3D Catalog”

After reading the Restoration Hardware article in the Module 6: Lecture Materials & Resources, write a summary of the article and answer the questions at the end of the article.

Submission Instructions:

• The paper is to be clear and concise and students will lose points for improper grammar, punctuation, and misspelling.
• The paper is to be 300 words in length, current APA style, excluding the title, abstract and references page.
• Incorporate a minimum of 2 current references (published within the last five years) scholarly journal articles or primary legal sources (statutes, court opinions) within your work.
• Complete and submit the assignment by 11:59 PM ET on Sunday.
• Late work policies, expectations regarding proper citations, acceptable means of responding to peer feedback, and other expectations are at the discretion of the instructor.
• You can expect feedback from the instructor within 48 to 72 hours from the Sunday due date.

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Restoration Hardware—Using the Brick-and-Mortar Store as a “3D Catalog”

The Internet has been a major disruptive force in modern retailing, helping bring about the demise of numerous familiar stores in your local mall: The Limited, American Apparel, Wet Seal, Aeropostale, and Pacific Sunwear, to name a few. Even stalwart Macy’s has closed at least 100 of its stores. While most retailers have rushed to embrace e-retailing as their future, interestingly Restoration Hardware (or RH, as it likes to be called) is not ready to write an obituary for its brick-and-mortar presence. To the contrary, it is utilizing an array of rather “traditional” retail marketing approaches, including one that may seem to some like a relic of retailing’s past.

RH is a luxury brand offering home furnishings, lighting, décor, bathware, and a variety of other products clearly targeted to an upper-income clientele. Visit its stores and you can pick up a nice linen couch for $7,000 or perhaps a crystal chandelier for $9,000. You can also find a selection of decorative drawer pulls, faux fur throws, and even some affordable plush toys for under $50. RH has decreased its total number of stores, but then has “doubled down” on the remaining ones by renovating them into big, beautiful galleries located in renovated historic buildings. These 45,000-square-foot stores are filled with natural light and include cafés where you can enjoy a latte or a Bellini cocktail while you contemplate just which French steamer trunk you want to purchase. One store even has a wine cellar! And of course, child care will also be provided (we would expect nothing less in such a rarefied retail environment).

Particularly fascinating about RH is how it views its retail spaces—not as stores, but rather as galleries or showrooms, where customers can get inspiration and style guidance. CEO Gary Friedman’s vision is to “reinvent physical retail” with these elaborate new stores and a broader set of services. RH’s emphasis on the service experience puts it in a league with retailers like Apple, where customers get to see, touch, and try out all the latest Apple products. According to one retail consultant, these new RH showrooms serve as a kind of “giant 3D real-time catalog.”

And RH knows a thing or two about catalogs. It is famous (some would say infamous) for its annual catalogs called Source Books. One year, it sent out a shrink-wrapped set of 13 different books weighing in at a reported 17 pounds and 3,000 pages. These are not your grandpa’s Sears catalogs—rather, they are more like fashion magazines, with high-quality photography throughout. Rather than timing the mailing of these catalogs with seasons, RH gives customers the whole source book of products all at once so that it can be referenced throughout the entire year.

In another break from tradition, the chain is implementing a loyalty card with a blanket discount for members and no regular promotional sales. The RH Grey Card costs $100 per year, but provides members with a 25 percent savings on all full-priced purchases (there are still clearance sales). Ninety percent of RH revenue now comes from Grey Card members, and since its implementation RH has seen growth in the average order size. The company also expects margins to grow due to deferredmemberships and renewals from the program’s current members. It also expects additional new members to join every year.

But perhaps RH’s most striking departure from current “mainstream” retail strategic thinking is the lack of priority they place on Internet sales, which is near heresy in today’s market where e-commerce rules. Although approximately 37 percent of its business comes via the web, CEO Friedman insists that RH’s business is “not about the Internet.” Rather than competing with other retailers through websites (where it is difficult to differentiate by size and quality), RH leverages its extravagant physical retail spaces (and its stylish source books) to strategically differentiate its brand in the marketplace. Friedman sums up his feelings about Internet-obsessed retailers as follows: “Make no mistake, many retailers find themselves in a race to the bottom, a race we at RH have chosen not to join.” Recent RH sales numbers show an increase in “same store sales,” but not as great as in past years. So it remains to be seen whether the firm’s contrarian approach is one that will have long-term positive profit impact, and also whether any other retailers will embrace a similar swim upstream from convention to lure customers away from their laptops and smartphones and back into brick-and-mortar stores.

Questions for Consideration

1. RH’s CEO believes that the Internet is limited in its ability to facilitate differentiation among retailers. Do you agree? Which retailers do a particularly effective job at presenting their products through their websites?
2. Is it environmentally responsible for RH to produce and distribute such large paper catalogs? Are there ways it could mitigate the environmental impact of this program? How could it best deal with the likely negative reaction from “green” customers?
3. What are some other novel ways that retailers could define the role of their brick-and-mortar stores to optimize their effectiveness in contributing to increasing firm revenues and profits?

