Sample Models
Business decisions
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Model 2.1: ANP BOCR - Decision on Research Software for Lupus Study
This model is about selecting the appropriate clinical trials management software for the Lupus Research Center
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Model 2.2: ANP BOCR - Chandon Wine Decision
Here the ANP methodology was used as a supporting tool to achieve a structured decision regarding a real business issue faced by Domaine Chandon Inc., a mid sized winery in the Napa Valley in CA, producer of sparkling and still wines.
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Model 2.3: ANP BOCR - Cargill Distribution System Decision
The Direct Supply Analysis BOCR ANP model was developed to evaluate the current Cargill distribution system for a given market and rank the alternatives: a) Keep Agents b) Drop Agents c) Reduce Agents Scope
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Model 2.4: ANP BOCR - Make a new duct heater product?
Chromalox, Inc. is a manufacturer of commercial and industrial electric heating products. The developed BOCR model is used to rank the following alternatives: a) Develop and Manufacture the New Duct Heater In-House, b) Buy Out New Duct Heaters from Existing Strategic Partner, and c) Do not Launch New Duct Heater
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Model 2.5: ANP BOCR - What Strategy should Konica pursue in digital printing business?
The firm Konica Minolta had to make a decision about investing in offering customers an automated workflow solution. Konica has 3 options: a) Developing a proprietary solution, b) acquiring EFI which is a supplier of printing software and c) continuing partnership with EFI.
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Model 2.6: AHP Ratings- Employee Selection
SuperDecisions software sample model. Employee evaluation using AHP with ratings.
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Model 2.7: ANP BOCR- To Walmartize or Not to Walmartize in Washington DC (2012)
The large majority of Wal-Mart stores are located in suburban areas, as bodega and local/regional grocery chains occupy the vast grocery market within city limits. In an attempt to capture some of this market share, Wal-Mart initialized campaigns to start opening stores in urban areas nationwide.
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Model 2.8: ANP BOCR - L.B. Foster Disaster Recovery Solution Selection
The existing state of Disaster Recovery at L.B. Foster is basically a standard backup system, without Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity capabilities. The corporate headquarters in Greentree, PA is at minimal risk of damage from a disaster. Flooding and flash floods would not reach our datacenter, the western PA area is at low risk of most "Acts of God" weather related occurrences and man made/caused disasters are statistically rare. In addition, LBF has a high risk tolerance as demonstrated by the existing RTO objective of 7 days.
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Model 2.9: ANP BOCR - Should Instagram have been sold?
Instagram was bought by Facebook in 2012. The objective of this model is to find out whether Instagram should have sold itself to Facebook or not.
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Model 2.10: ANP BOCR - Mitsubishi Motors
This model is to analyze the best decision for Mitsubishi Motors. The alternatives are invest more on electric-car and remaining in the current strategy.
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Model 2.11: ANP BOCR - Giant Eagle’s Recommended Strategy to Win
Giant Eagle has three formats which we have examined in detail in thie model, which all attempt to appeal to the different need states of their customers.
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Model 2.12: ANP BOCR - What will be the future of Heinz ‘dip & squeeze’: ± 5 years?
This model predicted the future of a newly introduced product by a leading USA food manufacturer using the ANP software. Our model takes into account the many possible complications used to provide a prediction.
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Model 2.13: ANP BOCR - Qoros Cars – A Market Entry Decision
The model is designed to guide the decision of Qoros by giving a structured approach to access the effect of a potential entrant in the European car market and aggregates them in one decision.
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Model 2.14: ANP BOCR - Home Depot Asian Development Strategy
This model decide the next city in Asia Home Depot should march on after failing to grasp China mainland market.
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Model 2.15: ANP BOCR - Which Product Development Track Should PPG Take
PPG Industries is a global leader in the Architectural Coatings industry. Their Olympic brand of paints and stains is only sold through Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores.
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Model 2.16: ANP BOCR - To Launch or Not To Launch? - An analysis of product launch scenarios
This model details the decision making process for a complex decision faced by a local company. A product had been developed with the expectation that it would be used in a project for the Department of Defense, but this did not occur due to cancelled funding.
