Author: chris

The project is intended to give you the opportunity to develop your critical thinking ability by applying, integrating and extending the knowledge you have gained in class. It will also work on your communication skills.

Assignment
You have just joined the accounting group at Johnson & Johnson (J&J). You have been asked to get up to speed on their long-lived assets and implications of their associated accounting choices. Your assignment is to write a business memo to the Controller summarizing the results of your investigation. Your write-up should be 1 page plus a table or appendix with any supporting numbers/analysis. You will need to do/consider the following:
Obtain a copy of Johnson & Johnson’s latest annual fiscal statements (FY2014).
Review the financial statements and associated footnotes focusing on disclosures related to property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and goodwill.
How does J&J depreciate its property and equipment and amortize its intangibles (what policies do they follow)? What was the amount of depreciation expense in 2014 and 2013? What was the amount of amortization expense in 2014 and 2013? Does the increase or decrease for each make sense? Why or why not?
The cash flow statement reports that cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment totaled $3,714,000,000 in 2014. Assume $2,228.4 million of this balance was for machinery and equipment. Further assume that the machinery and equipment have an expected useful life of five years with a salvage value of $378.6 million. Prepare a table comparing the depreciation expense and net book value of the machinery and equipment purchased in 2014 over its expected useful life assuming the company uses the straight-line depreciation method and the double-declining balance method. In both cases, assume the company recorded a full year of depreciation in 2014.
Using the formulas in the textbook (pages 627-628) calculate asset turnover and rate of return on assets (ROA) for J&J in 2014. How does this compare to Merck’s 2014 asset turnover of 42.95% and ROA of 12.14%? Would a change in depreciation policy to double declining balance for machinery & equipment (as calculated above) have a noticeable impact on these ratios?

Assignment 1

Book: Integrated Management Systems: Leading Strategies and Solutions by Pardy & Andrews

 

Question 1

Present a minimum of three of Deming’s 14 points, and describe how they apply to a systems approach to management contrasting Deming’s points with the top-down approach to management.

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

 

Question 2

Identify and explain reasons why you think that companies using a management systems approach might be in a position to perform better than competing companies.

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

 

Question 3

What would you look for in a company software system to support your ESH endeavors and why?

Your response should be a minimum of 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

 

Question 4

Evaluate at least two of the software systems identified in your book that are used by companies that practice a management systems approach to ESH. You may want to do some additional research on this. Discuss some of the pros and cons of each. Which would you recommend for your course project organization and why?

Your response should be a minimum of 350 words in length, not counting references listed at the end or repeating of the question, and cited per APA guidelines. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

 

 

Assignment 2 

 

Unit VIII PowerPoint Presentation

 

In this assignment, you will use your final report as a guide to create a PowerPoint Presentation. The presentation must reflect what you would present to management as a summary of your research and recommendations.

 

Your PowerPoint presentation should be 10-15 slides in length, not counting references listed at the end or repeating of the question, and cited per APA guidelines. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. The presentation should include a heading slide, an introductory slide identifying the key topics to be covered, and a conclusions/recommendations slide. Additionally, the slides should provide an overview of the organization’s performance of key items from the 17 elements identified in your gap analysis, discussion on whether the organization conforms, and recommendations for improvement. The last slide should be the “references” slide.

Prepare a proposal using either the format provided in class or a format you would be required to use in your present company. The proposal can focus on cost savings or revenue-generating programs. I strongly suggest that you use a program that you have or plan to propose to the organization for which you work. It is much easier to work with actual figures than to make up a fictitious company and researching what the possible figures might be. The proposal should include (but is not limited to) the following information:

• Briefly describe the program and its relationship to the organizational mission.
• How will you price your product, what is the mark up.
• Discuss the return on investment.
• What are the Net Present Value and/or project’s Payback Period?
• If capital equipment is involved, is there a lease versus buy decision.
• Do you require new personnel, if so complete the appropriate form and submit a job description?
• How will you fund this new program?
• Create a 1 year budget for the program.
• If this is a new business, what is the legal structure and what method of accounting will you use and why.

