Author: chris

The purpose of the Final Paper is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course by describing your understanding and application of knowledge in the field of employee training through the analysis of a scenario related to the creation of a training course.

Focus of the Final Paper

In the course, you have examined several areas of employee training. For this paper, you will be applying this knowledge by examining the creation of a cultural diversity training course.

Imagine that you are in training and development for a global organization. You have been tasked with the creation of a cultural diversity training course that all employees will be required to take. Before designing the course, you must consider the ethical and cultural issues of the task.

In an eight- to ten-page paper (excluding the title and reference pages), you must address the following:

1. Examine any legal implications in creating a training course that discusses culture. Identify what laws and regulations should be considered.
2. Explain how the demographic diversity of your employees affects discussions of cultural diversity.
3. Examine which ethical implications should be considered.
4. Examine if training can be standardized for all locations in a global organization. Analyze what media is best suited for training in a global setting.
5. Provide recommendations for implementing the training course.

Paper requirements

1. Must be eight to ten pages in length (excluding the title page, references page, exhibits, etc.) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
2. Must include a cover page:
   1. Title of paper
   2. Student’s name
   3. Course name and number
   4. Instructor’s name
   5. Date submitted
3. Must include an introductory paragraph with a clearly stated thesis or topic.
4. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
5. Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
6. Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
7. Must include a separate references page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Due before the Final, Tuesday, December 22, 2015, 11:30 am
Lipke (Large) Science Auditorium
Please make 2 copies of your exam (one to turn in, one to use for Part II)

Instructions:
A.) You may use any source of information except human resources (you are to complete Part I of the exam without consulting any other person). Textbook, web sources, library sources, etc. are fine. Please list the sources that you have used at the end of each question. Your responses will be graded on how well you demonstrate your critical thinking ability, use your sources of information to support your arguments, and focus on the problem. Simply quoting web sources will not be rewarded significantly.
B.) Please type if possible. Feel free to write in figures, drawings, and equations if necessary by hand.
C.) As a rule of thumb, you are not expected to spend more than 1.5 hours per question. This means that you might spend ~1 hour researching the question and 30 minutes writing your answers.
D.) Please provide detailed support for any of your statements or answers. In other words, a simple “yes” or “no”, “agree” or “disagree”, or “I think it is clean”, is not a complete answer and will not receive credit. A complete answer takes the form of “Yes, because … and therefore…” or “I think it is clean because …. “.
E.) There is not necessarily any right or wrong answers to these questions. You will be graded on your ability to think and write critically in addressing these environmental issues. More detailed, supportive responses will be more valued than generalizations.
Once you have completed the exam,
Please sign the following statement: “I have not consulted any other person in completing this INDIVIDUAL Part I of the exam”:

___________________________

For information purposes only (this will not affect your grade), how much time (hours) did you spend on this exam?

______________
1.) WATERSHEDS
Suppose you worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and were given the task of assessing the value of the Charles River Watershed. The area of the Charles River Watershed is 800 km2, and 900,000 people live in the Charles River Watershed. The Charles River Watershed includes 35 communities and the river itself meanders some 130 km from Hopkinton to Boston Harbor.
a.) Describe five (5) ecosystem goods and services of the Charles River Watershed. (5 points)
b.) Assign dollar ($) values to these 5 ecosystem goods and services of the Charles River Watershed. Please be clear about how you assessed this economic value [for example, if clean air is worth $1 per person per day, the total ecosystem service is worth $1 x 365 days x 900,000 people= $328 million per year]. (5 points)
c.) Describe how would you assess (measure) the “health” of the Charles River Watershed? In other words, what data would you present to the public to support statements that the ecosystem was “healthy” or “not healthy”. (3 points)
2.) CLIMATE AND WATER

a.) Explain the 2015 hydrograph (graph of water discharge vs. time) of Town Brook in Quincy.
(2 points)

b.) Explain the 2015 hydrograph of the Charles River at Dover. (2 points)

c.) Compare and contrast the differences between the Town Brook and Charles River hydrographs for 2015? (3 points)

d.) Is it more likely to flood in Quincy, MA or Dover, MA? And why? (3 points)3.) AIR POLLUTION
Above are the annual average (1990-2010) NO2 concentrations at sites in downtown Los Angeles and Boston.

