Questions
You are approaching the end of your time supporting Sifers-Grayson. Your team leader has asked you...

You are approaching the end of your time supporting Sifers-Grayson. Your team leader has asked you to prepare a 2 page research and analysis brief ("briefing paper") for the company's executives in which you identify the five most important technologies which the company should adopt in order to improve its security posture.

Provide specific details as to why each technology is required (what is the vulnerability or weakness that the technology will address). Then, make a recommendation for how the company should implement that technology. You must provide specific, actionable information. Your recommendations must also be based upon recognized best practices. Include the following steps in your research and analysis as you select and evaluate technologies, products, and services that will help improve the company's security posture:

  • Identify Candidate Technologies
  • Research Products and Services which implement the technologies
  • Identify Vendors
  • Evaluate Products & Services (use existing market research)

Cite the sources of information used in your research and analysis (document where you obtained your information from). Use a professional citation format and provide a reference list at the end of your briefing paper.

In: Operations Management

Based on the following, Please answer the following, Thanks! Imagine you are a human resources professional...

Based on the following, Please answer the following, Thanks!

Imagine you are a human resources professional working at a prominent global company. There have been recent concerns regarding how the organization has been conducting business in the global market, and it has tasked you with identifying problems and recommending solutions. You will analyze information from the case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth for how the organization’s business practices have aligned with more geocentric perspectives, identifying potential gaps in its current practices. You will then make a series of recommendations directed to leadership for addressing identified gaps and ensuring a successful transition regarding your proposed changes.

Introduction:

The Nimble Storage is a hybrid growing data storage System Company situated in Silicon Valley. The CEO of the company is Suresh Vasudevan, and the Vice President of the HR department is Paul Whitney. The company's purpose of developing the hybrid system, which is used in flash memory (It is a storage memory that leads to rapid access to random data) and hard disk to increase the performance of the company at the competitive prices offered to the customers in order to give the efficient and the flash storage platform.

The case analyzes the past performance of the company and the talented hiring of the personnel by Whitney, where the founder and CEO of the company plan to transfer the storage world into the hybrid storage system and wanted to achieve the goal to make a billion dollar company within three years. For this purpose, Suresh Vasudevan aimed to focus on both short term and long term key people initiative to measure the results. The company decided to launch the new leadership program named "LEAD" for the sustainable future growth of the company and also effects on the people initiatives to go forward in future.

The objective of the case is to make quantitative and qualitative analysis by identifying the issues, providing solutions to the problems, and providing an alternative for the growth and evaluating and choosing the best alternative and provide an implementation plan.

Define the issues/Problem statement:

The company has finished its second full fiscal year of storage on January 31, 2013, which provided the great opportunity for reproducing its core values, reviewed the success over the last years and also the strong personnel who made it possible. The company always aims to deliver the world’s most efficient way of data storage by target the broad range of enterprise applications with the goal of optimizing in many factors such as performance efficiency, capacity efficiency, data protection and dramatic simplicity.

Problems/Issues and its solutions:

In order to stabilize the performance, the company faced many potential problems and issues in producing the product and also HR-related issues faced by Whitney.

The first problem was related to the health of the customers' network that led to the unusual high temperature in the data center. The company is now organizing the data center in order to convince the customers to the belief that will help to solve the range of problems in one single platform.

The second problem was the business team was not effective due to lack of motivation and employee turnover, it as one of the biggest challenge that company was facing in last nine months. So, the business wanted to improve its values by making the business by conducting two ways process with the two-sided as the same coin. It would result in the powerful feedback and result oriented of employees, which will result in employee retention and run the business with the order of framework and program perspective.

The company was facing the hiring issue as they wanted to maintain its culture and status quo, the company needed to change the paid time off/personal time off PTO policy in fifteen days, the company wanted to increase the length of services, and they tested the idea but not preferred by the company. Therefore, the employees wanted a favor, and the company made the PTO flexible and unlimited sick leaves and holidays for employee retention.

Suresh Vasudevan had talked about the cultural openness and transparency in sharing the information to the tons of people via any social website, such as Facebook and Google. The company estimates that the openness will be challenging to measure as the hidden information would be exposed publicly.

Questions;

1. Determine gaps in the organization’s current practices within the global market that are relevant to the human resources team of the organization.

