Exam 8: Location Strategies

A clothing chain is considering two different locations for a new retail outlet.The organization has identified the four factors listed in the following table as the basis for evaluation,and it has assigned weights as shown.The manager has rated each location on each factor,on a 100-point basis (higher scores are better),as shown under the respective columns for Barclay and Chester. a.Calculate the composite score for each alternative location. b.Which site should be chosen? c.Are you concerned about the sensitivity and subjectivity of this solution? Comment.

A school district is considering where in town to house its central office (The office must also be located at an existing school for cost reasons).If there are five schools in the district,with locations and size given in the following table,use the center-of-gravity method to determine at which school the central office should be placed to minimize the average distance between the office and students.

When making a location decision at the country level,which of these would be considered?

Which of the following is a location analysis technique typically employed by a manufacturing organization?

A farmers' cooperative association plans to build a new sugar mill in Southwestern Louisiana.The primary objective of the mill is to provide the farmers with a place to take their crop for processing that will reduce their transportation costs.The members of the co-op believe that the center-of-gravity method is appropriate for this objective.While there are over 200 sugar cane farms in the region,they are tightly clustered around six villages.Using the data below,use the center-of-gravity method to calculate the coordinates of the best location for this mill.All mileage references use the city of Lake Charles as (0,0).

Location A would result in annual fixed costs of $300,000 and variable costs of $55 per unit.Annual fixed costs at Location B are $600,000 with variable costs of $32 per unit.Sales volume is estimated to be 30,000 units per year.Which location has the lower cost at this volume? How large is its cost advantage? At what volume are the two facilities equal in cost?

What is an approach to location analysis that includes both qualitative and quantitative considerations?

A manufacturing company preparing to build a new plant is considering three potential locations for it.The fixed and variable costs for the three alternative locations are presented below. a.Complete a numeric locational cost-volume analysis. b.Indicate over what range each of the alternatives A,B,C is the low-cost choice. c.Is any alternative never preferred? Explain.

Which of these factors would be considered when making a location decision at the site level?

A contractor for the military is looking for a new location for a supply depot.The depot will supply four bases whose tonnage (demand)and map coordinates are shown below.If management wants the depot to have a central location,what should be its map coordinates?

For a location decision,labor productivity may be important in isolation,but low wage rates are a more important criterion.

Why does FedEx use a central hub airline network,rather than a "point-to-point" network? Describe FedEx's approach to choosing its superhub.

Traffic counts and demographic analysis of drawing area are associated with:

Which of the following assumptions is NOT associated with strategies for goods-producing location decisions?

Using the factor ratings shown below,determine which location alternative should be chosen on the basis of maximum composite score.

The reason fast food restaurants often are found in close proximity to each other is:

Why is Northern Mexico used as a cluster for electronics firms?

Identify five factors that have fostered globalization.

Identify five factors that affect location decisions at the site level.

A location decision for a traditional department store (e.g. ,Macy's)would tend to have what type of focus?