Category: Essays

The focus of this week has been on operations management and operations as a process. Operations is a major function in every organization and, as the course text states, is responsible for supplying the products or services of the organization. Because operations are a function of the organization, every decision is actually a cross-functional decision involving marketing and finance.

Review Table 1.1 in the course text. (See Attachment) Based on your reading for this week and using newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, find examples of operations strategies used by an organization. Identify evidence regarding the organizations:

Operations strategy model

Supply chain

Cross-functional decision-making process

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Wednesday December 2, 2015 a 250-350 word statement that includes a description of the organization you chose, where you found the information, and the evidence you found regarding the organization’s strategy model, supply chain, and cross-functional decision-making processes.

Support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources. You are allowed to draw from additional sources to support your argument, but you must cite using APA standards. All quoted material must be identified, cited, and referenced per APA standards.

Discussion 2: Group Discussion: Group Case Study Project

Each week, as you consider the Crocs: Revolutionizing an Industry’s Supply Chain Model for Competitive Advantage case study, you will have two Group Project assignments to complete. One will involve a Group Discussion and the other will be an Individual Assignment. The information from both parts will be used for your final Group Case Study Project.

Read the Crocs: Revolutionizing an Industry’s Supply Chain Model for Competitive Advantage case study in your course text. (See Attachment) For your Group Discussion this week, do the following:

Post by Wednesday December 2, 2015 a 250-300 word response that addresses the following:

What do you believe is the operations strategy model developed by Crocs?

How has this model evolved and changed as the company has grown?

Support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources. You are allowed to draw from additional sources to support your argument, but you must cite using APA standards. All quoted material must be identified, cited, and referenced per APA standards

Biometrics continues to be an emerging field, and its use continues to evolve in criminal investigations. As you know, fingerprints are considered to be scientifically valid evidence that has been accepted by various courts. However, many of these new technologies have not had enough time to be scientifically recognized as valid means of identifying somebody for criminal trial related purposes. With this in mind, examine some of the challenges with the lesser accurate forms of biometrics, including facial recognition, voice recognition (voice stress analysis), or signature recognition. Prepare a 3–5 page paper that addresses the following questions:

Select 1 of the above listed less accurate forms of biometrics and summarize the science behind it (i.e., how it works) and how it can be used in criminal investigations.
Identify at least 2 challenges to the selected biometric. In other words, what are the limitations of its use?
Provide a hypothetical example of the selected biometric being used in a criminal investigation.
Support your work with properly cited research and examples of the selected biometrics applied in the public and private sector

As you study DNA, you find that every person’s DNA is different from another’s. Identical twins are the only people whose DNA is the same. Consider your parents and your siblings. Even though your brother and your sister have the same parents, it is unlikely that you look exactly like them unless you are identical twins. You may have common features, and you will all share common DNA among yourselves, but only identical twins will have the exact same DNA. DNA testing is used for many reasons such as the following:

Identify potential suspects whose DNA may match evidence left at crime scenes
Exonerate persons wrongly accused
Match organ donors

Assignment Guidelines

Address the following in 4–5 pages:
In your first case, you have been asked to list and explain the steps that you would use to identify and analyze DNA from a person who has been in prison for 10 years. The results of your test may exonerate the person.
Once the physical evidence has been delivered to the forensics lab, what is the process of identifying DNA? Be specific, and explain in detail.
Consider that the evidence is over 10-years old.
Once the DNA evidence has been identified, what is the process of analyzing the DNA? Be specific, and explain in detail.
What challenges exist that can make your analysis inadmissible in court? Explain.
How are tissue matches made? Explain.
Why is it important to utilize different DNA testing methods? Explain.
Why is it that some methods may be preferred over others? Explain.
Other than forensic uses, DNA testing is essential in paternity testing.
What are the steps used to carry out a paternity test? Explain in detail.
Why might the results of a paternity test be significant in a court case? Explain

The focus of this week has been on operations management and operations as a process. Operations is a major function in every organization and, as the course text states, is responsible for supplying the products or services of the organization. Because operations are a function of the organization, every decision is actually a cross-functional decision involving marketing and finance.

