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Read the scenario below. Then draft a 3–4 page business memorandum to Linda Hoff, Stanford’s CFO. In your memo, codify your findings and interpretations from the horizontal and vertical analyses and the level of alignment between the company’s fiscal management and its strategic direction. Include an Excel spreadsheet as an attachment to the memo. In this memo you will:

1. Review the year-over-year variances contained in the audited Stanford balance sheets and income statements, which are contained within the provided Week 5 Assignment Spreadsheet [XLSX] for fiscal years 2015 through 2018. You’ll be expected to pay particular attention to the negative variances (color coded in “red”) that you believe to be potentially the most impactful to Stanford.
2. Speculate as to the reasons for the negative variances.
3. Examine the common size balance sheets and income statements looking for abnormally low or high ratios based on what you know about the line item and what you observe in the data for the other fiscal years.
4. Look for patterns in the line items over time (2015 through 2018) and identify any unusual findings that may need to be examined further.
5. Make a judgement regarding the alignment of the organization’s fiscal management with its strategic direction of the firm. Fiscal management is based on your horizontal and vertical analyses. The strategic direction is based on the vision, mission, and strategic priorities of Stanford.

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with financial statements, the need to align the financials with the strategic direction of the firm, and the process of performing a horizontal and vertical analysis of a company’s balance sheets and income statements.

The Scenario

You’re a Healthcare Administration Fellow at the prestigious Stanford Healthcare. You have been rotating through the various departments over the past 9 months and now you have the honor of working under the mentorship of Linda Hoff, Chief Financial Officer.

Stanford Medicine includes Stanford Healthcare, Stanford Children’s Hospital, and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. This organization uses an integrated approach to strategic planning, which incorporates jointly agreed upon strategic priorities from its various entities. It also ensures a high degree of congruency in strategic focus by each entity. Before outlining the strategic priorities for Stanford Medicine, it is important to take note that a firm’s directional strategy is comprised on three separate yet interwoven components: vision, mission, and goals (or, in this case, priorities). Armed with this knowledge, you have taken the necessary step and located and familiarized yourself with the vision, mission, and priorities of Stanford Medicine. Below is what you found. When examining a company’s financials, it is prudent to keep the directional strategy of the company in mind. After all, in order to advance many strategic priorities, which include fulfilling the mission and positioning the organization to achieve it vision for the future, it will require proper management of the firm’s scarce resources. Failure to properly manage the financial performance of the organization can compromise the company’s ability to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Our Vision

Precision Health: Predict. Prevent. Cure. Precisely.

We will heal humanity through science and compassion by leading the biomedical revolution in Precision Health.

Our Mission

Improving Human Health through Discovery and Care.

Through innovative discovery and the translation of new knowledge, Stanford Medicine improves human health locally and globally. We serve our community by providing outstanding and compassionate care. We inspire and prepare the future leaders of science and medicine.

Strategic Priorities

A collaborative endeavor involving the entire community, the Stanford Medicine Integrated Strategic Planning process yielded a framework that is human centered and discovery led, focused on three overarching priorities for our enterprise.

By enhancing our strengths and achieving our goals in these priority areas, we will amplify our preeminence and remain uniquely positioned to lead the biomedical revolution in Precision Health, ensuring our continued ability to guide health care through significant global changes.

Value Focused

• Provide a highly personalized patient experience.
• Ensure a seamless Stanford Medicine experience.

Digitally Driven

• Amplify the impact of Stanford innovation globally.
• Deliver human-centered, high-tech, high-touch care and revolutionize biomedical discovery.
• Lead in population health and data science.

Uniquely Stanford

• Accelerate discovery in and knowledge of human biology.
• Discovered here, used everywhere: advance fundamental human knowledge, translational medicine, and global health.
• Ensure preeminence across all of our mission areas.

