...Michael Hageman General Psychology 9-30-14 RR-1 Reading 2: More Experience = Bigger Brain Rosenzweig, M.R., Bennett. E.L., & Diamond, M. C. (1972). Brain changes in response to experience. Scientific American, 226(2), 22-29 Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study was to see if certain stimulating experiences cause certain physical and chemical changes in the brain. The main goal was to see if “enriched” environments cause greater stimulation and growth in the brain as opposed to “impoverished environments. Mark Rosenzweig, Edward Bennett, and Marian Diamond were able to test these questions and it gave us more insight as to how the brain responds to certain situations. Methodology: This study was conducted on a set of 12 rats in each of three conditions for 16 experiments. The first condition was a standard colony cage with a few rats in a typical space with food and water always available. The second was the impoverished rat, which had just one rat in a standard cage with nothing inside besides food and water. And finally there were the rats in the enriched environment. There were six to eight rats in this extra-large cage with many objects for the rats to play with. The rats were allowed to live in these environments for a period of 4 to 10 weeks. The rats were then examined to see if any differences had taken place. To be sure that no bias had taken place the rats were examined at random order with code numbers to make sure the person doing...
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... DIRT BIKES USA RUNNING CASE STUDY 1. What are the company’s goals and culture? Dirt Bikes USA is a small company headquartered in Carbondale, Colorado that manufactures and sells its own brand of off-road motorcycles. It was founded in 1991 to produce dirt bikes that could be customized for racing and off-road recreational riding using the best quality components and parts from all over the world. The company has continued to grow and now faces a new set of challenges and opportunities. 2. What products and services does Dirt Bikes USA provide? How many types of products and services are available to customers? How does Dirt Bike USA sell its products? Dirt Bikes’ founders realized that the most popular dirt bikes were foreign brands and wanted to capitalize on their proximity to the dirt bikes racing circuit and market in the United States. Carl and Steve hoped they could develop bikes that performed and looked better than the competition by using the best custom parts available. Dirt Bikes does not hesitate to use quality components from all over the world. The engines for Dirt Bikes are Rotax engines from Austria and tires are from Dunlop, but many of their parts, such as shock absorbers, front wheel forks, exhaust pipes, and headlights, are from the United States. Dirt Bikes makes its own frames, shaping them to give them the unique spirited style for which the company is noted. The company’s parts and service business accounts for about 15% of its total revenue...
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...page » Business and Management Dirt Bikes Usa Running Case Study In: Business and Management Dirt Bikes Usa Running Case Study DIRT BIKES USA RUNNING CASE STUDY 1. What are the company’s goals and culture? Dirt Bikes USA is a small company headquartered in Carbondale, Colorado that manufactures and sells its own brand of off-road motorcycles. It was founded in 1991 to produce dirt bikes that could be customized for racing and off-road recreational riding using the best quality components and parts from all over the world. The company has continued to grow and now faces a new set of challenges and opportunities. 2. What products and services does Dirt Bikes USA provide? How many types of products and services are available to customers? How does Dirt Bike USA sell its products? Dirt Bikes’ founders realized that the most popular dirt bikes were foreign brands and wanted to capitalize on their proximity to the dirt bikes racing circuit and market in the United States. Carl and Steve hoped they could develop bikes that performed and looked better than the competition by using the best custom parts available. Dirt Bikes does not hesitate to use quality components from all over the world. The engines for Dirt Bikes are Rotax engines from Austria and tires are from Dunlop, but many of their parts, such as shock absorbers, front wheel forks, exhaust pipes, and headlights, are from the United States. Dirt Bikes makes its own frames, shaping them to...
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...Dirt Bikes USA Running Case Study Bryan Gaine Melissa Kelly Brad Michels Erica Riley Table of Contents Management Analysis of a Business .....................................................................................4 Analyzing Financial Performance..........................................................................................5 Competitive Analysis .............................................................................................................7 Analyzing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Desktop Software Assets .......................8 New Customer Database Design ...........................................................................................9 Using Internet Tools to Increase Efficiency and Productivity ...............................................10 -2- Table of Charts Table 1: Dirt Bikes USA Sales History from 2001 to 2005 .................................................. 5 Table 2: Domestic vs. International Sales from 2001 to 2005 ...............................................6 Table 3: Statement of Income ................................................................................................6 Table 4: Software Suites ........................................................................................................8 Table 5: Customer Database ..................................................................................................9 Table 6: Internet Tools Matrix .............