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Model 2.17: ANP BOCR - Increasing Retail Banking Revenue for PNC
In this model, we wanted to look at options for PNC Financial Services to pursue in an effort to increase retail banking revenues. Using the BOCR approach with Political, Social, and Economic control criteria, and with respect to the strategic criteria of the CFO, shareholders, and customers...
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Model 2.18: ANP BOCR - Selecting a Market to Introduce an eCommerce/Online Banking Tool
In this project, we are attempting to predict which market segment within the city of Chengdu itself should be focused on to introduce an eCommerce / online banking tool. The identified alternatives are College Students, Local Population, and Companies.
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Model 2.19: ANP BOCR - To Build a Branch or Not Build a Branch?
Building a branch today requires much more time and consideration in the planning phase than ever before given the strict capital outflows. There are numerous meetings with every facet of a corporations hierarchy structure from distribution, technology, finance, ...
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Model 2.20: ANP BOCR - Mine Safety Appliances’ South American Distribution Center Decision
The goal of the model is to answer the question of whether it is in MSA’s best interest to consolidate their South American operations into one DC.
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Model 2.21: ANP BOCR - Oil and Gas Service Company
To determine whether an Oil and Gas company should build a camp in Ohio in order to have a more local presence in the Utica Shale.
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Model 2.22: ANP BOCR - AHP & ANP Analysis of Car Seats
This model discusses the determination of the best car seat brand to build accessory product(s) for, as part of a juvenile company’s annual project list.
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Model 2.23: ANP BOCR - The Best Investment Portfolio for Investors and Society
Knowing what portfolio would be the best choice to benefit not only investors themselves but also the society as a whole could prevent any possible recession in the future is an important way to help people have better life.
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Model 2.24: ANP BOCR - The Next Generation DVD Format
The purpose of this project was to predict which high definition DVD format, Blu-ray or HD DVD, will become more popular in the market in 5 years.
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Model 2.26: ANP BOCR - Should the Chinese Steel Industry Consolidate?
This study evaluates whether this type of consolidation in the Chinese steel industry is the best approach to deal with the problem
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Model 2.27: ANP BOCR - Best Performing Geographic
This model observes the stock market performances of the respective regions. This study could allow us to draw a few inferences
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Model 2.29: ANP BOCR - A Study of Kennametal’s Decision to move Operations to China
The basic decision is question of whether or not Kennametal, a Latrobe based metal manufacturing company, should move its operations to China in order to save on the drastically reduced costs of wages.
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Model 2.30: ANP BOCR - Predicting the Most Attractive New Market for ‘Pitt Robotics’
The purpose of this Decision Making project is to predict which of the 5 markets pre-selected should present higher possibilities of success for the company.
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Model 2.31: ANP BOCR - Investing in the Steel Industry
We have designed a model that can provide USS with some direction when considering future acquisitions.
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Model 2.32: ANP BOCR - Westinghouse Electric Company in India
Project Model: Estimating Market Share of Strip Heating Elements with respect to Top 3 Manufacturer’s.
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Model 2.33: ANP BOCR - Entrepreneurial Decision
Our team utilized the Super Decision Software to make the first, all-important decision: What start-up business has the most potential to achieve the multi-faceted experience of true success?
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Model 2.34: ANP BOCR - Gene Patents and the Societal Impact
This model discusses the determination of the best car seat brand to build accessory product(s) for, as part of a juvenile company’s annual project list.
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Model 2.35: ANP BOCR - Corning's Best Strategic Alliance
Which partner should Corning Inc. choose for a strategic alliance?
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Model 2.36: ANP BOCR - Real-Time Shipping Market Entry Decision
The decision under analysis is whether or not to implement the services of a packaging company, Intelligistics. The product would help efficiently manage and allocate space and effortlessly track, identify, record, and distribute shipments in real time.
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Model 2.37: ANP BOCR - Replacing Upper Management at F.B. Leopold
The current question is,"what will the new owners do with upper management?” In this model, three options are suggested: complete replacement, partial replacement, and no change.
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Model 2.38: ANP BOCR - Supermarket Store Format in Sao Paulo
The purpose of this project is to define the best store format to be built in Morumbi’s District, it is located at the South of Sao Paulo city.
