After reading Chapter 6 on Lean Systems, one obvious take away is that a huge component of successful Lean implementation is teamwork. A case could be made that Lean systems work better in some cultures than in others, depending how that culture values the collective. In essence, it comes down to Teamwork vs. Autonomy. For example, you could make a statement that Toyota is very good at Lean systems because Japanese culture traditionally values the collective over the individual. Think about a culture that you are familiar with and give your opinion on if you think that a Lean System would fair well there and why. A culture could be from a company, school, city, state, country, region, etc. I'm interested in what you think and your opinion here, so have some fun with the topic while being sensitive to all cultures and viewpoints.

Personality is shaped by the combined forces of biological, situational, and mental processes all embedded in a sociocultural and developmental context. Sue Klebold is the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the two shooters who committed the Columbine High School massacre, murdering 12 students and a teacher. She's spent years excavating every detail of her family life, trying to understand what she could have done to prevent her son's violence. In this difficult, jarring talk, Klebold explores the intersection between mental health and violence, advocating for parents and professionals to continue to examine the link between suicidal and homicidal thinking. Click on the link. What are your perspectives on the video? What do you think about suicidal and homicidal thinking?

https://www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story?utm_ campaign=tedspread--a&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Identify a major national economic problem that needs fixing. Consider how you would measure the relative success of any measure(s) to fix the problem you identified (e.g., more people being put to work, higher household income, fewer people under the poverty level, increased GDP, greater economic growth, higher overall math/science achievement among high school students, lower pollution, etc. - MAKE SURE you come up with a few of your own measures!). Now, propose fiscal and/or monetary policies to fix the problem you've identified and explain IN DETAIL how you believe your policy recommendations would remedy the problem you identified AND how you would measure the relative success of YOUR economic policy recommendations.150-200 words

Library Management System allows the user to borrow and return the books. The book is identified by book name, accession number, item category, due date, due time, and status. Before the user proceeds to borrow or return the books, they need to register for an account. Each user can have only one account. The user can be a staff or student. Each user is identified by ID number, name, school/department name, address. The books are arranged on a shelf. The shelf can be of two categories: open shelf or red spot. The user is allowed to reserve the book, in case, if the book is already borrowed by someone. While reserving a book, the user needs to specify the user name, ID number, book name, and accession number.

##Based on the above scenario, draw a Class Diagram. Your diagram should include attributes, methods and multiplicity.

QUESTION 1 Organizations tend to be flatter in which kind of country:

One with low power distance

One with low uncertainty avoidance

One that is collectivist

One with a short-term orientation

QUESTION 2 Which of the following was not part of McDonald’s original strategy?

Standardized menus

High prices

Consistent quality

Quick service

QUESTION 3 Cynthia continues to wear her traditional dress despite pressure to conform to the fashion style in her new school. Cynthia is demonstrating:

Cultural divergence

Cultural convergence

Cultural relativism

Cultural learning

QUESTION 4 Which of the following business functions is subject to a system based on Islamic law for application in Islamic contexts?

Banking and finance

Operations

Marketing

Research & development

QUESTION 5 Based on the case, which of the following is not a criticism of Mcdonalds’ employment practices:

Low pay

Poor working conditions

Retaliation

Lack of health insurance

QUESTION 6 Which of the following statements is true:

Banks in Muslim countries operate the same as

Banks anywhere in the world

Companies doing business in Muslim countries must comply only with religious law

Banks in Muslim countries cannot charge interest

Companies in Muslim countries cannot employ women

QUESTION 7 Which statement is true about the caste system in India:

The caste system no longer exists in India

The caste system is an economic and social aspect of Hinduism

The caste system allows for social and economic mobility between castes

The caste system does not lead to discrimination

QUESTION 8 McDonald’s was a major investor in which fast-casual restaurant?

Applebees Chipotle

TGI Friday

Boston Market

QUESTION 9 When doing business in Trevonia, it’s important to build relationships beyond the workplace. According to Trompenaars’ theory of relationships Trevonia is most likely:

A neutral country

A collectivist country

A Universalist country

A diffuse country

QUESTION 10 Assimilation of immigrants is most closely related to:

Cultural divergence

High-context cultures

Low-context cultures

Cultural convergence

Brad's Dilemma: Finding a New Job Brad Thomas, a 53-year-old retail store manager earning $75,000 a year, has worked for the same company during his entire 28-year career. Brad was recently laid off and is still unemployed 10 months later, and his severance pay and 6 months' unemployment compensation have run out. Because he has consistently observed careful financial planning practices, he now has sufficient savings and investments to carry him through several more months of unemployment. Brad is actively seeking work but finds that he is overqualified for available lower-paying jobs and under-qualified for higher-paying, more desirable positions. There are no openings for positions equivalent to the manager's job he lost. He lost his wife several years earlier and is close to his two grown children, who live in the same city.

Brad has these options:

Wait out the recession until another retail store manager position opens up.

Move to another area of the country where store manager positions are more plentiful.

