Day: April 26, 2018

Research Paper

 

The Research Paper must demonstrate the understanding of new learning in project management and how it relates to cost and value management. This assignment should be six to eight pages (not including the title and reference pages) and should integrate the reading, multimedia, and class discussions. It is mandatory to have research from the classroom text, as well as at least three scholarly sources from the Internet or Ashford Online Library to support your views.

 

Consider the validity of your sources carefully before using them in academic papers. It is recommended to use examples from your professional experience where possible or build from your learning in the discussion boards.

 

Focus of the Research Paper

Use at least one project you have been a team member of or a project manager for as an example to contextualize the research topics below:

All of the following topics must be addressed in order for the paper to be complete:

 

• Discuss the importance of work packages to support the creation and use of the WBS.
• Examine how to establish a cost and schedule performance measurement baseline.
• Present examples of EVM and how it will help the PM understand project status.
• Examine how the PM uses project control charts to show project status and present value.
• Recommend an effective change management process to ensure a successful project.

 

Writing the Research Paper

The Research Paper:

• Must be six to eight double-spaced pages in length (not including the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide.
• Must include a cover page that includes:
• – Title of Paper
• – Student’s name
• – Course name and number
• – Instructor’s name
• – Date submitted
• Must include an introductory paragraph with a succinct thesis statement.
• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
• Must conclude with a restatement of the thesis and a conclusion paragraph.
• Must use at least three outside sources from the Internet or Ashford Online Library.
• Must use APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide to document all sources.
• Must include, on the final page, a Reference Page that is completed according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide.

 

 

Assignment: Best Practices Manual for Supervisors

As you near the end of MGT 210, you have gained knowledge and experience regarding
what it takes to be an effective supervisor. Put your newly developed skills to work for both
yourself and others by creating a Best Practices Manual for Supervisors.

? Resources: Appendix A; Ch. 3 (pp. 38-50), Ch. 7 (pp. 111-124), Ch. 9 (pp. 144-155), Ch.
11 (pp. 185-201), Ch. 16 (pp. 273-286), Ch. 17 (pp. 292-319), and Ch. 22 (pp. 382-393)
in Supervision: Key Link to Productivity (8th ed.); and Ch. 1 and 2 in Axia College’s
Writing Style Handbook

? Compile the following sections of a best practices manual for new supervisors. Your
overall contributions to the manual should cite a minimum of three sources. Only one of these
sources can be your course text.

The six supervisory responsibilities to which you will contribute best practices are as follows:
1. Demonstrating Communication Skills
2. Determining Effective Orientation and Training Methods
3. Improving Productivity for Teams
4. Conducting Performance Appraisals
5. Resolving Conflict
6. Improving Employee Relations

1

You’ve been hired by an unprofitable firm to determine whether it should shut down its unprofitable operation.

The firm currently uses 50,000 workers to produce 200,000 units of output per day. The daily wage (per worker) is $80, and the price of the firm’s output is $25. The cost of other variable inputs is $400,000 per day. Although you don’t know the firm’s fixed cost, you know that it is high enough that the firm’s total costs exceed its total revenue.

Provide a report to management of the firm as to whether or not it should continue to operate at a loss? Be sure to show your work to support the decision you outlined in your report.

2
Sometimes market activities (production, buying and selling) have unintended positive or negative effects outside the market’s scope. This is called an externality. Suppose that you are a policy maker concerned with correcting the effects of gases and particulates emitted by and local power plant. What tools would you use? What would be the benefits of the action? What would be the costs? How would you decide what was the best level of emission reduction? Why do you think your approach would be better than others? (hint: see chapter 31)

3
Suppose the price of apples rises from $3 a pound to $3.50 and your consumption of apples drops from 35 pounds of apples a month to 20 pounds of apples. Calculate your price elasticity of demand of apples. What can you say about your price elasticity of demand of apples? Is it Elastic, Inelastic, or Unitary Elastic? Be sure to show the work you used to support your answer.

Details: The deadline for completing your evaluation of a big ticket item/purchase is approaching. Write a rough draft of your essay which includes the following:

An introduction in which you identify and briefly describe the big ticket item/purchase and the two models, providers, etc you have chosen to compare and contrast in your introduction.

A body in which you compare and contrast the two models, providers, etc. you have chosen in the body of your draft and based on your comparison.

A conclusion in which you reflect on which model or provider you would choose to purchase.
This is a rough draft. APA style is not required.

Instructor Comments: For this assignment you should have an introduction, body and conclusion. Make sure each element of the assignment is addressed appropriately. You can choose the big ticket items of your choice. Compare and contrast the items you chose for this assignment in the body of the paper. You must have a conclusion.

(TCO 7) The cash budget is one of the primary financial budgets. Discuss the importance of the cash budget. Identify the individual sections of the cash budget and the information included in each section. (Points : 20)

TCO 9) Understanding how costs behave can help managers plan operations and choose between various courses of action.

Part (a): Identify and describe the three types of cost behavior, including examples of each. Part (b): As a manager, which cost behavior would you prefer and why? (Points : 20)

(TCO 6) Savanna Company is considering two capital investment proposals. Relevant data on each project are as follows.

Project Red

Project Blue

Capital investment

$400,000

$560,000

Annual net income

$50,000

$80,000

Annual cash flows

$100,000

$150,000

Estimated useful life

8 years

8 years

Savanna requires an 8% rate of return on all new investments.

Part (a): Compute the payback period for each project. Part (b): Compute the net present value for each project. Part (c): Compute the accounting rate of return for each project. Part (d): Which project should Savanna select?

