Day: April 26, 2018

Social Organization Watch Blood Bonds, available in the Films On Demand database, in the Ashford Online Library. Describe the correlation between arranged marriage, economic exchanges surrounding marriage (bridewealth, bride service, dowry, etc.), status of women, family pressures, and other factors you can think of and the stability of marriage. Based on your reading of the textbook and the film, what are the disadvantages of different forms of marriages? Do you think they can be as successful as marriages of choice? Which form of marriage do you have the hardest time understanding? Reflect on marriage and divorce in current North American societies. What factors contribute to the stability of marriages in our culture? What factors contribute to stability of marriage in the cultures shown in the film? And lastly, what factors of the cultures in the film could contribute to the stability of marriage in our culture? And vise versa? Your initial response should be at least 150 words in length. Please support your claims with examples from the required resources. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

In 2014, “the United States exported $2.34 trillion worth of goods and services—an all-time record. Exports from the United States in 2014 equaled the entire gross domestic product of Brazil and exceeded all commercial output in India, Italy, or Mexico. What is more, exports are an increasingly important aspect of the U.S. economy.” (New top markets series provides data, 2015) In this threaded discussion, complete the following 1) Discuss economic theory related to the quote above. Be sure to include a definition of exports and the way in which exports are counted in the measurement of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) within your discussion. 2) Locate and incorporate outside research that gives evidence and explanation as to the possible causes of this growth in exports. Provide an example of one particular industry or country with which export quantity has increased. 3) – Integrate biblical insights into your discussion board thread. In what way does scripture influence our attitudes and actions in international trade?

Scenario for Assignments 1-5 For Assignments 1-5, you are the new budgeting and finance administrator for your local government agency. Your first responsibility is to become familiar with the agency, the budget, programs, and capital projects. As the administrator, you will be responsible for analyzing, examining, proposing, and preparing the agency’s budget for the next five (5) years. Assignment 2: The Capital Budget Refer the Scenario for Assignments 1–5. Forecast salaries, revenue estimating, and prepare the capital budget. Using the budget from the selected agency (PA Department of Corrections), write a six to seven (6-7) page paper in which you: Analyze the agency’s compensation for employees. Provide a rationale on what the costs and benefits would be for a 2 percent, 4 percent, or 5 percent pay increase for the fiscal year 2014. In your forecast, discuss the effects of the increase on benefits for the agency. (Title this section Payroll Forecast.) Review the trend of the agency over the past five (5) years and prepare an analysis explaining the trend for expenditures. (Title this section Trend Analysis.) Prepare and explain a five (5) year forecast of the four (4) highest expenditures. Include in the analysis whether the costs should be approved or not approved. Justify the reasoning with examples. (Title this section Expenditure Forecast.) Compare two (2) options for predicting the cost of needed repairs to the current building that houses the selected agency. Provide a rationale for recommending one (1) of the two (2) options. Include the figures to support the rationale. (Title this section Capital Budget.) Provide names and URLs of the Websites for the state’s budget(s) analyzed and any other government Websites used to support the assignment’s criteria.

You are a passionate performance management consultant. Because of your expertise in performance management, you have been hired by the CEO of a large company to change a performance appraisal system to a performance management system. Because you are experienced in bringing about such transitions, you know better than anyone else that the success of such transitions depends heavily upon top managerial understanding of and support for the performance management system at hand. Thanks to your skills, you have managed to educate the top management of your client’s firm and correct their mistaken belief of equating performance appraisal with performance management. Despite the clarified understanding of performance management, the top management team is still a hard sell, and they remain skeptical about whether your proposed performance management system is any different or more effective than the performance appraisal system that the company has had in place for decades. To make matters worse, the prevailing attitude across all levels of the organization seems to be characterized by the commonly heard statement: “We have been doing this for a long time, and it seems to work just fine.” Moreover, one of the managers has challenged your plan by voicing his concern that a performance management system might create or increase the demands (such as excessive paperwork) on managers’ and employees’ time and resources. 1. Describe at least four general strategies you would take to convince the client firm that the benefits of implementing a performance management system will far outweigh the costs and difficulties associated with the transition from a performance appraisal to a performance management system. 2. Tell me why you have chosen these strategie

Health reform is mired in the morass of multitiered payment systems and multiple modes of access, limited by the ability to seek and to pay. Increasingly, patients are interacting with multiple entities within the system, causing more and more confusion on the part of the patient. According to recent research, patients’ trust in the system, providers, and insurers continues to decline. This may result in a decline in individual health and an increase in costs for health care. Investigate the declining trust in the health care system from an ethical and moral position. You may use the “four principles plus attention to scope model” of Beauchamp and Childress to address this, or any other ethical model that you choose. State what model you will use to investigate this issue. Identify 2 or more legal issues contributing to this problem. Identify 2 or more economic and financial issues contributing to this problem. Analyze the impact of various issues that are contributing to this problem, and rank them in order order from greatest to least impact. Propose at least 1 modification that would increase trust in the health care system with rationale.

