A company manufactures two products, P

A company manufactures two products, P

Subject: Business / Accounting
Question
QUESTION 1

A company manufactures two products, P and R. P is the more complex of the two products, requiring more direct labor time and more machine time per unit than R.

Manufacturing overhead is currently assigned to the products on the basis of direct labor hours. The company has gathered some activity information and is interested in the differences between its present costing method and activity based costing. All overhead costs should be allocated to the products. The overhead cost pools and activity drivers are as follows;

ACTIVITY POOL OVERHEAD COSTS TOTAL DRIVER USAGE

Setup $256,000 3,200 setups

Material Purchasing $110,000 2,750 purchase orders

Machining/Fabricating $136,000 27,200 machine hours

TOTAL OVERHEAD COSTS $502,000

Other product information is as follows:

P R

Number of units produced 40,000 10,000

Direct labor hours 20,000 30,000

Setups 2,800 400

Purchase orders 680 2,070

Machine hours 19,200 8,000

A) Using the traditional method of allocating overhead based on direct labor hours, compute the total overhead costs of products P and R.

B) Using an activity based approach, compute the total overhead costs of products P and R. SHOW ALL OF YOUR CALCULATIONS.

C) Which method of allocation gives a better understanding of the costs of each product? Briefly explain your answer.

QUESTION 2

On October 1, 2016, the manager of a company’s Southeast region received the annual e-mail from the budget office. It was time to prepare the 2017 budget. Included in the e-mail were instructions that the manager should estimate the revenues and expenses his region would report for 2017. Anything greater than a 5% deviation from last year’s budget would need to be explained, though there was no indication that the budgeted numbers wouldn’t be accepted.

A) Explain whether the company’s budget process in top-down or bottom-up?

B) List two advantages and two disadvantages of using the approach that you selected.

QUESTION 3

A company has three different divisions: Olliepods, Polyspreen, and Monk Recreation. Given the following information, identify each segment as a cost center, a revenue center, a profit center, or an investment center:

1) The Olliepods division sells children’s recreational shoes. The division’s president is responsible for all short-run decisions on the manufacturing and sale of the shoes.

2) The Polyspreen division manufactures the main ingredient for the shoes produced by Olliepods. All Polyspreen output is transferred to the Olliepods divsion.

3) All long-run strategic decisions and investments for OlliePods and Polyspreen divisions are made by the staff at corporate headquarters.

4) Monk Recreation, which operates a regional chain of retail sporting goods stores, is the company’s newest corporate acquisition. All decision making responsibility (both short-term and long-term) related to the sporting goods stores remains with those employees.

5) Monk Recreation has several sales territories from the Southeast to the Northwest. Managers of these territories are evaluated based on a comparison of current period sales against budgeted sales.

QUESTION 4

Caffeine Connections sells a variety of exotic teas and coffees through a national network. The company operates its own roasting division, which supplies roasted coffee beans to its own wholesale division as well as to other external customers. Even though the roasting division can roast 500,000 pounds of beans each month, current market demand is only 425,000 pounds, so that is the current level of production.

The wholesale division has designed a new promotional product for which it needs 50,000 pounds of roasted coffee beans. It can be purchased from an external supplier for $7 per pound. The roasting division can supply the beans to the wholesale division at a price of $8 per pound, which is the retail price to external customers. Variable costs for the roasting division amount to $4 per pound and fixed costs amount to $1.75 per pound.

A) Given the above information, should the roasting division sell the coffee beans to the wholesale division? if your answer is yes, what will be the expected transfer price? BE SURE TO INCLUDE A MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM PRICE. If your answer is no, explain why you would veto the transaction.

B) Explain whether your answer to part A would change if the roasting division were operating at 100% capacity.

PSYC343 – Adult aging and Healthcare Cost

PSYC343 – Adult aging and Healthcare Cost

Subject: Psychology / General Psychology
Question
Topic is Adult aging and Healthcare Cost.
Part I, Issue Analysis 50 points possible

Analysis involves researching and comparing different elements of an issue to acquire in-depth knowledge of its component parts. In this section of the paper you will demonstrate knowledge of the issue you selected by describing and comparing various aspects of it, drawing on a minimum of 4 academic journal articles from the APUS On-line Library in addition to information in the course textbook. This portion of the paper should not attempt to discuss every possible problem associated with the issue you selected but rather to focus on just one problem that you find interesting and compelling enough to want to solve after conducting your issue research.

