Operations Decision
This business makes hand-crafted chairs in New Mexico. The chairs are made for a company that brands them and markets them through a variety of channels. Wood is either local or from Colorado, and the craftspeople have modest woodworking skills to construct the chairs.
The environment is competitive for this product. Chairs are a fairly easy product to make. The more trade agreements the government signs, the more competition there is for this business. Our company, therefore, has very limited bargaining power over the buyers, because the buyer can substitute product from Mexico, China and a number of other low cost sources. Only lower shipping costs and the strong established relationship seem to be in our favor.
The contract of this major buyer is the main determinant of whether or not we will shut down. The buyer in turn is affected by the global furniture market, tariffs and trade barriers, the…...
Operations Decision
Assume you have been hired as a managing consultant by a company to offer some advice that will help it make a decision as to whether it should shut down completely or continue its operations. It currently uses 100 workers to produce 6,000 units of output per month (working 20 days / month). The daily wage (per worker) is $70, and the price of the firm's output is $32. The cost of other variable inputs is $2,000 per day. You are told that the firm's fixed cost is "high enough" so that the firm's total costs exceed its total revenue. The marginal cost of the last unit is $30.
Rough Financial Statement
Revenues
$ per Unit
Total
Expenses
orkers
Price Per Day
$70.00
Number of Days
Subtotal
$140,000.00
Variable Costs
$2,000.00
Subtotal
$40,000.00
Total
$180,000.00
Gross Revenue
$12,000.00
Business Overview
The company currently represents one of the last apparel manufactures that still manufactures all of its products in the United States. The company has been able to maintain its U.S.…...
Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. (2005, June 20). How Can Wal-Mart Sell a Denim Shirt for $11.67? Retrieved from Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights: http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0042
Operations Decision" Assume hired a managing consultant a company offer advice make a decision shut completely continue operations. It 100 workers produce 6,000 units output month (working 20 days / month).
Operations decisions
Details of the business
Miller Inc. is a manufacturer of a fast moving soap, Socas which is available as a bar of 250g, 500g or 1 kg. The company is named after Michelle Miller who is an industrial chemist who invented the soap. The company's strengths include the seemingly endless funds that the company has from Michelle's father, Turner Miller who is the owner of Turner Pharmaceuticals, which was handed down to him from his father. The other strength of the company is that it has a strong board of directors who have wide experience in the fast moving consumer goods industry and hardworking. However, the company has one major weakness, which is that Michelle has been running it…...
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References
Banker, R.D., Bardhan, I.R., Chang, H., & Lin, S. (2006). Plant Information Systems, Manufacturing Capabilities, and Plant Performance. MIS Quarterly, 30(2), 315-337. doi: 10.2307/25148733
Fairise, X., & Feve, P. (2006). Labor Adjustment Costs and Complex Eigenvalues. Economic Theory, 29(1), 95-110. doi: 10.2307/25056110
Operations Decisions
Market structure is a microeconomics term that encompasses the interconnected attributes of a market. The variables examined when considering market structure include characteristics of buyers and sellers, competition, product differentiation, and ease of moving into and from the market. Factors such as the number and strength of buyers and sellers, along with any collusion that may develop among them, are very influential on market structure, as evident in this discussion. An analysis of the competition will consider the occurrence and degree of product differentiation that is occurring. Finally, two important attributes of market structure are the ease of entry and exit from the existing market.
Traditionally, four fundamental market structure types are recognized: 1) Perfect competition, in which many buyers and sellers engage without being able to control prices; 2) Oligopoly, in which a number of large sellers have established some control over prices; 3) Monopoly, in which a single…...
Operations Decisions
Outline a plan that will assess the effectiveness of the market structure for the company's operations. Note: In Assignment 1, the assumption was that the market structure [or selling environment] was perfectly competitive and that the equilibrium price was to be determined by setting QD equal to QS. You are now aware of recent changes in the selling environment that suggest an imperfectly competitive market where your firm now has substantial market power in setting its own "optimal" price
In the recent decade or two, there has been an increase and proliferation in microwavable food products in the consumer market. In the present day society, with both parents working late and with an increase in the household income generated, these sort of products are not just convenient for the family, but actually deemed a delight in gourmet food, devoid of having to go to a restaurant. In addition, these food…...