Accept a lower-paying job for two or three years and then go back to school evenings to finish his college degree and qualify for a better position.

Consider other types of jobs that could benefit from his managerial skills.

1) What important career factors should Brad consider when evaluating his options?

2) What important personal factors should Brad consider when deciding among his career options?

3) What recommendations would you give Brad in light of both the career and personal dimensions of his options noted in Questions 1 and 2?

4)What career strategies should today's workers employ in order to avoid Brad's dilemma?

See the multiple-choice question below, which deals with how to treat a grant from an employer that pays for tuition. I do not ask you to answer the multiple-choice question. The correct answer is C.

Required: Rank the four answers from most attractive to the taxpayer to least attractive to the taxpayer, ignoring the fact that the correct answer is C. No partial credit. Half credit for no explanation or inadequate explanation.

Additional comments (you can earn maximum points if comment is insightful above and beyond the requirements):

Eighty-one-year-old Stella Liebeck was a passenger in a parked car, when she accidentally spilled scalding-hot McDonald's coffee on herself. (McDonald's allegedly kept its coffee at 180 degrees, 40 degrees hotter than most people serve coffee, to maintain peak flavor). The spill caused second and third degree burns that required skin graphs and left scars.

When McDonald's offered Liebeck $800 of the $2000 medical expenses she had asked for, Liebeck sued. After hearing that there had been 700 complaints about scalding coffee, the jury found for Stella and awarded her $160,000 compensatory damages and another $2.7 million in punitive. The latter were reduced on appeal to $480,000.
How might you use the above scenario to argue for/against tort reform and what do you think should happen if the case were appealed?

Phil Parent purchased a new car from Major Car Company. Two weeks later, he was in a serious car accident when a four-wheel drive drove into the side of his car while he was driving his four-year-old daughter home from school. The driver-side airbag did not open up, and Phil was thrown through the windshield - causing the car to spin around and hit a tree. At that point, the air bag on the passenger side, where his daughter was sitting, opened -- injuring the young girl.

The driver who caused the accident was uninsured and has no money, and little chance of ever having any. Parent and his daughter have both suffered serious injuries. Parent was out of work for six months and lost his job -- his daugher nearly died. Expert testimony established that airbags cannot normally be expected to open when a car is struck from the side. There has been extensive publicity about the risk to small children seated in the front passenger seat.

CH 7: Entrepreneurship Case BBG 101 -- Hart

One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs is getting the word out about their new venture. Perhaps that's why entrepreneurs have embraced social media as a communication tool.

If used skillfully, many believe, social media can help level the playing field between small businesses and their giant competitors. David avRutick, co-owner of Folbot, a small kayak retailer, claims that without Twitter, he wouldn't have as many sales as he does. “You can't buy that kind of exposure,” avRutick says.

Folbot competes against such household names as L.L. Bean and Cabela's—there's no way the smaller company could challenge the larger ones without widespread interactive communication. However, critics point out that social media sites vary widely in their value to small businesses. “The hype right now exceeds the reality,” observes Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business.

Despite the fact that the use of social media by firms with fewer than 100 employees doubled in one recent year, only 22 percent of those who responded to a separate survey reported a direct increase in profits as a result of social media use, while half said they broke even on the investment. Others caution that social media networking eats up valuable time, particularly for entrepreneurs whose day is chock-full of tasks ranging from design to distribution and manufacturing to marketing.

Most entrepreneurs support the use of social media, but with moderation. Chris Lindland, owner of Cordarounds.com, an online clothing retailer, advises patience. “My business has been visited millions of times, but I haven't made millions of sales,” he comments. But he believes patience pays off.

Questions for Critical Thinking

How will social networking change the business environment for entrepreneurs?

How might entrepreneurs use social media to secure financing?

Brad's Dilemma: Finding a New Job Brad Thomas, a 53-year-old retail store manager earning $75,000 a year, has worked for the same company during his entire 28-year career. Brad was recently laid off and is still unemployed 10 months later, and his severance pay and 6 months' unemployment compensation have run out. Because he has consistently observed careful financial planning practices, he now has sufficient savings and investments to carry him through several more months of unemployment. Brad is actively seeking work but finds that he is overqualified for available lower-paying jobs and under-qualified for higher-paying, more desirable positions. There are no openings for positions equivalent to the manager's job he lost. He lost his wife several years earlier and is close to his two grown children, who live in the same city.

Brad has these options:

Wait out the recession until another retail store manager position opens up.

Move to another area of the country where store manager positions are more plentiful.

Accept a lower-paying job for two or three years and then go back to school evenings to finish his college degree and qualify for a better position.

Consider other types of jobs that could benefit from his managerial skills.

1) What important career factors should Brad consider when evaluating his options?

2) What important personal factors should Brad consider when deciding among his career options?

3) What recommendations would you give Brad in light of both the career and personal dimensions of his options noted in Questions 1 and 2?

4)What career strategies should today's workers employ in order to avoid Brad's dilemma?