...Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: LESTER ELECTRONICS Problem Solution: Lester Electronics University of Phoenix Problem Solution: Lester Electronics Lester Electronics is at a turning point in the business world. Bernard Lester has found that they cannot continue to manage the business as has previously been done in the past. The changes in the industry and the possible loss of their largest vendor, Shang-wa, are two of the main challenges facing Lester. One is growth, which represents an essential component of a successful, long-term business strategy. Various internal growth strategies exist; add new and improved products to the portfolio, target new markets, move into additional geographic areas, increase the number of stores. Second being, the number of external growth strategies can also be considered. The main ones is a merger or acquisition. This strategy should be employed when it would be more profitable and efficient for a company to obtain desired characteristics. John Lin, founder and CEO of Shang-wa, is looking to spend less time with his business and more time with his family. John Lin has informally suggested to Bernard that they become partners that would enable both companies to meet the growing demands for their products. Shang-Wa finds that they are on the verge of being taken over, this not what John wants for his company. Transnational Electronics Corporation is making a run to takeover John Lin’s company. John Lin is feeling pressured to sell...
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...MBA 540 EXAM Due: Monday, April 6, at 10:00 p.m. The following exam is composed of fourteen short answer/essay questions worth 1-2 points each. Be sure to address ALL parts of each question. You may use your textbook, notebook, PowerPoint slides in Sakai, and classroom notes, but may NOT work with anyone else to complete this exam. You are not required to cite your sources. Submit your completed exam to Sakai by 10:00 p.m. on Monday, April 6. Two points will be deducted for each day that the exam is late. Points 1. Describe how Lumos Labs uses mass customization and CRM (customer relationship management) to enhance its marketing efforts? Include a definition of each term. 1.5 Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term used to define software programed with a database that works as an integrated management system focused on customers. It includes several process and tasks...
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...MBA 540 Final Exam 1. (10 pts.) Discuss how organizational architecture and corporate culture are related. Use an example of a real-life firm and discuss how its corporate culture blends with its organizational architecture. Organizational architecture and corporate culture should be intertwined within any successful company or organization. In the text, Brickley (2009), refers to organizational architecture as being three legs of a company: assignments of decision rights, 2) methods of rewarding individuals, and 3) the structure of systems to evaluate the performance of both individuals and business units. Organizational architecture is the framework of company departments such as managerial chain of command, the duty description and responsibility of each position. Corporate culture includes the ways work and authority are organized, the way people are rewarded and controlled for their work, as well as taboos, customers, heroes, slogans, and social rituals. The three elements of architecture help form the existence of how a culture is developed. A prime example is Merrill Lynch. Merrill is a well know investment company that manages the portfolio of investors. It suggested to its client to buy Info Space though, internally, analyst knew the stock had tanked in price. They were never upfront about selling the stock. Their ethical violations caused shockwaves in the investment community forcing other to ensure measures were in place to prevent a disaster. Merrill Lynch had...
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...ANALYZING MANAGERIAL DECISIONS: iTunes Music Pricing MBA 540 LaTroy Middlebrook May 22, 2016 Dr. M. Pate 1) Apple’s ingenious policy strategy in variable pricing permits Apple to increase iTunes sales profits by appraising highly regarded artists’ or songs at an elevated amount, than underappreciated artist or songs with fewer fans. For example, 2016 Grammy winner for Album of the Year, Taylor Swift, ‘1989’ sells for $7.99 and features 13 songs on iTunes. However, say that iTunes increases the price of the album to $8.99 and distributes sales of over 1000 copies. $7.99 x 1000 = $7,990 or $8.99 x 1000 =$8,990. iTunes can raise sales prices by $1.00 for every album sold over 1000 copies based on the admiration fans have placed on ‘1989’. Consequently, the price of the album will surge due to popularity, radio airplay, and iTunes sales profits will decrease on the most favored songs on the album. Despite the influx of popularity for the album, what variable pricing sales does is create substantiated revenue by generating copies of the less popular songs on the album by selling them as singles. Not to mention, Taylor Swift is a world renowned artist. Her music resonates with the old, young, and the middle-aged listener. The producers of the‘1989’ album took into account what was missing on her fifth album, ‘Red’. While the album did well in the market, it was overshadowed by other media outlets looking to profit from the internet’s popular downloading and iPhone’s contract with...
