Author: chris

Assignment 1: Discussion Assignment

The discussion assignment provides a forum to discuss the relevant topics for this week based on the course competencies covered. For this assignment, there are two parts. Make sure to answer all questions for Part 1 and Part 2 by Wednesday, February 3, 2016. Provide a detailed response to the topic questions in the Discussion Area. For this assignment, post your responses directly in the Discussion Area. Do not use attached documents.

To support your work, make sure to utilize your course and text readings. When asked, also utilize outside sources. As in all assignments, make sure to cite your sources in your work and provide references for those citations utilizing APA format.

Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between one or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Complete your participation for this assignment by Sunday, February 7, 2016.

Part 1:

In this era of concerns about health, diet, and obesity, there are a multitude of diets and weight loss products (including pills and surgery) on the market. The social norms seem to be shifting to a healthier lifestyle, with obesity being targeted as a major health problem. This leads individuals to seek help in weight loss and obesity. For example, in order to be successful after bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery), a person has to change his or her lifestyle—which often includes monitoring what he or she eats and when.

• Explain the difference between a person who has to maintain a strict regimen of healthy living and diet to not be obese and a person who is diagnosed with an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa.
• Review the National Institute of Mental Health’s information regarding eating disorders. Describe the symptoms of anorexia nervosa and provide an explanation of the common factors relating to acquiring the disorder, how it is diagnosed, and its treatment.

Part 2:

Impulse control can be defined as an inability to control the desire for a substance or act. The lack of impulse control is seen as a factor related to substance abuse but it is not the only factor. Research information on addictions and the two types of addictions (substance addictions and behavioral addictions). Choose one substance addiction and one behavioral addiction and answer the following:

• Describe each addiction including potential genetic and environmental factors leading to the addiction. Describe the common symptoms, especially those that impact the person both physically and psychologically. Describe the common treatments for the disorders.
• Explain why a person with an addiction may have a difficult time accepting he or she has an addiction, seeking treatment, and abstaining from the addiction without relapsing.

Justify your answers with appropriate reasoning and research from your text and course readings. Comment on the postings of at least two peers, and provide an analysis of each peer’s postings while also suggesting specific additions or clarifications for improving the discussion question response.

DISCUSSION

Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital

• Watch the video titled “Full interview: Matt Lauer and Dallas nurse Briana Aguirre” (17 min 26 s), located athttp://www.today.com/video/today/56243958#56243958. Texas Presbyterian nurse Briana Aguirre who treated Ebola stricken colleagues announced publicly that her protective outfit had rips, as well as gaps in it – exposing body parts to the potentially deadly Ebola virus. She claimed that hospital administration ignored her concerns when she brought it to their attention, and she was given no Ebola training. Briana Aguirre has received praise from colleagues and the media for going public with this information, as well as harsh criticism for being a “whistleblower” from other colleagues and the media. In your opinion, did Briana Aguirre act ethically or unethically in going public with this information? Should she be fired from the Texas Presbyterian hospital? Support or challenge Briana Aguirre’s decision to go public with this information.

 

Assignment 3: Presentation: “Biggest Challenges Facing Organizations in the Next 20 Years”

Due Week 5 and worth 250 points

In this assignment, you will create a PowerPoint presentation that outlines what you believe will be the biggest challenges facing organizations in the next twenty (20) years.

Faculty Note: For students taking this course online, if there is a hardship for any student in being able to secure a microphone to complete this assignment, the student is allowed to use the notes section of PowerPoint to write a narrative of what they would say if actually presenting / narrating.

Write an eight (8) slide presentation in which you:

1. Provide a title slide (as indicated in the format requirements below) followed by a slide with an introduction to your presentation.
2. Presentation should include your choice of the five (5) challenges you believe organizations will face in the next twenty (20) years. Only include one (1) challenge and your explanation for choosing that challenge per slide for a total of five (5) slides.
3. Provide one (1) summary slide which addresses key points of your paper.
4. Narrate each slide, using a microphone, indicating what you would say if you were actually presenting in front of an audience.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Format the PowerPoint presentation with headings on each slide and three to four (3-4) relevant graphics (photographs, graphs, clip art, etc.), ensuring that the presentation is visually appealing and readable from 18 feet away. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a title slide containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date.

 

DISCUSSION

• You are now deciding on resources for a project team. You have a choice to staff a team of resources who will be dedicated (or allocated) 100% to the project, or staff a team of resources who will be dedicated (or allocated) part time to your project; however, they will dedicate 100% to the activities you assigned them. Using information from the readings, which set of resources will you choose? Or, will you choose a combination of both? Why?

 

DISCUSSION

Business and Government Relations”  Please respond to the following:

• Discuss the main reasons why a business should or should not be involved in political discussions or take a political stand. Use terms found in Chapter 9 to demonstrate your understanding of the material. You can submit your initial discussion post and responses in either written or video format (2-3 minutes or less).