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References
Arnold, R. (2008). Economics. Ohio Thompson Higher education.
Keat, P. G., Young, P.K. Y., & Erfle, S. E. (2013). Managerial Economics: Economic Tools for Today's Decision Makers. New York: Prentice Hall.
Mudida, R. (2003). Modern Economics. Nairobi: Focus Books
McGuigan, J., Moyer, R. C., Harris, F. (2014). Managerial Economics. Ohio: Cengage Learning.
To reduce inventory management costs and errors, enterprise must form a strong, galvanizing connection with suppliers, buyers, internal production, and customers most of all. In conclusion, inventory management will always be part art and science, as tacit & implicit knowledge is needed to provide greater insight into the analysis generated fro enterprise software applications specifically designed to streamline inventory management. The inherent unquantifiable aspects of demand management will also make inventory management a continually difficult, complex problem enterprises must confront daily to stay profitable and grow.
eferences
Forecasting and Demand eferences
Leung, S. (2003, Oct 01). Where's the beef? A glutted market leaves food chains hungry for sites; finding spots for new outlets takes heaps of research and an eye for details; hint: Move next to Wal-Mart. Wall Street Journal, pp. a.1-a.1.
Meng, F., Tepanon, Y., & Uysal, M. (2008). Measuring tourist satisfaction by attribute and motivation: The case of a nature-based resort.…...
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References/KurawarwalaMatsuo1996.pdf
Mathaba, S., Dlodlo, N., Smith, a., & Adigun, M. (2011). The use of RFID and web 2.0 technologies to improve inventory management in south african enterprises. Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 14(2), 228-241. Link:
46). Likewise, Gillispie suggests that an incremental approach can be used to "test the waters" for even very small companies seeking to project an internationalized presence. In this regard, Gillespie recommends that companies, "Craft a scaleable master design that represents the major aspects of your business worldwide and anticipates the degree of localization that will be required in each market. The degree of localization can have a real impact on budgets and timelines" (2008, p. 45). These are important factors for companies in general where limited resources and a lack of experience may preclude more aggressive internationalization initiatives, and these issues are directly related to a company's internal resources as discussed further below.
Internal resources
The company has a wide range of specialized internal resources which are described in Table 2 below.
Table 2
Internal resources of BG Limited
Business Unit
Description
Specialist Cleaning
BG's Specialist Cleaning division offers a comprehensive range of services designed to restore…...
Operations Management
A microbrewery in Colorado is growing rapidly. There is a long lead time for the purchase of new equipment, so management must make a demand forecast for the next couple of years in order to ensure that it has the capacity it needs to continue expansion. There are constraints, however, in particular with respect to access to key inputs. This casts uncertainty on the demand forecasts, such that simple extrapolation of current growth rates is going to be insufficient. A decision tree is used to help with the demand forecasting, taking into account different scenarios with respect to the growth patterns and the growth constraints.
This paper is based on a real world situation. The situation at hand is that of a small microbrewery, operating in Colorado. The microbrewery is five years old and has expanded annually since its inception. The brewery produces five beers regularly, and these are available…...
Decision Sciences
Decision-making is an important activity for top management in any enterprise. Strategic thinking is required for making useful decisions. For example, business executives plan strategies to access market share, to deal with employees, to react to competition and to decide on career growth. Decision Sciences is a discipline on its own that provides techniques and methods to take decisions in any practical situations. In this paper, a list of journals and websites that provides information on Decision Sciences is provided. This list is expected to be useful to top management. (America's Investment in the Future: Decision Sciences-How the Game Is being played)
Decision Sciences" is a quarterly, professional journal published by Decision Sciences Institute. This journal utilizes the current methods of mathematics and statistics along with computer technology and behavior science. This journal is read by business professionals and teaching professionals. From 2003, Blackwell Publishing is publishing this journal. (Decision…...
Asia Pacific Decision Sciences Institute: Theme - Collaborative Decision Making in the Internet Era" retrieved at Accessed on 22 February 2005http://www.calpoly.edu/~eli/apdsi/apdsi2005/ .
