Five Phases

After reading this week’s assigned articles, submit a two- to four-page, APA-style paper that summarizes each phase of the project lifecycle and analyzes how each phase could support the organization’s business strategy.

Your paper must include a title page and a reference page, which are not included in the page length requirements. A minimum of one to two sources, including the textbook, must be used for this assignment.

Part 1 Ethical Challenge
Ford Motor Company Responds to Ethical Challenges

Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford, an inventor and entrepreneur, on June 16, 1903, in Detroit, Michigan. The Model-T became one of the most popular vehicles because it was inexpensive. During this era, he opened a factory in Canada, making the

company a global transportation leader. His moving assembly line for manufacturing was to revolutionize the auto industry.

In July 1919, the Ford family bought out all nonfamily shareholders, making them the sole owners of the company. Ever since, all Ford Company Chairmen/CEOs have been direct descendants of Henry Ford. It is the fifth largest family-owned business in the world. Today, Ford remains one the world’s top automobile companies. In 1927, Chevrolet surpassed Ford in the number of cars sold, and a rivalry continued for the next 100 years. The Ford Focus was the world’s bestselling automobile in 2013.

The Ford Company mission also known as the vision statement is “People working together as a lean, global enterprise to make people’s lives better through automotive and

mobility leadership.” Today, Bill Ford is Executive Chairman; under his leadership, the company was named the Best Global Green Brand among all companies in the world in 2014, and one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the eighth year in a row in March 2017.

In 2017, Mark Fields was forced out as CEO, after a 40 percent drop in share price over the past three years. Chairman Bill Ford immediately appointed Jim Hackett to replace him. Prior to this appointment, Hackett served as Chairman of the Ford Smart Mobility LLC subsidiary. Hackett’s growth strategy is to take the carmaker from conventional production to new kinds of vehicles and new advanced manufacturing processes that include ridesharing and

autonomous vehicles. His strategy is to move from a traditional car company to a more flexible and technologically advanced mobility company.

Hackett’s management strategy is to cut costs, focus on trucks and SUVs, and move some manufacturing, including the Ford Focus, to China. Ford will cut internal combustion

engine spending by one-third while moving these resources toward electrical technology with a goal to add 13 new electric cars by 2020. Ford has pledged to redesign its factories and add 3D printing, robotics, and virtual reality tools to speed up design for development and production of all product offerings.

Ford will explore emerging markets as they seek new ways to address urban congestion and park and ride desires of the driving public. Recently, the company acquired Chariot, a crowdsourced shuttle service, and opened the company’s Smart Mobility Innovation Office in London, which will target near-term development of smart mobility technologies while focusing on the specific requirements of European cities. Hackett plans to push Internet connectivity and promises that 100 percent of new U.S. vehicles will have the capability. It will include Wi-Fi

technology that is critical for driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles. Ford’s biggest competitors are Tesla, Google, and Uber.

Henry Ford said “there is a most intimate connection between decency and good business.” The company has a strong code of conduct; it is published in the Ford Code of Conduct Handbook. It focuses on ethical risk, provides guidance on how to recognize and deal with ethical issues, and provides policies and methods to report unethical conduct and to help create a culture of accountability and honesty. It also provides an online reporting system as well as questions and answers.

The handbook covers the workplace environment; gifts, favors, and conflicts of interest, use of company assets and data safeguarding integrity of financial records; product quality; safety and environmental matters; intellectual property; working with the governments political activities; competition and antitrust laws; and international business practices. The

Ford Code of Conduct Handbook provides a list of items employees are forbidden to accept: gifts from those who do business or wish to do business with Ford (unless under a $50.00 value), including cash, discounts on products (unless offered to the whole company), and tickets that do not meet entertainment requirements. The company has strict guidelines on international business and maintains strict oversight over its global operations and provides an online global ethics training program for employees, written in 13 languages.

