Category: Essays

Assignment 1: Discussion

Before beginning work on this week’s discussion forum, please review the link “Doing Discussion Questions Right,” the expanded grading rubric for the forum, and any specific instructions for this week’s topic.

By Saturday, August 15, 2015, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate topic in this Discussion Area.

Respond to the assigned questions using the lessons and vocabulary found in the reading.

Project with No Direction: Scenario:

A major national insurer decided to evolve new business development practices. The project to implement this idea started in 2000 and was led by a succession of key senior vice presidents (VPs) as part of their executive growth. Twelve years later, the organization had still not finished with its stated purpose due to changing requirements, new ideas, a succession of leaders, and executive ambivalence. This effort had all the appearance of a major strategic initiative—three hundred people, a “war room” with a great storyboard, and lots of spokespersons. Key staff members were quick to extol the great progress made. However, when the new CEO asked, “Why are we doing this?” there was no coherent answer.

Result: Within days, the entire program was scrapped. In less than a week, the project offices were vacant and phone calls went unanswered. When the project died, no one noticed except the executives who had been the project advocates. They were out of a job.

Explain the root cause of this situation. There was a huge disconnect between project management and the organizational strategy and strategic direction in this scenario. If so, how could this gap have been bridged?

Analyze the triple-constraints relationship among the project scope, cost, schedule, and quality. If quality is held constant and the scope is widened, what will happen to the cost and schedule?

Explain a WBS created for a project you have worked on. Was a WBS created for a project you have worked on? If so, did the team refer to the WBS while sequencing work and creating a risk plan? What was the outcome? If not, describe how the team determined tasks and sequencing. Evaluate the outcome. Cite additional challenges to a project that might result from poor work breakdown practices.

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Justify your answers with examples and reasoning. Comment on the postings and views of at least two peers.

Your posting should be the equivalent of 1 to 2 pages (500–1000 words) in length

In this case, you are provided the overhead cost data for the Auerbach Enterprises. Management needs advice in determining how to allocate these costs utilizing a job order costing system either department-wide or company-wide. Address Questions 1 through 5 located at the end of the case. Based on the case questions, you are required to provide a three to five double-spaced written report addressing management’s concerns and providing recommendations. The written report should be properly formatted according to APA guidelines and demonstrate research and critical thinking skills. Conclusions and recommendations should be supported by at least two scholarly sources from the Ashford Library or other external sources, excluding the textbook.

For Questions 1 through 4, you will need to complete several calculations. Be sure to label and clearly identify your work to demonstrate your understanding of the concept even if you arrive at the incorrect answer. The calculations should be included as part of your analysis and written recommendations required for submission.

For Question 5, fully address management’s concerns as part of your written analysis and recommendation using the new or the previous calculations to support your recommendation/explanation. The written analysis should be supported by at least two scholarly sources, excluding the textbook.

Week 2 Written Assignment should:

Demonstrate graduate level work including appropriate research and critical thinking skills.
Be presented as a written analysis (not a question/answer format).
Incorporate case questions into the overall analysis.
Follow APA formatting guidelines including title page, reference page and in-text citations.
Consists of three to five double-spaced pages of content.
Provide at least two scholarly sources, excluding the textbook.

Reference:

Schneider, (2012). Managerial accounting: Decision making for the service and manufacturing sectors. (2012). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Assignment 1: LASA 2— Corporate Compliance

You are a corporate compliance officer for a hospital. You are also a feature writer for The Medical Reporter, an online health magazine. The editor asks you to write an 8-10 page feature story about the steps you should take when fraud and abuse cases are reported to a facility. This is very timely as you recently received a call on your “hotline” regarding a potential fraud and abuse issue. The caller indicated that Dr. Greedy was billing for services that had not been provided. You are in danger of losing reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid programs if this behavior is not stopped. Your feature should address the ethical and moral components that healthcare providers and healthcare facilities face with fraud and abuse issues. Your research should include the following aspects:

How to conduct an investigation. It should include the following elements:

Reviewing the initial complaint: What are the items you should look for in a compliant to determine validity?
Notifying the appropriate upper management of the complaint unless they are implicated in the complaint: What are the steps to take to determine who is involved?
Obtaining additional information as necessary and developing a plan for the investigation: What other items are important to the investigation?
Conducting interviews with staff, residents and/or management: Delineate the types of questions to ask in the interview.
Determining if the allegations are substantiated or unsubstantiated: Identify criteria to determine if substantiated or unsubstantiated.

How to develop a correction action plan. The plan may suggest:

A recommendation for a subsequent audit or follow-up to the complaint and determination of when this is necessary.
A recommendation to refund any overpayments to federal government, insurance company or individual payer and when that may be the best course of action.

By Monday, August 17, 2015, deliver your assignment to the M5: Assignment 1 Dropbox.

Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A1.doc.

In this assignment, you will analyze a strategic management case. This practice is a great way to understand and remember many strategic management concepts. You will read how others have applied strategic management and share your analysis of these decisions in a written report.

Choose a Comprehensive Case from your textbook, and complete the following:

Summarize the case in no more than 3 paragraphs.

Analyze and evaluate the company’s actions.

What kind of specific global strategies are illustrated in this case?

What did you learn from reading about the company’s initiatives and expansion strategy?

