Author: chris

HR Training Class

Imagine that you are a member of the HR department of a small retail company and upper management has asked you to create a new employee customer service training class for all new employees.

Write a six (6) page paper in which you:

Justify the use of a needs assessment of your company’s proposed employee customer service training, stressing five (5) ways in which such an assessment would expose any existing performance deficiencies.
Develop a customer service training implementation plan and determine the method of training (i.e., presentation, discussion, case study, discovery, role play, simulation, modeling, or on-the-job training).
Justify why you selected the training method that you did.
Propose two (2) ways to motivate an employee who has no interest in attending a training class.
Develop a survey to collect feedback from the employees who attend the training.
Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Assignment 3: IKEA Revisited

The following are specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment:

 Understand critical success factors in achieving strategic objectives.

 Apply a variety of qualitative and quantitative business analysis techniques.

 Use technology and information resources to research issues in business strategy.

 Write clearly and communicate effectively about business strategy using proper writing mechanics and appropriate media.

Write a 3-5 page paper in which you do the following:

Discuss the most likely IKEA core competency, how you would test whether this is truly a core competency, and the steps you would recommend that IKEA take if it isn’t.

Compose a 1-2 page memo to advise a company that is entering into a strategic alliance what it must do to increase the chances of success. Address at least three issues the company will likely face.

Write a 350-word summary. In your paper, answer the following questions:

· What are the issues involved in resolving legal disputes in international transactions?

· What are some practical considerations of taking legal action against a foreign business partner based in another country?

· What factors could work against CadMex’s decision to grant sublicensing agreements?

· When the local customs and laws conflict with the customs and laws of an organization operating abroad, which should prevail? Explain why.

· How would you compare the issues in this simulation to the domestic legal issues discussed in your Week One readings? How should companies resolve domestic and international issues differently?

Questions:

Discuss the hazards posed by the interaction of the hazardous materials present at the refinery and adjacent facilities, including the resulting by-products of the incident fire and acid gas release.

As the lead refinery representative on the unified incident command (UIC), what actions should be taken by the UIC to respond to this incident (please consider all receptors).

If the polymerization unit is engulfed in the fire, how will this affect your response?

All emergency responders participated in the post-incident critique. What corrective actions should be

implemented by the refinery to prevent the reoccurrence of this incident?

Journal 3: Marketing Plan Part D: Pricing and Distribution Strategy

Due Week 7 and worth 120 points

You will now consider your company’s strengths and weakness, along with your product or service price.

Use the Internet to research strategies for conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Based on your company’s market information, consider the strengths and weakness of your company and its products or services.

Write a four to six (4-6) paragraph journal entry in which you:

Determine the key strengths and weaknesses of your company, as well as both the primary opportunities and threats that it faces within its industry.
Discuss your critical steps within your supply-chain and operational system. Explain the key aspects of your strategies for producing and distributing your products and services to both your stores and customers. Determine whether you will use an outside vendor or complete the work in house.
Analyze the company’s pricing strategy relative to its pricing objective. Examine major internal and major external factors that could potentially affect the pricing of the company’s products or services.
Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Complete the Addressing International Legal and Ethical Issues simulation.

Write a 350-word summary. In your paper, answer the following questions:

What are the issues involved in resolving legal disputes in international transactions?
What are some practical considerations of taking legal action against a foreign business partner based in another country?
What factors could work against CadMex’s decision to grant sublicensing agreements?
When the local customs and laws conflict with the customs and laws of an organization operating abroad, which should prevail? Explain why.
How would you compare the issues in this simulation to the domestic legal issues discussed in your Week One readings? How should companies resolve domestic and international issues differently?

Read the case “Social Status: The Rise and Fall of MYSpace” at the end of Chapter 6.

2 to 3 pages

Answer the following questions and/or statements in detail:

1. Was it reasonable for Facebook to initially ignore a segment of its market when MySpace was so big and Facebook so small? Use credible sources to support and explain.

2. Friendster turned down a $30 million acquisition offer, and MySpace accepted one for $580 million. Both decisions are considered to have hampered their ability to compete with Facebook. Why? Use credible sources to support and explain.

3. Should they have taken the money? When and how do you know it’s time to sell? Use credible sources to support and explain.

4. MySpace later became known as the social networking site for music and entertainment connections. Do you think it can build a highly profitable business around this niche still with the advent of Facebook and other entrants into the marketplace? Explain in detail and support your answers using sources of research. Use credible sources to support and explain.

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

Assignment 3 Part 2: Business Plan – Draft

Due Week 8 and worth 30 points

This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a draft of your business plan and an income statement containing your business plan financials (i.e. Week 7 Discussion “The Financials”). Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

You must intend to raise money for your startup company. You can start with money from friends and family but at some point you will need funds from outside investors, either angels or venture capitalists, depending on how much money you project you will need to raise. Another possible angle is to develop money through crowdfunding, assuming your product meets the demand of such audiences.