⦁ What are the sources of NO2 in the urban atmosphere? (3 points)

⦁ Why is there a decreasing trend of NO2 concentrations in Los Angeles? (3 points)

⦁ Compare and contrast the air quality in Boston and Los Angeles. If you were to claim that Boston has better air quality than Los Angeles, provides some evidence and explain why. (Hint: Do some research. Consider more than just the 2 graphs of NO2 above.)
⦁ points)
4.) ALTERNATE ENERGY SOURCES

All current estimates suggest that petroleum reserves will be (economically) used up in your lifetime.

a.) Describe the benefits of installing a wind turbine in your backyard or at UMassBoston (if you don’t have a backyard). Be specific. Hint: do some research. (4 points)

b.) What are the costs and environmental impacts of installing wind turbines? (4 points)

c.) Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Why or why not? (2 points)
5.) ECOSYSTEMS

You have seen that simple, closed systems (www.eco-sphere.com) are capable of sustaining life for 2-10 years. You have seen that Biosphere 2 could not sustain human life for 2 years without intervention. Consider the lessons learned from these systems in the following scenarios.

a.) What is the largest animal that could be sustained in Biosphere 2 for 10 years? Explain your reasoning considering life span, and carbon, water, and energy needs. (4 points)

b.) What modifications to the 1994 version of Biosphere 2 would need to be made to prevent oxygen levels from falling? (3 points)

c.) Could an enclosed, sustainable space station be designed that could support human life for 2 years? Explain your reasoning. Be as specific as possible regarding the carbon, water, and energy cycles. (5 points)

6.) HOUSEHOLDS

a.) If you bring 10 bags groceries into your home from the store, each weighing 10 pounds, please estimate how much (in pounds) of each type of waste leaves your home. Where do the various forms end up? (5 points)

b.) If you burn 180 therms of natural gas in a month, what is the equivalent energy measured in gallons of gasoline? You can use the following website calculator to help you convert units. How far could you drive a car in month with the same energy? (2 points)

http://www.onlineconversion.com/energy.htm

c.) How many gallons of water can you save per 15-minute shower if you use a low flow (1.1 gallon/min) showerhead instead of a regular (2.5 gallon/min) showerhead? (3 points)
7.) CLIMATE CHANGE

a.) Describe 2 positive feedback systems and 2 negative feedback systems for global climate change (4 points).
b.) If all of the ice in the Arctic Ocean were to melt, how high would global sea-level rise? If all the ice in Greenland were to melt, how high would global sea-level rise? How likely is this in the next 10 years? (3 points)
c.) Describe three (3) impacts that this rise in sea-level would have on the world’s human populations. (3 points)

HAVE DONE 1 PAGE (WHICH IS ATTACHED)!  ALL I NEED IS LIKE 3-4 PAGES WITH REFERENCES INCLUDED!!!  WOULD BE GREAT IF IT CAN GET DONE BY END OF THE NIGHT TONIGHT!

 

 

You work for Centervale Apparel, a large clothing manufacturing firm. Centervale Apparel has budgeted $9.7 million for new technology initiatives in the coming year but the project requests currently in the queue for next year total about $15 million. Your boss, the executive director of operations, has asked you to put together a proposal for this project to replace legacy order fulfillment technologies by implementing a supply chain management (SCM) system. Your boss wants to ensure this project will be prioritized over other projects on the list and will be implemented in the coming year. Use the following data to prepare a proposal using a balanced scorecard approach to demonstrate the project’s value to Centervale Apparel.

Here is your brief:

Business Problem: The order fulfillment team has been using several legacy technology systems to manage inventory and distribution. The current systems do not work together, requiring redundant information input and processing. Because of the redundant processes, work is duplicated requiring multiple data entry points and sometimes results in inaccurate and irreconcilable data. There is a constant overage or shortage of supply due to the time it takes for data to get from one point to another. This causes unhappy customers and inventory carrying costs that could be avoided.

