...Cases are the next best thing to being there. They provide a unique view of the organization processes, problems, and opportunities. Case analysis permits the assumption of various roles on the part of a discussant. Thus, you can assume the role of a user or programmer in one instant, and then take on the job of chief executive officer in the next. There are instances where there does not seem to be enough data or information in a case to make a decision. A lack of information and uncertainty are the rule, rather than the exception, in organizational decision making. Make rational assumptions when faced with incomplete and conflicting data. The dialogue between class members serves as an important part of the learning process. Your task is to explore the various issues raised by the case and strategies for addressing them. There will be disagreements. Sometimes there will be large contingents who align against a minority. Such a situation should not be considered a personal attack, but rather a process of intellectual interchange. There is no right or wrong answer for a typical case. There are, however, good and bad case analyses. The way you marshall your arguments, the clarity of your presentation, and the depth of analysis are the key components of case presentations. Be sure to document assumptions made and discuss pitfalls associated with embarking upon a course of action you suggest. Obviously, the first step in the process of analyzing a case is...
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...‘Marketing Essentials’ module is a walk in the park. But be warned: this is not the case. As the first module usually studied when pursuing a Professional Certificate in Marketing, its three-hour exam demands preparation. The exam is broken into two parts. Part A requires candidates to answer 10 short questions, each carrying four marks. Part B includes three questions based on a case study, each carrying 20 marks. The following tips tell you how to successfully approach and complete all of them. Tip 1: Be concise. It is important to take note of the answer length you need to provide based on the marks awarded for it. In Part A, candidates are asked to provide short answers. In fact, try not to write more than five to six lines for a two-mark question. Addressing the requirements is all that is needed. Tip 2: Understand the questions. Part B requires a very different approach. They are designed to test your ability to apply theory to a given context. They always raise key points and students are required to identify these points to contextualise the answers. For example, a question could be as follows: “As a marketing manager of a newly formed manufacturing company in the fashion industry, you are required to recommend a suitable pricing strategy that will help the company to grow.” In this question, the key words are “newly formed”, “manufacturing company”, “fashion industry” and “grow”. Tip 3: Allocate your time. The exam being set for three hours (180 minutes), it implies...
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...Case study: Harvard Management Company (HBS 9-201-129) The primary scope of the present document is to provide a critical analysis of the most relevant issue related with the endowment fund of the HMC. First the advantages and disadvantages related to the optimal portfolio. The second part aimed at conducting an analysis on the method utilized by HMC in the process of determining the capital market assumption. Furthermore, it will discuss the Harvard’s decision to strongly emphasize in real returns. The focus point in the third part is to highlight the method of generation of an efficiency frontier and the advantage and drawbacks of the constraining portfolio weights. And finally, the most significant part we will discuss the beneficial and hammering consequences of considering TIPS as an additional asset class in Harvard’s policy portfolio. 1. the advantages and limitations of optimal portfolio allocations: Led primarily by the need to balance between the requirements posed by the nature of its sector, and its above the ground ambitions for success, Harvard Management Co. introduced the concept of the Optimal Portfolio Allocation as a primary method through which they approach the process of maximization of their risk/return utility function. One of the advantages of this process is the high extent to which this asset allocation alternative meets the nature and needs of this institution. Another essential advantage derives from the fact that through the systematic distribution...
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...Case #1 Harvard Management Company Section 1: In the description of your company (HMC) that was given to my team, the purposes of the Policy Portfolio within the company were to first, determine the long-run allocation of the endowment to different asset classes. The second purpose of the Policy Portfolio was to act like a benchmark for the corporation to evaluate the performance of the active investment strategies pursued by its managers. A significant fraction of the compensation received by HMC managers was based on performance. This second point is why many of the board members believe it to be wise for an independent report done on the situation. This report will give a non-biased analysis of your current situation which cannot be provided by anyone already working in HMC. Our goal is to eliminate any biases or leanings Mr. Meyer may have while determining the course of action for the portfolio. Section 2: Harvard would like to use funds from the endowment to distribute money to the schools within the university, while at the same time preserving the real value of the endowment and allowing for some real growth in the income distributions. Harvard is currently looking for a real return of 6% to 7% to ensure that distribution of 3% to 4% can be maintained. The university’s investment horizon is nearly limitless, assuming that Harvard will be continuing as a university. For an institution that will not end its endowment in the foreseeable future, inflation is always...
