Category: Essays

Navigate to www.morningstar.com (链接到外部网站。). At some point in the process you will be asked to sign up for an account. You DO NOT NEED ANY PAID ACCESS TO COMPLETE THIS ASSIGNMENT. Although you will need to sign up for the free access account. Select the “Tools” tab, then in the middle of the screen, select “Mutual Fund” under “Basic Screeners.” Under “Ratings and Risk,” check the box next to the 5 stars. Use any of the other search features on the page that interest you. I recommend selecting, under the “Cost and Purchase” section, the option for “no-load funds only.” Once you have made some screening choices, then select “Show Results” and the bottom of the page. I do not expect you to be an expert mutual fund screener…just play with it and see what you can learn through exploration. You may need to adjust your screener multiple times before you fine tune it as desired…the important component is to ONLY USE 5 STAR FUNDS.

Now, on the pull-down menu next to “View:” select “Performance.” You can sort these 5-Star funds by clicking on their column heading, such as the “1-Year Return”, and the funds will resort in rank order. Look for consistency across time periods. This is one way to find a list of funds that may deserve further attention. Pick one fund to analyze and pay special attention to all of the following:

Performance: Current and Trend (HINT: check the “Quotes” page)
Are there any apparent risks in the top holdings? (HINT: “Portfolio” tab, and then “Holdings”)
Sector Weightings (HINT: “Portfolio” tab)
Style map consistency – any drift? (HINT: “Portfolio” tab)
Risk & Return vs. the category(HINT: “Ratings and Risk” tab and on the “Quote” page)
Any thoughts about the fund’s management? (HINT: “Management” tab)
What valuable information can you find on the “tax” tab and what does it tell you about your chosen fund?
What information do you find on the “expense” tab and what does it tell you about your chosen fund?
Go to the “filings” tab and search for the prospectus. What is the investment objective?

You may discuss more items than those listed above if you so choose, but be sure to cover each one of the listed topics. Each topic listed above is worth 1 point. The other 1 point is for grammar. You may use the fund that you find through this process in your Stock Trak Project, but you are not required to do so.

You may want to include screen shots of a graphic (using the Snipping Tool in Windows) to enhance your paper, but screen shots should be limited to two small images. You cannot use large images to replace required discussion.

Please organize your paper into subheadings for each numbered section to make it easier for me to read your thoughts. You do not need to label each subheading as “1” through “9.” Your final report should look as if it were ready to hand to a client to explain the nuances of your chosen mutual fund.

A helpful Youtube video can be found at http://tinyurl.com/FIN420-5star (链接到外部网站。).

Required Formatting: 2 pages single-spaced paper detailing what you have discovered. Your document should be in Times New Roman, 12 point font with 1-inch margins. You may use 1 image (google “snipping tool” if you do not know how to use it), but it needs to be no larger than 3 inches by 3 inches

Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” in the Student Center.

Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center.

Case Study 2: Security Policy

Review the Information Security Policies for The George Washington University and Harvard University:

The George Washington University:

http://my.gwu.edu/files/policies/InformationSecurityPolicyFINAL.pdf
Harvard University:

http://security.harvard.edu/enterprise-security-policy

Note: Include these two (2) Websites in your references section. These two (2) Websites do not count towards the required number of references.

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

Explain the purpose of a university security policy and indicate the major reasons why they are necessary. Provide your opinion as to whether a university security policy is more or less important to have than a business security policy.
Critique the level of completeness of the George Washington University Security Policy.
Critique the level of completeness of the Harvard University Security Policy.
Suggest one (1) additional policy or procedure for each university’s policy. Provide a rationale for your response.
Use at least three (3) quality references 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.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Examine the challenges of computer security, including different threats and types of attacks.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in Cryptography.
Write clearly and concisely about Cryptography using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions

For this assignment, you will choose an organization to analyze. This organization can be one you are personally familiar with, or one you have observed to be an effective organization, You now become a newly appointed senior leader in that organization.