 

1. Why is the proper disposal of HHW important? How can it affect human health and the environment?

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

2. What is RCRA’s Mixture Rule? If a corrosive waste were mixed with a nonhazardous waste and the resulting mixture is no longer corrosive, would the mixture be considered hazardous? Why, or why not?

Chapter 1 of the text highlights the nine properties of life. Briefly describe each of the nine properties and discuss how things like a virus, prion, and viroid can reproduce, but are not considered to be alive. Address the question: how can things like these that are not considered to be alive “evolve”?

Your assignment should be 250-500 words in length

Performance appraisal is always a challenge for managers, because there are different ways in which we can evaluate performance. Additionally, most managers dislike giving constructive feedback that may be taken negatively by employees; however, appraisal is important to increasing productivity and creating high-performance work teams. With this in mind, there are ethical considerations in the development of performance appraisal systems. Gilbert (2012) addresses the challenges associated with lying and truth-telling in performance appraisal. Consider the following situation:

Suppose that the employee being evaluated is a sixty-four-year-old woman who has announced her intention to retire next year. You have been her supervisor for one year, and you judge that her performance is below standard, but not bad enough at present to require termination. When you review her personnel file, you find that her previous supervisor rated her as satisfactory for each of the last three years. People who have been in the unit for a long time assure you that her performance has not changed this year. One final item of relevance is that she does not take criticism well. In fact, she tends to respond to criticism with tears and hostility. Should you rate her as satisfactory, as your predecessor did for the last three years, or should you rate her as below standard and endure the difficult interview that is sure to follow, with very little hope that her performance will improve before she retires? (p.116).

Guidance:

identify and evaluate the ethical components of this situation. Approach the situation using an ethical theory as a foundation for your views. As you work through the performance appraisal, the question about the impact of cultural context becomes something that you should consider. Respond to the following dilemma:

• Consider the impact of truth-telling and lying and your responsibility to your employees and the organization as a manager in this situation.

After you have responded to the question above, consider the impact of truth telling and lying and your responsibility to your employees and the organization as a manager in this situation, create a short paper presenting your results.

 

Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length (not including the title and reference pages), using APA formatting, in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with one inch margins.

Assignment 2: Recycling, Reducing, and Reusing

In the Working Ahead section in Modules 1, 2, and 3, you were informed to collect items to be recycled and log a journal of these items. You were also instructed to select either Module 2 or Module 3 to collect these items.

Your assignment in this module is to submit your weeklong Recycling Journal, along with an analysis of your recycling efforts and an examination of the recycling process.

Be sure to examine what you have recycled in your chosen week and estimate how many grocery sacks of material you recycled—try to estimate the size. Results showing who recycled the most material will be posted by your facilitator in Module 5.

For this assignment, complete the following:

Part 1

Review your Recycling Journal for the week you selected. Write a report that covers the next two parts of this assignment.

Part 2

Based on what you identified as recyclable in one week and using this data, estimate how much garbage your entire locality or city could prevent sending to the landfill. Include the following:

• What is the total population of your community? You may use reliable Internet resources to identify this information.
• If everyone in your community recycled as much trash as you did for one week, how much garbage could your area recycle? To calculate this number, you can use your number and multiply it by the number of people in your community.
• How much trash could your community save in a year? To calculate this number, multiply the weekly estimate for your community by the number of weeks in a year.
• Do you think your community recycles enough? How can the US Government place more importance on recycling?

Part 3

Examine the process of recycling. Include the following:

• Explain how recycled material is reused.
• Describe what happens to recycled cans, bottles, and newspapers after they go to the recycling bin.
• Examine the impact you have on creating renewed resources from these recycled items.

 

Review the initial scenario and the Strategic Business Plan presented in Module 1 to make sure that the requirements of the Board and the Part II Strategic Plan are met.

 

From Module 1: As a member of Harley-Davidson’s strategic planning team, you have been asked to create a five- to six-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation titled “Harley-Davidson Today: A Brief Overview of the Business” to orient members who have been newly added to the strategic planning team.

The PowerPoint presentation should include at a minimum the following:

• The CEO’s vision and overview of 2009 performance
• The organizational structure and management team
• A brief description of each of the brands/business units and the products and services offered
• Key corporate goals and objectives such as new products, new markets, and new customers
• Total Revenues in 2009 and Net Profit in 2009

In order to meet the requirements of the Board, you will prepare the final Strategic Business Plan—Part II—Strategic Plan to the Executive Board. Ensure your strategic plan is thorough, succinct, and complete. Challenge yourself to link the targets to specific initiatives you have identified in the Strategic Plan you are developing for H-D.