Variance Analyses

Normally, managers are expected to examine positive and negative variances, and then speculate as to possible explanations for the observed variances. Following this initial assessment, managers would be expected to dig deeper into those variances of greatest concern to the organization in order to uncover the actual causes for the variances, and then implement necessary corrective actions. Digging into all variances would be costly and, quite frankly, a misuse of one’s time and energy. The CFO has asked you to conduct a variance analysis of the company’s consolidated balance sheets and income statements for fiscal years 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, which you began. You have determined the variances for each account (line item) captured in the financials. Now that this first step has been accomplished, the CFO would like for you to pay particular attention to the negative variances contained in the spreadsheet; and focus more specifically on those variances you believe to be potentially the most impactful to Stanford.

Once you’ve completed your variance analysis over time, which is referred to as a horizontal analysis, you are ready to create a common size balance sheet and income statement of each of the 4 fiscal years (2015 through 2018). You prepared the common sized financials, which are captured in your spreadsheet. Now, it is time to perform a vertical and horizontal analysis of these common size financials. The common size balance sheet allows you to see each asset relative to total assets, as well as each liability and net asset (in the case of non-profit organizations) relative to total liabilities and net assets. In a common size income statement, each line item is expressed as a percentage of total revenue or sales. Common sizing balance sheets and income statements allows firms to compare against one another even though they may be of different sizes. It also allows a firm to benchmark its financial performance against comparative groups. In this case, there isn’t any comparative data to benchmark against; however, you can examine the ratios in each fiscal year and look to see if anything looks abnormally low or high based on what you know about the line item and what you observe in the data for the other fiscal years (vertical analysis). You can also look for patterns in the line items over time (2015 through 2018) and point out any unusual findings that may need to be examined further (horizontal analysis). In finance, it isn’t uncommon for the organization to establish interim goals and targets for certain line items in the financials. The firm can compare its actual performance against the established goals and targets.

Financial Management and Strategic Direction

Once you’ve completed your horizontal and vertical analyses of the financial statements, you should be able to get a sense of how well management has managed the financial resources of the company in support of its strategic direction. In business, the strategic direction should be evident in its vision and mission statements and strategic priorities. The strategic priorities should help support the company’s mission, and the mission should help advance the firm’s vision for the future. Failure to effectively manage the company’s financial resources can seriously compromise the firm’s ability to fulfill its mission and subsequently the vision.

Business Memorandum to CFO

Using the analysis that you performed on Stanford Healthcare and trends that you identified, write a business memorandum to the CFO. In your memo, codify your findings and interpretations, and make a judgment regarding the alignment of the organization’s fiscal management with its strategic direction of the firm. Attach your analysis in an Excel spreadsheet as an attachment to the memo. Your analysis and trends identified should take into account any feedback that you received from your professor and/or peers.

Helpful hints: Negative variance is not always a bad thing. For example, you might see a slight increase in the operating costs; however, if you achieved a positive variance in the total operating revenue that outpaced the increase in operating costs, then that may be perceived as a positive outcome. Remember, you need to spend money to make money. We just want to make certain that operating costs/expenses don’t outpace the growth in operating revenues. Also keep in mind that some variances are useful in explaining other variances even if these variances are associated with different financial statements. For example, you may see an increase in operating costs, which is a negative variance, but an increase in current assets, which is a positive variance. Furthermore, you should look for patterns over time. This can reveal both positive and negative trends that may provide insight into the variances you discovered. For example, you may have noticed that a certain expense has continued growth over the past 3 years (negative variance); however, the rate of growth year-over-year has been declining. It could be that Stanford has implemented some cost cutting measures that are showing signs of working.

The specific learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

• Audit financial statements and expenditures for alignment with organizational strategic priorities.

case in the fille

 Imagine your company is being considered for subcontracting the  management of a project because of your firm’s excellent human resource  and quality management skills. However, you find that you must first  convince the contracting company that your company is worthy of the  position. Recommend a plan that centers on total quality management  (TQM) that highlights your firm’s experience with TQM and human  resources. 

Respond… Do you agree with them? Why or why not? Explore the points of your agreement or disagreement.