Project Description: Replace legacy order fulfillment technologies by implementing a SCM system.

Project Cost: The project will cost approximately $1.2 million including infrastructure and resources to complete the implementation and $250,000 annually to support and maintain the new system with a ten-year lifecycle for the system.

Project Benefit: It is estimated that the implementation of a supply chain management system will improve the order fulfillment processing time and reduce inventory-carrying costs. Implementing the SCM system will also enable the retirement of several legacy systems. Estimated annual cost savings are:

• Data entry staff reduced from 10 FTE to 8 FTE = $100,000/yr savings
• Reduction in inventory carrying costs = $300,000/yr savings
• Improved order fulfillment = 10–20% decrease in order to delivery time. This will improve customer satisfaction and retention
• Improved data accuracy
• Legacy system maintenance retirement savings = $100,000/yr

Using the information that details the primary business goals for the coming year, you will need to demonstrate how implementing the SCM system will help achieve the business objectives.

Note: Customers are retail companies who order from this clothing manufacturer. Assume a ten-year lifecycle for the SCM system.

Using the module readings and the Argosy University online library resources, research methods of developing proposals by applying the balanced scorecard approach. Select two scholarly resources for use in this assignment. You will use these resources to justify your recommendations.

The proposal should include the following:

• Describe the measureable value. This should include a cost-benefit analysis, such as payback period or ROI that relies on tangible measures of organizational value through cost savings, revenue enhancements, or improvements in the speed, quality, or efficiency of key processes that help achieve competitive advantage (note the difference between tangible and intangible measures in this proposal).
• Evaluate and choose alternatives. Make sure to identify any alternatives to the project implementation and provide a justification for each.
• Complete a risk assessment of all risks associated with implementing the project using an enterprise risk management (ERM) model.
• Describe total cost of ownership and include descriptions of implementation project and ongoing maintenance costs.
• Explain the benefits of the project, which include tangible and intangible benefits.
• Fully justify a recommendation with a compelling proposal that aligns to the business goals.

Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M3_A2.doc.

 

By Week 3, Day 7, deliver your assignment to the M3: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Described the measurable value. This included a cost-benefit analysis, such as payback period or ROI that relies on tangible measures of organizational value through cost savings, revenue enhancements, or improvements in the speed, quality, or efficiency of key processes that help achieve a competitive advantage.	28
Evaluated and chose alternatives. Made sure to identify any alternatives to the project implementation and provide a justification for each.	28
Completed a risk assessment of all risks associated with implementing the project using an enterprise risk management (ERM) model.	32
Described total cost of ownership and include a description of the implementation project and ongoing maintenance costs.	28
Explained the benefits of the project, which include tangible and intangible benefits.	32
Fully justified a recommendation with a compelling proposal that aligns to the business goals.	32
Ensured academic writing, such as grammar, spelling, and attribution of sources, is appropriate.	20

Assignment 2: Internal Environmental Scan/Organizational Assessment

This section provides the opportunity to develop your course project. Conducting an internal environmental scan or organizational assessment, provides the ability to put the strategy audit together.

In this module, you will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the internal environment at your business unit or organization you are working with for this project, also known as an organizational assessment, and present your findings in a report. In your report, you should analyze the operating characteristics and assets of your business unit.

The SWOT model is one of the most common business tools used during organizational assessment. Another is developing a balanced scorecard based on a prescribed or planned set of performance objectives that will be measured and evaluated regularly. In this assignment, based on the external environmental scan you conducted in M2: Assignment 2 and the internal environmental scan in this assignment, you will develop a SWOT analysis and a balanced strategic scorecard.

