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The development phase of human resources management consists of two important activities: (1) training and development and (2) _______.

The Dapper Gentleman, Inc. Quinn buys companies that are small or in financial trouble. He helps these companies turn around and develop a competitive advantage. He recently purchased a company called The Dapper Gentleman, Inc., which sells men’s clothing and accessories. The Dapper Gentleman keeps the sewing machines for clothes manufacturing at a separate production facility so that the store location space can be reserved for display and selling. ​ After looking over the different products available, Quinn realized that the company’s previous owner did not understand the concept of the product life cycle because the company kept items that were obviously outdated and out of style. In addition, due to high turnover, employees did not have good knowledge of the different product lines and did not know the difference between a product line and a product mix. To move the company forward, Quinn thought of the following two measures: first, developing a new product to incorporate into the product mix; and second, eliminating the out-of-date products. ​ Refer to The Dapper Gentleman, Inc. If Quinn wanted to develop a new product, he should begin with _______.

Room Elements Room Elements is a home decorating company that sells many different household accessories ranging from candles to entertainment centers. Delphine is the CEO of the company. She feels that there is not enough specialization within the company and wants to organize the business in a different way. Delphine thinks that the company would be more effective if it were to switch to a new way of organization. For example, there could be a manager in charge of the candles, a different manager in charge of the entertainment centers, and so on. ​ Another issue that Delphine wants to resolve is that of delegation. She believes that if she could improve her delegating, employees would feel more empowered and want to go above and beyond what they are required to do. There are certain reasons that Delphine has a hard time delegating to others, but she is confident that the problem will be overcome if she works on it.Refer to Room Elements. What type of departmentalization does Delphine want to switch to?

Sunshine Desserts is in its first year of business. Startup expenses have been greater than expected and sales are still slow, and the owner is worried she won’t be able to pay the utility bill. What type of financing would you recommend for this small business?

What is the primary reason that manufacturing jobs have declined in the U.S.?

Chief Executive, Inc. Chief Executive, Inc. (CEI) is a chain of business-clothing stores for professional women. Lana, the owner of the company, has designed the business so that she hardly ever has to be there. There are many department managers who hold a lot of responsibility. Although they are organized separately by department, each manager knows enough about the other departments to be able to fill in at any time. The department managers also delegate a lot of work further down to their employees as a way to empower them. The owner even delegates store-management responsibilities to a different department manager each month. Even though certain people are delegated certain tasks, everyone pitches in, so it is sometimes hard to tell who is really in charge.   Two of Lana’s managers have mentioned that some customers have expressed frustration that CEI stores do not accept cryptocurrency as payment. Sensing an opportunity to differentiate the company from its competitors, Lana has brought together three managers from finance, marketing, and legal, as well as herself, to explore how the stores could accept Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency, and whether that could have negative consequences. ​ The employees of CEI are so comfortable with each other that many go out and participate in activities together on the weekends, even when they are not working. However, the owner realizes that she does not want to participate in these events because she does not want to seem that she is favoring certain people over others.Refer to Chief Executive, Inc. CEI can best be described as a(n) _______ organization.

All of the following are basic factors in the selection of a channel of distribution except the _______.

The Craft House Penny works for a retail shop called The Craft House. Penny was often quite rude to customers when they annoyed her. One morning, her supervisor asked Penny into her office and informed her that her behavior was unacceptable. To be rude to one customer could cause several customers not to come back. Penny’s supervisor told her that retaining a customer is much cheaper than trying to get a new one. After their constructive discussion, Penny’s boss told her that she wanted her to go out on the floor that day and attempt to be more helpful to customers.   Over the next few months, Penny began to help customers learn more about the different products in the store and often explained why the customer might want to purchase one product over another. In doing so, she realized the importance of her role in the retail shop and began to truly enjoy her job. She started to think about the future of the company. She even thought that the company could do very well if it were to sell its products on eBay. When she brought this idea to her boss, her boss thought it was excellent, and asked Penny to look further into the pros and cons of her idea.   After evaluating Penny’s research, her boss decided to move forward with the idea, asking Penny to head up this new venture for the company. Penny then realized that retail is not just about making the sale; the customer should be the focus of all operations. Penny now looks up to her boss and is very glad that she was there to mentor her.  Refer to The Craft House. When Penny was brought into her boss’s office, what was her manager trying to explain?

Who or what defines whether a business is small?

In providing health insurance for its employees, National Instruments is striving to satisfy which level of need?