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Assignment Overview

Koch Industries is one of the most profitable privately held corporations in the country. In spite of being owned primarily by four brothers, it has not been immune from intense internal power plays and intrigue. A decades-long dispute between CEO Charles Koch and his younger brother Bill Koch led first to an internal battle for control of the company and ended with a lawsuit between the brothers.

Carefully review the background materials regarding sources of power within an organization and influence tactics. Examples of sources of power include reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, and expert power. Examples of influence tactics include forming coalitions, pressure, and exchanging favors. Make sure to understand the main power sources and influence tactics and know the vocabulary and definitions from the background materials before starting the assignment.

The epic battle between two of the Koch brothers tested the limits of both of their power bases within Koch Industries. Both used multiple tactics before Charles Koch ultimately secured his position of almost unrivaled power within the corporation. Do some research about this power struggle using the Trident Online Library and online news sources. Here are some articles to get you started:

Schulman, D. (2014, Jul). Koch vs. Koch. Mother Jones, 39, 16–27,64,2

Tomsho, R. (1989, Aug 09). Blood feud: Koch family is roiled by sibling squabbling over its oil empire: Fired by his brother, William sues often, helps feds to probe Koch Industries, haling mother into court. Wall Street Journal [ProQuest]

Case Assignment

Once you have finished your research, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following issues. Make sure to cite at least 3 of the required background readings in addition to articles about the Koch brothers in your paper:

1. What were Charles and Bill Koch’s sources of power within Koch Industries? Did they have reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, or expert power? Any other sources of power? Refer to Bauer and Erdogan (2012) or Luthans et al. (2015) in your answer, as you should demonstrate a solid understanding of these readings as part of your answer.
2. What influence tactics did each of them use in their battle for control? Refer to Bauer and Erdogan (2012) or Luthans et al. (2015) in your answer.
3. Ultimately what do you think led to Charles Koch’s victory in this battle, and what do you think are the most important lessons on organizational power that you learned from reading about this power struggle?

Assignment Expectations

• Case Assignments are to be prepared in Microsoft Word and should be 4 to 5 pages in length, in addition to a cover page (course name and number, module number, session name, student name, and date prepared) and a reference list. The paper should be double-spaced, using 12 pt. type in the Times New Roman font. It should consist of a 2- or 3-sentence introduction, a body, and a 2- or 3-sentence conclusion and use Trident University International’s cover page. The reference list page must be in APA format.
• Assignment content should include a brief introduction to the assignment, background information about the organization being studied, and discussion in terms of the concepts or theories being applied in the assignment.
• Use headings and subheadings to improve presentation values.
• Include both a References page and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations. Attention is to be given to citing sources of information in-text as well as in the References page at the end of the paper. Citation and reference style instructions are available at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/ or at APAstyle.org.
• Submit your report in the Case dropbox for this module on or before the date due, as indicated in the TLC Homepage.
• Since you are engaging in research, be sure to cite and reference the sources in APA format. The paper should be written in the third person; this means words like “I,” “we,” and “you” are not appropriate. For more information, see Differences Between First and Third Person.

The Learning Resources in this first week will help you answer these questions, and they will provide you with a foundation in the philosophy of science that will help you appreciate various research designs and methods. With this foundation, you will be encouraged to reflect on how your assumptions about the acquisition of truth and the nature of the world influence your approach to the research process.

For this Discussion, you will identify an area of interest for a possible research topic. As you read about the different philosophical orientations in this week’s readings, consider if one of these orientations most closely aligns with your worldview and a particular approach to research.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 4

Post a brief description of your topic of research interest. Next, state the philosophical orientation that reflects your worldview and explain the epistemological and ontological assumptions of this orientation. Then, explain how these assumptions lend themselves to one or more research approaches.

APA style

references

Healthy People 2020 targeted the identification of social factors as a priority in its national health promotion campaign. In your opinion, how effective has this campaign been in communicating the role of social justice as part of its mission? Share your opinion with class members.

For the last discussion I want to focus on capital improvements as it pertains to budgeting. Before beginning the discussion, be sure to read Chapter 11, the associated lecture, and review the example CIPs in the short reading folder.

In most communities, capital improvements make up a large percentage of the budget – in some cases, 50% or more of all government expenditures. These projects can range from the normal to the absurd depending on the community.

For this discussion, I want you to consider the capital projects that your local community has budgeted for during the next year (this should be easy if you are working on your final paper!). 

1. Do the projects seem reasonable given what you know about the community and its needs?

2. Are there any projects within the budget that you find surprising or inappropriate? Why?

3. Do the project costs seem affordable to the community?

4. Who is slated to pay for the project, if you know – current taxpayers (pay as you go) or future taxpayers (funded with debt/future revenue)?