Part I: Internal Environmental Scan (2–3 pages)

The internal environmental scan or organizational assessment should include the following:

• Mission, vision, and values: Assess the organization’s understanding of the mission, vision, and values, and how they relate the business strategy. Is there consensus on the mission and vision of the organization? What are the shared values of the organization? What are the behaviors espoused by these values?
• Strategy clarification: Assess the organization’s understanding of the business strategy through the interview with a mid-level or senior manager. Assess his or her understanding and agreement of the business unit’s value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage.
• Cultural assessment: Explain the unwritten rules and shared values that govern behaviors in the organization. Do they act as enablers or blockers to the strategy? For example, is there a culture of information sharing and collaboration that enables the organization to respond quickly across structural boundaries to solve problems for customers? On the other hand, do groups not share important information through informal mechanisms, thus slowing response times?
• Value chain analysis: Identify the primary (direct) and support (indirect) activities that create and deliver your product or service to your customers. Assess each activity’s contribution to competitive advantage through cost or differentiation. Identify any areas where the business may be at a competitive disadvantage.
• Summary of findings: Using these different analyses, identify the organizational strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the business strategy. Organizational strengths are assets, capabilities, and resources that contribute directly to the organization’s strategic fit, differentiation, and competitive advantage relative to competing organizations. Organizational weaknesses are characteristics and capabilities (often lacking) that place the organization at a disadvantage relative to competitors.

Part II: SWOT Analysis (1–2 pages)

Your SWOT analysis should summarize the opportunities and threats from the external environmental scan with the strengths and weaknesses from your organizational assessment or internal environmental scan.

Your output should include a matrix depicting strengths or weaknesses on the horizontal axis and opportunities or threats on the vertical axis. This matrix will reveal a set of strategy forces that can be used to assess the current strategy and identify important potential changes to the strategic direction of the company.

In creating your SWOT analysis, look for natural pairings of internal and external factors that match internal resources and capabilities to the external environment. Internal strengths and external opportunities depicted in the upper-left quadrant on your matrix might form complementary pairs that suggest necessary strategic focus for the business unit to pursue opportunities that fit its competitive strengths. Conversely, internal weaknesses and external threats shown in the lower right quadrant of the matrix may combine to illustrate the need for a defensive strategy to avoid becoming highly susceptible to competitive threats.

Your matrix should not simply be a collection of four lists compiled together in a matrix. Your analysis should combine factors and explain why specific strengths complement specific opportunities, and selected weaknesses are amplified by external threats. In addition to your matrix, provide a brief narrative that summarizes the main findings in your analysis and the implications for the current and projected strategy.

Part III: Balanced Strategic Scorecard (1–2 pages)

Use the balanced scorecard or another similar tool to recommend indicators and measurements that will tell you if the company is successful or unsuccessful in progressing toward your vision through execution of strategy.

A balanced scorecard presents organizational performance on four primary groups of measures:

• Financial
• Customer (external stakeholder)
• Learning and growth
• Internal process

You should develop a strategy scorecard that ties the performance of your business unit in these areas to its overall business strategy. The challenge you face is selecting two-to-three measures in each of the four areas that give a measurable and reliable indication of the business unit performance in the key activities that promote strategic fit, customer value, and sustained competitive advantage.

Write an 5–7-page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M4_A2.doc.

The paper should include a cover page, executive summary/abstract, table of contents, body of paper—proper headers (mission, vision, and values assessment; strategy clarification; cultural assessment; value chain analysis; summary of key findings; SWOT analysis; balanced strategic scorecard; and references).

By Wednesday, December 23, 2015, deliver your assignment to the M4: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Mission, vision, and values: Assess the organization’s understanding of the mission, vision, and values, and how they relate the business strategy. Is there consensus on the mission and vision of the organization? What are the shared values of the organization? What are the behaviors espoused by these values?	16
Strategy Clarification: Assess the organization’s understanding of the business strategy through an interview with a mid-level or senior manager. Assess his or her understanding and agreement of the business unit’s value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage.	16
Cultural Assessment: Explain the unwritten rules and shared values that govern behaviors in the organization. Do they act as enablers or blockers to the strategy? For example, is their culture of information sharing and collaboration that enables the organization to respond quickly across structural boundaries to solve problems for customers? Or do groups not share important information through informal mechanisms, thus slowing response times?	16
Value Chain Analysis: Identify the primary (direct) and support (indirect) activities that create and deliver your product and/or service to your customers. Assess each activity’s contribution to competitive advantage through cost or differentiation. Identify any areas where the business may be at a competitive disadvantage.	16
Findings: Using these different analyses, identify the organizational strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the business strategy.	20
Write using ethical scholarship and proper grammar and mechanics.