Review Table 1.1 in the course text. (See Attachment) Based on your reading for this week and using newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, find examples of operations strategies used by an organization. Identify evidence regarding the organizations:

Operations strategy model

Supply chain

Cross-functional decision-making process

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Wednesday December 2, 2015 a 250-350 word statement that includes a description of the organization you chose, where you found the information, and the evidence you found regarding the organization’s strategy model, supply chain, and cross-functional decision-making processes.

Support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources. You are allowed to draw from additional sources to support your argument, but you must cite using APA standards. All quoted material must be identified, cited, and referenced per APA standards.

Discussion 2: Group Discussion: Group Case Study Project

Each week, as you consider the Crocs: Revolutionizing an Industry’s Supply Chain Model for Competitive Advantage case study, you will have two Group Project assignments to complete. One will involve a Group Discussion and the other will be an Individual Assignment. The information from both parts will be used for your final Group Case Study Project.

Read the Crocs: Revolutionizing an Industry’s Supply Chain Model for Competitive Advantage case study in your course text. (See Attachment) For your Group Discussion this week, do the following:

Post by Wednesday December 2, 2015 a 250-300 word response that addresses the following:

What do you believe is the operations strategy model developed by Crocs?

How has this model evolved and changed as the company has grown?

Support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources. You are allowed to draw from additional sources to support your argument, but you must cite using APA standards. All quoted material must be identified, cited, and referenced per APA standard

Write an assignment on different characteristics of scale types.

Explain Observation and Experimentation with help of an example.
What are different sources of secondary data information?
Write a note on different types of measurement scales.

In preparing your response, Read PPT file that I attached, Write 2 or 3 pages in length, cite sources from professional or academic literature, such as articles from peer-reviewed journals and relevant textbooks and format your paper as APA style format without Plagiarism

Assignment 3: Market Position Analysis

Throughout this course, you will conduct a strategy audit for a selected company. Begin this assignment by selecting an organization for your course project activities.

In this module, you will assess the product portfolio of your selected business unit by analyzing the value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage of its products and services.

Part I: Interview

To gain an understanding of your selected business unit’s market position, value proposition, and competitive advantage, conduct at least one interview with a mid-level or senior manager.

Use the interview to solicit the manager’s perception of his or her business unit’s product portfolio. Be sure to discuss the points of analysis listed below in Part II of this assignment.

Part II: Analysis

Based on the information gathered from the interview, analyze the product portfolio of your selected business unit. In your analysis, identify the business unit of your company and the product(s) and service(s) on which you will focus.

Make sure to include the following points in your analysis:

Describe the target customer for the product/service in terms of relevant characteristics that impact the marketing strategy, including location (how it should be reached) and buying habits.
Identify each customer segment’s specific wants and needs. Explain why they buy your company’s product or service, or a competing product or service.
Justify how well your product/service satisfies customer wants and needs. Identify any wants and needs that are not met by your product/service.
Analyze the position of your product/service in relation to the competition. Identify the main competitors. Explain how your product differs in terms of features, function, quality, price, availability, brand image, and the like. Explain why this differentiation is important to your customers.
Describe the source of competitive advantage for your product. Evaluate how sustainable is this source of advantage.
Assess the long-term sustainability of the source of differentiation and competitive advantage.

Include appropriate information from the interview in support of your answer.

Part III: Matrix

In comparing your product/service to that of the competition, construct a simple matrix in the following way:

List the key customer wants or needs on the left-hand vertical axis.
List the competing products on the top horizontal axis, starting with your product/service on the left.
For each customer want or need, indicate how well each competing product satisfies the need using a scale of 0–2.
0 = need not met
1 = need partially met
2 = need fully met

This is a simple but effective visual mechanism for comparing the relative position of multiple offerings from competing sources.

