Identify which of these 20 firms you would classify as a (a) cost leaders, and a (b) differentiator?

Week 1 Homework, Chapters One and Two

1. There are a number of sources of economic and demographic information that can assist the management accountant and managers in general. The information includes financial information such as interest rates, employment, income, international trade, output of goods and services, consumer price levels, and market values of stocks and bonds. Managers and accountants use this information to better understand the environment in which their firm competes. For example, when interest rates are moving up (or down) rapidly, managers will want to consider the effect of the interest cost changes on their analysis and recommendations regarding managing cash flow, introducing new products, improving or expanding production facilities, and so on. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, much of this very information is in a great state of flux. There are many sources for this information; one useful source is provided by the Federal Reserve Board at www.federalreserve.gov/apps/fof/FOFTables.aspx for prior year information. Be sure to search for current year information to compare. REQUIRED: Review the information you found for gross domestic product and home mortgage statistics. Comment on the current state of the economy that you see in these statistics. (Minimum 500 words) 2. Each year, Interbrand (a corporate strategy consultant) reports the 100 top brands in the world. The leading brands are determined from a calculation based on an analysis to determine what portion of the firm’s sales and earnings can be credited to the firm’s brand. In addition to brand, a key measure for a company is its innovation. The Boston Consulting Group, a global consulting firm, prepares an annual survey of senior executives to rank the most innovative companies. REQUIRED: 1. Go to the following websites and list the top ten companies for each for the year 2020. https://interbrand.com/best-global-brands/
   https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/most-innovative-companies/overview
2. Identify which of these 20 firms you would classify as a (a) cost leaders, and a (b) differentiator? 3. Explain your choices. 3. The following are critical success factors for Hewlett Packard, Inc.: · Product manufacturing time
   · Customer perception of order-taking convenience and accuracy
   · Revenue growth
   · Selling expense to sales ratio
   · Number of new manufacturing processes developed · Order processing time
   · Materials inventory
   · Training dollars per employee
   · Number of emerging technologies evaluated · Customer retention
   · Manufacturing defects
   · Number of new manufacturing processes under development · Customer satisfaction with speed of service · Gross margin · Operating cost ratio
   REQUIRED: Using the four BSC perspectives (learning and growth, internal processes, customer satisfaction, and financial), sort these CSFs into the appropriate perspective.
   Create a simple strategy map for HP. If you do the map by hand you can upload a photo copy as part of your submission.
3. Consider the following companies, each of which is your consulting client: 1. Performance Bicycles, a company that supplies bicycles, parts, and bicycling equipment and clothing from its website;
4. The Oxford Omni, a downtown hotel that primarily serves convention and business travelers; 3. The Orange County Public Health clinic, which is supported by tax revenues of Orange county and public donations;
5. The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company;
6. The Merck pharmaceutical company; 6. St. Sebastian’s College, a small, private liberal arts college. REQUIRED: Determine each client’s competitive strategy and related critical success factors.