Part II, Application 50 points possible

Application requires putting into action oneâs knowledge and ideas about a problem and how to solve it, which in this case are informed by the scholarly material you reviewed in the writing of Part 1. In this section of the paper you will demonstrate the ability to apply what you have learned when researching the issue you selected by hypothesizing about and recommending possible solutions that could be used to address and improve the situation examined in the Issue Analysis part of the paper. The goal here is to attempt to solve the particular problem you identified in Part 1, not to introduce additional problems or identify every possible solution.

Full Paper Writing, Formatting and Submission Requirements

The body of the paper, not including the title and References page, must be a minimum of 6 full pages long.

The paper must include a title page and References page listing all sources used attached to the end.

The full paper, including title and References pages, must be formatted in compliance with the rules of the American Psychological Association (APA) 6th edition and be well-organized, easy to follow, written as a narrative with no lists, bulleted items, tables or graphics and free of grammatical and spelling errors. First person perspective I and second person you pronouns and personal story sharing should not be included.

Each page of the paper must contain no more than 3 direct quotes. Your instructor needs to see what meaning you have made of what you found in researching scholarly articles, not what the articlesâ authors have already written.

Any portions of the paper based on published information must be source credited in the paper body and with an accompanying References list of all sources attached to the end.

The paper must be in 12 point Times New Roman or Arial font, left-justified and double-spaced with 1â margins on all sides of each page.

A left-aligned running head must be placed at the top of each page of the paper, including the title page.

The paper should begin with an introduction followed by a focused, organized, and clearly articulated discussion of the issue in Part 1, Issue Analysis, followed by your recommendations for solving a particular problem related to it in Part 2, Application, followed by a conclusion paragraph or two summarizing the problem and your proposed solution.

Propose an Amendment to the Constitution

Propose an Amendment to the Constitution

Subject: General Questions / General General Questions
Question
Part 1

Propose an Amendment to the Constitution
Please respond to EACH of the following discussion topics and submit them to the discussion forum as a single post. Your initial post should be 75-150 words in length. Then, make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow studentsâ posts. If you havenât recently, please review the Rules of Discussion.

After reviewing what you have learned in this course, especially the text of the United States Constitution, propose to the class an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Be sure to make an argument supporting your proposed amendment. Why should this change be made? How will it benefit the lives of Americans across the country? Why does this issue need a Constitutional Amendment and not just a state or federal law change?

For your follow up posts critique the argument of a peerâs proposed amendment or respond to the questions from your peers regarding your proposed amendment.

Please Note: You may not just copy and paste the text of your assignment for your initial discussion post. Your initial discussion post should be made prior to writing your paper and just be a brief paragraph or two presenting your proposed change. You may not submit their assignment text as their discussion post. You may summarize your text, similar to writing an abstract in an academic paper. Feel free to incorporate your peers follow up posts and feedback into your paper as their ideas and questions may help you consider new ideas while you write your paper.



Please respond to the initial question by day 5 and be sure to post two additional times to peers and/or instructor by day 7. The initial post by day 5 should be 75 to 150 words, but may go longer depending on the topic. If you use any source outside of your own thoughts, you should reference that source. Include solid grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling.

*****Part 2

In at least 250 words reflect on your proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that you presented to your peers in the discussion board.. This assignment is about creating and communicating a fully developed argument.

First, describe your proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (this is a thesis statement)
Second, present and describe three (3) arguments in support of your Amendment. Think especially about the ideas, themes, and nature of our nationâs founding and political institutions. For example, do our founders ideas of what liberty means support you proposed amendment?
Third, address at least two 2 counter arguments that could be made by those that might oppose your proposed amendment. Describe those counter arguments fully and discuss why those counter arguments do not sufficiently counter your proposed amendment to the Constitution.
Finally, write a conclusion paragraph that restates your proposed change to the Constitution and reviews what you believe to be the most compelling argument in support of your proposed amendment.
Be sure to include a reference list for any outside sources you use in completing your paper.

Please note: APA formatting and citations rules apply to this and all essays in this course.

As with all weekly written assignments, submit your work as an attached file. Double-space your paper and use 12 point Times New Roman as your font.

NR305 Week 4 Course Project Milestone 1 latest 2017 march

NR305 Week 4 Course Project Milestone 1 latest 2017 march

Subject: General Questions / General General Questions
Question
Course Project Milestone 1:Health History

Guidelines and Grading Rubric

Purpose
The student will obtain a health history on a willing, nonrelated, adult participant in order to generate written documentation that is clear and accurate.Note: Failing to complete this assignment using an adult participant other than yourself will result in a 20% penalty deduction being applied.

