Archive for category: Business paper

A U.S. fishing boat manufacturer is known throughout the United States for its innovative approach to product design, lean manufacturing, and responsive customer service since its start three years ago.

U.S. fishing boat manufacturer is known throughout the United States

CASE STUDY: C714v2 and D081

A U.S. fishing boat manufacturer is known throughout the United States for its innovative approach to product design, lean manufacturing, and responsive customer service since its start three years ago. The mission statement of the company is “We will provide the most innovative customer-driven design and growth in the industry.” The founders’ ideals for the company are described in the vision statement: “We will be the most sustainable company in the industry.” The company’s ethical statement that guides all conduct and decision-making is “We will make decisions that are sustainable for customers and the environment.”

The company’s founders have created an organizational culture of innovation. They have provided incentives for employees’ creative ideas and created testing laboratories where customers use the products and provide design feedback. The founders have also invited innovators in other industries, such as gaming and information technology, to improve on the designs. The founders have cultivated a company culture in which employees and founders are considered equal partners. All company decisions are evaluated by all employees to ensure that everyone is committed to the decisions.

The company has identified an emerging global market opportunity in India for its products.

Successful sales in India could represent a critical moment for the company if the company establishes strategic partnerships that will increase the likelihood of product success. The founders hope to capture profits and market share and expand into other parts of Asia within the first year of selling products in India.

Research indicates market potential for the company’s sales in India because of the importance of the fishing industry in the country. Fishing and also aquaculture are primary industries in the coastal regions of India. Economic zones have been established to support the over 14 million people who are an important part of the fishing industry. This industry makes up 1% of the nation’s gross domestic product and 7% of global fish exports (Hanko Hackberry Group, n.d.).

The company’s goal of the market expansion into India is to be the first foldable fishing boat manufacturer reaching the country. An origami-inspired foldable fishing boat is the company’s most popular product. This boat comes designed as a plastic carrying case that unfolds into the water like an origami paper boat. This boat is suitable for uses in calm water, and the boat can be recycled. The product retails for U.S.$200.

Traditional fishers use nonmechanized boats, which would be ideal for the foldable boat’s entry into the market.

Laws and regulations surrounding the use of nonmechanized boats favor importing foldable boats, which would be easy for fishers to carry from home to the water. The business climate in India is open to new partnerships to improve the fishing experience for those who preserve the natural ecosystem with nonmotorized boats. The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) also promotes the use of natural fishing equipment to reduce disruption to the fishing ecosystem in India (National Fisheries Development Board, n.d.).

The U.S. boat manufacturer’s founders met with the NFDB to request an endorsement for their foldable boats because of the product’s sustainable design and net-zero environmental impact.

This endeavor would require the U.S. company to make a significant investment in India.

The company would need to purchase or build a manufacturing facility, or it would need to contract with a facility owner to secure a manufacturing location. It would need to employ Indian workers. Lastly, the company would have to manufacture a new foldable boat made from used plastics in India with an environmentally friendly waterproof coating.

The new foldable boat could be design ed in several ways, and the company would need to test a series of paper products and waterproof coatings to determine which would be suitable for fishers in India. The fishers range in age from 13 to 70, so the design would need to be comfortable and portable enough for all fishers in this target group.

The company decides to hire Indian fishers to help design the product to reach this market. These fishers will provide qualitative, conversations and also data that will be valuable in communicating the product’s features and benefits to other fishers. The product will be test by a variety of fishers that represent different sectors of the fishing industry, different regions, and also different cultural segments. Additionally, testing will provide generalizable, qualitative data about the product use and effectiveness.

This is a paper that is focusing on the company research part 2 project assignment paper. The paper also provides additional information to use in writing this assignment paper clearly.

The company research part 2 project assignment paper

Part 2: Company Research. (3-4 pages, double-spaced)
A.        Firstly, conduct some company research on three hospitality companies that you know little or nothing about. Name each company, and describe the following for each:
1.        Secondly, why you chose the company
2.        Thirdly, mission statement. This should be in quotes.
3.        Fourthly, what does this company do?
4.        Career and employment information: what are some available jobs at the company? Be specific: find real job postings at real sites. Do not copy the job postings; just list a few of the job titles and their locations.
5.        Brands or types of properties, if it is a chain. If it is a company that is part of a larger company, identify the parent company.
B.            Of the companies you researched, which one would you be more interested in working for and why?
C.            Works cited

Project Requirements
Submit each section in ulearn by the due date/time.
Project must be word-processed and double-spaced using 10-12 point font.
Each project section must include a cover page or a header that includes your name and the date.
MLA (Modern Language Association) format must be used. Johnson & Wales University uses the MLA style for research papers and reference citations.
You must include a works cited page whenever you submit writing based on information you received from another source.