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Model 2.39: ANP BOCR - Monsanto's New Product Introduction
Should a sunflower seed be introduced in the Brazilian market?In other words, how does outcome benefit or hurt Monsanto?
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Model 2.40: ANP BOCR - Domaine Chandon's Wine Strategy
Domaine Chandon, a mid-sized winery in the Napa Valley of California, produces sparkling and still wines. The company currently grows a Cabernet Sauvignon grape which it sells to other wineries.
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Model 2.41: ANP BOCR - Open Source vs. Proprietary Software Selection
This case first develops a model to facilitate the open source vs. proprietary decision, then illustrates its use with two IBM examples: its Integrity Measurement Architecture (IMA) and Tivoli software offerings.
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Model 2.42: ANP BOCR - Choosing a Storage Area Network Vendor
In a business where large amounts of data are collected and transmitted, the storage of such data is quite important. A storage area network can be used to allow anyone on the network to access the same files and information.
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Model 2.43: ANP BOCR - Proposal Go/No-Go Decision in Engineering Consultant Firm
The organization must be smart when choosing to pursue such projects. It must analyze the project to determine if it is economically feasible and worthwhile of the proposal development time.
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Model 2.44: ANP BOCR - Outsourcing Application Development
Firms must consider the advantages of outsourcing their application development functions while taking into account the soft costs and risks inherent in moving them to potentially insecure, unstable environments.
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Model 2.45: ANP BOCR - Manufacturing Plant Shutdown
A car manufacturing plant in Brazil is located in a highly-unionized region where its wages are not competitive with plants located in other areas. The plant was built during the time when companies were fully integrated, with significant assets mobilized.
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Model 2.46: ANP BOCR - Outsourcing Financial Services
Due to these high costs, the company desires to learn whether an in-house or outsourced financial services system would be the most cost-effective, while taking other soft-costs and risks into account.
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Model 2.47: ANP BOCR - Baggage Management at the Manchester Airport
The baggage system, which includes hardware, software and operational resources, has been used to pilot the new process. Several methods of baggage management are available and the Group must decide the most effective one.
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Model 2.48: ANP BOCR - Outsourcing the IT Function in an IT-Driven Firm
These days, companies are being forced to outsource or offshore simply to remain competitive. But is it a good decision for American companies with strong IT functions to outsource those operations?
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Model 2.49: ANP BOCR - Direct Sales Channel Analysis at Cargill
With the changing global economy and international borders being broken down, the firm has decided to investigate the effectiveness of its direct sales team. Cargill hopes to learn whether the sales force is still the best direct channel, or whether it needs to adopt a different method in Brazil.
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Model 2.50: ANP BOCR - Choosing an Excess Flow Valve Supplier
An EFV is a safety mechanism installed in the gas supply line that automatically closes when there is a flow of gas greater than the set point of the device. ABC is now working to select a supplier of EFVs in order to meet the competitive threat.
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Model 2.51: ANP BOCR - Selecting a Software System to Manage Clinical Trials
Each project produces a wealth of data, the accurate analysis of which is a critical element in the success of these experiments. Without adequate data management techniques and tools, researchers are limited in their ability to interpret data and therefore are held back in their pursuit of a cure for lupus.
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Model 2.52: ANP BOCR - Action on Arthur Andersen (2002)
As Arthur Andersen is continuing its effort to fight off charges brought by the government, there are other alternatives the government considering about what is best for all the parties involved.
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Model 2.53: ANP BOCR - American Eagle Growth Decision (2002)
There are several alternatives that AE senior management and the board of directors have been discussing. The question is which alternative makes the most sense based on how successfully AE can absorb the workload and solve the issues related to the choices.
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Model 2.54: ANP BOCR - Best Competitive Strategy for Rite Aid (2002)
How can the Rite Aid pharmaceutical retail chain avoid Kmart’s mistakes? The goal of this project is to determine the best strategy that Rite Aid can implement to compete more effectively in this aggressive retail segment.