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...Papa John’s Pizza Kerry Hall Saint Leo University Papa John’s Pizza The company and place of work are Papa John’s Pizza. The level of position is that of a delivery driver. The company uses the matrix structure in its upper rank of management and the functional structure in the lower ranks of management within the outlets. The delivery driver position lies in the ranks of the functional structure. Each portion of the organization finds grouping into the purpose for which it serves. For instance, the chefs who prepare food fall under the creative department. The accountants keep track of the transactions regarding the money coming into the organization and fall under the accounting department. In the case of the delivery driver, he falls under the sales and marketing department since he is the one who gets into contact with the customers while making the deliveries. The manager is in charge of all the activities in and the daily running of business. Since the business operated is a small one, the functional structure is effective in addressing the needs of the business. It is reliant on the expertise of the employees in each of the areas of subdivision including the delivery driver. CEO One of the major agency problems affecting the firm is the conflict of interest present between the management and the shareholders of the pizza-based business. With harder economic times for businesses, shareholders have been strict to prevent the management from increasing the...
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...I currently work for an organization that is facing an issue of delegating responsibilities to employees and rewarding employees for the heightened responsibilities they are given. This issue causes confusion as far as job responsibilities, weakens the chain of command, lessens the effectiveness of checks and balances, and makes it difficult to execute tasks. This issue is preventable, and when solved would help the organization to run smoother. Company description I work for a small rural health clinic in North East Florida. We are constantly looking for ways to branch out to reach underserved populations. Since it’s founding my organization has grown to include locations in the four surrounding counties. We operate nine full time primary care centers, two full time dental centers, and seven full time pharmacies. We are a major employer in the area and employ an estimated 200 employees. Our mission is to “To provide accessible, affordable, high-quality care to the communities we serve”, and our vision is to “To improve health outcomes in the communities we serve through the formation of partnerships and the provision of high-quality preventive services and chronic disease management.” We are governed by a 13-member Board of Governors that meets each month. They are tasked with defining and preserving the mission of the organization. Operating under a decentralized organizational architecture our CEO makes most of the organizations final major decisions, but decentralizes...
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...Analyzing Managerial Decisions: United Airlines United Airlines (UA) offers a service to consumer by transporting them by air from one location to another. This service comes with a fee in the form of a ticket purchased at a specific price. UA must sell enough tickets to cover its operating cost which include items like fuel, ticket agents, website cost, airport fees, baggage handlers and so on. Anything over the operating cost would be considered a profit. The overall goal for operating UA is to maximize its profits. The Wall Street Journal reported that one specific route, Washington DC to San Francisco, for UA was operating at a loss for the company (Brickley, 2015). The managers at UA are faced with a decision to either cut the route or maintain the route. UA is one of ten major airlines operating in the United States. They currently operate 231 domestic and 143 international routes (Destinations). In 2015 they generated revenue of $37,864 million and had operating cost of $31,697 million, down 3% and 11% from the year prior. At the same time UA was able to increase their profits by 118% to $5,167 million (News, 2016). As of Feb 2016, UA currently holds 14.6% of the US market for flights (RITA, 2016). Overall, UA had a very healthy year, profits were up and operating cost were down resulting in a substantial profit. Breaking down the route from Washington DC to San Francisco. It represents .06% of UA’s market share. According to a search on Google flights...
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...Leaving New York for the Farmlands Scott Albert MBA-540-MBOL7 03/29/2015 To Farm or not to Farm There is a major difference from being an investment banker to running a farm. The colleagues are giving some good advise in that it may be a great business opportunity, but they are assuming that the price of farmland is going to increase drastically due to the demand of corn to fuel plants expected to soar. There are a couple of factors though that the colleagues are not taking into consideration Competition and Alternatives Even if entry is limited, firms within an industry are not immune to outside competition (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman, 2009, p. 255). The advise given by the colleagues is sound, but without a true understanding of the how running a farm works, investing right into farmland may not be wise. There are going to be many competitors out there, and the goal of living in a peaceful environment may not be attainable. What also must be taken into consideration is that corn-based ethanol is not the only alternative to gasoline. There are in fact several alternatives including biodiesel, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, and electricity (fueleconomy.gov, 2015). What if the government decides to back one of the other alternatives instead? What if it is discovered that another alternative is out there that hasn’t even been considered yet? There are a lot of questions that need to be taken into consideration before just jumping into purchasing the land. Additional...
