Matching Items (5)
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- Creators: Department of Information Systems
- Creators: Hertzel, Michael
Description
Company X is one of the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors. The company relies on various suppliers in the U.S. and around the globe for its manufacturing process. The financial health of these suppliers is vital to the continuation of Company X's business without any material interruption. Therefore, it is in Company X's interest to monitor its supplier's financial performance. Company X has a supplier financial health model currently in use. Having been developed prior to watershed events like the Great Recession, the current model may not reflect the significant changes in the economic environment due to these events. Company X wants to know if there is a more accurate model for evaluating supplier health that better indicates business risk. The scope of this project will be limited to a sample of 24 suppliers representative of Company X's supplier base that are public companies. While Company X's suppliers consist of both private and public companies, the used of exclusively public companies ensures that we will have sufficient and appropriate data for the necessary analysis. The goal of this project is to discover if there is a more accurate model for evaluating the financial health of publicly traded suppliers that better indicates business risk. Analyzing this problem will require a comprehensive understanding of various financial health models available and their components. The team will study best practice and academia. This comprehension will allow us to customize a model by incorporating metrics that allows greater accuracy in evaluating supplier financial health in accordance with Company X's values.
ContributorsLi, Tong (Co-author) / Gonzalez, Alexandra (Co-author) / Park, Zoon Beom (Co-author) / Vogelsang, Meridith (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Mike (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The object of the present study is to examine methods in which the company can optimize their costs on third-party suppliers whom oversee other third-party trade labor. The third parties in scope of this study are suspected to overstaff their workforce, thus overcharging the company. We will introduce a complex spreadsheet model that will propose a proper project staffing level based on key qualitative variables and statistics. Using the model outputs, the Thesis team proposes a headcount solution for the company and problem areas to focus on, going forward. All sources of information come from company proprietary and confidential documents.
ContributorsLoo, Andrew (Co-author) / Brennan, Michael (Co-author) / Sheiner, Alexander (Co-author) / Hertzel, Michael (Thesis director) / Simonson, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The project mainly involves creating a standardized tool to help American Airlines evaluate the cost of Non-Recurring Engineering fees (NRE fees) that arise as a result of maintenance and repairs on airplanes. Since there are few manufacturers licensed by the FAA to complete these modifications, let alone have the capabilities to complete them, American Airlines is often charged substantial fees to complete even minor work. The team will begin by conducting academic research looking into how parallel industries such as Automotive, Aerospace, High-Tech Manufacturing, etc. deal with heavily regulated modifications. We will then use this academic research to building a framework that American Airlines is able to use to estimate the fair cost of completing some of these modifications. The hope is that American Airlines can use this framework to determine whether they are being charged fair prices, and if they are not, to use the framework as leveraging tool in negotiations.
ContributorsShah, Shimoli (Co-author) / Harris, Taylor (Co-author) / Hebel, Ryan (Co-author) / Taylor, Todd (Thesis director) / Faris, Kay (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The goal of this thesis was to provide in depth research into the semiconductor wet-etch market and create a supplier analysis tool that would allow Company X to identify the best supplier partnerships. Several models were used to analyze the wet etch market including Porter's Five Forces and SWOT analyses. These models were used to rate suppliers based on financial indicators, management history, market share, research and developments spend, and investment diversity. This research allowed for the removal of one of the four companies in question due to a discovered conflict of interest. Once the initial research was complete a dynamic excel model was created that would allow Company X to continually compare costs and factors of the supplier's products. Many cost factors were analyzed such as initial capital investment, power and chemical usage, warranty costs, and spares parts usage. Other factors that required comparison across suppliers included wafer throughput, number of layers the tool could process, the number of chambers the tool has, and the amount of space the tool requires. The demand needed for the tool was estimated by Company X in order to determine how each supplier's tool set would handle the required usage. The final feature that was added to the model was the ability to run a sensitivity analysis on each tool set. This allows Company X to quickly and accurately forecast how certain changes to costs or tool capacities would affect total cost of ownership. This could be heavily utilized during Company X's negotiations with suppliers. The initial research as well the model lead to the final recommendation of Supplier A as they had the most cost effective tool given the required demand. However, this recommendation is subject to change as demand fluctuates or if changes can be made during negotiations.
ContributorsSchmitt, Connor (Co-author) / Rickets, Dawson (Co-author) / Castiglione, Maia (Co-author) / Witten, Forrest (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
"Company X," a technology company, is known for being one of the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturers; however, they are also one of the largest authors of software. In 2019, "Company X" entered a new paradigm where, according to the CEO, while "Company X"’s core strategy has not changed, "Company X" is embracing the transition to a data-centric company from a PC-centric company. The scope that the project examines is--in this transition to a data-centric company and based on the company's current expertise and competitive advantages--should "Company X" be branching into an additional division or leverage existing intellectual property (IP)? The goal of the project is to understand how "Company X" can leverage its expertise in hardware and software service packages to maximize the value of the company.
ContributorsArellano, Andrea (Co-author) / Roos, Bailey (Co-author) / Broas, Joshua (Co-author) / Kotti, Abhigyan (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05