2. Determine gaps in the organization’s current practices within the organization that are relevant to the human resources team of the organization from a geocentric perspective. What issues or problems are present regarding the organization’s accommodations for global employees?

3. Determine gaps in the technological tools and structure of the organization that should be considered when working within a global structure.

In: Operations Management

3. Explain how you envision your studies in Leadership would bring a “value-add” component to the...

3. Explain how you envision your studies in Leadership would bring a “value-add” component to the business, organization, and/or marketplace that this occupation operates in.

In: Operations Management

A Meritorious Plan? There are many ways that organizations can organize their pay plans; indeed, pay...

A Meritorious Plan?

There are many ways that organizations can organize their pay plans; indeed, pay policies have been found to be one of the biggest differences between organizations. While it is usually a good idea to link pay and performance in some way, there are different approaches that can achieve this goal. Some companies prefer to link compensation strongly to individual performance, while others rely more heavily on team rewards.

In this exercise, please read the following min-case and answer the questions that follow.

Compu-Globo is an online marketing strategy company in Beachwood, Ohio. Three years after its founding, President Nick Morlan is ready to start hiring staff, as the company has expanded past the point where its two founders can keep up with customer demand. As a result, it will need to hire two marketing consultants and a graphic designer. Because Compu-Globo has never hired employees before, it is starting from scratch with regard to its pay policies. In college, Nick learned about various types of pay-for-performance schemes and is interested in developing one for use in his business. He knows about merit pay, which increases each employee's salary based on his or her individual performance. He also has experience with profit sharing from a previous job, in which employees receive bonuses based on the company's financial results.

While business has been good, cash is still tight and he is concerned with his company's ability to pay large salaries if market conditions affect demand. He is also unsure of his abilities to set up a well-developed performance system. The new staff will be required to work together on projects; the graphic designer in particular will have to cooperate with both the new hires and the founders of the company on a regular basis. Nick expects that the new hires will become an integral part of the company; he is more than doubling the staff and it will still only consist of five people total. The performance of each employee will have a substantial impact on the business's overall results.

While Nick can (and will) use multiple kinds of incentive pay, he will need to choose one to emphasize as he interviews, selects, and negotiates with new staff.

16.

value:
2.00 points

Which of these policies is most likely to lead to individual competition among Compu-Globo's new hires?

Profit sharing

Merit pay

Skill based

Gainsharing

References

Multiple ChoiceLearning Objective: 12-02 Describe the fundamental pay programs for recognizing employees' contributions to the organization's success.

Difficulty: 2 MediumLearning Objective: 12-03 List the advantages and disadvantages of the pay programs.

17.

value:
2.00 points

What will happen to the cost of a merit pay plan if Compu-Globo's business suffers?

He will still have to increase salaries if individual performance is good

It depends on the value of the company at that time

Payments will be reduced along with sales

18.

value:
2.00 points

Why is it important for Nick to have a well-developed performance appraisal system if merit pay is a substantial component of compensation?

Federal law has enacted legislation that requires employers to provide it

Merit pay increases are based on assessments of individual performance; the stakes of the appraisal are high with this system

Because individual appraisals and merit increases determine profit sharing outcomes

19.

value:
2.00 points

Which of these is a reason that Compu-Globo's employees might not be motivated by a profit-sharing plan?

If they feel that they have no impact on the overall results

If they pay out during the current time period, instead of being deferred

If it requires them to behave like owners, by doing what it takes to make the organization more effective

20.

value:
2.00 points

Which of these is most amenable to incentive pay, if Nick decides to go that route?

Jobs with significant interdependence on other employees

Jobs that are peripheral to the mission of the organization

Jobs in which performance can be measured as individual output, productivity, and sales

In: Operations Management

Question #1. Humongous Inc. is a large publicly traded manufacturer of health care products. It has...

Question #1.

Humongous Inc. is a large publicly traded manufacturer of health care products. It has a reputation as oneof the best-managed companies in the U.S.A. However, the company recently came under fierce criticismby the government for charging exorbitant prices to consumers.Investors have responded negatively tofears that the government would reform the health care sector and make an attempt to reign in prices. As a result of these fears, Humongous’s stock price lost 30% of its value in the past year.