This document should be no more than 10 pages. The cover sheet should include the type of proposal you are submitting, the name of your team members (if applicable) and their role in the project. Second page should be an executive summary giving a brief description of the project and any information you find pertinent (maximum 250 words).

Format is important, and you are expected to present the information in an attractive, professional manner. If your use references, please make sure they are cited either in the footnotes or at the end of the paper. A title page and a table of contents lends to the organization of the paper. The document must be double-spaced, and professionally prepared (i.e., using basic APA style and/or www.isiresearchsoft.com for bibliographic formatting resources) spell-checked, clearly organized, and clearly summarized, with accurate citations for all referenced work.

You may only use Microsoft Word or Excel to develop your paper; remember that you must show your calculations. Papers submitted in .pdf format are also acceptable.

If you include proprietary information from your organization, please mark your paper confidential to ensure that its contents will not be used as an example in future classes.

Lastly, please make sure that the project employs some form of financial statements, capital expenditure worksheets, and/or any other pertinent accounting support schedules that we will employ throughout this course. Every project that is submitted must have some numerical support and accounting schedules, not just a written analysis.

BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management and Quantity Surveying Construction Process Management Coursework Submission Deadline: Friday 4 th December 2915 16:00hrs This assessment contributes 50% of the marks for the above module 1. TASK This work is to be carried out individually, both tasks to be completed by all students. Part A and Part B have equal marks allocated. Part A: A development of 15 homes is to be carried out in Cuddington Cheshire. The houses form phase 1A of the development. The pdf “brochure” of the development provides detailed information about the project. See details in the appendix below and at URL: http://www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/newhomes/north+west/edengrange/layout/ You are to produce a production method statement for the construction of the 15 houses, forming Phase 1A of the development, see the appendix for details. The method statement should contain all construction process matters and should have a strong emphasis on health and safety, environmental concerns, waste management and innovative production processes. A cost for the houses is not required. The document should clearly explain how you propose to construct the development, including the choice of plant and equipment and levels of resource required. 2 The method statement should be in a written report form typical of current industry practice. It should be organised in a structured and logical manner, so that information can be readily located and accessed. Research should be carried out to ensure best production practices are used. The word count for the method statement should not exceed 4000 words. Part B: A production time schedule (programme) is needed for the development. Your work should include: a) A production time schedule using Microsoft Project 2010. Note that the schedule (programme) will be scrutinized as both a Gantt chart and a network, so that activity logic links and resource allocations can be examined. (MS Project 2010 is available on the university system, or can be obtained as a free trial copy from Microsoft) b) Resources needed to construct the 15 houses, resources should be labour, plant, major materials, management but not costs. The production schedule can be completed for individual houses or for blocks of houses. As a guide, approximately 50 trade activities per house can be assumed to give a good level of detail, with a complete programme consisting of approximately 65 – 200 activities, depending on approach. N.B. Your Part B submission should be a MS Project 2010 file (.mpp). The plot of land that the houses are to be built on has been cleared and remediated by others, therefore the work will not involve any soil/land movement/work, demolition or ground remediation. Your schedule should include roads and sewers and all mains services will be required. Concrete strip foundations will support masonry walls up to ground level. There will be a ground bearing concrete ground floor slab. A timber frame built in panels will include the inner skin of the external wall, main internal walls and the roof skeleton. The external skin will be masonry, with either a facing brick or render finish. The roof finish will be interlocking clay tiles on timber battens on sarking felt. Internally all finishes are traditional with wall finishes of water based paint on a plaster skim on plasterboard sheets, fixed to timber framing by drywall screws. Assume that the houses once complete, will be ready for occupation. IMPORTANT NOTE The site is a live site and students MUST NOT approach the site or the project team (designers, clients, contractors) with requests for information or site visits. 3 2. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FORMAT All submissions should have a cover sheet identifying the module, the date and the student’s name and roll number. All submissions shall include a bibliography, listing the sources used in the preparation of the report. LENGTH The word count for the method statement should not exceed 4000 words excluding references, bibliography, cover sheet or appendices (if any). If more than 4000 words are included the assignment marks will be awarded for the first 4000 words only. SUBMISSION This assignment MUST be submitted electronically through Turnitin® Further information and support for students using Turnitin can be found here: http://www.salford.ac.uk/library/help/blackboard-and-collaborate 3. