Need 2-3 paragraphs in reply to these each Response listed below along with sources. The original questions are posted for reference.Discussion Topic 1:What industry sectors tend to be better performers? Why?How may Covid-19 lead to growth in certain sectors and decline of other sectors that will have to ‘re-invent’ themselves to make them competitive? You may pick a sector from healthcare, education, retail, hospitality, manufacture, IT, or transport.Response 1:Different key sectors drive the US economy. They include manufacturing, transport, information and technology, retail, education, health, and hospitality. Some of them tend to perform better than others. Some performed better in the short term, compared to the long term. Utilities and energy industries tend to perform better in the middle to long term (UMGC, 2021). The prevailing economic conditions influence their output. For instance, the industrial sector responds to the state of the global economy and fluctuations in the business cycle. As a result, developments such as improvement in trade relations between the US and China would improve its performanceOf the seven industries listed above, the health sector has continued to perform better than others. In the past decades, it has recorded high growth rates even when other sectors performed poorly. Between 2006 and 2017, for instance, it created 2.8 million jobs (Martiniano, Chorost, & Moore, 2018). The health sector grew by 20% within that decade and helped the country recover from the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The rest of the sectors grew by an average of 3% within that period. The better performance of the health sector compared to other industries is driven by the growing population in the country and the development of cutting-edge biotechnology. Irrespective of the prevailing economic conditions, citizens are forced to see a physician or buy prescribed medicine when they fall sick.Some sectors can grow as others fail to achieve good performance as a result of economic changes. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, led to unprecedented growth in the online retail sector. As lockdowns were imposed, the majority of businesses and consumers shifted to online selling platforms. On the other hand, the performance of the transport and hospitality sectors declined as fewer people traveled. Players in these sectors must reinvent themselves to become competitive again. For instance, they must put in place the necessary safety measures to protect customers from the COVID-19 virus.Martiniano, R., Chorost, S., & Moore, J. (2018). Health care employment projections, 2014-2024: An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Projections by setting and by occupation. March 2012. Center for Health Workforce Studies. UMGC. (n.d.). Industry Structure Learning Content. https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tgs/mba/m...Discussion Topic 2:Select any company from the Standard & Poor's 500. Select one or more activities in the company’s value chain that would be candidates for relocation to another country.Provide a brief justification and examine the challenges you see in coordinating the global value chain after the proposed value-chain activities of your chosen company are set up in the new country.Response 2:Apple Inc. is the highest rated company on the S&P 500 with an Index Weight of 5.9%, nearly 10% higher than Microsoft Corporation in second (Alpert, 2021). In order to become a top company on this list you must have a highly efficient value chain. Apple has been known for years for their innovative products and their advanced research and development that has led them to the top of the industry. Apple's main products include their phones, tablets and laptop computers, each with a multitude of diverse components from all over the world. Apple adds value to their supply with advanced sourcing and manufacturing using external contactors to produce their products. According to John Dudovskiy of Business Research Methodology, "Apple does not own any manufacturing facilities and prefers to outsource manufacturing of its hardware to other companies in developing countries, notably China" (Dudovskiy, 2021). This strategy has advantages and disadvantages for its value chain. A lot of the components required for these products are cheaply produced from companies in Asia, specifically China, making them much more readily accessible for the manufacturers. These countries also have much leaner manufacturing laws than say the United States; however, as an American company, this creates issues for Apple due to laboring image.According to Statista, Apple's revenue in the 1st quarter of 2021 was dominated by the Americas, accounting for over 41% of their total revenue (Statista, 2021). In fact, the Americas have dominated Apple's revenue since 2012, yet manufacturing occurs in a country outside the Americas. Relocation of manufacturing could occur in the Americas to decrease cost in shipping and storage, adding value to their value chain. The problem with this idea, is that labor laws and pay scales are much different in the United States, for example, than they are China or other Asian countries. This could increase cost of manufacturing; however, savings in shipping and storage could be significant since the majority of their customer base is in the Americas. As an advanced company, it is likely that Apple has considered this transition in the past, but it could provide benefit.Another source of value to be considered is marketing and branding efforts. As was stated, the majority of revenue for Apple comes from the Americas; however, the amount of revenue from the Greater China and Europe is increasing significantly (Statista, 2021). If additional efforts are put towards marketing and branding in these areas, there could be a massive opportunity to capture for them. This can also be extremely valuable if the manufacturing centers remain in China as the earlier point stated. "Moreover, a greater level of market penetration into Asia in general and China in particular can be specified as an additional source of value for Apple Inc. from outbound logistics point of view. This is because selling in this particular geographical market would not involve massive outbound logistics expenses and this cost advantage can be passed to customers to increase the overall appeal of offers" (Dudovskiy, 2021).Alpert, Gabe. (2021, May 8). Top 10 S&P 500 Stocks by Index Weight. https://www.investopedia.com/top-10-s-and-p-500-st...Dudovskiy, John. (2021, February 23). Apple Value Chain Analysis. https://research-methodology.net/apple-value-chain...Statista. (2021). Revenue of Apple by geographical region from the first quarter of 2021 to 1st quarter of 2021. Retrieved on May 13th from https://www.statista.com/statistics/382175/quarter...

