1. Explain the evolution of political parties from the Federalists and Democratic-Republicians to the political parties that exist today

2. . Describe how public opinion is measured in the United States and the problems that can arise as a result of this measurement. Also discuss how public opinion can influence government policy. Cite a specific example

3.

Discuss the structure and role of party organizations. Mention each level of party organization-local, state, and national-including what the function is of each in modern

Communication in Crisis Situations

Many times, the communication that has to go out is not good news, but rather bad news. We see crisis situations all the time in businesses, and the communication about those crises must be done very carefully and by considering the intended audience.

Using the South University Online Library or the Internet, choose a company that went through a crisis in the past five years. Based on your research and reading, complete the following tasks:

• Discuss how they communicated their crisis situation to the public. What form of communication (verbal or written) did they use? Who was their intended audience?
• Discuss whether the company was effective in communicating their crisis while maintaining or improving their image. Describe whether there were other ways in which they could have communicated better with the audience.
• Provide an analysis of the communication strategy and what you would have done differently had you be

pick a health services organization of your choice and conduct an analysis of its target markets, how it is positioned in the marketplace, and what kind of behaviors its customers exhibit when selecting their services.  This includes topics covered in Weeks 3 and 4.   Your research can include your own experiences with the organization, experiences of friends or relatives, the organization’s website, a visit to the organization (if possible), websites of competitors, library research on the service category, any notes from the overview and readings for Weeks 3 and 4, and any other place you think you can find information to provide depth to your analysis.

After completing your research, prepare your Written Assignment 2 as directed by the general guidelines for written assignments in the syllabus, project descriptions, by answering each of the following questions in turn:

1. Name and describe the health service organization.
2. Describe its primary target market in terms of the segmentation variables presented in the Week 4 Overview. You can use the PRISM system or describe it yourself.
3. What kind of behaviors do its patients/clients exhibit when making a decision to use the organization’s services? Might want to refer to the Health Service Model.
4. What do you think is the organization’s value proposition?  Use the generic value propositions outlined in the Week 4 Overview.
5. Describe the organization’s primary competitors.  If possible, prepare a positioning map using two variables important to the patients/clients of the organization.
6. Based on your competitive analysis, what do you is the organization’s competitive position?
7. What recommendations would you make for changes to the organization’s target market, services or competitive position and why?

You must use at least 2 quantitative research methods and decribe and state what methods you would use to conduct your research. 

Case Assignment

In this case assignment consider some key strategies recently implemented by Comcast in its effort to succeed and compete in its current competitive environment. Discuss the strategic direction of the company and whether you believe the organization to be on the right track.  Make recommendations that you believe would help Comcast to gain market share (that is, hypothetically formulate what you think would be useful strategies for Comcast to consider).  Also comment regarding whether you believe Comcast operates in a socially responsible manner and whether their CSR record helps or hinders their success.

Assignment Expectations

Your case assignment should be a minimum of 4 pages in length.

You are required to use APA formatting and you are required to cite and reference your sources.  There should be a minimum of three reputable sources cited and referenced in your paper.

Please make sure you review the assignment rubric prior to writing your assignment.

Module 3 – SLP

Strategic Planning & Strategy Formulation

Current Event Blog 3

For this SLP submission you will be asked to submit your third blog entry about another important aspect of the strategic management process and to provide examples based on current events pulled from recent articles from reputable sources (such as a major national news source like the NY Times, Business Week, etc.).

Recall that the main article(s) for each of your blog entries must be no older than 4 months old.  If you use an older article as your primary focal article, you will be asked to redo the assignment.  You may, of course, use older sources to support your discussion but the article serving as the main focus of your paper must be recent.

For your third SLP discuss the importance of the strategy formulation and planning phase.  Identify one recent article that identifies a recent major strategic effort on the part of an organization.  What would you have recommended if you were sitting at the strategy planning table?  Examples of such an effort might include mergers, buy-outs, sell-offs, introduction of innovative products, strategic marketing campaigns …and the like.

Discuss to what extent you believe this effort will succeed given the organization’s external environment.  What is the take-away for your reading audience?  That is, what strategic planning lessons can be learned from the situation you highlighted in your blog entry?

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your SLP assignment should be a minimum of 2 pages in length.

You are required to use APA formatting and you are required to cite and reference your sources.  There should be a minimum of three reputable sources cited and referenced in your paper.

Please make sure you review the assignment rubric prior to writing your assignment.

Module 4 – Case

Strategy Implementation & Evaluation

Case Assignment

Please note that this assignment is unique in that your written communication skills will be assessed.  This assignment also includes a specialized rubric focused specifically on written communication.

After reviewing the book section, presentation materials, and additional readings you will be asked to compose an argumentative essay where you will argue for or against the thesis identified below regarding the implementation process of a strategic management plan.  Here is the thesis statement you are expected to support or refute using well-reasoned arguments:

The successful implementation of the strategic management plan in a large corporation like Comcast is highly reliant on measurement and evaluation efforts during and after the implementation phase. 