Even with a strict Code of Conduct, Ford has encountered problems through the years. In 1970–1980 while sales of the Ford Pinto were high, design issues arose regarding placement of the gas tank behind the rear axle instead above it. Bolts were added, which increased the likelihood of a puncture in the tank and causing a fire. In 1977, the flaws were made public in a

Mother Jones article criticizing Ford’s decision-making process for the product. The flawed design cost Ford Motor Company $125 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

The verdict remains controversial even after many appeals as Ford maintained the Pinto was safe and only involved in 1.9 percent of fatal accidents and less than half were the result of rear-end collisions. A California Court of Appeals upheld the original verdict although the amount of punitive damages was reduced to $3.5 million. Ford was found by the jury to be negligent. Later Ford engineers indicated that management was not made aware of the design problems because of a company culture of firing the bearers of bad news. Ford’s reputation

was significantly impacted when the jury viewed Ford was more interested in saving money at the expense of society.

Another embarrassing Ford ethics issue involved Firestone/Bridgestone tire company in 1998. A State Farm Insurance investigator studied claims and discovered tire tread failure with

the Firestone tires, which was then reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Almost 84 percent of the tire retread issues were found on Ford vehicles that were manufactured at the Decatur, Illinois, plant. Further investigation revealed the plant did not have adequate air conditioning which directly impacted the adhesive properties of the tire. Old equipment combined with temperature-control problems led to the safety issues. The Ford Explorer recommended a lower tire pressure, and many felt it contributed to the Ford Explorer rollover problems and tire tread failure. Firestone issued a tire recall, and Ford implemented a tire replacement program that affected 1.3 million tires. Each company blamed the other for the problems that ultimately severed the long-term business relationship the two companies had.

Ford was criticized for lack of due diligence and should have had more quality control over their vehicles. Ford also failed to acknowledge to the public that they had identical problems with the Ford Explorer in foreign countries. This resulted in their stock price decline, loss of consumer faith, and ultimately cost the company more than $1.3 billion.

Sustaining Sustainability—Ford Motor Company has made a commitment to sustainability; they created the Sustainable Work Force that focuses on strategic hiring, training, protection, safety, and health care. Ford has a policy for safeguarding human rights and working conditions as they seek to be a good corporate citizen. They also encourage their

suppliers to develop and enforce similar polices for their own suppliers and subcontractors. Sustainability creates an opportunity for engagement, collaboration, and innovation. Ford has created an employee wellness and well-being program and expanded benefits beyond the traditional ones, including increased paid leave time.

The company is a strong supporter of employee diversity and education. An employee program called Ford Interfaith Network was created to help employees learn about and respect different religious beliefs and customs. Every year, Ford holds a National Day of Prayer at its world headquarters and invites employees of all faiths, ethnicities, and religion to participate. The company also created GLOBE to support a safe and supportive work environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees. Employees are encouraged to participate in health risk appraisals and health promotion programs.

Community Sustainability—Ford employees gave 204,000 volunteer hours in 2016 working in poverty areas. The Ford Global Day of Caring volunteers engage in building projects in communities through the world. Ford Community Day is a fair for the public that introduces

the customer to their product line. Local Ford dealerships sponsor major events and initiatives. The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) is an academic program that has students, teachers, and community leaders providing free tutoring to participants. In 2016, Ford provided $32.8 million to support Community Life, $18.4 million for education, and $7.7 million for driving safety programs.

The Environmental Sustainability Program for Climate Change addresses ethical business practices, product carbon footprint and fuel economy, customer satisfaction, product quality and safety, supply chain management, assessment, capacity building and performance, and

government regulations. Ford was named to CDP’s Water A List for corporate water stewardship for the second year in a row. Ford’s Value Chain includes product design that addresses the impacts at every stage of the automotive life cycle, from use of natural resources and materials to product quality and safety. Ford tries to use sustainable materials throughout

the manufacturing process. They also hold their suppliers and subcontractors to the same standards they adhere to.

Conclusion—Ford today has operations in more than 100 countries and works to maintain the core values of improving performance while addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges while living in compliance within the Ford Code of Conduct Handbook. There will always be new ethical issues, and Ford will need to continue to access risks and respond to new challenges.

Question:

How has Ford made ethics an important part of its culture?

Module 6: Discussion Forum

Creating an engaged workforce, while considering today’s changing work environment, can be a challenging task for HR professionals. In the past, organizations have been transactional. Today, many organizations believe it is necessary to engage employees while also continuously scanning the environment for organizational impacts.