To try to appease the government and counter possible government intervention, Humongous justpurchased Teeney Corp., a discount health care supplier. Investors have responded positively to thisacquisition, pushing Humongous’s stock price back up by over 10% since news of the acquisition becamepublic.

While Humongous Inc.’s acquisition of TeeneyCorp. could provide Humongous with a foothold in a growing part of the discount health care sector, a real problem lies in the mission of Teeney Corp.   Teeneyhas built a successful business by providing consumers with unbiased, objective health care advice and guiding them to the best prices available. However, now that it is owned by Humongous, Teeney’scustomers have expressed doubts about whether Teeney can remain objective and unbiased in recommending the best health care products at the best price.

?

Assume that you are a manager charged with bringing Teeney Corp. into Humongous Corp and helpingthe two companies to integrate. Please answer the questions below. Please make sure to break up your answer into paragraphs, starting a new paragraph whenever you start a new idea.

Are you facing an ethical issue? Why or why not? Do Teeney’s customers have reason to doubt the futureobjectivity of the company? Why or why not? If this is a problem, what steps can you take to mitigate that problem? (This answer could be about one or two paragraphs).

As a manager charged with bringing Teeney into Humongous, what are your ethical and legal obligations to Humongous? To Teeney? To the customers of both? What do you owe shareholders? Are there other stakeholders? If so, what do you owe them? (This answer could be about two or 3paragraphs).

In: Operations Management

Based on the following, Please answer the following, Thanks! Imagine you are a human resources professional...

Based on the following, Please answer the following, Thanks!

Imagine you are a human resources professional working at a prominent global company. There have been recent concerns regarding how the organization has been conducting business in the global market, and it has tasked you with identifying problems and recommending solutions. You will analyze information from the case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth for how the organization’s business practices have aligned with more geocentric perspectives, identifying potential gaps in its current practices. You will then make a series of recommendations directed to leadership for addressing identified gaps and ensuring a successful transition regarding your proposed changes.

Introduction:

The Nimble Storage is a hybrid growing data storage System Company situated in Silicon Valley. The CEO of the company is Suresh Vasudevan, and the Vice President of the HR department is Paul Whitney. The company's purpose of developing the hybrid system, which is used in flash memory (It is a storage memory that leads to rapid access to random data) and hard disk to increase the performance of the company at the competitive prices offered to the customers in order to give the efficient and the flash storage platform.

The case analyzes the past performance of the company and the talented hiring of the personnel by Whitney, where the founder and CEO of the company plan to transfer the storage world into the hybrid storage system and wanted to achieve the goal to make a billion dollar company within three years. For this purpose, Suresh Vasudevan aimed to focus on both short term and long term key people initiative to measure the results. The company decided to launch the new leadership program named "LEAD" for the sustainable future growth of the company and also effects on the people initiatives to go forward in future.

The objective of the case is to make quantitative and qualitative analysis by identifying the issues, providing solutions to the problems, and providing an alternative for the growth and evaluating and choosing the best alternative and provide an implementation plan.

Define the issues/Problem statement:

The company has finished its second full fiscal year of storage on January 31, 2013, which provided the great opportunity for reproducing its core values, reviewed the success over the last years and also the strong personnel who made it possible. The company always aims to deliver the world’s most efficient way of data storage by target the broad range of enterprise applications with the goal of optimizing in many factors such as performance efficiency, capacity efficiency, data protection and dramatic simplicity.

Problems/Issues and its solutions:

In order to stabilize the performance, the company faced many potential problems and issues in producing the product and also HR-related issues faced by Whitney.

The first problem was related to the health of the customers' network that led to the unusual high temperature in the data center. The company is now organizing the data center in order to convince the customers to the belief that will help to solve the range of problems in one single platform.

The second problem was the business team was not effective due to lack of motivation and employee turnover, it as one of the biggest challenge that company was facing in last nine months. So, the business wanted to improve its values by making the business by conducting two ways process with the two-sided as the same coin. It would result in the powerful feedback and result oriented of employees, which will result in employee retention and run the business with the order of framework and program perspective.

The company was facing the hiring issue as they wanted to maintain its culture and status quo, the company needed to change the paid time off/personal time off PTO policy in fifteen days, the company wanted to increase the length of services, and they tested the idea but not preferred by the company. Therefore, the employees wanted a favor, and the company made the PTO flexible and unlimited sick leaves and holidays for employee retention.

