Case 2.2 Long-term development plans of a German multinational in the USA

A German firm had developed its activities in the electrical industry in the USA for two years and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Hansen was happy with their current performance: market share for important products had increased significantly and progress was better than expected. The number of employees had increased, including quite a few local American managers in high-level management positions – a situation which was rather unusual for a subsidiary of a German multinational in its early stage of development. The CEO’s goal from the beginning was to avoid an ethnocentric approach to the American activities of his firm and to take a polycentric approach that supported recruitment of local managers.

One of these US local managers was John Miller, the marketing director of the company. During the last two years, he had been thoroughly prepared for his job. The company had sent him to various high-level training programs at top business schools and had provided him with a long-term career plan, which included short-term vertical career advancement. While Peter Hansen wanted to support the development of an American manage- ment style, he nevertheless tried to transfer some HR practices which are highly valued in Germany – particularly investing in training and taking a long-term intraorganizational career perspective. While some US firms took this approach, these ideas were not as widely accepted in the USA as in Germany. However, Peter Hansen assumed that these policies would be valued by the new US employees of the firm and would provide an important incen- tive for employee retention.

One morning, Peter Hansen was shocked to learn that John Miller was about to quit his job. A competitor had offered John a challenging position – in large part because he had systematically built up his knowledge and experience base, supported by his German employer. How can you interpret Peter Hansen’s surprise from a cultural point of view?

Discussion Questions:

1Relate the described situation to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. Can you explain Peter Hansen’s surprise using this theory?

2How does this situation compare to comparable situations in your home country? What are the limits of a cultural explanation?

1. Case 2.3 Female careers in various environments

Elisabeth Harstad was employed as a trainee at the Norwegian risk management consultancy DNV when she realized that being a woman was a barrier. Although trainees were supposed to go abroad, the company had problems finding a job for Elisabeth in a foreign subsidiary: “I wanted to go to London, Houston, or Singapore. In the end I managed to get an international assignment from Oslo to Copenhagen”.

This was in the 1980s. However, Elisabeth Harstad did not give up and energetically pursued her career. She is now the manager of the research and innovation unit at DNV, and since 2006 a member of the board of directors of the large Norwegian chemical company Yara. When the new members of the board of directors were elected, for the first time it was an advantage for Elisabeth to be a woman. Since 2008, Norwegian companies are required by law to have 40 per cent female members of their board of directors. Thus, Elizabeth is part of an experiment – if women do not make it to the top on their own, politics support this process in Norway.

Discussion Questions:

1Relate the situation in Norway to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. How can you explain it?

2Can the rules for quotas of female managers be applied in other countries as well? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

2. IHRM in Action Case 2.4 Meeting on a Friday in Kenya?

Our building company had finished an important project concerning a new major road in Kenya. However, the company had not been paid for all of the completed work. The managing director of the Kenyan subsidiary of the building corporation organized a meeting with a representative of the relevant Kenyan government agency.

The meeting started and the representative was very polite and friendly. However, at the same time he also seemed to be quite nervous. Every few minutes he received a telephone call or had to initiate a telephone call himself. All tele- phone discussions were carried out in the local language. Despite the interruptions, I tried to explain the reason for my visit – the outstanding account balance. Of course, the government representative apologized for every interruption. However, after 15 minutes we were both very tense because the conversation had not advanced at all.

Eventually I said that I was sorry that my counterpart had so much to do and asked for another meeting next Tuesday. Instantly the government representative was relaxed again and happily confirmed the new meeting. Now he could finally concentrate on the preparation and organization of his big family meeting that weekend, which is typical for large Kenyan families.

Discussion Questions:

1Relate the described situation to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. How can you explain it?

2How does this situation compare to comparable situations in your home country? What are the limits of acultural explanation?

3. Case 5.1 International headhunting

Peculiarities occur in the selection process when external service providers are assigned to undertake the search for international managers and are involved in the subsequent selection. Whereas in the scientific literature there are hardly any discussions or ideas presented addressing this topic, in practice headhunting is a commonly used method to fill international positions. According to Hewitt’s HR Outsourcing Survey, which includes more than 100 US companies, these companies pursue four central aims with the transfer of most (national and international) HR activities to external service providers. Accordingly, most of the companies surveyed (65 per cent) indicated they want to reduce costs by outsourcing activities. Furthermore, access to external expertise is attractive to many companies, as well as improved service quality and the possibility to more intensively direct internal resources to strategic HRM. With reference to outsourcing IHRM, the survey reveals that 43 per cent of the companies revert to the expertise of external service providers for expatriate management matters and 56 per cent in repatriation issues; 3 to 4 per cent of the companies even plan to outsource these areas in the near future. Concerning recruiting, 10 per cent of the companies surveyed indicated that they already assigned their recruiting to external service providers; an additional 6 per cent definitely plan to outsource their recruiting. As there are no explicit figures available, one can only speculate how many firms make use of outsourcing for their international employee selection as well. However, the specialization of numerous headhunting agencies and management consultancies in the area of IHRM and executive search for international managers indicates a high demand in these areas.