Write a 3-page paper in Word format and attach the matrix as an appendix. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M1_A3.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_M1_A3.doc.

By Wednesday, December 2, 2015, deliver your assignment to the M1: Assignment 3 Dropbox.

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria
Assignment Component

Write a report about the difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods related to your area of study (Information Technology).

Write a one-page report about the use of qualitative research in your area of study.

In preparing your response,Read PPT that I attached, Write 2 or 3 pages in length, cite sources from professional or academic literature, such as articles from peer-reviewed journals and relevant textbooks and format your paper as APA style format without Plagiarism

In this assignment, you will explore the dynamics of the small-group theory. You will learn the competing views of the small-group theory, understand the similarities and differences within the small-group theory, and identify these differences and similarities in your own group interactions.

Tasks:

Using the Argosy University online library resources and the Internet, read more about group dynamics and the small-group theory. Based on your research, in a minimum of 400 words, respond to the following points:

Compare and contrast the competing views of the small-group theory and provide the most relevant information based on your research.
Analyze how your current research on the small-group theory supports a past group experience of your own, especially in the area of human services, voluntary service, or otherwise

Your second task is to overcome the past reluctance of top management at MPBS to have anyone put much effort into administrative detail. They have generally opted for a quick and easy approach to policy and practice. You should plan to educate the top management group regarding the need for more sophisticated and detailed approaches to compensation. To do so, you must include answers to the following questions that were posed by the new HR manager. Justify your responses using scholarly sources.

What are the relevant markets that each of MPBS’s major occupational groups should be compared to?
Should MPBS lead, match, or follow competitors? Why?
How will decisions on external competitiveness help MPBS align compensation policies with mission and strategy?
Why is it important and is it worth the effort and cost for MPBS to bother with specifying pay grades and pay ranges?
If pay grades are used, is it better to have few or more grades?
How should the ranges vary by job type and level?
How much overlap should be built into the grade ranges?
In what ways might the plan MPBS develops and the related compensation policies impact job performance?

To complete this assignment, write a 5 page report in Word format and provide rationale and scholarly support. Apply APA standards for writing style to your work

Assume you are leading a team of consultants hired by MPBS to help develop their total compensation plan. MPBS wants to implement a compensation plan to support their business strategy. Your team has completed the preliminary review of the organization, including discussions with management, and compiled initial information about MPBS. That information is detailed in the team report.

MPBS views their mission statement as the driver behind the alignment of policies, purposes and objectives of all operating units in the entire organization. Your first task is to help the human resources department create a compensation mission statement as the first step in designing their compensation plan. You are to consider the various factors affecting mission statements and objectives and then:

Recommend a specific compensation mission statement and the specific objectives of the MPBS compensation system that aligns the compensation plan to the company’s mission and strategy. Provide a rationale to support your mission statement and objectives.

Your second task is to overcome the past reluctance of top management at MPBS to have anyone put much effort into administrative detail. They have generally opted for a quick and easy approach to policy and practice. You should plan to educate the top management group regarding the need for more sophisticated and detailed approaches to compensation. To do so, you must include answers to the following questions that were posed by the new HR manager. Justify your responses using scholarly sources.

What are the relevant markets that each of MPBS’s major occupational groups should be compared to?
Should MPBS lead, match, or follow competitors? Why?
How will decisions on external competitiveness help MPBS align compensation policies with mission and strategy?
Why is it important and is it worth the effort and cost for MPBS to bother with specifying pay grades and pay ranges?
If pay grades are used, is it better to have few or more grades?
How should the ranges vary by job type and level?
How much overlap should be built into the grade ranges?
In what ways might the plan MPBS develops and the related compensation policies impact job performance?

To complete this assignment, write a 5 page report in Word format and provide rationale and scholarly support. Apply APA standards for writing style to your work