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Here is the IB Exam study site:
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Sorry for the Delay - Jaguar Answer
With Ford electing to produce the jaguar line at a dedicated plant in Halewood, UK, it set among its goals to provide exceptional quality using lean production. Just in Time (JIT) production is a primary method of JIT production and offers several important advantages, with only a few disadvantages in the case of Jaguar.
JIT is a stock management system that emphasizes keeping a minimum of stock on hand, relying on suppliers delivering reorders just before the stocks are needed. This is different than more traditional Just in Case (JIC) production systems, where production managers tend to keep larger stock levels on hand. With the Halewood plant being physically located beside the main suppliers for its materials, the implementation of a JIT system is possible due to increased ease of coordination with suppliers and minimal lead times.
For Halewood, several advantages make JIT techniques to be highly desirable. Perhaps the most important is that the financial considerations of the production process will be improved. Working capital required for JIT is drastically reduced, since less money is tied up into stocks, allowing investment to be used elsewhere. Additionally there should be reduced expenses, since the company saves on storage costs, insurance and other costs associated with holding larger levels of stock. One result of all of this can be a lower break-even point for jaguar’s products, since variable costs should decrease. This then leads to higher contribution from each unit sold, and ultimately higher profits. Finally, the JIT system falls well in line with Jaguar’s emphasis on team building, since employee participation is critical to success. These benefits give JIT an advantage over JIC systems at Jaguar.
Disadvantages are limited but important. The greatest disadvantage for Jaguar is the potential for production stoppage due to failure of suppliers to deliver stock on time. While this potential problem is minimized due to their nearby locations, there still are dangers. For example, should employee work issues end with one of the suppliers suffering a strike or other work stoppage, deliveries could halt. Another serious disadvantage is with JIT there is generally limited time for quality control checks on received deliveries. Therefore there is a danger that substandard materials could find their way into Jaguar products, despite the Halewood emphasis on high quality. These points make JIT more dangerous to use than traditional JIC systems. However, the location of suppliers so close to the Halewood plant should allow Jaguar to monitor suppliers more closely and therefor minimize these disadvantages.
Business Studies Students Resources
For IB students, here is a site with a lot of links to IB study resources:
Monday, June 7, 2010
Friday, September 25, 2009
2009 Investment Challenge
2009
Investment Contest Rules
1. The 2009 Investment Contest is an extra credit project for students taking Business. To compete, investing groups must officially register with the contest judge, Mr Evans. Winning teams will win a variety of prizes.
2. The contest will begin on September 28 as the earliest time a group may register. The competition begins on October 1 and will close December 10. Winners will be certified and announced by December 15.
3. Teams must register by submitting a formal, printed letter to Mr Evans. The letter must state the name of the team, the members of the team, as well as a short description of their investment goals. Teams must be between 2-6 members. Once accepted, each team will be issued a “Corporate Certificate” by the judge. Teams may register as early as September 28. The final date teams may register to compete is October 15.
4. Teams will be given an imaginary “Investment Account” beginning at $100,000 (USD). Each team may make investment choices once each week. Investments can be made in any investment vehicle that is easily bought and sold on a world marketplace, and have their prices and results tracked on one of the following financial websites: Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg.com, The Motley Fool, scottrade.com. Other websites may be used, provided they have been approved by Mr Evans. Investments can be in the stock, bonds or debentures of companies, debentures from governments, or investments in other investment vehicles such as commodities (gold, corn, oil).
5. To make an investment, teams will fill out an “Investment Order” to buy or sell their investment. The investment order will be on a form provided by Mr Evans. Information required will be: Name of Investment – Web/Market site where the investment price is tracked (Yahoo Finance, etc), amount in dollars or shares/units the team wants to buy. Investment orders must be turned in on the last day of each week (Normally Friday, except for holidays). The sale or purchase of investments will be made at the CLOSING price of the next business day (normally Monday, except for holidays). Note: The information on the Investment order must be detailed enough to complete the order. For example, if a company issues three types of stock (one ordinary and two preferred shares) the team must clearly designate which type of share they are buying. This can normally be done by listing the Market Code for that particular investment (easily found on the approved web sites).
6. Any money not invested by the team will be considered invested in a Money Market Fund, paying 1.5% APR on a weekly basis.
7. Mr Evans will track the results of teams investments on a weekly basis and will post the week-to-week results in the classroom #40.
8. PRIZES: There will be a number of prizes for the competitors of this contest. 100 Extra Credit Points will be distributed to the top performing teams. The distribution of the points will be based on the total number of teams and students participating. The exact formula to winning extra credit will be posted after October 15 when team entries are finished. A Private Pizza Party will be held for the top teams, details will be provided in December. All team members will receive official certificates showing their completion of the contest. There will also be prizes for best individual investment by a team, worst investment team, as well as others.
9. Mr Evans is the sole judge of this contest. His judgment is final on all matters.
Investment Contest Rules
1. The 2009 Investment Contest is an extra credit project for students taking Business. To compete, investing groups must officially register with the contest judge, Mr Evans. Winning teams will win a variety of prizes.
2. The contest will begin on September 28 as the earliest time a group may register. The competition begins on October 1 and will close December 10. Winners will be certified and announced by December 15.