An example is the management consultancy ABC Asian Business Consultants from South Korea. Not only does it support companies from different branches in the search and selection of qualified managers, it also assists firms in organizing international management training or international career planning. Currently, seven employees and 15 trainers work on international projects at the company’s offices in Korea, China, India, and Germany. Every year, about 15 employee-selection projects are completed by ABC Asian Business Consul- tants. Headhunting selection criteria and job profiles are adjusted to the needs of the recruiting company and the requirements of the vacant position. Due to the high degree of candidates’ qualifications and confidentiality of information, the selection process is very complex. First of all, potential candidates must be identified and personally contacted. Alternative forms of HR Marketing (for example, activities involving Internet-based plat- forms or social networks) are not used because of the need for confidentiality. Often, a cover story is used to identify qualified candidates, seek further information and evaluate interest. Before the first contact between the candidate and the recruiting company takes place, the candidate’s curriculum vitae is evaluated, followed by two interviews with representatives of ABC Asian Business Consultants. Interviews via software programs such as ICQ, Skype or Windows Live Messenger may be used occasionally to bridge long distances and to conduct the interviews without national or international relocation. Based on the protocols of the interviews and the application forms, a short report on every candidate is compiled and a shortlist of the most qualified candi- dates is presented to the recruiting company. Ultimately, final interviews with the candidates are conducted by employees of the recruiting company, before a final decision on the filling of the international position is reached. The whole selection process may cover a period of several months. Occasionally, international assessment centers are organized using different methods such as individual presentations, role play, or presentations to the board of directors.

Based on his past experience, Dr Ulrich Hann, owner and Chief Executive Officer of ABC Asian Business Consultants, can identify cultural differences and differences in the qualifications of candidates from diverse inter- national backgrounds. Differences depending on the respective nationality appear, for example, in the personal contact during the selection interviews. There are also differences regarding the professional qualifications and skills of candidates. Many Indian candidates have a very high level of qualifications in natural sciences, while there is a strong demand for German candidates with a degree in mechanical engineering.

There are particular challenges for HR consultants in a dynamic international environment. Dr Hann notes: “Similar to the requirements for the candidates, the requirements and criteria for a qualified HR consultant in the international business environment are also high”. Notably, multilingualism is important to understand the needs of the customers and those of the candidates. In addition to a professional qualification, entrepreneurial thinking as well as international work experience are essential requirements to find a position in a recruiting company as an external service provider for IHR.

4. IHRM in Action Case 5.2 Role playing: Intercultural competence 

You have been assigned to Mexico for a two-year international assignment. Your task is to support the development of a new subsidiary. During the first weeks of your stay in Mexico you experience again and again that your Mexican employees as well as your suppliers and customers are never on time. Now you are sitting in a restaurant and waiting for the Sales Director of one of your Mexican suppliers. Your meeting was at 12.30, but it is already 13.00 and the person you were waiting for has not shown up. As you have another appointment at 13.30 you ask for the bill, still hungry! Exactly at this moment the Sales Director shows up – half an hour late. How do you react? What reaction do you expect from your Mexican partner? Which reactions would be interculturally competent and which would not be?

5. IHRM in Action Case 6.1 A rainy expatriate performance appraisal Richard Hoffman,

a Québécois chemical engineer working for a Canadian-based energy firm, was given a three- year expatriate assignment in Venezuela as a technical liaison and environmental protection project manager. His local project supervisor was Jean, a French engineer who had lived in French Guiana and then Venezuela for over 20 years. Richard thought that, as a Francophone from Quebec, he and Jean would be able to build a quick working relationship. Rich sent Jean an early email (in French, and not the usual corporate English) containing what he thought of as the five most significant goals associated with his assignment – similar to the management- by-objectives section of the more or less standard performance appraisal forms he had filled out for years during earlier assignments in Edmonton, Toronto and at corporate headquarters in Montreal. After several months with no response from Jean, Richard caught Jean in the hallway between meetings and asked him about the email and his progress to date. “Don’t worry about that”, Jean responded blandly. “Just keep working to the deadlines and I will check with your co-workers and the other project managers on your work. Where did you go to engineering school, by the way?”. Richard waited another six months and was becoming increasingly anxious as the firm’s annual review week approached. He finally caught up with Jean on a rainy Friday in the lobby of the office building as they both waited for their drivers to arrive. When asked about the upcoming performance review, Jean snorted and said, “C’est tout fini, it’s all been taken care of. Make an appointment with my assistant, Louisa, next week and we can go over the report we have sent to Montreal”. As Jean stepped gingerly into the rainy Caracas parking lot, Richard thought back to the last few weeks with his team, the sometimes loud disagreements with his fellow project managers, and wondered if it was too late in the day to call his old supervisor in Toronto.