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA Method Statement Technology (20%): The method statement should be well presented and should cover all construction production aspects. It should record how all the key tasks will be achieved and reveal the overall site strategy, which will be used in producing the programme (Part B). Processes and Policy (25%): The method statement should have health and safety, environmental aspects and innovation throughout to support best construction practice. Reference to all relevant legislation should be included. You may wish to identify site wide processes, rather than include these items with every task method. Programme and Resource analysis Programme (25%): The method statement must support the programme and the programme should be demonstrably formulated as a result of the method statement. The network should show a logical flow of activities with an appropriate critical path. The programme should be well presented with clear descriptions; activities should be of appropriate duration with all logic linked arrows in place Resource Allocation (20%): All resources should be identified and should be summarized, either on the programme or by separate resource histograms. Every attempt should be made to resolve resource conflict issues, whilst taking care to ensure economy of use. 4 Presentation (10%) Including use of language, clarity of expression, diagram and overall structure of response. MARKING SCALE At Undergraduate Level 4, 5 and 6 the following marking scale shall be used: Outstanding 90% – 100% Excellent 80% – 89% Very good 70% – 79% Good 60% – 69% Fair 50% – 59% Adequate 40% – 49% Unsatisfactory 30% – 39% Poor 20% – 29% Very poor 10% – 19% Extremely poor 0% – 9% LEARNING OUTCOMES ADDRESSED Knowledge and Understanding On successful completion of the assignment a student will be able to:  Scrutinise the operation of a variety of construction processes and make appropriate selections for specific projects.  Select, plan, record and organise construction activities to meet project goals  Make informed selections of, and practically apply, appropriate planning techniques for a variety of construction processes  Consider and select construction resources appropriate for activities, select suitable control techniques and have an understanding of their impact on the project. Identify and carefully review how environmental considerations impact on construction projects. Transferable/Key Skills and other attributes On successful completion of the assignment a student will have had the opportunity to:  Identify and select appropriate solutions for the planning of a range of construction situations  Identify and develop individual tasks within a project  Sort and sequence tasks into practical construction process arrangements Prepare time-based schedules of tasks using a variety of planning techniques  Apply resource constraints and calculate their impact on projects  Take account of environmental and other constraints on the planning process 5  Effectively communicate planning outputs to others 5. RETURN & FEEDBACK ARRANGEMENTS Coursework marks and feedback will be available within 15 working days of your submission and will be loaded into Blackboard. IMPORTANT INFORMATION I. OBLIGATION TO KEEP COPIES OF ALL WORK Students MUST keep a spare copy of all work which they hand in as well as the receipt which is issued to them at the time of submission. II. PROVISIONAL NATURE OF MARKS & GRADES All marks and grades issued to students are provisional until ratified by examination boards. III. LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS Submissions made after 16:00hrs on the fourth working day following submission will be deemed inadmissible and recorded as a non-submission. IV. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS If the submission document file up-loaded to Blackboard is corrupt and cannot be viewed – This is classed as a NON submission. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure their submission material can be opened by others. To ensure your submission can be opened please follow this simple step: Go back to the submission area and the blue button that was labelled Submit will now be a button labelled View – select this button and what you see upon doing so will be the file/format that your Lecturer can see. If you can open and view the document then so can the lecturer. V. PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION 6 Where coursework is submitted late, the following penalties shall be applied to the mark: (a) if the work is no more than four working days late, then five marks shall be deducted for each working day (08:30-16:00 Mon- Thursday or part thereof) , but if the work would otherwise pass then the mark for the work shall be reduced to no lower than the pass mark for the component (b) if the work is no more than four working days late and marked and the mark is lower than the pass mark, then no penalty shall be applied; (c) if the work is more than four working days late then it cannot be submitted and shall be recorded as a non-submission (NS). VI. