stated a project duration of three years, after which, a 1 percent penalty would be invoked for each additional month of construction. Project records indicate the utility plan is only 50 percent completed and is encountering continuing problems. The owner of Night Tran Company, concerned over the potential losses, investigated the project and found the following: There was an excessive number of engineering design changes; there was a high work rejection rate; and the project was generally understaffed. As a result, she directed the project manager to develop a better system of project control and present this method to the board members in one week.

Questions: If you were the project manager, what characteristics would you be looking for in the new control system? Will a new control system be adequate for the problem? Will it control scope creep? Explain.

The Fast Shop Market has a single checkout counter and one employee to serve customers. An average of 24 customers arrives each hour with a Poisson distribution (and therefore, exponentially distributed interarrival times). Customer checkout times are exponentially distributed with a mean of 2 minutes. Customers are checked out according to their order line.

a) Calculate the average length of the checkout line and the average time (minutes) that customers spend waiting in line prior to checkout.

b) The owner of Fast Shop is considering adding a “bagger” to speed up the checkout process. Experiments show that 40 customers can be served per hour with a bagger (exponentially distributed). Recalculate the average length of the checkout line and the average time (minutes) that customers spend waiting in queue for service.

c) The bagger will cost the store employee $300 per week. The national office has done research that indicates that for each additional minute the average customer waits in line costs a Fast Shop store $150 per week in lost sales. Is the bagger worth her/his wages?

d) Suppose that Fast Shop finds that in addition to reducing mean processing times, the use of a bagger also reduces the standard deviation of checkout times by 50%. By what percent will customer in-line waiting times be reduced?

You just started a summer internship with the successful management consulting firm of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Your first day on the job was a busy one, as the following problems were presented to you.

Required: Supply the requested comments in each of the following independent situations.

1. FastQ Company, a specialist in printing, has established 500 convenience copying centers throughout the country. In order to upgrade its services, the company is considering three new models of laser copying machines for use I producing high-quality copies. These high quality copies would be added to the growing list of products offered in the FastQ shops. The selling price to the customer for each laser copy would be the same, no matter which machine is installed in the shop. The three models of laser copying machines under consideration are 1024s, a small-volume model; 1024m, a medium-volume model; and 1024G, a large-volume model. The annual rental costs and the operating costs vary with the size of each machine. The machine capacities and costs are as follows:

Copier Model 1024S 1024M 1024G
Annual capacity (copies) 100,000 350,000 800,000
Costs:
Annual machine rental 8,000 11,000 20,000
Direct Material and direct labor .02 .02 .02
Variable overhead costs .12 .07 .03

a. Calculate the volume level in copies where FastQ Company would be indifferent to acquiring either the small-volume model laser copier, 1024, or the medium-volume model laser copier, 1024M.

b. The management of FastQ Company is able to estimate the number of copies to be sold at each establishment. Present a decision rule that would enable FastQ Company to select the most profitable machine without having to make a separate cost calculation for each establishment. (Hint: To specify a decision rule, determine the volume at which FastQ would be indifferent between the medium and large copiers.)

2. Alderon Enterprises is evaluating a special order it has received for a ceramic fixture to be used in aircraft engines. Aeron has recently been operating at less than full capacity, so the firm’s management will accept the order if the price offered exceeds the costs that will be incurred in producing it. You have been asked for advice on how to determine the cost of two raw materials that would be required to produce the order.

a. The special order will require 800 gallons of endor, a highly perishable material that is purchased as needed. Alderon currently has 1,200 gallons of endor on hand, since the material is used in virtually all of the company’s products. The last time endor was purchased, Alderon paid $5.00 per gallon. However, the average price paid for the endor in stock was only $4.75. The market price for endor is quite volatile, with the current price at $5.50. If the special order is accepted, Alderon will have to place a new order next week to replace the 800 gallons of endor used. By then the price is expected to reach $5.75 per gallon.

Using the cost terminology, comment on each of the cost figures mentioned in preceding discussion. What is the real cost of endor if the special order is produced?

b. The special order also would require 1,500 kilograms of tatooine, a material not normally required in any of Alderon’s regular products. The company does happen to have 2,000 kilograms of tatooine on hand, since it formerly manufactured a ceramic product that used the material. Alderon recently received an offer of $14,000 from solo Industries for its entire supply of tatooine. However, Solo Industries is not interested in buying any quantity less than Alderon’s entire 2,000-kilogram stock. Alderon’s management is unenthusiastic about Solo’s offer, since Alderon paid $20,000 for the tatooine. Moreover, if the tatooine were purchased at today’s market price, it would cost $11.00 per kilogram. Due to the volatility of the tatooine, Alderon will need to get rid of its entire supply one way of another. If the material is not used in production or sold, Alderon will have to pay $1,000 for each 500 kilograms that is transported away and disposed of in a hazardous waste disposal site.

Using the cost terminology, comment on each of the cost figures mentioned in the
Preceding discussion. What is the real cost of tatooine to be used in the special order?

3. A local PBS station has decided to produce a TV series on state-of-the art manufacturing. The director of the TV series, Justin Tyme, is currently attempting to analyze some of the projected costs for the series. Tyme intends to take a TV production crew on location to shoot various manufacturing scenes as they occur. If the four-week series is shown in the 8:00-9:00 PM prime-time slot, the station will have to cancel a wildlife show that is currently scheduled. Management projects a 10 percent viewing audience for the wildlife how, and each 1 percent is expected to bring in donations of $10,000. In contrast, the manufacturing show is expected to be watched by 15 percent of the viewing audience. However, each 1 percent of the viewership will likely generate only $5,000 in donations. If the wildlife show is canceled, it can be sold to network television for $25,000.