Course Outcomes
This assignment enables the student to meet the following Course Outcomes.

CO #3: Utilize effective communication when performing a health assessment. (PO #3)

CO #4: Identify teaching/learning needs from the health history of an individual. (PO #2)

CO #5: Explore the professional responsibilities involved in conducting a comprehensive health assessment and providing appropriate documentation. (PO #6)

Points

This assignment is worth a total of 200 points.

Due Date

The Course Project Milestone 1: Health History assignment is to be submitted to the Dropbox by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 4. The guidelines and grading rubric may be found in Course Resources. Post questions to the Q&A Forum. Contact your instructor if you need additional assistance.

Disclaimer

The focus of this assignment is on communicating details within the written client record. When taking a health history on an actual client, it is essential that the information is accurate. Please inform the person you are interviewing that they do not need to disclose information that they wish to keep confidential. If the interviewee decides not to share information, please write, “Does not want to disclose.”If the client fails to disclose answers to several items, you will need to find another client who is willing to share.

Directions
1. Find an adult who is not related to you who is willing to let you take a health history.

2. Download the NR305_Milestone1_Form from Course Resources. You will type your answers directly into this Word document. Your paper does not need to follow APA formatting; however, you are expected to be clear in your communication by using correct medical terminology, grammar, and spelling.

3. Review the examples in Chapter 4 of your textbook to gain insight into how to document the health history.Remember this is a health history, not a physical examination.Avoid words like frequently, improved, increased, decreased, good, poor, normal, or WNL as they may have different meanings for different people. Instead, document the specific data that led you to these conclusions, for example, 3x/day instead of frequently, or consuming four servings of vegetables/day instead of increased vegetable servings.

4. Save the file by clicking Save as and adding your last name to the file name, for example, NR305_Milestone1_Form_Smith.

5. Submit the completed form to the Dropbox by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 4.

6. Please post questions in the weekly Q&A Forumsso the entire class may view the answers.

Course Project Milestone #1: Health History Form
Your Name: Date:

Your Instructor’s Name:

Directions: Refer to the Milestone 1: Health History guidelines and grading rubric found in Course Resources to complete the information below. This assignment is worth 200 points, with 10 points awarded for clarity of writing, which means the use of proper grammar, spelling, and medical language.

Type your answers on this form. Click Save as and save the file with the assignment name and your last name, for example, NR305_Milestone1_Form_Smith. When you are finished, submit the form to the Milestone #1 Dropbox by the deadline indicated in your guidelines. Post questions in the Q&A Forum or contact your instructor if you have questions about this assignment.

Disclaimer:The focus of this assignment is on communicating details within the written client record. When taking a health history on an actual client, it is essential that the information is accurate. Please inform the person you are interviewing that they do not need to disclose information that they wish to keep confidential. If the interviewee decides not to share information, please write, “Does not want to disclose.”If the client fails to disclose answers to several items, you will need to find another client who is willing to share.

Note: Failing to complete this assignment using an adult participant other than yourself will result in a 20% penalty deduction being applied.

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA (10 points)

Date:

Initials:

Age:

Date of birth:

Birthplace:

Gender:

Marital status:

Race:

Religion:

Occupation:

Health insurance:

Source of information:

Reliability of source of information:

PRESENT HEALTH HISTORY/ILLNESS (20 points)

Reason for seeking care:

Health patterns:

Health goals:

HEALTH BELIEFS AND PRACTICES (15 points)

Beliefs and practices:

Factors influencing healthcare decisions:

Related traits, habits or acts:

MEDICATIONS (20 points) (Please refer to your assignment guidelines.)

Prescription medications:

Over-the-counter medications:

Herbals:

PAST HISTORY (20 points)

Childhood diseases:

Immunizations:

Allergies:

Blood transfusions:

Major illnesses:

Injuries:

Hospitalizations:

Labor and deliveries:

Surgeries:

Use of alcohol:

Use of tobacco:

Use of illicit drugs:

EMOTIONAL HISTORY (15 points)

Mental, emotional or psychiatric problems:

FAMILY HISTORY (20 points)

Father:

Mother:

Siblings:

Grandparents:

PSYCHOSOCIAL/ OCCUPATIONAL HISTORY (15 points)

Occupational history:

Educational level:

Financial background:

ROLES AND RELATIONSHIPS (15 points)

Significant others:

Support systems:

ETHNICITY AND CULTURE (10 points)

Ethnicity and culture:

Physical and social characteristics that influence healthcare decisions:

SPIRITUALITY (5 points)

Religious and spiritual needs:

SELF-CONCEPT (5 points)

View of self-worth:

Future plans:

REVIEW OF SYSTEMS (20 points) (Please refer to your assignment guidelines and Chapter 4 of your text. This is not a physical examination.)

