Category: Essays

In this assignment, integrate all the pieces of work you have drafted and formally turn it into the capstone strategy audit.

In previous assignments, you performed multiple, specified analyses of your company (or any company of your choosing). Those individual analyses provide the needed research to successfully complete the following LASA.

Part I: Strategy Audit Report

Using the tools and framework learned in class and throughout the program, prepare a 15-page strategy audit of your company with a companion presentation. The strategy audit is a comprehensive analysis of the company’s business strategy and operating performance, and culminates in a series of recommendations for improving your company’s performance based on the findings and conclusions of your analysis.

A strategy audit involves assessing the actual direction of a business and comparing that course to the direction required to succeed in a changing environment. A company’s actual direction is the sum of what it does and does not do, how well the organization is internally aligned to support the strategy, and how viable the strategy is when compared to the external market, competitors, and financial realities. These two categories, the internal assessment and the external or environmental assessment, make up the major elements of a strategy audit.

In your strategy audit:

Provide a high-level analysis of the company’s business strategy and operating performance. Be sure to complete the following:
Analysis of the company value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage
External environmental scan/five forces analysis
Internal environmental scan/organizational assessment
SWOT Analysis
Balanced scorecard/strategy scorecard
Recommend specific tactics for improving your company’s strategic alignment and operating performance.
Recommendations can include but are not limited to tactics in marketing, branding, alliances, mergers/acquisitions, integration, product development, diversification or divestiture and globalization (if you recommend your company go global, you must include a supply chain analysis and an analysis of your firm’s global capabilities).
Explain how the recommendations will help the company achieve its strategy and vision.

You are to write this report as though you are a consultant to your company, and are addressing the executive officers of this company. You will collect and analyze a large amount of data in producing your report, but your final product will be condensed and focus on presenting your analysis findings and conclusions.

Your report should consist of the following sections in the given order.

Executive summary (1 page): A concise and insightful summary of the significant findings of your analysis and the recommendations you have for your executive team.
Strategic issues and recommendations (5 pages): Identify 5–7 most important strategic issues facing your business unit. Strategic issues arise from a mismatch between internal capabilities and external trends such that important opportunities are not being pursued or significant external threats are not being addressed under the current strategy.

The strategic issues list should integrate your SWOT analysis, your Five Forces analysis, and the organizational assessment and external environmental scan completed earlier during the course. These detailed analyses are the foundation for your final set of findings and recommendations presented to the executive team.

In developing your recommendations for addressing each strategic issue, consider misalignments that might be apparent in different operating areas:
Product portfolio: Are there changes to the target market segment, value proposition, or positioning of the product or service line needed?
Structure: Are the organizational roles and responsibilities, decision-making authority, skill requirements, and work assignments properly configured and aligned to support the strategy?
Organizational culture or behavior: Does the organizational culture inspire behaviors that support the strategy? Are the mission, vision, and values clearly articulated and aligned with the strategy? What new behaviors are needed?
Value chain activities: Does the organization value chain fully align with the strategy? Are their activities that should be added, eliminated, or modified significantly?
Performance measures: Do the organization’s performance measures focus on the key drivers of strategic success? Is there a strategy scorecard that ties the main elements of the strategy to specific operating capabilities, including goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) that give an indication of incremental or predictive progress toward reaching strategic goals?

Your recommendations should fall into these general categories, but should be specific in terms of scope and expected impact.

These sections have been completed earlier in the course, and should appear as appendices:
SWOT analysis (2 pages—completed in Module 4): SWOT matrix illustrating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Balanced strategy scorecard (4 pages—completed in Module 4): Develop a Balanced Scorecard for your business unit that reflects the key drivers for your business strategy.
Organizational assessment (3 pages—completed in Module 3)
External environmental scan and five-forces analysis (3 pages—completed in Module 2)
Market position analysis (3 pages—completed in Module 1)

Use information from your previous assignments to support your conclusions and recommendations and conduct additional research when needed. Make sure you properly reference and cite so that the location of information is clear.

Submit your 15-page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A2.doc.

Part II: Companion Presentation

Finalize the companion with a 10-slide Power Point Presentation that summarizes the audit and recommendations in a compelling manner that persuades senior management to explore and possibly implement your recommendations. The elements of the presentation should include the following

Training and Development.

Select an HRD need that you would like to focus on for the series of PowerPoint Presentations. This HRD need should pertain to your current organization, but if circumstances do not allow, please feel free to use a volunteer organization or a personal HRD need as the subject for this project. Create a PowerPoint Presentation for senior executives that will serve as the initial step of the needs analysis process to include the following:

• Referencing the diagnostic, analytic, or compliance, determine the method for selecting a performance issue to be improved. • Identify the stakeholders of the HRD need, describing their position and role as it relates to this project. • Include a communication plan that describes the overall HRD and strategic planning process for the selected organization. • Explain and establish the importance of scheduling, and outline a timeline for conducting needs assessment.