Using the cost terminology, comment on each of the financial amounts mentioned in the preceding discussion. What are the relative merits of the two shows regarding the projected revenue to the station?

The J.C. Adams Co., a mail-order firm that deals in small gifts, charges a flat rate for postage regardless of the weights of the packages. The flat postage charge is the current postage rate per ounce times 16.90. The company management assumes that in the long run the firm will break even on postage costs. The accounting department disputes the fixed postage charge and suggests that it should be changed. Management, however, wishes to be at least 95% certain that a policy change is justified since it may incur postage losses or be unattractive to potential customers. Further, management wishes to be 99% certain that if a policy change is made, the change will not incur losses due to insufficient postage charges to customers. Management decides to take a random sample of the weights of 100 packages mailed this month and base the decision on the sample results. The sample indicates a mean weight of 17.8 ounces and a standard deviation of 3.2 ounces.
a. Determine the action to be taken by J. C. Adams Company, if any, and explain your conclusion.

Background:
The Denver facility produces a wide variety of liquid chemicals.
Raw materials arrive at the Denver facility by railroad tank car.
Most shipments made in single or multiple compartment semi-trailer tankers.

Scenario:
Problems with delivered product quality
roduction systems appear to be out of control at times
Too many (non-Carbide) vehicles driving through plant.
Appears that drivers are not fully aware or observant of proper safety measures
Neighborhood residents and police complaining of trucks blocking the streets in
front of the plant.
Road blockages are normally short lived but consistently occur in the morning and late afternoons.
Automotive customers require that laboratory testing report on each SKU accompany each shipment. Denver facility is slow in producing lab reports.
Noncompliant trucks leaving Denver facility with lab reports stating that the products are non-compliant.
Plant transportation operations group (dispatching and scheduling) does not know when trucks will arrive at the gate.
20% of trucks arrive with no advance notice and with no order on file, but with purchase order in hand.
Denver periodically runs out of products without warning.
Denver facility has requested funds for new truck scales, but the need was not justified on a cost/benefit basis.

Problem:
Conduct a root cause analysis of the various issues that Mr. Walters presented
Discuss how the performance of the various areas impacts one another.
Come up with solutions

Draft a trip report for Mr. Walters of your groups preliminary recommendations.
Identify the underlying root cause of the problems and provide a reasonable and acceptable solution along with a trip report to include the following.

1. Dispatching 2. Transportation & Scheduling 3. Quality Control Laboratory
4. Production Units & Operational Departments 5. Product Loading
6. Facilities & Operations 7. Product Loading of Polyols

Heuristics are generally identified as “rules of thumb” that we use when making decisions. We evaluate information we already know, events we’ve already experienced, and actions we’ve already taken, to help us make quick and efficient decisions. In the heuristic process we make assumptions based on what we know, what we’ve done and what we’ve experienced (thus “rules of thumb”).

From your readings in the text this past week we’ve learned there are three types of heuristics; the representativeness heuristic, the availability heuristic and the anchoring & adjustment heuristic. Which of the three heuristic types is the most commonly used?

Post an answer to the following questions:

Based on what you’ve read and researched; in your opinion, which one of the three heuristic types do you believe is the most commonly used?

What information, facts, or data, did you use in coming to your conclusion (why did you select the heuristic you chose?)

Provide at least one, preferably two examples to support your conclusion?

You are a board member of a large company that manufactures and distributes aftermarket automobile parts. The board consists of six members. You are number two in seniority and the CEO is NOT on the board. The CEO has been a strong leader and an effective manager for over five years but lately the organization’s performance has fallen off and you will now have two consecutive years in the red. The CEO is highly regarded by the subordinates, but it is clear to you as a member of the board that many changes and adjustments have to be made. The serving CEO appears to be entrenched in approaching current challenges and opportunities with tried and true approaches.

The current CEO is internally focused, tradition based and conservative. He has shown some overly cautious actions with respect to entering new markets and expanding the company’s product line. The organization has little in the way of external investment activities and the CEO came close to dismissing the Deputy to the vice president for finance for an investment decision he felt was both risky and radical. He has consistently promoted managers from within and has a poor relationship with the VP for HR. There have been some long term problems with the quality level of one major product line (wheels) and the CEO has moved very slowly to correct it. Finally, he recently rejected the introduction of an enterprise architecture platform that was recommended by a major consulting firm.

What should you do and what should the board do? How should you do it?

Pritchard Soap Co.

Samantha (“Sam”) Calderon is manager of a project that will completely alter the method of adding perfume to Pritchard Soap’s “Queen Elizabeth” gift soap line. The new process will greatly extend the number of available scents and should result in a significant increase in sales. The project had been proceeding reasonably well, but fell several weeks behind when the perfume supplier, the Stephen Marcus Parfumissary, was unable to meet its delivery deadline because of a wildcat strike.

Under normal circumstances this would not have caused problems, but the project had been subject to a particularly long evaluation study and now was in danger of not being ready for the Christmas season. The major scheduling problem concerned Pritchard’s toxicity lab. Kyle Lee, lab manager, had been most cooperative in scheduling the Queen Elizabeth perfumes for toxicity testing. He had gone out of his way to rearrange his own schedule to accommodate Sam’s project. Because of the strike at Marcus, however, Sam cannot have the perfumes ready for test as scheduled, and the new test date Lee has given will not allow her to make the new line available by Christmas. Sam suspects that the project might not have been approved if senior management had known that they would miss this year’s Christmas season.

Questions: What was the source of change in this project and how will it affect the project’s priority? What are Sam’s alternatives? What should she do?