Lasting Ideas From the Renaissance

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In addition to the information presented this week regarding the reasons for the creation of artifacts in each era (the ancient world, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance), recall information about motives for creating artifacts presented earlier in the course as you answer these questions:

Identify an artifact that represents the characteristics of each era. You should identify a total of three artifacts. Insert an image or include a link to your artifact.

What do you believe was the purpose for the creation of each of the artifacts you selected? Justify your response using what you now know about the culture and values of each era.

Why do you believe the creators felt the need to express themselves using these artifacts?

It was 4pm in the afternoon of Friday, December 19th. Carol looked out of a 10th floor window with a view of Paris. Her thoughts drifted away for a second, thinking about the traffic congestion ahead on the famous grand departs of the city, and what excuse she would find this time to give to her husband for being late again. However, she quickly refocused her mind on the small group of people in the meeting room. She looked at the VP of purchasing of Renault Nissan Alliance, together with his Japanese counterpart at the other end of the conference table, and laughed to herself about the complicated relationship she had developed with them over the years. Everyone knew that the stakes were high. Depending on how the negotiations proceeded, it was possible that a US-based company would take over the business from a deeply infringed French supplier and for an amount of money too big to imagine. This was the moment Carol was waiting for...for 2 years. It wasn't easy, especially for a woman, to get where she was. Charlotte realized that her status as an outlier-someone who didn't fit the mold-helped her immeasurably. While she was fluent in French and familiar with Japanese traditions, her appearance bewildered most in the male-dominated automotive industry; they were not sure how to handle her combination of nearly 6' with a sporty engineering style, friendly demeanor, and non threatening smile. Over the years, she survived all kinds of tough negotiations with a kaleidoscope of raw male emotions from men of all nationalities by always staying focused on the content and delivery of customer service. Her ability to think 3 steps ahead and respond more quickly than the competition, combined with her tenacity and professionalism, was rare-regardless of gender. This positioned her favorably at the negotiating table. In fact, because of her track record of winning big business for her company over the last 15 years, Carol's management willingly provided her the support and resources that were necessary throughout the typically complicated and lengthy negotiation processes around the glob. By now, her team had delivered 12 months work of 3D drawings, new plant layouts, and a complete new concept, with intellectual knowledge that was difficult to protect. She also knew she could not go back and ask for another bucket of money without a clear contract in her hands. But strangely enough, the closeness of the mega deal did not deliver the adrenaline rush she would normally encounter in this stage. She actually felt like not wanting to win the game...and suddenly she realized that months and months of sleeping only 5 hours a night had brought her to this stage of indifference. On top of that, her French boss, an old school manager with responsibility for the whole division- had decided to join the negotiations. Carol knew he wanted to dominate the meeting. He was new in his role and he wanted to rack up risk-free success stories to support his global career within a rather American culture while keeping his French ego intact in front of the customer. What this customer was unaware of, however, was that only an hour ago, he called Charlotte in a panic after having seen last-minute changes in a business case worth several million dollars. he would not sign off and considered walking away from the deal. At that moment, Takahashi-san started to speak. Instantly, Carol knew something was wrong. It would be the first time in 2 years since the negotiations began that he would open the meeting... 2 hours later, while stuck in traffic in some boulevard, Carol revisited her options. Xmas holiday was supposed to start at this moment. Her customer had left already for either Marseille or Tokyo. Her boss was clear in his message: "0 support." Her team desperately needed a break. Her husband would ban her computer from the kitchen table. The US headquarters would certainly not be in favor of releasing another budget. Her rational mind told her that nothing was lost; she knew the financials and business risks by heart and she needed to spend time with the team to develop a roadmap to profitability. her customer wanted to get the maximum out of the deal and did not realize that his key supplier was ready to walk away from this major strategic business due to exhaustion and potential intellectual property risks. The customer's explanation was simple and took only 10 mins. Although Carol's company was certainly the preferred supplier, it was still not decided at the board level that Renault Nissan Alliance was ready for such a major strategic shift. More time was needed to reflect. As price and product design were almost equal between the 2 suppliers (new and incumbent one) it was difficult.

