So I did so bad in this exam and the teacher gave us a chance to fix it. Basically what you need to do is see the wrong answers I chose, and then write why I chose this wrong answer, and then write the correct answer (the correct answers are already give

Use the Library or other Web resources to develop a questionnaire that managers will use when they are interviewing applicants. This document must contain:

• The name of the position that the candidates will be interviewing for
• At least 12 permissible questions that will be asked to all candidates
• A summary of illegal questions that should never be asked in the recruitment process

Please read the Introduction and Chapters 1-3 of:
MacKay, A., (2004) A practitioners guide to the balanced scorecard: A practitioners’ report based on: Shareholder and stakeholder approaches to strategic performance measurement using the balanced scorecard. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership _docs/tech_resrep_a_practitioners_guide_to_the_balanced _scorecard_2005.pdf
Please read Chapter 1 of:
Murby, L., Gould, S., (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard: Technical Report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/ Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_Mgt_with_Balanced_ Scd_July_2005.pdf
Also review the following to re-familiarize yourself with the concept of mission and vision as they relate to strategy:
Robin, D. (n.d.) Vision, Mission and Values: Management Tools for Building a Better Workplace. Daniel Robin & Associates. Retrieved from: http://www.abetterworkplace.com/developing-the-organization-and-the-people-in-it/
The case assignment article can be found at:
Martello, M., Watson, J., Fischer, M., (2008). Implementing a balanced scorecard in a not-for-profit organization. Journal of Business & Economics Research. 6(9), 67-80. Retrieved from: http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/JBER/article/ view/2471/2517
This web article will be helpful for focusing your SLP.
Niven, P. (N.D.) Financial perspective. EPM Review. Retrieved from http://www.epmreview.com/resources/articles/item/84-financial-perspective.html
Optional Reading
American University of Beirut (N.D. Balanced Scorecard Initiative: Guidelines for Building a BSC. Retrieved from http://www.aub.edu.lb/osm/scorecards/Documents/guidelines_for_building_a_bsc.pdf
Averson, P. (1998). What is the Balanced Scorecard? Balanced Scorecard Institute, a Strategy Management Group company. Retrieved from https://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx
Measurements for Success. Retrieved from http://www.mystrategicplan.com/strategic-planning-topics/balanced-scorecard.shtml
QuickMBA (N.D.) The Business Vision and Company Mission Statements. Retrieved from http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vision/
Sharma, P. (N.D.) Measuring Business strategy through balanced scorecard. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/5032771/Balanced-Scorecardfinancial-perspective
Module 1 – Case
THE BALANCED SCORECARD & THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE
Assignment Overview
In this module’s case assignment you will be introduced to the balanced scorecard concept and will begin to consider how organizations link strategy with the balanced scorecard approach. We will look at the interrelationship of strategy and the balanced scorecard approach in more depth later on in this course. For now, however, it is good to understand the fundamentals of the BSC and to consider examples of how organizations have integrated the BSC approach into their daily operations in a fashion that reflects the strategy of the respective organizations.
To prepare for this case assignment you are to start by reading the required readings identified on the background page. You’ll note that one of those articles includes:
Martello, M., Watson, J., Fischer, M., (2008). Implementing a balanced scorecard in a not-for-profit organization. Journal of Business & Economics Research. 6(9), 67-80. Retrieved from:http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/JBER/article/view/2471/2517
This is the case study you will be evaluating for this assignment. Note that there is an option to download the PDF file rather than using the PDF viewer on this page. This may save you some aggravation.
After reading this article, formulate an argumentative essay around the following thesis statement:
Cattaraugus County Rehabilitation Center did an effective job of implementing a balanced scorecard approach in a fashion that reflects their organizational mission and vision.
If you do not think this thesis is accurate, you can argue that the Center did not do an effective job.