There are many different government agencies that track the different reports that stem from OSHA. With the steady increase in injury statistics, those new standards were made. Through the Briefings on Hospital Safety, it was found OSHA was under pressure to keep better records and make workplaces more accountable. (OSHA rule……, 2019) Government agencies also wanted to keep the information that is collected from being publicly disclosed, such as items that may be sensitive – workers’ injuries to body parts and PII ( personally identifiable information). Although the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) may have made it easier for the public to find records that are being kept by companies, the hopes are that the companies will do a better job with recording and filing data, as well as making safety in the workplace a big issue. Looking further in the article, it can be interpreted as OSHA will be ever be evolving to include many different things including worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and more.

As there are low amounts of oversight on small incidents, such as slips, falls, or other common worker injuries, there is a proposed regulation that will address them. “While some advocates say new regulations would help make healthcare safer, others argue that pressure on organizations to report more injuries to OSHA will cause facilities to try and cheat the system, especially if government entities like CMS tie Medicare funding to statistics such as injury incidence.” (OSHA rule….., 2019) This would deter employees from reporting injuries sustained at work in likes that they will lose their jobs or healthcare. On the bright side, making injuries transparent and available for the public will hopefully push employers to have a greater focus of protecting their employees in the workplace in order to protect themselves as well.

Demonstrate the use of the normal distribution, the standard normal distribution, and the central limit theorem for calculating areas under the normal curve and exploring these concepts in real life applications.

Scenario

Frank has only had a brief introduction to statistics when he was in high school 12 years ago, and that did not cover inferential statistics. He is not confident in his ability to answer some of the problems posed in the course.

As Frank’s tutor, you need to provide Frank with guidance and instruction on a worksheet he has partially filled out. Your job is to help him understand and comprehend the material. You should not simply be providing him with an answer as this will not help when it comes time to take the test. Instead, you will be providing a step-by-step breakdown of the problems including an explanation on why you did each step and using proper terminology.

What to Submit

To complete this assignment, you must first download the word document

, and then complete it by including the following items on the worksheet:

1. Incorrect Answers

• Correct any wrong answers. You must also explain the error performed in the problem in your own words.
• Partially Finished Work
  • Complete any partially completed work. Make sure to provide step-by-step instructions including explanations.
• Blank Questions
  • Show how to complete any blank questions by providing step-by-step instructions including explanations.

Your step-by-step breakdown of the problems, including explanations, should be present within the word document provided. You must also include an Excel workbook which shows all your calculations performed.

Answer the question and response two classmates’ feedback

magine you have been hired as a consultant for the United Nations. You have been asked to write an analysis of how global population growth has caused the following problem and how it affects climate change or population growth in a developing country of your choosing:

A growing global population that consumes natural resources is partially to blame for the release of greenhouse gases since human consumption patterns lead to deforestation, soil erosion, and farming (overturned dirt releases CO2). However, the critical issue is the burning of fossil fuels (hydrocarbons) such as coal, oil, and natural gas to produce energy that is used for things such as electricity production, and vehicle, heating, and cooking fuels. 

The UN has asked that you choose a developing country from this list: https://www.mrs.org/developing-countries-list.

The UN has also given you the following guidelines. 

Content

The UN has asked that your paper contain three sections. It has asked that each section be one page (or approximately 300 words) in length and answer specific questions, identified in the outline below. The UN also asks that you use examples from your developing country when answering the questions. 

Introduction

Provide an introduction (a half-page minimum) that addresses points a-e below.

1. Explains the problem the UN has asked you to address in your own words; 
2. Identifies the three sections your paper will cover; 
3. Identifies the developing country you will consider; 
4. Tells the UN which causes of greenhouse gases you will explore; and 
5. Provides a one-sentence statement of your solutions at the end of your introduction paragraph. 

Section I. Background

1. What are greenhouse gases? 
2. How do greenhouse gases contribute to global warming?
    

Section II. How Emissions Cause Problems for the Developing World

1. Which countries produce the most greenhouse gases?  
2. What are the economic challenges of these emissions (include examples from your chosen country)? 
3. What are the security challenges of these emissions (include examples from your chosen country)? 
4. What are the political challenges of these emissions (include examples from your chosen country)?
    

