Category: Essays

800-1000 words

The company that you are working for is considering buying another smaller firm. However, there is some business analysis needed for your company to make its final decision about purchasing. Throughout this course, you will be working on creating the Business Strategy and Management Plan.

Keep in mind that the final Business Strategy and Management Plan template should contain the following elements:

Title page
Course number and name
Project name
Your name
Date
Table of contents
Autogenerated
Up-to-date
Maximum of 3 levels deep
Section headings

Each week, you will add a section to your Business Strategy and Management Plan and submit it for grading. For Week 1, you will make a qualitative evaluation of the industry’s strategic position using Porter’s five forces.

Choose an aspect of the IT industry that has not been previously used as an example in this course.

Note: The mobile phone industry was provided as an example in the video material and may not be used as the subject for this assignment.

Use Porter’s five forces to make a qualitative evaluation of the industry’s strategic position. Be sure to explain each of the five forces as well as explain how they relate to your chosen industry.

Remember to include the following elements (Porter’s five forces):

Threat of new entrants: Are new entrants being attracted to the market, and are there barriers to entry in the industry?
Threat of substitute products or services: Are there other products that could be alternatives to offerings in the chosen industry?
Bargaining power of customers: What degree of bargaining power do the buyers have in terms of putting the industry under pressure to provide more product or less cost?
Bargaining power of suppliers: What is the importance of raw materials, components, labor, and services that are required for the industry, and are there substitutes for those inputs? Discuss the possibility of switching suppliers, if necessary.
Intensity of competitive rivalry: Does the industry have a sustainable competitive advantage?

Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you explain the importance of innovation in your selected business’s vision, mission, and values, and determine your business model for this new division. Include the following:

Propose a new product or service for the new company division. The division should be customer-focused with an innovative mission statement. Ensure that you are differentiating your product or service.

Describe how the division addresses customer needs and achieves competitive advantage.

Create a vision and a business model for this new division that clearly demonstrates your decision on what you want your business to become in the future.

Explain how the vision, mission, and value of the new division align with the company’s mission and vision.

Summarize how the vision, mission, and values guide the division’s strategic direction.

Define your guiding principles and values for your division in the context of culture, social responsibility, and ethics

Evaluate the implementation of Denver International Airport Baggage Handling System. List all the problems that you found from a PM’s point of view…organizational, political, financial, operational etc etc

· What are the top 3 factors that lead to the projects failure? Who is most at fault?

· As Gene Di Fonso, what would you have done differently to avoid the problems faced at the end of the case?

· How should Di Fonso respond to Mayor Webb’s decision to impose a $12,000 per day penalty and the requirement that BAE assume the $50 million cost of building a conventional tug-and-cart baggage system

For the Module 3 SLP you will be again be applying the concepts from the background materials to your own personal experiences. You can write about the same supervisor you wrote about in Modules 1 and 2, or choose a different supervisor that you worked with and got to know well.

Carefully review the concepts and definitions of charismatic, transformational, and transactional leadership. Then write a two to three page paper addressing the following issues using specific examples from your personal experiences:

Did your supervisor meet any of the characteristics of a charismatic leader as defined and discussed in the background readings?
Did your supervisor meet any of the characteristics of a transformational leader?
Did your supervisor meet any of the characteristics of a transactional leader?

SLP Assignment Expectations

Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials
List supporting references and cite sources in proper format
Use appropriate writing style in essay form (organization, grammar, and spelling).
Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide”, which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC portal.
Submit an Originality Report using Turniti

Mikki Jag is a self-employed rock star who hires you as his new CPA to prepare his 2014 federal income tax returns, which are currently on extension. He explains that in 2014 he spent $10,000 on special “flashy” clothes and outfits for his rock concerts. Mikki would like to deduct the cost of these clothes as work-related because the clothes are not acceptable to his sense of fashion on a daily basis. He would like to know under what circumstances he can deduct the cost of these work clothes.

Instructions:

Please research the tax law and write Mikki a brief memo of no more than two pages, in which you communicate the results of your research. Use the format for communicating research findings discussed in the Learning Resources for Week 1: “Tax Research – Federal,” and “Locating Tax Authority,” as well as under “Syllabus and Course Schedule: Tax Research Assignment How to Complete” in the Course Content area of LEO.