Assignment Expectations
Your analysis should be structured in terms of the following four perspectives (you will be using essentially this same comparative evaluation framework for the first four modules of this course):
Introduction: In this part of your essay you will need to set up your argument by introducing your topic and presenting your position or thesis statement somewhere in this introductory paragraph.
Analysis: In this section you will present several arguments arguing in favor of your thesis statement. Make sure you discuss how the Center used the score card quadrants to align with organizational strategy (or how it failed to do so).
Conclusion: Wrap up your argument with a clear and cogent synopsis of your findings. Do your best to convince your reader (aka, your professor) as to your position.
Additional Instructions: Your argumentative essay should be 3 to 4 pages in length (not counting your title page or references). You must include a list of references. APA formatting is preferred. Do not paste in sections of text into your essay. All of your work must be written in your own words. It’s OK to use a short quote now and again, but quotations must be in quotation marks and properly cited. In-text citations should be used anytime you are borrowing somebody else’s ideas, or information. That is to say, if you are borrowing a thought from a publication from G. Jetson’s article written in 2010, that section of text must be followed with (Jetson, 2010). Quotations, data, and general ideas (put into your own words) should all be cited.
Module 1 – SLP
THE BALANCED SCORECARD & THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE
The purpose of the Session Long Project is to give you the opportunity to explore the applicability of the Module to your own life, work, and place in space and time, and to experiment with the Module to see how the otherwise academically rigorous presentation of a topic may, with more or less work and/or trauma, become “up close and personal”. This is done in a number of different ways — sometimes cumulative papers, sometimes practical hands-on experimentation with a tool of some sort, sometimes reflections on a place of work or life. The common thread is personal application, aimed at demonstrating a cumulative knowledge and understanding of the course’s material.
For this course, the Session Long Project will take the form of putting together background from each of the four perspectives for a balanced scorecard approach to an organization or organizational unit with which you are familiar. In the final module, you will have a go at strategy mapping. You’re not building a complete balanced scorecard — that would be far beyond our current scope – but you’ll have a chance to see what goes into it and how it gets put together into a coordinated whole. As in the cases, you’ll be drawing on your previous course work to help.
The Module 1 assignment has two parts. First, you need to identify an organization to which you have access to at least some information concerning financial data; staffing and human resource systems; marketing and customer relations; information systems; and operations. While most material on the Balanced Scorecard is written from the private, for-profit point of view, it’s perfectly possible to use this approach with public or non-profit organizations as well.
For the second part of this assignment, consider the organization’s mission and strategy from the perspective of its financial operations (from your work on the case, your previous course work, and your background reading, you should be reasonably clear what such operations are). In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. If you’re unclear on just what objectives and measures are, here is a presentation that describes what they are and how to write them.
SLP Assignment Expectations
When you have thought about it and made your selection, please specify (2-3 pages):
• The name of your organization
• What this organization does – its mission, vision and overall strategy
• The access you have to information about this organization — remember, you’ll need information about its financial performance, marketing, internal operations, strategy, and management systems.
Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its finances, and then:
• Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization’s financial position, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.
• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization’s strategy (initiative).
Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in:
Objective Measure Target Action