Your presentation should include 8-10 slides, including the title and reference slide, with speaker notes of no more than 100 words. Use your textbook to complete this assignment as well as supplementary sources from your research. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

Werner, J. M., & DeSimone, R. L. (2012). Human resource development (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.

Marwan has worked at Studio Five Theme Park as a character actor portraying a swash-buckling pirate. He does not have an employment contract. He loves his job because of his seniority with the company and all the attention he receives from the guests in the park. Unknown to anyone, his prosthetic leg has no noticeable impact on Marwan’s success in this position.

Marwan has become an accomplished flirt with all this attention, and now goes to the extent of placing his hands on the female guests’ behinds when posing for pictures. The women he has encountered so far have not complained, didn’t seem to mind, or they were taken by such surprise they were not sure how to respond.

One day, Marwan grabbed the breast of one of his fellow female actors who had been recently hired. When she threatened to report him, Marwan told her that he could get her fired if she did not go on a date with him. The fellow employee reported the incident anyway and Marwan was terminated immediately. Marwan contends that he was terminated as a result of physical disability.

Directions:

Research employment law related to hiring/firing and discrimination, using your textbook, the Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet. Based on the facts of the case and research, write an analytical paper. In the paper, respond to the following questions:

What civil rights laws may prohibit Marwan’s conduct with his fellow co-worker? Do those laws apply to his conduct toward the park guest? Explain both answers.
Did Marwan commit sexual harassment? If so, what type? Explain your answers and the terms you use.
What is the legal nature of Marwan’s employment? Explain your answers and the terms you use.
What actions and steps should Studio Five take against Marwan? Explain what actions you considered and why you either recommend them or reject them.
Discuss Marwan’s allegation that he is being discriminated against based on his disability and what response Studio Five may have to that allegation. What would each of them have to prove in court?
If the female employee sues Studio Five Theme Park, what defenses can Studio Five use? Are they liable for Marwan’s conduct even if they were unaware of and did not approve of Marwan’s actions? Explain your answers and the terms you use.
If Marwan was a member of a union that had a collective bargaining agreement with Studio Five, would that change any of your previous answers? If so, why?
What types of company policies, procedures, and actions should businesses employ to avoid harassment of their employees?

Described the civil rights laws that may prohibit Marwan’s conduct with his fellow co-worker and explained if these laws applied to his conduct toward the park guest.

36

Explained what type of sexual harassment Marwan committed and the legal nature of his employment.

36

Described the actions and steps Studio Five should, take against Marwan.

36
Discussed Marwan’s allegation that he is being discriminated against based on his disability, Studio Five’s probable response to the allegation and what each side would need to prove in court.
36

Explained the defenses Studio Five could use if the female employee sues them and explained whether the park would be liable for Marwan’s conduct even if it was unaware of Marwan’s actions.

36
Explained the impact a union with a collective bargaining agreement with Studio Five would have had on this case.
36
Explained the types of company policies, procedures, and actions businesses should employ to avoid harassment of their employees.
24

Writing Components (20% of LASA 1 grade)

Organization (16 points): Introduction, Thesis, Transitions, and Conclusion.

Usage and Mechanics (16 points): Grammar, Spelling, and Sentence structure.

APA Elements (20 points): Attribution, Paraphrasing, and Quotations.

Style (8 points): Audience, and Word Choice

Being a fan of United States history, you are familiar with the many methods of apportionment applied to this problem to achieve fair representation in the US House of Representatives. You decide that apportionment (chapter 11, sections 1-4 in your textbook) is the best approach to solving this problem, but need to compare several methods and then determine which is actually fair.

Using the Hamilton method of apportionment, determine the number of seats each state should receive.
Using the numbers you just calculated from applying the Hamilton method, determine the average constituency for each state. Explain your decision making process for allocating the remaining seats.
Calculate the absolute and relative unfairness of this apportionment.
Explain how changes in state boundaries or populations could affect the balance of representation in this congress. Provide an example using the results above.
How and why could an Alabama Paradox occur?
Explain how applying the Huntington-Hill apportionment method helps to avoid an Alabama Paradox.
Based upon your experience in solving this problem, do you feel apportionment is the best way to achieve fair representation? Be sure to support your answer.
Suggest another strategy that could be applied to achieve fair representation either using apportionment methods or a method of your choosing.

You may perform your own calculations or use either the Excel spreadsheet or theExcel 2013 Spreadsheet to assist you. You must show some calculations in your document to demonstrate that you know how to perform these tasks. Be sure to compile your work in a Word document and submit it to the M5: Assignment 1 Dropbox by Monday, August 24, 2015.
Assignment 2 Grading Criteria
Maximum Points
Assignment Components

Application of Hamilton and Huntington-Hill formulas to determine number of seats for each state.