Type: Individual Project

Unit:  Financial Analysis: Financial Figures and Concepts

Due Date:  Wed, 7/18/18

https://careered.libguides.com/university_CTUOnline/accounting#s-lg-box-13344124

https://class.ctuonline.edu/_layouts/MUSEViewer/MUSE.aspx?mid=11595721

 

Respond to the following scenario with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Be substantive and clear, and use research to reinforce your ideas.

In anticipation of Mary’s request for comparative analysis, it will be useful at this time to do some research. You know that you can obtain the financials of companies within the same sector or Standard Industry Code as Apix Printing (e.g., commercial printing), and that the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Standard Industry 2012 code for Apix Printing is presently 323111. Use the FINC615 Library Guide to search for two other companies in the same industry as Apix Printing.

When you get to work the next day, you see the following e-mail from Mary:

Here is the list of financial ratios you asked for. I need you to explain the computation of each and compute these for Apix’s results for the financial statements you are using for the PowerPoint presentation. Also, compare Apix’s 2-year trend results to that of two other firms in the sector. Indicate how each of Apix’s ratios differ, and indicate whether the two other companies’ ratios or Apix’s ratios are indicative of better performance.

Explain the computation for each of the following, and compute each for Apix and two other companies in the same industry as Apix Printing:

• Current ratio
• (Long-term) debt to equity ratio
• Gross margin percentage
• Net profit margin percentage
• Return on equity percentage

Present your findings of the above data in a table. Add a paragraph that summarizes your results, indicating whether investors would find the financial analysis results of Apix competitive as compared to rivals in the sector. Be sure to include both positive and negative trends in your analysis.

Please submit your assignment.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

Scenario:

 

Apix Printing, Inc.

Apix Printing, Inc. is a private, domestic United States printer of periodicals, newspaper inserts, and advertising materials that accompany distributions of Sunday and weekday circulations of large metropolitan newspapers. The company, headed by chief executive officer (CEO) John Matthews, generates $450 million in revenues from three product lines (periodicals, inserts, and advertising) and has long-term contracts with several large U.S. retailers to produce weekly sales flyer inserts as well as metropolitan newspapers to produce Sunday magazine inserts and coupons. Its printing presses are characterized by offset print technology and are capable of high-capacity output; in addition, the company recently migrated to water-soluble inks, which considerably reduces manufacturing emissions.

The company’s executive team, employees, and above all, its vice president (VP) of Production, Luke Stewart, are committed to environmentally-sustainable manufacturing practices. Presently, the only substrate Apix uses is paper, specifically newsprint of various weights. Trim and waste are recycled in accordance with the company’s sustainability commitment. Manufacturing divisions are geographically aligned with customers’ locations to minimize logistics costs and response time to customer requirements; however, a centralized corporate entity administers functions such as human resources, information technology, and financial reporting. The VP of sales and administration, James Simeon, oversees administration and quality compliance among the various divisions. There are presently five manufacturing divisions: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest.

Currently, Apix is only marginally profitable, and as such, the chief financial officer (CFO), Mary Francis, has indicated that external financing will be required to support a company expansion into a new segment of the printing sector: food packaging. This endeavor will require new investments in equipment as well as substrate inventory; promotional costs will also increase. In addition, Timothy Russell, the new Audit Committee Chair, has pointed out that the company’s compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) will also cause administrative costs to increase. Following the requirements is paramount to successfully file a registration statement and to issue equity to shareholders in an initial public offering (IPO).

As the newly hired VP of finance, you report to the CFO. In this capacity, your responsibilities include preparation of financial statements, comparative analysis and benchmarking to sector performance, and the assessment of new business investment opportunities to grow Apix’s expansion endeavors in a challenging market.

 Questions & Answers

1. What are the four parts of the administrative simplification requirements of HIPAA? 

2. Name three factors used to determine whether you need to comply with HIPAA. 

3. What are the three categories of entities affected by HIPAA Medical Privacy Regulations? 

4. What would business associates of covered entities consist of as it pertains to HIPAA’s regulation?

5. Who/what is covered by the HIPAA Privacy Rule? Give some examples. 

6. What information is protected in HIPAA? 

7. Describe the Basic Principle and Required Disclosures of HIPAA. 

8. Is a health information organization (HIO) covered by the HIPAA Privacy Rule? 

9. Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule inhibit electronic health information exchange across different states or jurisdictions? 

10. How should a covered entity respond to any HIPAA Privacy Rule violation of a health information organization (HIO) acting as its business associate? 

11. True or false: As a patient, your doctor must have you sign a HIPAA Consent and Release Form to share your ePHI or PHI with insurance providers who pay your medical bills. This is part of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. 