Module 2 – Background
BSC FLEXIBILITY & THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
Required Reading
Please review the Introduction and Chapters 1-3 of:
MacKay, A., (2004) A practitioner’s guide to the balanced scorecard: A practitioners’ report based on: Shareholder and stakeholder approaches to strategic performance measurement using the balanced scorecard. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/
tech_resrep_a_practitioners_guide_to_the_balanced_scorecard_2005.pdf
Please read Chapter 4 of:
Murby, L., Gould, S., (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard: Technical Report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Imported Documents/Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_ Mgt_with_Balanced_Scd_July_2005.pdf
The case assignment article can be found at:
Basu, R., Little, C., Millard, C., ( 2009). Case Study: A fresh approach of the Balanced Scorecard in the Heathrow Terminal 5 project. Measuring Business Excellence. 13(4). 22-33. Retrieved from: http://www.perf-ex.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/T5-case-study-MBE-papaer.pdf
This web article will be helpful for focusing your SLP.
Niven, P. (N.D.) Customer perspective. EPM Review. Retrieved from http://www.epmreview.com/resources/articles/item/85-customer-perspective.html
Optional Reading
Here is a rather detailed optional reading that may help to support your understanding of BSC implementation in various types of organizations:
Rohm, H., (2002). A balancing act. Perform. Retrieved from: http://www.balancedscorecard.org/LinkClick.aspx? fileticket=ph%2b8b3YMoBc%3d&tabid=56
Module 2 – Case
BSC FLEXIBILITY & THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
Assignment Overview
In the last module we looked at the Balanced Scorecard and how it is implemented from more of a purist’s approach and just touched on the flexibility of the tool. In this module, we are going to look at the BSC from more of an adaptive approach. That is to say, how adaptable is this tool given the wide variety of organizations out there in the world.
In this assignment you are asked to study the required readings and to read the following case study:
Basu, R., Little, C., Millard, C., (2009). Case Study: A fresh approach of the Balanced Scorecard in the Heathrow Terminal 5 project. Measuring Business Excellence. 13(4). 22-33. Retrieved from: http://www.perf-ex.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/T5-case-study-MBE-papaer.pdf
After reading this article, write an essay in which you compare and contrast the balanced scorecard utilized by the British Airport Authority (BAA) at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 project with the standard quadrants typically applied in a traditional BSC approach (financial focus, Internal focus, Learning and Growth focus, and Customer focus). That is to say, the Terminal 5 project was a large, public construction project using private contractors. Yet, the BSC approach is also applied to the manufacturing sector, health care sector, and is applied in both private and public organizations. So you’ll want to consider how the T5 project adapted the BSC approach to fit the prevailing circumstances to help formulate your arguments.
Assignment Expectations
In formulating your essay you need to discuss to what degree the evidence suggests the balanced scorecard approach is amenable to most organizations.
Introduction: In this part of your essay you will need to introduce your topic and provide a very brief overview of the key points you plan to make in your paper.
Analysis: In this section you will present the actual comparison and contrast between BAA’s approach to the Balanced Scorecard and more traditional approaches.
Conclusion: Wrap up your argument with a clear and cogent synopsis of your findings. Do your best to convince your reader (aka, your professor) as to your position.
Additional Instructions: Your essay should be 3 to 4 pages in length (not counting your title page or references). You must include a list of references. APA formatting is preferred. Do not paste in sections of text into your essay. All of your work must be written in your own words. It’s OK to use a short quote now and again, but quotations must be in quotation marks and properly cited. In-text citations should be used anytime you are borrowing somebody else’s ideas, or information. That is to say, if you are borrowing a thought from a publication from F. Leghorn’s article written in 2010, that section of text must be followed with (Leghorn, 2010). Quotations, data, and general ideas (put into your own words) should all be cited.
Module 2 – SLP
BSC FLEXIBILITY & THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
For Module 2, consider your organization’s mission and strategy from the perspective of its potential, prospective, and present customers. In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. Refer back to this presentation on objectives if you need to.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its customers/clients/users/service recipients/whatever-you-wish-to-call-them, and then:
• Identify at least three objectives for the organization’s customer service perspective and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.
• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization’s strategy (initiative).
• Comment briefly on the relationships of the customer service objectives that you’ve identified here to the financial objectives that you identified in the Module 1 SLP assignment. How do they help to fulfill those objectives? If they don’t (and they don’t have to), what makes them more important than objectives that would relate to finances?
• Finally, do you wish to make any changes to your Module 1 objective write-up in light of your Module 2 experience?
Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in (the boxes are expandable – take all the space you need to be complete in your descriptions. No more than 2-3 pages should be necessary.)
Objective Measure Target Action