Excel Project 3 – MS Excel (Fall 2018)

Use the project description HERE to complete this activity. For a review of the complete rubric used in grading this exercise, click on the Assignments tab, then on the title Excel Project #3. Click on Show Rubrics if the rubric is not already displayed.

Summary

Create a Microsoft Excel file with four worksheets that provides extensive use of Excel capabilities for charting. The charts will be copied into a Microsoft PowerPoint file and the student will develop appropriate findings and recommendations based on analysis of the data.

A large rental car company has two metropolitan locations, one at the airport and another centrally located in downtown. It has been operating since 2015 and each location summarizes its car rental revenue quarterly. Both locations rent four classes of cars: economy, premium, hybrid, SUV. Rental revenue is maintained separately for the four classes of rental vehicles.

The data for this case resides in the file fall2018rentalcars.txt and can be downloaded by clicking on the Assignments tab, then on the data tile name. It is a text file (with the file type .txt).

Do not create your own data, you must use the data provided and only the data provided.

Default Formatting. All labels, text, and numbers will be Arial 10, There will be $ and comma and decimal point variations for numeric data, but Arial 10 will be the default font and font size.

Step Requirement Comments 1 Open Excel and save a blank workbook with the following name: a. “Student’s First InitialLast Name Excel Project 3” Example: JSmith Excel Project 3 b. Set Page Layout Orientation to Landscape Use Print Preview to review how the first worksheet would print. 2 Change the name of the worksheet to Analysis by. 3 In the Analysis by worksheet: a. Beginning in Row 1, enter the four labels in column A (one label per row) in the following order: Name:, Class/Section:, Project:, Date Due: b. Place a blank row between each label. Please note the colon : after each label. c. Align the labels to the right side in the cells It may be necessary to adjust the column width so the four labels are clearly visible within Column C (not extending into Column D). Format for text in column A: • Arial 10 point • Normal font • Right-align all four labels in the cells

Step Requirement Comments 4 In the Analysis by worksheet with all entries in column C: a. Enter the appropriate values for your Name, Class and Section, Project, Date Due across from the appropriate label in column A. b. Use the formatting in the Comments column (to the right). It may be necessary to adjust the column width so the four labels are clearly visible within Column C (not extending into Column D). Format for text in column C: • Arial 10 point • Bold • Left-align all four values in the cells 5 a. Create four new worksheets: Data, Slide 2, Slide 3, Filter Analysis. Upon completion, there must be the Analysis by worksheet as well as the four newly created worksheets. b. Delete any other worksheets. 6 After clicking on the blank cell A1 (to select it) in the Data worksheet: a. Import the text file fall2018rentalcars.txt into the Data worksheet. b. Adjust all column widths so there is no data or column header truncation. Though the intent is to import the text file into the Data worksheet, sometimes when text data is imported into a worksheet, a new worksheet is created. If this happens, delete the blank Data worksheet, and then rename the new worksheet which HAS the recently imported data as “Data.” It may be necessary to change Revenue data to Currency format (leading $ and thousands separators) with NO decimal points and to change NumCars data to Number format with NO decimal points, but with the comma (thousands separator) because of the import operation. This may or may not occur, but in case it does it needs to be corrected. Adjust all column widths so there is no data or column header truncation. Format for all data (field names, data text, and data numbers) • Arial 10 point. • Normal font The field names must be in the top row of the worksheet with the data directly under it in rows. This action may not be necessary as this is part of the Excel table creation process. The data must begin in Column A.. 7 In the Data worksheet: a. Create an Excel table with the recently imported data. b. Pick a style with the styles group to format the table (choose a style that shows banded rows, i.e., rows that alternate between 2 colors). c. The style must highlight the field names in the first row. These are your table headers. d. Ensure NO blank cells are part of the specified data range. e. Ensure that Header Row and Banded Rows are selected in the Table Style Options Group Box. Do NOT check the Total Row. Some adjustment may be necessary to column widths to ensure all field names and all data are readable (not truncated or obscured).

