Week 06
Conjoint Analysis
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/david‐jones‐and‐bp‐ink‐deal‐to‐bring‐fancy‐food‐to‐petrol‐ stations‐20190827‐p52l2z.html
Customer Value
Customer Value is the total amount of money that the customer is willing to pay for the benefits received from the product.
For pricing, each customer benefit should be equated to dollars and cents that customers are willing to pay (WTP) for it.
Benefit 1 + Benefit 2 + ….. = WTP 1 + WTP 2 + … = Total WTP
Customer value sets the ceiling or the highest possible price that can be charged for the product.
Understanding customer value requires an understanding of the types and number of benefits customers receive from the product and the product/ service features that contribute.
Source: Dholakia, How to price effectively, 2017
Attributes define a product
What are attributes that define a mobile phone?
What is Conjoint Analysis?
Which car should I get?
Conjoint Analysis: The Underlying Model
A Product is a “bundle” of attributes
Consumers evaluate the alternatives in the marketplace by examining how much they offer on the various attributes and how critical each attribute is to them
Total Value of product = sum of sub‐values (partworths) of its attribute levels to the individual
A consumer prefers the product that delivers the greatest Total Value to him/her
Decompose the product into the value of each sub‐part in order to determine preference for the composed product/service
Example: A Consumer’s Value System for a car
) = v(brand) + v(engine type) + v(body type) + v(price)
V(
Conjoint analysis model
Consumer’s overall judgment about a set of complex alternatives
Rank a set of alternatives; State their preferences
Decompose overall judgment into
separate utilities for individual attributes
Statistical analysis to recover individual attribute weights, w
Preference
=
=
∑ (w x µ)
w1 µ1 + w2µ2 + w3 µ3 + …
Given attribute levels for the item (0 or 1)
If you choose left, you prefer Power. If you choose right, you prefer Fuel Economy.
Rather than ask directly whether you prefer Power over Fuel Economy, we present realistic tradeoff scenarios and infer preference from your product choices.
Simple example of Conjoint Analysis
Would you prefer…
or
210 Horsepower
17 MPG
140 Horsepower
28 MPG
Another simple choice‐based conjoint
More elegant ranking‐based conjoint
Far more complicated examples
Discrete Choice Experiment
Identify a set of relevant product attributes (based on discussions with a car company)
Define reasonable levels for these attributes (based on carsales.com)
Stages in Conjoint Analysis
A real example: Buying a car (ratings task)
Source: Havard Business School
3. Create product profiles
4. Obtain consumer preferences for profiles via survey
Concrete Conjoint Example
Source: Havard Business School
Q: With 4 attributes and 3 levels e ...
Assignment 5 Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types Du.docxMatthewTennant613
Assignment 5: Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types
Due Week 10 and worth 240 points
Note
: Refer to scenarios and readings from previous weeks in order to complete this assignment.
The Department of Defense plans to issue a $400,000 government contract to a company that specializes in drone navigation technologies. As a result, a government auditor has been contacted to examine the operational data VectorCal and one competitor (previously identified as “your company”) in order to decide which company should win the government contract.
Note
: You may create and /or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
Create a one-page overview of the history and background of each company vying for the government contract.
Specify at least one (1) of the recent major contracts that was awarded to both companies. Explain the fundamental reasons why both companies were awarded the contract(s) that you specified.
Determine the type(s) of contract for which both companies might be eligible (e.g., fixed-price, cost reimbursement, etc.). Justify your response.
Discuss at least three (3) direct costs and three (3) indirect costs that each company incurred during the production of its navigation system. Explain the manner in which this data would factor into your decision as to which company would be more eligible to receive the contract.
Suggest which company should be awarded this government contract based on the data that was presented for each company. Next, provide three to five (3-5) reasons to support your stance.
Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment.
Note
: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and 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 assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Specify the government policies regarding profit and pricing adjustments for contracts.
Evaluate the role played by contract auditors.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in cost and price analysis.
Write clearly and concisely about cost and price analysis using proper writing mechanics.