Suresh Vasudevan had talked about the cultural openness and transparency in sharing the information to the tons of people via any social website, such as Facebook and Google. The company estimates that the openness will be challenging to measure as the hidden information would be exposed publicly.

Questions;

Based on the following, Please answer the following, Thanks!

Imagine you are a human resources professional working at a prominent global company. There have been recent concerns regarding how the organization has been conducting business in the global market, and it has tasked you with identifying problems and recommending solutions. You will analyze information from the case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth for how the organization’s business practices have aligned with more geocentric perspectives, identifying potential gaps in its current practices. You will then make a series of recommendations directed to leadership for addressing identified gaps and ensuring a successful transition regarding your proposed changes.

Introduction:

The Nimble Storage is a hybrid growing data storage System Company situated in Silicon Valley. The CEO of the company is Suresh Vasudevan, and the Vice President of the HR department is Paul Whitney. The company's purpose of developing the hybrid system, which is used in flash memory (It is a storage memory that leads to rapid access to random data) and hard disk to increase the performance of the company at the competitive prices offered to the customers in order to give the efficient and the flash storage platform.

The case analyzes the past performance of the company and the talented hiring of the personnel by Whitney, where the founder and CEO of the company plan to transfer the storage world into the hybrid storage system and wanted to achieve the goal to make a billion dollar company within three years. For this purpose, Suresh Vasudevan aimed to focus on both short term and long term key people initiative to measure the results. The company decided to launch the new leadership program named "LEAD" for the sustainable future growth of the company and also effects on the people initiatives to go forward in future.

The objective of the case is to make quantitative and qualitative analysis by identifying the issues, providing solutions to the problems, and providing an alternative for the growth and evaluating and choosing the best alternative and provide an implementation plan.

Define the issues/Problem statement:

The company has finished its second full fiscal year of storage on January 31, 2013, which provided the great opportunity for reproducing its core values, reviewed the success over the last years and also the strong personnel who made it possible. The company always aims to deliver the world’s most efficient way of data storage by target the broad range of enterprise applications with the goal of optimizing in many factors such as performance efficiency, capacity efficiency, data protection and dramatic simplicity.

Problems/Issues and its solutions:

In order to stabilize the performance, the company faced many potential problems and issues in producing the product and also HR-related issues faced by Whitney.

The first problem was related to the health of the customers' network that led to the unusual high temperature in the data center. The company is now organizing the data center in order to convince the customers to the belief that will help to solve the range of problems in one single platform.

The second problem was the business team was not effective due to lack of motivation and employee turnover, it as one of the biggest challenge that company was facing in last nine months. So, the business wanted to improve its values by making the business by conducting two ways process with the two-sided as the same coin. It would result in the powerful feedback and result oriented of employees, which will result in employee retention and run the business with the order of framework and program perspective.

The company was facing the hiring issue as they wanted to maintain its culture and status quo, the company needed to change the paid time off/personal time off PTO policy in fifteen days, the company wanted to increase the length of services, and they tested the idea but not preferred by the company. Therefore, the employees wanted a favor, and the company made the PTO flexible and unlimited sick leaves and holidays for employee retention.

Suresh Vasudevan had talked about the cultural openness and transparency in sharing the information to the tons of people via any social website, such as Facebook and Google. The company estimates that the openness will be challenging to measure as the hidden information would be exposed publicly.

Questions;

G. Determine critical success factors for the organization for transitioning from an ethnocentric approach to a geocentric focus and achieving potential gains. What critical success factors must be considered when making such a transition? How do those critical success factors help achieve those potential gains?

H. Analyze global political trends for potential risk events regarding human resource management that the organization might have to consider in the future.

In: Operations Management

Over the twentieth century, the ability to process information in terms of labor units has improved...

Over the twentieth century, the ability to process information in terms of labor units has improved by a factor in the order of 1 to 5 trillion. This improvement represents a compounded growth rate of between 30 to 35 percent per year for a century. At the turn of the twentieth century, the mechanical calculator offered a modest productivity increase but the number of workers required to maintain the accounts of a medium-sized business still remained very high. Many tasks would take a large investment in equipment and a significant number of accountants’ weeks to process. A hundred years later, the same tasks can be completed by a standard desktop computer in minutes. The challenge for management has transitioned from a simple reduction in labor requirements to leveraging the increased processing power to develop competitive, efficient, and profitable organizations.