Skin, hair, nails:

Head, neck, related lymphatics:

Eyes:

Ears, nose, mouth, and throat:

Respiratory:

Breasts and axillae:

Cardiovascular:

Peripheral vascular:

Abdomen:

Urinary:

Reproductive:

Musculoskeletal:

Neurologic:

Carastro Company had the following tax items

Carastro Company had the following tax items

Subject: Business / Accounting
Question
Deferred Taxes

Carastro Company had the following tax items in 2015 and 2016, its first two years of operations. The enacted income tax rate is 30 percent for 2015, 34 percent for 2016, 32 percent for 2017 and 26 percent for 2018 and each year thereafter. It is âmore likely than notâ that the company will benefit from all future-deductible amounts.

2015 â Pretax financial income is $123,000.

· Depreciation for accounting purposes was based on the straight-line method with no residual value, and MACRS was used for income tax purposes. The equipment has an original cost of $120,000 and an estimated five-year life. MACRS was calculated as follows for each year of the equipmentâs four-year tax life: $60,000, $22,000, $20,000, $18,000. (Hint: The straight-line depreciation period will be longer than the MACRS depreciation period).

· Carastro accrued interest revenue on municipal bonds totaling $3,800. Interest will be received during 2016.

2016 â Pretax financial income is $160,000.

· Depreciation differences from 2015 reverse as expected

· Bond interest was received as expected.

· Carastro sold $120,000 of concert tickets; half of the performances took place during 2016 and the other half during 2017.

· Carastro purchased shares of Dolan Company common stock for $46,000 and accounted for it under the cost method.

· Carastro received cash dividends totaling $5,000 from its investment in Posner Company; these qualify as 80 percent domestic dividends.

· A late tax payment was made for payroll and Carastro was assessed a $1,000 penalty and $500 in interest as a result of the late payment.

Required:

1. Calculate taxable income for 2016.

2. How much is income tax expense for 2016?

Bond Problem

On April 1, 2016, Becker Company issued 8 percent bonds with a face value of $800,000. The bonds were issued at a price to yield at 10 percent return. The bonds pay semiannual interest on April 1 and October 1. The bonds are dated April 1, 2016, and are due in five years. At the time of issuance, Becker paid $4,000 for legal costs and brokerage expenses associated with the bond issuance. The company uses the straight-line method of amortization for issue costs and the effective interest method of amortization for bond premium or discount and records amortization on each of the semiannual interest payment dates. Becker Companyâs year ends December 31. On June 1, 2017, Becker retired $200,000 of bonds at 103 plus accrued interest.

Required:

1. Record all entries necessary on April 1, 2016, related to the bonds.

2. Record all entries necessary on October 1, 2016, related to the bonds.

3. Record all necessary adjusting entries on December 31, 2016.

4. Determine the amount of gain or loss on the bonds redeemed on June 1, 2017.

5. Record the entries necessary for the bond redemption.

6. Determine the amount of discount on bonds and the amount of issue costs that should be amortized for the period ended October 1, 2017.

EDR 7101-The following small data set is from a study conducted

EDR 7101-The following small data set is from a study conducted

Subject: Mathematics / Statistics
Question
EDR8202
The following small data set is from a study conducted within a single middle school. Fundamentally,
this study is a comparison of the differences between male and female teachers in personal Confidence
Scores, and was conducted to determine if a relationship exists between the number of Years of
Experience and Confidence Scores. Gender
Male
Male
Female
Male
Female
Female
Male
Male
Male
Female
Female
Male
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female Years of Experience
15
3
12
8
23
9
37
14
10
4
11
1
3
7
2
21
28
9
5
3 Confidence Scores
110
117
118
120
104
100
107
115
114
115
115
100
117
115
103
145
115
115
110
210 Using scholarly writing and proper APA format, complete, and then submit the following:
1. Enter these data into an SPSS data file. Ensure the variables are correctly labeled (nominal, ordinal,
scale). Determine what question might be asked related to the Confidence Score of the last person in
the data set.
2. Use SPSS to conduct basic descriptive statistics on the variables (e.g., frequency distribution, mean,
median, mode, standard deviation, standard error).
3. Use SPSS to conduct a t-test to determine if a significant difference exists. Calculate the Pearson’s
Correlation between Years of Experience and Confidence Scores.
4. Use SPSS to create a scatter plot of Years of Experience and Confidence Scores.
5. Use scholarly writing and proper APA format to briefly discuss in narrative form, the results of the ttest and the correlation.
6. Use scholarly writing and proper APA format to present a table that clearly depicts several of the
descriptive statistics calculated earlier.
7. Use scholarly writing and proper APA format to present a figure that depicting the scatter plot you
generated earlier.
8. Include an appendix that contains all SPSS output (copied and pasted) for the items above.