As a new leader, you must prepare a report for the CEO that assesses the organization’s overall alignment between its vision, mission, values, and strategy. This report should consist of the following sections:

An analysis of the strategic cascade of the organization

This includes assessing the organization’s strategy and market position. Use the framework implied in Michael Porter’s (1997) article “What is Strategy.” When describing the business strategy of your organization, consider the following questions:
What is the target market (target customer)?
What is your organization’s value proposition (How does it deliver value that satisfies the target’s wants and needs?)?
How is your product or service positioned in the market (What specific features and attributes define the product/service and how is its value reflected in its pricing, distribution, marketing communications, etc.?)?
How is your organization sustainably different from your competitors (What is the source of uniqueness and how sustainable is it from being diminished by competitors?)?

A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis

A SWOT analysis is a strategy planning tool that examines both internal and external environments for factors and trends that should shape planning and operations over the next five years. Environmental factors internal to the company are classified as strengths (to be leveraged) or weaknesses (to be mitigated), while external factors are classified as either opportunities (to be pursued) or threats (to be monitored and responded to).

Some primer questions for the SWOT analysis include the following:

Strengths
What advantages does your organization have?
What do you do better than anyone else?
What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others cannot?
What do people in your market see as your strengths?
What factors mean that you “get the sale”?
What is your organization’s unique selling proposition (USP)?

Weaknesses
What aspects of your product or service could you improve?
What market segments or competitive areas should you avoid?
What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?
What factors can make you lose sales?

Opportunities
What good opportunities can you spot?
What interesting trends are you aware of?

Useful opportunities can come from such things as the following:
Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale
Changes in government policy related to your field
Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, and so on
Local events

Threats
What obstacles do you face?
What are your competitors doing?
Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products, or services changing?
Is changing technology threatening your position?
Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?
Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?

A summary of the internal environment, including the organization’s values and the key elements of the organization architecture that influence worker behavior.

Include the following characteristics when analyzing the internal environment:

Structure: This includes the ways the organization assigns formal roles and responsibilities, decision-making authority, expertise and skills, and work tasks. Think of the organization chart and how its implied structure directs the decision making, resource allocation, and workflow of the organization. Is it consistent with the strategy?
Systems: This comprises the information flows that coordinate activities between groups and across the organization structure while helping direct worker behavior, including performance management, financial management, operating, forecasting and planning, and other regulating mechanisms. How do these systems help align workers and their actions with the strategy?
Culture: This consists of the unwritten rules and norms that govern worker behavior and help coordinate the activities across structural boundaries. Is the organization culture an enabler or impediment to the corporate strategy? What specific behaviors embedded in the culture support the strategy? What specific behaviors block the strategy?

A synthesis of the information evaluating the ability of the organization to implement the strategy using Kouzes and Posner’s Five Practices (for example, modeling the way) as a framework.

Include answers to the following:

Company Culture
Describe the values and culture of your organization.
What are the values of your organization?
How are they reflected in the behaviors you see at work?
Employee Behaviors
Describe the behaviors in your organization.
Are these behaviors consistent with the business strategy?
Where do they conflict with the strategy?
What new behaviors are required to align with the strategy?
Leadership
How might you and other leaders create new behaviors to support the strategy?
What specific actions would you implement to communicate, motivate, model the way, coach, inspire the vision, challenge the process, and encourage the heart?

Your response to each part of the assignment should be approximately three pages.

Your final product will be in a word document and be approximately 10–12 pages in length and utilize 4–7 scholarly sources in your research. Your paper should be written in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Assignment Component

Proficient

Max Points

Content Knowledge: Understanding

Communicates understanding of the organization’s current vision, mission, and strategy.

Response incorporates analysis and synthesis of central concepts of the assigned topic.

Response reflects understanding of the nature of the specific topic within the discipline and its applications in contemporary times.

Response provides necessary details and specific examples.

/ 80 pts.

Content Knowledge: Application Component 1

Communicates the ability to analyze the “strategic cascade” of the organization and complete a SWOT analysis.

Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary content knowledge.

Response examines the specific issue within the context of the topic area using relevant details and examples.

Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real world contexts.

Response is adequately supported by current and relevant literature.

/ 40 pts.

Content Knowledge: Application Component 2

Communicates the ability to summarize the internal environment, including the organization’s values and the key elements that influence the worker’s behavior.

Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary content knowledge.

Response examines the specific issue within the context of the topic area using relevant details and examples.

Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real world contexts.

Response is supported by current and relevant literature.

/ 40 pts.

