In the case study provided, the B&L Inc. company is a manufacturer of trailers for highway transport trucks. They use three different divisions to manufacture about forty trailers per year. The current structure of the manufacturing process consists of the trailer division, a sandblast and paint division and the metal fabricating division. Brian Wilson, the materials manager, was asked by the general manager to look for opportunities that could reduce the operational costs of the organization. Pursuant to this directive, Brian decided to prioritize on reducing the cost of the metal fabricating. The one item that he has considered to outsource is the outrigger bracket. This is an accessory that is used to secure oversized containers.
Brian asked
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The contract manufacturer produces the component at a unit production cost and sells it to the original manufacturer at a unit price x, who then sells the product at a unit price p. the unit production cost c is assumed to be common information. Also, assuming that the contract manufacturer can exert some costly effort to influence demand, the original and the contract manufacturer have to draft the contract parameters in which the contract manufacturer has to decide that his or her effort level e>_ 0. Being aware of this effort level the original manufacturer sets the sales price at a p>_ 0. We also make the assumption that the cost of providing the effort level e is ke2/4 where k is the effort cost parameter and the quadratic form implies that there is a marginal increase in the cost of effort level. In the supplier effort model, although the effort cannot be effected or well represented in a contract, there is a general assumption that once the supplier exerts the effort; the manufacturers can observe and act upon it. This would be done by setting the sales price accordingly (Ehrlenspiel, Kiewert, Lindermann & Hundal,
A couple of Squares has a limited capacity for which to produce their products and smaller companies tend to have larger fixed costs than bigger companies. Therefore, A Couple of Squares must maximize profits in order to ensure that they will stay in business. A profit-oriented pricing objective is also useful because of A Couple of Squares’ increased sales goals. A Couple of Squares increased their sales goals due to recent financial troubles. Maximizing profits is the easiest way to meet these sales goals due to the fact that A Couple of Squares has limited production capacity. The last key consideration favors a profit-oriented pricing objective because A Couple of Squares offers a specialty product. A specialty product often has limited competition, therefore can be priced on customer value. Pricing at customer value will maximize profits as well as customer satisfaction. A Couple of Squares’ lack of production capacity, increased sales goals, and specialty product favor a profit-oriented pricing
Spokane Industries has contracted Franklin Electronics for an 18 month product development contract. Franklin Electronics is new to using project management methodologies and has not been exposed to earned value management methodologies. Even though Franklin and Spokane have worked together in the past, they have mainly used fixed-price contracts with little to no stipulations. For this project, Spokane Industries is requiring Franklin Electronics to use formalized project management methodologies, earned value cost schedules, and schedules for reports and meetings. Since Franklin Electronics had no experience with earned value management, the cost accounting group was trained in the methodology in order to bid for the project.
Handy Andy, Inc., a maker of trash compactors, had a problem with how the distribution of their products was being done by distributors and retailers alike. The company made two models of trash compactors the standard and the deluxe, the latter having more capacity thus a higher price. The distribution of the trash compactor to the end user worked like this, a customer makes an order for a trash compactor through a licensed retailer, once the order is made the retailer buys from the distributor to fulfil that order and then delivers it to the customer. The initial agreement between Handy Andy Inc. and the distributors was based on delivering and installing all units in a period of 5 days after an order was made by a retailer, as compensation
According to the Case Management Society of America, case management is "a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation, and advocacy for options and services to meet an individual's and family's comprehensive health needs through communication and available resources to promote quality, cost effective outcomes" (Case Management Society of America [CMSA], 2010). As a method, case management has moved to the forefront of social work practice. The social work profession, along with other fields of study, recognizes the difficulty of locating and accessing comprehensive services to meet needs. Therefore, case managers work with these
The article selected for this assignment is entitled The Virtue of Business: How Markets Encourage Ethical Behavior by Rachel Kotkin. A summary and discussion of the relevance of the article will be presented.
· There is the possibility of the supplier integrating forwards in order to obtain higher prices and margins. This threat is especially high when
Happy Chips, Inc. is faced with a serious problem, with only having one mass merchandise customer called “Buy 4 Less” being unhappy with the company’s operating performance. Buy 4 Less had several problems cited including frequent stock outs, poor customer service responsiveness, and high prices for the products being supplied. Buy 4 Less came up with solutions they think seem fit to fix the problems they found with Happy Chips, Inc. and if Happy Chips, Inc. wishes to remain a supplier to their company they will have to incorporate these changes. The problem however with this scenario, is that employees of Happy Chip, Inc. are not happy with the demands Buy 4 Less has bestowed upon them which include providing direct store delivery four times a week instead of three, installing an automated order inquiry system to increase customer service responsiveness, and decreasing product prices by 5%. Even though the easiest thing for Happy Chips, Inc. to do is to agree to the changes Buy 4 Less wants them to do, Wendell Worthmann, the manager of logistics cost analysis doesn’t agree to the changes right away. The main problem with this case is that Buy 4 Less is Happy Chips, Inc. one and only mass merchandise customer that accounts for 400,000 annual unit sales and 12% of annual revenue. With the mass merchandise segment having such a high profit potential, Happy Chips, Inc.