Points: 240
Assignment 5: Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types
Criteria
Unacceptable
Below 60% F
Meets Minimum Expectations
60-69% D
Fair
70-79% C
Proficient
80-89% B
Exemplary
90-100% A
1. Createa one-page overview of the history and background of each company vying for the government contract.
Weight: 15%
.
Government Industry Partners - Summit Insight - Why Your Contract Vehicles an...JSchaus & Associates
JSchaus & Associate's Government Industry Partners (GIP) Webinar Series
PUT ON A WEBINAR WITH US!
Share your company content to a live audience of US Federal Government Contractors.
We will promote your webinars through our network, newsletter, social media, and digital marketing efforts reaching 23,000+ subscribers.
Webinars are live and can be published on our YOUTUBE channel.
CONTACT US at hello@jenniferschaus.com and ask for our MEDIA KIT.
Required ResourcesTextAbraham, S. C. (2012). Strategic managem.docxsodhi3
Required Resources
Text
Abraham, S. C. (2012). Strategic management for organizations [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://ashford.content.edu.
Read the followings chapters in Strategic management for organizations:
· Chapter 5: Assessing the Company Itself
· Chapter 6: Creating Strategic-Alternative Bundles
Recommended Resources
Article
Berman, R. (2010, September 21). Some questions to ask during a SWOT analysis. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.rob-berman.com/questions-to-ask-during-swot-analysis/
· (This article provides guidance, steps, and recommendations for completing a SWOT analysis.)
Web Pages
U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (2012). Chamber directory search page. Retrieved from https://www.uschamber.com/chamber/directory
Week Three Lecture
Chapter Five – Assessing the Company Itself
In Chapter Five we are introduced to a very important tool in business, referred to as the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis looks at both internal and external aspects. The strengths and weaknesses will apply to the internal part of the organization, whereas the opportunities and threats apply to the external part of the organization. One may use a SWOT analysis as a tool to look at the current situation of a company and evaluate the possibilities in forecasting the future. According to Goodrich (2013), “the SWOT analysis enables companies to identify the positive and negative influencing factors inside and outside of a company or organization” (Para 5). Below is a brief review of how to conduct a SWOT analysis.
· Strength – First, the company must identify what they are doing right. What is working for the company and helping the organization to meet its goals.
· Weakness – Second, the company needs to identify what areas need improvement. The ultimate goal is to take a weakness and turn it into a strength.
· Opportunities – Third, the organization needs to identify what opportunities are available that would help the company. As stated before, this typically comes from outside the company. It is an external element in which the company is seeking opportunities to help the business. This could entail working with new vendors, using new software, or expanding into new markets.
· Threats – Finally, the company must be aware of the threats that are out there. Threats are not the same as weakness, as many often confuse the two. A threat is something the company has no control over, but is aware it is there. For example, competition is a threat. A company cannot control what their competitors do, but need to be aware of them. Another threat could be a natural disaster. One can prepare with insurance, but you have no control over that. Another example might be economical situations in which the market shifts; again, there is little a company can do about this. All of these factors and many others can threaten a company. When it comes to threats, you cannot control them, but can have a ...
BUS401 Complete Class Work Principles of Finance
Purchased From Below URL
http://hwminute.com/downloads/bus401-complete-class-work-principles-of-finance/
BUS 401 Entire Course Work Principles of Finance
Purchased From Below URL
http://hwminute.com/downloads/bus401-complete-class-work-principles-of-finance/
Financial Analysis Paper Company NameStudent name Da.docxAKHIL969626
Financial Analysis Paper: Company Name
Student name
Date
Outline for paper
Notes:
· no abstract is needed for this paper
· double spacing is required. The outline is presented in single space for presentation purposes.
Important point: in the appendices you present financial data and your ratio analysis calculations. Within the narrative sections, you are to analyze the data and describe what the data is indicating. What do the numbers mean? What are the trends and how, based on the analysis, is the firm performing for its owners (stockholders) and within its industry. Use the data to prepare financial analysis.
