MEMo RESPoNSE

Memo Response

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Memo Response

Question # 1:

Writing a memo is order to inform you that what quantitative research techniques/statistics I would recommend for ABC Complete Kitchens, Inc. Also provide the information that we expect the statistics to provide for ABC Complete Kitchens, Inc. This report sets out the findings from a survey about quantitative techniques conducted for ABC Complete Kitchens, Inc. The invitations were distributed via social network groups used by market researchers. The main driver for this survey was a project I am currently engaged in with a North American university looking at their online learning course. The key textbook for the course is one of the most internationally respected books on the market. However, when I looked at the analysis section I was concerned that the techniques the textbook was saying were the most common were actually, in some case quite rare. Amongst the major sections in the textbook were:

Chi-square

Kolmogorov-Smirnov

Mann-Whitney U Test

ANoVA

MANoVA

Correlation

Partial Correlation

Regression

Discriminant Analysis

Logit Analysis

Factor Analysis

Cluster Analysis

Multidimensional Scaling

Conjoint Analysis

Whilst some of these techniques are, in my opinion, very commonly used, others are, in my experience, rarely used after leaving university. The aim of the survey was to establish which techniques are in common use and which are somewhat rarer. In classic 'wisdom of crowds' fashion the survey asks the respondents to express their views about what was happening in the industry, as opposed to how often they personally used these techniques. The survey collected the views of 138 researchers, from 35 countries, with all the fieldwork being conducted in June 2009. In my opinion, our company should use Regression analysis because it shows the relationship of the variables.

Question # 2

This memo will be discussing about the concerns that ABC Complete Kitchens, Inc may face while running their plant internationally. Since there is a margin for 20% sales from overseas market they should expand their plant. They have to come up with an extensive number of issues together referred to as the international manufacturing infrastructure. However, the proposed issues are interrelated and sometimes even (partly) overlapping. They can be regrouped, and summarized, as follows:

International supply/demand management. The complete order process, including inventory replenishment and production decisions takes place in an international environment. Customer service, capacity utilization, and inventory objectives must therefore be balanced internationally. How is this global pipeline managedo How are customer orders with international multi-plant requirements scheduledo How is interplant demand scheduledo

Global versus local purchasing. The inputs of a factory, manufactured goods as well as raw materials, can be procured abroad or from a source close to that factory. What are the trade-offs between global and local (perhaps just-in-time) purchasingo And how should international procurement take place, centrally or by specialized plantso

Decomposition of overall manufacturing strategy. The international manufacturing strategy of the company as a whole must be broken down and translated into specific goals for each of the factories. Which aspects of manufacturing (for instance, applied production processes) need to be standardized across international plantso What ...