Relationships to other objectives

Revisions (if any) to Module 1 Objectives
Objective/Module Measure Target Action

Module 3 – Background
BSC IMPLEMENTATION & THE INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS PERSPECTIVE
Required Reading
Required Reading
Chapters 1-3 of:
MacKay, A., (2004) A practitioners guide to the balanced scorecard: A practitioners’ report based on: Shareholder and stakeholder approaches to strategic performance measurement using the balanced scorecard. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from:http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership _docs/tech_resrep_a_practitioners_guide_to_the_balanced _scorecard_2005.pdf
Also read/review Chapter 2-7 of:
Murby, L., Gould, S., (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard: Technical Report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from:http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/ Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_Mgt_with_Balanced_ Scd_July_2005.pdf
Go to the following webpage and review the two papers by Dr. Braam listed below.
http://www.ru.nl/economics/@676887/pagina/#publications
You do not need to review all the statistical stuff, just read through to the point where the author presents the hypotheses and then move to the discussion and/or conclusion sections of the documents.
Braam, G.J.M. (2012). Balanced Scorecard’s interpretative variability and organizational change. In C.-H. Quah & O.L. Dar (Eds.), Business Dynamics in the 21st Century (pp. 99-112). Retrieved from Trident University Library.
Braam, G.J.M. & Nijssen, E.J. (2011). Exploring antecedents of experimentation and implementation of the balanced scorecard. Journal of Management & Organization, 17(6), 714-728. Retrieved from Trident University Library.
The second article is also available in Proquest
This web article will be helpful for focusing your SLP.
Niven, P. (N.D.)Internal process perspective. EPM Review. Retrieved from http://www.epmreview.com/resources/articles/item/86-internal-process-perspective.html
Optional Reading
McLean, SR. and Mahaffey, SM. (2000). Implementing a surgical balanced scorecard. Surgical Services Management. 6(1). 43-47. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
The Chartered Quality Institute. Retrieved from http://www.thecqi.org//Knowledge-Hub/Qualityworld/
Module 3 – Case
BSC IMPLEMENTATION & THE INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS PERSPECTIVE
Assignment Overview
Any large scale change endeavor requires a great deal of effort on the part of a given organization to implement. Implementing a corporate wide BSC based performance management system is no different. In implementing such a system, organizational leaders face the challenge of overcoming organizational inertia rooted in resistance to change. This is no easy challenge, and is one of the major reasons why the majority of BSC initiatives (or large scale change initiatives in general) fail.
In this module, therefore, we are going to look at the BSC not due to its value as a means of integrating strategy with operations or due to its usefulness as a performance management tool. Rather, in this module we are going to put on our organizational dynamics consultant hat and consider what it takes to implement a large scale organizational change endeavor.
After completing the readings presented, write a 3-4 page essay that
In your own words, describe the efforts put forth by BAE in implementing the BSC approach in their organization from an implementation perspective. What efforts did they make to assure employees would be receptive to, and accept the BSC initiative? Describe to what extent you believe their efforts paid off.
The case study for BAE can be found in Chapter 7 of:
Murby, L., Gould, S., (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard: Technical Report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Imported Documents/Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_ Mgt_with_Balanced_Scd_July_2005.pdf
Assignment Expectations
Your assignment should include the following:
Introduction: In this part of your essay you will need to introduce your topic and provide a very brief overview of the key points you plan to make in your paper.
Analysis: In this section you will present the actual comparison and contrast between BAA’s approach to the Balanced Scorecard and more traditional approaches.
Conclusion: Wrap up your argument with a clear and cogent synopsis of your findings. Do your best to convince your reader (aka, your professor) as to your position.
Additional Instructions: Your essay should be 3 to 4 pages in length (not counting your title page or references). You must include a list of references. APA formatting is preferred. Do not paste in sections of text into your essay. All of your work must be written in your own words. It’s OK to use a short quote now and again, but quotations must be in quotation marks and properly cited. In-text citations should be used anytime you are borrowing somebody else’s ideas, or information. That is to say, if you are borrowing a thought from a publication from J. Bravo’s article written in 2010, that section of text must be followed with (Bravo, 2010). Quotations, data, and general ideas (put into your own words) should all be cited.
Module 3 – SLP
BSC IMPLEMENTATION & THE INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS PERSPECTIVE
For Module 3, consider the organization’s mission and strategy from the perspective of its internal business processes (from your work on the case, your previous course work, and your background reading, you should be reasonably clear what such business processes are). In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. Refer back to this presentation on objectives if you need to.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its business processes, and then:
Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization’s internal business processes, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.
• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization’s strategy (initiative).
• Comment briefly on the relationships of the process objectives that you’ve identified here to the finance objectives that you identified in the Module 1 SLP assignment and/or the customer service objectives that you identified in the Module 2 SLP assignment. How do they help to fulfill those objectives? If they don’t (and they don’t have to), what makes them more important than objectives that would relate to finance or customer service?
• Finally, do you wish to make any changes to your Module 1 or Module 2 objective write-ups in light of your Module 3 experience?
Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in (the boxes are expandable – take all the space you need to be complete in your descriptions. No more than 2-3 pages should be necessary.)
Objective Measure Target Action

