With the advent of big data and increased computing power, some people have advocated for monetary policy by algorithm. Basically, real time data are fed into a program that then determines monetary policy decisions. What are some potential benefits of this approach? It would enable Fed policy to respond flexibly to unforeseen economic developments. It would prevent the Fed from engineering potentially inflationary short‑term economic booms. Changes to monetary policy would be perfectly predictable.

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.

Cadbury has a chocolate factory in dunedin, new zealand. for easter, it makes two kinds of “easter eggs”: milk chocolate and dark chocolate. it cycles between producing milk and dark chocolate eggs. the table below provides data on these two products. demand (lbs per hour) milk: 500 dark: 200 switchover time (minutes) milk: 60 dark: 30 production rate per hour milk: 800 dark: 800 for example, it takes 30 minutes to switch production from milk to dark chocolate. demand for milk chocolate is higher (500lbs per hour versus 200 lbs per hour), but the line produces them at the same rate (when operating): 800 lbs per hour. a : suppose cadbury produces 2,334lbs milk chocolate and 1,652 lbs of dark chocolate in each cycle. what would be the maximum inventory (lbs) of milk chocolate? b : how many lbs of milk and dark chocolate should be produced with each cycle so as to satisfy demand while minimizing inventory?

Varto company has 9,400 units of its sole product in inventory that it produced last year at a cost of $23 each. this year’s model is superior to last year’s, and the 9,400 units cannot be sold at last year’s regular selling price of $42 each. varto has two alternatives for these items: (1) they can be sold to a wholesaler for $8 each, or (2) they can be reworked at a cost of $251,100 and then sold for $34 each. prepare an analysis to determine whether varto should sell the products as is or rework them and then sell them.