Decision Making
Barnes and Noble Inc. is one of the most successful bookstores in the world. The company operates throughout the United States and boasts roomy inviting stores. In addition to books, the company also sells DVDs and music. The company operates both brick and mortar stores and it is also the largest internet bookstore. Furthermore, Barnes & Noble, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company and the largest bookseller in the world. In addition, "The company is a leading content, commerce and technology company that provides customers easy and convenient access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. As of January 29, 2011, the company operates 705 retail bookstores in regional shopping malls, major strip centers and freestanding locations in 50 states, and 636 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States (For Investors)." The purpose…...
A combination of techniques was used to evaluate, the most important being Bayes Theorem.
Bayes Theorem
"In its simplest algebraic form, Bayes' theorem is concerned with determining the conditional probability of event A given that event B. has occurred." (Kazmier, Staton & Fulks, 2003; p. 43). In this case, the event A is the increase in sales through the e-commerce site while event B. is the implementing of the decision to create a site. The probability for the sales to increase, according to the marketing team data analysis, is 54.2% and the probability for the site to be created is 58.6%. So, the probability for event B. To not happen is 41.4% and the possibility for sales to improve without the e-commerce site is 45.8%.
The general form of Bayes theorem is:
P (A
B) = P (A and B)/P (B).
P (A1B1)= P (A1 and B1 ) / P (B1 ) and P (A2B2) =…...
Operations Management Managers
How does JIT and lean processing affect managerial decision-making in that organization?
"JIT is a form of providing supplies for customers, as the name suggests, just in time" as they are needed (Atkinson 2011) Keeping inventories low is a critical component of success for a retail organization like Wal-Mart. Inventories that build up in warehouses must frequently be sold at a loss. Overly well-stocked inventories also take space away from products that consumers actually desire, and can be sold full price. However, inventories of desirable goods cannot be allowed to sink too low, given that if a product is out of stock, consumers will go to another store.
JIT attempts to closely tailor consumer needs to what suppliers have in stock. Wal-Mart has been able to use JIT because of its status as the world's largest retailer. It has tremendous power and leverage with its suppliers. Additionally, what is a…...
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References
Atkinson, Charles. (2011). McDonald's: A guide to JIT. Inventory Management Review.
Ethical issues impact business on multiple different levels, and sometimes businesses can find it difficult to make ethical or appropriate decisions. One recent headline-making case highlights how difficult ethical decision-making can be for real-life businesses faced with real-life scenarios. After an African-American waitress received a bill that had "None, Nigger" written in the tip line, she posted the tip on her Facebook page. She removed that post, but her father then posted it on Facebook. Her employer, ed Lobster, suspended her from work for this action (Lake, 2013). Her suspension caused a huge uproar and has probably resulted in the loss of customers for ed Lobster, making it clear that ethical behavior is a corporate issue that can affect a company's bottom line.
What the scenario also makes clear is that it can be impossible to predict the wide variety of ethical scenarios and solutions that a business might…...
Operations
There are several international issues that are relevant to operations management today. Now that business has become globalized, companies source materials from all over the world, and a lot of production at any given facility will be made for export. For a facility that is producing for export, for example, it must be able to accommodate local market conditions for size, labeling, etc. that will require distinct batches for each country.
The decision to produce for an export market is also something that is important. For example, a company may investigate the idea of producing a maquiladora in Mexico and weigh that option against producing domestically, or even sourcing from further afield. There are a number of considerations, including the quality of the local workers, cost advantages, and various tax and duty considerations as well, and the company often strives to design its production system in a way that delivers the…...
In the case of Kava island issue, we shall reach the decision in the following manner.
White Hat / Hat #1:
This is where a person needs to consider all the available data on the issue at hand. For example we know that Kava is a land of richness. It is a place with multiple possibilities because it has a sizeable young population, is rich in petroleum, coffee, sugar and other such important items. It has people from diverse backgrounds who add to the richness of its culture and almost 15 languages are spoken in this area. But at the same time, the country is plagued with numerous problems including ever-increasing cases of HIV.
Red Hat / Hat #2:
This is where a person needs to focus on intuition. Intuitively for example we can say that Kava can be seen as a great tourist destination if developed properly. Nik's firm can invest in…...
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