A – 3 pages total

Using the Internet, research the Royal Dutch Shell company to compile a SWOT analysis.

1 page – Create a visual chart using Exhibit 1.1 on page 6 (Sample SWOT Analysis Framework and Representative Examples) in your textbook as a format guideline for submission. The SWOT analysis needs to include all four elements including the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A minimum of five selected internal factors (finance and management must be two of the five) and five selected external factors as demonstrated in Exhibit 1.1.

2 pages – Evaluate the chart to determine current and suggest future overall strategies based upon the organization’s business, mission, and goals.

References must include your textbook plus a minimum of one additional credible reference (not wikipedia).

B – 2 pages total

For this assignment, read the case study, “Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.-Energy Beverages,” beginning on page 91 of your textbook. Once you have read and reviewed the case scenario, respond to the following questions with thorough explanations and well-supported rationale.

What would be the challenges associated with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. extending their product offering to include an energy beverage?

Analyze the energy beverage market extending your research beyond the textbook. Is this a growing market? Contrast the domestic and global markets.

Explain how the determined pricing strategy would have a significant impact on profitability. Include discussion on retail pricing, expected unit volume, and margins.

Take on the role of marketing manager at Dr. Pepper. Identify several alternatives to overcome these challenges. Looking at these possible alternatives, which would you select and why?

For this assignment, read the case studies on pages 192-209 of your textbook. Once you have read and reviewed the case scenario, respond to the following questions with thorough explanations and well-supported rationale.

To what degree does the product align with the current trend of healthy living? How does the family life cycle work into the discussion?

What is involved with successful branding? Explain how solid brand management and positioning would impact this product.

Based upon your assessment, has Frito Lay identified the most appropriate target market? Include your rationale. Would you suggest an alternative or additional target market?

Are the Sun Chips multi-grain snacks a sustainable new product addition to the Frito-Lay product line? Think about whether it aligns with Frito Lay’s overall product-marketing strategies. Include some level of discussion on the competition and industry.

References must include your textbook plus a minimum of one additional credible reference (not wikipedia).

D – 2 pages total

For this assignment, read the case study, “Astor Lodge & Suites, Inc.,” on page 324 of your textbook. Once you have read and reviewed the case scenario, respond to the following questions with thorough explanations and well-supported rationale.

Discuss the importance of utilizing integrated marketing communications within an organization.

Evaluate the effectiveness of Astor Lodge’s IMC program including areas where they are doing well and areas

they need to develop.

Based upon the provided hotel segmentation and profile, is Astor Lodge positioning and branding themselves

attractively? What might they consider to increase their brand equity?

Assumptions
Two hospitals report their annual projected revenue for five years to the local newspaper for a story on the area’s future economic outlook. However, Hospital 1 has applied a cumulative inflation factor of 5% per year while Hospital 2 has not applied any inflation factor. Thus the information is not properly comparable.
Projected Revenue
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Hospital 1 $20,000,000 $22,500,000 $27,500,000 $27,500,000 $30,000,000
Hospital 2 $20,000,000 $21,000,000 $25,000,000 $24,000,000 $26,000,000
Required
Revise Hospital 2’s projections by applying a cumulative inflation factor of 5% per year.
Assignment Exercise 14–3
The head of your department is a prominent researcher. A health research foundation has asked him travel to London to give an important speech at a conference. He will then travel to Paris to tour a research facility before returning home. Although his travel expenses are being funded by the foundation, he will still need to take along some personal money. Consequently, he asks you to figure the exchange rates for $500 and for $1,000 in both pounds and euros. He explains that he is trying to judge the spending power of U.S. dollars when converted to the other currencies so he can decide how much personal money to take on the trip.
Required
Locate the current exchange rates for pounds and euros and compute the currency conversion for $500 and for $1,000.
Assignment Exercise 14–4: The Discovery
The Chief Financial Officer at Sample General Hospital has just discovered that the hospital’s Chief of the Medical Staff’s son Jason, a student at the local community college, is paid $100 per week year-round for grounds maintenance at the hospital’s Outpatient Center.
The CFO, no fan of the Chief of Medical Staff, now wants you to prepare a report that compares the relative costs of lawn care at each of three locations: the hospital itself, the outpatient center, and the hospital-affiliated nursing home down the block.
Required
Review the available information for grounds maintenance at the three facilities. Decide how to convert this information into comparable data. Then prepare a report, based on your assumptions, that presents comparable costs of grounds care. Also provide your assessment of what the best future course of action should be.