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...Dirt Bikes Dirt Bikes USA is a small company headquartered in Carbondale Colorado that manufactures and sells its own brand of off-road motorcycles. It was founded in 1993 to product dirt bikes that could be customized for racing and off-road recreational riding using the best quality components and parts from all over the world. The company has continued to grow and now faces a new set of challenges and opportunities. You have been asked to serve as a consultant to apply your information systems knowledge to help Dirt Bikes solve some of the problems it is encountering. Dirt Bikes USA was founded in 1993 by Carl Schmidt and Steven McFadden, two young but experienced bikers with engineering backgrounds who saw that dirt bikes were becoming very popular in the United States as both sporting and racing motorcycles. They developed frames for dirt bikes that were more suited to off-road handling and started using these frames to build their own dirt bike models using motorcycle engines manufactured by other companies, such as Honda and Rotax Motors of Austria. Riding on one of their customized dirt bikes, Steven finished first in the famous Barstow to Las Vegas race. There was so much interest in Carl and Steve’s bikes that they decided to open a production facility that could manufacture large numbers of their dirt bikes for the retail market. They opened a small production facility in Carbondale which has since expanded to house 120 workers involved in production, design...
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...2. How does Dirt Bikes provide value to customers The company provides value to it’s customers by designing and manufacturing custom motorcycles of high quality, and by servicing those motorcycles. Proof of the high quality of the motorcycles can be seen in the number of races that the brand wins each year. Other ways they provide value to the customer are with the policy of listening to customers feedback on how to improve the product, and with the newly formed Dirt Bikes USA owners group. Steps to improve: Database software Dirt Bikes sells primarily through its distributors. It maintains a small customer database with the following data: customer's name, address, telephone number, model purchased, date of purchase, and distributor. These data are collected by its distributors when they make a sale and forwarded to Dirt Bikes. Dirt Bikes would like to be able to market more aggressively to its customers. It would like to be able to send them e-mail notices of special racing events and of sales on parts. It would also like to learn more about their interests and tastes: their age, years of schooling, another sport they are interested in, and whether they attend dirt bike racing events. Additionally Dirt Bikes would like to know whether they own more than one motorcycle. (Some Dirt Bikes customers own two or three motorcycles from Dirt Bikes USA or other manufacturers). “Most people ride dirt bikes for fun. They enjoy being out doors and finding new...
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...Dirt Bikes USA was founded in the 1990’s by Carl Schmidt and Steven McFadden. Both experienced dirt bike riders, with engineering backgrounds, they saw a market for modern American made dirt bikes that were competitive with the foreign made cycles by capitalizing on their proximity to the racing circuit in the US. The company has been developing and manufacturing the best off-road, racing motorcycles possible. Noted for their own uniquely designed frames, more suited for off-road handling, they build their own bikes with genuine, quality custom parts & motors from around the world. Currently producing four models, appealing to serious trail and Enduro riders, they are working into the motocross market. Dirt Bikes USA has a very friendly, family atmosphere encouraging teamwork, attention to detail and quality, and continuous learning and innovation. This allows great communication within the company, and with suppliers and customers. Many of its employees are dirt bike racing enthusiasts, which creates a more personal sense of accomplishment to employees that will ultimately also use their products. Presently Dirt Bikes USA manufactures and sells four models of dirt bikes: the Enduro 250 (retail price $3250), the Enduro 550 (retail price $7600), the Moto 300 (retail price $4295), and the Moto 450 (retail price $8995). Product sales are made through a network of 40 distributors concentrated in the Western and Midwestern United States, with a small percentage sold in Europe...