...pital resources like distribution vehicles and storage warehouses should be outsourced to help reduce the high cost of operation which in turn can lead to reduction of its products price. The company should concentrate on product development and evolution and delegate distribution roles to outsourced firms. Such initiatives have worked well in the new Indian market and should be implemented in other areas.
Although small businesses do not make a lot of major deals with large investors, most small businesses create profit revenue greater than large corporations. Small business creators are very brave considering only ten percent of small businesses survive. Unfortunately, some communities do not support local small businesses; they only support the large brand name and force small businesses to die out. Since small businesses will not have a name brand known around the world, many people from communities will not support them because they are not known on a national scale. “This, in turn will affect the local economy and drive capital out of their local economy. On average, for every one hundred dollars spent in an economy, if spent on a
In the 21st century, small and large, private and public businesses are all aiming towards economic growth. The small business marketplace is extremely dynamic and the changes are fast. Here are some facts from the US Small Business Administration on small businesses. There are about 30 million small businesses in the United States and employ just over half of the country’s private workforce. They employ a staggering 40% of high tech workers such as computer professionals, scientists and engineers. More than half of the small businesses are home-based businesses and two percent of them are franchises. One of the most important aspects is the fact that a majority of innovations in the United States come from small businesses. In 2008, there were 627,200 new businesses that started, 596,600 businesses that were closed and 43,546 companies that filed for bankruptcy. According to business experts, of all the small business startups, one-third of them are profitable and successful, a third of them just about break-even and the rest of them are down with negative earnings Some buyer’s develops as independent business owners, while others are more likely to prosper as franchise owners. According to a recent report by the Small Business Administration (2007), the United States had approximately 26.8 million small business firms in 2006. In fact, as recently reported by Moutray (2006), most firms in the U.S., are very small and account for about half of the country's non-farm real GDP. Over the past decade small business has generated 60–80% of new jobs annually. In reality, there are easy answers to the independent business versus franchise dilemma. Although, a franchise system offers benefits to owners such as brand recognition, to inc...
YakkaTech Corp. is growing IT services firm which mainly installs and upgrades enterprise software systems and related hardware. They have grown and consolidated as well as become more efficient at their business but this isn’t without growing pains. Their employees seem to lack job satisfaction and their customers feel that the employees “seem indifferent to their problems.” The company’s voluntary quit rates have risen above the industry average while management raises pay rates in the hopes that customer service quality and productivity would improve. However, customer service complaints and productivity remain low and employee moral seems to be low as well.
Leonard Prescott, vice president and general manager of Weaver-Yamazaki Pharmaceutical of Japan, believed that John Higgins, his executive assistant, was losing effectiveness in representing the U.S. parent company because of an extraordinary identification with the Japanese culture.
1. We offer a service of a full Dj setup upon which the DJ will play
A small business can be defined as a legal entity consisting of very few employees. Establishing a business such as a proprietorship is the least complicated among business structures. Proprietorships also have a major advantage over other business structures with regards to filing taxes. Profits generated by the business are taxed at individual tax rates thus avoiding the double taxation incurred by corporations. Local economies, government offices, schools and the unemployed benefit greatly from the growth stimulated by these companies. The taxes collected from small businesses and job creation makes small business a vital part of the community.
The purpose of this paper is to briefly analyze why burrs and rough spots suddenly started to appear on quarter panel parts at an automotive company. Three out of four production lines at an automotive plant facility experienced defects of manufactured panel parts. Also, an analysis of how the panel problem is related to organizational sub-culture, organizational politics and job stress. Although there are several implications of various issues related to organizational culture, organizational politics and job stress is important because it determines how human capital within an organization will demonstrate the capacity to cope with working for the organization, thus determining the success of the organization. “To illustrate, studies have shown that job stress results from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of the workplace, i.e., the culture (Vigoda, 2002).” “Likewise, there are studies conducted that found organizational politics to have an adverse effect on psychological issues such as job stress (Ferris, Russ, & Fandt,1989).” Therefore, an organizations most valued asset is its employees.