Category: Essays

Assume the governor has asked you to present an oral briefing on a controversial environmental program to a board of commissioners of a major county in the state. Three of the nine commissioners oppose the program and have experts on their staff who  generally accompany them to meetings. Recommend three actions to take before the briefing and two key actions as you present the recommendation. Provide reasons to support your response.

• Discuss at least two possible advantages and two possible disadvantages to using graphics and charts in oral briefings. Discuss the implications of these advantages and disadvantages to the one responsible for communicating public policy. Provide an example to support your response.

 

 

Discussion 2

E-Activity

Go to the White House Website, located at www.whitehouse.gov, and perform a search on briefings. Review briefings from the Briefing Room and Press Briefings, and select two briefings published in the last 12 months. Be prepared to discuss.

 

• From the e-Activity, compare and contrast the issues discussed in two briefings you selected. Take a position on which oral briefing closely matches your preferred style of communicating policy. Provide reasons to support your response.

 

Discussion 3

Book reference

Riccucci, N. M. (02/2011). Public Personnel Management: Current Concerns, Future Problems, 5th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://strayer.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323080962/

 

Debate It: 

• First: Review Chapter 3: Generational Differences and the Public Sector Workforce and Chapter 6: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Employees in the Public Sector Workforce.
• Second: Take a position for or against this statement: religious organizations have a right to be exempt from federal guidelines regarding the employment of lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. Provide a rationale for your views.

 

Discussion 4

 

What new knowledge, skills, and abilities are required of manager who have HR responsibilities

Write a 2-page double-spaced paper in APA format that addresses the following questions:

· Find a recent geographical example of one of the four geographical themes (Spatial Theme, Areal Studies/Regional Theme, Human/Environment or Man/Land Theme, or Environmental Geography) as discussed this week by researching reference materials (readings, websites, videos) or readings assigned for week 1. Describe this case study with all necessary and relevant geographic information.

· Explain which of the four world geography themes you believe is most relevant in today’s society?

· Why does this study you selected justify your selection of that particular geographic theme as being most important in today’s society (this should be the largest section in your paper)?

Part 3

World geography is often called the “interdisciplinary discipline,” in that it contains parts, methods, ideas, and writings of so many other disciplines. Select three of the areas of geography that listed. Using examples, discuss other aspects of that area that give us reason to use geographical reasons to segment it that way. (For instance, if you select religious geography, use examples from religion to explain how geography helps us understand religion.) Can geography be a useful discipline if it is in fact made up of other parts of other disciplines

Tony, the new director of human resources, and Edna, the compensation and benefits manager, are hanging employment legislation posters in RETREAT, the TEAM FUN! employee cafeteria. Edna offers, “I remember some woman who applied for a job to advertise men’s baseball gear and sued when she didn’t get the job.  The EEOC said she had no case. A couple of years ago, we moved Fred from fitness demos to stock management because he couldn’t do the treadmill or lift the big weights anymore. There was talk about an age discrimination case because he was 57, but that never went anywhere.”

 

Tony asks, “Do you realize that all of the warehouse workers are male and all the RETREAT workers are female?”

 

Edna replies, “What’s your point?” Tony waves his hand at the EEOC information they have displayed. Edna shrugs, “This is the best job I ever had. If you ask anyone else who works here, they will say the same thing.”

 

 

 

 

Prepare a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper answering the following:

• What is the probable defense for the baseball gear job (BFOQ, 4/5ths rule, glass ceiling)? Explain.
• Why didn’t Fred’s age discrimination case go anywhere?
• Is TEAM FUN! open to discrimination charges in other areas?
• What should be done to protect TEAM FUN! from discrimination charges?

What do you assess Eisenhower’s standpoint to be? (Consult our text for more on standpoint). Is his standpoint consistent with that of a career military man? If so, why? If not, why not?

2) What sort of speech is this? Is it informative, persuasive, invitational, or something else? Was it a special occasion speech? If so,what kind?

3) What were Ike’s goals? What did he hope to accomplish? And what sort of language did he use – concrete or abstract or both? Cite examples. Was his delivery appropriate – meaning his pacing pitch, vocal variety, etc.?

4) Is it well-reasoned? That is to say, does he engage in any fallacies? If so, are they intentional? Is he being honest or he is trying to twist his language to make is point? What was his ethos? Did his speech have logos? Despite his rather dry delivery, what evidence do you see of pathos, if at all?

5) What sorts of questions is he addressing: questions of value, fact, or policy (or all three)? Where?