Analysis of those results to determine state average constituency.

44

Analysis of results from above to determine if Alabama paradox occurred.

44

Analysis of state boundaries and population effects on representational balance.

48

Evaluation of the apportionment methods.

48

Proposed solution to achieve fair representation.

48
Writing Components
Organization—Introduction,Thesis,Transitions,Conclusion
20
Usage and Mechanics—Grammar, Spelling, Sentence structure
32
APA Elements—Attribution, Paraphrasing, Quotations
8
Style—Audience, Word Choice.

Select an HRD need that you would like to focus on for the series of PowerPoint Presentations. This HRD need should pertain to your current organization, but if circumstances do not allow, please feel free to use a volunteer organization or a personal HRD need as the subject for this project. Create a PowerPoint Presentation for senior executives that will serve as the initial step of the needs analysis process to include the following: Referencing the diagnostic, analytic, or compliance, determine the method for selecting a performance issue to be improved.  Identify the stakeholders of the HRD need, describing their position and role as it relates to this project.  Include a communication plan that describes the overall HRD and strategic planning process for the selected organization.  Explain and establish the importance of scheduling, and outline a timeline for conducting needs assessment. Your presentation should include 8-10 slides, including the title and reference slide, with speaker notes of no more than 100 words. Use your textbook to complete this assignment as well as supplementary sources from your research. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations

Analyze OCBC Bank after reading this article. Please click on the link, then click on the “Login in as subscriber to read the full article” located at the end of the article, then login with the credentials below. Search for “Putting the ‘person’ in personnel”, click on the corresponding result to view the full article. http://www.hrmasia.com/content/putting-person-personnel

Login: ashford

Password: omm618

In a three- to five-page paper (not including the title and references pages), address the following:

Describe OCBC’s unique approach to talent management and development.
Compare OCBC’s approach to talent management and development to other organizations you are familiar with (e.g., current or past employers, a family business).
Explain how OCBC’s approach to talent management and employee development been a primary contributing factor to the firm’s success.
Evaluate the extent to which OCBC’s approach to talent management and development fits other organizations or industries, including some limitations if applied elsewhere without modification.

Conduct some additional internet research on OCBC, and examine how OCBC has performed recently—what has it done more of, less of, or differently from in the area of human resource management. Use this information to support your paper in addition to cited sources from the textbook; you must also use at least two scholarly sources

 

 

The First annotated citation will be on the Topic of the “Legal and Ethical Dimensions of the Use of Information.” This information can be obtained from the Internet using a search engine such as Google Scholar. The annotated citation should be in APA format as much as possible, and should include the URL (address) of the Internet site; or a citation of the book or article if that was used. The annotation should provide a short overview of the article and/or list the most critical points. Please note that this one citation can relate to any topic and not only Language Development.

The second two of these citations will be full Text articles or books obtained through Databases of professional books and journals available at, or online through the CSUN Library. For more information on how to find these databases please see the discussion in the Class Requirements Section Online. These citations will be reported in APA format. Included in the annotation portion of each citation will be a paragraph, which briefly summarizes the article (you can usually get this information from the abstract), and answers following questions. If the answer is not available, you simply state that fact:

1. What is the background (authority) of the author (viz., degree and type of education, affiliated institution, history of research in the area as perhaps reflected by past articles in the bibliography)?

2. Who is the intended audience (i.e., professionals, laypersons, women etc.)?

3. How does this work compare or contrast with others you may have cited or be aware of? If you are not aware of any others, simply state that as the situation.

4. What is the scope and relevance of this work to the selected topic (hypothesis)? What the heck do I mean by that? Well, is it highly or only vaguely relevant to the hypothesis; and is it of minor or major importance.

The Last Two citations will be obtained through the Internet using search engines provided online such as “Google Scholar.” These citations will follow an APA format as closely as possible, including the URL information. Included in each citation will be a paragraph, which briefly summarizes the site, and addresses the following questions related to, for the purpose of this exercise, the voracity of the Website. If the answers are not available in the site information, simply state so:

1. Is the site owner/manager’s identity available and is it associated with a reputable organization, company or educational institution?

2. What is the background (authority) of the author (viz., degree and type of education, affiliated institution, history of research in the area as perhaps reflected by past articles in the site bibliography. If this information is not available, simply state that fact.)

3. What is the level of objectivity? For example, are there advertisements on the site related in anyway to the topic?

4. Is the Website current? Cues to the contrary, for example, include broken or expired links and/or no posting date or updated notations.