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...income instruments, Treasury securities, 国库证券 corporate bonds 企业债券. The course should also be beneficial to students that want to pass CFA exams. Teaching material: 1. Course note package and additional materials online; 2. Textbook: Frank J. Fabozzi, Bond Markets, Analysis and Strategies, (Hardcover: 792 pages, Publisher: Prentice Hall; 6th, 7th, or 8th editions) Available in Spartan Bookstore. 3. Cases (case pack is available for sale at $ 36.71 in Spartan Bookstore in the International Center. a. Tombstones (HBS 5-213-085) b. Arbitrage in the Government Bond Market? [HBS Case 9-293-093] c. The Harvard Management Co. and Inflation-Protected Bonds (HBS Case 201053). #Relation, correlation between d. Cougars (HBS Case 295006). #How banks are making there money, how many moneys they make, is a good deal or not a good deal #Corporate finance course, simple liner relation Instructional methods: The course will be in a traditional lecture format. Students will be evaluated by several assignments, five cases and final exam. The weights are as follows: participation 5%, assignment 15% , four cases 20% each. All assignments are due before the class starts. In case you miss the case/assignment without good reason (for example, certified by MD medical need), the exam weight will increase correspondingly. #no final Tentative office...
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...Finite Element (FE) methods in the time and frequency domain, and others. The paper briefly reviews the relative advantages and disadvantages of these simulation tools and contributes to the development of FD methods. One powerful tool – FE analysis − is applied to optimization of plasmon-enhanced AFM tips in apertureless near-field optical microscopy. Another tool is a new FD calculus of “Flexible Local Approximation MEthods” (FLAME). In this calculus, any desirable local approximations (e.g. scalar and vector spherical harmonics, Bessel functions, plane waves, etc.) are seamlessly incorporated into FD schemes. The notorious ‘staircase’ effect for slanted and curved boundaries on a Cartesian grid is in many cases eliminated – not because the boundary is approximated geometrically on a fine grid but because the solution is approximated algebraically by suitable basis functions. Illustrative examples include problems with plasmon nanoparticles and a photonic crystal with a waveguide bend; FLAME achieves orders of magnitude higher accuracy than the standard FD methods, and even than FEM. Keywords: wave propagation, computational methods, flexible approximation, photonic crystals, plasmon particles, apertureless near-field microscopy, AFM tips, field enhancement, optimization....
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...Policy Analysis III- Compare and Contrast Paper Brandy Alston University of Phoenix Criminal Justice Management Theory and Practice CJA/464 Professor Leroy Hendrix October 10, 2013 Policy Analysis III- Compare and Contrast Paper The reason for policy analysis reflects around the assessment of policies from the government by critiquing the failures and successes. The United States implement several policies to deal with criminal activity and social issues, for instance The United States Human Trafficking Policy, this policy is not a successful one but this policy is steadily improving with sustainable reform. The criminal justice system practice the model of Packard’s Due Process, established with the promise form the United States Constitution for individuals civil liberties and rights. This paper will evaluate the issues that courts and law enforcement deals with while working and implementing prior polices. United States Human Trafficking Policy Human trafficking is a tough crime to identify, because of the existence and the transnational nature of an increasingly sophisticated arrangement in assisting organize crime. Trafficking in person is most productive agency in international crimes. According to the United States Justice Department (2001), International Labor Organization predicts that 17,500 individuals are trafficked annually in the United States. The United States had numerous legal advantages to stop human trafficking, mainly using...
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...Typical business-case topics include: •Executive Summary •Business Opportunity •Alternatives •Benefits •Costs •Financial Analysis •Assumptions •Constraints •Market Analysis •Organizational Considerations •Sensitivity Analysis •Project Description •Implementation Plan •Recommendations The executive summary highlights the key points in the business case. These include important benefits and the return on investment. The business opportunity describes the motivation for the project that the business case will propose. The business opportunity includes a definition, a statement of scope, and a discussion of objectives that the project will help the organization achieve. A business case analyzes the alternatives to a proposed project. For example, an online learning business case might compare the benefits and costs of classroom learning. All business cases involve at least two alternatives: doing or not doing a project. Benefits and costs are discussed in the next tip. Financial analysis compares benefits to costs (tip 2) and analyzes the value of a project as an investment (tip 3). The analysis may include a cash flow statement, return on investment, net present value, internal rate of return, and payback period. Assumptions are events that a business case assumes will happen. For example, a business case might assume approval from a regulatory agency. Critical assumptions must occur for a project to succeed. Constraints are schedule...