3. Teams must register by submitting a formal, printed letter to Mr Evans. The letter must state the name of the team, the members of the team, as well as a short description of their investment goals. Teams must be between 2-6 members. Once accepted, each team will be issued a “Corporate Certificate” by the judge. Teams may register as early as September 28. The final date teams may register to compete is October 15.
4. Teams will be given an imaginary “Investment Account” beginning at $100,000 (USD). Each team may make investment choices once each week. Investments can be made in any investment vehicle that is easily bought and sold on a world marketplace, and have their prices and results tracked on one of the following financial websites: Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg.com, The Motley Fool, scottrade.com. Other websites may be used, provided they have been approved by Mr Evans. Investments can be in the stock, bonds or debentures of companies, debentures from governments, or investments in other investment vehicles such as commodities (gold, corn, oil).
5. To make an investment, teams will fill out an “Investment Order” to buy or sell their investment. The investment order will be on a form provided by Mr Evans. Information required will be: Name of Investment – Web/Market site where the investment price is tracked (Yahoo Finance, etc), amount in dollars or shares/units the team wants to buy. Investment orders must be turned in on the last day of each week (Normally Friday, except for holidays). The sale or purchase of investments will be made at the CLOSING price of the next business day (normally Monday, except for holidays). Note: The information on the Investment order must be detailed enough to complete the order. For example, if a company issues three types of stock (one ordinary and two preferred shares) the team must clearly designate which type of share they are buying. This can normally be done by listing the Market Code for that particular investment (easily found on the approved web sites).
6. Any money not invested by the team will be considered invested in a Money Market Fund, paying 1.5% APR on a weekly basis.
7. Mr Evans will track the results of teams investments on a weekly basis and will post the week-to-week results in the classroom #40.
8. PRIZES: There will be a number of prizes for the competitors of this contest. 100 Extra Credit Points will be distributed to the top performing teams. The distribution of the points will be based on the total number of teams and students participating. The exact formula to winning extra credit will be posted after October 15 when team entries are finished. A Private Pizza Party will be held for the top teams, details will be provided in December. All team members will receive official certificates showing their completion of the contest. There will also be prizes for best individual investment by a team, worst investment team, as well as others.
9. Mr Evans is the sole judge of this contest. His judgment is final on all matters.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Research Questions Report
The Research Question Report is part of the process for completing the 6to Curso Business Research project. It is due 15 June 2009. The good news is we have been working on these areas for the last few weeks, so if you have been doing your work it should be a small job to complete this. If, however you have not been keeping up with your assignments, this may be a very difficult thing to do.
The requirements are as follows:
1) Proper heading with student name, course and date.
The following areas should have their own title within the report:
2) Research Question
3) Summary List of each individual interview, questionnaire, survey and other primary research you plan to conduct for your Research Project
4) Detailed explanation of each individual action. As a minimum:
a. Type of action (survey, interview, etc) with details of with who, and where, when and how activity will be accomplished.
b. A list of Research Goals for each activity (what information you hope/plan to develop during activity)
c. A list of all resources you need to complete the activity (ie letter from school, questionnaire sheets, etc)
d. A complete list of all questions you plan to use during the activity.
In addition, attached to the report will be all of the following:
5) For surveys, a copy of the form you plan to use to gather information will be attached to the report.
6) For questionnaires, a copy of the questionnaire will be attached to the report.
7) An updated Research Project Proposal.
8) An updated Action Plan for your Research Project.
Other things to keep in consideration as you prepare this document:
9) This is a formal document and will be printed/typed using formal Business English.
The Questions Report will be graded using the following Rubric:
Area Points Earned
Correct Format 0-10 pts
Document Shows Understanding of Business Theory. 0-30 pts
Action Plan is Updated and Accurate 0-10 pts
Research Project Proposal is Updated 0-15 pts
Activity Questions and documents are suitable 0-25 pts
Correct use of Formal Business English 0-10 pts
Total Points Possible 100
Good luck everybody!
The requirements are as follows:
1) Proper heading with student name, course and date.
The following areas should have their own title within the report:
2) Research Question
3) Summary List of each individual interview, questionnaire, survey and other primary research you plan to conduct for your Research Project
4) Detailed explanation of each individual action. As a minimum:
a. Type of action (survey, interview, etc) with details of with who, and where, when and how activity will be accomplished.
b. A list of Research Goals for each activity (what information you hope/plan to develop during activity)
c. A list of all resources you need to complete the activity (ie letter from school, questionnaire sheets, etc)
d. A complete list of all questions you plan to use during the activity.
In addition, attached to the report will be all of the following:
5) For surveys, a copy of the form you plan to use to gather information will be attached to the report.
6) For questionnaires, a copy of the questionnaire will be attached to the report.
7) An updated Research Project Proposal.
8) An updated Action Plan for your Research Project.
Other things to keep in consideration as you prepare this document:
9) This is a formal document and will be printed/typed using formal Business English.
The Questions Report will be graded using the following Rubric:
Area Points Earned
Correct Format 0-10 pts
Document Shows Understanding of Business Theory. 0-30 pts
Action Plan is Updated and Accurate 0-10 pts
Research Project Proposal is Updated 0-15 pts
Activity Questions and documents are suitable 0-25 pts
Correct use of Formal Business English 0-10 pts
Total Points Possible 100
Good luck everybody!
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