6) Does he seem well prepared, rehearsed and practiced? How, if at all, does he use gestures to emphasize his points? Such as?

7) If Eisenhower were delivering this speech today, what ideas would you suggest if you were helping him write, prepare and rehearse it?

These are among the questions you might want to consider as you evaluate and critique this speech. You may wish to apply other course concepts as well.

(PLEASE DO NOT WRITE A NUMBERED LIST OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS… IT IS AN ESSAY)

Please include an APA References page on which you include any resources you think you might want to use. You do not need to include the speech on the References page (it would be hard to cite in this way) but you will need to cite any remarks of his using the transcript as a source.

Article: Single-sex Classrooms, by Nancy Protheroe

What is the main point of the article? What is it that the author is attempting to persuade the reader is true?

Which type of reasoning, inductive or deductive, did the author use? Make sure you provide evidence from the article to support your answer.

Identify at least one assumption you think supports the author’s argument. Do you think the assumption you selected is valid and reliable?

What evidence did the author use to support their argument and do you think the source of any evidence used is creditable?

Did the author consider an opposing view to her/his argument and did she/he present any evidence to support the opposing view?

Identify at least one ambiguous word or phrase you believe the author used and then answer the following questions

Identify the ambiguous word/phrase you selected.

Did the author define how he/she was using the term?

How do you define the term?

Do you think the author used the term objectively to support the argument being made or to evoke an emotional response in the reader?

Did the author make any emotional appeals to the reader? If, yes, provide at least one example.

Review the conclusion of the article. Identify at least one inference that you think can be drawn from the conclusion.

Did the author present an evidence-based argument or did the article rely upon emotional appeals to persuade the reader?

Briefly describe your reaction to the article. Did the author’s argument influence or change your position on the topic? If so, why, if not, why not?

Use your textbook, Crafting and Executing Strategy, to read the following:

• Chapter 10, “Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution: People, Capabilities, and Structure.”
• Chapter 11, “Managing Internal Operations: Actions That Promote Good Strategy Execution.”
• Chapter 12, “Corporate Culture and Leadership: Keys to Good Strategy Execution.”

The following required reading is available full-text in the Capella University Library. Search for the article by clicking the linked title and following the instructions in the Library Guide:

• Kaplan and Norton’s 2007 article, “Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System,” in Harvard Business Review, volume 85, issue 7/8, pages 150–161.

You will use these readings in your Unit 10 discussion and assignment.

This is your biggest paper for this course and covers information from Units 8, 9, and 10 directly (corporate new business strategies, innovation, partnerships and alliances, and executing strategic priorities), while also linking to previous topics covered in Units 1 through 7. Review the Growth Strategies, Innovation, Alliances, and Execution video, linked in the Resources, for additional information that will help you complete your assignment.

For this assignment, select one specific strategic business unit (SBU) of a publicly traded organization. (Your choice must be a different industry and different company from the ones you used in previous assignments.) An example would be Commercial Aviation, which is an SBU for Boeing.

Using the SBU you have selected, complete the following:

• Analyze the overall competitive environment, including market conditions.
• Evaluate the current growth and new business strategies, along with implications.
• Analyze the organization’s primary business model.
• Evaluate the organization’s competencies and resources.
• Evaluate the leveraging of growth strategies and resources through partnerships and alliances.
• Identify future opportunities for innovation (disruptive, value, blue ocean, and/or fast second) based on past success and failures.
• Assess the organization’s ability to effectively execute its growth strategies. Show how the strategies compare, based on past results, with the 10 components of the strategy execution model referred by Thompson et al. in Chapter 10 of your text.
• Analyze the organization’s corporate culture and leadership and how they are evidenced in this organization.
• Develop a strategy map (balanced scorecard).

In addition, your submitted assignment must meet the following requirements:

• Be a minimum of 2,400 words.
• Follow APA (6th edition) guidelines for style and formatting, and include a cover page and appropriate headings.
• Use a minimum of seven PRJs and PJs and other references in addition to the assigned readings; you must include one or two references on theory and five or six references on your case study organization

Unit 3 IP Assignment: Deliverable Length 700 words in a Word file. Submit an Excel Spreadsheet showing calculations (submit separately). Fill out the 4 Tables completely.

A.

