During the period after World War II, the United States was the most productive country in the world for approximately _______ years.

Grace Park, Inc. The management of Grace Park, Inc. (GPI) has had some challenges with employee morale and turnover, and the company is making some changes to improve things. The company is known for its risk taking and market leadership with many new products that solve today’s problems. However, employees, who come from many different backgrounds, don’t seem to interact much inside or outside the workplace. GPI would like to find ways to improve camaraderie among employees as well as morale, efficiency, and turnover.   Previously, the company tried to make jobs more appealing by adding more responsibilities to each job description. However, this did not work. Next, the company decided to allow flextime, believing that giving employees more flexibility in their hours would make employees more motivated and loyal. This has been successful enough that some employees are now requesting the right to work at home so that they can address their families’ care-giving needs. GPI is considering a pilot program that would allow some employees to do that. GPI then introduced even more work options for employees. For example, management decided to group all full-time employees into teams to bring employees with different backgrounds together to learn from each other. It also announced a monthly party at corporate headquarters. ​ Once these changes were initiated, GPI management noticed that the morale and quality of employees’ work seemed to be improving. The managers also observed that people felt much more comfortable with and tolerant of each other.Refer to Grace Park, Inc. The flextime GPI introduced is _______.

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?

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 _______.

Chick-fil-A has been experimenting with a new spicy chicken sandwich product, manipulating the price, and packaging at several stores over a 10-week period. After analyzing the results of the experiments, the company realized it had to alter the recipe of the product itself because consumers reported that it was too spicy. During which new-product development stage is management likely to recognize the need to make changes to the marketing mix?

Gear Up Nina has been working for a local small business called Gear Up for the last three years. It is a retail business that sells sporting goods equipment. When Nina started working there, she noticed that the business wasn’t doing so well and observed several things that didn’t bode well for the business’s future. Nina has been thinking of starting her own small business because she feels she has learned much through working for Gear Up. Knowing that Nina was studying business, her manager asked her to create a business plan for Gear Up. The manager hoped that this plan would put things into perspective to help the company do better. After creating the plan, Nina suggested that Gear Up contact a group of senior and graduate students in business administration who provide management counseling for small businesses. Nina wants to make sure that her leaving does not become the cause of the company going under.  Refer to Gear Up. What is not one of the key reasons Gear Up would possibly fail?

Entrepreneurial Training, Inc. Entrepreneurial Training, Inc. is a company that helps people start their own businesses. As part of the coaching it provides, the company covers many different aspects of entrepreneurship for internet-based companies. One principle its trainers focus on is customer service. They also stress the importance of connecting with current and potential customers. Developing a social media presence is another focus of Entrepreneurial Training in its entrepreneur-based sessions. The trainers provide their clients with sufficient marketing research and statistics to understand trends in various areas that involve the internet and social media. Entrepreneurial Training prides itself on helping entrepreneurs launch and maintain successful businesses through a major internet presence.    Refer to Entrepreneurial Training, Inc. If Entrepreneurial Training clients (the business owners) request workshops about how to allow their customers to download files about their product or service for listening or watching, Entrepreneurial Training would be organizing _______ workshops.

G&W, Inc. A year ago, Oscar went to work for G&W, Inc. He has worked in the finance department ever since he started. He noticed that the company was taxed as though it were a partnership. This was something that he found very odd when he first started working for the company, but he later realized it was a fairly common practice. He recognized that this was one of the advantages of this type of company. ​ Although the job was challenging, Oscar was not satisfied. He really wanted to work for a company whose main goal was to provide service to the community, not to make a profit. However, Oscar felt that, considering his present financial situation, he had to continue working for G&W, Inc. A week later, Oscar learned there was going to be a merger between G&W, Inc. and one of its major competitors. Oscar’s boss informed him that he would be getting a promotion and a raise. Although he was excited about making more money, he still was not happy. He knew then that he would not be working for the company for long.Refer to G&W, Inc. What type of organization was Oscar considering switching to?

Vantage Point, Inc. Vantage Point Inc. (VPI) is a relatively new company that wants to improve its employee rewards, compensation, and benefits. The company understands that there are effective reward systems that will motivate employees. However, VPI management is not sure which would be the best for the company. Compensation, another important area, must also be improved so that it will satisfy all employees effectively. In addition, the company wants to create benefits to keep the employees not just satisfied, but also motivated. Yet another pressing issue is deciding on the training methods that are to be used to successfully teach the new employees.   VPI believes that it will be on the right path if all of these changes can be successfully accomplished. The company plans to incorporate performance appraisals so it can be sure that the rewards, compensation, and benefits are effectively distributed.Refer to Vantage Point, Inc. VPI management needs to understand that effective reward systems must _______.

A Tesla, a dinner at the Shake Shack, and an overnight stay at a Marriott Hotel all satisfy human needs. Therefore, each _______.