8 In the Data worksheet, a. Sort the entire table by Year (Ascending).

Step Requirement Comments b. Delete rows that contain 2016 data as well as 2017 data. Erasing or deleting only the data DOES NOT remove the rows from the Excel table. The resulting table must consist of Row 1 labels followed by 32 rows of 2015 data, with NO empty cells or rows within the table. 9 In the Data worksheet: a. Select the entire table (data and headers) using a mouse. b. Copy the table to the Slide 2, Slide 3, and Filter Analysis worksheets. For the Filter Analysis worksheet use Paste | Values so that the values are copied by the formatting of the Excel table are not copied. c. The upper left-hand corner of the header/data must be in cell A1 on Slide 2 and Slide 3 d. Format specifications from Data worksheet are required for these three worksheets. Adjust columns widths if necessary to ensure all data and field names are readable. 10 In the Slide 2 worksheet, based solely on the 2015 data: a. Create a Pivot Table that displays the total number of car rentals for each car class and the total number of car rentals for each of the four quarters of 2015. A grand total for the total number of rentals (NumCar) must also be displayed. The column labels must be the four quarters and the row labels must be the four car classes. b. Place the pivot table two rows below the data beginning at the left border of column A. Ensure that the formatting is as listed in the Comments column. c. Create a Pivot Table that displays the total number of car rentals for each location and the total number of car rentals for each of the four quarters of 2015. A grand total for the total number of rentals must also be displayed. The column labels must be the four quarters and the row labels must be the two locations. Place this pivot table two rows below the pivot table (step 10 a) beginning at the left border of column A. Ensure that the formatting is as listed in the Comments column. After the both pivot tables are created and appropriately formatted, adjust the column widths as necessary to preclude data and title and label truncation. Some of the columns will appear disproportionally large in the Excel table to preclude data and title truncation in the two pivot tables. Format (for both pivot tables): • Number format with comma separators (for thousands) • No decimal places • Arial 10 point • Normal • Right-align the Q1 through Q4 as well as Grand Total labels in both pivot tables 11 In the Slide 2 worksheet, based solely on the 2015 data: a. Using the pivot table created in Step 10 a, create a bar or column chart that displays the number of car rentals by car class for the four 2015 quarters. Both car types and quarters must be clearly visible. The charts must allow a viewer to determine approximate number or car rental by car class (first chart) and number of car

Step Requirement Comments b. Add a title that reflects the information presented by the chart. c. Position the top of the chart in row 1 and two or three columns to the right of the data table. Use this same type of bar or column chart for the remaining three charts to be created. d. Using the pivot table created in 10 c, create a bar or column chart that displays the number of car rentals by location for the four 2015 quarters. Both locations and quarters must be clearly visible. e. Add a title that reflects the information presented by the chart. f. Left-align this chart with the left side of the first chart and below it. The same type of bar or column chart must be used throughout this project. rentals by location (second chart) The top chart must have no more than sixteen bars or columns. The bottom chart must have no more than eight bars or columns. ALL FOUR (Slide 2 as well as Slide 3) charts must have the same “format.” 12 In the Slide 3 worksheet, based solely on the 2015 data: a. Create a Pivot Table that displays the total revenue for each car class and the total revenue for each of the four quarters of 2015. A grand total for the total revenue must also be displayed. The column labels must be the four quarters and the row labels must be the four car classes. b. Place the pivot table two rows below the data beginning at the left border of column A. c. Create a Pivot Table that must displays the total revenue for each location and the total revenue for each of the four quarters of 2015. A grant total for the total revenue must also be displayed. The column labels must be the four quarters and the row labels must be the two locations.. d. Place this pivot table two rows below the pivot (step 12a) table beginning at the left border of column A. After the both pivot tables are created and appropriately formatted, adjust the column widths as necessary to preclude data and title and label truncation. Some of the columns will appear disproportionally large in the Excel table to preclude data and title truncation in the two pivot tables. Format (for both pivot tables): • Currency ($) with comma separators (for thousands) • No decimal places • Arial 10 point Normal ● Right-align the Q1 through Q4 and Grand Total labels in both pivot tables 13 In the Slide 3 worksheet, based solely on the 2015 data: a. Using the pivot table created in Step 12 a, create a bar or column chart that displays the revenue from car rentals by car class for the four 2015 quarters. Ensure both car types and quarters are clearly visible. b. Add a title that reflects the information presented by the chart. c. Position the top of the chart in row 1 and two or three columns to the right of the data table. The same type of bar chart must be used throughout this project. The charts must allow a viewer to determine approximate number or car rental by car class (first chart) and number of car rentals by location (second chart) The top chart must have no more than sixteen bars or columns. The

Step Requirement Comments d. Using the pivot table created in Step 12 c, create a bar or column chart that displays the revenue from car rentals by location for the four 2015 quarters. Ensure both locations and quarters are clearly visible. e. Add a title that reflects the information presented by the chart. f. Left-align this chart with the left side of the first chart and below it. The same type of bar chart must be used throughout this project. bottom chart must have no more than eight bars or columns. ALL FOUR (Slide 2 as well as Slide 3) charts must have the same “format.”

