ECO561 Week 4 Inflation and Analyses of Monetary Policies ....2019

Purpose of Assignment 

This assignment will introduce students to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data and provide students with the skills to calculate inflation and interpret the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Note: The BLS is the primary source of information on inflation, but their data is re-posted in other sources, such as the St. Louis Federal Reserve FRED site, among others. 

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Tutorial help on Excel^® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft^® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products. 

Use an internet search or the University Library to locate information on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Internet sites you might find useful include the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Federal Reserve of St. Louis FRED web site although you are allowed to use other sources. 

Develop a minimum 700-word analysis of inflation by including the following:

• Choose a product or service you currently consume/use, such as apparel or educational services, that is included in the CPI's "market basket."  Find the annual CPI index numbers for your chosen good or service for the years 1995, 2005, 2010, and 2015.  Enter those index numbers in an Excel^® file and calculate the percent change (inflation rates) in those index numbers from 1995 to 2005, from 1995 to 2010, and from 1995 to 2015.   
• Analyze the trends in overall inflation over the last five years and whether your income has kept pace with inflation.  How has inflation over the last five years affected you and/or your family?
• Discuss how a business manager, such as a human resources manager, might use CPI statistics. 

Cite a minimum of three scholarly, peer-reviewed references.

 

ECO561 Week 3 Research Analysis for Business....2019

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is the creation of a research analysis. Every day, consumers make millions of decisions that impact the marketplace and influence firms' decisions. Firms use economic concepts, models, and other "tools" of economics to help determine pricing, output, and profit maximization. As an MBA student of economics, you can apply the "tools" of economics to microeconomic and macroeconomic data to create recommendations for how firms can maximize revenue, profit and market share.

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Tutorial help on Excel^® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft^® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products. 

Scenario: Imagine you are a business consultant to a firm of your choice. You have been asked to analyze, advise, and create recommendations on how the firm can ensure its future success in its current market. 

Work with your instructor to choose a firm that matches the following criteria: a publicly-traded company operating in the U.S. market. Note: A publicly-traded company is a private-sector firm owned by its shareholders/stock holders. 

Prepare a minimum 1,050-word analysis of economic data and business data to explain how the core economic principles impact the sustainability of the firm and what actions the firm can take to ensure success. 

Address the following:

• Identify the market structure your chosen firm operates in, analyze your chosen firm's current market share, and identify the firm's local/global competitors. Analyze the barriers to entry in this market to illustrate the potential for new competition and its impact on your firm's future in the market. Hints: Be sure you review the barriers to entry discussed in the course text.  You might consider presenting the data graphically.
• Identify and explain trends in current macroeconomic indicators for last three years including:
• Current stage of the business cycle.
• Real gross domestic product (GDP).
• Inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI).
• Unemployment rate.
• Federal funds rate.
• Current rate for borrowing funds such as the so-called "prime rate."  Note: A requirement of the Week 1 Influence of Economics on Household Decision Making report was to gather data on the CPI, GDP, and interest rates, so you should consider reviewing the feedback you received on the Week 1 report.
• Evaluate trends in demand over last three years and explain their impact on the industry and the firm. Include quarterly (last two quarters) and annual sales (last three years) figures for the product your firm sells. Create business strategies by analyzing information and data related to the demand for and supply of your firm's product(s) to support your recommendation for the firm's actions. Remember to include a graphical representation of the data and information used in your analysis.
• Examine available, current data and information, such as pricing and the availability of substitutes, and explain how you could determine the price elasticity of demand for your firm's product. Assess how the price elasticity of demand impacts the firm's pricing decisions and revenue growth.
• Apply the concepts of variable and fixed costs to your firm for informing its output decisions. For instance, analyze how different kinds of costs (labor, research and development, raw materials) affect the firm's level of output.
• Based on the data gathered and analysis performed for this report write a conclusion in which you:
• Create business strategies, including price and non-price strategies, based on your market structure to ensure the market share and potential market expansions and explore global opportunities for your business in a dynamic business environment and provide recommendations.
• Develop a recommendation for how the firm can manage its future production by synthesizing the macroeconomic and microeconomic data presented.
• Propose how the firm's position within the market and among its competitors will allow it to take your recommended action.
• Recommend strategies for the firm to sustain its success going forward by evaluating the findings from demand trends, price elasticity, current stage of the business cycle, and government policies. 

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed references and a minimum of two government economic data sources/references.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ECO561 Week 1 Influence of Economics on Household Decision Making....2019

Purpose of Assignment 

To locate, retrieve, and evaluate the effects of macroeconomic indicators on your own decision making. 

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Tutorial help on Excel^® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft^® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products. 