Organizations need to remain relevant. Leaders must visualize organizational strategies and how to ensure organizational success, while involving employees in change processes. Motorola is a company that was founded in 1929. During its inception, Motorola manufactured home radios, though things have changed throughout the years:

1937 – Phonographs

1963 – Cabinet/furniture style console stereo sets

1964 – Motorola televisions

1964 – 8-track tape players for automobiles

1973 – Electronic organ

1984 – DynaTAC vehicular cellular telephone

1993 – Digital paging systems

1994 – Introduced iDen digital radio

2000 – World’s first GPRS cellular phone

Every few years there was a new technology and strategy created by Motorola. For this discussion, describe how employee engagement can impact the changing business environment. Explain how employees can lead change.

Answer the above using the question and answer (Q&A) format.  The Q&A format should include the original question along with your response. Within your post, support your responses with information from at least one peer-reviewed/scholarly source (not older than 3-5 years) from  CSU Global online library or the Internet, and provide the full citation at the end of your post. Use APA guidelines (at the CSU Global Writing Center )  to format your references. Your total word count must be at least 300 words excluding the original questions.

After  watching all the films in Week Two’s content (with the exception of The  Birth of a Nation) discuss at least 5 storytelling/narrative/plot  devices or editing choices that you have seen in recent films or TV  shows. How did these devices or choices help drive the story? Then link  those narrative techniques to the films you watched.

For example: In The Gilded Cage (1915) we see a classic Cinderella  story in which Marie the stepdaughter is treated like a servant compared  with Eloise. We also see a classic story about marrying for wealth vs  love. Both of these themes are common plot device in today’s tv shows  and films.

Respond to at least two of your fellow classmates.

Furness and Gilligan (2010) stated, “There is a growing body of literature written predominantly for health professionals and more recently for social workers about the importance of developing and incorporating cultural and spiritual sensitivity and awareness in their work with others” (p. 2187). Spirituality, which may or may not include involvement with an established religion, contributes to human diversity and influences human behavior. An individual’s spirituality may be an important factor in his or her social environment. As a social worker, your awareness of a client’s spirituality may help increase your understanding of the client and his or her needs.

Sensitivity to and respect for your client’s spiritual dimension reflects your appreciation of diversity. As you consider the potential impact of your clients’ spirituality on their perspectives and behavior, you must also consider how your spirituality might influence your interactions with a client.

For this Discussion, you consider the impact of spirituality on your interactions with clients.

Post a Discussion in which you explain how considerations about clients’ worldviews, including their spirituality or religious convictions, might affect your interactions with them. Provide at least two specific examples. In addition, explain one way your own spirituality or religious convictions might support your work with a client, and one barrier it might present. Finally, share one strategy for applying an awareness of spirituality to social work practice in general.

Option #1: The Recovery Plan Project Case

For this assignment, you will document the conceptual steps taken in the project described in the Portfolio Project Option 1, which you can access in the Module 8 folder. Note: This milestone builds upon those milestones completed previously.

Document the following in a paper:

• Identify and describe the risk quantification methods based on the PMBOK Guide – Sixth Edition
• Describe and assess qualitative risk assessment measures taken in the project as described in the case study
• Describe and apprise the steps taken in risk assessment and quantification (as outlined in the case study)

Submission:

• Include one current (no older than five years) scholarly source that is not a required or recommended reading for this course. 

Training and Development in a small businesses

Discuss the major principles of the biosocial theories of criminal causation. Then explain the Human Genome Project (HGP). Finally, discuss criticisms that have been waged against the biosocial theories of criminal causation.

Review your required reading by Yu-Chih Liu and Asri Rizki (2016). Examine Table 2 and Figure 1, and consider the discussion offered by the authors.

1. Post your researched thoughts on how the risk factors mentioned in the reading impact ongoing projects with which you are familiar.
2. Include your thoughts on the impact of these factors on international projects, or when international consultants and/or suppliers are involved.
3. Support your positions with at least one current (no older than five years) scholarly source, beyond the course materials and textbooks. The CSU-Global Library is a good place to find sources. Make sure to cite your sources following the CSU-Global Guide to Writing & APA (Links to an external site.).