Questions – 

Jenna has recently been promoted to the supervisor position of a small business unit of a wire and cable manufacturer. Since she has been promoted from the line, she is eager to learn about the different types of powers she has or can develop as a supervisor. Provide some suggestions.

Imagine you are a production supervisor at a hand-tool manufacturer such as Snap-on Tools. Your boss says, “I know you were looking forward to your trip to Hawaii next month, but we will be stepping up production and three new employees will be joining your group. I wish you would consider staying to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

                  a. What is the nature of the conflict in this situation? In other words, what two goals are impossible for you to achieve at                       the same time?

                  b. List as many solutions as you can think of to resolve this conflict.

                  c. Which solution do you prefer? How could you present it to your manager?

A dispatcher suffered from multiple sclerosis, which caused, among other things, incontinence and coordination difficulties. After having bowel accidents at work, the dispatcher was subjected to ridicule, which included name-calling, the posting of unflattering drawings and pictures on the office walls, and the theft of his cane.

Has the employer created a hostile work environment? To what extent is the employer required to notify his supervisor of his belief that the work environment is hostile? [Murphy v. Beavex, Conn. D.C., No. 3:06CV01109 (DJS) (2008).]

Directions: For this assignment, review an audio recording of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream" speech from 1963. After listening to (or reading) the speech, compete the following:

• Determine at least two different ways that Dr. King enlists others in his vision.
• Identify something you learned about how to present information in a way that engages the audience.
• Identify a way that you can incorporate what you learned to engage your own audience.
• Is there anything that you learned that you feel you would not be able to incorporate into your own style of engaging an audience? Describe how and why.

The essay should be at least 2 pages in length 

imagine you are the coo of Amazon's acquisition of whole foods, how are the management of quality and quality control relevant.

Address the topic as if you are the Chief Operating Officer for the company

Identify relevant issues and how those pertain to your selected company

Identify potential risks to your company, and discuss how those might be addressed, mitigated, or eliminated

Include other issues or ideas on the topic

300 words(minimum)....

One of the major challenges companies face is providing customer service information via email. Think of companies you do business with. Do you email them? How long does it normally take for them to respond? Explain some of the shortcomings of using email for customer service.

Review The Case of Women Directors found on pages 91 - 96 in the textbook Boards, Governance and Value Creation. Review the case using the Graduate Case Study Format to structure a comprehensive analysis. The case is below.

The case of women directors

This in-depth summarizing case concerns the Norwegian law designed to increase the number of women on corporate boards. Norway has received attention in the international corporate governance debate because of the introduction in 2006 of a law requiring at least 40 per cent of the board members in corporations to be women.

Background

Norway has been at the forefront of moves to include employees in the governance of corporations. Laws regulating co-determination have been enacted as a result of wide-ranging discussions that took place in the 1960s. One of the debates centered on the question of what corporations are and what they are for. The other area of discussion concerned the workers’ role in business development.42 The outcome of the debate was that employees received the legal right to be represented on corporate boards at the beginning of the 1970s. The Company Act of 1976 was a result of joint Nordic efforts and cooperation.

In 1988 the Nordic Council of Ministers issued a statement to the effect that Nordic cooperation with respect to company law should continue. As the need for a new Company Act became apparent at the beginning of the 1990s, there was also a desire to make adjustments and to harmonize this Act with company laws and regulations in the European Union. At that time Denmark was a member of the EU but the other Nordic countries were not; as a result it was difficult to achieve the same kind of inter-Nordic harmonization and cooperation as there had been in 1976, as Denmark had also to obey EU law.

There were several features in the development of Norwegian society that made it urgent to have a new company law. One core aspect was the adjustments to EU regulations. This adjustment led, as expected, to a separation between big ‘public’ companies and small ‘private’ firms. Another aspect was the development of economic crime and the misuse of the corporate form. This was significantly more extensive at the beginning of the 1990s than it had been in the 1970s: the extent of bankruptcies, including ‘black’ bankruptcies, had increased considerably.