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...Question 1. (a) R²= 4.33% of the variation in the dependent variable RET is explained by the variation of the independent variables: GRI, SAT, TEN, Age, and MBA. We cannot assume from the low R squared that the model is useless because there might be one or more independent variables that are not significant to the dependent variable. Also, we cannot question the fact that the OLS are not accurate just by looking at the low R squared. In the opposite, adding new independent variables do increase the R squared even if they are not directly linked to the dependent variable, but do not make the regression useful. Besides, by using Excel, we can find out whether the model fits well data or not by referring to the F significance. We have HO: the model does not fit well the data and H1: the model does fit well the data. F significance is equal to 0.00024452 which is less than α. We then reject HO and conclude that the model fits well the data and is not useless. Question 1. (b) Let us suppose that we have sales as dependent variable. We want to regress sales against the following independent variables: price, gender, ads, population, inflation, service, GDP, location, types of products, preferences, season, awareness, suppliers, demanders, number of smokers, height, and weight. As long as we increase the number of the independent variables, the R² increases even though some independent variables are not significant to the dependent variable. Using the F-test that measures...
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...present value of a preferred stock is: PVstock = 750.04 = $1.875 6. Table: Q | B(Q) | C(Q) | N(Q) | MB(Q) | MC(Q) | MNB(Q) | 100 | 1200 | 950 | 250 | 210 | 40 | 170 | 101 | 1400 | 1000 | 400 | 200 | 50 | 150 | 102 | 1590 | 1060 | 530 | 190 | 60 | 130 | 103 | 1770 | 1130 | 640 | 180 | 70 | 110 | 104 | 1940 | 1210 | 730 | 170 | 80 | 90 | 105 | 2100 | 1300 | 800 | 160 | 90 | 70 | 106 | 2250 | 1400 | 850 | 150 | 100 | 50 | 107 | 2390 | 1510 | 880 | 140 | 110 | 30 | 108 | 2520 | 1630 | 890 | 130 | 120 | 10 | 109 | 2640 | 1760 | 880 | 120 | 130 | -10 | 110 | 2750 | 1900 | 850 | 110 | 140 | -30 | A. Net benefits are maximized at Q = 108 B. MC is slightly less than MB 7. A. Net present value of attending MBA is equal to the present value...
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...Bagby Copy Company MBA 540 January 12, 2015 Bagby Copy Company 1. What are the trade-offs that Bagby faces in choosing between specialized and broad task assignment? When choosing between specialized and broad task assignment, Bagby is faced with deciding the costs and benefits of each alternative. Specialized tasks means that employees are assigned a narrow set of tasks and will specialize in one function. Whereas, broad task enables employees to be have multiple tasks and assigned to various duties (Brickley, Smith, & Zimmerman, 2009). Therefore, the company is faced with a decision of determining which is more important. If Bagby decides specialized task assignment is a better option, the company will decrease cross-training expenses because employees would be specialized in his or her area. However, Bagby would have additional expenses associated with hiring additional employees to specialize in other functions. On the contrary, if Bagby chooses broad task assignments, the company would save on the costs associated with hiring additional employees because employees would be cross trained which enables them to perform multiple tasks. However, Bagby must keep in mind that the cost associated with cross-training employees. 2. What are the trade-offs between these two method of grouping wire harness makers into subgroups? The trade-offs between the two methods of grouping is an important choice that the company must make. Bagby has to decide...
