Monthly Archives: February 2023

Discussion 1

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the article A Case Method Approach of Teaching How Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis is connected to the Flexible Budgeting Process and Variance Analysis (Links to an external site.).

The authors, Machuga and Smith (2013), present in the article a multidisciplinary case-method approach to help students who want to start a successful business understand the steps necessary to achieve their desired profits using cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis. The case-method emphasizes on the importance of CVP analysis and how it ties directly into the planning and control processes any management must take to start a potentially successful business.

After reading the aforementioned Machuga and Smith article, in an initial post of at least 200 words, discuss how cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis and flexible budgeting can enable students to understand the different stages involved in starting up a business, projecting out results, and monitoring business performance (Machuga & Smith. 2013).

Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ posts. In a minimum post of at least 100 words, respond to at least two of your peers’ posts in a substantive manner. Provide information that they may have missed or may not have considered in regard to how CVP analysis directly ties into the planning and control processes management must take to start a potentially successful business. Do you agree with your peers’ findings? Why or why not?

Discussion 2

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the Investing Newsletter of Forbes Operating Leverage (Links to an external site.). The Finnish company Rovio Entertainment Corporation (Links to an external site.) that produces and sells the game Angry Birds, following years of falling earnings, job cuts and divestments announced that its revenue increased 34% in 2016 to 190 million euros ($201 million dollars). According to Rosendahl, the operating result improved to a profit of 17.5 million euros from a loss of 21 million in 2015, increasing earnings by 83% (Rosendahl, 2017). In 2015, Rovio Entertainment Corporation announced that its revenues for 2014 decreased nine percent compared to those of 2013; even worse, its earnings had decreased by 73% (Read the article, Investors Take Flight After Angry Birds Maker Warns on Profit (Links to an external site.)).

After reading Forbes’ Investing Newsletter, in an initial post of at least 200 words, explain why relatively small changes in companies’ revenues can result in relatively large changes in their earnings or losses. In other words, if a company’s sales increase 12%, why do its earnings not also increase 12%?

Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ posts. In a post of at least 100 words, respond to at least two of your peers’ posts in a substantive manner. Provide information that they may have missed or may not have considered in regard to operating leverage. A company’s earnings can rise faster, as a percentage, than its revenue due to operating leverage, and operating leverage is due entirely to the fixed costs. Do you agree with your peers’ findings? Why or why not?

This assignment picks up where the last one left off.  Going back to your research paper,  tell us about where you work and how you would propose applying what you learned about your chosen topic to your organization. How, exactly, would you apply the best practices you identified and how would doing so benefit your organization?  Prepare this paper as a proposal (see guidelines for proposal writing attached).  Include five or more solid references in your paper.  Use APA style guidelines; double-space the paper; and aim for the paper to be approximately five pages long, excluding cover page and references.

PLEASE UTILIZE THE UMGC LIBRARY FOR SOURCES – DO NOT USE READINGS FROM THIS COURSE TO COMPLETE THIS ASSIGNMENT.

From your previous the research paper.

Choose one of the topics below that interests you and, using the UMGC library, research best practices in this area.  Summarize your findings.  Please limit resources to those that are less than ten years old, and follow these guidelines for crafting your paper – Research Papers

Topics:  Choose one topic from the list below.  You can choose to explore a narrow issue relative to that topic – for example – if you choose diversity and inclusion, you may be interested in best practices in recruiting women into roles in technology.  Before starting your research, it may help to have a question in mind that you would like to answer – like – “I know companies are moving away from traditional performance reviews. Why is that and what are they replacing them with?”  I’d love to know the question you are trying to answer at the start of your paper.  It would be helpful to choose a topic that would apply to the organization you work for (or one that you most recently worked for) because assignment 2 will ask you to apply the best practices you learned about to your own organization!

• Diversity & Inclusion

 DISCUSSION 1

1. Review the following attachments: 

Appealing a Performance Appraisal

Handling a Performance Appraisal

2. Explain specifically which one you think gives better advice and why. Support your opinion with at least two sources.

3. Initial comments to this discussion topic are due by midnight Saturday and you must substantively respond to at least TWO student’s comments in this discussion topic no later than 10pm Tuesday. See Discussion Expectations for rules on discussion requirements.