Evaluation will be based on:
Quality and depth of research conducted.
Content of information presented.
Quality of writing (spelling, grammar, sentence construction).
Presentation and layout.
Proper citations and MLA format.

Ensure that you follow the instructions provided keenly. Marking of the assignment is on how you do the task and how you submit the assignment too. In case of any question feel free to ask your instructor for more guidelines before doing the assignment.

The last unit focused on Strategic Planning, specifically executive decisions and Board of Director decisions about Capital Structure, Dividends, Stock Splits and Share Repurchases.

The last unit focused on Strategic Planning

Chapter 16 Assignment Working Capital Management                              due 10/20/20
The last unit focused on Strategic Planning, specifically executive decisions and Board of Director decisions about Capital Structure, Dividends, Stock Splits and Share Repurchases.

This unit focuses on shorter term financial operations.  Working Capital Management and Financial Planning are issues that confront a Controller, a Treasurer and a CFO in a large corporation but not the Board of Directors.
These same issues confront a sole proprietor and are the basis of success or failure in a business.

Please practice the computations in the Chapter while you read it. Be sure to learn the key terms.
Learn the following Key Terms ST-1, a,e,f,h,I,j,l,m.  Don’t copy the definitions from anywhere.  Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words and writing them down as if they were your own.  It’s unethical just like cheating.  USE YOUR OWN WORDS
Write them out and save them to study for the next exam. Remember how important the key terms were on the first exam?
As a review: What happens to cash:

If the firm issues stock?
If the firm buys new equipment?
Also, if the firm reports a large loss for the year?
Finally, if the firm increases dividends?

Answer questions 16-2, 16-5, 16-7. 16-9 and 16-10.  Don’t copy.
Do problems 16-1, 16-2 and 16-3 and show all work.  I believe these are the same in the old edition and the new edition.
Let me help you with the problems.

In 16-1 part 1, you calculate the Inventory Conversion Period, the Average Collection Period (also called Days Sales Outstanding) and the Payables Deferral Period to get the CCC.  In part 2, you do the whole CCC again with the changes.  For example, if Inventory was posted as $2,000,000 on the balance sheet, a 10% decrease in inventory gives us $1,800,000 worth of inventory.  Having less inventory saves us money.  Reduce A/R by 10%.

(You calculate it) That will also save money, then increase the A/P (Accounts Payable) by 10% so A/P will be $1,100,000; this will also save money.  In part 3, you figure out how much cash would be freed up by these changes.  Calculate this for Inventory, Receivables and Payables.  Add it all together and you get the $ freed up.   Since the CCC in part 2 is lower than part 1, we save money.  How does this affect pre-tax profits?
Answer: Pre-tax profits will go up.

How much will it go up?
In 16-2, first calculate DSO (Days Sales Outstanding also called ACP Average Collection Period) with the current level of sales and accounts receivable.  Then, we are told that if the business-to-business customers pay on time the DSO will be 30 days.  Calculate A/R with this new DSO (remember that sales stay the same.)  This A/R is much lower than the original A/R, so the firm will be saving a lot of money if business-to- business (B2B) customers all paid on time.

The last part is: How much money is saved?
Answer: the original A/R minus the new A/R.  Now, assume they borrowed the money to finance Accounts Receivable.  How much will be saved?  They save the interest on the borrowing.

16-3 is important because you learn how to calculate the cost of credit and the cost of loans.  Let’s take it piece by piece.  For the first part, use equation 16-6.  We know that the Discount is 3%.  Put 3 in the numerator not .03, OK?  In the denominator, we need 100-3.  That’s equal to 97.  For the next part: the numerator is 365 but the tricky part is the denominator.  That requires some thinking.  They offered 60 days of credit, but we only took 5 days, so you put 60 minus 5 equals 55 as the denominator.
Now, let’s see if you can make a financial management decision.

Compare the cost of trade credit to the cost of a bank loan.  Let just say the bank loan is 10%.  What should they do?   SHOULD THEY BORROW MONEY FROM THE BANK SO THEY CAN PAY 5 DAYS EARLY AND GET THE DISCOUNT OR SHOULD THEY USE THE SUPPLIER’S TRADE CREDIT AND PAY IN 60 DAYS?

Choose a low-cost carrier (LCC). From your research, determine if your selected airline closely follows the archetypal LCC business model or is more of a hybrid carrier incorporating aspects of both the LCC

Choose a low-cost carrier (LCC)

The two polar opposite airline business models are low-cost (LCC) and full-service network carrier (FSNC). The objective of this assignment is to deepen your understanding of production costs, specifically how various airline business models affect the cost of operation.