The Monster website has a number of career resources for individuals new to the job market, those looking for career advancement resources, or individuals looking for new job opportunities. For this assignment, complete the following steps:
Within this section, research one of the career areas you find interesting or a topic tied to your career goals.

Write a two-page paper on the ideas discussed in the resource and how you plan on integrating the ideas into your current or future position. All sources used need to be cited according to APA style.

• Identify impacts associated with agriculture.
• Identify and discuss the effects a growing human population may have on that ecosystem’s resources, including loss or harm to populations of wild species.

• Include two outside references.

  Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

  this topic is about Yellowstone National Park Ecosystem  400-600 words

Part Two: Final Project, Week 1

Over the next five weeks, you will research and analyze financial information on two companies listed on an exchange.

Week 1: Gathering Financial Data, Key Characteristics, Corporate Governance, and Competitors

Week 2: Income Statement and Balance Sheet Analysis, Performance Comparison

Week 3: Investing and Financing Activities; Interim Presentation and Summary of Findings

Week 4: Issues and Interests of Investors and Other Stakeholders; Analysis of Company Performance

Week 5: Company Relationships and Financial Performance; Company Investment Analysis; Final Presentation and Summary of Findings

Required:

Choose any two companies that are in the same industry and listed on the NYSE or any other exchange. Collect the financial information for these two companies and make sure you have information that includes balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flow for the last three years. You may select any company except FedEx and Coca Cola.

1. Describe the key characteristics of the companies selected, such as the industry in which they operate, the products they provide, their rankings in the industry, etc.
2. Go to the company Web sites. Find the “About ….” section and note the company’s commitment to corporate governance and identify the key features of its commitment.
3. Identify the main competitors for each selected company. Compare and contrast the reputations of the selected companies and their competitors.
4. Cite all sources used in your research on the two companies selected and their competitors in APA

MNG00114 Competitive Strategy
Session 3 2015
Assignment 2: Report based on published case studies

Core Information:
Due: Due by 11.00pm AEST, Friday Week 11 (30 December 2015)
Weighting: 30%
Individual/Group: Individual Assignment
Word limit: No more than 2000 words (plus or minus 10%). Assignments that exceed 2200 words will be referred back to the author for revision and penalties for late submission will be applied until the assignment has been resubmitted within the specified word limit.

Aim: The primary aim of this assignment is to explore your capacity to analyse the strategies and strategic processes of real organisations and determine their effectiveness. It also aims to determine your ability to analyse such practical matters using the resources of theory, concepts and research that you have mastered during this course.

Core Task:
Basing your arguments on the academic literature that you have studied for this unit, write a report on the ways three different organisations in different industries have been able to obtain sustained competitive advantage in their markets. Your report should discuss the following points about each of the three organisations:

1. Evidence that the organisation has a sustained competitive advantage
2. Theoretical analysis of the reasons for the achievement of sustained competitive advantage.

Your discussion is to be based on three suitable published case studies. This means case studies published in the academic literature – for example, the series of case studies in the textbook or in equivalent textbooks. You may not use Apple! as one of the case studies and short articles in newspapers, magazines, website opinion pages and the like are definitely not acceptable, although such materials may be used to supplement the published case study and your analysis. All sources must be properly referenced. If in any doubt about the suitability of a case study, seek an early ruling from your tutor.
This is a substantial piece of scholarly work and will require extensive engagement with both unit theory and at least three detailed case studies.

Process:

⦁ Choose your three cases. They all need to be published cases in academic sources (e.g. textbooks, journal articles). It is obviously important that each case represents an instance of a company achieving sustained competitive advantage (check your materials to be clear about what that means).