Marketing Assignment This is a two part written project that will focus on the marketing aspects of your start up business. Please submit as one written assignment. Part 1: Marketing Strategy In three to four pages, address the following areas: • Please describe the marketing strategy and then explain how you plan to use marketing strategies to promote your business. • Include the necessary marketing research you either have done for your business or are planning to conduct. The costs of these items/activities should also be itemized and included in this section of the proposal. • Include ongoing costs as well as one-time fees. Part 2: Marketing Plan In five to six pages, address the following areas: Create a marketing plan for your business. This can be an e- marketing, traditional marketing plan, or a combination of both.Discuss the benefits of market research. Include a SWOT analysis and explain the four Ps of the marketing mix in your marketing plan. When you are ready, you may submit your paper to the Assignment Dropbox. *Note, include your name in the file name of the Assignment.

Individual Assignment: Elements of Religious Traditions Paper · Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that does the following: o Describes these basic components of religious traditions and their relationship to the sacred: · What a religious tradition says—its teachings, texts, doctrine, stories, myths, and others · What a religious tradition does—worship, prayer, pilgrimage, ritual, and so forth · How a religious tradition organizes—leadership, relationships among members, and so forth o Identifies key critical issues in the study of religion. o Includes specific examples from the various religious traditions described in the Week One readings that honor the sacred—such as rituals of the Igbo to mark life events, the vision quest as a common ritual in many Native American societies, or the influence of the shaman as a leader. You may also include examples from your own religious tradition or another religious tradition with which you are familiar. o You should use 3 references from the weekly reading. · Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

The Controls section of the marketing plan serves as a guide for evaluating the overall plan. It also helps to ensure that the plan will be implemented and executed properly.

To complete your Controls section, provide 1-3 paragraphs and/or charts, regarding each of the following items:

Implementation Plan: This section details how you will turn your plans into results. You will need to provide a list of marketing tactics/actions that must be taken immediately to ensure the overall success of your Marketing Strategies (you completed this section earlier in your plan). For each tactic, describe what has to be performed in order to carry out the tactic. Remember that you implementation tactics are operational tactics. For example, if one of your strategies includes Internet Marketing, then, one of your implementation tactics would involve setting up a website. You would also list the completion date for each tactic. (Charts work really well for Implementation Plans).

The origins of Judaism and Hinduism are almost 4,000 years old. Buddhism arose from the teachings of a single Hindu teacher more than two thousand years ago. All three have changed and developed over the centuries. All three are very much alive today. Concentrating on their current forms, compare the approaches of the three religions to the basic religious questions: How should I think about ultimate reality (Hinduism)? Is there a Supreme Being (Judaism)? Should I even think of god, letting myself be my supreme authority (Buddhism)? What is the relationship of human beings to this reality (God)? What exactly is the concept of faith to each of these three religions? Is it the same as belief, or not? Consider all three religions and compare. How do these concepts of the Ultimate Reality, Supreme Being or self help address the following questions: What is wrong with the world, and how can I help to fix it? What am I supposed to do with my life? Consider the three religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. In an essay of approximately 700 to 800 words in length, answer the questions listed above. Be sure to use appropriate APA format for citations and to include at least one reference for each religion. Assignment 2 Grading Criteria Maximum Points Compares, contrasts, and applies concepts of Ultimate Reality, Supreme Being, and the authority of self to personal philosophical position on religion. 24 Uses critical thinking to describe and explain the relationship of humans and God. 16 Considers and measures the relationship between faith and belief from the three perspectives. 16 Considers and analyzes the application of concept of Ultimate Reality, Supreme Being (monotheism) and Self-actualization in addressing world problems. 20 Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. 20 Justified ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from texts, Web sites, and other references, including correct APA format. 4 Total: 100