Relationships to other objectives

Revisions (if any) to Module 1 and/or Module 2 Objectives
Objective/Module Measure Target Action

Module 4 – Background
STRATEGY MAPPING & THE LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE
Required Reading
Review:
MacKay, A., (2004) A practitioners guide to the balanced scorecard: A practitioners’ report based on: Shareholder and stakeholder approaches to strategic performance measurement using the balanced scorecard. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_ leadership_docs/tech_resrep_a_practitioners_guide_to_the_balanced_scorecard_2005.pdf
Review Chapters 1-6 and read section 7.2 of:
Murby, L., Gould, S., (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard: Technical Report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/
Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_Mgt_with_Balanced_Scd_July_2005.pdf
Read the following:
Armitage, H., Scholey, C., (2006). Using strategy maps to drive performance. Society of Mgt. Accountants of Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/documents/importeddocuments/tech_mag_strategy_mapping_march07.pdf
Also take a look at the following web page and download the Strategy Map in a word document. This is a real simple example that will assist you in your strategy mapping discussions
National Institute of Standards & Technology [NIST]., (2012). Baldrige Program Strategy Map. Retrieved from: http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/about/strategy_map.cfm
This web article will be helpful for focusing your SLP.
Niven, P. (N.D.) Learning and growth perspective. EPM Review. Retrieved from http://www.epmreview.com/resources/articles/item/87-learning-and-growth-perspective.html
Optional Reading
Sharma, P. (N.D.) BSC – learning and growth. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/5032774/Balanced-Scorecardlearning-and-growth

Module 4 – Case
STRATEGY MAPPING & THE LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE
Assignment Overview
Explain the process of strategy mapping and how it relates to performance management and establishing value propositions. You may discuss this theoretically or use the Glacier Inn case study presented in the Armitage and Scholey (2009) document in your readings to serve as an example for integrating these ideas. Alternatively, you can use the Hazard Action Zone case study presented in Murby & Gold document (see background readings) if you’d prefer.
Armitage, H., Scholey, C., (2006). Using strategy maps to drive performance. Society of Mgt. Accountants of Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/Tech_MAG_Strategy_Mapping_March07.pdf
Assignment Expectations
Your essay should be 4 to 5 pages long and include the following:
Introduction: In this part of your essay you will need to introduce your topic and provide a very brief overview of the key points you plan to make in your paper.
Analysis: In this section you will present the actual comparison and contrast between BAA’s approach to the Balanced Scorecard and more traditional approaches.
Conclusion: Wrap up your argument with a clear and cogent synopsis of your findings. Do your best to convince your reader (aka, your professor) as to your position.
Additional Instructions: Your essay should be 3 to 4 pages in length (not counting your title page or references). You must include a list of references. APA formatting is preferred. Do not paste in sections of text into your essay. All of your work must be written in your own words. It’s OK to use a short quote now and again, but quotations must be in quotation marks and properly cited. In-text citations should be used anytime you are borrowing somebody else’s ideas, or information. That is to say, if you are borrowing a thought from a publication from J. Neutron’s article written in 2010, that section of text must be followed with (J. Neutron, 2010). Quotations, data, and general ideas (put into your own words) should all be cited.

