Author: chris

Select a publicly traded corporation for which you would like to work or are currently working.

Research the corporation on its own Website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.

1. Create a SWOT analysis for the company to determine its major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
2. Based on the SWOT analysis, outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats.
3. Discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its competitiveness and profitability.
4. Outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommend above known to all stakeholders.
5. Use at least five (5) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.
6. 5 pages on Marriott

Tom Emory and Jim Morris strolled back to their plant from the administrative offices of Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Company. Tom is manager of the machine shop in the company’s factory; Jim is manager of the equipment maintenance department. The men had just attended the monthly performance evaluation meeting for plant department heads. These meetings had been held on the third Tuesday of each month since Robert Ferguson, Jr., the president’s son, had become plant manager a year earlier. As they were walking, Tom Emory spoke: “Boy, I hate those meetings! I never know whether my department’s accounting reports will show good or bad performance. I’m beginning to expect the worst. If the accountants say I saved the company a dollar, I’m called ‘Sir,’ but if I spend even a little too much—boy, do I get in trouble. I don’t know if I can hold on until I retire.” Tom had just been given the worst evaluation he had ever received in his long career with Ferguson & Son. He was the most respected of the experienced machinists in the company. He had been with the company for many years and was promoted to supervisor of the machine shop when the company expanded and moved to its present location. The president (Robert Ferguson, Sr.) had often stated that the company’s success was due to the high-quality work of machinists like Tom. As supervisor, Tom stressed the importance of craftsmanship and told his workers that he wanted no sloppy work coming from his department. When Robert Ferguson, Jr., became the plant manager, he directed that monthly performance comparisons be made between actual and budgeted costs for each department. The departmental budgets were intended to encourage the supervisors to reduce inefficiencies and to seek cost reduction opportunities. The company controller was instructed to have his staff “tighten” the budget slightly whenever a department attained its budget in a given month; this was done to reinforce the plant manager’s desire to reduce costs. The young plant manager often stressed the importance of continued progress toward attaining the budget; he also made it known that he kept a file of these performance reports for future reference when he succeeded his father. Tom Emory’s conversation with Jim Morris continued as follows: Emory: I really don’t understand. We’ve worked so hard to meet the budget, and the minute we do so they tighten it on us. We can’t work any faster and still maintain quality. I think my men are ready to quit trying. Besides, those reports don’t tell the whole story. We always seem to be interrupting the big jobs for all those small rush orders. All that setup and machine adjustment time is killing us. And quite frankly, Jim, you were no help. When our hydraulic press broke down last month, your people were nowhere to be found. We had to take it apart ourselves and got stuck with all that idle time. Morris: I’m sorry about that, Tom, but you know my department has had trouble making budget, too. We were running well behind at the time of that problem, and if we had spent a day on that old machine, we would never have made it up. Instead, we made the scheduled inspections of the forklift trucks because we knew we could do those in less than the budgeted time. Emory: Well, Jim, at least you have some options. I’m locked into what the scheduling department assigns to me and you know they’re being harassed by sales for those special orders. Incidentally, why didn’t your report show all the supplies you guys wasted last month when you were working in Bill’s department? Morris: We’re not out of the woods on that deal yet. We charged the maximum we could to other work and haven’t even reported some of it yet. Emory: Well, I’m glad you have a way of getting out of the pressure. The accountants seem to know everything that’s happening in my department, sometimes even before I do. I thought all that budget and accounting stuff was supposed to help, but it just gets me into trouble. It’s all a big pain. I’m trying to put out quality work; they’re trying to save pennies.

Review the case. Respond to the following:

• Identify the problems that appear to exist in Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system and explain how the problems are likely to reduce the effectiveness of the system. (approximately 1 page)
• Explain how Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system could be revised to improve its effectiveness. (approximately 1–2 pages)
• Explain how the use of an activity-based costing system could change the results of the budget, if utilized. (approximately 1 page)
• As stated in the case, many employees have “quit trying” and have altered behavior on the job. Provide specific ways for how you would use a budget to change employee behavior and align goals in the organization. Explain how goal alignment can improve profitability and overall return to the shareholders of the company. (approximately 1 page)
• Synthesize data to explain the concept of ROI and describe how the use of an activity-based costing system can improve the company’s ROI and the potential impact on free cash flow. (approximately 1 page)

Write a 5–6-page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

Briefly explain why most sound recordings in the United States have two separate copyrights.

2. Briefly explain the concept of “pooling.”

3. What is a “subfloor?”

4. Briefly explain “separated” or “subsidiary” rights in motion pictures.

5. Briefly explain what a “CPM” is and how it works.

6. When recording artists sign “360” deals, would they prefer their record company to have a passive interest or an active interest in their revenue streams? Briefly explain.