Answer the following questions:

1. What should Carol do in the next 2 (holiday) weeks in order to save the business for the company? She had already invested 2 years of work and saw a real potential to win. Yet, she was testing the limits of her marriage, her own hardiness, and her role as a leader and caretaker of an exhausted team.

2. What info would you need to make this decision? Where would you get it?

3. What are the potential implications of Carol moving forward vs stopping at this point? Realize that the decision was not in her hands, rather it rested with the board.

4. How do you keep acquisition teams and sponsors motivated, energized and focused in such a long negotiation processes?

5. How do you build the necessary trust between all stakeholders knowing that your customer is in a position to provide your complete competitive edge to your key competition.

The security for application software is enhanced and optimized through a procedure called threat modeling. In major applications, such as those used by manufacturing, banking, or distribution companies, that do scheduling, resource management, inventory management, accounting, and more, security is a crucial element of its operations. Research threat modeling and briefly describe a procedure you would recommend to provide robust security for a major application in this type of environment

What is involved in job costing? (Hints: You may need to consider, but not be limited to: (a) the definition of job costing, (b) the purposes of job costing, (c) the basic documents used in the job costing system, (d) the major functions of job costing system, and (e) the fundamental components of job costing.)

The Terrapin manufacturing Company has the following job cost sheets on file. They represent jobs that have been worked on during June ofthe current year. This table summarizes information provided on each sheet:

Questions:

1. What is the cost of the goods in process inventory on June30?
2. What is the cost of the finished goods inventory on June30?
3. What is the cost of goods sold for the month of June?

You titrate 100 mL of a .0250 M solution of benzoic acid (HBz) with .100 M NaOH to the equivalence point. Devolop a titration curve for this reaction when 0.00, 6.25, 12.5, 24.5, 25.0, 25.5, and 26 mL of titrant is added

You are the CEO of Marketing Research Ltd, a company that conducts marketing research for all types of organisations. Following is a marketing research scenario that you are required to address. Your task is to create a report on the problem and the proposed solution to Martin Scoon.

Martin Scoon, the owner of Scoon Beverages, was mulling the launch of a new product for which he needed to find the pulse of consumers to decide further. He designed a survey for collecting data from people in the city and engaged the services of research students from the university for executing the fieldwork. However, he found them to be non-cooperative at times and wondered whether the data supplied was fudged.

Question

A.Outlines a brief description of the business, its date of establishment, product, market, location and any other relevant information. Also, the marketing research capacity and systems that are currently in place, and any other relevant information. (You may need to add details but you cannot change the information already provided.)

B. Analyse the central problems/issues relevant to the case study

´Software Engineer Christopher is hired by software company, ABC Software, and involved in the design of specialized software for Gladstone City Council (GCC) in connection with the operations of facilities that impact on public health and safety, such as those that control air and water quality. Testing the software system is part of the design process. Christopher conducts extensive testing and finds that the software is safe to use under existing standards. But Christopher is aware that new draft standards are about to be released by the national standard setting organization, standards that the newly designed software may not meet. Christopher suggests that ABC Software and GCC perform additional testing on the software to see if it meets these new safety standards. Such testing would determine whether the software is suitable for release as it currently exists or whether further development is required. But GCC is eager to proceed and ABC Software is eager to satisfy its client and protect its finances and existing jobs. Doing the additional testing would be extremely costly and delay the project at least six months. This would put ABC Software at a competitive disadvantage and cost it a lot of money, putting the goals of protecting its finances at risk. However, ABC Software wants to be sure that the software is safe to use. ABC Software has requested Christopher's recommendation concerning the need for additional software testing. (adapted from Online Ethics Centre for Engineering and Science. Software Design Testing. Retrieved 24/9/2014 from http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/Cases/ec96-4.aspx)