Identify relevant statutory, administrative, and judicial authorities and discuss how these authorities affect your conclusion concerning the destructibility of Mikki Jag’s clothes.

*Remember: while IRS publications are useful as secondary sources, they are not primary sources that can be cited and relied upon in a tax research memorandum.

Your research assignment will be graded using the following criteria:

1. Recognition of the important facts and issues

2. Correct conclusion

3. Clarity of writing

4. Proper use of relevant sources to support your conclusion and analysis.

5. Proper citation of relevant sources

6. Proper format, spelling & grammar

A rapidly growing trend in the business world is the growth of virtual teams. Some companies are allowing teleworking, which means that more and more workers have to coordinate their activities with other team members through the phone or internet. Even among workers who are working from their office, more and more companies are having employees work in teams with employees who work at other locations who they may or may not have ever met in person. New technologies have been developed to help facilitate virtual teamwork, but challenges still remain.

Review the background materials and also do some research on virtual teams. Here are a few articles on virtual teams to get you started:

Garfoot, A. (2003, 05). The reality of virtual teams. IT Training,. 32-34. [Proquest]

Sadri, G., & Condia, J. (2012). Managing the virtual world. Industrial Management, 54(1), 21-25. [Proquest]

Rigby, R. (2013). How best to manage a virtual team. The Financial Times [Proquest]

When you are finished with your research, integrate what you learned in general about group dynamics in the background materials with more specific information you learned about virtual teams. Write a four to five page paper addressing the following issues:

How do you think the five stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning) will be different for virtual teams as compared to traditional teams? Discuss in regard to all five stages of group development as covered in Nair (2010) and Aswathappa (2010).
Do you think virtual teams will be more or less cohesive than traditional teams? Include a discussion of the issue of groupthink in your discussion, and use Nair (2010) and Aswathappa (2010) as your guide to the concepts of group cohesiveness and groupthink.
Overall, do you think virtual teams will perform better or worse than traditional teams? Explain your answer with references to the background readings.

Assignment Expectations

Answer the assignment questions directly
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials
Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references. Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make sure it is from a credible source.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide”, which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC portal

Explain risk management and its associated activities and defend the need for a risk management plan.

2. Describe the Delphi technique used to identify risks and infer on types of projects where this technique is most accurate.

3. Examine the four (4) types of risk response (i.e., avoidance, acceptance, transference, and mitigation) and determine the appropriate situation where each should be used.

4. Complete the table with the risk response type (i.e., avoidance, acceptance, transference, and mitigation) and a description of the response.

5. Create a decision tree with the software of your choice to address risk number 6. Assume that when you check the schedule on day 60 of the project, it becomes evident that two (2) additional engineers are needed to ensure on-time completion of the project. The engineers cost $25,000 each and a fee of $120,000 is issued by the legacy provider. The probability of completing the project on time is as follows: With the current personnel – 60%; With one (1) engineer – 80%; With both engineers – 98%.

6. Explain the methodology utilized to create a decision tree and recommend the appropriate action to take based on your decision tree from criterion 5.

7. Use at least two (2) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

· Include the decision tree created in your chosen software. The completed decision tree must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Examine the human resource factors that can impact project management.

· Summarize how the PMBOK® process groups and knowledge areas are involved throughout the project life cycle.

· Compare and contrast the sources and mitigating factors of project risk.

· Use project management and graphic software to plan and manage a project throughout the project life cycle.

· Use technology and information resources to research issues in IT project management.

· Write clearly and concisely about issues in IT project management using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions

Explain risk management and its associated activities and defend the need for a risk management plan.

2. Describe the Delphi technique used to identify risks and infer on types of projects where this technique is most accurate.

3. Examine the four (4) types of risk response (i.e., avoidance, acceptance, transference, and mitigation) and determine the appropriate situation where each should be used.

4. Complete the table with the risk response type (i.e., avoidance, acceptance, transference, and mitigation) and a description of the response.

5. Create a decision tree with the software of your choice to address risk number 6. Assume that when you check the schedule on day 60 of the project, it becomes evident that two (2) additional engineers are needed to ensure on-time completion of the project. The engineers cost $25,000 each and a fee of $120,000 is issued by the legacy provider. The probability of completing the project on time is as follows: With the current personnel – 60%; With one (1) engineer – 80%; With both engineers – 98%.

6. Explain the methodology utilized to create a decision tree and recommend the appropriate action to take based on your decision tree from criterion 5.

