Assignment:
Only for first and second assignment:
• Posts must be at least 250 words in length or 1 to 2 paragraphs. Your post must be in response to prompts and/or questions posed each week. Be sure to answer all the questions within each discussion forum.
• Posts need thoughtful responses and discourse that connect to the course material.
• Reference scholarly or peer-reviewed sources to support your discussion points, as appropriate using APA 6th edition citation.
• When composing posts, please consider course content from current and earlier modules, when appropriate.
First assignment
Production Decisions (250 words)
Factors that may influence a firm's decision to buy goods rather than produce goods internally include a lack of in-house expertise, small volume requirements, a desire for multiple sourcing, and the fact that the item may not be critical to the firm's strategy. Additional consideration may be given if the firm has the opportunity to work with a company that has provided outsourced services successfully in the past and can sustain a long-term relationship (Kenton, 2019).
Additionally, most businesses make decisions not only about how many workers to employ at any given point in time (e.g., the amount of labor) but also about the scale of an operation (e.g., size of factory, office) to put together and which production processes to use. Therefore, the long run is defined as the time horizon necessary to not only change the number of workers but also to scale the size of the factory up or down and alter production processes as desired.
If you were a manager at Ford, what information would you need to make decisions about the production of a vehicle like the Ford Fusion? In your answer, please include information about number of employees, factory size, office space, production processes, and scale of operation.
Reference:
Kenton, W. (2019, May 10). Understanding Make-or-Buy Decisions.
Second assignment
Production Process, Costs, and Management Decisions (250 words)
The management of Morris Industries is terminating a new employee. The action stemmed from documented evidence supplied by the firm's accounting department that this new employee did not add as much to the firm's overall output as a worker hired two weeks earlier.
Based on this evidence, do you agree that the most recent worker hired should be terminated? Take a position (terminate or not terminate) and defend your choice.
This assignment will be 1 page paper
Third assignment (1 page)
The Production Process and Costs: Ways to Maximize Profits
The maker of TurboTax produces software that prepares federal income tax returns. In addition, it produces software that prepares various state income tax returns. What is the most likely reason that TurboTax does not just specialize in federal software?
Write a 1-page paper on the reason or reasons TurboTax does not just specialize in federal tax software.