Proposals for new company laws were given to the Ministry of Police and Justice in March 1996, and the laws were ratified in June 1997, coming into force in January 1999. There were two laws: one dealt with private companies, with the suffix AS, and the other with public companies, ASA.43 The major advance in these laws compared to earlier laws was that they spelt out the responsibilities of the board. This led to renewed discussions about liability insurance for board members, and concerns that in the future it would be difficult to get qualified board members.

The laws also had other concrete stipulations, including requirements for CEO working descriptions, board instructions, voting rules and financial reporting to the board. The requirement for board instructions was only for companies with employee representatives on the boards. The intention of the board instruction stipulation was to ensure that employee-elected board members had real – rather than only nominal – influence on board decision-making.

Women on corporate boards

One aspect of the laws that created considerable debate was the proposal to have a quota of women on corporate boards. The subject of having quotas of women on boards was originally an equal opportunity issue, and rules concerning gender representation on boards were introduced in 1981 in the Act about Equal Opportunity. Becoming effective in 1988, paragraph 21 of the Act of Equal Opportunity had the following wording: ‘When a public body appoints a committee, board or council, etc. with four members or more, then each gender must be represented with at least 40 per cent of the members. Both genders must be represented in committees with two or three members. These rules are also valid for subsidiary members.’

The requirement concerning gender representation was motivated by social justice and a societal need. It was also argued that the particular interests of women would be better taken care of by women than by men, and that women had different background experiences from men. The objective was to accelerate this development by a quota system. This regulation had major effects. Between 1979 and 1987 the ratio of women board members in public boards and councils increased from 22 per cent to 40 per cent; since then this figure has been constant.

In 1992 there were 764 board member positions in the companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Only twenty-six of these positions, or 3.4 per cent, were held by women. In some industries there were no women at all as board members. In 1996 the ratio of women board members increased to 7.5 percent, but the increase was mainly due to the acceptance of new types of firms on the Oslo Stock Exchange: savings banks were now allowed to enter. Around this time, however, attention became focused on this issue once more, input to the discussion coming from the NHO (the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise), the government’s Equality Centre, various feminist groups and the debates in other countries, in particular Sweden. The motivation for increasing the number of women directors changed from an equality and societal issue to a firm profitability issue, as newspapers started to report research findings about positive relationships between the ratio of women on boards and board performance.

Programmes to increase the number of women directors started to mushroom. Various programmes designed to train women as board members were introduced, mentorship programmes and women’s net- works were established, and databanks, registers or archives of women board candidates were launched.

Since the mid-1990s the political situation in Norway has been quite volatile, with frequent changes of government between a social democratic Labour administration and one headed by a Christian Democratic or Christian People’s Party Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik. In 1999 the Equality Department in the Ministry of Children and Families in Bondevik’s first Cabinet submitted for hearing a proposed reform to have at least 25 per cent female board membership in all companies – private and public alike. The proposal involved a change in the Equality Act between the genders, and it led to a strong reaction from men as well as from women. In 2000 the ratio of female board members fell to 6.4 per cent in the companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 2002 the ratio of women board members in all public companies (ASA) was also reported to be 6.4 per cent.

This proposal, which had originated with the first Bondevik Cabinet, was acted on by the first administration headed by Jens Stoltenberg (Norwegian Labour Party). The changes in the Act of Equality were implemented without the requirements for board representation, but a new proposal for quotas for women on corporate boards in public companies was submitted in 2001. In the hearing, it was suggested that the ratio of women to men could be as high as 40 per cent in public companies (ASA companies). The proposal received only mixed support, however, with the NHO and the financial community the most negative in their reaction.