For your assignment, you will create a 12- to 14-slide presentation (not counting the title and reference slides) that includes specific information as outlined below. 

A midlevel manager is defined as a manager of managers. You have to present your proposed training program to your supervisor. To do this, you must decide on a training model, conduct a needs analysis, write learning objectives, and create the content of the training. 

 Prepare a slide presentation (8-10 slides) with speaker notes at the bottom of each slide (in a comments section).  

respond to this discussion

I like how you went further and included an NGO as an example. Organizations need each of these so that project managers have the mental and professional empowerment they need to execute well. You stated accurately that by having these aspects, both leaders and followers in the organization conducting various projects will have guidelines to base their decisions and make sound decisions.

  analysis of the value of an integrated Annual Human Resources Operating Plan in the face of constantly shifting markets. Explain how such a plan might provide balance between short-term drivers and long-term needs. Describe the circumstances appropriate to deviating from such a plan or justifying a different path than that planned. Discuss specific techniques, including metrics and milestones that the Human Resources Department/Division can use to add rigor in achieving this balance while attaining long-term business objectives for the overarching needs of the organization. 

High Performing Work Team Analysis

This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade. It gives you an opportunity to analyze a tool used to assess the performance of a team. You must complete this assignment individually, without contacting other students, and you may not use a paper or any part of a paper from a previous class or from another person or an online source. If you have any questions about this assignment, please post them in the Ask the Professor discussion forum so that everyone can benefit from the answers. The assignment addresses Course Objectives 3, 4 and 5. 

Organizations often use surveys or questionnaires to obtain information regarding employee satisfaction, organizational issues impacting staff performance, and perceptions of pay and benefits, organizational culture, etc. Sometimes, questionnaires are used in classes for staff development and focus on behavioral styles, conflict styles, or team behaviors. Additionally, surveys may be used to help intact teams or departments focus on and resolve team differences or performance issues.  Many times, the questions themselves provide people with insight into what the organization expects from its employees.

The Scenario

You are the leader of a cross-functional team that has not been performing well. You are not sure what’s causing the problems, but you know that the team cannot continue this way. You have contacted the Human Resources (HR) department for help and they suggested using the High Performing Work Teams Survey as a tool to diagnose problems within the team. Every team member will complete the survey anonymously. The HR department will analyze the results and will work with you to develop a plan to address issues. 

Your Task

Read the questions in the High Performing Work Teams Survey. The survey follows these instructions. You will analyze the questions, identify trends you see in the questions, and discuss what you and the members of your team could learn by taking this survey. 

Write 4-7 pages (not counting the cover or reference pages), summarizing the trends you identified, describing what you and your team members could learn from taking the survey, and discussing your conclusions about what is required of team members in order to create a high performing work team.  Support your opinions and statements with a minimum of five references from sources published within the last ten years. 

You can cite scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals, newspaper articles, YouTube videos, (but not Wikipedia, vendor websites, or other non-academic sources.)  Please use the UMUC library to search for appropriate sources rather than Google or other search engines. Librarians are available by phone, email, and chat; they are excellent at their jobs and they love to help students. See the Library link in the Resources section (on the ribbon at the top of our classroom) or go directly to https://sites.umuc.edu/library/index.cfm for more information and to begin searching for sources.  You can also consult a graduate writing tutor for help with organizing your ideas, presenting them clearly, and complying with APA style requirements.. You can access tutors through the Writing Tutoring module in our classroom. 

Use APA format for citations, references, and quotations.  This means your list of references should start on a separate page, and should be double spaced, with a hanging indent and no spaces between entries.  Your analysis should be 4-7 pages (not counting the cover or reference pages), double spaced with one inch margins and a font size of at least 11 points. Criteria for Grading High Performing Work Team Analysis are attached to this document (they follow the High Performing Work Teams Survey). The criteria give details on how your analysis will be graded. Keep in mind that most organizations value efficient communication; busy managers don’t have time – and most don’t have the desire – to read long reports. Keep your writing clear and concise.

Please add the following statement to the cover of your paper:

This paper is my own work that I created specifically for this course and this section. All research or material I used in preparing this paper has been properly acknowledged within the assignment in accordance with academic standards for complete and accurate citation of sources.

 Chapter 3 “Skills Approach” in the Northouse

Case study 3.2

Based on the skills perspective, answer the three questions provided at the end of your selected case study.  You should have three separate paragraphs.  Repeat the question before your answers so your classmates can see the question.  Your total post this week should be at least 250 words not counting the repeated questions.

Please view attachment

Questions 

1. Based on the skills model, how would you assess Lt. Col. John Adams’s ability to meet the challenges of the base administration position? 

2. How would you assess his ability to meet the additional tasks he faced regarding the conversion of the base? 

3. If you were to coach Adams on how he could improve his leadership, what would you tell him