´a) State the ethical dilemma that confronts Christopher. b) Use bullet points to list the relevant facts as given in the scenario. c) What are the potential consequences and to whom, if the software is not tested further and the new standards are not met? d) What are the consequences and to whom, if the extra testing is done?    e) What conflicting duties does Christopher have in this scenario?   f) What rights do the general public, Gladstone City Council and ABC Software have in this scenario g) What virtues should Christopher exhibit in this scenario are observe in this scenario?                  i) Recommend the course of action that Christopher should take giving reasons based on some or all of your previous 6 answers (parts c to h)

• Does the company use CRM & Contact Manager software for customers? If so, which software and to what extent? If not, how does it record its customer's data?

The following data were taken from the books of Powell Construction Ltd:

REQUIRED:

Prepare in the general ledger of Powell Construction Ltd for the month of August 2020:

a.       the Sales Ledger Control Account            (15 marks)

b.      Purchases Ledger Control Account            

Total 25 marks

Fundementals of human resource management

THE SOUTHERN WIDGET MANUFACTURING

Introduction

Founded in 2006, Southern Widget Manufacturing sets out to be the leading manufacturer of widgets in the world. Southern Widget has sales and distribution centers around the world including six centers in the US. The company is a member of the World Widget Manufacturing Association (WWMA).

Widgets are used as a display tool for several products including: PC, TV, auto parts, furniture, etc.

The Widget is a Bamboo based product making both environmentally and economically sound. Bamboo, like wood, is a natural composite material with a high strength-to-weight ratio useful for many applications Widgets it is considered one of the fastest-growing plants in the world.

Mission Statement

·       Provide a high-quality, affordable product

·       Create long term relationships with customers

·       Respond immediately to changing needs of customers

·       Achieve complete customer satisfaction

·       Improve our customer services continuously

·       Maintain excellent employee relations

·       Sustain community involvement

Vision

The vision at Southern Widget Manufacturing is to utilize our well trained and satisfied employee teams to deliver outstanding customer services.

Mission

At Southern Widget Manufacturing every person in our company is a member of the team and a team player, with expectations that they perform their duties to their fullest capacity and potential. Our objective is a commitment to the highest quality of widgets and customer service. The customer’s satisfaction is our major focus, reached through innovative and cost effective production. We will lead the Widget industry with well trained and satisfied employees and pleased customers.

1)    Francisco works at Southern Widget as a welder. Although he is provided with protective goggles and a face mask, overalls and other types of protective clothing are not provided. After three months of work at Southern Widget, Francisco notices his skin becoming drier and gradually changing color. Alarmed with this development, he approaches his supervisor asking for details of the materials he works with. The supervisor declines to reveal any kind of information. What authority and laws can help Francisco file a claim?

2)    Virginia's boss, Luke, constantly uses sexually explicit language while communicating with his female subordinates. Though many female employees are bothered with this behavior, no one has ever complained for fear of negative repercussions. However, Virginia files a complaint against Luke with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Will this be considered as discriminatory behavior? Why or why not? Explain the prohibitions under Title VII for related behavior.

3)    Policy 137: The paint booths contain many toxic chemicals and are possibly harmful to unborn fetuses. In an abundance of caution Southern Widget will not allow its female employees of child bearing age to accept a position in the painting area. Employees working in the paint area make $5.00 more than other production employees. Is this considered discrimination, what is this called? Explain

4)    Southern Widget employees are being asked for their opinion on which type of insurance they would like to have. The choices are HMO or PPO. Explain the difference as they differ from traditional health care providers? Pretend you are an employee and give you choice, explain.

5)    You have been asked to write a FLSA policy. Be sure to include the three major parts as it might relate to Southern Widget.

