Please follow the guidelines in both word documents
GUIDELINES FOR CASE ANALYSIS GUIDELINES FOR CASE ANALYSIS Business writing is very important for managers to master, because you can know a lot, but if you can’t communicate effectively, what you know doesn’t matter. You will be judged as a thinker in light of how you write. Second, because most managers are bombarded with more written information than they can handle. If you write well, you increase the chances that what you write will actually be read and understood. When submitting a written case analysis, you should observe the following guidelines on format and content. FORMAT Type your report on 8 ( by 11 inch white paper. Number pages at the bottom. Use memorandum format, e.g., Date: TO: FROM: RE: or Subject: Staple pages together in the upper left corner. CONTENT The first paragraph of a report or memo should inform the reader of the purpose of the piece. The final paragraph should summarize or offer conclusions. The body of the report or memo conveys information. Structuring your writing can be very useful. Headings and bullets organize your thoughts as the writer and orient the reader to what you are trying to communicate. The headings you use should encompass your major points. Even short pieces of writing can benefit from appropriate headings. Your written case analysis should contain the following items: 1. The first paragraph should givie a brief summary of the where the data can from and describing the problem situation--give the who, what, and where. A brief overview of the managerial problem as you see it, what are the decision alternatives, and by what criteria are the alternatives to be evaluated? 2. Overall descriptive statistics. Summarize the important variables in the survey in non-technical terms. 3. Probing. Then, dig deeper into the data and present significant findings -- use non-technical terms. State your results clearly and concisely -- use bullets. The reader should be able to understand what you write without referring to the computer printout (printouts should be in the appendix)-- use tables and graphs and reference them, e.g., in Table 1.... Talk to your figures and tables--what(s important in them--don(t let the reader have to analyze what your presenting. The memo should read like a story or a visit to a museum, i.e., we are visiting the Museum of American History and we are looking at the American Revolution. You discussion/tables/figures are like going from scene to scene--i.e., what is important about this scene--battle at Valley Forge. You are the guide of the tour. Lead the reader through your visit. 4. Your recommendation(s) to the decision-maker. Giving your findings provide recommendations-- what action can be taken from your results or recommendations to improve your results. 5. Attach to your report as an Appendix computer printout and pertinent output from which you obtained your results. Include only your successful work - not all your mistakes. If you can, in the report, include the graphs and tables discussed in the report. You will be able to improve your writing if you take the time to edit your work. You should think about editing at four levels: · Organization. Check to make sure you’ve followed your outline. Are you using appropriate organizing structures (headings, bullets)? Have you conveyed everything that needs to be conveyed? Does each word or phrase need to be there to convey what needs to be conveyed? Do the sentences within each paragraph belong grouped together? · Grammar/usage. Have you followed the rules? Have you used words that are clear and unambiguous? · Sentence structure. Are sentences clear? Have you avoided run-on sentences, too complex structures? Are main thoughts in paragraphs introduced clearly? · Links and segues. How does the writing flow? Are ideas linked together – or merely jumbled together? Do topics change with appropriate segues? Proofread not only for the points listed above but also for the general meaning of your writing. Think about whether your writing will make sense to someone other than yourself. Is there enough detail? Too much? Delta Blue Airlines Delta Blue Airlines operates a commuter flight between Charlotte and Philadelphia. The plane holds 30 passengers in Economy and 6 passengers in First Class. The airline makes a $100 profit on each passenger in Economy and $200 per passenger in First Class on the flight. When Delta Blue takes 30 Economy reservations and 6 First Class for the flight, experience has shown that on average, two passengers do not show up for each class. As a result, Delta Blue is averaging 28 Economy passengers and 4 First Class passengers with a profit of 28*$100 + 4*$200 = $3600 per flight. The airline operations office has asked for an evaluation of an overbooking strategy where they would accept 32 Economy reservations and up to 8 First Class reservations even though the airplane holds only 30 Economy and 6 First class passengers. The probability distribution for the number of passengers showing up with the new overbooking reservations policy is as follows: # of Passengers Showing up For Economy Probability 28 0.05 29 0.25 30 0.50 31 0.15 32 0.05 # of Passengers Showing up For First Class Probability 1 0.02 2 0.06 3 0.17 4 0.20 5 0.25 6 0.23 7 0.05 8 0.02 The airline will incur a cost for any passenger denied seating on the flight. This cost covers added expenses of rescheduling the passenger as well as loss of goodwill, estimated to be $150 per Economy passenger and $300 per First Class passenger. On the other hand, if there are First Class seats available, they move up Economy passengers to First Class. When this happens, they believe there is a positive goodwill “cost” of $200. Build a simulation model in an Excel file that will model the performance of the overbooking system. Model 500 flights. And answer the following questions. a. What is the mean profit per flight if overbooking is implemented? b. What percentage of customers will experience an overbooking problem? c. Does your model recommend the overbooking strategy? Any suggestions?