Your written report should include a title page, table of contents, executive summary, and each of the following sections in an 8- to 12-page report:

Part I: Global Economy & Factors Affecting H-D  

1. 1. Identify H-D’s Motivations & Risks

• • Motivations for Expansion
  • Risks in Expansion

1. 2. Explain H-D’s competitive advantage in Global Markets
   3. Determine and explain entry strategies for global expansion
   4. Recommend an Internet approach/strategy for H-D

• • How the Internet adds value
  • Internet Business Models
  • Competitive Strategies
  • Leverage E-Business Capabilities

Part II: Corporate Leadership

Develop the following: Current Direction Setting

1. Organizational Culture: In addition, evaluate the culture at Harley-Davidson (H-D) and define what attributes you think team members should possess in reaching the business goals set forth by the organization. If you were part of the management team at H-D, what motivational techniques would you implement to make these teams successful?
2. Organizational Design: As you have been completing the Strategic Business

   Plan, the management at Harley-Davidson has decided to take a team-oriented approach in various departments rather than the traditional, functional structure. Based on your knowledge of different types of teams and their focus, suggest what kinds of team strategies should be applied to each department. Be sure to explain your recommendations in detail.

3. Leadership Traits
4. Ethical Organization Characteristics

• Identify elements
• Identify missing elements

Learning Organization Characteristics

• Identify elements
• Identify missing elements

Part III: Strategic Plan Summary

• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• Implementation
  • Discuss how you will implement your strategic plans, including how teams should be implemented in each department
  • Develop a brief roadmap for implementation
  • Identify the primary benchmarks to assess success or failure
• Risks

Part IV:  Self-Reflection Summary

Self-reflection is the key to good leadership and good management. Reflect on what you have learned in this class and on what you gained from your Bachelor of Science program. Based on your reflections, discuss the following:

• Five or six key “lessons” learned from the textbook and the content that will help you in your career.
• Consider what you have learned throughout this program. Discuss career opportunities that interest you in business.
• Include what you have learned about yourself.

Evaluate how your personal biases and assumptions have affected your work in the past and how you plan to manage them in the future. Your final product will be in an MS Word document approximately 8–12 pages in length and utilizing approximately 4–6 scholarly/professional sources. Your document 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 2: Case Study—Training Assessment

Training assessment is an important task for HR personnel. Use the Argosy University online library and textbooks to read about training assessments.

Then, consider the following scenario:

You have recently been appointed as a training manager for the southeast region of a major supermarket chain in the U.S. Your territory includes 15 retail stores. Your responsibility involves working directly with store managers and other stakeholders to develop training solutions to meet specific needs of employees in various stores. This includes, but is not limited to, performing needs assessments, determining appropriate instructional design and training delivery methods, as well as implementing and evaluating training initiatives.

Three of the stores in your territory have missed sales goals for the last two quarters. All three stores have received low customer satisfaction scores and are experiencing increased employee turnover rates. The high employee turnover has resulted in the store managers hiring many new and relatively inexperienced sales associates, which further contributes to the problem.

The senior management team of the supermarket chain believes that training and development may help decrease employee turnover and increase customer satisfaction. You have been asked to assess training needs and develop a proposal to address the situation in these three stores.

Instructions:

Use scholarly resources and your learning, address the following:

1. Identify, using simple heuristics, the indicators that show that the specific problems experienced by the three stores can be resolved through training.
2. Design a needs assessment plan and identify three specific training initiatives you would recommend for these employees. Include the expected outcomes for the three training initiatives in your proposal.
3. Select one of the specific training initiatives you identified and develop a budget of projected costs to implement this initiative.

Final Paper

The Final Paper should demonstrate an understanding of the materials (texts, assignments, and discussions) covered in this course.

Assume the role of Marketing Manager. Select a product (good or service) that is sold in the United States and has sales opportunities in a foreign market. Apply your critical thinking skills and the knowledge you have acquired throughout this course and address the following in your Final Paper:

1. Describe the product you selected in terms of the four utilities of customer value.
2. Identify the product’s target market at home and in your stated foreign market.
3. Indicate the competition of the product category in both home and foreign markets.
4. Explain how you would apply the segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) approach to market the product in the foreign market.
5. Discuss the major environmental facts and trends in the foreign markets that might affect sales of the product.
6. Explain how you would develop, execute and measure a campaign for this product considering the four p’s (product, price, promotion, and place).
7. Discuss the U.S. and international ethical marketing considerations.

Describe a novel way you can use microscopy to solve a real-world or fictional problem.

1. Describe the problem and current solutions, if any

2. Describe what kind(s) of microscopy you will use and how you will prepare the sample

3. Describe what you expect to see and how will the images help solve the problem

To earn the full 1% final grade, the use of microscopy must be novel and appropriate. Essays with

incorrect use of microscopy will not earn any point. Discussions of ideas with Dr. Sun are highly

encouraged prior to essay submission. Submit essays as word documents to Dr. Sun through email with

subject titled, “Microscopy Extra Credit.” One resubmission is