Joanna French is currently working a total of 12 hours per day to produce 240 dolls. She thinks that by changing the paint used for the facial features and fingernails that she can increase her rate to 360 dolls per day. Total material cost for each doll is approximately $3.50; she has to invest $20 in the necessary supplies (expendables) per day; energy costs are assumed to be only $4.00 per day; and she thinks she should be making $10 per hour for her time. Viewing this from a total (multifactor) productivity perspective, what is her productivity at present and with the new paint?
The following represent activities in a major construction project. Draw the network diagram to represent this project.
- What is the critical path? What are the implications for the management of the critical path?
- What are the implications for tasks not part of the critical path? Discuss in terms of flexibility.
- Prepare a gantt chart showing both monthly cashflows and showing totals for each month.
Nike is the world's largest athletic brand. Its innovative and broad product line helps drive sales, however a large majority of those sales are in the footwear business. Most of Nike's goods are produced overseas in low-cost factories and then imported to the final market. Nike currently has many of the top U.S. athletes under contract (Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods, Dwayne Wade) but international sales are still small in emerging markets. However, many competitors have attempted to copy Nike's business model (high-value branded products manufactured at low-cost), including Adidas and Reebok, while many retailers have attempted to pass on the low-cost pressure of retail consumers. Perform a SWOT analysis for Nike. Ensure you show evidence of your own research to support your SWOT.