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT The University takes a serious view of all acts of academic misconduct. Such acts are considered dishonest and as attempts to gain unfair advantage. Acts of academic misconduct can take many forms. They are likely to fall into one or more of the following categories: a) Plagiarism Plagiarism involves taking the work of another person or source and using it as if it were one’s own. b) Self plagiarism Self plagiarism (or double submission) is resubmitting previously submitted work on one or more occasions (without proper acknowledgement). This may take the form of copying either the whole piece of work or part of it. Normally credit will already have been given for this work. c) Collusion Collusion occurs when, unless with official approval (e.g. in the case of group projects), two or more students consciously collaborate in the preparation and production of work which is ultimately submitted by each in an identical, or substantially similar, form and/or is represented by each to be the product of his or her individual efforts. Collusion also occurs where there is unauthorised co-operation between a student and another person in the preparation and production of work which is presented as the student’s own. d) Falsifying experimental or other investigative results This could involve a range of things that make it appear that information has been collected by scientific investigation, the compilation of questionnaire results etc whereas in reality it has been made up or altered to provide a more favourable result. 7 e) Taking unauthorised material (including electronic devices) into an examination f) Contracting another to write a piece of assessed work / Writing a piece of assessed work for another This involves any means whereby a person does work on behalf of another. It includes assessments done for someone else in full or in part by a fellow student, a friend or family member. It includes sitting an examination for someone else. It also covers obtaining material from internet ‘cheat sites’ or other sources of work. Penalties for this type of unfair means will normally apply both to a student of the University who does work on behalf of another and a student of the University who has work done for him/her. g) Copying from, or communicating with, another examination candidate during an examination h) Bribery This involves giving money, gifts or any other advantage to an academic member of staff which is intended to give an unfair advantage in an assessment exercise. VII. Particular care should be taken in respect of the following: a) Getting help from others / helping others Students are encouraged to discuss and share ideas and information, however those who knowingly assist others to commit academic misconduct whether or not for payment (e.g. by giving another student the opportunity to copy part or all of a piece of work, by providing copies of assessments or by providing bespoke assignments to another student) will be subject to the same penalties as those who use unfair means. Students must ensure that they protect their own work, submit it themselves and do not allow other students to use their memory stick and/or print off work on their behalf. b) Use of Readers/Note Takers Students with special learning requirements who require the services of readers or note takers are advised to use appropriately trained individuals. Further advice can be obtained from the Disability Service Team within Student Life Directorate. http://www.advice.salford.ac.uk/disability c) Referencing Students using work which has been produced by other people within an assignment will need to ensure that they acknowledge or reference the source of the work. Students should check with their Schools for particular requirements. Marks may be deducted for poor referencing. If poor referencing is extensive throughout a piece of work it could appear that the student is trying to claim credit 8 for the work and he/she may be deemed to have committed plagiarism. Guidance on good referencing practice is available from Schools or may be provided through research training programmes, the Study Skills Programme located in Student Life and on-line guidance provided by Information & Learning Services. Some useful resources are: http://www.advice.salford.ac.uk/ Penalties If satisfied that unfair means has occurred, a penalty will be imposed on the student. Penalties vary depending on whether the matter is referred to the School Academic Misconduct Panel or the University Disciplinary Committee and on the particular circumstances. A range of penalties may be imposed including: – A penalty of 0% for the assessment component attempted using unfair means; – A penalty of 0% for the module affected by unfair means; – A penalty of 0% for the module affected by unfair means and the marks of all other modules at that academic level being capped at the pass mark (40% for undergraduates, 50% for post graduates). In the most severe cases, where there are aggravating factors (e.g. that this is a repeated case of the use of unfair means by a student at an advanced stage in their studies), a student found guilty of using unfair means may be permanently expelled from the University. Further details of the Academic Misconduct procedure are available from: http://www.governance.salford.ac.uk/page/student_policies Pre-submission checklist Before submitting your assessment; ask yourself the following questions, just to be sure you’ve met all the requirements:  Have I correctly referenced all the sources which I have used?  Have I used Turnitin to check my referencing and bibliography so that my tutor knows where I have found all my information?  Have I completed the assignment within the word limit and/or stated my word count?  Have I used a spell checker and proof read my work?

