This week you will continue the work you started on your new product.  This week you will identify and explain the BE (break-even point). 

1. Using a spreadsheet software program, create a chart showing the costs of your product or service and at least three different price points you might consider selling the product. 
2. In a separate area on the spreadsheet, explain the chart and the price points (use your own words). 
3. Select your BE point and explain why you selected that specific BE point. 
4. (Explanation should be a minimum of 500 words, spelling and grammar count. Use Times New Roman 12 point font, double spaced. Note:  even though you are writing within the spreadsheet use APA style.)
5. In your explanation, be sure to consider the cost of: 
   • raw materials
   • labor
   • fixed costs
   • delivery
   • advertising
6. You may need to be creative as you come up with pricing (this is ok). 
7. This spreadsheet will be included in your final Marketing Plan (see Week 8).

Imagine you have inherited a restaurant. The restaurant has been out of operation for a bit so this is a blank slate for you to start a new career as a restaurateur and to open a new restaurant. Choose the type of restaurant you want to have, upscale casual, café, super club, etc.

Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

1. Create a statement describing the value your restaurant will bring your clientele.
2. Determine the pricing strategy that will benefit your restaurant the most. Explain why you chose this strategy.
3. Choose a value communication strategy that you will use to attract potential customers and keep customers coming back.
4. You are contemplating adding a daily special that is unique from the regular menu. Decide and then justify your answer to whether it makes more sense to go upscale and offer a higher priced item than is on your current menu, the same price that aligns to the other menu items, or a lower- priced item compared to your current menu.
5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Analyze the key elements of strategic pricing and the role of pricing decisions in marketing strategy.
• Evaluate the impact assessing value has on pricing strategy and profitability, and the importance of market segmentation.
• Analyze the application of various pricing strategies and tactics to develop and manage an overall pricing strategy for a company.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of price and value communication strategies.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in strategic market pricing.
• Write clearly and concisely about strategic market pricing using proper writing mechanics.

You have recently been appointed as a training manager for the southeast region of a major supermarket chain in the U.S. Your territory includes 15 retail stores. Your responsibility involves working directly with store managers and other stakeholders to develop training solutions to meet specific needs of employees in various stores. This includes, but is not limited to, performing needs assessments, determining appropriate instructional design and training delivery methods, as well as implementing and evaluating training initiatives.

Three of the stores in your territory have missed sales goals for the last two quarters. All three stores have received low customer satisfaction scores and are experiencing increased employee turnover rates. The high employee turnover has resulted in the store managers hiring many new and relatively inexperienced sales associates, which further contributes to the problem.

The senior management team of the supermarket chain believes that training and development may help decrease employee turnover and increase customer satisfaction. You have been asked to assess training needs and develop a proposal to address the situation in these three stores.

Instructions:

Use scholarly resources and your learning, address the following:

1. Identify, using simple heuristics, the indicators that show that the specific problems experienced by the three stores can be resolved through training.
2. Design a needs assessment plan and identify three specific training initiatives you would recommend for these employees. Include the expected outcomes for the three training initiatives in your proposal.
3. Select one of the specific training initiatives you identified and develop a budget of projected costs to implement this initiative.

Write a seven-to-nine-page training proposal in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

Make sure you write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Deliverable Length:  1-2 pages

Click here to download the selected financial statements for Micro Chip Computer Corporation. Answer questions 1 and 2 below based on the financial data.

1. Determine the year-to-year percentage annual growth in total net sales.
2. Based only on your answers to question #1, do you think the company achieved its sales goal of +10% annual revenue growth in 2009? Determine the target revenue figure, and explain why you do or do not feel that the company hit its target.

Next, consider Micro Chip’s Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended September 25, 2008. Download the file here and answer questions 1 and 2.

1. Use the Percentage Sales Method and a 25% increase in sales to forecast Micro Chip’s Consolidated Statement of Operations for the period of September 26, 2008 through September 25, 2009. Assume a 15% tax rate and restructuring costs of 5% of the new sales figure.
2. Discuss your results from question number #1. What assumptions have you made? Do any of your assumptions seem unreasonable?

To receive full credit on this assignment, please show all work, including formulae and calculations used to arrive at the financial values. Students using Microsoft Excel must provide an adequate explanation of the methodology used to arrive at that answer.

Assignment Guidelines

• Download the financial statements and consolidated statement of operations by clicking on the links above in the assignment description.
• Analyze the statements and then answer the four questions listed in the assignment description.
• Show all work including calculations and formulas. If applicable, provide a detailed explanation of how you used Microsoft Excel to arrive at your answers.
• Organize your answers, mathematical calculations, and Microsoft Excel data into a Word document of 1–2 pages.