Scenario: Consider your last big purchase such as a car, appliances, home repairs, home purchase, computer equipment, college tuition, or another "big-ticket" item, which are often purchased using loans/financing (by borrowing money). Also consider your decision-making process that led you to choose a particular make, model, or brand of the product (or service) you purchased and whether it was the right time to make the purchase given economic conditions at the time of your purchase. While analyzing your decision, keep in mind everything from interest rates to the prices of complementary and substitute goods are driven by human economic behavior. 

Develop a minimum 1,050-word analysis of your decision-making process in which you include the following:

• Retrieve statistics on Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and on Real Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) by year for the last ten years. You can retrieve those statistics from internet sources including, but not limited to, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis's FRED web site, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) web site, or another credible source of your choice. Post these statistics in a single worksheet of an Excel^® workbook and submit your Excel^® file with your report. In your report, discuss the latest 10-year trends in both GDP and PCE. Also discuss how the trends in GDP compare with trends in PCE. You are encouraged to include graphs of these statistics in your report; you could create the graphs in Excel^® and copy them into your report.
• Retrieve statistics on the Effective Federal Funds Rate and on the Consumer Price Index: All Items Less Food and Energy by year for the last 30 years. You can retrieve those statistics from internet sources including, but not limited to, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis's FRED web site, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) web site, or other credible sources of your choice. Post these statistics in a single worksheet of an Excel^® workbook and submit your Excel^® file with your report. In your report, discuss how the trends in the Effective Federal Funds Rate compare with trends in inflation. If you took out a loan to pay for your "big-ticket" purchase, what was the interest rate on your loan? Were interest rates rising or falling at that time?  Were interest rates relatively high or low at that time? You are also encouraged to include graphs of these statistics in your report.
• Discuss the influence of any Federal government or state government programs, such as tax credits or tax deductions for energy-saving/efficiency purchases, on your decision to make your last big purchase; or if government incentives did not factor into your decision, explain why not.
• Develop conclusions about the economy's influence on personal and business decision-making relative to purchases of big-ticket items, investments, or other major purchases. 

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources. Note: The Federal Reserve of St. Louis, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be cited to fulfill this requirement.

MGT599 CASE 4 Coca-Cola

Module 4 - Case

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AND STRATEGIC CONTROLS

Assignment Overview

This final case involves an analysis of strategy implementation at the Coca-Cola Company. You will use the resources you identified in the SLP to gather information about the company and relate that information to your work in the previous four cases.

Required Reading

Refer to the required and optional readings related to strategic implementation and strategic controls, the themes for this module.

Case Assignment

In Module 4, we will conclude the case study process by researching the Coca-Cola Company's strategic controls and their fit with the company's chosen strategy.

Keys to the Assignment

·        Step One: Review your Case papers from Modules 1-3 so that you are familiar with the mission, vision, SWOT, strategy, and strategic choices you have identified over the course of the class.

·        Step Two: Research the structure, systems, people, and culture at the Coca-Cola Company. You will not be able to get answers to every single question, but you will need to answer at least one or two for each component.

·        Step Three: Describe the Coca-Cola Company's organizational design, key strategic control systems (e.g., budgeting and variance analysis systems), primary human resources concerns, and cultural factors, and the effect that these have had on the implementation of the Coca-Cola Company'sstrategy.

·        Step Four: In a 6 to 8 page paper, critically evaluate the fit—or the lack of fit—between the company's mission, strategy, and organizational components crucial to implementation. Do these components complement the strategy? Why or why not?

·        Step Five: Choose three (3) of the thirteen ethical "prescriptions" included in the following article: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/strategic-plan.html.  Next, discuss the extent which the company's sense of business ethics has been embedded within its strategic management process, as evidenced by your chosen three indicators. 

·        Step Six: What changes would you—as the CEO—make to better assure the success of the company's strategy? This is the most important section of the Module 4 Case.

·        Step Seven: Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as the Coca-Cola Company's consultant. This is a professional document. Follow the format below:

o   Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary, check this website: http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/summary.html

o   Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.

o   Main Body: The "meat" of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.

o   Conclusion: Summarize your paper in the light of your thesis statement.

 

MGT 599 SLP 4

Module 4 - SLP

Strategy Implementation and Strategic Controls

Simulation

In Module 4, you will continue with the CVP analysis you completed in the Module 3 SLP.

Scenario Continuation:

It is still January 2, 2012. You have just completed your revised SLP3 strategy using CVP analysis, and you are eager to implement your decisions for 2012 through 2014.

Using the CVP analysis from SLP3, run the simulation for a final time. Again, be sure to take notes about your analysis and the document the reasoning behind your decisions.

Finalize your report showing the strategy you have used.

Assignment Overview

Using the strategy that you developed in SLP3, run the simulation. Document your results as you did previously. Review and analyze these results, and develop a final strategy.

Please turn in a 6- to 8-page paper, not including cover and reference pages.