In 2002 the Minister of Industry in the second Bondevik administration presented a law proposal, derived from the two previous hearings, to the effect that each gender should have at least 40 per cent representation in all public companies. There were no exceptions to this rule for board members elected by employees; the gender representation rule was to apply to the whole board. The law proposal was ratified by the Norwegian Parliament in 2003. However, the implementation rules for the Act dictated that the law did not need to be enforced if the mandatory 40 per cent representation for each gender had been achieved on a voluntary basis before 1 July 2005. As this was not achieved, the law requiring 40 per cent of corporate board members to be women was put into effect in January 2006 – by which time the actual figure had increased to around 13 per cent. However, the representation of women on boards in corporations with more than 5000 employees had risen to more than 20 per cent by then. All companies were given two additional years’ grace before any sanctions would be imposed.

The Norwegian debate about women directors was characterized by many simplistic and partially wrong arguments. Nevertheless, the discussion and the law proposal have probably had a greater impact on the development of good board practice than was suggested in the public discussions themselves. In the Norwegian corporate community, probably no single event has contributed as much to a thorough rethinking of the contribution of boards, board tasks and board composition as the debate regarding women directors – probably more so even than the waves of shareholder activism and the evolution of codes of best practice. The contribution from these discussions has been that board member selection has, by and large, moved from being an informal and often unconscious search through professional and social networks to a professional and rational search process containing specifications of competence and qualification requirements of board members.

Summary

This chapter has looked at board members’ characteristics and compensation and board composition, which constitute the core concepts of the chapter. I relate characteristics to each individual board member, whereas compensation refers to the individual board member’s incentive structure and composition is a description of the board members as a group. It is important to identify the three concepts and to distinguish between them. However, characteristics, compensation and composition should not be viewed separately from each other when exploring boards and value creation, as the three attributes interact. Both competence and motivation are needed at the individual level, and the composition of the board should reflect the need to balance the various task expectations.

Board member characteristics is a broad term. A sub-group is competence. Seven types of board member competence criteria were presented based on arguments from theory and board task expectations:

Firm-specific knowledge may, for example, be about the main activities of the firm, the firm’s critical technology and core competence, the weak points in the firm and in its products and services, the development of the firm’s customers, markets, products and services, the bargaining power of suppliers and customers, threats from new firms or new products or services in the industry, etc.

General and function-oriented competence may, for example, be in finance, accounting, law, marketing, human resources, organizational behavior and design, strategy or just general management experience.

Process-oriented competence may include knowledge about how to run a board.

Relational competence includes the abilities the board members have to build relationships with internal and external actors.

Competence is related to the personalities and personal characteristics of the directors.

Negotiation skills.

Ownership.

Characteristics are also related to who the board members are, where they live, their age, etc.

We have used the term ‘compensation’ to describe the board members’ incentives and motivation. Included are internal as well as external incentives, and the incentives go beyond independence and share- holding. Motivation arising from liability, reputation and personal and professional standards were also introduced. Composition is about the size and configuration of the board with respect to the board members’ competence, characteristics and compensation. Board size, out- sider ratio and diversity were the main types presented. The discussion and arguments about compensation and composition were also based on competing theoretical perspectives and board task expectations.

What actions can senior leadership take to allocate organizational resources to support the accomplishment of the organization's action plans?

Is the Zappos supply chain push or pull, and is it responsive or efficient? Explain.

Question from Case Study

Zappos.com:Developing a supply chain to Deliver WoW!

Standford Graduate School of Business

Upon the successful completion of this module, you should understand the following concepts:

YOUR OWN WORDS:

1- Message receiving process

2- Importance of feedback

3- Providing coaching feedback

4- Performance formula

5- Mentoring

6- Conflict management styles

7- Conflict resolution model

Remember, the concepts we are discussing build on one another. For each question, please identify two possible remedies available. Define the remedy, apply the remedy to the facts, and then provide your conclusion of whether or not the remedy will succeed. 1 paragraph for each remedy, five sentences per paragraph. I will expect to see at least 4 paragraphs in your answer and 20 sentences.

FACT PATTERN

Steve owned two adjoining improved tracts of land, Parcels 1 and 2, near a lake. Parcel 1 bordered the lake; Parcel 2 bordered Parcel 1, and was adjacent to an access road. Steve decided to sell Parcel 1 to Belle. Belle admired five 100-year-old oak trees on Parcel 1 as well as its lakefront location.