Module 4 – SLP
STRATEGY MAPPING & THE LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE
For Module 4, consider your organization’s mission and strategy from the perspective of its learning and growth (from your work on the case, your previous course work, and your background reading, you should be reasonably clear what such activities are). In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. Refer back to this presentation on objectives if you need to.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its learning and growth processes, and then:
• Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization’s learning and growth, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.
• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization’s strategy (initiative).
• Comment briefly on the relationships of the learning and growth objectives that you’ve identified here to the financial objectives that you identified in the Module 1 SLP assignment, the customer service objectives you identified in Module 2, and/or the internal business process objectives you identified in Module 3. How do they help to fulfill those objectives? If they don’t (and they don’t have to), what makes them more important than objectives that would relate to customer service, business processes, or financial operations?
• Finally, do you wish to make any changes to your Module 1, 2, or 3 objective write-ups in light of your Module 4 experience?
Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in (the boxes are expandable – take all the space you need to be complete in your descriptions. No more than 2-3 pages should be necessary.)
Objective Measure Target Action

Relationships to other objectives

Revisions (if any) to Module 1, 2, and/or 3 Objectives
Objective/Module Measure Target Action

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this assignment is to expose you to the type of information contained in an annual report as well as learn where to locate specific financial data within the report. You will use the annual report from your assigned company to complete the three parts of this assignment. Please reference (and print) the pages from the annual report used to gather information for this case study. Each of the three parts of this assignment will be evaluated on the criteria outlined below.
Company Profile – 15 points
GOAL: For this section of the assignment you will have to locate pertinent company information contained in the annual report or on financial websites (example is finance.yahoo.com). Bullet pointing this information is appropriate for your report.

You will have to identify the following items that are specific to your company:
*Ticker symbol
*Mission Statement as it is printed in the Annual Report
*Corporate headquarters location
*Date of Incorporation
*Public Auditor
*Name of CEO
*Name of CFO
*Stock classifications (common, preferred, both?)
*Exchange (e.g.: NYSE, Nasdaq)
*Dividends (have they been issued, when were they last issued, and for how much)

Industry Profile – 25 points
GOAL: For this section of the assignment you will have to locate pertinent company information contained on financial websites (ONE example is finance.yahoo.com).

• Identify the market sector to which your company belongs. Describe what makes a company part of this market sector.
• Define the industry to which your company belongs. Describe what makes a company part of this industry. Identify 3 industry leaders and 3 industry laggards.
• Locate (using Yahoo Finance) and attach your company’s stock performance in comparison to your company’s two largest competitors’ stock performance over the past two years. Note on the graph three events. These can be company, industry or market specific events. In detail, describe the events and their effect on your company’s stock performance. This can be done either in Excel or using web based applications as the data set is large in this example.
• Explain what is meant by Market Capitalization. Graph, using a pie chart in Excel, your company versus other companies (at least 3) in the industry with market capitalization data. Make observations and describe your observations. Make sure your graph is labeled properly including a legend, a title, and appropriate data labels as well.

Financial Statement Research – 30 points
GOAL: For this section you should locate data in both the Income Statement and Balance Sheet. You will have to find the data from the two most current consecutive years available for each of the items listed below. You will then have to create an Excel spreadsheet to represent the data and then calculate the percentage change for those two consecutive years and indicate that change. On the spreadsheet you should put information from the two previous years as well as the percent change between those years and your observations of what it all means. You must include a copy of the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet from the annual report for this section of the assignment and highlight data used, as well as upload your Excel spreadsheet with the aforementioned data analysis and formula derivation. Based on the data you gathered, what overall observations can you make about the company (that does not mean just stating assets went up or down, but rather strategies, trends or impacts)? You can include questions you would ask or other information you would want to research.