⦁ Analyse and locate evidence. Begin to analyse each case in terms of the two questions – particularly question one. It is vital that you respond to both questions, but the evidence for sustained competitive advantage is more likely to be in the case material itself. It is in this part of the process that you might bring in supplemental material from company documents/websites, media analysis and so on. Be sure to reference all sources properly. You need to try and show clear and where possible objective evidence of sustained competitive advantage.

⦁ Analyse and explain. You need to move from the presentation of evidence for sustained competitive advantage to explaining how the company/organisation was able to achieve that through its strategies. This part of the assignment requires you to consider any aspect of the strategy process and/or any aspect of the organisations’ strategising that you think has enabled them to sustain their competitive advantage. You will need to show that you understand relevant theories and concepts from the course and that you can apply them to an analysis and assessment of different companies’ strategic actions and performance. Consider using different models and theoretical perspectives (for example in relation to the readings for topic two) to make your analysis. For example, you might find that one successful organisation has executed strategy by applying a rational positioning approach in a disciplined manner whereas another successful organisation has executed a successful strategy by consistently exploiting valuable resources as suggested by the RBV. You may find an opportunity to critique various concepts and theoretical positions through seeing how they apply or don’t apply to your case organisations. Evidence that you understand and can use tools of strategic analysis will add value.

⦁ Compare and contrast. You have been examining the strategic performance of three different companies. It is likely that they will each have pursued somewhat different strategies, strategic actions and strategic processes. You should compare and contrast these differences. Make an effort to explain why the differences occurred and if possible assess the relative merits of them.

⦁ Write up. On completing your analysis, you obviously need to write it up. You should respond to this task in essay format, although headings and subheadings should be used to help readers understand the structure of your paper. A possible structure might be:

⦁ An introduction which both sets up the task and the rest of the essay, and introduces the core concepts that the task is designed to deal with – competitive advantage for example. You might also take this chance to scope the work – for example the time frame that will be used to assess competitive success for the case organisations.
⦁ Description of the three cases. Describe each case, each organisation and the sources of your information.
⦁ Evidence of Sustained Competitive Advantage. Marshal all the evidence that you can that you think reveals that each organisation has sustained competitive advantage.
⦁ Analysis and Explanation. Provide a detailed analysis of how each organisation achieved its success in strategic terms.
⦁ Comparison. Compare and contrast the three cases and their pathways to success.
⦁ Conclusion. Summarise the key points and what can be learnt from the overall analysis.

⦁ Submission. Once you have completed the report and are satisfied that you have done your best, submit it via Turnitin on Blackboard. Submission needs to be made before 11.59pm (AEST) Friday Week 11 (30 December 2015). Please be reminded of the plagiarism rules which apply.

The marking criteria for the assignment are on the next page. They are published to give you detailed guidelines about the way in which your mark will be calculated. Please read them carefully. Note that they are a guide, not a definitive formula for allocating marks. No set of criteria can accurately describe every possible assignment and so your final mark will reflect the application of academic judgement by your marker to your whole assignment.
MNG00114 Competitive Strategy (Session 3, 2015)
Assignment 2: Published Case Studies Marking Criteria

Ratings and Comments According to Criteria Mark
Introduction.
Properly describes the task and sets up the report content that follows:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor NA

Introduces the core concepts
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Outlines the parameters and scope that will be used in the assignment
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Further Comments as necessary

/10
Case Selection and Description
Selection of three appropriate cases from appropriate sources
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Each case is properly described to enable the reader to understand them and their context:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor
/15
Evidence of Sustained Competitive Advantage Is able to show clear evidence of sustained competitive advantage for each case
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

The evidence is sufficiently detailed and objective
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Further Comments as necessary
/20
Analysis and Explanation Provides a plausible explanation for the sustained competitive advantage and strategic success of each case organisation:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Makes appropriate use of theories, models and concepts from the course to explain competitive success:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Shows a good understanding of theory and concepts and an ability to apply them to real case situations
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Shows capacity to make use of analytical tools to aid assessment of strategy
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Further Comments as necessary
/35
Conclusions:
Draws sensible conclusions based on the analysis and discussion:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Conclusions reveal key learning to be taken from the analysis
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Further Comments as necessary:

