...Ballard Case Study Patricia Jones QNT 351 Jan 27th, 2014 Pete Dorsa Introduction and Problem Situation Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc. (BIMS) provides food, hospitality, housekeeping and physical plant services for the staff and patients at the Douglas Medical Center. Barbara Tucker, the general manager for this site, has noticed that the morale of her employees has been declining for the past several months. The expected turnover rate is 55-60% annually in this industry. This rate has increased to 64% over the last four months (BIMS Part 1). The use of sick time has increased, overall performance is poor and complaints from the hospital staff are on the rise. Barbara and her management team have not been able to determine why morale is down. The exit interviews that are currently used are not pinpointing the reasons why employees are leaving. Conclusions The data used in the survey is beneficial to the research into why employment morale has decreased for the past several months. Therefore, a questionnaire was designed to examine dependent variable which, “is the key factor that you want to explain or predict and that is affected by some other factors …scholars have emphasized productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction” (Robbins & Judge p. 25). BIMS is experiencing problems with several dependant variables, the focus of this paper examines turnover, which is increasing for BIMS. Each question of the survey addresses issues that require...
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...EC/315 Midterm Examination Name:__________________________________________ Directions: This test is open-book and open notes and covers the content from weeks 1 through week 4 of EC/315. The test will be typed and submitted in the Dropbox marked Midterm Exam. The midterm is due the last day of Week 4. PROBLEM 1 (Weight 20 points). NBC TV news, in a segment on the price of gasoline, reported last evening that the mean price nationwide is $1.50 per gallon for self-serve regular unleaded. A random sample of 35 stations in the Milwaukee, WI, area revealed that the mean price was $1.52 per gallon and that the standard deviation was $0.05 per gallon. At the .05 significance level, can we conclude that the price of gasoline is higher in the Milwaukee area? Calculate the p-value and interpret. PROBLEM 2: (Weight 20 points). Suppose Babsie generated the following probability distribution: X p(x) 5 7 10 12 15 .25 .30 .25 .05 .15 a. b. c. d. Is this probability distribution discrete or continuous? Explain your reasoning. Calculate the expected value of X. Show your work!! Calculate the variance of X. Show your work!!! Calculate the standard deviation. Show your work!! PROBLEM 3: (Weight 20 points). Babsie is a public affairs specialist at Park University. A press release issued by Babsie based on some research claims that Park University students study at least as much as the national average for students at four year universities...
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...Life is full of decisions waiting to be made. Whether that decision is choosing what color socks to wear or deciding what career to pursue, it will affect our life in one way or another. The poem, "The Road Not Taken" tells a story of a man who reaches a fork in the road and must choose which path to take, each path different from the other. In this poem, Robert Frost contends that every decision we make, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will have an impact on our life. Robert Frost uses a walk in the woods as a metaphor for making a decision in life, a situation that people face daily. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood . . . " Each road starts from the same place, but may lead to two entirely different destinations and the traveler has no idea where those destinations may be. Not sure which path to choose, and afraid of making the wrong choice, he compares the two roads, much like we do when contemplating a choice, analyzing the pros and cons. Many times, we tend to choose the easy way out. The path that is traveled more often has a predictable outcome that keeps us inside our comfort zone, even though it may not be the most beneficial choice. In his comparison of the two roads, Robert Frost shows us the importance of making a decision and how it could affect us later on in life. By comparing the two roads, the traveler finally makes up his mind, choosing the road that is more beautiful and less traveled. The traveler took the plunge, taking the road that had not...
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...Panera Bread Company is a national bakery-cafe with 1,504 locations across the US and Canada. This case study provides information regarding the past performance, current analysis, stock valuation, market evaluation, and industry comparison. In this analysis and case study, we hope you, the reader, will gain usable insight on Panera Bread and its value. We will give a recommendation to our readers according to our given information. Panera Bread is a chain of bakery-cafe quick service restaurants in the United States and Canada that sells breads, sandwiches, soups, salads, and other bakery items. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Panera bread was once originally known as the St. Louis Bread Company. In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the Saint Louis Bread Company, which was founded by Ken Rosenthal. At the same time, the St. Louis Bread Company was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area. In May 1999, to expand Panera Bread into a national restaurant, Au Bon Pain Co. sold its other chains, including Au Bon Pain, which is now owned by Compass Group North America. Au Bon Pain Co. then renamed itself Panera Bread. The company operates and franchises 1,504 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 40 states and 17 facilities that deliver fresh dough to the bakery-cafés every day. In its headquarters city of St. Louis, Panera Bread still operates under the name St. Louis Bread Company. The St. Louis Metropolitan area has over 100 locations. In 2005...