With this example in mind, respond to the following:

Explain how information systems influence businesses to be more competitive, efficient, and profitable.

Provide at least one example for each factor.  

In: Operations Management

Background Information: As far as famous negotiations go, it was a classic professional sports negotiation case....

Background Information:

As far as famous negotiations go, it was a classic professional sports negotiation case. Starting back in March of 1998, National Basketball Association (NBA) team owners and players were at loggerheads over their new contract. At midnight on June 30, 1998 the owners declared a lockout, halting preparations for the start of the 1998–99 NBA season. The players and owners negotiated for six long months, during which time the two sides collectively lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the end, it was a deadline that resolved the conflict. The team owners declared that if they didn’t reach an agreement with the players by January 7, 1999, they would cancel the rest of the season. In effect, the owners placed a final, arbitrary deadline on their participation in the famous negotiations; the chosen date had little significance to either side.

Crisis negotiation skills can make or break a negotiator in heated conflicts. Learn these skills from the experts at Harvard Law School when you download our FREE Special Report, Crisis Communication: How to Avoid Being Held Hostage by Crisis Negotiations.

Through public statements, the owners committed themselves to declaring an impasse if the deadline came and went. In the early-morning hours of January 6, the two sides agreed to contract terms that dramatically favored the owners.

We’re all familiar with negotiation case stories of tough opponents who bargain for months without making progress, only to reach resolution in the final moments before the passage of a critical deadline. Without a deadline, negotiators are tempted to use stalling tactics, hoping to pressure the other side into giving in.

Despite the proven effectiveness of deadlines, they remain one of the most misunderstood negotiation strategies. Many negotiators hesitate to place a deadline on their talks. In his research, when professor Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University asked people to predict the effect of deadlines on negotiations, even experienced negotiators predicted that the presence of a shared deadline would hurt them by forcing them to concede more quickly than they would like, thereby helping their opponents.

While there is some truth to these assumptions, it’s also true that deadlines increase pressure on the other party to reach an agreement in almost any negotiation case. Negotiators who recognize that deadlines affect everyone equally can use them to defuse costly stalling tactics. For example, car salespeople sometimes try to draw out price negotiations, hoping the amount of time you’ve invested will increase your commitment to making the deal. To defuse this strategy, try beginning your negotiation for a new car by informing the salesperson that you have only an hour to make a possible deal.

Because deadlines put pressure on everyone, they can get talks moving again. Don’t be afraid to set deadlines and commit to them. Furthermore, when negotiators tell their opponents about an existing final deadline, they get better deals. Why?

First, because both sides are more likely to work toward a dispute resolution agreement before the deadline passes, you reduce your risk of walking away with nothing. Second, when an opponent knows about your deadline, he’ll make concessions much more quickly. The NBA owners’ January 7 deadline would have been useless if they had kept it secret; the players’ union would have expected to keep negotiating past the deadline. It surely was one of the famous negotiations we can all learn from.

Question: Describe the background of this negotiation to give the big picture. Some questions to consider: What brought these parties together? What were the positions and interests of each party?  What did each want to accomplish?  What was the nature of the relationship at this stage of negotiations? What did each party know about the other?  Why were these two parties talking to each other, as opposed to working with or negotiating with some other company or party?  Give the overall view of what things looked like going into negotiations.

In: Operations Management

I need sample answers for each questions it can be three sentences or more. What can...

I need sample answers for each questions it can be three sentences or more.

What can you contribute to the engineering program (Computer)?

What skills do you have that can be asset to the college?

What achievement/awards have you received?

How will you apply comnunication and analytical skills during internship?