/10
Technical and Professionalism Aspects of the Report
In-text citations and proper referencing (note: an absence of in-text citations and referencing may lead to penalties beyond the marks allocated for this criteria point):
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Appropriate sources used and referenced:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Presented in well-thought out, consistent, readable form/appropriate length:
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Style, spelling, grammar and syntax
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Development Poor

Further Comments as necessary

/10
Total: The paper is marked out of and then adjusted to conform to the 30% loading for the course

Summary Comments as Necessary:
School extension policy
Students wanting an extension must make a request at least 24 hours before the assessment item is due and the request must be received in writing by the unit assessor or designated academic.

Extensions within 24 hours of submission or following the submission deadline will not be granted (unless supported by a doctor’s certificate or where there are exceptional circumstances – this will be at unit assessor’s discretion and will be considered on a case by case basis). Extensions will be for a maximum of 48 hours (longer extensions supported by a doctor’s certificate or exceptional circumstances to be considered on a case by case basis).

A penalty of 10% of the total available grade will accrue for each 24hour period that an assessment item is submitted late. Therefore an assessment item worth 20 marks will have 2 marks deducted for every 24hour period and at the end of 10 days will receive 0 marks.
Please note: work commitments are rarely a sufficient reason to approve special consideration and being away on holidays is never a reason. There is no penalty for submitting an assignment BEFORE the due date, so if you are going away just manage your time to get assessment tasks finished before you go. You’ll enjoy your holiday more.

Extensions will NOT be approved because of problems with personal computers or storage devices. Back up your work every day to a secure location.

PHI-204-2277-Ethics and Values-12/2015
Assignment :	W1 – Phase One: Identifying an Ethical Problem
Category :	Written
Due Date :	Dec 23, 2015 11:55 PM MST
Detail :	Your weekly journal assignments and final writing assignment for this course will be conducting a project in “Professional Practices in Ethics.” Its purpose is to apply classroom concepts to real problems in your present and future professional life. During the class, you’ll be identifying an ethical dilemma from the work place, apply classroom concepts to working through, do your own research and propose a solution. Each week, you’ll work on a different part of the project, and report on your progress in your journal. At the end of the course, you’ll be writing a memo proposing a solution to this problem. Phase One: Identifying an Ethical Problem Using the format from the Ethicist column in The New York Times (and discussed in the first week’s Professional Practices), identify two ethical problems and write them out, remaining neutral in presenting the problem and framing what you think the relevant concerns are. Each of these should be at least 100 words. Step One: Practice with a personal example. We’re going to use a professional example for the course, but start by thinking of a dilemma in a personal context. Real dilemmas are best for this, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be something that you faced personally. It could be a dilemma that you’re aware of but needs to be something that you’re comfortable sharing with someone you trust. Write out the problem in the same format that we saw in the advice problems (you are the person seeking advice here), and then read it out loud to someone you trust. Solicit the following feedback from him or her: ● After hearing your explanation, does he or she understand what the dilemma is? ● Does he or she feel that you presented the dilemma in a non-prejudicial way (leaving bias out of your account)? ● What questions, if any, does this person have? Is additional information that you didn’t provide needed to make sense of the problem? Step Two: Now that you’ve tried a personal example, take the same concept and apply it to a dilemma that has arisen in your place of work. This will be the problem that you’ll be working with throughout the course, so think carefully about where you think the trickiest dilemmas you’ve faced lie. By the end of the course, you’ll be writing a memo proposing a solution to the problem. As with the practice step, read this aloud to someone you trust and solicit feedback from them. After hearing your explanation, does he or she understand what the dilemma is? ● Does he or she feel that you presented the dilemma in a non-prejudicial way (leaving bias out of your account)? ● What questions, if any, does this person have? Is additional information needed that you didn’t provide to make sense of the problem? In your journal, please include your questions and summarize and reflect on your work.

