ChapterQuestions

1.     Explain whygood research habits are important and how they relate to personalintegrity and ethics. (Obj. 4)

2.     Howard Schultz,Starbucks president and CEO, has been described as a “classicentrepreneur: optimistic, relentless, mercurial, and eager to provepeople wrong.” Schultz has followed his gutinstinct mostly to success while scoffing at established managementpractices. Unlike other executives, until the Great Recession hit,he was not interested in cost control, advertising, and customerresearch. “I despise research,” he said. “I think it’s a crutch.But people smarter than me pushed me in this direction, and I’vegone along.”Starbucks continues to be one of themost followed companies on Facebook. For the most recent year onrecord, Starbucks’ net income reached $359million.What do you think Howard Schultz meantwhen he called consumer research a “crutch”? Can you explain whythe corporate maverick hates it so much? (Obj. 3)

3.     Is informationobtained on the Web as reliable as information obtained fromjournals, newspapers, and magazines? How about information derivedfrom Wikipedia and blogs? (Obj. 3)

4.     Some people saythat business reports never contain footnotes. If you were writingyour first report for a business and you did considerable research,what would you do about documenting your sources? (Obj.4)

13.5

Proposal:BioMed Sports Medicine Comes to Town (Obj.1)

Sportsmedicine is increasingly popular, especially in university towns. Anew medical clinic, BioMed Sports Medicine, is opening its doors inyour community. A friend recommended your small business to theadministrator of the clinic, and you received a letter asking youto provide information about your service. The new medical clinicspecializes in sports medicine, physical therapy, and cardiacrehabilitation services. It is interested in retaining yourcompany, rather than hiring its own employees to perform theservice your company offers.

YourTask. First, decide what service you offer Itcould be landscaping, uniforms, uniform laundering, generalcleaning, computerized no-paper fling systems, online medicalsupplies, patient transportation, supplemental hospice care,temporary office support, social media guidance, or foodservice.

Develop aletter proposal outlining your plan, staffing, and budget. Usepersuasion to show why contracting your services is better thanhiring in-house employees. In the proposal letter, request ameeting with the administrative board. .Send your proposal to Dr.Tim Krahnke, Director, BioMed Sports Medicine. Supply a localaddress.