• Module 3
• Administration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement 
• Why Do Employees File Discrimination Complaints and Grievances? Advice to Managers and Supervisors
• Arbitration
• What Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators Do

In the chapter review section, you are encouraged to do a social data report and a social history on yourself. “Build a case file” on someone you know. Gather data from your subject regarding his or her education and work history. Be sure to identify strengths in your “client.”

250 words min

  HR Management test questions
 

1. Describe the employment-at-will doctrine. – This is a common-law doctrine stating that employers have the right to hire, fire, demote, or promote whomever they choose, unless there is a law or a contract to the contrary.

2. List four major laws enacted since 1960 that directly impact the Human Resources function. Briefly describe each.
– Family and Medical Leave Act – Allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave for their serious health conditions or the birth or adoption of a child. . Injured employees may ask to use that leave time in addition to the leave time allowed under worker’ comp, even if it is unpaid.
– Americans with Disabilities Act – Prohibits discrimination based on disability
– Occupational Safety and Health Act – passed “to assure so far as possible every working man woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and preserve our human resources.”
– Equal Pay Act of 1963 – Tries to depress sex discrimination as related to pay and commerce in the workplace.

3. Explain how a firm’s human resources influence organizational performance. –

4. Describe how firms can use HR initiatives to cope with workplaces changes and trends such as a more diverse workforce, the global economy, downsizing, and new legislation. 

Write 3 annotated bibliography assignments on HR. Each annotated bibliography should be one page each. 

Annotated bibliographies must be written in manner, in which, they are understandable. You

must describe all-important data such as:

• The participants

• The reason the study was conducted

• What research design was used (surveys, interviews, case study, etc.)

• Which research analysis was used (MANOVA, ANOVA, Kruskal Wallace, etc.)

• The results of the study along with any conclusions of the author(s)

• Using external resources to gauge compensation levels may result in more equitable compensation planning. From the discussion preparation, assess how you would integrate the data on the PayScale website or similar sites into your compensation planning.
• Specifically, indicate three measures to ensure that your compensation scale is competitive.

By the end of the week, submit a topic proposal for your Negotiation Analysis Paper. The proposal (one page) should describe the focus of the paper and your method. The negotiation can be one in which you were a participant or one in which you have been an active observer. Some examples of applicable negotiations are

• a workplace negotiation, such as a complex contract, new position, or new salary (preferred);
• a complex business transaction, such as a merger or acquisition;
• a complex real estate purchase;
• a union-management contract (including professional sports leagues);
• a neighborhood group negotiating zoning concerns with a city government;
• a negotiation between divorcing spouses who have complex settlement issues; and
• a negotiation between a vendor and business over products and services.

The above are representative examples of possible topics. The important thing to keep in mind in your topic selection is that the negotiation should be complex enough that you can preform a thoughtful and critical analysis in your paper using concepts learned in this course.

Remember to submit your assignment for grading when finished.

Supporting Lectures:

Review the following lectures:

• Organizational Environment
• Organizational Relationships

Before beginning work on this discussion forum, please review the link “Doing Discussion Questions Right” and any specific instructions for this topic.

Before the end of the week, begin commenting on at least two of your classmates’ responses. You can ask technical questions or respond generally to the overall experience. Be objective, clear, and concise. Always use constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of positive progress. Submit your responses in the Discussion Area.

Introduction

Global organizations today face a constant stream of complex, ever-changing, and unpredictable challenges on a global scale. Organizations must adapt to these challenges through adjustments to its global strategy.

Tasks

Question 1:

Discuss the challenges of global design.

Question 2:

Explore the pros and cons of a multidomestic strategy.

Submission Details

To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Your initial posting should be addressed at 500–1000 words as noted in the attached PDF. Submit your document to this Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Be sure to cite your sources using APA format.

Using a practical example, what are the benefits and potential problems associated with conflict? What are examples of strategies that can be applied for resolving conflict?