Team Work Discussion Board Rubric

Team Discussion Rubric: 25 points

Quality (40%) of your team post will be measured on the following criteria: All assigned Discussion questions (7) were answered completely Posts were on topic and unique in content All posts demonstrated analysis of the topic				Score
No quality criteria were met. (0 points)	One criterion was met. (2 points)	Two criteria were met. (6 points)	Criteria were fully met. (10 points)	­­­­ ____ pts.
Participation Guidelines (30%) will be measured on the following criteria: Initial team post no later than Saturday, midnight ET Team posts made to each discussion question on at least 3 different days The original post to be no less than 100 words All team members substantially contributed to creating the team posting.
No participation criteria met. (0 points)	One criterion was met. (1.5 points)	Two criteria were met. (4.5 points)	Criteria were fully  met. (7.5 points)	____ pts.
Clarity and Organization of Writing (20%) of your post will be measured on the following criteria: Team posts were organized and  logical No spelling or grammatical errors References were used and cited properly
Criteria were not met at all. (0 points)	One criterion was met. (1 point)	Two criteria were met. (3 points)	Criteria were fully met. (5 points)	____ pts.
Professional & Netiquette (10%) in your post will be measured on the following criteria: Respect and consideration toward peers/instructors Adherence to “Rules of the Road” Appropriate language Professional use of abbreviations and acronyms
Criteria were not met at all. (0 points)	One criterion was met. (.5 points)	Two criteria were met. (1.5 points)	Criteria were fully met. (2.5 points)	____ pts.
			Total Points in percentage	_____%
			Total points x (DQ post value) ( ___% x __ pts)	____ pts.

Rules of the road:

1. Attack the problem and not the person.

2. When negotiating with team members, provide options rather than ultimatums.

3. Make sure to use Kaplan Netiquette as seen in your Syllabus, when working in teams.

4. It is advisable to make a team agreement (at least assign tasks) as to individual responsibilities which will aid in producing a better team deliverable.

Team Agreement

                                                                                    Date:

Team letter and Members:

Assigned Tasks (based on deliverables):

Timeline:

Team Meeting Times:

Process for Resolving Conflict:

Hubway Video Case Study Transcript

E-business –New Balance Hubway

Brogan Graham (Hypemaster): E-business is happening at Hubway maybe on one of the highest levels because all transactions happen either online or by touching a touch screen.

Mary McLaughlin (Marketing Director): It really takes probably one time of using the system to actually understand how it works; it is pretty intuitive.

Brogan Graham (Hypemaster): Here’s how bike sharing works. You walk up to any of the stations as a visitor or someone in town who wants to try the system. Each of our stations has the ability to swipe a credit card and print a code and take that code and take out any of the bikes. It’s an interchangeable system so you can take that bike all the way across town and drop it off and you can be done with it; that could be it. The other way to use it is an annual member. We send you a key fob in the mail and that bar code on the back of that key chain basically represents your account so instead of having to go to that terminal, you just walk up to one of the bikes, swipe it, it gives you a green light and you’re off.

Scott Mullen (General Manager)

The Hubway system was conceived as a regional network for Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, and the surrounding communities. The total will bring us to about 100 stations and 1,000 bicycles for that initial launch phase. This will be our first full season in Boston. The initial projections were 3,000 members, 100,000 trips in the first 12 months would be considered good; that would be success and we hit those metrics 10 ½ weeks for 100,0000 rides really show you that there’s kind of a nascent demand, you know, people want this. Boston is already talking about expanding by maybe as much as 50%, which could bring 30 more stations just to the city of Boston proper. There’s not a Hubway rep at every station to kind of walk you through the process. I mean it would obviously be unwieldy and that’s a very 1.0 solution to it, you know, to a 2.0 system.

Brogan Graham (Hypemaster): E-business is the fact that Hubway is this gigantic city program with all this hardware and all these people moving bikes and getting people to and from their A and B all day long in the city of Boston. It has no customer service desk; it has no office where you go to get your key.

Scott Mullen (General Manager):

There is a certain degree of kind of tech savvy that most of our annual members have but the casual members as well like they have to swipe a credit card, they deal with the screen, but we make it as seamless as possible, make it as easy as possible because again, this shouldn’t be a big production. Just want to get a bike because I’m going 7 blocks away and we want to make it easy.

Brogan Graham (Hypemaster):

As far as e-business goes, you know, Hubway there is no store or counter to walk up to get your key. Everything is done on our website at the Hubway.com so you put in your information and we mail you a key. If you want to find out about station updates we do a lot of our marketing, a lot of our hype and publicity through Facebook. Twitter is also good for blasting updates and sharing info about cycling infrastructure in Boston and around the world.

Scott Mullen (General Manager)

We really look at social media from a broader context. Social media leads to other types of media is the way we look at things. We use social media not just for marketing but for operations as well.