In: Operations Management

initiatives and recommendations to enhance the compliance with Ethics and Islamic Values on Food and beverages...

initiatives and recommendations to enhance the compliance with Ethics and Islamic Values on Food and beverages industry

In: Operations Management

can you give me short summary abstract and conclusion on the below which is taken from...

can you give me short summary abstract and conclusion on the below which is taken from chapters 5,6 in Strategic Market Management, 9th Edition, by David A. Aaker

Environmental Analysis and Strategic Uncertainty

Environmental Analysis

• Technology Trends – To what extent are existing technologies maturing? – What technological developments or trends are affecting or could affect the industry? • Government/Economic Trends – What changes in regulation are possible? What will their impact be?   – What are the political risks of operating in governmental jurisdiction? – What are the economic prospects and inflation outlets for the countries in which the firm operates? How will they affect strategy?

Environmental Analysis

• Consumer Trends – What are the current or emerging trends in lifestyles, fashions, and other components of culture? Why? What are their implications, What demographic trends will affect the market size of the industry or its submarkets? What demographic trends represent opportunities or threats?

• Innovations – Transformational, changes what people buy,changes the assets and competencies needed ,– Substantial—significant change as in a new generation offering ,Incremental,makes the offering more attractive or less costly

Environmental Analysis

• Being Green : Motivation, Practical functional benefits to customers and firms, Attack global warming, Generate respect from customers/employees

• General External Analysis Questions – What are the significant trends and future events? – What threats and opportunities do you see? – What are the key areas of uncertainty as to trends or events that have the potential to impact strategy? • Evaluate these strategic uncertainties in terms of their impact and immediacy. • Scenarios – What strategic uncertainties are worth being the basis of a scenario analysis?

Scenario Analysis: Identify Scenarios, Relate Scenarios to Existing or Proposed Strategies ,Estimate Scenario Probabilities

Environmental analysis of changes in technology, demographics, culture, the economy, and governmental actions can detect opportunities or threats to an organization.

• The green movement provides opportunities to connect to customers and employees.

• Impact analysis involves assessing the impact and immediacy of the trends and events that underlie each strategy uncertainty.

• Scenario analysis, a vehicle to explore different assumptions about the future, involves the creation of two to three plausible scenarios, the development of strategies appropriate to each, the assessment of scenario probabilities, and the evaluation of the resulting strategies across the scenarios.

Internal Analysis

Financial Performance – Sales and Profitability

• Sales and Market Share • Profitability • Measuring Performance: Shareholder Value Analysis

Shareholder Value Analysis: Cost of equity—weighted average of cost of capital and cost of debt – e.g. Capital $1 billion (12%); Debt $3 billion (4%) then the cost of capital is 6%

• Each business aims at ROA to exceed cost of equity, so shareholder can improve stock investment

Shareholder Value Risks

• ROA estimate requires knowing the cash flow of any investment and the assets employed—could encourage short term results • Reducing assets employed by outsourcing could result in loss of control of business • Reducing investment could affect offering • Increasing debt to reduce cost of equity could be risky

Performance Measures Reflecting Long-Term Profitability: Customer Satisfaction/ Brand Loyalty, Relative Cost, Brand/Firm Associations, Product/Service Quality, New Product Activity, Manager/Employee Capability/Performance, Long Term Profits, Heritage and Values, Current Performance: Long Term Profits,

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Strategies leverage strengths and neutralize weaknesses

• Point of advantage vs. points of parity vs. liability

Threats & Opportunities

• Key output of external analysis

• Evaluate as to: – Immediacy – Impact

Structuring Strategic Decisions

Strategy Decisions: Strategic Investment, Value Proposition, Assets and Competencies, Functional Strategies and Programs

Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses

Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses

Market Needs, Attractiveness, and Key Success Factors

Sales and profitability analysis provide an evaluation of past strategies and an indication of the current market viability of a product line.

• Shareholder value holds that the flow of profits emanating from an investment should exceed the cost of capital (which is the weighted average of the cost of equity and cost of debt). Routes to achieving shareholder value – such as downsizing, reducing assets employed, and outsourcing – can be risky when they undercut assets and competencies.

• Performance assessment should go beyond financials to include such dimensions as customer satisfaction/brand loyalty, product/service quality, brand/firm’s associations, relative cost, new product activity, and manager/employee capability and performance.

• Assets and competences can represent a point of advantage, a point of parity, or a liability. Threats and opportunities that are both imminent and important should trigger strategic imperatives, programs with high priority.

In: Operations Management

Assignments : A. Film Analysis Related to Interpersonal Communication Background on the Assignment: In a written...