Content Knowledge: Application Component 3

Communicates the ability to state the ability of the organization to implement the strategy.

Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary content knowledge.

Response examines the specific issue within the context of the topic area using relevant details and examples.

Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real world contexts.

Response is supported by current and relevant literature.

/20 pts.

Written Communication/Personal Effectiveness

Conveys through written word understanding and application of the essential assignment components.

Writing is concise and clear in content, language use, grammar, organization, and sentence structure.

Writing is free of major grammatical and usage errors.

Discuss one (1) project where you used a problem-solving approach to address what turned out to be common-cause variation, or where you used a process improvement approach to deal with a special cause.

If you do not have a personal experience that echoes either of these situations, you may use Internet to search for a case that reflects either of these situations.

Examples:

one’s personal investment strategy since 2008
reducing waiting times at the local hospital or emergency room

reducing difficulties trying to connect to a Wi-Fi Internet provider

Answer the following questions in the space provided below:

Describe the experience in the project.
What were the solutions used to address the problem?

Was the case you described a special-cause or common-cause?

Do you feel the solution or approach used appropriate for the cause?

What would you do if you could do it again?

What conclusions can you draw from the problem-solving or process-improvement techniques?

Note: You may create and / or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment. In your original work, you may use aspects of existing processes from either your current or a former place of employment. However, you must remove any and all identifying information that would enable someone to discern the organization(s) that you have used

Read Case 7: Butler Systems in your text (pg.467-468) Benton, W.C. Jr. (2014). Purchasing and supply chain management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. In a two- to three-page paper, excluding the title and reference pages, provide a brief summary of the case and main points, and answer the following questions:

As the VP of operations, what is your assessment of the battery shortage problem, and what actions would you take and why?
What is the buying organization’s role in selecting and qualifying potential suppliers?

Your paper should include at least one scholarly source from the Ashford University Library, in addition to the textbook, and be formatted according to APA style

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Answer each question with 3 to 4 sentences with detail, be sure to use orginal work and site each source if used!

1. Identify and describe three or more distinct market segments within a specific industry, such as aerospace or automobile manufacturing.

2. Identify and describe a potential ethical dilemma that a marketer might face when segmenting. How might this concern be appropriately addressed given the need to satisfy often conflicting stakeholders?

3.How do the balance of payments, trade barriers, quotas, and tariffs differ? Why is this concept important to know as a marketer?

4. What are the five stages of the consumer buying decision process? How can you use this information to your advantage as a marketer?

5. What are the three primary data gathering methods? What method would you use if you were gathering data on a movie studio? A grocery retailer? A pharmaceutical company? Why did you select that method for each of the types of companies identified over the other methods?

6. What are the differences between databases, data warehouses, and data mining? When would you use one over another?

7. Discuss the steps and the benefits of a social audit.

8. In what ways do you think technology is changing the nature of customer service and service offerings? Provide an example to support your opinion..

9.What are three brands of the same product (e.g., breakfast cereal) that are positioned differently? How are they differentiated?

10. Describe what is meant by product mix and provide examples from a Fortune 500 company.

Worldwide energy consumption varies dramatically, but the impacts are shared by all. The most commonly used fuel sources for energy around the world are the fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. Combustion of fossil fuels releases pollutants to the atmosphere, where the emissions from all countries combine to cause local, regional, and global issues. One of the primary pollutants of concern is carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide emissions are responsible for climate change and governments around the world have taken steps to control pollution, but not all countries are successful in reducing carbon emissions.

While all countries produce pollution and emit greenhouse gasses, the emissions are greatly unequal across the globe. Consider what kinds of factors would determine how much energy is used by a country, a region, a household, or an individual. What factors would influence the fuel choices made by these people and institutions?

Conduct research to determine the common fuel sources, emissions, and total energy consumption by the United States and a developing country of your choice, such as China, India, or Brazil. Please include some information on the state of Florida at least in the introduction.

CIA. (2015). The world factbook. Retrieved fromhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2015). International energy statistics. Retrieved fromhttp://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=44&pid=44&aid=2

What are the primary sources of emissions? What is the industrial or agricultural profile of the country?
What are the similarities and differences in the fuel sources, emissions, and consumption between the two countries?
What are the countries’ levels of involvement in worldwide emissions regulations?
Discuss solutions or regulations to energy use in high-demand countries. How can high-use and low-use countries work together to reduce overall emissions?
In working together to make these reductions, how would you address possible cultural differences and diversity concepts that will emerge because of this partnership? Describe how low and high use countries can bridge cultural differences through strategic partnerships.
Support your arguments with documented evidence from credible sources using APA formatting and an APA style reference page.