6)    Thomas a Production Foreman was terminated. He has filed a Company grievance. On April 2, Thomas was told to open discharge valves into the Mississippi River which he refused to do. Additionally, he has been told by the company President, with witnesses, that he was such a good employee he had a job for life. Southern Widget’s rebuttal is that he refused a direct order and the company’s policy clearly state, that there are no contract employees. Does he have a case on either point? Discuss and serve as the arbitrator with the decision.

7)    John, the company Custodian, was in a horrific car accident as a child but has fully recovered from his injuries and is considered a very healthy individual. During the accident, John was burned and still has several facial scars that have disfigured his face. Many employees at John's company stare as he walks by and get distracted by his appearance. Is John protected by the ADA? Explain.

8)    The Widget Operators Local Unions 621 filed a petition to have Southern Widget create an alternative dispute resolution, including the most common techniques. Is that a good idea for the company, if so, what how should it include?

9)    Southern Widget is preparing to announce a new compensation system. Before the system goes live, as the HR Training Supervisor, you are required to do a company training on what goes into a compensation system. You will need to explain and discuss issues like: job structure, pay levels, motivation, cost control, etc.

10) As a future Supervisor what did you learn about Human Resources that you did not know before taking this course? What will you do to include this knowledge in your supervisory role?

Tell us about the best leader (manager, teacher, coach, parent, military officer, etc.) you have ever worked with it. What characteristics or consistent behaviors did this leader possess (give examples)? Please use specific leadership theories (Situational Leadership, Path-Goal, etc.) and examples of how your favorite leader's characteristics and behaviors related to these theories.

Share your favorite leadership quote(s) from this list or elsewhere. Why does it speak to you? What does it say about your values related to leadership? Share a story of a famous leader or a leader that you have worked with who has exemplified this quote? Describe why you think this, and give examples if appropriate.

Part 4/A

`

Date: July 1, 2012; 12:30 PM

After the big igniter problem, the company is still reeling. The ramifications were severe; they lost several big customers over it, along with creating a huge amount of scrap. To make matters worse, they were not able to recoup their payment from TriTech because the igniters were delivered as they had been designed. It was their own fault, not TriTechs. After a few weeks, purchasers were able to find replacement parts, but delivery took several weeks, and at significant cost. During that time, Patrick had hourly employees take a two-week unpaid leave. After employees were asked to return, productivity was low—presumably because morale was low after the forced leave, and they were likely performing a work slow-down that was not sanctioned by the union. After what they have been through, Bill’s cannot afford to have poor productivity now—all of the gains made between March and May were wiped out with the igniter snafu.

Part 4/A - Answer the following questions:

1. First, describe your gut reaction to this situation. What do you think?

2. What can Patrick do to improve productivity? What types of leadership would be most appropriate? Use the information from Chapter 12 to answer this question.

3. How can this situation be applied to Power and Politics in Chapter 13? Be specific.

4. Based upon what you have learned from the text, what recommendations do you have for Patrick. Be specific.

Part 4/B

Date: July 15, 2012

Early in July, Patrick noticed that productivity numbers were very low and attributed the problem to a work slow-down. Knowing that the union had not sanctioned the slow-down, Patrick took a hard stand. He implemented strict new rules for bathroom breaks, smoking breaks, and lunch.   Productivity seemed to go up. He walked through the factory 3 times a day to be sure that the machines were running, and that they had an hourly employee working on them. Even though they complained about the new rules, employees seemed to be generally following them and working harder. He assumed this resolved the productivity issue once and for all.

But, three days after implementing the new rules, the earnings report came in, and things looked bleak. In the last 3 months, Bill’s had lost over a million dollars per month. At this rate, Bill’s could only survive another 4 months before they were completely insolvent.

Patrick would have no choice but to lay people off. He decided to lay off 100 people with the lowest seniority, and move other employees around to get the work done. Many hourly employees would have to change shifts and work days to accommodate the new schedule. Patrick knew this would cause problems for people’s personal lives, but he had no choice, what else could he do? They would also have to work harder since they continued to have the same amount of work, but had 100 fewer people to complete it.