Running head: COMPANY NAME 1
COMPANY NAME 8
Simply regurgitating the financial numbers in your narrative is not analysis and is not sufficient to receive a passing grade for this project.
Outline of paper
1. Page 2: Description of corporation, major products, industries, markets served, and any significant developments over the past three years.
a. Prepare a concise summary of your company using declarative sentences. The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with basic information on the company. Distilling your company down to one page of essential information should not be easy. Eliminate any extraneous “fluff” and avoid providing any interpretations or analysis. Numerical analysis is not part of this section. It is the only part of the paper that numerical analysis should not be included. This is a factual section. Assume the reader is a business professional.
2. Page 3: Overall descriptive analysis of the financials for the last three years
a. In this section you can now present key financial highlights of your company. At a minimum you should discuss sales and net income performance and any significant financial factors related to your company over the last three years. Use concise $ figures. For example, use $7.8m or $7.8b instead of $7,800,000 or writing $7.8 million. There is more key financial information than one can easily fit into one page so you must determine what is most important for the reader to understand the financial picture of the corporation as of the most recent financials.
b. If your firm has two or more published quarterly statements since the last annual report, be sure to prepare your analysis using the most recent quarterly data.
3. Pages 4-6: Descriptive analysis of the firms financials and ratio analysis
a. In this section the writer now gets into the financial details of the firm. The narrative in this section is based on the financials of the firm (Appendix A) and the ratio analysis (Appendix B).
b. What are the trends in your ratio analysis? What are the trends for the company as a whole and in comparison to key competitors and industry as a whole?
c. Ratios to include are Debt/Equity, ROI, ROE, ROA, current, and asset turnover. Cash coverage ratio is suggested to help prepare the cash flow analysis section.
Note: P/E ratio and EPS are to be an ...
Ab 299 Enhance teaching - snaptutorial.comHarrisGeorg41
AB 299 Unit 1 Assignment Vision Statement
Vision Statement
Short Term Goals
Long Term Goals
Owner Responsibilities
Managers Responsibility
Employee Responsibility
Unit 4 [AB299 Associates Capstone in Management]Assignmen.docxdickonsondorris
Unit 4
[AB299: Associates Capstone in Management]
Assignment Details and Rubric
Competitive Advantage
You are a marketing consultant to Tim’s Coffee Shoppe. A way for Tim’s Coffee Shoppe to determine the advantages (or weaknesses) Tim’s has as compared to their competitors is through doing a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM). When you identify Tim’s key success factors, you can weigh them according to the strength/weakness as compared to the competitors. You can set any weight you wish, but a simple one is:
1 – Major weakness
2 – Minor weakness
3 – Minor strength
4 – Major strength
Key success factors can be identified for the business. They can include things such as the quality, location, brand recognition, profitability, product, the staff, etc. In the matrix, you will list these factors and rate the strength of each one in Tim’s business as well as his primary competitors. See the example below. Each coffee shop was ranked first, second or third in each of the factors that may or may not affect their competitive advantage.
Factor
Tim’s Coffee Shoppe
Competitor 1 (Enter Name)
Competitor 2 (Enter Name)
Score
Comments
Score
Comments
Score
Comments
Quality
1
2
3
Location
2
1
3
Brand Recognition
3
1
2
Profitability
2
3
1
Product
1
2
3
Staff
1
3
2
Total
Now using competitors researched on the Internet or in your local area, create a CPM for Tim.
Other factors you may wish to consider include:
Price
Selection
Service
Reliability
Expertise
Company Reputation
Social Responsibility
Appearance
Credit Policies
Advertising
You can examine the above data in several ways. While the total score for Tim’s business maybe is higher than his major competitors, Tim’s may have a lower score in another area which means they are not as competitive in those areas. Some of these areas might allow their competitors to create advantages and their customers or potential customers may choose their competitor over Tim’s business. For example, if their products are closely rated but their competitor has a higher score on staff friendliness, might their customers start frequenting their competitor’s business? What would you recommend to increase Tim’s score in this area?