Your Assignment should be written in an essay format, with an introduction and conclusion. The paper will require you to include details from research including the course materials and sources you locate on your own. Use APA format to cite your sources of information, both within parenthetical citations and also within a reference page at the end of the project.

Basic Writing Expectations:

A minimum of 1000 words, not counting the title or reference pages
At least 3 academic resources utilized
Include a title page, double space, font size 10 or 12
Include a highly developed viewpoint/thesis, purpose, and exceptional content
Demonstrate superior organization: use logic
Free of grammar and spelling errors
No evidence of plagiarism. Note: no more than 10% of your paper should be directly quoted from any outside source.
Use the APA style for all in-text citations, references, and essay bod

Performance reviews can be a difficult experience for anyone to go through. In this assignment, you will recall a performance review or a performance-related discussion that you experienced at work. You will critically analyze that experience, focusing on the verbal communication, effective listening, and conflict resolution aspects of the experience.

Tasks:

For this assignment, you are to reflect on a time when you had a performance review or any sort of work-related performance discussion with your manager. Then, write a 5- to 6-page paper addressing the following items:

Describe your experience regarding the performance discussion.
Explain proven and effective ways to listen appropriately, resolve conflict, and negotiate. Support your response with sources from professional literature. Professional literature may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov). You may find that the Lynda.Com “Having Difficult Conversations” course will be especially helpful as you prepare this assignment. The “Having Difficult Conversations” course is available in the AUO library holdings. The direct link was included earlier in this module on the Relationship Development lecture page.
Assess yourself on your effectiveness.
Assess yourself on your effectiveness in listening, conflict resolution, and negotiation.
Identify two to three areas of improvement in any category.
Create a plan for developing yourself in those areas. The plan may include:

Teaming with a classmate or mentor to help guide improvement
Creating a focus for improvement and an attainable goal
Identifying how the goal will be measured for success
Assessing success and reevaluating the goal

Submission Details:

By Wednesday, January 27, 2016, prepare a 5- to 6-page paper. Your response should rely upon at least two sources from professional literature. This may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov). Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA format); and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Save your paper in a Microsoft Word document with the name M3_A2_LastName_FirstInitial.doc, and upload it to the M3 Assignment 2 Dropbox.

This RA 1 is worth 200 points and will be graded according to the following rubric

Assuming that you are the controller for a publicly traded company, your CFO has asked you to prepare a presentation for the accounting department personnel and the public auditors about the importance of the SOX Act and the requirements and responsibilit

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20 SLIDES PLUS THE SPEAKER NOTES

NOT PLAGIO

Assuming that you are the controller for a publicly traded company, your CFO has asked you to prepare a presentation for the accounting department personnel and the public auditors about the importance of the SOX Act and the requirements and responsibilities that the Act establishes for the auditors in charge of an annual audit. After the presentation, the CFO wants all accounting personnel and public accounting auditors to understand the regulations and guidelines established by the SOX Act and also for you to provide recommendations as to how the Act’s principles can be improved to make American corporations more ethically responsible.

Prepare a Power Point presentation of at least 20 slides that includes the following:

Assess the provision of the Sox Act that requires the establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the measures that public accounting firms are taking to ensure that they maintain their independence in all audit assignments, including the mechanisms they are establishing to ensure that the necessary independence and integrity are prevalent in all aspects of their relationship with their clients.
Analyze how executives of corporate America have embraced the new regulations and requirements of the Sox Act while maintaining their purpose to produce a profit for investors and staying in compliance of the new rules in the industry. Explain what those new requirements are for the CEO and CFO of publicly traded companies.
Describe your assessment of the responsibilities established for accounting personnel—including protection for whistle-blowers—and for the public accounting auditors.
Determine how the responsibilities of the board of directors audit committee have changed due to the Sox Act in overseeing the financial reporting process and to hire and be in charge of the independent auditors.
Provide recommended sanctions to be imposed on those who do not comply with the SOX Act provisions, and whether or not the sanctions should be stiffened or should include other personnel in the organization.