Brogan Graham (Hypemaster):

We use it sometimes as station updates to say here are station updates. Here at the south station the system just went down and it should go live in a few hours and the amount of followers who want to follow our up to date little tidbits along the way really have gone up. We do email blasts but everything for the most part is done online. All the transactions are done online and even right here with the touch screen at the solar powered station, you know, that’s just interactive there.  There’s no attendant. It’s all just done by using your credit card and using the solar powered touch screen. It’s open all night, it is 24/7, it is cheap and it’s fun.  It’s a cool way to explore a new city. Many people have questions about Hubway and how it works such as what do I do if I have a flat tire? What do I do if I come to rack that’s full of bikes? How do I find the station? All that information is on the Hubweay.com. For example, if you’re on a ride and you do get a flat tire, you walk up to any of the stations and simply press the mechanics button when you dock the bike. That will secure the bike in the station and it will not be released to the next person. The mechanics will come and take a look at it and fix it up and get it back out to the fleet. 

 Scott Mullen (General Manager): Full or empty stations are equally bad to us because that means a member can’t either dock a bike or can’t get a bike when they want one. So it’s all about figuring out how we run the system we have and where does it make the most sense to grow organically outward.  So we have to be smart about our growth so we can meet demands. If you think about a business that is not brick and mortar, that is strictly online maybe it’s selling goods and services or whatever, I mean we leverage the Internet, of course, because that’s how you sign up as an annual member, we have an app called spot cycle, which is how you see where the closest stations are to you and how full or empty they are and you know, and if you maybe need to go somewhere else.  North station is full right now and I’ve got to get my train in 10 minutes, I’m going to go to Stanford and Cause Way a block away.

We did a survey of our members at the end of the year last year and we had about 3,700 which was huge for us because we projected to have about 3,000 after 12 months.

Brogan Graham (Hypemaster):

Between signing up online, touch screens that are solar powered in the street, Smartphones that have free apps that make life easier, the e-business transactions it’s funny, it’s something that older generations don’t necessarily understand or necessarily can get with. A lot of the younger employees here will have their folks still kind of confused on what we do.

Scott Mullen (General Manager):

Smart technology, Smartphones, obviously the Internet…, It’s fundamental to our business.

Wine List Example

Wine List Example

Wine List	Our Price per Glass	Basic Rule	Selling Price
White Wines
Cloud Break Chardonnay	$2.16	$8.64	$9.00
Kendal Jackson Chardonnay	$2.63	$10.52	$10.50
Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc	$2.49	$9.96	$10.00
Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio	$2.24	$8.96	$9.00
River Road Pinot Grigio	$3.50	$14.00	$14.00
Jermann Pinot Grigio	$7.25	$29.00	$29.00
Red Wines
D'Autrefois Pinot Noir	$2.87	$11.51	$12.00
Angeline Pinot Noir	$4.50	$18.00	$18.00
Low Hanging Merlot	$2.00	$8.00	$8.00
Radius Merlot	$2.75	$11.00	$11.00
J Lohr Cabernet	$2.99	$11.96	$12.00
Courtney Benham Cabernet	$5.75	$23.00	$23.00
Sparkling Wine
Korbel Brut	$2.74	$10.96	$11.00
Louis Bouillot  Brut	$4.24	$16.96	$17.00
Veuve Clicquot Brut	$9.38	$37.52	$37.00
Blush Wines
Beringer White Zinfandel	$0.99	$3.96	$6.00
Baron Herzog White Zinfandel	$2.25	$9.00	$9.00
Louis Bouillot Rose	$4.50	$18.00	$18.00
References
Retrieved from Total wine and more (2013) http://www.totalwine.com/eng/categories/wine

The Beauty of Wine

The Beauty of Wine

I am really=y glad that this week has really defined wine making this is something that I have been looking forward to going over for a long time. In my education with Le Cordon Bleu I have switched my major from culinary arts to hotel/restaurant management so some of the classes that I was looking forward to taking were post pone but now I am able to take this one, and I am thankful. I have had the chance to bartend but only in an environment that provides you with wine in a box and I have also worked in a kitchen during the day with no wine service and still the wine that you used to cook still came in a box. I have had the opportunity to enjoy beautiful meals with excellent wine pairings but this is what I have been dying to learn more about how this wine pairing thing and wine process really works. Who knew it was so complicated; I have read and reviewed some information but did not realize that there are different organizations that evaluate the process of wine making. For instance The French initiated the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée system in 1935 as a means of safeguarding the more quality-conscious winemakers, vineyards, and areas from unethical producers who were taking advantage of the better-known names. Although the French AC system can't guarantee the quality of a producer's wine, it can control most of the elements that go into making it (Answer Corporation, 2013). This system has been put into place to assure that a wine maker can be appreciated for their practice and technique of wine making without someone coming along and trying to copy the hard work they have done. I love this idea it really makes it a challenge for other companies to come up with something originally and just as beautiful as their neighbor.

References

1.     Answer Corporation, 2013. Baron’s Wine Lover Companion: Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC or AC). http://www.answers.com/topic/appellation-d-origine-contr-l-e

Marketing and the 4 P's

Product is Everything

Products are everything that a person receives in an exchange. Specific versions of a product offered by an organization are product items while groups of closely related product items are called a product line. All of the company’s products together are a product mix

     There are five consumer product classifications; inexpensive items which require little shopping effort are convenience products. Shopping products are items where consumers compare different brands and the items are usually more expensive than those of convenience products. The third classification would be specialty products such as high end products and consumers will not accept substitute brands. There are also unsought products that consumers don’t actively seek but are found more on a necessity bases such as burial plots or insurance.