12. After the patient provides consent and permission to the medical practice or covered entity, what agreement is needed between the medical practice and its downstream medical insurance claims processor or downstream medical specialist that requires the patient’s ePHI? 

13. Why is security awareness training for all employees within a health care organization a major component of HIPAA compliance?

14. Under the HIPAA Security Rule, it is a requirement for a health care organization to have a security incident response plan and team to handle potential security incidents and breaches. Why is this a requirement? 

15. True or false: It is a requirement for a health care organization to secure the transmission of ePHI through the public Internet.

u need read the article and learn the topic post 5 question and comments 

the research topic is ag trade and food aid 

Agriculture trade and Food Aid are both very complicated and interwoven topics.  

On the surface you may think that open trade and then helping those in need are the obvious best choices in all situations.  I hope that the videos that you watch and the other research that you do on these help you to understand some of the complexity.  

First, the video that you all should watch “What are we doing here?”  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. examines food aid in Africa.  At the end the four men are more torn in opinion than when they first started – I hope the same for you.  (I told you at the beginning you should end with more questions than answers from this class!)

Food aid doesn’t just mean dropping bags of grain in the Saharan desert, it can also be domestic “Food Stamps”  – SNAP or WIC or even food banks.  In the books you have an option to read, both endorse gardening as one means to assist in food security.  Will Allen’s book addresses the other side of that – the cultural push-back against working the land.   

We see the other side – Agriculture Trade portrayed in “Life and Debt”.  Some places – like land rich United States, can grow a lot, and thus makes our commodities inexpensive, (Of course, you also have the subsidies debate to convolute the discussion as well) while smaller countries could grow enough to sustain themselves, but economically cannot compete with the world market because they do not have the efficiency of size.  

As I started this statement, there are a lot of folds to this fabric, and “right” answers may be elusive. 

Accounts Receivable Crisis

Scenario Summary

It is the second Monday night in October and it is now 3 a.m. You cannot sleep.

You are the CFO of Marysville General Hospital, a 300-bed community hospital in the Midwest. Your hospital board meets at noon on the second Tuesday of each month. You have a truly awful report to give the board, and you are dreading it more than anything else you’ve done in your 15-year career as a hospital senior manager.

The target for days in accounts receivable (which the board and CEO set some years ago) is 55 days. When AR days are at 55, cash flow to the hospital is strong and you can meet all monthly obligations while putting some money away into investments for the hospital’s future.

It has been several years now since the hospital has seen its AR at 55 days. There have been many factors, but AR has been in the 70–80 day range for some time now. Last month it crept up over 90 days, and this month you have the painful task of reporting to the board and CEO that the hospital is carrying 100 days in accounts receivable.

You must come up with a plan to bring AR days back in line, and you will not be able to accomplish that alone. It will take cooperation from the medical staff, the clinical departments, health information management, the business office, and many others. But it must happen and it must happen soon, or your community could actually lose its hospital.

Your Role/Assignment

Come up with a plan to bring AR days back in line. It will take cooperation from the medical staff, the clinical departments, health information management, the business office, and many others, so include how you will involve these departments in devising a solution.

As you prepare your process improvement plan, keep the following in mind.

• What further data collection will you conduct before beginning to write your plan?
• What will be the elements of your plan?
• For each element, who will be the key players and what will be their roles?
• What resources outside of senior management will you engage?
• How will you present your plan at the board meeting?
• How will you know that your plan has been effective?

CHARACTERS:

Bill Walker
(Bank President)

Mack Wilson
(Board President)

Dr. John Evans
(Chief of Staff)

Katrina Eaton
(CEO)

Martina Jackson
(Medical Staff Coordinator)

Linda Freed
(Business Office Manager)

You
(CFO)

Brian Billings
(CIO)

Nancy Stritmatter
(CNO)

(CNO)Becky Santos
(HIM Director)

The Situation

At the board meeting, you give your financial report. You actually have a small profit to show for the month on the income statement, but as you are going over that report in the board packet, you notice that all six board members have already turned past the income statement to the accounts receivable report. One board member actually has his mouth open, jaw dropped, and another is looking at you over his glasses. This is not good.

Your board members are community representatives; they care about the hospital, and they know how important the hospital is to the town of 35,000 people. They are all very worried. They know what has happened to other communities when their hospitals have failed financially. Everyone in this room has a tremendous stake in the survival and success of the hospital.

After you give the accounts receivable report, there is a prolonged silence. You wish somebody would just yell at you and get it over with, but that does not happen.

End of You Decide

Come up with a plan to bring AR days back in line. It will take cooperation from the medical staff, the clinical departments, health information management, the business office, and many others, so include how you will involve these departments in devising a solution.

Present your comments in a 1- to 2-page paper explaining how you will proceed.

Demonstrate a strong grasp of the problem at hand. Demonstrate an understanding of how the course concepts apply to the problem, Apply original thought to solving the business problem. Apply concepts from the course material correctly toward solving the business problem.