Before you can raise money, you must develop a business plan that convinces an investor that your company will succeed.

Section 1: Business Plan (MS Word or equivalent)

Read Chapters 18 and 19 of the course text: Successful Business Plan. Use the Plan Preparation Forms at the end of each chapter of Successful Business Plan as a rough guide.

Write an approximately fifteen to twenty (15-20) page draft of your business plan in which you:

Revise the components of the following previously submitted sections based on the feedback you have received.
Company Description (Assignment 1)
Industry Analysis and Trends (Assignment 1)
Strategic Position & Risk Assessment (Assignment 1)
Target Market (Assignment 2)
Competition (Assignment 2)
Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy (Assignment 2)

Create an Ethics & Social Responsibility Plan.

Note: The Ethics & Social Responsibility plan should account for approximately three to five (3-5) pages of the Business Plan Draft.

Describe the ways in which your company is committed to being a good corporate citizen.
Hints: Consider the following areas:
Creating jobs
Following the laws of every jurisdiction in which your company operates
Fair and honest treatment of employees
Non-discrimination of employees and increasing diversity of your work force
Hints: If your company is designed as a social venture—in which you have a primary purpose of achieving a social or environmental goal—describe what that goal is and what aspects of your company are designed to reach that goal. Provide a rationale for why you have or why you have not chosen this to be a social venture.

You will select a company from this list, and you will analyze the company’s financial performance, highlighting accounting principles and methods learned in this course. This project requires you to present, review, and analyze the organization’s published annual reports and related footnotes for the last 2 years. Specifically, your paper will cover the following:

Discuss methods used to account for assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity, and explain how the company’s inventory valuation method affects reported results.
Explain the company’s approach to internal controls, and assess its compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley.
Prepare and interpret the results of horizontal and vertical analyses of the financial statements.
Prepare and interpret the results of at least 5 ratios, 1 from each of the following categories:
Profit Ratios
Debt Ratios
Efficiency Ratios
Equity Ratios
Liquidity Ratios
Assess the company’s overall financial performance and the integrity of its internal controls.
Discuss how various stakeholders—internal and external—use information contained in the financial statements for decision making.

Assignment 3 Part 2: Business Plan – Draft

Due Week 8 and worth 30 points

This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a draft of your business plan and an income statement containing your business plan financials (i.e. Week 7 Discussion “The Financials”). Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

You must intend to raise money for your startup company. You can start with money from friends and family but at some point you will need funds from outside investors, either angels or venture capitalists, depending on how much money you project you will need to raise. Another possible angle is to develop money through crowdfunding, assuming your product meets the demand of such audiences.

Before you can raise money, you must develop a business plan that convinces an investor that your company will succeed.

Section 1: Business Plan (MS Word or equivalent)

Read Chapters 18 and 19 of the course text: Successful Business Plan. Use the Plan Preparation Forms at the end of each chapter of Successful Business Plan as a rough guide.

Write an approximately fifteen to twenty (15-20) page draft of your business plan in which you:

Revise the components of the following previously submitted sections based on the feedback you have received.
Company Description (Assignment 1)
Industry Analysis and Trends (Assignment 1)
Strategic Position & Risk Assessment (Assignment 1)
Target Market (Assignment 2)
Competition (Assignment 2)
Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy (Assignment 2)

Create an Ethics & Social Responsibility Plan.

Note: The Ethics & Social Responsibility plan should account for approximately three to five (3-5) pages of the Business Plan Draft.

Describe the ways in which your company is committed to being a good corporate citizen.
Hints: Consider the following areas:
Creating jobs
Following the laws of every jurisdiction in which your company operates
Fair and honest treatment of employees
Non-discrimination of employees and increasing diversity of your work force
Hints: If your company is designed as a social venture—in which you have a primary purpose of achieving a social or environmental goal—describe what that goal is and what aspects of your company are designed to reach that goal. Provide a rationale for why you have or why you have not chosen this to be a social venture.

Discuss how your company’s activities will affect the environment and identify the steps you will take to mitigate any negative impacts.
Hints: As a beverage company, consider such issues as your choice of packaging, disposal of bottles / packages by consumers, and your use of resources, such as water in areas where water may be scarce.

Determine any health issues / claims related to the product you are making, whether negative or positive. Suggest the strategy your company will use to mitigate any negative issues, and to ensure any positive claims are true.

Many beverage products have negative health impacts on certain segments of a population (e.g., children, pregnant mothers, etc.). Suggest your company’s plan, through advertising, distribution, and / or other methods, to target and reach onl