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...Crack Propagation Analysis Miguel Patr´ ıcio Robert M.M. Mattheij 1 Contents 1 Introduction 2 Elastic Fracture 2.1 Governing equations . . . . . . 2.2 Modes of fracture . . . . . . . . 2.3 Concepts of fracture mechanics 2.4 A static problem . . . . . . . . 2.5 Fracture criteria . . . . . . . . 3 Simulation of crack growth 1 3 3 4 6 8 11 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Some extensions 17 4.1 Dynamic fracture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 4.2 Energy approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 1 Introduction Engineering structures are designed to withstand the loads they are expected to be subject to while in service. Large stress concentrations are avoided, and a reasonable margin of security is taken to ensure that values close to the maximum admissible stress are never attained. However, material imperfections which arise at the time of production or usage of the material are unavoidable, and hence must be taken into account. Indeed even microscopic flaws may cause structures which are assumed to be safe to fail, as they grow over time. In the past, when a component of some structure exhibited a crack, it was either repaired or simply retired from service. Such precautions are nowadays in many cases deemed unnecessary, not possible...
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...TIP TOP MARKETS CASE Moldoveanu Florentina Tip Top Markets is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the Southeastern United States. Every Tuesday for nine weeks, Tip Top Markets diligently recorded all of the complaints or comments sent in by customers. There were a total of 184 complaints received during the past 9 Tuesdays. As you can see into the chart below, the number of complaints received every Tuesday are moving horizontally with no indication of either going up or down in the coming Tuesdays. They just fluctuate about the average which is 20. The same level of complaints will continue in the future until more focused and effective strategies are implemented. [pic] I split all the complaints – 184, in 12 categories: ✓ Out-of-stock - 61 ✓ Overcharged - 18 ✓ Poor store maintenance – 16 ✓ Long check-out waiting time – 14 ✓ Defective products – 12 ✓ Uncomfortable store temperature – 10 ✓ Meat not fresh – 9 ✓ Wrong price/under charge – 8 ✓ Could not find items – 8 ✓ Employees not courteous/helpful – 6 ✓ Fish not fresh – 5 ✓ Others – 17 The category Out Of Stock has the most number of complaints - 61 and the category Fish Not Fresh has the least number of complaints - 5. The category Others includes all other complaints that minor complaints like: ATM ate card, lost wallet, dislike store decoration, etc. The problems that I found in this case are the following: ...
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...THE PORTMAN HOTEL COMPANY CASE Section 1: Statement of the problem facing the manager The major problem faced by the vice president and managing director , Patrick Mene was to bail out the company from current state of employee dissatisfaction through strategic human resource management to provide best customer service and increase the profits for the company . Analyzing the situation using SWOT and PESTC analysis, we arrive at certain factors that could explain the current situation in the company. SWOT: Strengths: * Key business strategy of providing the unparalleled personal service to each guest. * Each of the employees was considered as an asset and elaborate employee rights were listed in contracts with them. * The philosophy of the hotel emphasized on high quality but cost effective service. * Hotel recruited very selectively and demanded long term commitment from the employees. * Recruitment was done on certain life themes like assertiveness, positivity, responsibility, pride and gestalt. * Concept of “no rules” for the guests. * Except for the 9 engineers, none of the rest of the employees had joined any of the union. Weakness: * The very philosophy of the hotel to cut down on the middle management and put more employees at the guest front proved to be flawed as there was acute paucity of proper supervision for the lower level employees. * Due to random allocation of the employees at various jobs led to utter chaos while...