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...1st answer: The goal of the company is customization of dirt bike models for optimized racing and off-road recreational use. The culture employed by the dirt bike company is friendly family atmosphere, encourage teamwork, attention to detail and quality, continual learning and innovation, encourage ideas for improvement of products and services. 2nd answer: Dirt bikes USA is a dirt bikes(for racing) production automobile company. They produce huge number of automobile parts or products such as engines for Dirt Bikes are Rotax engines from Austria and tires are from Dunlop, but many of their parts, such as shock absorbers, front wheel forks, exhaust pipes, and headlights, are from the United States. Dirt Bikes makes its own frames, shaping them to give them the unique spirited style for which the company is noted. The companys parts and service business accounts for about 15% of its total revenue 3rd answer: . Dirt Bikes USA is still privately owned with Carl serving as CEO and Steven as President and Chief Operating Officer. About 120 employees work in design, engineering and production, including 3 full-time product designers and 3 engineers. In addition to a 4-person parts department, Dirt Bikes maintains a ten-person service department to service warranties and customer problems with parts and motorcycle performance. Five employees work in Dirt shipping and receiving department. Dirt Bikes sales staff consists of a marketing manager and 5 sales representatives, two for...
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...Technology ....17 It Isn't Just Technology: A Business Perspective on Information Systems 18 • Dimensions of Information Systems ....20 1.3 Contemporary Approaches to Information Systems ....25 Technical Approach 26 • Behavioral Approach 26 • Approach of This Text: Sociotechnical Systems ....27 1.4 Learning to Use Information Systems: New Opportunities with Technology ....27 The Challenge of Information Systems: Key Management Issues 28 • Integrating Text with Technology: New Opportunities for Learning ....30 Make IT Your Business ....31 Summary, 31 • Key Terms, 32 • Review Questions, 32 • Discussion Questions, 33 • Application Software Exercise: Database Exercise: Adding Value to Information for Management Decision Making, 33 • Dirt Bikes USA: Preparing a Management Overview of the Company, 33 • Electronic Commerce Project: Analyzing Shipping Costs, 34 • Group Project: Analyzing a Business System, 34 • Case Study: Dollar General: Heavy on Organization, Light on Systems, ....35 Chapter 2. Information Systems in the Enterprise ....38 Opening Case: Fast Fashion, Hot Systems ....39 2.1 Major Types of Systems in Organizations ....40 Different Kinds of Systems 40 • Four Major Types of Systems 41 • Relationship of Systems to...
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...to produce dirt bikes that could be customized for racing, off-road, and recreational riding by using the best quality components and parts from all over the world. The culture of the company is that they strive to use the best quality components they can find from anywhere in the world. For example, the engines are from Austria, the tires from Dunlop, Inc., and many of the other parts are from the United States. They also want to develop bikes that both perform better and look better than their competition. Part of their culture is to race these bikes in different competitive professional races. Also, it is the company culture to maintain a very friendly family atmosphere. They encourage teamwork, pay attention to detail and quality, and they are continually striving to learn and innovate. Employees, distributors, and retail customers are urged to contribute ideas on how to improve Dirt Bikes’ products and service. Q2 What products and services does Dirt Bikes USA provide? They produce off-road motorcycles. There are currently four models; two Enduro bikes-the Enduro 250 and 550-which are for endurance, and two Moto bikes-the Moto 300 and 450-which are used for motocross racing. They also have a parts and services business which accounts for approximately 15% of its total revenue. How many types of products and services are available to customers? They all are available to customers-through retail. How does Dirt Bikes USA sell its products? Dirt Bikes does not sell...
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...INDIVIDUAL WORK #1 • ANALYZING A BUSINESS SYSTEM 1. Find a description in a computer or business magazine of an information system used by an organization. Look for information about the company on the web to gain further insight into the company, and prepare a brief description of the business. Banco De Oro - The product of a merger heralded as unprecedented in size and scale in the Philippine banking industry, Banco De Oro Unibank (BDO) today represents a firm consolidation of distinct strengths and advantages built over the years by the entities behind its history. More importantly, BDO is an institution that does more than honor its past; it continues to improve on its present, and moves with innovation and dynamism toward an even stronger future. BDO’s reputation as a full-service universal bank remains as formidable as ever. It has the ability to provide a complete array of industry-leading products and services to the retail and corporate markets including Lending (corporate, commercial, consumer, and SME), Deposit-taking, Foreign Exchange, Brokering, Trust and Investments, Credit Cards, Corporate Cash Management and Remittances. Through its subsidiaries, the Bank offers Leasing and Financing, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Bancassurance, Insurance Brokerage and Stock Brokerage services. Its institutional strengths and value-added products and services hold the key to its successful business relationships with customers. On the...