14

In the Filter Analysis worksheet, highlight the entire non-Excel table to include the row of titles and all 32 rows of 2015 rental car data. Click Data at the top of the worksheet. Turn on filtering for all 33 rows.

15

In the Filter Analysis worksheet:

a. Select Hybrid ONLY and Quarter 1 ONLY in their respective columns.

b. Two rows below the last line of data, in the revenue and number of cars columns, calculate the sum of that column using a function using a SUM function.

c. Format the two values to match the data above in the particular column.

The two values should match the values from the previously created pivot tables.

16

a. Open a new, blank Power Point presentation file.

b. Save the Presentation using the following name: “Student’s First Initial Last Name Presentation”

Example: JSmith Presentation

17

Slides are NOT Microsoft Word documents viewed horizontally. Be brief. Full sentences are not needed. Blank space in a slide enhances the viewer experience and contributes to readability.

Slide 1:

a. Select an appropriate Design to maintain a consistent look and feel for all slides in the presentation. Blank slides with text are not acceptable.

b. This is your Title Slide.

c. Select an appropriate title and subtitle layout that clearly conveys the purpose of your presentation.

d. Name, Class/Section, and Date Due must be displayed.

No speaker notes required.

Remember, the title on your slide must convey what the presentation is about. Your Name, Class/Section, and Date Due can be used in the subtitle area.

18

Slide 2:

a. Title this slide "Number of Cars Rented in 2015"

b. Add two charts created in the Slide 2 worksheet of the Excel file

c. The charts must be the same type and equal size and be symmetrically placed on the slide. Ensure that there are no grammar or spelling errors on your chart and in your speaker notes.

Step Requirement Comments

d. A bullet or two of explanation of the charts may be included, but is not required if charts are self-explanatory.

e. Use the speaker notes feature to help you discuss the bullet points and the charts (four complete sentences minimum).

19

Slide 3:

a. Title this slide "Car Rental Revenue in 2015"

b. Add two charts, created in the Slide 3 worksheet of the Excel file.

c. The charts must be the same type and equal size and be symmetrically placed on the slide.

d. A bullet or two explanation of the charts may be included, but is not required if charts are self-explanatory.

e. Use the speaker notes feature to help you discuss the bullet points and the charts (four complete sentences minimum).

Ensure that there are no grammar or spelling errors on your chart and in your speaker notes.

20

Slide 4:

a. Title this slide "And in Conclusion….."

b. Write and add two major bullets, one for findings and one for recommendations.

c. There must be a minimum of one finding based on slide 2 and one finding based on slide 3. Findings are facts that can be deduced by analyzing the charts. What happened? Trends? Observations?

d. There must be a minimum of one recommendation based on slide 2 and one recommendation based on slide 3. Recommendations are strategies or suggestions to improve or enhance the business based on the findings above.

e. Use the speaker notes feature to help you discuss the findings and recommendations (four complete sentences minimum).

Ensure that there are no grammar or spelling errors on your chart and in your speaker notes.

21

Add a relevant graphic that enhances the recommendations and conclusions on slide 4. If a photo is used, be sure to cite the source. The source citation must be no larger than Font size of 6, so it does not distract from the content of the slide.

22

Create a footer using "Courtesy of Your Name" so that is shows on all slides including the Title Slide. The text in this footer must be on the left side of the slides IF the theme selected allows. Otherwise let the theme determine the position of this text.

Replace the words "Your Name" with your actual name.

23

Create a footer for automated Slide Numbers that appears on all slides except the Title Slide. The page number must be on the right side of the slides IF the theme selected allows. Otherwise let the theme determine the position of the page number.

Ensure that your name does appear on every slide, but the page numbers start on slide #2. This will involve slightly different steps to accomplish both.

Depending upon the theme you have chosen, the page number or your name may not appear in the lower portion of the slide. That is ok, as long as both appear somewhere on the slides.

Step Requirement Comments

24

Apply a transition scheme to all slides.

One transition scheme may be used OR different schemes for different slides

25

Apply an animation on at least one slide. The animation may be applied to text or a graphic.

TOTAL

Be sure you submit BOTH the Excel file and the PowerPoint file in the appropriate Assignment folder (Excel Project #3).

Assignment 1: LASA 2—Company Analysis Report

Review the following scenario:

Assume that you have recently been hired as the director of continuous improvement of a company. You are an outside hire with limited history of the firm and personal capital at the firm, and you are responsible for lean production, total quality management (TQM), six sigma, and best practice implementation. 

Lean production means doing more with less, such as less inventory, fewer workers, or less space. A recent trade in quality management is lean six sigma (also known as lean sigma) that integrates six sigma and lean production.

