Dear Productivity Police:
First it was standing by the water cooler gossiping, then it was yakking on the phone, now my coworkers spend all day e-mailing, surfing the net and instant messaging their friends. It is unfair to those of us who work diligently ALL day long, not just when the boss is looking. Some of my coworkers claim that they stay late, work weekends and work from home, therefore, their use of technology to stay current and in-touch with friends and coworkers is fair. I feel that if they did their work during work hours all the extra time they spend would be unnecessary. I would like to see external e-mail, Internet access and IM functions removed from all workstations at every organization level and in every department. Don’t you agree? Plus, who knows what trade secrets are being leaked though these communications. And, I am sure that some employees are job searching on company time. Please help management at my company formulate equitable and enforceable policy that will create a more productive work environment for all employees. Please be specific and include all forms of technology in your recommendations.
Sincerely,
An Under Appreciated Workhorse
Day: April 26, 2018
1. CRP assigns work to the next available machine rather than the one that can perform the job most efficiently.
a. true b. false
2. For a set number of jobs to be processed on one machine, SPT will always minimize average number of jobs in the system.
a. true b. false
3. In sequencing jobs through two serial machines where every job follows the same sequence on the two machines, Johnson’s Rule can be applied.
a. true b. false
4. In order to identify the source of reduced output using I/O control, the planned input is compared to planned output and actual input is compared to actual output.
a. true b. false
5. Phantom bills of material are used for transient subassemblies that are immediately consumed in the next stage of manufacture.
a. true b. false
6. Using the MRP approach to inventory control, demand for the finished product is derived from the number of component parts forecasted.
a. true b. false
7. Cycle counting:
a. cannot replace end of the year physical inventory
b. is often based on ABC classification
c. controls access to stockrooms
d. all of the above
8. A(n) _________ specifies the sequence in which jobs or activities should be processed.
a. load summary report
b. load profile
c. dispatch list
d. input/output report
Interview a staff member (not an hourly employee) of your organization’s public relations (corporate communications, benefits communications, investor relations) department. What was his or her education like? What are his or her job duties? What does he or she regard as the primary skill for a good public relations practitioner? What is a typical day like for this person? Report your findings to the class. (If you do not have a public relations department in your organization, find a company that does and interview one of its public relations practitioners or talk with a staff person at a public relations agency.) Unless the person you are interviewing works for a public relations agency, do not interview someone whose primary duties are to meet clients, sell products, develop advertising, or create marketing materials. Typical titles for the person you should be interviewing are public relations specialist (or representative), editor, speechwriter, public relations manager, communications director, and so forth. Do not interview receptionists, models, file clerks, or greeters.
If Company A elects to buy a needed part, it would cost them $1.50 each. If they design and produce it themselves, it will result in a per unit cost of $0.75. However, the design investment would be $50,000. Further they realize that for this type of part, there is a 30% chance that after the part is designed and tested, the part will need to be redesigned at an additional cost of $50,000. Regardless of whether they make or buy the part, Company A will need 100,000 of these parts. What is the EMV using the Decision Trees Analysis and what do you think Company A should do?
1. Since the expected values represent cost, Company A should made their decision based on the lowest expected value.
2. The expected monetary value (cost) of making the part is $175,000.
3. The expected monetary value (cost) of buying the part is $135,000.
4.Company A should make the part and not buy it.
Deliverable Length: 2 pages and 5 PowerPoint slides
StopNShopNow, Inc.’s management team has implemented several of your ideas on incentive pay and is now reviewing the company’s performance appraisal forms. These appraisal forms are very old: No one remembers where the forms came from or who made them. When the annual performance appraisal window comes up each store year, managers and assistant managers cringe. This reaction does not occur because the managers hate doing performance appraisals?they simply have not seen very much positive impact from the appraisal discussions, and at least one employee always reacts badly and has a downturn in performance as a result of the criticism. The managers feel that being honest with some employees is a huge risk, and they are not sure the process is worth the trouble.
The current performance form includes these performance assessment categories:
procedural knowledge and skill
verbal communication skills
creativity
consistently good judgment
attendance
customer service skills
The performance appraisal is an eight-page form with a copy of the employee’s job description attached and six large blocks for the manager to write down his or her comments on each of the six categories. Managers differentiate between poor- and well-performing employees by using words such as “great,” “OK,” “always,” or “rarely.” An employee can usually infer the manager’s overall perception of his or her performance from the way the appraisal is phrased.
The performance appraisals are primarily used for manager and employee feedback. After they are completed and received at corporate headquarters, employees receive a 3% pay increase?unless they are about to get fired, which they may receive a lower pay increase percentage or no increase at all. This creates tension among the employees.
Managers are not given guidance regarding how to describe the employees’ positive behaviors and areas needed for improvement. Some managers take this much more seriously than others and are better at choosing factual scenarios to explain their perceptions of the employee’s work performance. Several times in the past, the company’s vice president of human resources has had to chastise managers regarding the quality of comments the manager included on the form.