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...Step Outside Your World Analysis I believe making yourself vulnerable by putting yourself in a different environment that you are not accustomed to can be an eye opening experience. In some ways you can see how people react to certain situations. It’s interesting to see how many people meet your expectations and how many people fall into stereotypical behavior. Describe the activity you chose and why? The activity I chose was to be a wheelchair bound person because partly I work in a hospital so they are easily accessible but more importantly; I wanted to experience what the public reaction would be towards an individual in that situation. What type of place did you choose to experience and why? The place that I chose for my experience was the mall because I felt that that the place was public enough and the mall always has an abundance of diversity and different types of personalities. What did you observe? My number one observation is that people like to stare, big people, little people, but mostly old people. The first day we were out I commented that everyone was looking at me. My husband who was with me, told me I was being paranoid. Ten minutes later he asked why everyone was staring. Children you can understand, they’re naturally curious, but adults really should be more clued in. I also noticed that everything is up high, including counters in the mall the sinks, and the windows. I also notice that people don’t like to help. I don’t think it’s malicious,...
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...Creativity and Business Innovation Prof. Stefan Meisiek Case Analysis of Critical Mass : The IT Creativity Challenge Piyush Choudhary 2013962348 Executive Summary Critical Mass is a highly successful digital marketing service firm with a its major clientele part of the Fortune 500 group. The Internet industry of which Critical Mass is a part is changing a lot. The social media tools have created a generation that has access to a lot more information. Consumers are becoming highly demanding in making creativity and innovation a must for the success of Critical Mass Inc. The company had invested a lot of resources to achieve a so called creativity inducing environment and organized a plethora of activities to ensure that the creative juices kept flowing. At this juncture the company is at the crossroads to take its next step towards a significant expansion in its client base. As a result Brian Kramer (Tech Director) and Gordon Bunk (Senior VP and MD) have decided to inspect and revaluate the current practices followed in the firm to determine whether they were having the required effect make necessary changes to make them more meaningful and result oriented. 1 |Page Creativity and Business Innovation Prof. Stefan Meisiek Introduction Critical Mass was setup in 1995 by Ted Hellard and Michael Clairo with the intention of being a interactive golf CD-ROM development company. As a part of the plan Hellard went to pitch his interactive golf CD-ROM to Mercedes Benz ,however...
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..."Strategic Performance Management: Leveraging and Measuring Your Intangible Value Drivers", Strategic Direction, Vol. 24 Iss: 1, pp. External environment analysis Unknown. (2012) External environment analysis. [online] Available at: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/15/business/3880524&sec=business [Accessed: 17 Oct 2012]. Internal environment analysis Unknown. (2012) Internal environment analysis. [online] Available at: http://internalenvironmentalanalysis.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html [Accessed: 16 Oct 2012]. Porter five forces analysis Unknown. (2012) Porter five forces analysis . [online] Available at: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml [Accessed: 16 Oct 2012]. Swot Analaysis Unknown. (2012) Swot Analaysis. [online] Available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm [Accessed: 17 Oct 2012] Market plan Unknown. (2012) Market plan. [online] Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/43018 [Accessed: 12 Oct 2012]. Operational plan Unknown. (2012) Operational plan. [online] Available at: http://www.sloscore.org/operational_plan.html [Accessed: 12 Oct 2012]. Human resource plan Unknown. (2012) Human resource plan. [online] Available at: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=312 [Accessed: 8 Oct 2012]. Risk and contingencies Unknown. (2012) Risk and contingencies. [online] Available at: www.csupomona.edu/~scabraham/html/.../Mini-Lecture11-Spr05.ppt [Accessed: 17 Oct 2012]...