1.Bond Table 1: To fill out the first table, you will need to select 3 bonds with maturities between 10 and 20 years with bond ratings of “A to AAA,” “B to BBB” and “C to CC” (you may want to use bond screener at the http://finance.yahoo.com/). All of these bonds will have these values (future values) of $1,000. You will need to use a coupon rate of the bond times the face value to calculate the annual coupon payment. You should subtract the maturity date from the current year to determine the time to maturity. The Web site should provide you with the yield to maturity and the current quote for the bond. (Be sure to multiply the bond quote by 10 to get the current market value.) You will then need to indicate whether the bond is currently trading at a discount, premium, or par.

2. Analysis of Bond Table 1:

Organize your work under 3 headings:

•Explain the relationship observed between ratings and yield to maturity.

•Explain why the coupon rate and the yield to maturity determine why the bonds would trade at a discount, premium, or par.

•Based on the material you learn in this Phase, what would you expect to happen to the yield to maturity and market value of the bonds if the time to maturity was increased or decreased by 5 years?

B.

Select a stock that has at least a 5-year history of paying dividends and 2 of its closest competitors.

1. Stock Table 1: You will calculate the required rate of return for each of the 3 stocks. You will need to determine the risk-free rate (see Note below). You will need the market return that was calculated in Phase 2, and the beta that you find on the Web site.

2. Stock Table 2: You will determine whether the model suggests your stocks are over-priced or underpriced. You will need the most recent dividends paid over the past year for each stock, expected growth rate for the stocks, and the required rate of return you calculated in the previous table. Compare your results with the current value of each stock to determine whether the model suggests that they are over-priced or underpriced.

3. Stock Table 3: You will determine whether the model suggests your stocks are over-priced or underpriced again in a different model. You will need to find the price to earnings ratio (P/E) and the average expected earnings per share. (This should be available on the Web, though P/E can be calculated.) Compare your results with the current value of each stock to determine whether or not the model suggests that the stocks are over-priced or underpriced.

4. Analysis of Stock Tables:

Organize your work under 5 headings:

•Explain the relationship observed between the required rate of return, growth rate and the dividend paid, and the estimated value of the stock using the Gordon Model.

•Explain the value and weaknesses of the Gordon model.

•Explain the how the price-to-earnings model is used to estimate the value of the stocks.

•Explain which of the 2 models seemed to be the most accurate in estimating the value of the stocks.

•Based on the material that you learn in this Phase, what would you expect to happen to the value of the stock if the growth rate, dividends, required rate of return, or the estimated earnings per share were to increase or decrease

You can find information about the top 500 stocks at:

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5egspc+interactive#symbol=^gspc;range=1y;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=;”

NOTE: You are not asked to find stocks that have a risk free rate of return. You are only asked to list the risk free rate of return, that is the 5 year treasury rate. It is not necessary to actually calculate it. What you have to calculate is the REQUIRED RATE OF RETURN.

The risk free rate will be the same for all stocks and the 5-year Return on the S&P 500 will be the same for all stocks. The beta will be different (you should look this up for the stocks you selected) and with this information you can use the CAPM to calculate the Required rate of return.

The Current dividend, growth rate, current stock price, estimated earnings, p/e ratio, are all given.

For the required rate of return you should use the CAPM model Required rate of return = Risk free rate + Beta x (Market Return – Risk Free rate). The market return is the return on the S&P.

To estimate the stock price you should use the Gordon Model = The Gordon Model as defined by Ozyasar, is a model that an investor can use to determine a “fair stock price” and is easily calculated by the equation Stock Price = Dividend divided by the next years expected dividend – growth rate of dividend. This model is also know as the Dividend Discount Model.

To estimate the stock price based on the P/E:

Stock price = Earning per share * P/E Ratio.

CAPM

The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is used to calculate the required rate of return for any risky asset. Your required rate of return is the increase in value you should expect to see based on the inherent risk level of the asset.

Example:

As an analyst, you could use CAPM to decide what price you should pay for a particular stock. If Stock A is riskier than Stock B, the price of Stock A should be lower to compensate investors for taking on the increased risk

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

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

Assignment 3: Part C: Your Marketing Plan

Due Week 8 and worth 280 points

To conclude your marketing plan, in Assignment 3, you will describe the company’s, marketing strategy, implementation strategy, expansion plan, social media strategy, monitoring methods, and integrated marketing communication strategy.

Note: You may create and / or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.

