I ENJOY reading the Atlanta Fed’s macroblog. Most of the time what draws me is the analysis—of labour markets, macro conditions generally, that sort of thing. Lately, however, it has become useful as a source of insight into the mindset of the inflation-averse central banker, thanks to a some recent writing by the Atlanta Fed’s [...]
Please give me Businesses which are related to Information Systems. It would be great if i could apply it to a case study or feasibility study. Thanks. Any help will be much appreciated. NO JOKES PLEASE
Is this meaningful? Or just another movement?
View full post on Fool.com: The Motley Fool
Please note carefully the task you are being assigned, and also the circumstances.
You should not repeat or summarize the information given in the case description, since
the person you’re writing to obviously knows all about it already — in fact she’s the one
who told it to you. Just focus on giving her advice about what to do now.
Note also that this is an external report — that is, you are not part of the firm but are an outside consultant who has been called in to help.
MOUNTAINSIDE INDUSTRIES
Mrs. R. K. Hill, owner of Mountainside Industries, has called you in as a consultant. Believing that tighter coordination among the divisions of her company was necessary, she created the post of general manager a year ago and hired Don Henson, an experienced accountant, to fill it. Things have not worked out well, however, and she is now seeking your advice.
After studying the situation, you have come up with the following information. Write her a report — accompanied by a letter of transmittal — advising her about what to do now.
When Don Henson came to Mountainside Industries a year ago, he understood that his assignment was to bring about tighter coordination among its four divisions. The company had earlier experienced great success, but in recent years competition has become much more serious, and now Mrs. Hill, the owner, recognizes that the company must make its operations more efficient if it is to survive.
Presently in its 37th year, Mountainside Industries is the result of mergers among four originally separate small cottage industries — candy, toys, crafts, and furniture — in four widely dispersed Appalachian mountain locations. Using the philosophy of a “benevolent owner,” Mrs. Hill originally allowed each of them to continue to operate pretty much as it did before the merger. Within the last few years, however, she has found that two of the divisions (crafts and furniture) have repeatedly placed large orders with the same supplier without each other’s knowledge and thereby failed to take advantage of quantity discounts, and that the candy and toy divisions have been duplicating their marketing efforts and failing to use some obvious opportunities for combining their products. Mr. Henson’s job was to correct these and similar problems.
Mrs. Hill notified the divisions about Mr. Henson’s appointment but then left the work to him, without interference. After making initial visits to each of the divisions, he communicated thereafter by letter and telephone. Since he noticed, as Mrs. Hill had told him he would, that major purchases were being made without central coordination, he quickly instituted a policy requiring each divisional purchasing office to submit all purchase orders for $1,000 or more to him for approval before sending them to vendors. His letter to the divisions explained the reasons for the new procedure.
At the end of the first year, however, his office had not received any purchase orders at all. Investigation showed that many in excess of $1,000 had in fact been issued all along during the year.
This is the point at which Mr. Henson came back to Mrs. Hill for advice about how to get cooperation from his subordinates.
IT’S been a long time coming, but America’s housing market finally seems to be normalising. Construction has been so low since the beginning of the bust that many markets are experiencing increasingly tight conditions. That’s supporting rent increases, and that, in turn, is putting a floor under home values and leading to an uptick in construction. The question is: how large an uptick?
Builder confidence has risen sharply in recent months and, as Calculated Risk points out, that typically presages a surge in construction:
A construction-oriented phase of recovery would be most welcome now given the shaky state of export markets. But any rebound in residential investment will be bounded by the Fed’s tolerance for inflation. Indeed, as Joshua Aizenman and Menzie Chinn argue, housing might have ended its long swoon earlier had the Fed been willing to generate—or at least tolerate—a bit more inflation.
View full post on Free exchange
Finding companies that have all the right stuff can produce winners.
View full post on Fool.com: The Motley Fool
I’m working on a case study for a business class, and we are looking into A-1 Lanes. They manufacture the wooden lanes for bowling alleys. Everything in the case makes it seem like this is a real company, but searching the web for the company is no help, other than having links about the case itself. Is this an actual company? Do they have a website or any information available anywhere? It seems like they are based out of Nacogdoches, TX, but I can’t find any information about them anywhere.
EVEN symbols of national pride face the forces of globalisation. Long-time Australian staple Vegemite is struggling. Any foreigner who has spent time in Australia or Britain (home of close cousin Marmite) has probably encountered the savoury spread and recoiled. It seems strange, and even second generation immigrants have a similar reaction.
At Artamon Public School on Sydney’s North Shore, where about half the children are of Asian origin, Vegemite is losing the battle for the young taste buds of increasingly worldly pupils. Kids in the school’s cafeteria shun Vegemite sandwiches for new delicacies like “Want Want” rice crackers, Singapore noodles and honey-soy chicken, said mother-of-three Margaret Heppell and volunteer school cafeteria manager, who served 20,000 meals to kids last year. “If you didn’t have Vegemite as a child yourself, I can’t imagine you would feed it to your own children.”
To combat lagging sales Vegemite first tried tinkering with the product to appeal to a larger audience. But like many well-loved brands who altered their original formula, that wasn’t so successful. Now Vegemite is embracing globalisation by marketing to Australians abroad. It may also want to follow Marmite’s lead—playing up the nostalgia factor on social media.
Or, the by-product of beer brewing with a disturbingly long shelf-life might try to appeal to an up-market global audience (go long on the idea that foodies will eat anything declared trendy):
For some people, Vegemite’s strong flavor offers a uniquely Australian gastronomic opportunity. Chase Kojima, the San Francisco-born chef at Sydney’s Sokyo Restaurant, pairs Moreton Bay bugs—a type of flathead lobster—with burnt butter mayonnaise, passion fruit jelly and Vegemite croutons.
“Being from the U.S., I didn’t understand Vegemite at first. After experimenting with it in my cooking, I can now appreciate the flavor,” said the 29-year-old chef. “It has similarities with umami flavors, very much like miso in Japanese cooking.”
This may be the make or break moment for Vegemite. Globalisation often means that local products fade into obscurity, if they’re inferior, or go big abroad, if there’s a market.
View full post on Free exchange
insights and google places setup Case study
View full post on Fool.com: The Motley Fool