On February 1, Steve and Belle executed a contract for the sale of Parcel 1 at a price of $400,000. The contract specified that the conveyance included the five 100-year-old oak trees. In addition, the contract stated that Belle was to have an easement across Parcel 2 so that she could come and go on the access road. Although the access road was named Lake Drive, Steve and Belle mistakenly believed that it was named Top Road, which happened to be the name of another road nearby. The contract referred to the access easement as extending across Parcel 2 to Top Road, which would not have been of any use to Belle. The contract specified a conveyance date of April 1.

Later in February, Steve was approached by Tim, who offered Steve $550,000 for Parcel 1. Steve decided to breach his contract with Belle and agreed to convey Parcel 1 to Tim. Despite Belle’s insistence that Steve honor his contract, he told her that he was going ahead with the conveyance to Tim in mid-April, and added, “Besides, our contract is no good because the wrong road was named.”

In March, Belle learned that, in April, Steve was going to cut down the five 100-year-old oak trees on Parcel 1 to better the view of the lake from Parcel 2.

What equitable remedies can Belle reasonably seek to obtain Parcel 1? Discuss.

What legal remedies can Belle reasonably seek if she cannot obtain Parcel 1? Discuss.

1.How can you project a more positive image over the telephone?

2. What information should you always get when taking telephone messages?

3-When transferring calls, what should you avoid and why?

4-When you leave a message on voicemail, what information should you give?

5-What is telephone tag, and how can it be avoided or reduced?

6. How are small businesses benefiting from today’s technology?

Y^ = b₀ + b₁X₁

The following table shows the calculations for regression line:

The following table shows the calculations for regression line:

Sample size: n = 12

Question. According to equation Y^ = b₀ + b₁X₁ what level of line maintenance expense would be expected for a phone company with 75,000 customers show how you arrive at this value.

Describe a project that you worked on, either personally or professionally, that was hampered by communication difficulties and interpersonal challenges.

Based on what you have learned about emotional intelligence and cultural and generational awareness, what recommendations would you make to improve interpersonal and team dynamics? Explain the rationale behind your recommendations.

In a capitalist society, it is the mission of private industry to make a profit. The more profit made; the better the company can establish competitive advantage. Those who do not pursue profit maximization usually fall out of competition and go out of business. In the apparel industry, approximately 60% of cost of goods sold is in labor. The manufacturing sector of the apparel industry began leaving the United States in pursuit of lower cost labor. They accomplished this by relocating some or all of their manufacturing base to low wage countries. With implementation of NAFTA and the Caribbean Basin Initiative, Mexico and the Dominican Republic were the beneficiaries of much of this production. As China and other areas in the Far East were opened to business ventures, much of the production moved from Mexico and the Dominican Republic to China, Viet Nam and a few other countries in that region. The difference in wages was dramatic. The range of hourly labor costs (indirect and direct) spanned from $13.00 in the U.S., to $2.25 - $2.50 in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, to $ .50 in the Far East, a 96% reduction in labor cost over domestic manufacturing. In the pursuit of lower labor costs and higher profits, the idea of social responsibility arises. Many workers were left jobless, and, especially in the developing countries, very little opportunity to find other employment. The apparel industry's defense has been that if it had never located to any of these areas, the people would be no better or worse than after the companies left.

In one concise, well-written paragraph of no more than 300 words, defend the apparel companies’ right to pursue profit as described. The object is for you to use information you learned in all of your Business courses to write this defense. Using business terminology and concepts is critically important. Do not include the above paragraph with your work.There is no need for a bibliography or references because this is not a research paper. It is an exercise in creative business writing. One-hundred percent of your paragraph must be your concept and writing. Think of yourself as the spokesperson for the apparel industry. The major networks are interviewing you and asking the above question. How do you answer?As a separate piece of advice, do not use excerpts from the problem set-up. You may use terms such as social responsibility but do not use whole thoughts from this paragraph.