7. Briefly explain the main reason a Producer will try and obtain an “option agreement” from a writer and what provisions should be in the option agreement.

8. Briefly explain the difference between album cycles and years as a measure for an entertainment industry agreement. Which types of agreements are most likely to have either of these as the determining factor for the length of the Agreement?

9. Briefly explain the difference between “marketability” and “playability.”

10. Briefly explain the concept of “Tarzan Economics.”

11. Briefly explain why a motion picture studio might only issue a new movie in “limited release?”

12. What is the approximate audience size for a niche cable network like NatGeo? What is their rating or share for most of their shows?

13. What are the “Sweeps” and why are they important?

14. What is the significance of getting an “at the source deal?”

15. In the United States we have a doctrine of “automatic copyright.” Briefly explain what that means.

Choose a topic covered in this course (ie stress, strain, torsion fatigue etc.) and research new advancements/technology related to the topic and provide a 2-3 page summary of your findings. The requirements for the project summary are as follows:

• Summarize the objective of the project/discovery; how the objective was accomplished; and the findings of the research
• In order to demonstrate that you thoroughly reviewed the researched project, after your summary you must provide a “personal reflection”. The personal reflection may include the following:
  • Discuss your opinion of the research approach. What assumptions were made? How did their assumptions affect the results? What could the authors have done differently to attain better data?
  • Discuss the findings of the authors. How would a different research approach have affected the findings?
  • What were some of the limitations of the study? How would the limitations affect the results?
  • Discuss how the project relates or translates into some of the work you have done or to the classes you h

In paper format, analyze one of the many engineering ethics case studies provided by the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Civil Engineering Ethics workshop, “Teaching Engineering Ethics:  A Case Study Approach.”^[1]  The written description of the case study may include a discussion of the underlying ethical issues and courses of action.  You are not simply copying these down as part of your paper, they are only food for thought to the problem.  Consider all the information presented in the case study, synthesize it, and answer the questions provided in the outline below.

Half of this assignment will be graded on how well you addressed the fundamental ethical questions.  The second half will be graded on writing quality.  This assignment should not exceed 5 pages at 1.5 spacing and 12 point font.

1. Project and Scenario Introduction

1.1.  Identify your ethical scenario and how it relates to your project that answers the following:

–        Who are the stakeholders?

–        What are the relevant facts to the scenario?

–        What do you feel is missing from the information provided that you would like to know?

2. Ethical Codes and Theories

2.1.  Identify relevant professional codes of ethics related to your scenario

2.2.  Identify relevant ethical theories related to your scenario

3. Alternatives Generation and Comparison

3.1.  Identify at least three alternative actions to your scenario

–        What are the consequences to each action?

3.2.  Discuss how this scenario and your alternative actions might affect the stakeholders

3.3.  Evaluate those alternative actions by applying the professional codes of ethics and ethical theories

–        Note: each could have competing reasoning based on the code/theory selected

4. Action Selection and Justification.

4.1.  After carefully evaluating your options, select an action

4.2.  Justify your decision thoroughly

[1] National Science Foundation/Bovay Fund Sponsored Workshop, “Teaching Engineering E

Due no later than: 12:00 midnight, Friday, December 11th

Points: (Points will be given for content and professional format.)
Each properly completed marketing plan will contain the following:

Executive Summary
A one-page summary to introduce your plan. Who, what, where, when why?
Situational analysis
Market Summary
This is a current summary of the “market” – the potential customers where you plan to do business.
Market Demographics
Market Needs
Market Trends
Market Growth
SWOT Analysis
This is an analysis of the predicted strengths and weaknesses of your company along with the opportunities and threats of the environment in which you will operate.
Competition
Who are the direct and in-direct competitors in your competitive environment?
Services
What services are common in this business/product category?
Keys to Success
When you look at successful businesses in your category, what has been key to their success?
Critical Issues
Are there any critical issues? licenses, laws, zoning requirements, etc.
Marketing Strategy
Based on the material in the situational analysis (above) this is your strategy.
Mission
Why are you going into business? What’s the purpose?
Marketing Objectives
What do you hope to accomplish through marketing in the first year?
Financial Objectives
In very general terms, what are your financial objectives in the first year?
Target Markets
Specifically, who are you targeting? Whose needs and wants are you addressing?
Positioning
How do you want consumers to view your product as compared to your competitors?
Goods & Services Mix
This is your product. What combination of goods and/or services will you offer. Discuss in terms of strategy.
Price
What is your pricing strategy?
Promotion
What is your promotional strategy?
Place (distribution)
What is your planned distribution strategy to best reach your target market?
Package
What will you use as your “package”? Your image?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
How will your encourage customer loyalty? How will you collect customer data?
Market Research Needs
When you have completed this plan, what do you need to know before moving forward? What information or data is missing?
Financials (projections)
You should be able to demonstrate that you understand how many people you will have to serve or how many “widgets” you will have to sell in order to break even (generate enough revenue to cover your basic expenses). This can be VERY basic and general.
Break Even Analysis
Revenue forecast

Each marketing plan will be for a proposed (currently non-existent) business or a small business that has not had the benefit of a marketing plan.