Prepare a presentation that you, as an HR generalist, will give to the vice president of human resources and the company’s owners recommending changes to the current performance appraisal program at StopNShopNow, Inc. Include at least five PowerPoint slides.
Address several different types of performance appraisal systems and make other comments or suggestions that address the applicability of the performance assessment categories that are currently used. Address each of the six performance assessment categories above and make recommendations for changing any or all of them. It may be beneficial to appraise the information from the job summaries you found in earlier assignments.
The purpose of this assignment is to paraphrase O’Conner’s passages using no more than 75-100 words. Begin the assignment with the words: O’Conner (2003) argued that . . .
1) Read the following paragraphs, which were written by Patricia O’Conner.
A good writer is one you can read without breaking a sweat. If you want a workout, you don’t lift a book?you lift weights. Yet we’re brainwashed to believe that the more brilliant the writer, the tougher the going.
The truth is that the reader is always right. Chances are, if something you’re reading doesn’t make sense, it’s not your fault?it’s the writer’s. And if something you write doesn’t get your point across, it’s probably not the reader’s fault?it’s yours. Too many readers are intimidated and humbled by what they can’t understand, and in some cases that’s precisely the effect the writer is after. But confusion is not complexity; it’s just confusion. A venerable tradition, dating back to the ancient Greek orators, teaches that if you don’t know what you’re talking about, just ratchet up the level of difficulty and no one will ever know.
Don’t confuse simplicity, though, with simplemindedness. A good writer can express an extremely complicated idea clearly and make the job look effortless. But such simplicity is a difficult thing to achieve because to be clear in your writing you have to be clear in your thinking. This is why the simplest and clearest writing has the greatest power to delight, surprise, inform, and move the reader. You can’t have this kind of shared understanding if writer and reader are in an adversary relationship. (pp. 195-196)
Source: O’Conner, P. (2003). Woe is I: The grammarphobe’s guide to better English in plain English. New York: Riverhead Books.
1). Which of the following examples best illustrates the boundary exchange a company would encounter according to the general system theory?
(A) An industrial company implementing new equipment in its plant to comply with environmental government regulations.
(B) A software company develops an application for a client
(C) A purchasing department employee negotiates a price on parts from a supplier
(D) All of the above
2) Corporation who model their operation according to the stakeholder theory create value by:
(A) innovating new product
(B) increasing their stock price
(C) developing their employees’ professional skills.
(D) All of the above
3) Which of the following statements most accurately describe a firm’s responsibility to market stakeholders?
(A) It is a relationship with political and cultural influences
(B) It involves distribution, procurement, and competition.
(C) It is more important to the survival of business than non-market relationships.
(D) It mostly occurs at a broad conceptual level
4) Which of the following is not an example of stakeholders’ economic power?
(A) A toy manufacturer halts supplier to distributor asking higher than fair prices.
(B) A social group protest a government’s decision to raise taxes.
(C) A local community boycotts a grocery store suspected of inaccurate weight scales.
(D) A social organization demands the closure of a store that has a discriminatory hiring policy
5). Society has change their expectation from “trust me” attitude regarding business to a:
(A) ” listen to me” attitude
(B) Help me attitude
(C) ” Prove it ” attitude
(D) “Accept it attitude
6) Interactions between business and society occur:
(A) within a finite natural ecosystem
(B) only during an environmental crisis
(C) when business employees and the community are of similar cultural backgrounds,
(D) when legislation is passed requiring interaction .
7) A successful business must meet its:
(A) economic objectives
(B) social objectives.
(C) economics and social objectives
(D) top executives expectations
8) The emergence of a public issue indicates that:
(A) a gap has developed between what stakeholders expects and what an organization is actually doing.
(B) technology is forcing ethics and business strategy closer together.
(C) consumer are unaware of how an organization’s actions affect them.
(D) All of the above
9) The third phase in the public issue life cycle begin when:
(A) A corporate crisis occurs
(B) an issue begins to capture public attention
(C) laws are passed
(D) legislative proposal or draft regulation emerge.
10) Society can utilize a corporate public affairs units to:
(A) perceive, monitor and understand external changes.
(B) influence corporate policy and practice
(C) Both A & B
(D) None of the above
11) Customer environmental intelligence includes:
(A) demographic factors
(B) an analysis of the firms competitors
(C) new technological application
(D) the cost of producing consumer goods.
12) When dealing with a corporate crisis, its is best to:
(A) take an offensive approach and be the first to comment on the situation to the media
(B) take an defense approach and only answer question submitted by the media in a formal interview process
(C) take a defense approach but appoint a single representative like the Public Affairs Director or CEO to answer all media question
(D) hire a professional consulting firm
13) An effective crisis management plan will:
(A)minimize the seriousness of the problem.
(B) exaggerate minor incident
(C) use the internet to convey the public affairs message
(D) immediately apologize to the public and accept any liability.