MAR 3023-Which of the following types of survey tends to be

MAR 3023-Which of the following types of survey tends to be

Subject: Business / Marketing
Question
Which of the following types of survey tends to be the most expensive?
Mail survey
Internet survey
Fax survey
Telephone survey
Personal interview survey

Andrew is the trendsetter on the Golf team. When he bought Ping clubs, four other members of the team had them within a month. When he bought Nike golf shoes, five others bought the same ones. Andrew is the team’s:
primary aspirational leader
opinion leader
secondary aspirational leader
syncratic influence
autonomic influence

In order to distinguish a consumer product from an organizational product, what question(s) do you need to ask?
Why was the product purchased?
Who purchased the product?
What was the product that was purchased?
All of the above
A and B only

Being customer oriented, stressing long-term profitability and integrating and coordinating marketing and the other functions of the firm, are called
The Marketing Concept
Macro Marketing
The Goal of Marketing
Total Quality Management
None of the above

The particular group of alternatives a consumer considers when making a buying decision is referred to as the consumer’s
Evaluative criteria
Reference group
Problem alternatives
Evoked set
Alternative group

Charles Jones developed the specifications for some new laptop computers being purchased by his employer for the engineers at his company. Charles’ personal assistant, Pat Brown collected information about a variety of computer systems for him to examine. The specifications were approved by Janine Smith, his boss. Richard Davis chose to buy the computers from Dell, and negotiated a great price due to the large volume of computers being purchased.

Pat’s role in the buying center is that of a:
gatekeeper
decider
influencer
buyer
user

The marketing philosophy that focuses on satisfying customer needs and wants while enhancing individual and societal well-being is called

A production orientation
A sales orientation
A market orientation
A societal marketing orientation
None of the above

All of the following are characteristics of organizational buying EXCEPT:
Organizational buyers are fewer in number than consumers.
Organizational buyers tend to be more geographically concentrated than consumers.
Organizational buyers prefer to buy directly from manufacturers.
Organizational buyers possess a comparative expertise in buying when compared with consumers.
Organizational buying tends to focus more on single transactions than consumer buying.

 

POLI330 Week 1 TCO Assessment Latest 2017 April

POLI330 Week 1 TCO Assessment Latest 2017 April

Subject: Political Science / General Political Science
Question
1. Question :

(TCO 1) What were your economic left/right results?

Question 2. Question :

(TCO 1) What were your social libertarian/authoritarian results?

Question 3. Question :

(TCO 1) If a person believes that market should regulate itself, and that government should stay out of business, would he or she fall more to the right or the left side of the political scale?

Right

Left

Question 4. Question :

(TCO 1) If a person believes that federal agencies such as the FDA, EPA, and SEC serve a public good, is he or she moving more to the right or left of 100% capitalism?

Right

Left

Question 5. Question :

(TCO 1) If a person feels that the government is needed to ensure that all people obtain equality, would he or she fall more on the right or the left of the economic scale?

Right

Left

Question 6. Question :

(TCO 1) If a person believes that mandatory gun safety classes should be required to buy a gun, would he or she move up or down the social scale?

Up

Down

Question 7. Question :

(TCO 1) If a person believes that Christianity is or should be the national religion of the United States, would he or she move up or down the social scale?

Up

Down

Question 8. Question :

(TCO 1) If a person believes that he or she knows more about his or her own life than the government, and thus should have the authority to make his or her own decisions, would he or she move more up or down the social scale?