The capacity for which you were hired has existed for three years with a direct line of report to the vice-president of operations and dotted line of report to the head of information technology (IT), the chief information officer (CIO), and the director of internal controls and audit. You are the second person to fill in this position. You have a team of internal consultants; half of your team has six sigma black belt or equivalent capabilities with the remainder having a solid understanding of operations and IT. You also have a budget for two external vendor resources. 

You have taken six months to familiarize yourself with the organization and its people, mission, goals, strategy, and structure. In this time, you have also evaluated current operations. At the end of this period, you are assigned to deliver a report identifying the three most promising avenues for achieving best practices within the company. You have already been told that the company suffers from both aging and complex information systems and that your recommendation must include a major upgrade of those systems. The executive officers anticipate major investments in IT over the next several years. Your best practice implementations, coupled with new technology, must be measurable in terms of speed, quality, productivity, and efficiency or other key performance indicators that you identify in your report. 

For this assignment, you will choose a company with which you are familiar. You are encouraged to choose a company for which you currently work or have worked, but you may choose some other firm if you believe it will be a compelling analysis.

You may choose one area of the company, such as a manufacturing plant or product design, to focus on if you can make a strong case. Your recommendations should have the following features.

• Repeatable: If you “fix” three things in a manufacturing plant, you should be able to tackle the “next” three in iteration.
• Scalable: If they work in one plant, they should work in all of them.
• Replicable: Your process for improvement should be repeatable in different, disparate parts of the organization.

This is a key initiative at the “C” level, and your recommendation will reach the board of directors.

Your paper must include the following sections:

1. Strategic Overview: (1 page)
   Provide a brief description of the following elements:
   1. The company, including its products or services
   2. Marketing strategy: target market segments, value proposition, market position, and source of competitive differentiation
   3. Organizational structure
   4. Any other relevant facts
2. Analysis of the Supply Chain: (4 pages)
   Analyze the supply chain for your identified company by explaining the following key elements of the supply chain:
   1. Identify key inputs, including less tangible assets, such as human resources and information. How are these key inputs sourced, reconfigured into a product or service, and delivered to your customers?
   2. Identify the key processes that add value, and evaluate the supply chain performance relative to the competition. What are the key inputs for each process? How are these inputs processed or configured into the final offering for your customers?
   3. What is the value added at each step?
   4. What is the role of information technology and e-commerce in serving your customers?
   5. What are the key performance measures for evaluating your supply chain?
   6. Research online sources to explain how the performance on these measures compares to that of your competitors?
3. Plan to Improve Operating Processes: (3 pages)
   Create a plan for improving the performance of three specific operating processes in your company. Your plan should address the following:
   1. Identify three elements of the supply chain that you recommend as targets for improvement.
   2. State the performance improvement opportunity for each element, and indicate how it will improve process speed, quality, efficiency, and productivity.
   3. Explain what specific action or change you recommend for each supply chain element selected.
4. Explanation of the Results of Performance Improvements Regarding Product or Service: (2 pages)
   Explain the following:
   1. How will your product or service be improved as a result of these changes to the supply chain activities?
   2. How are you altering the specific features or attributes of your product or service?
   3. Why are these specific changes important to your customers?
   4. How do these changes enhance the value proposition and competitive position of your company?
   5. What lasting capabilities and improvement are you introducing into your company through these changes?
   6. How will you measure the scope and impact of your improvements? What are your key performance indicators?
5. Assessment of the Impact on Human Resources: (1–2 pages)
   Detail how your plan impacts your company’s HR and human capital strategy by explaining how the organization’s structure supports the new process configuration you are recommending. Your response should address the following questions:
   1. Are the roles and responsibilities in your organization properly defined and aligned to enable these changes? Who will perform these new/modified process activities, and what changes to their jobs do you anticipate?
   2. Is decision-making authority assigned so that the process changes you propose can be implemented and properly managed under the current structure? Who will own the process and the results? Based on the current structure, will they have the authority to make changes as necessary?
   3. Are the individuals with the right skills in place to implement these changes? If not, how will you attract the talent necessary to implement your changes? How will you retrain the existing employee base? How will you handle attrition? How will you reduce the risk of impacted protected classes?
6. Changes:
   Explain changes to the compensation and incentives at your company that are necessary to reinforce your recommendations and increase efforts for continuous improvement throughout the organization. Explain how your plan motivates employees, customers, and suppliers better.