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Model 2.55: ANP BOCR - BUSINESS ETHICS: FACED WITH A CHALLENGING DECISION (2002)
In the professional aspect, it is simply, but vaguely, defined as “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group”. This project aims at discussing the potential Benefits, Opportunities, Costs, and Risks of being faced with an ethical decision.
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Model 2.56: ANP BOCR - Implementation Among Balanced Scorecard, Lean, and Combinations of Them (2001)
In the global economic environment, manufacturing companies are becoming more and more challenged, driven by a more demanding customer base. The customer expects more product choices, lower prices with higher quality and faster delivery. Increased competition, a growing number of different products and services offered, greater focus on quality, and high cost of new technology are forcing companies to reexamine themselves and make improvements in the manner in which they provide these products and services to their customers in an effort to reduce costs.
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Model 2.57: ANP BOCR - Gourmet Pretzel Shop (1999)
The question is whether there are sufficient numbers of potential buyers in the Oakland area market to justify opening a pretzel shop. Especially considering that there is not just one university in the area but four. With this come all the other decisions. Where exactly would be the best place to open? What sort of shop hours should be kept? How much will it cost to open such a place? How should the advertising be approached? These questions go on and on forever.
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Model 2.58: ANP BOCR - Tariff on Steel Imports by the U.S. Government (2002)
The U.S. Government decided to impose a temporary tariff on steel products up to 30 percent. In addition to the Government’s decision, two other alternatives imposing tariffs are considered in this analysis. First, what will be the impact if the government decides not to impose a tariff on steel products at all? Second, solve the world-wide overproduction of steel by negotiating a solution to mutual benefit of all parties involved in the World Trade Organization. In sum, the ANP model includes these two alternatives along with imposing tariffs.
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Model 2.59: ANP BOCR - Office Space Selection (1999)
Triangle consulting, established in 1990 by current company president Ron Johnston, is a firm that provides computer-consulting services to its clients. The firm is currently looking to expand their office space. However they are unsure which option is the best to choose.
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Model 2.60: ANP BOCR - The Future of the Classic Product Lines (2002)
Three years ago the Beaver plant sold eighteen million a year from these classic lines. Today the sales are lower at nine million a year. The problem of Cutler-Hammer is to determine what to do with this classic product line. Forty-five percent of their employees are paid to produce these products. More dollars are needed to invest in capital equipment to replace the aging dies and molds.
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Model 2.61: ANP BOCR - The Martha Stewart Decision (2002)
The objective of this project is to determine what Martha Stewart should do in the best interest of her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO). In light of the alleged ImClone insider trading scandal, Martha Stewart is in the media eye, and that attention is not having a positive affect on her company.
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Model 2.62: ANP BOCR - What Form of Globalization is the Best Fit for Company X? (2002)
Many companies face the option to expand their business and venture into a brand new global market. Deciding on entering another market can be very time-consuming and can end up bankrupting a firm if it does not properly choose and execute the correct globalization strategy. When a company is considering globalization, it must properly weigh many key factors in the decision.
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Model 2.63: ANP BOCR - Choosing whether or not to Pursue Producing Vulcanized Thermoplastic (1999)
Washington Penn Plastic (WPP) Inc. is a privately owned company with three manufacturing facilities in Washington, Pennsylvania. The company is currently a large supplier of thermoplastic compounds. In this project the goal is to determine whether or not Washington Penn Plastic should pursue manufacturing thermoplastic vulcanizated (TPVs), which are physical blends of polypropylene.
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Model 2.64: ANP BOCR - Ford Explorer Tire Problem (2001)
The Ford Explorer sports utility vehicle (SUV) has been a very popular brand in the US market for a long time. However, several accidents occurred involving this motor vehicle, particularly when equipped with Firestone tires. This led the industry to review the safety features of the Explorer SUV, including the special tires for this specific model that were manufactured by the Firestone Tire Company. Neither company is willing to take full responsibility for the accidents. This analysis focuses on determining the optimal strategy for the Ford Motor Company to follow regarding its Explorer SUV.
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Model 2.65: AHP Ratings - Company x’s allocation of funds during covid-19 (2020)
This resource allocation decision is where my company will allocate funds to for the beginning and during the COVID 19 pandemic.