Your assessment should include some discussion in the areas associated with “Round Analysis” to include profit, margin, emergency loan, inventory, and stock price. Reflect on where and how your team might have been more effective in addressing each area. Be sure to provide your rationale for your conclusions with specific examples taken from your company during five rounds of the simulation and evaluate your abilities. Remember that your work is reflective in nature and should focus on showcasing learning that has taken place as a result of the activity.

Your paper should be at least seven pages in length, not including a title and reference page

Due Week 3 and worth 150 points

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

1. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each system you researched. Based on your knowledge of human resources and database systems, propose one (1) package that would fit the needs of your organization. Suggest three (3) specific reasons why you would recommend that system over the other.
2. Suggest three (3) efficiencies that an organization would gain from using a SAAS for its HRIS needs and three (3) inefficiencies from maintaining an MS Access-based database application.
3. Assess the (3) most significant risks associated with combining products from multiple vendors into one (1) HRIS.
4. Predict three (3) unintended consequences of not managing an HR database properly and how you would circumvent those situations from occurring.
5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting guidelines:

• 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 the strategy of the organization, the HR strategy, and HR programs with HRIS.
• Analyze key elements in the design of database HR relationships and evaluate system considerations in the design.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human resource information systems.
• Write clearly and concisely about human resource information systems using proper writing mechanics.

Design4Practice (D4P) Program
To: EGR 186 Students
From: David Richter
Re: Engineering Professions
This assignment is due in 1 week at the beginning of class.
In the last homework assignment and in class, you were introduced to some of the many jobs of engineers. This assignment continues the discussion to further your understanding of the role of engineers in the world.
Identify seven different professionally-oriented roles an engineer may perform and in a minimum of two sentences, describe what they do. Use either the internet, Cline Library, or other resources to find published/written publications that illustrate your selected roles. For example:
An engineering educator helps students develop the technical and professional skills to successfully enter the workforce upon graduation. An engineering educator promotes a safe learning environment and designs course materials, homework assignments, and activities to help students achieve competency in both technical and professional skills that are relevant to the course and at an appropriate level based on the sequence within the degree progression.
In a half page, reflect on what role in engineering intrigues you the most and why. Brief example answers:
“I am very interested in marine vessel engineering. I have wanted to design and build yachts since I first took a tour on the Queen Mary in 1985 as a 5th – grader. Ace Marine, Ltd, [] is a company that designs and tests ship designs—their company shows that I could be a ship-oriented engineer, too, with hard study and a little luck.”
“Nano-material Engineering is very interesting to me. I find it fascinating that engineers can design things at a size so small that an electron microscope is required to check the work. Yet, classes to do just that sort of design and/or fabrication are being developed at the State University of New York [].”
As part of sections one and two, we are introducing and reinforcing the idea of citing your references while engaging in research. Please include citations to all of the resources you used in answering these questions.
The D4P program has adopted the IEEE style for citations. There are many citation methods, and you must learn to follow the guidelines set forth within each publication.
The responses in this assignment use footnote notation to cite the sources. You can use WORD to insert a footnote by selecting ReferencesInsert Footnote. You must add the brackets afterwards (brackets are common in citations for technical papers). Then you remove the superscript font (by default) by selecting the inserted number, pressing CTRL-D, and then unchecking

Instructions for this assignment: Perform all of the elements listed below.

