Demonstrating Mental Ability

Cases are a mental exercise requiring the applicant to make a critical business decision. Here is an example case requiring the applicant to analyze a business problem and recommend a solution....

The Fancy Times market research department recently identified an active public desire to know more about the private lives of politicians and public officials. The subjects in the study believed that a monthly magazine that could shine “sunlight” ……………….. studied hundreds of ………….
Fancy Times has four printing plants. Set up and printing plate costs for printing the same magazine in two or more plants are 20% higher than costs for a single plant……………..Including overhead, it costs Fancy Times about $.60 to prepare an issue for printing, about $1.00 to print, and about 20 cents for sales and marketing. Fancy Times receives ………….. 75 cents per magazine for shipments outside the immediate plant marketing area.
Fancy Times started operations in the west and north, publishing magazines dealing with suburban life and outdoor sports. After a few years, their market share ……………….. 65 million in the north, who have equally mixed tastes, …………… in Pangea City, Westland, Southport, and Eastwood. A Printing Manager located on the site manages each plant. All four managers report to Phil in the home office.
Pangea City is in the north……………… 20% suburban, and 5% rural. Southport serves a readership that is 50% suburban/outdoor sports and the balance equally divided between urban and rural communities. Pangea City’s population is equally divided among urban, suburban, and rural. …………. 12% of Greater Pangea’s market roughly divided along rural, urban and suburban lines.
All four plants operating at 100% capacity could produce 40,000,000 magazines each month. All four plants have equal production capabilities. Eastwood is ………………….. Belt Life (10%). Southport, the newest plant is operating at 60% of its capacity…………………….

Your task is to recommend to Fred Fancy how you would reorganize printing plant production to maximize profitability of both the organization and the new magazine.