For this Assignment, spend some time looking around Tim’s Coffee Shoppe. Look either online or visit two competitors in your area that Tim may compete against and familiarize yourself with their business. You may even be a frequent customer of a coffee shop and already be aware of how you might rate their strengths against Tim’s.
Copy and paste the matrix above to your own document. Fill in the matrix with your results from your research. Feel free to change or add any of the other factors listed.
Once you have completed your matrix, submit a minimum of four pages which includes the CPM, your recommendations for Tim, as well as a title page and a reference page to the Dropbox area of the course.
Additional Resource: The U.S. Small Business Administration webs ...
A decades-old dream is on the verge of coming true. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will hit the road as early as 2017, when several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and technology companies plan to launch pilot projects or roll out commercial vehicles with varying levels of self-driving capability. Mass adoption of self-driving technology will deliver tremendous economic benefits. But it will also disrupt business as usual for a wide variety of companies, including OEMs, mobility providers, and component makers. The coming AV era raises urgent questions for executives of these companies: What is the cost of these technologies and what are consumers willing to pay for them? How fast will mass markets adopt AVs and how might car sharing and societal shifts impact these introductions? What technological challenges must be overcome to enable fully autonomous driving? Where should OEMs and new entrants focus their R&D investments? And how should players in the AV market address consumer concerns around safety, lack of control, and the risks of faulty technology?
Week 06
Conjoint Analysis
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/david‐jones‐and‐bp‐ink‐deal‐to‐bring‐fancy‐food‐to‐petrol‐ stations‐20190827‐p52l2z.html
Customer Value
Customer Value is the total amount of money that the customer is willing to pay for the benefits received from the product.
For pricing, each customer benefit should be equated to dollars and cents that customers are willing to pay (WTP) for it.
Benefit 1 + Benefit 2 + ….. = WTP 1 + WTP 2 + … = Total WTP
Customer value sets the ceiling or the highest possible price that can be charged for the product.
Understanding customer value requires an understanding of the types and number of benefits customers receive from the product and the product/ service features that contribute.
Source: Dholakia, How to price effectively, 2017
Attributes define a product
What are attributes that define a mobile phone?
What is Conjoint Analysis?
Which car should I get?
Conjoint Analysis: The Underlying Model
A Product is a “bundle” of attributes
Consumers evaluate the alternatives in the marketplace by examining how much they offer on the various attributes and how critical each attribute is to them
Total Value of product = sum of sub‐values (partworths) of its attribute levels to the individual
A consumer prefers the product that delivers the greatest Total Value to him/her
Decompose the product into the value of each sub‐part in order to determine preference for the composed product/service
Example: A Consumer’s Value System for a car
) = v(brand) + v(engine type) + v(body type) + v(price)
V(
Conjoint analysis model
Consumer’s overall judgment about a set of complex alternatives
Rank a set of alternatives; State their preferences
Decompose overall judgment into
separate utilities for individual attributes
Statistical analysis to recover individual attribute weights, w
Preference
=
=
∑ (w x µ)
w1 µ1 + w2µ2 + w3 µ3 + …
Given attribute levels for the item (0 or 1)
If you choose left, you prefer Power. If you choose right, you prefer Fuel Economy.
Rather than ask directly whether you prefer Power over Fuel Economy, we present realistic tradeoff scenarios and infer preference from your product choices.
Simple example of Conjoint Analysis
Would you prefer…
or
210 Horsepower
17 MPG
140 Horsepower
28 MPG
Another simple choice‐based conjoint
More elegant ranking‐based conjoint
Far more complicated examples
Discrete Choice Experiment
Identify a set of relevant product attributes (based on discussions with a car company)
Define reasonable levels for these attributes (based on carsales.com)
Stages in Conjoint Analysis
A real example: Buying a car (ratings task)
Source: Havard Business School
3. Create product profiles
4. Obtain consumer preferences for profiles via survey
Concrete Conjoint Example
Source: Havard Business School
Q: With 4 attributes and 3 levels e ...
Assignment 5 Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types Du.docxMatthewTennant613
Assignment 5: Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types
Due Week 10 and worth 240 points
Note
: Refer to scenarios and readings from previous weeks in order to complete this assignment.