Week 1 Due 11th In a three to four page APA paper, address the following: •Assess the importance of policy analysis during the development and implementation stages of public policy. •Discuss the social impact of policies. •Discuss the limitations policies have on government power.
Week 2 Due 18th Review the Final Assignment in Week 6 of the course and then, develop a two-page, APA-style paper in which you propose the topic and major elements defining your final Public Policy paper. Proposal paper will be written in four parts: •Identification and explanation of the topic including a problem statement •The explanation of the research process; that is, how will the research be conducted •A discussion of relevant literature appropriate to the issues at hand •An abbreviated reference list (a minimum of three sources, at least one from the ProQuest electronic database).
Week 3 Due 25th In a three to four page APA paper, create a public policy to address an issue you consider important. Construct the details of the policy utilizing one of the models listed below. Discuss the rationale of the policy and how your model will assist policy makers in their decision making and implementation processes. Evaluate your model utilizing the general criteria provided in the text. You are required to use at least two outside sources to support your position.
Models of Public Policies: •Institutional Model •Process Model •Group Model •Elite Model •Rational Model •Public Choice Model •Incremental Model •Game Theory Model
Week 4 Due 1st
Develop a three to five page APA style paper in which you research and discuss one of the major civil rights initiatives of the last century. The focus of your paper should be on the initiative’s impact on current and future public policies. How have these initiatives and policies affected the average American citizen?
You are required to use at least two outside sources to support your analysis.
Week 6 Due 15th
The Capstone Paper should demonstrate understanding of the reading as well as the implications of new knowledge. The ten to fifteen page paper should integrate readings, class discussions, field research, and literature review into proposed solution. It may include explanation and examples from previous experiences as well as implications for future applications.
Your capstone paper should focus on a topic selected which was done in Week Two. In this project, you will examine a specific political or social issue. Topics may include general issues such as poverty, crime, homelessness, economic development, homeland security, corporate social responsibility, ecological/environmental projects, etc. or a specific issue in your city, community, local, state, or federal governmental, etc. You will: •Develop a public policy to address the issue. Or you may propose a change or update to an existing public policy. •In all cases, the focus should be on in the development of a public policy, to include utilizing all aspects of the public policy lifecycle. •Consider use of field assessments, literature searches, personal knowledge/experience, and community records to source content. •Must be ten to fifteen double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. •Must include a title page with the following: ◦Title of paper ◦Student’s name ◦Course name and number ◦Instructor’s name ◦Date submitted
•Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement. •Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought. •Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis. •Must use at least three scholarly sources
You are a manager within the marketing department of a large, high-technology computer manufacturing company. You are conducting face to face job interviews for an entry-level marketing position, and you have invited four job candidates for interviews today. As the hiring manager, create ten interview questions that you feel will provide you with the necessary information needed to make a solid hiring decision. These ten questions should help you differentiate skills sets and other traits important to the job.
Keep your questions skills-based no questions about age, gender, ethnicity or economic status(EEOC).
You may want to consider probing/gauging job candidates in the following areas:
*level of familiarity with the company
*previous experience
*educational background
*description of strengths and weaknesses
Please also write three to four sentences describing the traits you believe are important when evaluating a job candidate’s credentials. For example, in your view, are the following important traits: being prompt, paying attention to detail, and being a team player or individually motivated?
Your boss is aware that you are an MBA graduate from Southern State University. He confides in you that the executive Management Team has decided to add a new machine part to its product sales list. However, they are at a dilemma as to which way they should go to produce the part. She asked you to do an excel analysis to include graphs in a PowerPoint slide so that the EMT can have a clear picture of the situation so that they can select the best approach to follow from the following options.
1. The production manager has identified the following options for obtaining a finished machined part for sale:
a. It can buy the part at $200 per unit (including materials). There is negligible fixed cost if the item is purchased;
b. It can make the part on a numerically controlled semi-automatic lathe at $75 per unit (including materials, labor, and other variable costs). A semi-automatic lathe costs $80,000; or
c. It can make the part on a machining center at $25 per unit (including materials, labor, and other variable costs). A machining center costs $200,000.
Additionally, the production manager estimates the learning curve is maximized at 200 units.
2. The sales manager has estimated the total demand for the part to be between 500 and 2500 units and that it should sell for approximately $300. He expressed a 68% level of confidence that the company should sell at least 1500 units at $300 each.
The finance manager has developed a total cost formula for each option which is:
a. Purchase cost= $200 * Demand
b. Produce using Lathe= $80,000 + $75* Demand
c. Produce using Machining Center= $200,000 + $25* Demand
To be prepared for discussion about the options, she asked you to start by finding the break even point in demand for each option. Additionally, she asked you to use excel to plot the curves to help clarify the different options. Finally, she wants you to prepare a PowerPoint slide as to what recommendation you would advise senior management to follow to maximize total profit for the company in producing and selling this item.
*Basically the PowerPoint slides don’t have to be performed but a graph plotting the cost curve and profit curve should be plotted. Also which choose in both scenarios would be the better solution for management?