*Sales *Cash
*Cost of Sales (COGS) *Total Current Assets
*Gross Profit *Total Debt
*Net Income (loss) *Total Equity
*Inventory *Total Current Liabilities

Financial Statement Analysis – 40 points
GOAL: For this section you will use financial ratios to evaluate the relationship between Balance Sheet and Income Statement data from the two most current consecutive years in making determinations about company performance. You are to compare this data to the averages for your company’s industry. Use at least three companies to calculate the industry average (your company plus 2 others). You must indicate which to firms were used to compile this industry average data. For each ratio you should show the formula used, enter your company’s numbers into that formula, compute the ratio, and assign the proper label to the answer ($, %, etc.). You will complete this for each of the two years’ data. Once again, an excel spreadsheet is required to complete this section. Two properly labeled graphs (including x and y axis as well as titles) are to be created to show relationships between your company and the industry. One example of this could be showing return on investment for your company versus the industry as a whole. Based on the data gathered, what overall observations can you make about the company (that does not mean just stating a ratio went up or down, but rather why, given strategies, trends or impacts or particular input data)? You can include questions you would ask or other information you would want to research.

*Current Ratio/Liquidity *Inventory Turnover (sales/inventory)
*Debt to Equity Ratio *Profit Margin
*Return on Investment *One additional ratio of your choice
Interpretive Analysis – 40 points
GOAL: Each of the ratios in Section 2 provide relevant information to help answer specific questions about the financial health of the company. You will have to interpret that information by responding to each of the multi-part following questions. The discussion should be thorough and incorporate data and analysis from above.

1. What is meant by liquidity? Did the company experience and increase or a decrease in liquidity over the two-year period evaluated? What effect do the liquidity figures have on the company’s long term and/or short term performance?
2. What is meant by Profit Margin? Did the company experience an increase or decrease in profit margin over the two year period evaluated? What effect do the Profit Margin figures have on the company’s long term and/or short term performance?
3. What is measured in a Debt to Equity ratio? Did the company experience a change in its leverage over the two year period evaluated? What impact do these Debt to Equity figures have on the company’s overall long term and short term performance?
4. How does inventory and inventory turnover affect liquidity? Did the company experience and increase or decrease in inventory turnover?

Please listen to the link below: This American Life, Episode 747: Back to School, at least three times before class on Wednesday. Take notes as you Actively Listen! Additionally, be sure to read through the episode summary before you begin your active listening. After you have become comfortable listening and have taken notes, answer the questions below:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/474/back-to-school

1. What is a Cognitive Skill? List at least three of the Cognitive Skills mentioned in this episode.

2.  What is a Non-Cognitive Skill? List at least six of the Non-Cognitive Skills mentioned in this episode.

3. Who is James Heckman? Why did he begin his research on Non-Cognitive Skills? What are some of the other terms he used to describe a Non-Cognitive Skill?

4. Why are Non-Cognitive Skills so important? Use both objective and subjective reasons from the episode to support your response.

Enjoy listening!

Journal Assignment (Located in Course Tools):

View the videos below at least three times before class on Wednesday, 10-14. Additionally, take the time to critically read through the web-content on the TED, speaker biographies, related topics and videos, and TED Talks blogs, and please take extensive notes!!! Come to class prepared to discuss what you have viewed and read. After viewing and reading, please answer the questions below:

http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.html

https://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself?language=en

Values, Social Constructions, and More. To be posted by Wednesday, 10-14.

To be posted no later than class-time on Wednesday, 10-14: Please respond to the questions below, concerning the topic of Values, Perspectives and Judgments. Please type your responses and place them on the Discussion Board.