Section III. Causes of Greenhouse Gases and Solutions to the Problems Greenhouse Gases Cause

1. Name two causes of greenhouse gases. 
2. What are the potential solutions that address each of the causes you identified? 
3. What is the relationship between population control and greenhouse gas emissions?
    

Conclusion

• Provide a conclusion (a half-page minimum) that includes a summary of your findings that the United Nations can use to inform future policy decisions. 

Success Tips

• In answering each question, use examples from your developing country to illustrate your points.  
• The UN needs facts and objective analysis on which to base future policy decisions; avoid personal opinion and make sure your answers are based on the information you find through research.  

Formatting Requirements

• Make sure your paper consists of four  PAGES
• Create headings for each section of your paper as follows:  
  • Section I. Background 
  • Section II. How Emissions Cause Problems for the Developing World 
  • Section III. Causes of Greenhouse Gases and Solutions to the Problems Greenhouse Gases Cause 
• Use and cite at least five credible sources in your research. A list of potential resources is available below. 
• Make sure your paper contains both in-text citations and a source list, per SWS guidelines: Refer to the Strayer Writing Standards (SWS) document for reference.  
• Include a cover page with your name, the country you selected, the date you submitted the paper, and your instructor’s name. 

Potential Sources

1. George Gitlitz. June 19, 2018. Opinion: The Pernicious Climate Dictum-Don’t Mention Population https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/06/19/opinion-the-pernicious-climate-dictum-dont-mention-population 
2. Gemma Tarlach. July 19, 2018. Mass Extinctions. http://discovermagazine.com/2018/jul-aug/mass-extinctions 
3. Larry LeDoux. 2018. Does Population Growth Impact Climate Change? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/population-growth-climate-change/ 
4. Bill McKibben. November 22, 2018. A Very Grim Forecast. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/22/global-warming-very-grim-forecast/ 

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:

• Evaluate the impacts of population growth and its negative impacts on global societies while considering multiple perspectives. 

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills.

• Why is organizational change significant? Why do most employees resist change? What can you do as a leader to develop the organization, so they accept and make change possible?
• What can we do as individuals and leaders to ensure our companies have the best fit and culture to be successful from a talent development perspective? Can we develop culture, change it, or develop others to create and promote a successful organizational culture?

Rough Draft Putting it Together

Instructions:

• Now that you have identified your topic, references and created an outline the next step is to develop your Research Project Rough Draft.
• This week you will discuss the process you will use to go from outline to rough draft.
• What challenges do you think you will face with developing your rough draft?
• What guidance would you require to develop a rough draft?
• Initial Response should be at least 150 words.

Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.

Instructions

Written assignment: Title VII, The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Write 7 FULL page paper (not including cover page and reference section) discussing the following hypothetical.

Be sure that you present a thorough analysis discussing the rights of the employee and employer under Title VII, The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Whatever your position on the hypothetical; be sure that you support your thoughts and ideas with adequate research as evidenced by in text citation in accordance with APA standards. As such, you should have your researched sources cited throughout the body of your discussion in accordance with APA standards and should also have a corresponding entry in the reference area. A minimum of 5 authoritative sources is required to be used.

Scenario

John is one of the best parcel delivery employees where you are the direct employer of John. 

Under his employment contract, it is John’s duty to deliver packages on the east side of town on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. John, who has never been a religious person suddenly becomes devoutly religious and joins a highly respected religious group. 

John notifies you suddenly that it is against his religion to deliver packages on the east side of town on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and therefore would be unable to do so. John then proceeds to notify you that his religious objection is protected under Title VII, The Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

You also realize that if John refuses to discharge is his employment duties on the grounds that it violates his religious beliefs that it would cause an undue hardship for the company and risk losing some very valuable accounts. 

As the company owner, what actions would you take in order to be sure that you are compliant under Title VII, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, yet ensure that packages are delivered on the side of town on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.