A firm’s positioning statement should address their target segment. Anything else they’ll say in the positioning statement will have meaning to customers who are not in that segment.

1. the political environment in india has proven to be critical to company performance for both pepsico and coca-cola india. what specific aspects of the political environment have played key roles? could these effects have been anticipated prior to market entry? if not, could developments in the political arena have been handled better by each company? 2. timing of entry into the indian market brought different results for pepsico and coca-cola india. what benefits or disadvantages accrued as a result of earlier or later market entry? 3. the indian market is enormous in terms of population and geography. how have the two companies responded to the sheer scale of operations in india in terms of product policies, promotional activities, pricing policies, and distribution arrangements? 4. “global localization” (glocalization) is a policy that both companies have implemented successfully. give examples for each company from the case.

Salge inc. bases its manufacturing overhead budget on budgeted direct labor-hours. the variable overhead rate is $8.10 per direct labor-hour. the company's budgeted fixed manufacturing overhead is $74,730 per month, which includes depreciation of $20,670. all other fixed manufacturing overhead costs represent current cash flows. the direct labor budget indicates that 5,300 direct labor-hours will be required in september. the company recomputes its predetermined overhead rate every month. the predetermined overhead rate for september should be:

When paul o’neill joined alcoa as ceo, he set a , that there would be zero workplace accidents. a lot of people in the organization thought this was impossible given how dangerous some aluminum-manufacturing jobs are, but alcoa’s safety record improved tremendously. as the board of governors of the american red cross considers planning, one option is to make strategic plans and then direct managers to align tactical and operational plans accordingly. another option is to have planning specialists managers across the organization make their own plans. why might this organization’s executives opt for the latter approach? check all that apply. (a) the environment is a dynamic one, and department and frontline managers can come up with more responsive plans than can central leadership. (b)resources will be better coordinated across the organization in support of the overall strategy.(c) senior leadership will have more control over the organization’s direction. (d)when managers come up with their own plans, they are likely to be more committed to following through on them.