The Department of Defense plans to issue a $400,000 government contract to a company that specializes in drone navigation technologies. As a result, a government auditor has been contacted to examine the operational data VectorCal and one competitor (previously identified as “your company”) in order to decide which company should win the government contract.
Note
: You may create and /or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
Create a one-page overview of the history and background of each company vying for the government contract.
Specify at least one (1) of the recent major contracts that was awarded to both companies. Explain the fundamental reasons why both companies were awarded the contract(s) that you specified.
Determine the type(s) of contract for which both companies might be eligible (e.g., fixed-price, cost reimbursement, etc.). Justify your response.
Discuss at least three (3) direct costs and three (3) indirect costs that each company incurred during the production of its navigation system. Explain the manner in which this data would factor into your decision as to which company would be more eligible to receive the contract.
Suggest which company should be awarded this government contract based on the data that was presented for each company. Next, provide three to five (3-5) reasons to support your stance.
Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment.
Note
: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and 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 assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Specify the government policies regarding profit and pricing adjustments for contracts.
Evaluate the role played by contract auditors.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in cost and price analysis.
Write clearly and concisely about cost and price analysis using proper writing mechanics.
Points: 240
Assignment 5: Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types
Criteria
Unacceptable
Below 60% F
Meets Minimum Expectations
60-69% D
Fair
70-79% C
Proficient
80-89% B
Exemplary
90-100% A
1. Createa one-page overview of the history and background of each company vying for the government contract.
Weight: 15%
.
Government Industry Partners - Summit Insight - Why Your Contract Vehicles an...JSchaus & Associates
JSchaus & Associate's Government Industry Partners (GIP) Webinar Series
PUT ON A WEBINAR WITH US!
Share your company content to a live audience of US Federal Government Contractors.
We will promote your webinars through our network, newsletter, social media, and digital marketing efforts reaching 23,000+ subscribers.
Webinars are live and can be published on our YOUTUBE channel.
CONTACT US at hello@jenniferschaus.com and ask for our MEDIA KIT.
Required ResourcesTextAbraham, S. C. (2012). Strategic managem.docxsodhi3
Required Resources
Text
Abraham, S. C. (2012). Strategic management for organizations [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://ashford.content.edu.
Read the followings chapters in Strategic management for organizations:
· Chapter 5: Assessing the Company Itself
· Chapter 6: Creating Strategic-Alternative Bundles
Recommended Resources
Article
Berman, R. (2010, September 21). Some questions to ask during a SWOT analysis. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.rob-berman.com/questions-to-ask-during-swot-analysis/
· (This article provides guidance, steps, and recommendations for completing a SWOT analysis.)
Web Pages
U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (2012). Chamber directory search page. Retrieved from https://www.uschamber.com/chamber/directory
Week Three Lecture
Chapter Five – Assessing the Company Itself
In Chapter Five we are introduced to a very important tool in business, referred to as the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis looks at both internal and external aspects. The strengths and weaknesses will apply to the internal part of the organization, whereas the opportunities and threats apply to the external part of the organization. One may use a SWOT analysis as a tool to look at the current situation of a company and evaluate the possibilities in forecasting the future. According to Goodrich (2013), “the SWOT analysis enables companies to identify the positive and negative influencing factors inside and outside of a company or organization” (Para 5). Below is a brief review of how to conduct a SWOT analysis.
· Strength – First, the company must identify what they are doing right. What is working for the company and helping the organization to meet its goals.
· Weakness – Second, the company needs to identify what areas need improvement. The ultimate goal is to take a weakness and turn it into a strength.
· Opportunities – Third, the organization needs to identify what opportunities are available that would help the company. As stated before, this typically comes from outside the company. It is an external element in which the company is seeking opportunities to help the business. This could entail working with new vendors, using new software, or expanding into new markets.