Keys to the Assignment

The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered and taken into account in preparing your paper include:

• The revised strategy consists of the Prices, R&D Allocation %, and any product discontinuations for the X5, X6, and X7 tablets for each of the four years: 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
• You must present a rational justification for this strategy. In other words, you must provide support for your proposed strategy using financial analysis and relevant theories.
• Use the CVP Calculator and review the PowerPoint that explains CVP and provides some examples.
• You will need to crunch some numbers (CVP Analysis) to help you determine your prices and R&D allocations.
• Make sure your proposed changes in strategy are firmly based in this analysis of financial and market data and sound business principles. Your goal is to practice using CVP and get better at it.
• Present your analysis professionally, making strategic use of tables, charts, and graphs.

 

MBA Semester 3 Exam_Part II_Ver 1

Expansion Plans for Scooter Land

Scooter Land had been headquartered and doing business solely in the United States for five years.  They had an excellent reputation for a quality product and demand was at an all-time high. The CEO of the company decided to explore the possibility of expanding into two or three foreign countries. Each foreign facility would include operations, distribution, and sales of the scooters.

 

The CEO assigned John, the Director of Operations, to be in charge of performing the preliminary work in making the decisions regarding the expansion into other countries. John started by visiting Central America and Africa because of the reported low cost of doing business in these areas. After his visits, however, John rejected these countries because of the dangerous business climates and insufficient disposable income in their marketplaces.

 

John also performed a detailed analysis of 75 additional countries, hiring an expensive consultant to assist him with the analysis of the extensive amount of information obtained. By the time that John and the consultant finished their analysis, six months had passed and they had spent more than $100,000.

 

Before completely giving up on the project, the CEO asks you to provide input to John. He feels that the project can be saved if John heads in the right direction. He asks you to first describe five (5) external sources of information that John should have used to collect country information for analysis purposes.  Because you oversee operations, he also asks you to identify and discuss three (3) control instruments that the business might use to govern the international operations.  This is critical to know if the company moves forward with the expansion.

 

Spencer and Frank's Faux Pas

 

Aluminum Fencing Company (AFC) was a sizeable distributor of chain-link fencing for commercial and residential use. The company had four regional locations in the United States. Each location included a large warehouse facility for storing the chain link parts needed to assemble the fencing.  At every location there was a president; a director of workplace security; and various vice presidents, senior managers, and managers in charge of shipping and receiving, training, computer service and maintenance, accounts payable and receivable, advertising, marketing, customer service, and sales.

 

Spencer and Frank were employed at the southern-region facility. They were both hourly employees, with no employment contract.  Spencer was an accounts payable associate, and Frank was a clerk in the shipping and receiving department. Both were part of a labor union and were covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Although the men worked at completely different locations within the facility – at opposite ends of the physical plant – they initially met at a division meeting. Then one day, shortly after they had met, the two happened to run into each other at a local restaurant on their lunch breaks.

 

After that time, Spencer and Frank kept in contact in an extremely discreet manner and began seeing each other after working hours. The majority of the time, they met at one or the other's residence. When they did go out, it was after dark, in a part of town that was at least 30 miles away from the AFC facility. Their relationship began to get serious, but they still did not indicate to others that they were more than casual acquaintances through their employment with AFC.

 

One day, Spencer and Frank arranged to bring their lunches and meet at lunchtime. Their meeting place was a deserted storage room, used to house sensitive company computer software. Because Frank knew there was a lock on the door and no one ever used that storage room, Spencer and Frank felt safe to meet there unnoticed.  They decided, in advance, to take different routes to the storage room and to arrive and depart at separate times.

 

After they finished with their lunches, one thing led to another and they engaged in a sexual liaison. Since they had taken strict precautions to ensure that they would not be seen together, they did not worry that their sexual relationship in general or their sexual encounter in the storage room would be discovered. What they did not realize was that there were hidden security cameras in every room that housed sensitive data, machinery, or equipment, and the room in which they met still had a surveillance camera behind one of the walls.

 

The director of workplace security brought the fact that a camera had captured

Spencer and Frank in a compromising position to the attention of both Spencer's and

Frank's managers. Both employees were fired and then decided to bring suit against AFC based on sexual discrimination.

 

 

 

Answer the following questions related to this case:

 

1. Did AFC have the right to fire Frank and Spenser over something they did in a very discreet manner during their lunch break?

 

2. Do Frank and Spencer have a legitimate lawsuit based upon sexual discrimination?

 

3. Is there an issue with employment-at-will? 

 

4. Is there a right to privacy issue? 

 

5. Using deontological, utilitarian and virtue ethics as your guides, define each of these three ethical theories and discuss how you believe the company would act based upon each of these three ethical viewpoints.

 

 

 

MBA Semester 3 Exam Part I

1.    If a company bases its operation on religious perceptions, it is following the _________ law of that country.

A.    civil
B.    common
C.    theocratic
D.    economic
E.    utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.

Answer:    __________


2.    If a company wishes to use its resources to specialize in the production of goods and services that are already productive and profitable, it is doing so to gain a/an __________ advantage.