Researched sources should follow these guidelines:

At least half of the researched sources should be from authoritative electronic sources related to the accounting field.
The findings presented in the paper should be accurate renditions of the Sox Act, including citations and references.
Follow APA guidelines when citing references.
Include a reference slide

Business Unit Analysis

Directions: Create a Feasibility Study for Harley-Davidson using the following outline:

Part I: Differentiation Strategies

The analysis of current strategy and competitor analysis you conducted last module impressed the senior vice president. She now needs you to delve into the brands and analyze them by conducting a business unit analysis and presenting your findings in a three-part PowerPoint presentation.

Research the Harley-Davidson (H-D) Web site for each brand, and review the annual report for relevant details of the size, scope, target market, services and amenities, and other salient points of differentiation. Include these details in Part I of your PowerPoint presentation.

From the research and analysis of the business units, identify:

A description of each brand or business unit that provides a clear picture of the brand and its place in the overall portfolio of Harley-Davidson.

The target market of each brand.

How the brands are alike and how they differ.

A preliminary analysis of any gaps that exist in the portfolio that might lead to opportunities to add to the brands.

Your analysis of possible merger/acquisition/joint venture possibilities and what would be achieved or accomplished through the merger/acquisition/joint venture.

Part II: SWOT Analysis

Perform a SWOT analysis for Harley-Davidson and include this information in Part II of your PowerPoint presentation.

Based on the internal analyses of the SWOT analysis, assess the functional areas, resources, capabilities, and strengths H-D possesses. Please be sure to cover the following functional areas in your assessment:

Marketing: New product development, integrated marketing planning, marketing communications, and building customer loyalty.

Operations: Quality, service, and consistent execution.

Human Resources: Hiring, training, developing talent, and performance planning. Avoided lawsuits and bad PR due to its hiring practices. Is ethical in its HR practices.

Executive Leadership: Industry knowledge and experience, vision about where the industry is heading, and strategy execution.

Supply Chain Optimization: Strategic sourcing of input, vendor management, integrated IS, and joint forecasting with suppliers.

Corporate Responsibility and Ethics: Concern for corporate citizenship and the environment. Present any potential ethical concerns as well.

Safety and Quality: How the motorcycle industry is dealing with safety and quality issues.

Part III: Growth and Profitability Strategies

In addition, the executive board is interested in your ideas about bold strategies for the future. The strategies you recommend will have to contribute to growth and profitability, as outlined in the Annual Report.

You will want to pay special attention to exploring vertical integration, strategic alliances, and the internal growth of new brands entering new geographic markets, and/or additional acquisitions.

Consider the following:

Is Harley-Davidson, Inc., (H-D) competing in the right businesses, given the opportunities and threats present in the external environment? If not, how can H-D realign its diversification strategy to achieve a competitive advantage?

This may include additional diversification to take advantage of opportunities such as further vertical integration.

Is the corporation managing its portfolio in a way that creates synergy among its businesses? If so, what additional businesses should it consider adding to its portfolio?

After you have reviewed the growth and profitability strategies, create a list of possible strategies to present a full range of ideas.

Part III of your presentation should include your complete list—all potential ideas—for the senior vice president. This is your chance to be creative.

Next, rank your ideas from best to worst. To do this, keep in mind several things such as fit with current strategy, resources and capabilities, and difficulty of execution.

For each of your top five ideas, add the following:

Briefly describe the strategy.

Why you picked it as one of the top five.

Think about such things as:

Does the strategy build on current competencies and foster horizontal relationships among brands? In other words, what can be leveraged or shared? What are the pros and cons of this strategy?

Your PowerPoint Feasibility Study presentation will also include slides pertaining to the following assessments:

Part I: Identification of size, scope, target market, services, amenities, and points of differentiation.

Part II: SWOT analysis that includes marketing, operations, human resources, executive leadership, supply chain optimization, corporate responsibility, ethics, safety, and quality.

Part III: Growth and profitability strategies, including your top five strategic ideas and support.

Submit the PowerPoint Feasibility Study presentation to the senior vice president so that she can review the alternatives and provide you with feedback about your ideas.