· Threats – Finally, the company must be aware of the threats that are out there. Threats are not the same as weakness, as many often confuse the two. A threat is something the company has no control over, but is aware it is there. For example, competition is a threat. A company cannot control what their competitors do, but need to be aware of them. Another threat could be a natural disaster. One can prepare with insurance, but you have no control over that. Another example might be economical situations in which the market shifts; again, there is little a company can do about this. All of these factors and many others can threaten a company. When it comes to threats, you cannot control them, but can have a ...
BUS401 Complete Class Work Principles of Finance
Purchased From Below URL
http://hwminute.com/downloads/bus401-complete-class-work-principles-of-finance/
BUS 401 Entire Course Work Principles of Finance
Purchased From Below URL
http://hwminute.com/downloads/bus401-complete-class-work-principles-of-finance/
Financial Analysis Paper Company NameStudent name Da.docxAKHIL969626
Financial Analysis Paper: Company Name
Student name
Date
Outline for paper
Notes:
· no abstract is needed for this paper
· double spacing is required. The outline is presented in single space for presentation purposes.
Important point: in the appendices you present financial data and your ratio analysis calculations. Within the narrative sections, you are to analyze the data and describe what the data is indicating. What do the numbers mean? What are the trends and how, based on the analysis, is the firm performing for its owners (stockholders) and within its industry. Use the data to prepare financial analysis.
Running head: COMPANY NAME 1
COMPANY NAME 8
Simply regurgitating the financial numbers in your narrative is not analysis and is not sufficient to receive a passing grade for this project.
Outline of paper
1. Page 2: Description of corporation, major products, industries, markets served, and any significant developments over the past three years.
a. Prepare a concise summary of your company using declarative sentences. The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with basic information on the company. Distilling your company down to one page of essential information should not be easy. Eliminate any extraneous “fluff” and avoid providing any interpretations or analysis. Numerical analysis is not part of this section. It is the only part of the paper that numerical analysis should not be included. This is a factual section. Assume the reader is a business professional.
2. Page 3: Overall descriptive analysis of the financials for the last three years
a. In this section you can now present key financial highlights of your company. At a minimum you should discuss sales and net income performance and any significant financial factors related to your company over the last three years. Use concise $ figures. For example, use $7.8m or $7.8b instead of $7,800,000 or writing $7.8 million. There is more key financial information than one can easily fit into one page so you must determine what is most important for the reader to understand the financial picture of the corporation as of the most recent financials.
b. If your firm has two or more published quarterly statements since the last annual report, be sure to prepare your analysis using the most recent quarterly data.
3. Pages 4-6: Descriptive analysis of the firms financials and ratio analysis
a. In this section the writer now gets into the financial details of the firm. The narrative in this section is based on the financials of the firm (Appendix A) and the ratio analysis (Appendix B).
b. What are the trends in your ratio analysis? What are the trends for the company as a whole and in comparison to key competitors and industry as a whole?
c. Ratios to include are Debt/Equity, ROI, ROE, ROA, current, and asset turnover. Cash coverage ratio is suggested to help prepare the cash flow analysis section.
Note: P/E ratio and EPS are to be an ...
Ab 299 Enhance teaching - snaptutorial.comHarrisGeorg41
AB 299 Unit 1 Assignment Vision Statement
Vision Statement
Short Term Goals
Long Term Goals
Owner Responsibilities
Managers Responsibility
Employee Responsibility
Unit 4 [AB299 Associates Capstone in Management]Assignmen.docxdickonsondorris
Unit 4
[AB299: Associates Capstone in Management]
Assignment Details and Rubric
Competitive Advantage
You are a marketing consultant to Tim’s Coffee Shoppe. A way for Tim’s Coffee Shoppe to determine the advantages (or weaknesses) Tim’s has as compared to their competitors is through doing a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM). When you identify Tim’s key success factors, you can weigh them according to the strength/weakness as compared to the competitors. You can set any weight you wish, but a simple one is:
1 – Major weakness
2 – Minor weakness
3 – Minor strength
4 – Major strength
Key success factors can be identified for the business. They can include things such as the quality, location, brand recognition, profitability, product, the staff, etc. In the matrix, you will list these factors and rate the strength of each one in Tim’s business as well as his primary competitors. See the example below. Each coffee shop was ranked first, second or third in each of the factors that may or may not affect their competitive advantage.
