“Application Maintenance” Please respond to the following:
Explain the importance of application maintenance in organizations and assess the need for robust patch and update management programs and procedures.
From the e-Activity, compare and contrast the update styles of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Google Chrome and determine which style you believe to be more effective for organizations. Justify your response.
“Government and the Arts; Abstract Expressionism and Music” Please respond to one (1) of the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Examine the U.S. Government’s support during the Great Depression for programs, such as the Federal Arts Project, the Federal Writers’ Project, and other such efforts. Determine whether or not such projects were good government investments during those hard times, and provide two (2) examples that support your viewpoint. Determine in what ways the U.S. government currently tries to support the arts.
State whether you agree or disagree with the perception of Abstract Expressionism as exemplifying individualism and freedom. Explain the reasons for your views. Compare and contrast one (1) example of Abstract Expressionist visual art to John Cage’s musical compositions. After reviewing the pages and Websites below, explain how an abstract expressionist artist might respond to the assertion “my kid could paint that”. Explain your position on that assertion.
Explore:
Government and the Arts
Chapter 37 (pp. 1228-1232), Federal support for the arts
Government helping the arts in hard times at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/1934-Picturing-Hard-Times.html and http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/powerprose/wpa/
Write a draft of no more than 1,800 words of the strategic plan for your organization, including the following:
Implementation plan
Objectives
Functional tactics
Action items
Milestones and a deadline
Tasks and task ownership
Resource allocation
Any required organizational change management strategies that would enhance successful implementation
Key success factors, budget, and forecasted financials, including a break-even chart
Risk management plan, including contingency plans for identified risks
Part-1
Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.
The marketing department likes to know patterns about the consumers who call the 1-800 phone bank with questions/problems. They also want your recommendation for the best business intelligence (BI) software to depict this information.
You meet with them to discuss the matter. Using the Internet and suggested readings, discuss your recommendation (with a brief rationale) for a suitable BI software solution to depict this data. Using the Discussion Board, suggest at least 3 quantitative objects that you should keep track about each caller and/or their behavior with respect to the snack food category and indicate if each variable is continuous or discrete (refer to the question and answer resource for this Phase for the definition of continuous and discrete variables).
Post your list on the Discussion Board. Read the other postings, and respond to anyone who listed variables similar to yours by saying which variable you prefer and why.
Final Paper
The purpose of the Final Paper is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course by describing your understanding and application of knowledge in the field of employee training through the analysis of a scenario related to the creation of a training course.
Focus of the Final Paper
In the course, you have examined several areas of employee training. For this paper, you will be applying this knowledge by examining the creation of a cultural diversity training course.
Imagine that you are in training and development for a global organization. You have been tasked with the creation of a cultural diversity training course that all employees will be required to take. Before designing the course, you must consider the ethical and cultural issues of the task.
In an eight- to ten-page paper (excluding the title and reference pages), you must address the following:
Examine any legal implications in creating a training course that discusses culture. Identify what laws and regulations should be considered.
Explain how the demographic diversity of your employees affects discussions of cultural diversity.
Examine which ethical implications should be considered.
Examine if training can be standardized for all locations in a global organization. Analyze what media is best suited for training in a global setting.
Provide recommendations for implementing the training course.
Paper requirements
Must be eight to ten pages in length (excluding the title page, references page, exhibits, etc.) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Must include a cover page:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
Must include an introductory paragraph with a clearly stated thesis or topic.
Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Must include a separate references page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Objective
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This course culminates with an original research paper based on your historical research. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze a historical event using concepts learned in class.
Guidelines
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Identify a significant historical event that occurred between 1945 and 2008 that has had positive and/or negative consequences (e.g. the Truman Doctrine, the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, etc.), and defend your selection as a significant contemporary event. The paper should include the following.
Identify and describe the historical event.
Analyze the historical and contemporary causes of the event.
Analyze different historical interpretations of the event.
Evaluate the positive and negative outcomes of the event.
The Final Paper should be 8–10 pages in length and use proper APA formatting.
Deliverables
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Week 2: Selection and Defense of Topic
Students will identify a significant historical event and briefly defend why the event is significant and worthy of study.
The topic selection and defense is due at the end of this week. See Syllabus Due Dates for Assignments & Exams for due date information.
Week 5: Annotated Bibliography
This week, you will complete the annotated bibliography for your research paper. An annotated bibliography looks like a standard APA bibliography with the addition of annotations (2–3 sentence descriptions of how the source will contribute to your paper) after each bibliographic entry.
You are required to find ten references, five of which need to be scholarly, and provide annotations for all ten. All references must be cited in APA format. An approximate length for this bibliography is between 1–3 pages. Submit this assignment in a Word document.
Tutorial
Scholarly vs. Non Scholarly Resources
This tutorial defines what scholarly resources are, why you should use them, and where to find them. It will help you to write a better research paper.
It also answers many of the questions you may have about scholarly resources.
The annotated bibliography is due at the end of this week.
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
Week 7: Final Submission
The Final Research Paper is due at the end of this week.
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
Research Paper: Final Submission
This week, you will be submitting the final, complete version of your research paper. You will submit this assignment in a Word document. For more information on your research paper, consult the “Research Paper” item under Course Home.
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox located on the silver tab at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions or watch this TutorialDropbox Tutorial.