Read the text below and answer the questions. It has to be between 450 to 600 words, including references. Mini-Case on TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX)Secret Strategic Planning Works Great for TJXHeadquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, TJX Companies is a discount apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States and abroad. The company owns T.J. Maxx, Marmaxx, Home Goods, TJX Canada, TJX Europe, and Sierra Trading Post—operating in total more than 4,000 stores in 9 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Australia. TJX’s annual sales and profits are increasing nicely. Operations today include 1,219 TJ Maxx, 1,057 Marshalls, 660 HomeGoods, 26 Sierra Trading Post, and 3 HomeSense stores, as well as tjmaxx.com and sierratradingpost.com in the United States; 265 Winners, 117 HomeSense, and 72 Marshalls stores in Canada; 540 TJ Maxx and 55 HomeSense stores, as well as tjmaxx.com, in Europe; and 38 TJ Maxx stores in Australia.I Save Money by Shopping TJ MaxxGordon Bell/ShutterstockIn January 2018, TJX received an unsolicited offer from TRC Capital Corp. to purchase up to 2,000,000 shares of TJX’s common stock at a price of $70.95 per share in cash. The offering price is 4.34 percent below the $74.17 per share closing price of TJX’s common stock on December 15, 2017. TJX’s top management asked all TJX shareholders to reject the offer.Regarding its corporate strategic planning and evaluating process, TJX is one of the most secretive of all publicly held retailers. As discussed in this chapter, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages of being secretive rather than open in revealing corporate strategy. TJX’s CEO, Carol Meyrowitz, as well as her top executives, rarely give interviews and never discuss corporate strategy. TJX does not talk about its corporate strategy in part because rival firms are eager to learn this information to duplicate, imitate, undermine, and replicate. However, Fortune reports that “excellent inventory control” is a secret to the strategic success of TJX, including the following practices:Turn inventory over quickly. According to Morningstar, TJX turns over inventory every 55 days, versus 85 days for its peer group. TJX is structured to buy quickly and sell merchandise. Often, merchandise is sold before TJX has paid its vendors. Quick inventory turnover keeps new merchandise on the floor so customers rarely see the same items on repeat visits. TJX trains employees to “buy when you see it; otherwise it will be gone.”Provide “value, trendy merchandise,” not “cheap, leftover merchandise.”Promote the “treasure hunt” experience rather than catering to lower-income customers. Even high-income customers love the treasure hunt experience in TJX stores.Train buyers extensively and then give buyers autonomy to negotiate millions of dollars of purchases from suppliers. Purchase inventory year-round, continuously rather than seasonally, and purchase as close to the time of need as possible to negotiate a better price and be assured of the latest fashion trend. Negotiate low prices for purchases even if it means often purchasing “all available items in a category.”Questions:What are the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the strategic-planning process secret versus placing the firm’s strategic plan on the corporate website and discussing strategies and planning publicly?What are three types of industries where secrecy is warranted and three industries where secrecy is not warranted, or does type of industry even matter?Many colleges and universities have their strategic plan posted on their website. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this practice?Rank order the four “secret” practices listed in terms of how important you think the items are to TJX’s overall success. Rank the four items from 1 = most important to 4 = least important.

CONTINUING PROBLEMReview the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) that you obtained.1. 1. What are the main sources of the government’s revenues, including those from both governmental and business-type activities?2. 2. How are revenues from property taxes accounted for, i.e., as a single amount, or in multiple categories? Identify the various categories and indicate the percentage breakdown. (e.g., residential property taxes are 50 percent of the total property tax revenues.)3. 3. Which of the entity’s governmental functions or activities had the greatest amount of directly identifiable revenues?4. 4. Does the report discuss the accounting basis for recognizing revenues?5. 5. Does the government’s government-wide statement of net position or governmental-fund balance sheet report “deferred revenue” (or deferred inflows of resources)? If so, what is the most likely reason this amount has been deferred?6. 6. What is the government’s property tax rate?7. 7. At what percentage of fair market value is real property assessed?8. 8. When are property taxes due? When do interest and penalties begin to accrue?9. 9. By what percentage did each of the three largest sources of tax revenue increase over the last ten years?10. 10. Did the government generate revenue from traffic fines? As best you can tell, are these revenues reported in the government-wide statements as program revenues (e.g., associated with police or public safety) or as general revenues?NOTE: You can find the CAFR report in the link https://assets.austintexas.gov/financeonline/downl...