Homework 1

Instructions

- This assignment must be completed in teams.

- Use MS Word to type your answers to the problems below. Each team must submit only one
copy with the names of the team members printed at the top left of the document. The
document must be sent to w.coulibaly@iugb.edu.ci no later than Friday, January 28th 2022 at
10:00 pm. Late submissions will not be considered under any circumstance.
- Each document will be checked against plagiarism and cheating (which includes sharing
answers). Any team that plagiarizes and/or cheats will receive a grade of 0.00 and its members
will be subject to disciplinary actions.

Problem 1

Tried and True Clothing has opened four new stores in college towns across the state. Data on monthly
sales volume and labor hours are given below.

1. Which store location has the highest labor productivity?

Store Annandale Blacksburg Charlottesville Danville

Sales Volume $40,000 $12,000 $60,000 $25,000
Labor Hours 250 60 500 200

2. Tried and True’s accountant suggests that monthly rent and hourly wage rate also be factored into
the productivity calculations. Annandale pays the highest average wage at $6.75 an hour. Blacksburg
pays $6.50 an hour, Charlottesville $6, and Danville $5.50. The cost to rent store space is $1,800 a
month in Annandale, $2,000 a month in Blacksburg, $1,200 a month in Charlottesville, and $800 a
month in Danville.

a. Which store is most productive? Justify your answer

b. Tried and True is not sure it can keep all four stores open. Based on multifactor productivity, which
store would you close? What other factors should be considered?

Problem 2

1. What role should operations play in corporate strategy?

2. Explain the concept of core competencies in your own words. Provide examples of a core competency
for a bank, a retail store, and an auto manufacturer. (Hint: You must consider a specific bank, a specific
retail store, and a specific auto manufacturer and provide one core competency for each one of them).

3. What is the balanced scorecard? How does it relate to operations?