Factor
Tim’s Coffee Shoppe
Competitor 1 (Enter Name)
Competitor 2 (Enter Name)
Score
Comments
Score
Comments
Score
Comments
Quality
1
2
3
Location
2
1
3
Brand Recognition
3
1
2
Profitability
2
3
1
Product
1
2
3
Staff
1
3
2
Total
Now using competitors researched on the Internet or in your local area, create a CPM for Tim.
Other factors you may wish to consider include:
Price
Selection
Service
Reliability
Expertise
Company Reputation
Social Responsibility
Appearance
Credit Policies
Advertising
You can examine the above data in several ways. While the total score for Tim’s business maybe is higher than his major competitors, Tim’s may have a lower score in another area which means they are not as competitive in those areas. Some of these areas might allow their competitors to create advantages and their customers or potential customers may choose their competitor over Tim’s business. For example, if their products are closely rated but their competitor has a higher score on staff friendliness, might their customers start frequenting their competitor’s business? What would you recommend to increase Tim’s score in this area?
For this Assignment, spend some time looking around Tim’s Coffee Shoppe. Look either online or visit two competitors in your area that Tim may compete against and familiarize yourself with their business. You may even be a frequent customer of a coffee shop and already be aware of how you might rate their strengths against Tim’s.
Copy and paste the matrix above to your own document. Fill in the matrix with your results from your research. Feel free to change or add any of the other factors listed.
Once you have completed your matrix, submit a minimum of four pages which includes the CPM, your recommendations for Tim, as well as a title page and a reference page to the Dropbox area of the course.
Additional Resource: The U.S. Small Business Administration webs ...
A decades-old dream is on the verge of coming true. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will hit the road as early as 2017, when several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and technology companies plan to launch pilot projects or roll out commercial vehicles with varying levels of self-driving capability. Mass adoption of self-driving technology will deliver tremendous economic benefits. But it will also disrupt business as usual for a wide variety of companies, including OEMs, mobility providers, and component makers. The coming AV era raises urgent questions for executives of these companies: What is the cost of these technologies and what are consumers willing to pay for them? How fast will mass markets adopt AVs and how might car sharing and societal shifts impact these introductions? What technological challenges must be overcome to enable fully autonomous driving? Where should OEMs and new entrants focus their R&D investments? And how should players in the AV market address consumer concerns around safety, lack of control, and the risks of faulty technology?
12. Paragraph Organization-- Point by Point 2 nd Paragraph 3rd Paragraph 4 th Paragraph Price Mileage Insurance BMW ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Honda Civic ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
13. Paragraph Organization—Point by Point Price ↓ Mileage Insurance BMW 2 nd Paragraph 4 th Paragraph 6 th Paragraph Honda Civic 3 rd Paragraph 5 th Paragraph 7 th Paragraph
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Editor's Notes
A common assignment in all disciplines is to compare and contrast two or more things to discover how they are alike and/or how they are different. In U.S. History students might be asked to compare Jackson and Jefferson, in science students might compare and contrast the results of two similar labs, in music students might compare different pieces of music and their interpretation, in FTA students might compare elementary students to high school students etc. Besides its value in organizing an essay, comparison/contrast is also useful as a technique to structure a paragraph, to define a complex idea, to think about one thing in terms of another (vertebrates vs. invertebrates, World War I vs. World War II, etc., and to make an evaluation. Only similar items can be compared and/or contrasted. The comparison/contrast must be supported by examples. This Power Point will focus on two organizational patterns for this type of writing assignment, but as with all assignments, you should follow the directions as outlined by your instructor.
You must have a purpose for writing the essay—why are you writing the essay? What is your point? When you are getting ready to buy a car you might have specific criteria to compare and contrast. ( Teachers -Ask students to generate a list of things they might look for when buying a car.) The purpose of the comparison/contrast might be to get the best value for your dollar, to meet the needs of your budget, to plan for your future etc. As you plan for which college you may want to attend, you’ll compare and contrast specific criteria to make an informed decision. Writing a solid essay takes planning. Remember the Rhetorical Square . If you don’t have a clear idea of why you are comparing or contrasting two things, then you will have difficulty writing a focused paper.