Up

Down

What is the role of the government on the economy

What is the role of the government on the economy

Subject: Economics / General Economics
Question
1) What is the role of the government on the economy?
2) What is fiscal policy? What is monetary policy?
3) What is discretionary fiscal policy?
4) What is Net Taxes?
5) What is the difference between income and disposable income?
6) What is a budget deficit, or a budget surplus?
7) What does affect planned investment?
8) How does the government spending affect GDP?
9) What is the government multiplier? What is the formula for the government multiplier?
10) What is the tax multiplier? What is the formula for the tax multiplier?
11) Why the tax multiplier has a minus sign?
12) What is the balanced-budget multiplier? Why does it equal to 1?
13) What is the federal budget?
14) What is the federal debt? How does the surplus or deficit affect the federal debt?
15) What is aggregate output? Aggregate income?
16) What does it mean that we are talking in real terms?
17) What are automatic stabilizers, destabilizers and Fiscal drag?
18) What is defined as full-employment budge? What about structural deficit? Cyclical deficit?
19) Do you know how to determine equilibrium with taxes and government spending?
20) What is money? What is the difference between money, income and wealth?
21) What is barter? What is the problem with barter?
22) What is the main advantage of money? What is the main disadvantage of money?
23) What is a unit of account? What are commodities monies? Fiat? Legal tender?
24) Define Currency debasement 25) What are the differences between M1 (transactions money) and M2 (broad money)?
26) What is included when calculating “beyond M2?”
27) What is the Federal Reserve?
28) What are reserves? What is the required Reserve Ratio?
29) How money is created through banks?
30) What is the money multiplier? How is calculated?
31) What is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)? What about the Open Market Desk?
32) What are the main functions of the Federal Reserve?
33) What does it mean that the Federal Reserve is the lender of last resort?
34) What are the two mandates of the Federal Reserve?
35) What determines the demand for money?
36) What is the relationship between interest rates and security prices?
37) How does the Federal Reserve Use Open Market Operations and why?
38) What is the discount rate?
39) What is the relationship between the amount of money and the interest rate?

 