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Model 2.66: ANP BOCR - What is the next step Covestro should undertake being independent from bayer (2017)
This project paper will describe how the software SuperDecision will be used to solve difficult problems by providing a real-life decision problem.
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Model 2.67: ANP BOCR - Axel Springer Sustainability in Danger (2020)
This model looked into a 2011 case about the German publishing giant Axel Springer.
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Model 2.68: ANP BOCR - What action Microsoft should take to promote the new Xbox (2020)
In the next generation console, with still the similar hardware specs as PlayStation, Microsoft needs to make decisions to promote the new Xbox by creating more exclusive games to attract more users.
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Model 2.69: ANP BOCR - Should R&D and Manufacturing Operations be Centralized or Decentralized in Multinational Corporations (2016)
This report will examine benefits (B), opportunities (O), costs (C) and risks (R) of operating an organization from one central location versus three additional alternatives of four regional locations, locations next to key customers and acquired (scattered) locations.After the model is constructed, strategic criteria of customer efficiency, efficiency (cost reduction), market share and time to market was introduced which are some of the major decisive criteria that MNCs weigh-in while making strategic decision of consolidation of multiple locations.
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Model 2.70: ANP BOCR - Should Amazon expand its delivery offerings in the United States? (2016)
Should Amazon invest towards entering the delivery industry in the US? If the trend of growing e-commerce and shipping costs continues, their margins will begin to diminish. Currently, Amazon ships primarily through UPS, with some volume being delivered by FedEx. With these trends and dependencies, Amazon is trying to determine if entering the delivery industry will provide revenues that will outweigh the entry costs. They want to decide which alternative will give them the most gains.
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Model 2.71: ANP BOCR - Remote Access Solutions (2016)
We decided to create a BOCR (Benefits, Opportunities, Costs, & Risks) Model to determine the best remote access solution for new sales reporting software. The following proposed solutions were evaluated in the model: Remote Desktop Access (RDA), Virtual Peer Network (VPN), & Mobile Device Management (MDM) Solution.
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Model 2.72: ANP BOCR - Post-Pandemic Work Scheduling at a Pittsburgh-Based Engineering Office (2020)
The purpose of this project is to predict what the “new normal” work schedule should look like for the R&D workforce at a Pittsburgh metro-based organization. Using a BOCR ANP framework and the perspective of the director of engineering, four alternative work arrangements are evaluated: a full return to the office, a 50/50 hybrid schedule with mandated days, a 50/50 hybrid schedule with flexible days, and a fully flexible schedule. The results suggest that the best short-term and long-term results may be different, opening an interesting discussion for R&D leadership on the future of work and implications for organizational cultural norms.
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Model 2.73: ANP BOCR - Should T-Mobile Invest in Home-based Internet Service? (2020)
The pandemic has forced many companies or industries to operate online. For instance, employees have started work-from-home, universities started offering online classes, school kids are learning online, etc. As the demand for better internet services is increasing, the opportunities for home internet services are also growing. To increase their current market share compared to their competitors, T-Mobile needs to find new ways to achieve a competitive advantage.
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Model 2.74: ANP BOCR - Investing in a new remelt shop (2020)
For the final BOCR project, we modeled the decision-making process for investing in a new remelt shop, a decision made by Joe’s company in 2017. A remelt shop for a steel mill can melt steel again to further clean and improve the mechanical properties of the material. This is essentially for critical aerospace, defense, and oil/gas materials which allows a company to grow into new markets.
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Model 2.75: ANP BOCR - Should BodyArmor invest in a recovery protein drink? (2020)
BodyArmor is a company that has been on an upward trend ever since it launched back in 2011. But currently they are still pretty far behind Gatorade and Powerade. To close that market share gap, something BodyArmor can do is launch a new sports drink which would be labeled as a recovery protein drink that allows athletes to take after a workout or game that helps them gain the proper hydration as well as nutrients to build muscle and endurance.