This type of graphic organizer works well to help you sort the data for your essay. The number of boxes will change depending on how many points of comparison/ contrast you will include in your paper. You can work with this grid to create the outline for your essay using one of the organizational patterns that will be discussed.
Most of you have probably used a Venn Diagram in the past. With this graphic organizer, you use the overlapping circle to indicate how the items are alike and the outside circles to show how they are different. This method works best when there are only two subjects.
Some teachers may ask for a specific thesis pattern and others may allow you to have some freedom in developing your thesis. Also, your ideas may not be completely balanced between comparison and contrast; you may have more similarities than differences or vice versa.
This pattern is more concise and directs the reader to the major similarity and the major difference. Your thesis does not need to be a list of the similarities and/or differences, but it should provide a point of departure for the reader.
In this pattern the writer lets the reader know that the focus of the piece will be on comparing and contrasting the leadership styles and motivations of the two main characters in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies . Since the writer will introduce the author and the title in the background information to orient the reader, it is not necessary to restate them in the thesis statement.
This statement lets the reader know the specific points of comparison/contrast and how the information will be used.
For the Block Method, your second paragraph would include all of the details from the top of the chart for the BMW, following by all of the details from the bottom of the chart for the Honda. Your conclusion would provide some type of final analysis or evaluation based on the evidence presented in the body paragraphs.
You may have too much information to put all of the details in one paragraph. This is another possibility for the BLOCK method.
For the Point by Point Method, your second paragraph will include all of the details about the price of the car for both the BMW and the Honda Civic, your third paragraph will include the all the details about the mileage for both the BMW and the Honda Civic, the 4 th paragraph will include the details about the insurance for both the BMW and the Honda Civic, and your conclusion will make some final analysis or evaluation about the cars based on the evidence provided in the body paragraphs.
Another way of organizing the paragraphs for Point by Point.
This method is also referred to as Subject by Subject or Whole to Whole . With this pattern ( AB,AAA,BBB,AB A = Person or Place, Thing, Idea #1 and B = Person or Place, Thing, Idea # 2 ) you first discuss all of the details for one subject, in this case the BMW, and then all of the details for the second subject, the Honda Civic. The conclusion will reach some sort of final evaluation about the items you have chosen for your paper. If you were writing about cars, you might conclude your paper by making a selection based on the criteria. For example: Based on the excellent mileage, the low cost of insurance, and the price of the vehicle, the Honda Civic will definitely be my choice when I buy a new car.
In this pattern AB, AB, AB, AB you provide details about both your subjects in each paragraph. You should follow the same order in each paragraph as well. For example if you begin by discussing the BMW each subsequent paragraph should begin with the details for the BMW. Another pattern, also known as Modified Block (AB, SSS, DDD, AB) introduces the two persons or things in the first paragraph, then focuses on their similarities in the second paragraph, then focus on their differences in the third paragraph, and finally returns to summarize the comparison and contrast. Choose a pattern that fits your topic and the length of the paper and stick with it.
These transitions words will help to guide your reader through your comparisons and contrasts.
Ask questions if you do not understand an assignment. Complete some type of pre-writing BEFORE you begin your first draft. If the strategies reviewed on the Power Point do not work for you, choose some other method that does. Gather enough supporting evidence to support your topic sentences. That evidence may be in the form of facts, statistics, examples, observations, quotations from literature etc.. Write a thesis statement and keep it in front of you on a big sheet of paper as you write. This strategy will help you to avoid including unnecessary detail or bird walking . Write an outline. This does not have to be as formal as the samples given, but some sort of planning will help you to stay focused. As with all writing, you should continue to work through the writing process to prepare an essay for teacher evaluation. If you are not peer editing in class, ask another student or a parent to review the directions for the assignment and evaluate your draft.