HCAD 4354 – Economics for Healthcare Industry Analysis

HCAD 4354 – Economics for Healthcare Industry Analysis

Subject: Economics / General Economics
Question
HCAD 4354 – Economics for Healthcare Industry Analysis Term Paper
1. Purpose
The purpose of this term paper is to provide each student with the opportunity to
apply economic analysis to a U.S. healthcare related industry and to learn how to
deal with business problems from an economic perspective. There are five
industries related to U.S. healthcare for choices: private health insurance physician services hospital services pharmaceutical long-term care
Students are supposed to choose one among the five choices to develop analysis
paper for the industry in the U.S. operation. 2. Defining the Industry
It is very important to define the industry precisely; otherwise, there will be a
tremendous amount of unrelated data available. The U.S. Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) system has been replaced by the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) (you can find them trough any website search
engine). These codes are widely adopted for record keeping purposes and are often
used to index private publication such as market guides, directories of companies,
and periodical indexes. Familiarize yourself with the SIC/NAICS categories.
Remember: it is important to either narrow or broaden your industry definition based
on how much information you are finding. 3. Data Collection
For any strategic planning process, it is important to understand the industry in
which you are or will be operating, for without an understanding of that industry,
your strategy is unlikely to succeed. Every manager must determine for him/herself
the information required to address the decision at hand. In an increasingly
competitive and dynamic business environment, success depends on a
continuous updating of information on market trends, competitors, and customers. 1 There are two types of data that can be collected and analyzed: (a) primary data
collected from government record; (b) secondary data collected from reference
materials. Prior to conducting any primary research, savvy managers know that
secondary research should be the starting point in the data collection process. The
government and other agencies publish a great deal of information which can be
invaluable in an industry assessment, and which is readily available if you know
where to look. While you may not be able to find out everything you need to know,
secondary information is an essential management tool.
The sources of this information are abundant (in printed documents, via the
Internet, etc.), however, they are not always easy to find. Your first challenge is to
know where to look and find the most current, relevant, accurate, and reliable
information, in a timely manner, when there are so many sources to choose from
and investigate. Data must be current, reliable, unbiased, accurate, and relevant
to the problem at hand if they are to be useful to the manager. Good managers
rely on this information to make decisions that are based on the realities of the
marketplace, not their opinions or conjectures. Decisions based on information,
however, are only as good as the information itself. 4. Requirements
1. Each paper must include a cover sheet (see the MS-Word file "COVER
SHEET". 2. Your paper should have a logical flow to it, and make use of appropriate
headings and subheadings. Follow the suggested format described in Section
5 below. 3. Any table, graphic (such as bar charts, trend lines, etc.) must be included in
an appendix at the end of the paper. 4. The text of your paper (the text only, not including Table of Contents,
References, Tables, Charts, and other appendices should be about 10~12
pages. The text must be double-spaced with font size 12 with 1 inch margin
in the MS Word format. For the whole paper, limit the length within 15 pages
(not including the cover page). 5. Be sure to acknowledge the source of all information from outside sources in
the text (e.g., “According to Wards’ Automotive News, December 2002, GM
has a …”). For article citation, author name and year are required; for
example, (Smith, 2007). Also be sure to have a list of references (i.e. URL is
required for online reference) at the end of your paper. Use of information
from outside sources that is not attributed will be considered plagiarism. The
consequences of academic dishonesty will result in getting a failing grade in
this course. 2 6. Quotations must correspond exactly with the original in wording, spelling, and
punctuation. Page numbers must be given. Changes must be indicated: use
brackets to identify insertions; use ellipsis dots (…) to show omissions. Also
indicate where emphasis has been added. Only lengthy quotations (more
than 50 words) should be separated from the text; such quotations must be
double-spaced and indented at the left margin. References to authors in the
text must exactly match those in the Reference/Bibliography section. 7. Tables must be designed to fit comfortably on a page. For tables, use the
‘create table’ feature in MS-Word. Each table must have a title and be
numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers. Do not abbreviate in column
headings, etc. For example, spell out "percent"; do not use the percent sign.
Place a zero in front of the decimal point in all decimal fractions (i.e., 0.357,
not .357). Each table should be no more than 10 columns wide. 8. Figures should be supplied as high quality. Figures should be produced in
black and white. Tints and complex shading should be avoided. Figures must
have a title and be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers. 9. References should be prepared in general accordance with the APA
(American Psychological Association). The references themselves should be
in 10 point font and formatted as a left margin indented with the first line
realigned with the left margin. Below are some examples of different citations.
Citing a Journal Article
Carland, J.W., F. Hoy, W.R. Boulton & J.A. Carland (1984). Differentiating entrepreneurs
from small business owners. Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 354-359.
Citing an Online Journal Article
Fredrickson, B.L. (2000). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being.
Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from
http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html
Citing a Book
Carland, J.W. & J.A. Carland (1999). Small business management: Tools for success
(Second Edition). Houston, TX: Dame Publishing.
Citing an Article in a Magazine
G. Gendron & B. Burlingham (1989, April). The entrepreneur of the decade: An interview
with Steve Jobs, Inc., 114-128.
Citing an Article in a Book
Brockhaus, R. H. (1982). The psychology of the entrepreneur. In C. Kent, D. Sexton, & K.
Vesper (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship (pp. 39-57). Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall. 3 Citing an Internet Source
GVU’s 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.) Retrieved August
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/usersurveys/survey1997-10/ 8, 2000, from 10. Final versions of your paper should reach the instructor in clear and
grammatically correct English. Proof reading, before you submit the final
version, is highly recommended. Typos and grammar errors will damage your
score in grading for sure. 5. Paper Outline and Grading Weight
I. Table of Contents (1 page): 2%
II. Executive Summary (1 page): 10%
The last part you write, but which should appear first in your report, is the
Executive Summary. An Executive Summary is usually a one-page synopsis,