Write an 10–12-page paper in Word format. You may rearrange the above sections if it improves the quality of your paper. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

Ashley Stukes 

     

Swift Airlines has a significant profit dilemma on their hands based on the information provided in the case study. According to the case study, SA flights traveling from Nice to London are breaking even, which indicates that the airline is gaining no profit on these routes. Rather, they are only selling enough tickets to cover the costs of that route. On returning flights, SA is earning a revenue of $14,195 by selling 87 tickets:

   

[email protected]$300

$5,400

 

[email protected]$200

$5,600

 

[email protected]$120

$1,920

 

[email protected]$65

$975

 

[email protected]$30

$300

 

87 tickets

$14,295

SA is losing $1,305 on these returning flights. The proposed idea of implementing a 48-hour ticket purchase for a new fare of $40 is productive, yet is insufficient to increase profit with the existing numbers. If SA were to implement these new tickets, selling the expected 15 tickets per flight, SA would only gain $600 in revenue which leaves a remaining $705 in losses. With the outgoing flights only breaking even, there is no profit to offset this loss of $705, therefore, as the proposed “production manager”, I feel as though this new ticket is insufficient to cut SA’s losses effectively. 

To expand, introducing this new ticket option presents a significant risk of reducing revenue even more. Business and Economy Regular tickets make up 52% of sales and 77% of the revenue for outgoing flights from London to Nice. These tickets are by far the most profitable to our company. By introducing another, cheaper option, you run the risk of reducing our most profitable tickets to replace them with less profitable options because they are cheaper. There is no guarantee that those business and economy regular customers will not be attracted by a cheaper option. What SA needs to focus on is how to increase sales of our most profitable tickets. A profitable company needs to do more than breakeven, they need to make a profit. At this current time, SA is not profitable. In order to do this successfully, lets consider the following factors:

Cost of Quality: Defined as the difference between actual costs of production, selling and after-sales service and the costs that would be incurred if there were no failures during the production and/or usage of products (Collier, 2015). Cost of quality includes conformance costs (costs incurred to achieve the specified standard of quality) and non-conformance costs (cost of internal and external failure) (Collier, 2015). The cost of quality is an important factor to consider because the results are essential in on going improvements in quality of performance and processes (Collier, 2015). We do not have a lot of this information in this case study, but before implementing a new marketing option, perhaps running these reports and gaining a better understanding of SA’s cost of quality, we could determine where we could improve our quality, make equivalent and cheaper substitutions and if there are necessary quality cost cutbacks that we could make. 

Total Quality Management: This approach emphasizes continuous improvement through a systematic approach to quality management that focuses on customer expectations, business processes, quality of goods, and ensures employees are committed to quality improvement (Collier, 2015). SA would benefit greatly from evaluating their quality management. For SA, they should consider their flight times, on-time percentage, customer reviews, quality of food served, quality of employees (customer service), technology (buying tickets, ease of check-ins, etc.) and baggage handling (percentage of bags lost or damaged). Ticket prices are not the only factor that attracts customers. Especially business (higher paying customers) who travel for work rely on timely flights, comfort, ease of booking flights and baggage checking/claiming services. Having the cheapest tickets does not make a difference if our competitors have better total quality management than SA. 

Statistical Process Control: A method for monitoring, controlling and “ideally, improving a process through statistical analysis” (Collier, 2015). According to Collier (2015), SPC philosophy states that all processes exhibit intrinsic variation: however, some processes exhibit excessive variation that produces undesirable or unpredictable results. SA can utilize specialized SPC software that can control these variations in statistical analysis to ensure that quality and useful statistical analysis can result. When considering SA, this kind of software could be useful when there are variations in ticket sales, changes in software, or discounts that may account for unpredictable or undesirable results. 

Six Sigma: The Six Sigma approach was developed by Motorola and is a measure of standard deviation (Collier, 2015). This approach aims to improve the quality of products/services by removing defects and the causes of defects (Collier, 2015). This tool/approach can also be used to measure quality and services/products that need to be improved. Perhaps customer reviews show that customer service is down or perhaps there have been significant issues with flights being on time. Using this approach, we can identify which areas of quality need to be eliminated or improved. 

Relevant Costs: Are costs that are relevant to a particular decision (Collier, 2015). “Relevant costs are the future, incremental cash flows that result from a decision” and are considered avoidable costs (Collier, 2015). First, let’s identify our variable and fixed costs in this case. The flight costs and route costs are fixed costs because no matter how successful the sales are, these costs will remain the same. The passenger costs are the variable costs in this case because this cost will be impacted by the amount of sales. As along as the airline functions, the fixed costs will exist. For example, regardless of the number of passengers, plane leases, airport charges and business overhead will not change. Therefore, the passenger costs are the relevant costs in this case. 

Sunk Costs: Are costs that were incurred in the past and there is nothing we can do to change those earlier decisions (Collier, 2015). If SA made any down payments towards airport fees or whatever costs went in to marketing, these are considered examples of sunk costs. 