Assignments : A. Film Analysis Related to Interpersonal Communication Background on the Assignment:

In a written assignment of approximately 1,000 words, examine how the insights you gained from course readings thus far relate to some of the characters, scenes or plot in a film that you have viewed. Students are encouraged to select from a wide array of films, from independent productions to Hollywood hits. This analysis should include three parts:

Part One: Explain the interpersonal communication concepts/competencies that you will survey in this analysis, including a brief explanation of each of the key terms you will reference. In this section, I encourage you to define the key concepts explored in the film (i.e. if you are analyzing The Breakfast Club, naturally, you will discuss topics such as friendship and self-disclosure). In additional to identifying these key concepts, you must also define them according to definitions provided by Adler et al (author of your textbook) and/or Aitken et al (author of your course manual). In other words, this section of your paper will be more descriptive than analytical or critical.

Part Two: Give a brief overview of the film, including some description of the plot and character development, if applicable. You summary should be about one to two paragraphs only. For example, some films (such as The Breakfast Club) will require that you introduce the main characters since this particular film is largely about character development while other films are more focused on particular social issues. After viewing the film, you should judge what aspect of the film you will likely focus on in your summary. Please keep in mind that this section should include an original summary and not one that is largely adapted based on Wikipedia, IMDB or other sites.

Part Three: Describe and assess how the interpersonal dynamics featured in the film apply to your own understanding of interpersonal communication. In this section, you are called upon to ‘put on your critical hat’ so that you may explore the key concepts identified in Part One while cross-referencing them as they become apparent in the film. Perhaps you will argue that the conflict you studied in the textbook and manual is not consistent with the conflict you analyzed while viewing the film, Crash for instance. It could be that you argue that conflict should be further explored through the lens of intercultural communication, given that conflict often arises when cultures ‘crash’. In this section, I am asking that you interrogate the concepts or the film’s portrayal of the concepts based on the information you have gathered in reading course materials thus far. You may also include personal examples in your own life if you think it strengthens your argument.

Sources: Please ensure that you cite a minimum of two sources, one being the film you will analyze and the other, being either your textbook or your course manual. You are welcome to include additional sources, though it is not required. Finally, you may site your sources and format your assignment, using either MLA or APA.

In: Operations Management

Q1) How does Monetary and Fiscal policy affects Labor relations? Q2) Explain the process of certification...

Q1) How does Monetary and Fiscal policy affects Labor relations?
Q2) Explain the process of certification and decertification of employees?
Q3) What is the purpose of successor rights?

4) tort of harassment (200 words)

In: Operations Management

As the decision maker, you were asked to look at the facts from various ethical perspectives,...

As the decision maker, you were asked to look at the facts from various ethical perspectives, one from each ethical lens (responsibilities,results,reputation, relationship). Describe what perspective appealed to you the most. After practicing, what is the value of changing perspective?

In: Operations Management

CASE STUDY 3.1: THE STARBUCKS EXPERIENCE According to CNN Money, barista carries the dubious dual distinction...

CASE STUDY 3.1: THE STARBUCKS EXPERIENCE

According to CNN Money, barista carries the dubious dual distinction of being one of the nation’s most stressful jobs and among those with the lowest pay. Baristas face many challenges: not only do they have to deal with the physical demands of making and serving coffee, they also have the emotional stress of coping with early morning lines of impatient customers in a hurry. In a recent poll surveying coffee workers, 55 percent of respondents reported upper-body repetitive stress injuries, 37 percent complained of persistent sore muscles, 29 percent said they suffered from anxiety attacks, and 44 percent lamented high stress levels. Considering that the median pay of baristas is $20,300, is the stress really worth it? How might their employers help baristas cope?

Howard Shultz is CEO of Starbucks Coffee, which is worth about $72.4 billion at the time of this writing and is projected to grow. There are more than 21,000 stores in 65 countries with 191,000+ employees, the bulk of whom are serving up your morning joe. After slashing jobs and closing stores in 2009, Shultz and Starbucks are brewing up new business again. The company’s China/Asia Pacific business grew revenue at 85 percent year over year as reported at close of 2014.

