AP is an incorporated pharmacy business selling drugs and other products through 5 retail operations in 3 communities. All 5 retail stores offer walk-in medical care using telemedicine. The Board of Directors has hired a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to run the pharmacies dailyoperations. The CEO has a Chief Financial Officer (CFO),an attorney, and an Operations Manager who supervises thestaff in all the units.

AP has 50 support and clerical staff, where turnover is 5%. Surveys and exit interviews suggest staff leave reluctantly for personal reasons or moving away from the area.

Employees range in age from 20 and 70. The backgrounds of the employees reflect the communitys composition in regards to age, race, and gender. About half are women. About half are Caucasian. A fourth are Hispanic and a fourth are African American.

Metrics used by the CEO include monthly reports on revenue and expenses for each retail operation and the overall organization. Revenue has been steady, but expenses climbing. The CFO also explains that they areinvesting AP liquid assets into high risk, high earnings investments. The concern is that this puts the organization into financial risk and may be unnecessary when other financial data is so positive. There are scores of other pharmacies within an hours drive of AP operations located in a medium size city. The market share among the other pharmacies and AP range between 8-12%.

Employee satisfaction surveys indicate consistent ratings of 90%. One customer filed a lawsuit claiming damages when overcharged for medical services. Another lawsuit claims a pharmacist erred in a medication count. In a third case a pharmacist ss a part of an anti-abortion belief, refused to make birth control pills available to a customer, who claims being harassed, humiliated, and demeaned by the pharmacist. AP chose the extra expense of employing a second pharmacist at that operation to accommodate the first pharmacists beliefs. The Operations Manager argues AP should hire a Human Services Director who could better prepare the organization for these problems and alsorecruit staff when there are shortages of potential staff.

One of the smaller AP pharmacies in a growing part of the community notified the CEO that a new competitor is advertising lower costs and is opening nearby. The smaller AP pharmacy asked if the CEO might be interested in collaborating in some fashion with competitors, likemerging, or forming some agreements, to offset the negatives new clinics may bring.

The local mayor announced the city and county wereplanning to ask for bids to provide their employees with pharmaceutical services. The mayor encouraged AP to obtain an RFP (Request for Proposal) and submit a bid.

Financial ratios 2020 2019 2018Industry Standard (2020)

Days in Accounts Receivable 23 32 37 30

Days Cash on Hand 60 70 80 75

Current Ratio 2.3 2.0 1.1 1.8

Debt Ratio 25 30 20 30%

Operating Margin 15 14 12 12%

Address these case questions:

1. Of the five ratios provided, name and describe the one that is the more problematic than the others. Explain why it is more of a problem. Compare it to the industry standard and describe its trend.

2. Create a SWOT using the Walston text and the SWOT supplement in Contents.

3. Using the SWOT from question 2 above, the Walstontext, and the Goals supplement in Contents as a guide, write five goals for AP that are measurable, time framed, and written as outcomes