For this assignment, you will duplicate a small portion of the research presented in Klophaus, R., Conradly, R., & Fichert, F. (2012). Attached, please use citations from this study.

Assignment

Choose a low-cost carrier (LCC). From your research, determine if your selected airline closely follows the archetypal LCC business model or is more of a hybrid carrier incorporating aspects of both the LCC and FSNC business models. Klophaus et al. (2012) utilize several criteria that characterize the LCC business model. Table 1 below includes these and more criteria obtained from other sources. While you do not need to utilize all of these criteria in your analysis, you should employ all for which information is available from authoritative sources.

After the introduction, concisely compare and contrast the two business models.

For each of the selected criteria, explain how you have assessed your airline on a simple scale of your choice. Be certain to cite the source of the information and data. Then summarize your findings in a form similar to Table 2 in Klophaus et al. (2012). Much of the required information for the assessment, such as fleet composition, route structure, product offering, etc. will be available on the airline’s website. Aircraft cabin configuration is available at Seat Guru. (Links to an external site.) Another excellent source of information is the CAPA Centre for Aviation. Some information is available only to members, but much is free. Wikipedia may also be used for this assignment. Finally, articles in Air Transport World and Airline Business (both available in the Hunt Library ProQuest database) may be helpful. Of course, you may also use any other authoritative sources you find helpful.

Next, use the data in the Airline Monitor: Traffic, Fleet & Financial Data for 82 Leading Airlines of the World (Airline Monitor is a Hunt Library research database) to compare your chosen airline with a competing comprehensive network carrier.

For example, if you chose Ryanair, British Airways or Lufthansa are competing network carriers. Compare the CASM. The LCC should have significantly lower CASM (otherwise it is not a low-cost carrier). Compare yield, a measure of average price, to determine whether the airline offers lower prices to compete with the FSNC. Other statistics that can be used in the comparison are load factor, utilization, and trip length. If you wish to compare by size or scale of the airlines, ASM, RPM, and departures are appropriate metrics. Be certain that you understand the definition and computation of each statistic. Several online glossaries are available.

In your conclusion, review your research findings. Did you find that your chosen airline closely follows the archetypal LCC business model or is more of a hybrid carrier incorporating aspects of both the LCC and FSMC business models?

Table 1. Low-cost carrier business model characteristics

Primarily point-to-point operations (offering no connections).
Serving short-haul routes, often to/from regional or secondary airports (some major cities are served by more than one airport. Midway Airport, for example, is a secondary airport for Chicago).
High aircraft utilization rates with short turnaround times between operations.
A fleet consisting of a single aircraft type (There are several models of the A-320 and B-737, but all are the same type).
Single class of service with high-density seating.
No (or limited) customer loyalty programs.
Limited passenger services with additional charges for some services (e.g. onboard catering).
A strong focus on price sensitive traffic, mostly leisure passengers.
Low average fares with a strong focus on price competition.
A very high proportion of bookings made through the Interne…

This is a paper that is focusing on the three hospitality companies company research conduct. The paper also provides additional information to use in writing this assignment paper clearly.

Three hospitality companies company research conduct

Part 2: Company Research. (3-4 pages, double-spaced)
A.        Firstly, conduct some company research on three hospitality companies that you know little or nothing about. Name each company, and describe the following for each:
1.        Secondly, why you chose the company
2.        Thirdly, mission statement. This should be in quotes.
3.        Fourthly, what does this company do?
4.        Career and employment information: what are some available jobs at the company? Be specific: find real job postings at real sites. Do not copy the job postings; just list a few of the job titles and their locations.
5.        Brands or types of properties, if it is a chain. If it is a company that is part of a larger company, identify the parent company.
B.            Of the companies you researched, which one would you be more interested in working for and why?
C.            Works cited

Project Requirements
Submit each section in ulearn by the due date/time.
Project must be word-processed and double-spaced using 10-12 point font.
Each project section must include a cover page or a header that includes your name and the date.
MLA (Modern Language Association) format must be used. Johnson & Wales University uses the MLA style for research papers and reference citations.
You must include a works cited page whenever you submit writing based on information you received from another source.

Evaluation will be based on:
Quality and depth of research conducted.
Content of information presented.
Quality of writing (spelling, grammar, sentence construction).
Presentation and layout.
Proper citations and MLA format.

Ensure that you follow the instructions provided keenly. Marking of the assignment is on how you do the task and how you submit the assignment too. In case of any question feel free to ask your instructor for more guidelines before doing the assignment.