1. What informs or influences our values (that is to say: where do our values come from)? Be sure to brainstorm when considering this question as there are a plethora of possibilities! I would like for you to come up with at least 25 MORE possible influences (although this may seem like a difficult task, trust me, once you get started you will see how easy it is, I promise! There are so many possibilities, you will be shocked!).2. Which of the following value categories, Race, Religion/Faith, Culture/Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Nationality, Social Class, do you most identify with both Objectively and Subjectively? Place the values in order of importance, with 1-3 being the most important and 4-7 being less important. For Example:

1. Gender

2. Nationality

3. Social Class

4. Culture/Ethnicity

5. Religion/Faith

6. Race

7. Sexual Orientation

When answering this question, consider the follow:

a. Which values might cause you to lack objectivity or cause you to judge others?

b. Which values might cause you to be offended by others?

Additionally, how do you think that the TED Speakers (Porter and Newton) would respond the this question? What do you think might be their top three values and why? Be sure to explain your reasoning in depth by using examples from the lectures to support your responses.

3. Are the values you identify with most borrowed or do you own them? If they are borrowed, where or who are they borrowed from? This is a very important question, so please be sure do give it careful consideration.

Evaluate and explain the cost of capital in doing so please take on the role of an expert in this area and create a PowerPoint Presentation to be given to a group of executives for them to understand what cost of capital means. Formulate and provide conclusions and recommendations for this group. Include in your presentation the following:

What is the cost of capital and how does it play a role in various decisions made by financial managers?

What factors determine the cost of capital?

How to compute cost of debt, preferred and common stock capital and put them together to develop the overall cost of capital for the firm

What assumptions are made in such computations?

Role of tax laws in computing cost of capital

The required length of the PowerPoint Presentation option for this assignment is 12-15 slides (with a separate reference slide). Be sure to include citations for quotations and paraphrases with references in APA format and style.

Fundamental Skill Lesson Plan

You will create a lesson plan to teach a fundamental skill for an early childhood physical education class (Pre-K to 3rd grade). You will revise/add to this lesson plan in Week Five.  To create your lesson plan, start by reviewing and assessing that the skill(s) in your lesson plan are developmentally appropriate by visiting National PE Standards website. An example of a skill is: ”Demonstrate the relationship of under, over, behind, next to, through, right, left, up, down, forward, backward, and in front of by using the body and an object.”  Then, review Table 7.3 in Chapter 7 for appropriate activities.

Your lesson plan should include the following components:

1. Title Page
2. Section 1: Lesson Information

   Identify the following:

   • Grade level (specify what age/grade)
   • Estimated level of developmental stage for this age/grade
   • Number of students
   • Fundamental skill to be taught
   • State standard (see the list of National PE Standards and indicate which state)
3. Section 2: Lesson Introduction
   • Provide a brief description of the lesson
   • Create a student learning objective: (e.g. “As result of this lesson, students will be able to demonstrate _________”.)
   • Describe your system for classroom management and student grouping (e.g. class rules, consequences, rewards, and organization of the class during the activity)
   • Describe the equipment needed and the environment (e.g. classroom, gym, outdoors, etc.)
4. Reference page
   • Include at least one outside resource.

Your title page, lesson plan, and reference page should be formatted in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.  The lesson plan will be three pages, in addition to the reference and title pages.

Additional Planning Resources:  When researching lesson plans, the following resources are helpful.  These should be used as resources only and should not be copied and pasted (Turnitin will detect any plagiarism):

1. Foundations of Moving and Learning
   • Chapter 7 – Planning Physical Education Lessons
   • Appendix A – Sample lesson plans
   • Appendix B – Sample lesson plans

Global Trends for the Future

After reading “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World” choose one “Relative Certainty” and one “Key Uncertainty” and express your opinion on the topic and whether or not you agree.

Microsoft word, 1-2 pages, scholarly reviewed citations,APA Format

The 2025 Global Landscape

1. Countries with youthful age structures and rapidly growing populations mark a crescent or “arc of instability” stretching from the Andean region of Latin America across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and the Caucasus, and through the northern parts of South Asia.

English Paper

What are the important findings in Austin Road Co. Vs. OSHRC and Builders Steel Co. vs. Marshall?

Provide approximately 200-300 words in your response and a citation for your source material.