Write a six to seven (6-7) page paper in which you:

Develop the company’s branding, pricing, and distribution strategy.
Classify the company’s major competitors as inter- or intra-competitors. Categorize the competitors’ major strengths and weaknesses.
Develop the differentiation strategy in relation to the closest competitor.
Establish whether the company’s intention is to be a leader or follower within the industry.
Specify two (2) social media and / or media tools that you would use as you develop your plan. Justify each of your chosen tools.
Suggest the integrated marketing communications that are most relevant for your marketing plan. Relate each marketing communication to your company’s advertising strategy.
Use at least five (5) academic resources that address sustainability and monitoring of effective marketing plans and determine the applicability for your hypothetical company. These resources should be industry specific and relate to your chosen product / service. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic 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:

Develop strategies to assess performance and achieve marketing goals.
Develop pricing strategies and distribution channels for products.
Analyze integrated marketing communications and its relationship to advertising strategy.
Evaluate marketing research tools involved in the marketing process.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in marketing management.
Write clearly and concisely about marketing management using proper writing mechanics

Due Week 9 and worth 50 points

You have been recently hired to assist with purchasing computer forensics tools and resources for a major corporation. Using the concepts that you learned in chapters nine (9) through twelve (12) recommend specific tools that can be used for computer forensics investigation.

Write a 3-4 page paper in which you:

Compare and contrast features and costs of at least two (2) programs that can be used to recover deleted files. Include the success rates and specific functions each program offers.
Specify the costs associated with purchasing two (2) tools that can be used to gather digital evidence from a cell phone. Include specific hardware or additional devices that will be required.
Identify hourly costs associated with specific certified computer experts that can be used for forensics purposes and suggest a certified computer professional, you think, would be effective for a court case.
Summarize a current event article based on how an expert’s deposition helped the case at trial. Include specifics on how the deposition was delivered and what was done to ensure that it was provided truthfully and concisely.
Use at least four (4) 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.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Evaluate and explain the various methods of computer forensics and evidentiary gathering techniques.
Describe the process of litigation and expert reports.
Describe depositions and trial evidence.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in the investigation of computer crime.
Write clearly and concisely about computer crime investigation topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

This assignment contains two (2) deliverables: a summary document to be delivered in a word processor document format and a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to be delivered in a project file.

Overview:

Imagine that you work as the project manager for an IT department. Your organization has recently approved the development of a mobile application. As the project manager, you will manage the development of the project. The project will include user experience (UX) design by a consultant, graphic design by a team of two contracted designers, and in-house application development by a team of three (3) programmers and a database developer.

Deliverable 1: Summary (MS Word or open source equivalent)

Write a one to two (1-2) page summary document in which you:
Summarize the project requirements and other assumptions (i.e., budget, human resources, workload, environmental dependencies, etc.).
Define a work breakdown structure and describe the methodology behind constructing one.

Deliverable 2: WBS (MS Project or open source equivalent)

Use Microsoft Project or an open source equivalent to create a WBS which addresses the following:
Contain at least five (5) main tasks, one (1) for each of the PMBOK® process areas.
Contain at least thirty (30) line items distributed in five (5) or more work packages.
Contain Work Breakdown Structure Code for each task.
Present duration estimates for each task that results in a duration estimate for the project not to exceed the requirements described in the overview.

Deliverable one (1) of 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

Mobile App Part 2 (Gantt and PERT Charts)

Update the Microsoft Project file you created in Assignment 4: Mobile App Part 1 (Work Breakdown Structure) with the following changes:
Set progress in at least ten (10) of the line items.
Set the properties so that at least one (1) of the main tasks is behind schedule.
Create a Gantt chart for the project.
Take a screenshot of the Gantt chart which can later be inserted into your written paper.
Create a PERT diagram that identifies the critical path.
Take a screenshot of the PERT chart which can later be inserted into your written paper.

Note: If you need a tutorial on taking a screen shot, visit one of the following locations: PC Users Mac Users

Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:

Compare and contrast the information that one receives from a Gantt chart, versus that of a PERT diagram.
Examine the advantages of using a Gantt chart over a PERT chart and vice versa. Determine when it is appropriate to use one over the other. Justify your response.
Explain the importance of the critical path in project management.
Insert the screenshots of the Gantt and PERT charts you created based on the provided criteria. Elaborate on the status of the mobile application development project based on the updated information. Note: The graphical representations do not count toward the overall page requirement.
Use at least one (1) quality resource in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Mobile App Part 3 (Risk)

Due Week 8 and worth 85 points

Reference the Microsoft Project file you created in Assignment 5: Mobile App Part 2 (Gantt and PERT Charts) for the completion of this assignment.

Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:

Document at least ten (10) total risks (two [2] risks for each phase of IT projects) of the mobile application development project.
Assess the likelihood of occurrence for each risk.
Assess the impact of each risk on the success of the project.
Identify an owner for each risk.
Recommend a strategy to manage each risk