A.    absolute
B.    acquired
C.    comparative
D.    natural

Answer:    __________


3.    When Company A controls a foreign operation rather than collaborating with a foreign business, it is called:

A.    a franchise.
B.    internalization.
C.    a consortium.
D.    a licensing agreement.

Answer:    __________







4.    Many governments have reduced restrictions on cross-border movements of goods, services, and capital, because they believe that this is good for consumers, producers, and the national economy. Opponents of this practice have failed to stop this type of trading. This type of cross-border movement is known as:

A.    internationalization.
B.    liberalization.
C.    exporting.
D.    importing.   

Answer:    __________


5.    A/an __________ sourcing strategy is one in which nominally independent suppliers work together to manage the flow of goods and services along the entire value-added chain.

A.    horizontal integration
B.    vertical integration
C.    transmodel
D.    arm's length purchase
E.    network

Answer:    __________


6.    A measure of the dispersion, or spread, of a distribution from its expected value is known as:

A.    mean variance.
B.    average deviation.
C.    medium difference.
D.    standard deviation.

Answer:    __________


7.    The two types of data that need to be collected during each reporting period are actual performance data and:

A.    the cost performance index.
B.    changes to the project scope, schedule, or budget.
C.    the budgeted cost of the work performed.
D.    the budgeted cost of the work scheduled.

Answer:    __________


8.    Generally speaking, an RFP offers one of two types of contracts to the winning bidder: __________ or ___________.

A.    adjustable price; time and materials
B.    fixed price; time and materials
C.    fixed price; cost-reimbursement
D.    adjustable price; cost- reimbursement

Answer:    __________


9.    A __________ is a popular network planning technique sometimes called a bar chart. It lists each task and the associated time scale.

A.    Gantt Chart
B.    PERT
C.    Responsibility Matrix
D.    Work Breakdown Structure

Answer:    __________


10.    __________ is a technique used in problem solving in which all members of a group contribute spontaneous ideas.

A.    Mediation
B.    Collaboration
C.    Critical thinking
D.    Brainstorming

Answer:    __________


11.    The two historical ethical theories that have permeated most business ethics discussions are:

A.    utilitarianism and virtue ethics.
B.    feminine ethics and rights theories.
C.    Kantian ethics and common moral theory.
D.    common moral theory and rights theories.
E.    utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.


Answer:    __________


12.    When a corporation publishes a set of values and beliefs that both management and labor agree to, it establishes a:

A.    union contract.
B.    mission statement.
C.    corporate culture.
D.    employee handbook.
E.    policy and procedure manual.

Answer:    __________


13.    A person takes technological information from work and adapts it for use in his own personal business outside the office. This is an example of:

A.    utilitarianism.
B.    Kantian ethics.
C.    egoism.
D.    relativism.
E.    common moral theory.

Answer:    __________


14.    The two major ethical theories supporting issues in the right to privacy debate are:

A.    relativism and virtue ethics.
B.    feminine and equal rights ethics.
C.    common moral theories and character ethics.
D.    distributive justice and utilitarianism.
E.    Kantian and utilitarian ethics.


15.    Unwelcome sexual conduct that unreasonably interferes with work performance or creates an offensive work environment is known as _____ harassment.

A.    harmful environment
B.    hostile environment
C.    quid pro quo
D.          offensive   

Answer:    _____________




16.    What type of center should be used when a company is organized into divisions of separate product lines?

A.    Profit center
B.    Expense center
C.    Investment center
D.    Revenue center
E.    Standard cost center

Answer:    __________


17.    Instead of conducting traditional market research, a number of companies are:

A.    simply following what the market leader does.
B.    probing potential markets with early versions of new products to see which have 
            potential.
C.    developing new, much more sophisticated market research techniques which involve
            global testing.
D.    forming alliances to pool their research findings.


Answer:    __________

18.    When public organizations are privatized, the trend is to have:

A.    clients pay a higher percentage of the costs.
B.    clients pay a lower percentage of the costs.
C.    clients apply for subsidies from the government
D.    organizations solicit state agencies for more funding.
E.    organizations sponsor fundraising events.

Answer:    __________


19.    All of the following ratios are used in the calculation of a company's Z-value EXCEPT:

A.    working capital/total assets.
B.    retained earnings/total assets.
C.    current assets/current liabilities.
D.    market value of equity/total liabilities.
E.    sales to total assets.

Answer:    __________


20.    The purchasing strategy in which the purchasing company orders a particular part from several vendors is:

A.    sole sourcing.
B.    multiple sourcing.
C.    just-in-time sourcing.
D.    backup sourcing.
E.    parallel sourcing.

Answer:    __________