After a week of planning with Susan and Janet (the managers of HR and Operations) and a few key supervisors, Patrick executed the layoff. Within an hour, union officials from within the plant and state union representatives were calling. They were threatening a walk-out. Patrick needs to fix things. Now.

Part 4/B -Answer the following questions:

1. First, describe your gut reaction to this problem. What do you think?
2. Over the course of the last 7 months, Patrick has faced multiple challenges. Please list what you believe are the five biggest problems Patrick has faced. Be specific. Why are those the biggest, and how do these impact the larger organization?
3. Chapter 14 discusses organizational structure and change. Based upon the information provided in the readings, what is Patrick’s first step in finding the causes of the problems at the plant? Be specific and refer to the text.
4. If Patrick decides to undergo significant organizational change to solve some of the problems at the plant, first he must diagnose the root cause. What questions would be appropriate to ask, and to whom would he ask them?
5. Based upon your knowledge of the entire case, list at least three issues that you believe could be root causes of the problems that Patrick has seen?

Part 4/C:

Date: July 20, 2012

It has been a taxing, exhausting first six months for Patrick. In that time, he learned a great deal about the financial and accounting systems, the hierarchy and reporting structures, and the market. However, upon reflection be began to notice that while he had spent a great deal of time thinking about money and structure, he hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about the company itself. As he reflected, a number of things popped out at him. The next morning, he started to open his eyes to his surroundings and the results were enlightening.

First, he noticed the parking lot, and realized that there were actually two—one out front for the office people, and a much larger one behind the factory where hourly factory employees and supervisors parked.

Next, he noticed that when you walk into Bills’ there are several grills sitting in and around the offices. But none were Bill’s Grills—they were grills from competitors. There were several pictures from the old days—pictures of Bill in the original garage where the company started, pictures of their first factory in the old warehouse, and pictures of Bill at the company picnic. But, all the while he had been there, few had mentioned Bill’s name.

Finally, he went onto the factory floor.   Within minutes of entering, he noticed an employee bending steel for the gas line that connects the propane canister with the grill itself. After observing for a moment, he realized that the employee had removed the safety shield that kept her arm from entering the metal bending press. Further, when she bent the steel, it left a stress crack in the metal—one that went unnoticed. Knowing what he did about steel and pressure, Patrick was concerned that the crack would turn into a full-blown hole when under pressure from the propane coming out of the propane tank.   Patrick watched the employee bend three pieces of steel, each resulting in a stress crack. Out of curiosity, he stepped up to the employee, who continued to work, and asked “Did you know that you are making bad product?” She responded “Yes”, and went on with her work. “But why?” said Patrick, “this is a huge liability and potentially very dangerous for consumers.” Her response was simple: “Because my supervisor told me to. She said the order had to get out--if we missed this shipment, we would lose the account.” And, with that, she went back to work. ‘Ironic’ thought Patrick. All of this took place beneath a large banner that said “Quality is our Top Priority”. This exchange left Patrick thinking about the organization’s culture in a totally new way. What was he going to do?

Part 4/C -Answer the following questions:

1. Based upon the scenario above, what do you think about the organizational culture at Bill’s?
2. Think about the dimensions that make up a company’s culture. Based on what you’ve learned about Bill’s throughout this semester, and the company’s assumptions, values and artifacts, do they have a strong or weak culture? Why or why not?  
3. Does Bill’s need a culture change? If so, how?

Section 2 – Why might people believe improbable things?

Explain how people may generate and perpetuate one of the following beliefs: (a) believing that Bigfoot exists, (b) believing that horoscopes are accurate. Include AT LEAST 2 principles from the Self, Social Cognition, or Social Attribution chapters. Points are awarded for an accurate description of the principle as well as correct application of the concept to your example. (4 points)