This assignment has you complete two parts of a strategic business plan. To see how those parts fit into a full business plan, click here for a strategic business plan outline.

 

Part I – Analysis of the External Environment

As part of the Strategic Business Plan, you have been asked to:

• Identify and analyze the major driving forces for change in the external environment of the motorcycle industry.
• Analyze the dynamics of competition using Porter’s Five Forces Model of Competition. Correctly assess the dynamics of competition.
• Provide at least three statistics about the size of the motorcycle industry such as revenue, growth rate, number of units sold by manufacturer/country, etc.
• Summarize the strategic issues firms in this industry face and identify their biggest threats.

This section should be titled “The Analysis of H-D’s External Environment.”

 

Part II – Internal Environment Analysis Financial

Gather the financial information necessary to do a complete ratio analysis and the Balance Score Card (BSC) key metrics information.

If you were going to create a BSC, what would be the key metrics you would measure in each of the four BSC areas:

• Financial
• Customer
• Internal Business Process
• Learning and Growth

Perform a ratio analysis using H-D’s five-year financial performance. Interpret the meaning of the ratios and financial performance.

 

This section should be titled “The Analysis of H-D’s Current Strategy: Two Views.” Be sure to include the ratio analysis. You may also include other graphics to support your narrative.

 

Competitors

Based on your analysis, you must decide which two competitors present the biggest competitive threat to H-D.

Perform a financial ratio analysis for the competitors after looking at trends in financial performance over five years, and compare the trends to industry averages.

Be sure you have a clear ranking of the industries’ competitors.

 

This section should be titled “Competitor Analysis.” Be sur

***Use References & APA formatting
Discussion # 1:
Based on your readings of Chapters 1-3(see bullet points), discuss your philosophy regarding how a leader should behave. Second, list two of your favorite leaders (either those in the public eye or whom you might know personally), and describe how they embody the Saint Leo Core Value of Excellence.
When you complete this module, you should be able to:
•Define leadership.
•Identify the variety of ways to evaluate leadership effectiveness.
•Describe the major differences between leadership and management.
•Explain the process by which leaders create and maintain the organizational culture.
•Identify your own leadership style and philosophy.
•Identify one leadership problem (i.e., conundrum) that you would like to solve during this course.

Discussion #2:
Examine the mission statements by completing Learning Exercise B on p. 59 in your text. Using the “Characteristics of a Mission Statement” identified in Table 3(see below), identify (1) what you believe is the best of the five mission statements and (2) the one you find most inspiring and why. (One has been selected for you, which is Domino’s).

Domino’s Pizza Mission Statement
“To be the leader in delivering off-premise pizza convenience to consumers around the world. As a team united throughout the world, we will accomplish our mission by:
1 Being fanatical about product quality and service consistency;
2. Providing product variety to meet all customer needs;
3. Placing team member and customer safety and security above all other concerns;
4. Creating an environment in which all team members feel valued, because they are;
5. Building and maintaining relationships that reward franchisees and other partners for their contributions.” (David, 2014, p. 59).

Table:

Use Reference: David, F. R. (2014). Pearson Custom Business Resources (1st ed.). Pearson Learning Solutions.
9 components of a mission statement

You are the emergency manager for a county government and are responsible for training. Your agency consists of 10 full-time employees and approximately 50 volunteers. The elected board has 15 members.

• Address the following in 900–1,200 words:
  • Develop a year-long training plan for your agency.
  • Address the training needs of the following:
    • New employees and volunteers (if applicable) and existing employees at the following levels:
      • Policy level
      • Strategic level
      • Tactical level
      • Task level
  • Your plan must include at least 1 employee who is new and 1 employee who exists at each level.
• Describe the coursework that is appropriate for each type of employee at each level.
  • Include 1 exercise that includes employees of each type (new and existing) at each level of involvement.
    • Describe your exercise goals and objectives.
    • List the resources that are required, including financial needs.
• Be sure to reference all of your sources using APA style.