When Starbucks was conceived by three friends on the Seattle waterfront in 1971, the number one principle of its mission statement was bold: “To provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.” Forty-plus years later, Starbucks continues to provide an exception to CNN Money’s suggestion that the barista job is generally awful. The company frequently tops Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and has legions of fierce brand loyalists, many of them employees past and present. You can read employee testimonials on Glassdoor.com (“When I first started [with Starbucks] I had no intention of making a career out of Starbucks. Now, I have no intention of having a career without Starbucks”), plus numerous glowing blogs and the 2007 bestseller, How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else, by Michael Gates Gill.

Managers know that happy, healthy employees make for a better workforce, and a better workforce means a better experience for customers. To keep the money rolling in—while remaining true to its founding principles—Starbucks has had to be proactive about battling the barista blues. In the late 1990s, after conducting its own internal studies, Starbucks enlisted the help of La Marzocco, the Italian maker of espresso machines. La Marzocco in turn reached out to an osteopath and a physical therapist for insight into the company’s concerns about the repetitive actions performed by the baristas. They found that lifting milk jugs and steaming milk, tamping, inserting and removing portafilters, and simply standing for long periods had serious health implications. The demands also placed a dampener on staff “happiness and effectiveness.” To combat the effects, Starbucks worked with La Marzocco to develop a number of new employee-friendly technologies, including the auto-dosing and tamping Swift grinder. Throughout the decades, Starbucks has continued to innovate and automate processes with its employees’ health and safety in mind.

In Peter Ubel’s article in Forbes, “Do Starbucks’ Employees Have More Emotional Intelligence Than Your Physician?” the author suggests that doctors have a lot to learn from Starbucks’ baristas in terms of managing stress and communicating with constituents. He points out that, unlike physicians, Starbucks’ employees are trained to be emotionally sensitive and intuitive and to act accordingly. In the “Latte Method,” they undergo rigorous training on how to recognize and respond to customer needs. When a customer is unhappy, the Latte Method suggests, “We Listen to the customer, Acknowledge their complaint, Take action by solving the problem, Thank them, and then Explain why the problem occurred.”

p.86

With a framework in place to manage customer anxiety, Starbucks also succeeds in soothing employees’ nerves by providing the employee a basis for managing customers that reduces the fear of the unknown. The framework also empowers the employee (gives them tools) to handle stressful customer situations.

There are other ways in which Starbucks helps ameliorate employee stress—physical, emotional, and financial, too. Part-time employees who work at least 20 hours a week receive health care benefits. Salaries are higher than average for store managers and plans are in the works to raise wages for employees across the board; Starbucks’ CEO, in fact, has been a vocal proponent of raising the minimum wage for workers in the service industry. The company recently revised its practices to give employees more consistent hours, which helps with financial planning, not to mention the demands of family life. What’s more, Starbucks employees are eligible for bonuses, 401(k) matching, and tuition reimbursement, and most recently, a free college education through online portals. Employees (called “partners”) are also encouraged to move up the ladder. All these benefits help relieve the typical stress associated with service jobs. An employee who feels valued and who is encouraged to grow will be more invested in his or her job.

Schultz and Starbucks are clearly doing something right. Restaurant industry insider Eric Levine writes, “I’m fascinated how each and every Starbucks, while all corporately owned and part of a billion-dollar company, makes you feel that the owner and his wife are there, and that’s why they care.” Curious about what made Starbucks employees so happy, he decided to launch an informal poll. “I would have thought that the No. 1 reasons would have been benefits and stock options or growth and opportunity. To my surprise, the No. 1 answer—from eight out of 10 employees—was that they love the product, people and culture.”

The service industry is a notoriously stressful one, which Levine knows well. “I have seen servers yell at customers, ‘I have five tables just seated. I’m doing the best I can.’ This energy becomes anxiety and frustration, stressing customers, and costing both the company and the server money. . . . Starbucks employees deal with lines and stress like all the employees in our industry, but their stress is channeled into motion and productivity, not resentment and aggression.”

Case Questions

1.   Starbucks’ core agenda is to provide an excellent work environment and for employees to treat each other with respect and dignity. How were they able to make this happen?

2.   Describe the “Latte Method.” How did it help grow Starbucks?

3.   Employees say that they love Starbucks’ company culture, and Starbucks regularly tops Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” How does Starbucks promote organizational commitment and job satisfaction?

In: Operations Management