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...Student Name: Matthew Corrado Course Name: MBA 540 Managerial Economics/ Sch.: Saint Leo University Assignment: Chapter 3 Case Assignment/ Faculty: Dr. James Ibe ------------------------------------------------- Date: 3/13/2016 Chapter 3 Case Assignment 1. What differences exist within the firm that make the link between decentralization and efficiency less clear? Decentralization is the cycle of dispersing or reconfiguring powers, functions people or things away from a central location or authority. While centralization, especially in the governmental landscape, is widely practiced and then studied, there is no similar understanding or definition of decentralization. The meaning of decentralization may vary in part because of the different ways it is put into action. There are several different types of concepts of decentralization have been applied to science and also to group dynamics in private organizations and businesses, political science, public administration and allowed along with technology and economics. Efficiency on the other had is an accomplishment of or will or God given talent to accomplish a job with a minimum effort and also of your time. Hayek is suggesting that markets are far better than you going out and central planning something (Brickley, 2015).I mean when you really look into it firms don’t have to exist Market transactions can easily carry out all exchange and production. You could always just build a computer yourself and...
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...Case Study Chapter 3, Page 92 MBA-540 Shaneisha Epps “A privatized firm is a privately held company that doesn’t offer shares or stock to the general public.” In Russia, the government decided to become involved and transform a private market into a more public oriented domain, thereby creating deprivatization. The implementation of deprivatization will probably cause the managers of privatized firms a bit reluctance when considering investments. They may assume that the profit may go elsewhere. Depriviatization is the act of transferring ownership from the private sector to the public sector. “Among some disillusioned voters, it's a popular notion. But if implemented broadly, it could kill investment and damage Russian and foreign companies alike.” (Bloomberg.com) More often than not, managers of privatized firms have very varying incentives and strategies than a deprivatized firm. Because of this and the absence of certain incentives, managers will probably be less motivated to associate themselves with these deprivatized firms and their activities. Looking at the number of privatized firms in the 90’s, one can only conclude that foreign investors had a preference for privatized firms. With deprivatization increasing, the ability to maximize on foreign profits will be limited. “Understandably, foreign investors are worried. Even with reform-minded governments in power, they have suffered under Russia's arbitrary and corrupt legal system.” (Bloomberg.com)...
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...Case Study: Chapter 8 Aaron Lambert Saint Leo MBA 540 Managerial Economics Analyzing Managerial Decisions: Leaving New York for the Farmlands of Illinois While the co-workers may be rightly supportive of the individual’s aspirations, they are likely not qualified to advise him on this matter. The individual claims to have $800,000.00 saved from bonuses at his current place of employment. Based on that information alone, it appears that he is considering walking away from what seems like a fairly secure and profitable situation at his current job and committing to a new and less certain endeavor. With reports implying that demand for corn will soar the farming proposition may seem like a good idea; however, our potential farmer needs to consider other factors. The costs associated with acquiring the land are known and estimated to be $800,000.00, but there are other costs involved that are considerable and quite fixed. He will need to purchase farming equipment and machinery, which will require much more cash upfront in addition to the land. These fixed costs definitely need to be factored into the decision but are omitted in the text. If he has a lot more of that bonus money remaining, he could purchase the machinery outright. If paying cash is not possible he will need to take up a loan, lease, or rent; either option resulting in additional expenses incurred each period. Based on an article published by the University of Illinois in 2014, corn farmers in Illinois...
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...Analyzing Managerial Decisions: Interwest Healthcare Corp. Patrick Britz Managerial Economics, MBA 540 Dr. James Larriviere March 10, 2013 Q1. What are the potential sources of the problem? R1. The main potential source of the problem appears to be a lack of communication of the expectations from upper management to the hospital administrators who enter data into to the management information system (MIS). Per Brickley, Smith and Zimmerman, it is critical for managers to understand what motivates individuals. Without providing the staff with clear expectations, it is impossible for the managers to understand how to motivate them to accomplish the objectives. Another problem seems to be that upper management and the administrators have different views of the importance of correct data entry into the MIS. Upper management sees it as providing misleading information to the federal government, which could lead to a loss of grant aid, while the administrators feel that taking the time to ensure accurate data entry into the MIS takes away from the services they provide to patients. Q2. What information would you want to analyze? R2. The first area that should be analyzed is the MIS itself and whether it is too cumbersome or confusing for the administrators to input data accurately. Assuming the MIS is performing as expected, the various models of behavior (e.g. happy-is-productive, good- citizen) should be analyzed to determine the best way to motivate the...
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