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...Speaking about the financial performance of the company, it is necessary to say that sales revenues are not steadily growing. (Dirt Bikes USA) According to some statistical data, it is known that dirt bikes are very popular in such countries as Canada, Mexico, Australia, the United States, China and some other countries which have mud-locked roads and even lack of roads. In order to find out what countries will be the best markets for Dirt Bikes products, it is necessary to learn about the per capita income of these countries. For example, China's per capita income is $4,282; Australia – $54,868; the United Kingdom - $36,298; Canada - $45,887; Ireland - $45,642; New Zealand - $31,588; Mexico - $9,283 and others. (International Monetary Fund) It is clear that those countries which have a higher per capita will be the best markets for Dirt Bikes product because the people who live in these countries will be able to buy dirt bikes. Dirt bikes should sale their products through authorized vendors. The actual dirt bike themselves can only be purchased at the vendor. This is done so there are not as many returns due to the customer not talking to a sales person, and not actually seeing the product and testing it out themselves. It will also cut down on shipping costs. But parts and Paraphernalia can be sold through the Internet as well as through vendors. There has been a great range of gross margin and net margins from 2009 to 2012. Starting in 2003, the Gross Margin was 33.2%...
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...Dirt Bikes USA is a small company headquartered in Carbondale Colorado that manufactures and sells its own brand of off-road motorcycles. It was founded in 1991 to product dirt bikes that could be customized for racing and off-road recreational riding using the best quality components and parts from all over the world. The company has continued to grow and now faces a new set of challenges and opportunities. You have been asked to serve as a consultant to apply your information systems knowledge to help Dirt Bikes solve some of the problems it is encountering. There is an assignment awaiting you in each chapter of the Laudon and Laudon Management Information Systems text. In order to complete the assignment, you should review the corresponding text chapter and any information provided by your instructor related to the topic you are investigating. You can complete each project individually or in teams, depending on your instructor’s requirements. To develop solutions, you may need to do Web research and to use spreadsheet, database, or Web browser software tools, and you will need to use a word processor to write up your findings. Many projects recommend you use electronic presentation software, if possible, to summarize your findings for management. Each assignment will list the software tools that you will need to use and the questions you will need to answer. In order to complete your assignments, you should familiarize yourself with Dirt Bikes. To learn more about the...
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...Management Information Systems MANAGING THE DIGITAL FIRM Kenneth C. Laudon New York University f Jane P. Laudon Azimuth Information Systems PEARSON feerttifie tall Pearson Education International Brief Contents Part One Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Part One Project Organizations, Management, and the Networked Enterprise 1 Information Systems in Global Business Today 2 Global E-Business: How Businesses Use Information Systems 38 Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy 80 Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems 124 Analyzing Business Processes for an Enterprise System 165 Part Two Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Part Two Project Information Technology Infrastructure 167 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies 168 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management 222 Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology 260 Securing Information Systems 312 Creating a New Internet Business 351 Part Three Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Part Three Project Key System Applications for the Digital Age 353 Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications 354 E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods 388 Managing Knowledge 428 Enhancing Decision Making 470 Designing an Enterprise Information Portal 508 Part Four Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Part Four Project Building and Managing Systems 509 Building Systems 510 Project Management:...
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...Dirt Bikes is a privately owned Off-Road vehicle/motorcycle manufacturing company. The company was founded in 1991 and is located in Colorado. They employ over 100 employees and create motorbikes with unique practices and designs. They have been growing and expanding the services that they offer as well as the products that they create. Their goals are to extend their market base and to continue to reach out globally as their customer satisfaction continues to hit the high notes. They use distributors to sell through to their customers scattered across the earth, their products are made with parts from different manufactures. Dirt Bikes’ has so far not used the full potential that information technology and information systems offers, if they updated their systems they would be allow to continue with both steady growth and consumer satisfaction....
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