Deliverable Length: 6-8 pages (body)

Your report must include a reference list. All research should be cited in the body of the paper. Please note that if you have a source in your reference section, you need to cite it in the body of the paper per APA guidelines and vice-versa.

I need the references to be in APA formatting they also need to include live links and should look something like:

Lloyd, F. (2012). Key Human Capital Challenges Facing Organizations Today. Retrieved from

https://smucoxexeced.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/key-human-capital-challenges-facing-

Prisons and Sociology.

Resources: University of Phoenix Material: Business Model and Strategic Planning Outline; Innovation Business Model, Vision, Mission, Values; Supply and Value Chain; SWOTT Analysis; Balanced Scorecard; Communication Plan

Write a 700- to 1,050-word section for your business model and strategic plan in which you add your strategies and tactics to implement and realize your objectives, measures, and targets.

Include marketing and information technology strategies and tactics.

Develop at least three methods to monitor and control your proposed strategic plan, being sure to analyze how the measures will advance organizational goals financially and operationally.

Explain the ethical issues faced by the organization, summarize the legal and regulatory issues faced by the organization, and then summarize the organization’s corporate social responsibility.

Develop a 350-word page executive summary defining the new division of existing business. Share your Vision, Mission, final business model, value proposition and list your key assumptions, risks, and change management issues. Quantify the growth and profit opportunity and planned impact on various stakeholders.

Note: Any investor should be eager to meet with you after reading your executive summary.

Using the University of Phoenix Material: Business Model and Strategic Planning Outline as a guide, combine Parts 1, 2, and 3 of your completed business model strategic plan with your Final Business Plan Model assignment and Executive Summary. This includes the Business Model, Vision, Mission, Values, SWOTT Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis, Balanced Scorecard, and Communication Plan from prior weeks. Your consolidated final strategic plan should be 4,200 to 5,250 words in length.

Companies with Good and Bad Service: Using the DeVry Online Library (available under Course Home) and online research sources such as Google, research the customer relations and customer service reputations of two (and only two—no more, no less) companies of your choice.
Supporting Research: Choose one company with an excellent customer service reputation, and one with a poor (or less than perfect) customer service reputation. Compare and contrast the customer service reputations of these two companies. Your paper should address the following questions.
What is the company with good customer relations doing right?
What is the company with poor customer relations doing wrong?
What are the results of the actions of the companies? For instance, financial, public relations, or employee issues?
What specific, actionable recommendations would you give for improving customer satisfaction for each company?
Additional requirements: Prepare a 750-word (minimum) paper addressing these questions, using APA style and formatting. Pay particular attention to the accurate citation of your research sources.

Week 4: Choose Companies
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During Week 4, you should choose your two target companies and begin your research process.
Week 5: Conduct Research
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During Week 5, you should be conducting your online research and beginning to write your paper.
Week 6: Write and Submit Case Study 2
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During Week 6, you’ll finish writing your paper. For APA format guidance please refer to the APA Tutorial in the Syllabus. Ensure that the body of your paper, excluding cover page and sources, exceeds the 750-word count minimum, and that all of the assignment requirements have been met. Then submit your paper.
Guidelines
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Case Study FAQ

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about this assignment.

Q1) The company’s web site doesn’t show anything about their customer service reputation, policy etc., what do I do?

A: Do your homework, which means do your research. The company’s web site will not be sufficient for objective information. Make phone calls, look for articles online, go to the library—a company’s web site is a starting point. Your job is to use all of the information available to you through all outlets to address these questions. Claiming to be unable to find any information is not a viable option. If this is the case, choose another company.

Q2) How can I tell if their service is good or bad?

A: Start with your own experience, and choose companies with which you are familiar. Read everything you can find about the company and soon, a picture will emerge that tells you a story about their service levels, their approach to business, and the relative happiness of their customers. Based on this information, you can formulate your own analysis of the relative effectiveness of the company’s service efforts.

HINT: The more thoroughly you show that you have the capability to think about these two companies in their respective positions in the marketplace as it relates to their service programs, the better your chances of getting an A on the paper. If you claim to have looked on the Web and found little information; if you make generalized statements that indicate a lack of thorough, specific research; if you fail to accurately cite your sources in APA style or present a paper that is not spelling and grammar checked, your grade will suffer. Get creative, find a way to answer the questions and address the assignment requirements. Good luck!

Can someone complete by deadline?

Item Analysis debate.

Assignment 2: Cohort Follow-up Studies: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

Due Week 7 and worth 240 points

Use the Internet and Strayer databases, and recall your readings in Chapter 11 of Introduction to Epidemiology and Chapter 7 of Epidemiology for Public Health Practice to complete this assignment.

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

Through cohort study designs and other evidence-based management studies, identify the major causes of CVD, and analyze the key steps, including current medications, used to address the disease.
Develop at least five (5) leading questions that may be posed to your local health department in regard to mitigating the proliferation of the disease. Provide a sound rationale for raising these questions.
Based on the five (5) questions you developed in Question two (2), provide a rudimentary protocol to disseminate this information to your local community leaders.
Recommend six (6) steps that may be given to your current or previous place of employment to prevent the proliferation of CVD. Provide support for your recommendations.
Use at least six (6) peer-reviewed academic resources in this assignment. These must come from journal sources. Note: Fact Sheets, Wikipedia, and non-academic Websites do not qualify as academic resources.