Each marketing plan will be prepared in written presentation format, worthy of presentation to a financial institution or Board of Directors.

Each marketing plan must be submitted no later than the midnight on December 11th.
No projects will be accepted late.

a class divided video questions

1.the first day:

a. what was is like to be a blue eyed student?

b.what was it like to be brown eyed student?

2.how do you think you would react in their situations?why?

3.who suffers discrimination in our country today?how is their experinace simler to this film?

4.what caused the kids to be so mean to one another?what would you sayis the cause of racsim?

5.how did things change once the kids roles were switched? why?

6.are ther other today that this applies may apply to besides just racism?explain?

must watch the video in this link and witre an assay 2 pages double space https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PBYn7p0_0o

Marketing Strategy

Hello Class! For this discussion you can choose which question you respond to.  Feel free to respond to both, however only one is required. Please respond to ONE of the following questions:

Question A

Find a recent news article about an organization that changed its marketing strategy.

What were the reasons for change?
How did the organization approach the development and implementation of the new strategy?
150 words essay in separate papers.
Marketing Strategy and Implementation

Continue with the case 19.

Write an analysis paper on case 19) where you consider the Marketing Implementation Strategy and the Evaluation and Control sections for your chosen case study.
Consider these elements as you write your paper:
Marketing Implementation
Structural Issues
Tactical Marketing Activities (Include the table in your Marketing Plan Worksheets)
Evaluation and Control
Formal Controls
Informal Controls
Implementation Schedule and Timeline

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:
Write between 500 – 750 words (approximately 2 – 3 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style, see example below.
Use font size 12 and 1” margins.
Include cover page and reference page.
At least 80% of your paper must be original content/writing.
No more than 20% of your content/information may come from references.
Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement.
Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style.

How is My Research Relevant? A Work in Progress

Recall, action research focuses on enabling teachers, researchers and leaders to be continuous learners (Mills, 2014). By this, action research is considered a “work in progress” (Brydon-Miller, Greenwood, & Maguire, 2003, p. 10) and is considered a “common formative assessment” (Buczynski & Hansen, 2014, p. 352). The process of deliberate and repeated fine-tuning to the design is critical to successful implementation of action research. Therefore, part of the purpose of this assignment is to ensure relevancy of your research and to deepen the research endeavor. Your final project in this course involves preparing a comprehensive presentation of your findings. This assignment is the first step in putting your final project together. Through the collaborative conversations that occur during this week’s discussions, you will gain helpful information from classmates that may prompt a need for refining your research design as it evolves.
Remember, it is important that the data collection is aligned with the research question(s), which was required in the matrix from EDU671. Therefore, another purpose for this assignment is for you to use this assignment as an opportunity to revise and adjust the data collection portion of your study. Effective action research practice includes ongoing and deliberate thought in order to positively inform your study. Revisions are required as part of this action research process. Consequently, incorporating this information is essential to a comprehensive data collection process and presentation of findings that is due in Week Six. For this assignment, you summarize the necessary modifications you made to your action research between the proposal process from EDU671 to this second week as you begin implementation of your study. Please address each of the components listed below in the content expectations and write your paper to meet the written communication expectations below. If modifications were not needed to a particular component, share what was in place originally and label it with the words NO CHANGE.

Content Expectations

Research Focus (1 Points): Describe the current area of focus for the research including required revisions thus far.
Literature (2 Points): Synthesize the literature you have found in addition to your matrix developed in EDU 671 that supports your proposal.
Defining Variables (1 Points): Describe your defining variables in specific and operational terms.
Research Questions (.5 Points): State your research question(s) in a list format making sure that there is a clear relationship through clear and concise wording to the action research project.
Intervention/Innovation (2 Points): Analyze the intervention/innovation as it pertains to the connection of the action research project to the field of education, the specific community, non-educational, or individual personal issue in which you are studying.
Data Collection (.5 points): Describe the type of data collection tools to be used in the study.
Written Communication Expectations
Page Requirement (.5 points): Two-to-three pages, not including title and references pages.
APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment.
Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.
Source Requirement (.5 points): Include a minimum of two scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.