7. Use at least two (2) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

· Include the decision tree created in your chosen software. The completed decision tree must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Examine the human resource factors that can impact project management.

· Summarize how the PMBOK® process groups and knowledge areas are involved throughout the project life cycle.

· Compare and contrast the sources and mitigating factors of project risk.

· Use project management and graphic software to plan and manage a project throughout the project life cycle.

· Use technology and information resources to research issues in IT project management.

· Write clearly and concisely about issues in IT project management using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions

The Final Project requires you to develop a training and Organizational Development (OD) proposal and presentation to senior management targeted at improving diversity training within an organization of your choice. Many organizations have extended managing diversity programs beyond HRD programs and processes by changing human resource management (HRM) policies and programs to meet the special needs of the new workforce. A growing number of organizations are holding managers formally accountable for diversity goals, for example, incorporating such goals into their performance evaluation process. As the HRD manager of your organization what new training programs and processes would you propose to senior management to develop effective recruiting methods to attract more minorities and women to your organization? Explain how HRD methods can be used to help manage a culturally diverse workforce. How will you overcome language and discrimination issues that will ultimately lead to a climate in which all employees can thrive within the organization and contribute to its success?

Submission Instructions: Submit your work as an MS PowerPoint (ppt) presentation. Your presentation should include at least 8 presentation slides in addition to a title slide, introduction slide, and references at the end of your presentation. Your grade will based upon research conducted, effectiveness of the training, critical thought, and APA format.

Please support your ideas, arguments, and opinions with independent research, include at least three (3) supporting references or sources (NOT Wikipedia, unknown, or anonymous sources), include a reference section, and cite all listed references properly in text in accordance with the 6th edition of the APA manual, chapters 6 & 7

For your portfolio project, you will evaluate a fragile (formerly called failed) state and develop a plan to help it recover and get back on the right track. This will involve a survey of the country’s history, the source of its problems, information about its people, economy, and culture, and its potential to succeed if given a chance.

The Global Policy Forum website provides information on fragile/failed states in general, as well as specific states.

ForeignPolicy.com provides the 2014 list of most fragile/failed states. You may choose your country for this study from the countries in dark red on the map at the bottom of the opening page.

General information:

Population of the country (see 1 below for more information)
Important ethnic or racial groups and divisions
Per capita gross domestic product (see 2 below for more information)
UN Human Development Index rankings (see 2 below for more information)
Freedom House scores for political rights and civil liberties (see 3 below for more information)
The economic position of your country compared to other countries (wealthy, poor, middle income).

History:

Provide an overview of the country’s history, focusing on when and why it began to have problems leading to its fragile/failed status.

Classification and structure of government:

Although fragile/failed states lack an effective government, this does not mean that no one is trying to run the country or at least parts of the country. Who is trying to govern your chosen country? How are they attempting to do this?
Are there attempts to hold elections? If so, how are these elections conducted, and what is voter turnout (See 4 below for more information)? When was the most recent election held, and what were the results?

Competition, stability and civil society:

Do political parties exist? If so, what are they, and what role do they play in the country’s problems and/or efforts to provide structure?
Are there any recent political changes?
Major social movements?
Are their divisions or conflicts based on race/religion/culture, etc? Has genocide taken place?
Who provides basic services such as utilities, education, medical care, etc?
What is daily life like for the people?

Economic environment:

Major industries
Natural resources
Other sources of revenue
Reliance on foreign aid.

Other questions:

What are the most important political, economic, environmental and human rights issues facing your country?
Is your country in conflict with its neighbors or other countries?
What are its relations with major global powers ‑- the U.S., Europe, China, etc?

Conclude the paper with your assessment of the country’s future. What could be done to help the country become stable and develop an effective government? Include what the people can do to help themselves, as well as the role that other countries and humanitarian aid groups could play.

Required Resources:

Data can be accessed through the World Bank website.
Data can be found on the website of the UN Human Development Report
Data available at Freedomhouse.org
Data on election turnout available on the website of the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

Additional Requirements:

Write a formal eight to ten page essay complete with discussion and citation from at least ten credible academic sources other than required course readings to support your findings. The CSU-Global Library is an excellent place to search for scholarly sources.
In addition, provide a reference list, in alphabetical order by last name of author, in APA format, and include a title page at the beginning