touching on key, insightful highlights of the report. Picture the Executive
Summary as satisfying someone’s request to "just give me the short version”.
It should contain the following two parts:
A. A brief summary of what the industry paper says. (5%)
B. Identify the common managerial strategies for profit growth applied by
existing firms and provide your own recommendation. In addition, please
comment whether a potential entrant should or should not enter this
industry now. (5%)
III. Introduction (1~2 pages): 10%
A. B.
C. D. Description. This is to be a general introduction to the particular industry.
What does the industry produce? What is SIC/NAICS code and
description? (3%)
History. A brief history. How has the organization of and the nature of
competition in the industry evolved from its earliest beginnings? (3%)
Organization. What parts of the chain of production/service do the firms
undertake themselves and what do they buy from outside suppliers or
pass on to independent distributors or retailers? (2%)
Relevant governmental or environmental factors. What role does
government play in the industry? How does (will) regulation or other
government (future) policy (e.g. reform, trade policy …etc.) affect the
industry? (2%) IV. Market Structure (1 page): 10% 4 You need to answer the following two questions precisely:
A. How can the market structure of the industry best be characterized:
perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, or monopoly?
Briefly go over the market characteristics to confirm your definition here.
(5%)
B. How many major firms (up to top four if applicable) are there in the industry
and what is their market share? A table showing the market shares in the
U.S. is required here. (5%) V. Industry Demand (1 page): 10%
A. What are the key determinants of the market demand in your chosen
industry? (5%)
B. Describe the current change (at least one) in the determinants that has
caused the demand change. (5%)
You may want to think about the following factors: population and demographic
changes, new regulation (reform), income and wealth trends, consumer tastes
and preferences, prices of substitutes and complements in consumption,
introduction of new substitutes or complements in consumption, expectations
about the future prices of this particular good/service. VI. Cost Structure (1 page): 10%
You need to answer the following two questions precisely:
A. What are the key determinants of an existing firm’s (1) fixed costs and (2)
variable costs in the short-run? (5%)
B. What is the shape of the existing firm’s (1) average cost cure and (2)
marginal cost curve (i.e. U-shaped or L-shaped)? A graph illustration here
will be a plus. (5%) VII. SWOT Analysis (1~2 page): 15%
SWOT analysis is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a business venture. A
SWOT analysis involves specifying the objective (i.e. profit growth) of the
business venture and identifying the internal and external factors that are
favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. Setting the objective
should be done after the SWOT analysis has been performed. This would allow
achievable goals or objectives to be set for the organization. 5 Please choose one of the top 4 firms in the industry to analyze the firm’s
objective of profit growth: Strengths: characteristics of the firm that give it an advantage over others
Weaknesses: are characteristics that the firm at a disadvantage relative to
others
Opportunities: external chances to improve performance (e.g. make greater
profits) in the environment
Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for
the firm A. Please summarize the analysis in a SWOT matrix. (10%) The following
matrix serves as an example: B. Highlight one section in the SWOT matrix to provide your recommendation
briefly. (5%) VIII. Analysis of Competitive Forces (Porter’s five forces) (2 pages): 20%
Please consider each of the following five forces for the industry. In the
beginning of each force, please highlight the force as “strong”, “moderate” or
“weak”.
6 A. The threat of entry by new competitors (4%)
For example, those industries with high entry barriers, such as
pharmaceutical manufacturing, will have fewer firms entering. With fewer
firms, there is less environmental complexity, and it is easier for one firm to
begin to dominate the industry. Economic rents are usually higher in such
an environment and entry becomes more attractive. For industries with a
low barrier to entry, such as the physician service, new service providers
come and go with great rapidity. This prevents dominance by any one, or a
few, firms. Economic rents are usually low.
B. The intensity of rivalry among existing competitors (4%)
What are the current top firms and their market shares in the U.S.? How
they compete (i.e. price or quality)? Any alliance or particular strategy is
practiced now for competition? An industry characterized by high rivalry is
unattractive because it limits the ability to achieve above normal economic
rents. At the other extreme, industries with no rivalry are usually dominated
by a few major firms which could limit strategic flexibility.
C. Pressure from substitute products (4%)
Are the industry’s products/services differentiated and, if so, according to
what characteristics (design, function, price range, geographic market,
etc.)? How innovative is the industry, and what are the sources of
innovation? An industry will be attractive if there is no threat from substitute
products. A substitute is any product or service that will fulfill the same need
while using a different technology. The relevance is that substitutes can
render obsolete the present capital investment of the industry.
D. The bargaining power of buyers (4%)
First, determine who the buyers are. What are the channels of distribution
for the industry? Do not only consider the ultimate consumers unless there
are no intermediaries. Identify significant macro-environmental trends, such
as changes in customer demographics, needs, wants, lifestyle, etc. that
have/will positively/negatively affect the industry. Do buyers have strong
power over firms to negotiate price in this industry? How the power is
exercised?
E. The bargaining power of suppliers (4%)
What are the markets for inputs (labor, machinery, capital, raw materials,
etc.) like? While we were concerned about threats in the "entrants" section,
here we are concerned with power. Do suppliers have power over firms in 7 this industry? The first step is to determine what this industry purchases.
Not in detail, but as a generalization. Focus on suppliers of key items that
firms in this industry must have. Would firms have access to labor on
favorable terms? Does this industry have unions? If so, they limit access to
labor and usually increase costs. Do firms in this industry require highly
skilled knowledge workers? How is the present labor market for this
industry? IX. Conclusion (1 page): 10%
Your analysis should lead you to reasonable conclusions. You have, by
now, discovered a number of factors. State what you consider to be the
opportunities and threats for this industry. Support your final argument as
to whether this industry will be more profitable; or, what managerial
strategies of profit growth for existing firms should be most effective. Make
sure that conclusion/recommendation and executive summary are
consistent. Do not just repeat the sentences in the previous sections. X. References: 3%
Please list the references that you cite, but also a listing of the material that
contributed to your body of knowledge. XI. Appendices (Optional)
Here you might put your tables, charts, or anything else that you think is
important to an understanding of this industry. 8