5. Is the information correct; error free, verifiable, and/or backed by full citations?

This annotated bibliography may be submitted as an attachment to an email message to the instructor, and as a back up measure, by being copied and pasted directly into the same email message text

Analyze Case Study III-5: “NIBCO’s ‘Big Bang’: An SAP Implementation” (on pp. 468-483 in the textbook).Discuss reasons behind NIBCO’s decision to implement an ERP system.Describe the pros and cons of the approach to implementation decided upon by NIBCO.Provide your analysis and
recommendation for how the project was managed including its management structure.Summarize your findings in a two page paper using proper APA formatting.

Brown, C. V., DeHayes, D. W., Hoffer, J. A., Martin, E. W., & Perkins, W. C. (2012). Managing informationtechnology(7thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Human resources management can be a balancing act between a number of different factors, such as budget constraints, workforce needs and concerns, employee conflicts, labor unions, and legal and ethical considerations. HR professionals are often called upon to handle delicate situations, make difficult decisions, and mediate disputes. In this week’s Discussion, you will examine the implications of these types of scenarios and consider the challenges HR professionals face when dealing with them.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Read the articles, “Mediation in Health Care: An External Solution to Internal Problems” and “Workplace Violence Survey 2008: Unsettling Findings.” Consider the responsibility of the HR department in mitigating conflicts and addressing problems within a health care organization.

With these thoughts in mind consider the following two scenarios:

Throughout the past two weeks, Paul, a physical therapist, has been receiving in his work e-mail inbox some disturbing messages from an unknown sender. Many of the messages are sexual in nature and some even refer to Paul’s coworkers. Paul has reluctantly confided in the head of the organization’s HR department to help him with the issue. He is very embarrassed about the situation and is concerned that an investigation might jeopardize his relationships with coworkers and even his position with the organization.

For the past year, the nurses’ union at Good Health Hospital has been meeting to discuss grievances against Good Health’s management. In particular, the nurses are concerned with the way managers treat them; many feel overworked, under-compensated, and under-appreciated. They have recently submitted a proposal to Good Health’s executives asking for better management practices, an increase in nurse staffing, and better compensation and benefits for nurses. The executives have enlisted the help of Good Health’s HR department in addressing the concerns in the proposal; they are concerned about budget constraints as well as the possibility of a nurses’ union strike.

Select one of the two scenarios to discuss. For the scenario you select, respond to the following:

Post a summary of the financial, legal, and/or ethical issues related to the scenario. Describe one other important issue related to the scenario (e.g., public health/safety concerns, organizational policies, government regulations). Then, explain the role an HR professional would have in addressing the problem in the scenario. Describe the responsibilities of HR professionals and discern how they could meet those responsibilities. Finally, describe at least one method an organization could use to prevent this type of scenario from occurring. Comment on why you believe the method you selected would be effective.

Human resources management can be a balancing act between a number of different factors, such as budget constraints, workforce needs and concerns, employee conflicts, labor unions, and legal and ethical considerations. HR professionals are often called upon to handle delicate situations, make difficult decisions, and mediate disputes. In this week’s Discussion, you will examine the implications of these types of scenarios and consider the challenges HR professionals face when dealing with them.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Read the articles, “Mediation in Health Care: An External Solution to Internal Problems” and “Workplace Violence Survey 2008: Unsettling Findings.” Consider the responsibility of the HR department in mitigating conflicts and addressing problems within a health care organization.

With these thoughts in mind consider the following two scenarios:

Throughout the past two weeks, Paul, a physical therapist, has been receiving in his work e-mail inbox some disturbing messages from an unknown sender. Many of the messages are sexual in nature and some even refer to Paul’s coworkers. Paul has reluctantly confided in the head of the organization’s HR department to help him with the issue. He is very embarrassed about the situation and is concerned that an investigation might jeopardize his relationships with coworkers and even his position with the organization.

For the past year, the nurses’ union at Good Health Hospital has been meeting to discuss grievances against Good Health’s management. In particular, the nurses are concerned with the way managers treat them; many feel overworked, under-compensated, and under-appreciated. They have recently submitted a proposal to Good Health’s executives asking for better management practices, an increase in nurse staffing, and better compensation and benefits for nurses. The executives have enlisted the help of Good Health’s HR department in addressing the concerns in the proposal; they are concerned about budget constraints as well as the possibility of a nurses’ union strike.

Select one of the two scenarios to discuss. For the scenario you select, respond to the following:

Post a summary of the financial, legal, and/or ethical issues related to the scenario. Describe one other important issue related to the scenario (e.g., public health/safety concerns, organizational policies, government regulations). Then, explain the role an HR professional would have in addressing the problem in the scenario. Describe the responsibilities of HR professionals and discern how they could meet those responsibilities. Finally, describe at least one method an organization could use to prevent this type of scenario from occurring. Comment on why you believe the method you selected would be effective