Cost Volume Profit: Is a method for understanding the relationship between profit, cost, and sales revenue (Collier, 2015). “CVP is concerned with understanding the relationship between changes in activity (the number of units sold) and changes in selling prices and costs (both fixed and variable) (Collier, 2015). This method would really help SA identify which tickets were most and least profitable, how reducing prices may affect profits, and what the break-even points would be with changes in volume and costs. As the “production manager”, this information is going to be what we focus on. This method will help us understand what reducing the prices of our more expensive tickets may do to our profits or what increasing our least profitable prices may do. We need to figure out how to reach our break-even point in returning flights and what possibilities we have to reach that goal. If we can establish how to reach our break-even point, we can propose how to further increase our revenue in order to become profitable. 

 

Students, please view the "Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment" in the Student Center.

Assignment 5: MS Project Scheduling and Salvaging a Project

Due Week 10 and worth 280 points

Go to iCampus to download a free version of Microsoft Project needed to complete this assignment. Details on how to download the software are available in the online course shell in the Additional Resources section of the Student Center.

Make the needed corrections to Assignment 3 using instructor feedback and initialize a new project in Microsoft Project to complete the following:

1. Create a work breakdown structure in MS Project using the existing information from Assignment 3. Note: This assignment will require you to submit a zipped file. Please see below for details on how to zip a file.

Imagine your human resource project of revamping the employee compensation and benefits package is starting to develop issues. The project is eight (8) weeks off track and your team members are becoming discouraged. Several members of the team are consistently late with deadlines, and you have discovered that your budget depleted quicker than expected. Your project sponsor is looking for you to salvage this project

Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

1. Communicate the budget and schedule situation to the rest of the team and your project stakeholders.
2. Suggest at least three (3) ways to improve your underperforming team.
3. Organize a plan of action to get the project back on track. Develop a new critical path.
4. Identify and discuss the risks with your plan for getting the project back on track.

Your assignment must:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

To zip a file please follow these directions below. Note: Directions may vary depending on the operating system.

            PC Directions

1. Select the files to zip.
2. Right-click on the highlighted files and choose “Send to: Compressed folder”.

Mac Directions

1. Select the files to zip.
2. Right-click on the highlighted files and choose “Compress”.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Identify the scope of projects and the structure of the accompanying work.
• Recommend project management quality tools.
• Determine the characteristics of a successful project plan.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in managing human resource projects.
• Write clearly and concisely about managing human resource projects using proper writing mechanics. 

Points: 280

Assignment 5: MS Project Scheduling and Salvaging a Project

Criteria

Unacceptable

Below 70% F

Fair

70-79% C

Proficient

80-89% B

Exemplary

90-100% A

1. Create a work breakdown structure in MS Project using the existing information from Assignment 3.

Weight: 20%

Did not submit or incompletely created a work breakdown structure in MS Project using the existing information from Assignment 3.

Partially created a work breakdown structure in MS Project using the existing information from Assignment 3.

Satisfactorilycreated a work breakdown structure in MS Project using the existing information from Assignment 3.

Thoroughly created a work breakdown structure in MS Project using the existing information from Assignment 3.

2. Communicates the budget and schedule situation to the rest of the team and your stakeholders.
Weight: 15%

Did not submit or incompletelycommunicates the budget and schedule situation to the rest of the team and your stakeholders.

Partially communicates the budget and schedule situation to the rest of the team and your stakeholders.

Satisfactorily communicates the budget and schedule situation to the rest of the team and your stakeholders.

Thoroughly communicates the budget and schedule situation to the rest of the team and your stakeholders.

3. Suggest at least three (3) ways to improve your underperforming team.

Weight: 15%

Did not submit or incompletely suggested at least three (3) ways to improve your underperforming team.

Partially suggested at least three (3) ways to improve your underperforming team.

Satisfactorilysuggested at least three (3) ways to improve your underperforming team.

Thoroughlysuggested at least three (3) ways to improve your underperforming team.

4. Organize a plan of action to get the project back on track. Develop a new critical path.

Weight: 20%

Did not submit or incompletely organized a plan of action to get the project back on track. Did not submit or incompletely developed a new critical path.

Partially organized a plan of action to get the project back on track. Partially developed a new critical path.

Satisfactorily organized a plan of action to get the project back on track. Satisfactorily developed a new critical path.

Thoroughly organized a plan of action to get the project back on track. Thoroughly developed a new critical path.

5. Identify and discuss the risks with your plan of action  

Weight: 20%

Did not submit or incompletely identified and discussed the risks with your plan of action.

Partially identified and discussed the risks with your plan of action.

Satisfactorily identified and discussed the risks with your plan of action.

Thoroughly identified and discussed the risks with your plan of action.

6. Clarity and writing mechanics

Weight: 10%

More than 6 errors present

5-6 errors present

3-4 errors present

0-2 errors present