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information
Analyze S&J Plumbing, Inc.’s balance sheet below:
Calculate the following:
Current ratio
Quick ratio
Net working capital
Write a report of 2-3 pages that discusses the liquidity of S & J Plumbing Incorporated.
Details:
Write an essay of 1,000-1,250 words in which you address the following:
Define intellectual disability, autism, and multiple disabilities, their causes, and the impact of the disabilities on the education of the student with intellectual disability.
Identify areas of curriculum necessary for students with mild to moderate disabilities and explain why they are needed.
Case Study Essay
Motivation at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc (NUMMI)
By Gary Convis
Origins of NUMMI. The Fremont plant of General Motors opened in 1965, and after experiencing nearly decades of labour-management conflict, closed in 1982. At the time of its closing, over 6000 workers lost their jobs and nearly an equal number of grievances remained unresolved.
Soon after the closing, two forces set in motion events that would lead to a reopening of the plant with very different management philosophies and practices. GM needed to build a compact car for its product line to compete with the popularity of smaller imports, and management wanted to study the production methods of Japanese auto makers. Toyota needed to manufacture automobiles closer to its major offshore markets and wondered how well its highly efficient Toyota Production System would transfer to American workers and suppliers.
What emerged from these two independent management motives was an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture to build both GM and Toyota vehicles in the Fremont plants. A separate corporate entity was formed, New United Manufacturing, Inc (NUMMI – pronounce “new me”), and the plant was reopened in 1984 with a decidedly different approach to management.
The UAW Labor Contract. For starters, the new management team negotiated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union a unique contract. While former plant employees would be given first chance at the new jobs, former seniority rights were abandoned. Management focused on a new ideology that targeted building the highest quality vehicles at the lowest possible costs. Workers would be involved in deciding work standards, job allocations and layout, training, job rotation, and other work elements.
The dozens of former specialised job classifications were abandoned. Only two classifications are used at NUMMI for hourly workers – skilled trade and nonskilled. Within each classification workers are piad the same hourly rate with only a modest difference between the two classifications. A small 60 cents per hour premium is paid to team leaders who guide the planning and work of four to five people. Even professional people recruited to the firm, such as engineers, occupy their first several weeks on the job working on the line. This helps inculcate in them an appreciation for the tedious and stressful pressures workers face on the line.
A no-strike, no-layoff agreement was part of the contract, a form of job security. Gary Convius, NUMMI’s senior vice president until he was promoted to head up North American operations in 2000, believes the contract provision “buys the hearts of people.” Flexibility prevails instead of the confrontational enforcement of rules.
Management Philosophy and System. When Convis was recruited into his original position as general manager of the plant, he was advised by a Toyota executive, “Manage as if you had no power.” The advice was to forget the command-and-control legacy of Detroit and strive instead of treat people dignity, to seek consensus in making decisions that directly affect people at work.
The NUMMI system emphasises human relations, empowerment, and shared responsibility. To emphasise management’s philosophy of mutual trust and respect, several key practices form the cornerstones of management-worker relations:
There are no time clocks, only self-report time sheets.
An Andon system gives every line employee the right and responsibility to
shut down his or her section of the production line to resolve any quality or
operating problems.
A no-fault attendance system does not question an employee’s reasons for
absence, and no external documentations (e.g., physician’s note) is required. However, if people are absent more than the “norm” there are specific steps up to termination that occur. Every effort is made to help people overcome personal problems that might be causing attendance issues.
An open office environment where no one sits behind a walled-in office. Even Convis, as the senior line manager, had his desk in an open arena with 80 other people.
To further promote a sense of equity, managers and hourly employees east at the same cafeteria and voluntarily wear the same uniforms provide at company expense. Bonuses are awarded to all employees based on quality, safety and productivity improvements, with the belief that employees should benefit from performance directly related to production objectives.
Convis always wanted employees to “do more than just complete your job and then go home.” He advocates that employees “Work like your name is on the plant.” Such treatment seems to get desirable results. For example, if the robot that installs car seats breaks down, a team of mechanics put some of their people on the job to manually install seats while others work to solve the problem.
Setbacks and Successes. NUMMI hasn’t been without its problems. Its business only to produce vehicles to specifications and orders generated by Chevrolet and Toyota. By 1995 it was producing over 350,000 vehicles per year. But at an earlier stage its output was erratic. From an output of 205,000 vehicles in 1986 (its second year), it slipped to 187,000 the next year and on down to 128,000 before recovering. At its nadir, NUMMI employed 400 more people than it needed. But true to its no-layoff contract, it engaged people in training and maintenance while keeping them on the payroll.
Such treatment of employees seems strengthen employee performance. In 1994 NUMMI won the J.D. Powers “Silver Plant Award” (2nd place) and in 1995 won the J.D. Powers “Bronze Plant Award” (3rd place) out of 64 North American
Assignment 2: Expanding Your Business
Due Week 8 and worth 240 points
Referring to the same business you either started or purchased in the first assignment, write a 6-8 page paper in which you:
Outline a financial plan for your small business. “Island Auto Detailing”
Develop a guerrilla marketing strategy for your small business.
Discuss the most appropriate location for a second store (an actual street address). Explain your reasoning.
Outline a plan for securing sources of debt financing for your second store.
Include at least two (2) references outside the textbook.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; 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 page length.