     Branding of a product allows for distinguishing products from all other competitors because consumers will recognize a brand they consider to be good quality and a product line that they trust. Packaging of a product is sometimes changed in order to attract a new group of consumers. If they want to attract a younger demographic, they will change the logo/label to one that the younger consumers will take notice of.  A company is global if they get 1/3 of their revenue from outside of their home country. These companies have to offer products that are based on the local tastes, or styles of the area they are selling in. Labeling for global products also must be properly translated when listing ingredients, and they have to watch what colors are on the labels as some countries have different meanings for different colors which means we may use a color here in the United States that if sent to another country could be very offensive, so it is very important to pay close attention to that.

     There are different types of warranties, Express warranties are ones that are written while implied warranties are unwritten guarantees that say the product is fit for the purpose it was sold for. Warranties are to protect the buyers and they give important information about the product that is sold.

     Companies must develop new products to continue growing, increase revenue and to replace items that have become obsolete. There are six catagories of new products. The first being new to the world products which are created for an entirely new market, then there are new product lines which are products that have not been offered by the company before. Additions to existing product lines which are developed to supplement and established line, revisions of existing products can have slight changes or significant changes to the existing items. Repositioned products are existing products which are targeted at new markets and finally lower-priced products which are similar to competing brands but are offered at lower prices than the competitors.

     The process for developing new products starts with new product strategy which provides general guidelines, followed by idea generation which comes from customers, employees, vendors, R&D and consultants. The next step is the idea screening which eliminates the ideas that are inconsistent with the organization’s new product strategy. The company then has to use the business analysis to estimate and compare cost and revenue for the new product and then the development where the prototype is developed and the marketing strategy, packaging, branding and labeling is all developed.  The next step is to test market the product where it is sent to limited market places for introduction. Once all of that is complete, the final step is commercialization where the decision to market the product is made and production materials and equipment are ordered products are shipped to distribution points and advertising is all started.

     The concepts of the life cycle are first the introduction, where a full scale launch of the product begins, that moves to the growth when sales grow at an increasing rate and then the maturity of a product which is the longest stage, where the sales increase at a decreasing rate and it finally leads to a decline when there is a long running drop in sales.

Consumer decision making process on Ford Vehicle

Consumer Decision Making Process: Ford General Motors

Visiting the Ford Motors website the site reveals several interesting things about the company. The alternative vehicle line Ford offers is designed to give the customer several options for the vehicle use type. For example, Ford offers commercial vehicles. They don’t simply offer one vehicle but several different types of commercial vehicles. The company has also built different model types for each individual commercial vehicle. One commercial vehicle available for sale is the E-Series Van.  There are two types of E-Series Vans. One has enhanced technology and windows and the other is without those features.

The vehicle that Ford offers which is most relevant to my needs is there Ford Fusion Energi SE. The vehicle has a EPA-Est MPG of 108/92 city/hwy. This vehicle suits my needs best because I drive far distances for work and with the increase MPG I could drastically save on fuel costs. Also, the Ford Fusion Energi SE is a full size sedan. I need a vehicle with ample storage and room for large items.

The VALS survey results describe me as follows:

(Primary VALS Type) Innovator - Image is important to Innovators, not as evidence of status or power but as an expression of their taste, independence, and personality. Innovators are among the established and emerging leaders in business and government, yet they continue to seek challenges. Their lives are characterized by variety. Their possessions and recreation reflect a cultivated taste for the finer things in life.

(Secondary VALS Type) Experiencers are avid consumers and spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. Their purchases reflect the emphasis that they place on looking good and having "cool" stuff.

I found the description of my secondary VALT Type most interesting. I usually consider myself a saver but have recently found that I too am a very big consumer. I do take my time to shop for quality products though. I believe my Primary VALS Type is spot on with my personality. I really enjoy taking charge of other people and have grown personally in leadership positions. For this reason I am never satisfied with my own work.

The VALS Survey relates to my vehicle choice because of the Ford Fusion Energi SE is really efficient and has a sleek body design that screams quality vehicle in my eyes.  That fits in with my primary and secondary VALS type.

The three factors that mostly affect my decision to purchase the Ford Fusion Energi SE are Individual Factors, Cultural Factors, and Psychological Factors (Lamb et al., 2012, p. 85). The Individual Factors associated with my decision deal with my age and self-concept.  The vehicle is sleek in design and would give me the assurance that it can keep be efficient with my lifestyle. The Cultural Factors associated with my decision deal with social class. In some ways the vehicle has a very traditional body style that resonates with the area I live in. The Psychological Factors associated with my decision to purchase the vehicle deal with my perception.  I want to think of myself as being clean and organized. This features of the Ford Fusion does that easily with a new age design.

 Reference

Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2012). MKTG5. Mason, OH: South-

            Western, Cengage.