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...International Business In Assignment 1, you are required to do a case analysis of Sharp Corporation, a Japanese company. If you haven’t already done so, review the Assignment Tips and Requirements and the Note on Case Analysis (links are on the instructions page for this assignment). The objective of the case study for Assignment 1 is to expose students to globalization and its impact on operational decisions of companies. Faced with major losses, Sharp Corporation is forced to question its long-standing operating model and to develop a new approach that is more suitable to the environment it now competed in. Completing this assignment will enable you to see how the key concepts presented in Lessons 1 through 3—globalization, culture, and political and economic risk—are interconnected. You will be able to evaluate interrelationships among issues related to (i) the role of globalization in investment decisions and company operations; (ii) the role of economic environment in creating global companies; (iii) the importance of property rights in international business; and (iv) the role of national culture in company operations. The Case To read the case, click the link below (will open in new window). Sharp Corporation: Beyond Japan One-time permission to reproduce granted by Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation on Oct. 13, 2011. This permission will expire six months from Jan. 1, 2012. Case Analysis Questions The following questions are just a starting point that...
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...Howard, Inc. Consulting has been hired to evaluate managerial issues that occur at ABC, Inc. This analysis is an attempt to identify and recommend ways to improve the hiring process of ABC, Inc. A number of problems were made during the recent hiring process. From the information obtained, we believed that a lack of time management and planning skills on behalf of ABC, Inc. newly hired campus recruiter, resulted in failure to accomplish all the necessary tasks to hold orientation at a specified time. Howard Inc. Consulting suggests that in efforts of reducing or eradicating the problems presented in this case, ABC should provide a detailed outline of the hiring process and each component. Background Carl Robins, a new campus recruiter with only six months on the job successfully recruited 15 new trainees in early April. He scheduled his first new hire orientation to take place in June with expectations of having the employees working by July. After being contacted by Monica Carrolls, the Operations Supervisor, on May 15 to address issues regarding the orientation such as drug screening, schedule, manuals, physicals and such, Carl Robins provided assurance that everything will be in place. After assuring that everything would be taken care of, Carl procrastinated until the day after Memorial Day to finalize things for the orientation. With only approximately two weeks left until orientation, Carl discovered that essential aspects of the hiring process had not been...
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...Television News Program Analysis Assignment Darris Simmons Com/310 Dina Ginsberg 10/13/2011 Television News Program Analysis The story I chose to cover is on former hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam, a 54 year old founder of Galleon Group. He was convicted in May on conspiracy and fraud for persuading a crew of corporate insiders to provide him with illegal tips on technology stocks. These tips earned him between $70- $75 million in profits for his. These stock tips include tech companies such as Sun Microsystems, IBM and Advanced Micro Devices. The coverage by each news source was pretty parallel except a few deviations from the main point of the story. Some similarities of the casts were, the number of people charged in the case, they also focused on the health of Rajaratnam. They drove in the fact that his health was deteriorating and that could be why his sentence was only 11 years versus the I saw the story as subjective because they focused mainly on facts other than the views express years the US government sought out for in the beginning of the trial in May. The focus on that could persuay the feelings of the viewer because the media knows viewers are sensitive to things such as health. Although they brought health to the table they immediately did a 180 degree turn and showed this quote, "His crimes and the scope of his crimes reflect a virus in our business culture that needs to be eradicated," by judge Holwell. They used this quote in two of the three news...
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...ABE Level 5 Diploma Unit Title: The Business Environment Learning Outcome: 1. Understand the significance of the environment on business activity. Please note that the content of this Lecture Guide is listed in its recommended teaching order, rather than in numerical order. Indicative Content: 1.1.1 Explain the business organisation as a transformation process: • Business organisations undergo a transformation process from inputs into outputs, using physical inputs plus finance and skills to produce both goods and services. • Use examples from both manufacturing and service sector organisations to illustrate the process. 1.1.2 Describe the different ways in which a business may structure its activities: • Organisational structures can be based on the functions of the organisation, its product ranges, or geographical regions. Alternatively some less hierarchical organisations may use a matrix structure, especially if the firm is project based. 1.2.1 Discuss the complexity, volatility and uniqueness of an organisation's environment: • The organisation in its environment has to face a wide range of internal and external influences which affect business activity. • The immediate or operational environment interacts with suppliers, competitors, the labour market and financial institutions. • The general or contextual environment consists of economic, political, legal, and social factors. Each functional area of the organisation may be affected. • Whilst organisations have some...
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