Week 1 Assignment Tips For Success:

You’ll want to organize your paper in two parts. I would start my paper with the personal dilemma first and then move on to the work/professional dilemma. Here is an example of how I might format/organize my paper to address all the content pieces.

I encountered a personal dilemma recently. (Here’s where I’d describe the scenario which can be fiction, embellished from a situation you’ve heard of, non-fiction, etc.) My coworker said she ran into a friend of mine. She explained that the friend said she was divorcing her husband. This was news to me as I had seen the friend recently and she had not said anything. The coworker also implied that my friend may have been interested in my coworker’s friend. Not long after this conversation. My coworker approached me and said that the friend had texted her and asked her not to tell me about the “divorce thing”. My husband and I are friends with both the husband and wife in this situation. I decided to run this situation by with a friend that did not know any of the people involved. After explaining the situation this is what I asked:

• After hearing your explanation, does he or she understand what the dilemma is? My friend answered…(this is where you expand on what the friend said)
• Does he or she feel that you presented the dilemma in a non-prejudicial way (leaving bias out of your account)? My friend said…(this is where you expand and discuss)
• What questions, if any, does this person have? Is additional information that you didn’t provide needed to make sense of the problem? After discussing with my friend these are her questions: blah blah blah

I would go on to address the second dilemma on an issue in the workplace in a similar way while addressing the questions bulleted under the workplace dilemma area of the assignment details. You do not need to format your paper exactly like my example, this is just a suggestion so that you address all the content pieces. Additionally, this example is not complete (I did not supply answers to the questions). You’ll need to fully address the assignment details.

Phase Two:  Consequentialist Analysis

We have covered how we can use thought experiments and consequentialist analysis in order to make sense of ethical dilemmas. In phase two, you’ll apply those tools to your professional practice problem.

Step One: Make a list that identifies all relevant moral actors in your dilemma.  This could include (for example) supervisors, co-workers, or clients.  Don’t forget to include yourself.

Step Two: Tentatively propose two courses of action. (This should be very brief, one or two sentences each.)

Step Three: Carry out a consequentialist analyses of each moral action.  For everyone on your list in step one, what are the likely benefits and harms of each course of action?  What are possiblebenefits and harms of each course of action?  What are unlikely but remotely possiblebenefits and harms of each course of action?

Step Four: Reflect on a consequentialist analysis: does one course of action obviously win?  Are there any other courses of action which could further maximize benefit while minimizing harm?

Save this work, because you’ll be using it to write your final memo.

Include the work in your journal, along with a summary and reflection on this part of the assignment.

Week 2’s Assignment Tips for Success

To Start: Paste your work/professional dilemma from week 1 into your week 2 assignment Word document.

Then list below it all the relevant moral actors in the work/professional dilemma from week 1.

Next, tentatively propose two courses of action that could be taken in relation to the dilemma. (This should be very brief, one or two sentences each.) For each action, carry out a consequentialist analyses. Make note of those on your moral actors list. Address the following: what are the likely benefits and harms of each course of action? What are possible benefits and harms of each course of action? What are unlikely but remotely possible benefits and harms of each course of action?

Finally, reflect on your consequentialist analysis: does one course of action obviously win? Are there any other courses of action which could further maximize benefit while minimizing harm?

*This assignment is informal: it does not require references and you may write in first person.

 

In the third and fourth weeks, we covered concepts related to the ideas of rights and duties. In phase three of our professional practice, we’ll apply those tools to your professional practice problem.

Review your list of all relevant people in your scenario from Week 2. Should anyone be added or removed?

List the rights that each of those people had in this situation. For example, a person in your scenario may have the right to confidentiality.

Rephrase the rights of the person above into a corresponding duty you have.  For example, where the person above has a right to confidentiality, your duty might be to ensure that person’s right to privacy.

Identify any rights and duties that conflict with each other and discuss why they conflict. If none conflict, note that in your paper.

Summarize what you learned this week for this assignment and how this information may affect your final project.

Format your paper using the West Assignment Template, and the guidelines in the West Writing Style Handbook.

 

Submit your paper by uploading it in the Week 4 assignment location.