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...Mountain Man Brewing Company Case Analaysis Recommendation: Mountain Man Brewing should create a new market strategy and introduce a line extension of Light Beer to expand their portfolio and create new sales among non-existing customers. This line extension will target the younger drinkers and women in the East Central Region and will increase sales and create profit within 2 years. Rationale: 1. Light beer sales will be profitable within 2 years. The first year MMBC will lose $486,374. However, in 2007, the second year, MMBC will gain $1,520,341 in profit. See Appendices 6 and 7. 2. Currently, MMBC can afford the line extension. If MMBC were to wait a few years, there might not be any profit to pay for a line extension. 3. Light beer sales are growing at a 4% CAGR. In 2001, light beer accounted for 29.8% of beer sales. In 2005, light beer now accounts for 50.4% of beer sales. See Appendix 3. 4. Women are included in the target market for Light Beer making up 42% of sales. In the East Central Region, women consume 21% of the barrels sold and 27% of the Light Beer Barrels sold. See Appendix 9. 5. The young drinkers (age 21-27) consist of 13% of the population and 27% of beer sales. This age group mainly consumes light beer and has not established any brand loyalty. Ages 21-35 also consume 20% of the barrels sold in the East Central Region. See Appendix 9. 6. MMBC sales are declining by 2% annually. Introducing a light beer would increase revenue...
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...T3 Motion, Inc. – Porter’s Five forces Analaysis 2012 1. T3 Motion is in a green hi-tech industry, in which requires massive investment in the beginning and continuous financial support from either internal or external resources. Besides money, this industry highly relies on high level technicians and scientists, both are rare in the labor market, so the entry barrier of this industry is high, the threat of new competition is low. 2. Electrical vehicles, as an environmentally friendly substitute of traditional gasoline-engine or diesel engine vehicles, are just starting to emerge as a market. However, in this market some company has already won the recognition, such as Segaway. The substitute products not only come within the green industry, others may include bicycles, motorcycles, or golf cars. So the threat of substitute products is high. 3. Electrical vehicles, as an environmentally friendly substitute of traditional gasoline-engine or diesel engine vehicles, are just starting to emerge as a market. However, in this market some company has already won the recognition, such as Segaway. The substitute products not only come within the green industry, others may include bicycles, motorcycles, or golf cars. So the threat of substitute products is high. 4. Currently, over 70% of our T3 Series suppliers are local suppliers who provide products and services to low volume early stage development companies. As the vehicle design has become stable and sales volumes have increased,...
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...researchers did a nice job of showing how all six building blocks are inter-related. For example, how well the health human resources building block functioned directly impacted the service delivery building block with reduced healthcare staff reducing confidence in the community that access would be available in a timely and safe manner (Mutale et al., 2013). The research findings show how relationships across the six building blocks. General Evaluation Overall, Mutele et al. (2013) performed fairly high quality research regarding the WHO building blocks analyzed using systems thinking show close interrelationships across how well one building block functions impacts the other building blocks. An example of the researchers inductive analaysis is how they found that healthcare workers gender impacted service delivery, specifically barriers to health due to cultural norms regarding males helping with child delivery (Mutale et al., 2013). The findings are helpful in understanding root causes to why Zambia is challenged with meeting millennium development goals. This research suggests that the Zambian healthcare authorities must centralize their strategy to address all six building blocks, rather than focus in on only one area in order to make tangible improvement in the Zambian healthcare system. ...
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...IMPACT OF THE DISCOVERY AND EXLORATIONOF UNCONVENTIONAL OIL ON CONVENTIONAL OIL OPEC STATES | BYNAME:STUDENT ID:MODULE: | | | Contents Contents 1 Introduction 2 OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) 2 UNCONVENTIONAL OIL 3 SOURCES OF UNCONVENTIONAL OIL 3 CONVENTIONAL OIL 4 PESTLE ANALYSIS 4 PESTLE ANALYSIS ON NIGERIA 4 PESTLE ANALAYSIS ON U.S 6 Conclusion 9 References 10 Bibliography 10 Introduction The producers of oil which are outside the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) are been recorded to be producing almost 60 percent of the oil used in the world with constant increase in the hurdles of production (Khadduri, n.d.). Some researchers have indicated that the Non-OPEC states is as a result of having less producing wells, high costs of new projects, older wells and in most cases the increase in the home demand of oil which may cut the oil for exportation (Nakhle, 2013). Increases in the prices resulted in the difficulty of oil project and making it lucrative, resulting in the increase of the production of unconventional oil. Though at a time, there’s declination in the Non-OPEC oil production as the investing in new production of oil becomes tougher as a result of tightening, volatility of oil price, resource nationalism and credit markets (Brendow, K;, 2003). Now the unconventional oil production by Non-OPEC states is coming up as originally projected as few of the producers are been expected to offset...