In responding to this assignment you should continue your review of the information available on Comcast.  Identifying strategies over the past couple of years that did not work out so well versus strategies that succeeded might be helpful in supporting key arguments.  Some questions to ask yourself in formulating your arguments might include: What barriers might have gotten in the way of any less successful strategies?   And what type of strategic evaluation efforts do you think are necessary to keep an eye on progress in a large company like Comcast?  How does measurement of implementation processes help assure success?  How does the evaluation process help to assure future success?

In this assignment, make sure you clearly identify the position you are taking with respect to the thesis.  Your essay should include an introduction, and well developed arguments in support of your position.  You should wrap up your essay with a conclusion.

Assignment Expectations

Your case assignment should be a minimum of 5 pages in length.

You are required to use APA formatting and you are required to cite and reference your sources.  There should be a minimum of three reputable sources cited and referenced in your paper but more is preferred.

Please make sure you review the assignment rubric prior to writing your assignment.  Keep in mind that this rubric is a different rubric from what you are used to as it focuses on the assessment of your writing skills.

Module 4 – SLP

Strategy Implementation & Evaluation

Current Event Blog 4

For this SLP submission you will be asked to submit your fourth blog entry about another important aspect of the strategic management process and to provide examples based on current events pulled from recent articles from reputable sources (such as a major national news source like the NY Times, Business Week, etc.).

Recall that the main article(s) for each of your blog entries must be no older than 4 months old.  If you use an older article as your primary focal article, you will be asked to redo the assignment.  You may, of course, use older sources to support your discussion but the article serving as the main focus of your paper must be recent.

This final blog entry will be related to your case assignment in that it will deal with Comcast.  For this assignment consider the short news article related to Verizon by Albanesius (2014) and the Nakashima (2014) article that discusses a deal made between Disney and the Dish Network.  The articles deal with plans to provide video content on mobile devices and on home televisions in an a la carte manner.  As you know, Cable companies tend to bundle programming to cause customers to want to buy more premium packages to accommodate their home entertainment desires.  The players in the industry have been avoiding the a la carte approach to programming in order to cause customers to pay more through the bundling strategy.

Your assignment will be to present to your blog reading audience an argument as to whether you believe that Comcast is strategically poised to compete with upcoming changes in the environment related to providing an a la carte approach to programming.  What should large cable companies like Comcast be doing now so as not to go the way of Kodak?

Make sure you provide at least two very recent articles to support your key points (no older than 4 months old).

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your SLP assignment should be a minimum of 4-5 pages in length.

You are required to use APA formatting and you are required to cite and reference your sources.  There should be a minimum of three reputable sources cited and referenced in your paper.

Please make sure you review the assignment rubric prior to writing your

Marketing Plan

This week you will continue your comprehensive marketing plan researching the SAME company that you researched in previous units. Again, utilizing the CSU Online Library, you will research the various elements of the marketing plan as it relates to this company. In Unit IV you will provide a comprehensive discussion of the products and/or services provided by your organization.

Product

This section will provide a comprehensive look at the products, product lines, and services that are offered by your company. This will include discussions about the quality of the product/service and other additions such as warranties, installation, service plans, or unique packaging features that are included with the product (if pertinent). Include a discussion of whether your company’s products/services would be considered business-to-consumer (B2C) or businessto-business (B2B).Branding is also considered a part of the product offering, thus a discussion of the branding efforts associated with your company and the importance of said branding in the overall product offering should be included. Within this discussion, review the positioning strategy of your company.

Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage is an important goal of every company, address whether your company has a competitive advantage WITH RESPECT TO PRODUCT. The idea is to discuss whether your company has a competitive advantage with respect to their product offering and the attributes associated with product as discussed above. Competitive advantage with respect to promotion, place, and pricing will be discussed in later sections of the marketing plan. Once you have stated your position, remember to include your rationale.

Your submission should be a minimum of two pages in length, double-spaced with a reference page and title page. References should include at least one additional, credible reference beyond the textbook. All sources used must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations and cited per APA guidelines. Include the use of subheadings (this week consider using Product and Competitive Advantage in Product).

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

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

Assignment 2: Motivation and Performance Management

Due Week 5 and worth 100 points

For this assignment, use the same company you researched in Assignment 1.

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

Compare the difference between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Determine which is more strongly related to performance for your selected company.

Apply motivational theory and performance management principles to evaluate the company as a potential employer.

Use at least three (1) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality 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:

Analyze motivational theories and their impact on work behavior and performance.

Use technology to research issues affecting organizational behavior in order to deliver assignments which are clear, concise and have proper writing mechanics.

Write clearly and concisely about operations management using proper writing mechanics.

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

Assignment 2: Motivation and Performance Management

Due Week 5 and worth 100 points

For this assignment, use the same company you researched in Assignment 1.

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

Compare the difference between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Determine which is more strongly related to performance for your selected company.

Apply motivational theory and performance management principles to evaluate the company as a potential employer.

Use at least three (1) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality 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:

Analyze motivational theories and their impact on work behavior and performance.

Use technology to research issues affecting organizational behavior in order to deliver assignments which a

Internal and External Consultants and Consultant Behavior”  Please discuss the following:

• Discuss the key differences between internal and external consultants. Discuss which role you think would be more challenging and why.
• Critique the following question from Peter Block, “The limitations of advice are more about the expectations of the client and the behavior of the consultant”? Then, illustrate this with an