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Model 2.76: ANP BOCR - Amazon Prime Customer Satisfaction (2021)
Since COVID19, between the months of March and May, reports of many customers losing packages, receiving their items well past their 2-day shipping date, and other similar issues have skyrocketed. It has been a difficult time as the company has decided to prioritize healthcare items over other items which has in turn caused the issue of later and later deliveries. Collectively, we have discussed and chosen three alternatives that best align with the companies goals and customer satisfaction limits, especially during this unknown time of the pandemic and those that might occur in the future.
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Model 2.77: ANP BOCR - Whether or not to lay off some employees due to the coronavirus pandemic (2021)
The coronavirus has impacted every single one of us in some way whether its one of us, or a family member, actually contracting the virus, or having to adjust to a new way of living and working from home, or as a business owner/leader having to make tough decisions as to how to keep the company running through these tough times. Businesses all over the globe have been faced with many important/tough decisions over the past few months and one that comes to mind and one that I have witnessed first hand in my current place of work is whether or not to lay off a number of employees in order to reduce costs and keep the company running.
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Model 2.78: ANP BOCR - Reassessing a Tech Company’s Paid Time Off (PTO) (2021)
The goal of this report is to assess these benefits and negatives of implementing an increase in PTO. To conclude the best option, this report will outline a Benefits, Opportunities, Cost, Risks (BOCR) model. The decision-maker in this model is a top executive in a prominent tech company who is reassessing his/her company’s PTO benefits.
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Model 2.79: ANP BOCR - How Should Employees Return to the Office? (2021)
Now, with vaccines widely available and lower infection rates being reported, Calgon Carbon and other workplaces are beginning to consider if or how employees will return to the office. Calgon Carbon employees have been very vocal, and one employee even said, “Covid has changed the world and Calgon Carbon must change with it. If the company does not adapt, it will not be attractive for people and it will be harder for them to attract new talent.” The question the executives are now asking themselves is when it is proven safe to return to the office, what should their employee's workspace look like?
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Model 2.80: ANP BOCR - EMPLOYEE RETENTION (2021)
The goal of this decision is to determine the best course of action for the Philips Respironics to increase employee retention. Although many companies are seeing a lot of resignations at the moment, Philips seems to be having a higher-than-average number of departures. Turnover can be very costly for companies both in dollar amounts and project slippage. Additionally, management is having to spend increased time hiring and training new employees instead of managing the ones they already have.
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Model 2.81: ANP BOCR - Machine Learning Apps - Google Health: Develop, Acquire, or Defer (2021)
In this case, I am imagining a scenario in which the brain trust at Google Health is considering developing a machine learning powered voice transcription service that doctors can utilize in their appointments to reduce paperwork burden. This would be marketed directly to hospital systems to be used in their doctor’s appointments. Alternatively, Google Health may also choose to acquire a start-up in the same field or defer on this decision for now and pursue other opportunities. In order to broker a decision, I constructed an AHP model utilizing a Benefits, Cost, Opportunity, and Risk construction underneath four primary strategic criteria. These strategic goals are competitive advantage, new growth, innovation, and corporate reputation.
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Model 2.82: ANP BOCR - Which trial design best suites an experimental medication to treat Cystic Fibrosis (2021)
The objective of this project is to examine how a pharmaceutical company can expand their portfolio and bottom line through corporate acquisitions of bio technology start-up companies.
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Model 2.83: ANP BOCR - Apple and the automobile industry (2022)
The objective of this project is to determine if Apple should pursue a future in the automobile industry by either producing their own fully autonomous vehicle, “Project Titan”, or expand their CarPlay infotainment system into a more diverse and functional driving system in car brands that currently exist today.
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Model 2.84: ANP BOCR - How should Twitter respond to Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company? (2022)
Twitter went public in late 2013 and has struggled to find the success that other social media platforms have. The amount of users is a fraction of those of Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok and their profits have been relatively low. Elon Musk offered to buy the company claiming he would loosen the restrictions on content users could post to promote free speech and change the revenue model to include subscriptions.
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Model 2.85: ANP BOCR - Should MedStar Health create its own internal travel nurse program? (2022)
Using a BOCR Model, I will determine if establishing this program is the most logical choice for MedStar in light of other possible alternatives and the system's strategic goals. Developing an internal travel program was found to be the overall best method to address the nursing shortage.