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...Analaysis of Act 1, Scene 1: Illustrate Lears rash and impulsive frame of mind in the opening section of the play. Peace, Kent! Come not between the dragon and his wrath. I lov'd her most, and thought to set my rest On her kind nursery.- Hence and avoid my sight!- So be my grave my peace as here I give 130 Her father's heart from her! Call France! Who stirs? Call Burgundy! Cornwall and Albany, With my two daughters' dowers digest this third; Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her. I do invest you jointly in my power, 135 Preeminence, and all the large effects That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course, With reservation of an hundred knights, By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain 140 The name, and all th' additions to a king. The sway, Revenue, execution of the rest, Beloved sons, be yours; which to confirm, This coronet part betwixt you. King Lear was written by William Shakespeare - poet, playwright and actor - between 1604 and 1606. King Lear is a play that is based on the Kind of England that decidded to step down from the throne and share out his roles of ruling the land with between his 3 daughters - Gonerill, Regan and Cordelia. To decide which of his daughters were worthy of the land, King Lear decided to commence a test of their love, infront of a court full of people. This test was quite simple - they had to tell the dury, and the King himself how much they loved...
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...Richard Santos Trident University ACC 501 MARCH 2017 FT EXTENSION Module 4 Case Analaysis of T&P Fashions Richard Santos, CFO 3452 Lake Lynda Drive, Suite 363 Orlando, FL 32817 Memo to: Division Manager From: CFO Richard Santos Date: May 2017 Subject: Budgeting, Variance Analysis, and Performance Evaluations Analysis of Variances Variance in Cost of Goods Sold T&P Fashion had forecasted sales of $1,400,000 for the year, while actual sales were $1,325,000. The cost of products sold was forecasted to be $740,000 on sales of $1,400,000 though the real cost of merchandise went up by $50,000 and ended up being $790,000. This produced a two pronged effect, as sales declined while the cost of goods sold rose. The...
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...TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 PROBLEM STAEMENT 3 SITUATION ANALYSIS 3 Background 3 Objectives and Goals 3 SWOT Analysis 4 MARKET ANALYSIS 4 Marketing Mix 4 COMPETITION ANALAYSIS 5 External Environment (PESTE) 5 CONSUMER ANALYSIS 6 Positioning Map 7 CASE KEYS 7 ALTERNATIVES – need more pros and cons 8 RECOMMENDATIONS 8 ACTION PLAN - TBD 9 CONTINGENCY PLAN -TBD 9 APPENDIX A – Competitor’s strength and weakness 10 APPENDIX B – Segmentation 11 REFERENCES 12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Founded 1971, Starbucks started off as a bean roasting company. After a visit to Italy by Howard Schultz, he was determined to open an Italian style espresso bar. For the next 20 years, after the name had been purchased by Howard in 1987, there was a vast growth and expansion. With little competition, Starbucks was able to open a total of 15,011 stores in globally in which two-thirds were in the USA. In 2007, Starbucks was hit with a financial crisis that plunged its shares around $19-$20. With a negative working capital caused by increase financial debt both short and long-term, the sharp expansion due to strategy shift may have caused targets in 2007 not to be met. As shareholders expectations were high, Shultz reclaimed is seat as CEO with intentions to steer the company back to focus on the customers and commitment to its community. During the years of great success for Starbucks, there was little competition globally. Its direct competition in Canada was Second...
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...SETTING THE GOALS It is important to note that prior to proceeding with the SWOT analysis the priority relies upon setting the goals for this exercise. According to the July issue of the Visible Ranking website “your website / online marketing goals must be in line with your overall mission and goals.” Based on this principle the following SWOT analysis will be aligned with AT&T’s corporate mission: “Today, our mission is to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else. We're fulfilling this vision by creating new solutions for consumers and businesses and by driving innovation in the communications and entertainment industry.” STRENGHTS For this part of the analaysis we will concentrate on pre-defined characteristics we will look for in AT&T’s...
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