Title: Forecasting and Performance Assessment in Business Operations

Q1 – Case 3 Revisited … OH NO! (5 points)
Need to go back and access the Excel spreadsheet from last week and answer the following questions.
Forecast (exponential smoothing) Model A using the September 110 value
Forecast (exponential smoothing) Model A using a “replaced” value
Show both graphs
Looking at the March forecast, quantify the differences between the two forecasting techniques.  Is it significant?  Explain.
Q2 – Balanced Scorecard (9 points)
With the attachment included, answer the following questions. 
Wearing your manager’s hat, what is your assessment of this company’s performance (at least 2 paragraphs … details!!!)?
What is your professional opinion (or experience) with Customer, Supplier, and Employee Surveys?  How can they be most effective? 
Which measure’s “directional arrow” is pointing the wrong direction?
From a manager’s perspective what can we do to get the measure back in line?  Give me two specific actions for each RED measure.
Q3 – Opinion and Research (5 points)
Take a position on the follow statement:
“The future of business will be dependent on globalization and taking advantage of cheap labor around the world OR technology advances will drive business opportunities domestically.”
Pick a side of the statement and support your argument with two current sources.