(Points : 30)

(TCO 7) Farris Co.’s projected sales are as follows.

August

$240,000

September

$270,000

October

$330,000

Farris estimates that it will collect 30% in the month of sale, 50% in the month after the sale, and 18% in the second month following the sale. Two percent of all sales are estimated to be bad debts. How much are Farris Co.’s budgeted cash receipts for October? (Points : 30)

. (TCO 8) Eastern Company’s budgeted and actual sales for 2009 were as follows.

Product

Budgeted Sales

Actual Sales

A

35,300 units at $2.00 per unit

32,700 units at $2.60 per unit

B

27,900 units at $5.00 per unit

29,200 units at $4.70 per unit

Part (a): Calculate the sales volume variance. Part (b): Calculate the sales price variance. Part (c): Calculate the total sales variance. (Points : 30)

(TCO 9) Herbart Company gathered the following information on power costs and factory machine usage for the last 6 months.

Power Cost

Factory Machine Hours

January

$24,400

13,900

February

30,300

17,600

March

29,000

16,800

April

22,340

13,200

May

19,900

11,600

June

14,900

6,600

Using the high-low method of analyzing costs, answer the following questions and show computations to support your answers.

Part (a): What is the estimated variable portion of power costs per factory machine hour? Part (b): What is the estimated fixed power cost each month? Part (c): If it is estimated that 10,000 factory machine hours will be run in July, what is the expected total power cost for July? (Points : 30)

(TCO 1) A common starting point in the budgeting process is _____. (Points : 5) expected future net income past performance to motivate the sales force a clean slate, with no expectations

Question 2.2. (TCO 2) Which of the following is not a quantitative forecasting method? (Points : 5) Moving average model Classical decomposition Delphi method Simple regression

Question 3.3. (TCO 3) Which of the following is not an example of a seasonal variation? (Points : 5) Increased restaurant sales on Fridays and Saturdays Increased retail sales in the fourth quarter Increased sales of jet skis in the summer Increased sales resulting from a special promotion

Question 4.4. (TCO 4) Which of the following statements regarding the risk associated with R & D activities is incorrect? (Points : 5) The amount of time between the R & D activity and the cash flows from the project does not affect risk. Greater risk is associated with creating new products than with improving existing products. Risk increases as the time between the R & D activity and the cash flows from the project increases. Assessing risk is a vital part of research and development.

Question 5.5. (TCO 5) Which of the following is not true of the decision packages used in zero-base budgeting? (Points : 5) Decision packages should include alternative methods of performing the activity. Decision packages may cross functional and organizational lines. Decision packages can be either mutually exclusive or incremental. Decision packages may cover either short-term or long-term periods.

Question 6.6. (TCO 6) The payback period technique _____. (Points : 5) should be used as a final screening tool can be the only basis for the capital budgeting decision is relatively easy to compute and understand considers the expected profitability of a project

Question 7.7. (TCO 6) The accounting rate of return method is based on _____. (Points : 5) income data the time value of money data market values cash flow data

Question 8.8. (TCO 6) A company projects annual cash inflows of $90,000 each year for the next 5 years if it invests $450,000 in new equipment. The equipment has a 5-year life and an estimated salvage value of $150,000. What is the accounting rate of return on this investment? (Points : 5) 6.7% 13.3% 20% 33.3%

Question 9.9. (TCO 6) Bradshaw Inc. is contemplating a capital investment of $85,000. The cash inflows over the project’s 4 years are as follows.

Year

Expected Cash Inflow

1

$18,000

2

$25,000

3

$35,000

4

$20,000

The payback period is _____. (Points : 5) 2.17 years 3.35 years 2.30 years 3.47 years

Question 10.10. (TCO 6) Hyde Inc. is comparing several alternative capital budgeting projects as shown below.

Projects

A

B

C

Initial Investment

$110,000

$90,000

$50,000

Present value of cash inflows

$100,000

$100,000

$60,000

Using the profitability index, rank the projects, starting with the most attractive. (Points : 5) A, C, B A, B, C C, A, B C, B, A

Question 11.11. (TCO 6) A company has a minimum required rate of return of 10%. It is considering investing in a project that costs $210,000 and is expected to generate cash inflows of $85,000 at the end of each year for 4 years. The approximate net present value of this project is _____. (Points : 5) $59,442 $1,387 $65,375 $5,161

Question 12.12. (TCO 7) Which one of the following is not needed in preparing a production budget? (Points : 5) Budgeted unit sales Budgeted raw materials Beginning finished goods units Ending finished goods units

Question 13.13. (TCO 7) If the required materials to be purchased are 18,000 pounds, the production needs are three times the direct materials purchases, and the beginning direct materials are three and a half times the direct materials purchases, what are the desired ending direct materials in pounds? (Points : 5) 45,000 9,000 27,000 18,000

Question 14.14. (TCO 8) A variance that results from expected economic conditions that do not materialize is called what? (Points : 5) Sales variance Planning variance Economic variance Material variance

Question 15.15. (TCO 9) A static budget is appropriate in evaluating a manager’s performance if _____. (Points : 5) actual activity closely approximates the master budget activity actual activity is less than the master budget activity the company prepares reports on an annual basis the company is a not-for-profit organization

Question 16.16. (TCO 9) If the activity level increases 10%, total variable costs will _____. (Points : 5) remain the same increase by more than 10% decrease by less than 10% increase 10%

Question 17.17. (TCO 9) Using the high-low method, what is the fixed cost for the following information?

Month

Miles

Total Cost

January

80,000

$96,000

February

50,000

$80,000

March

70,000

$94,000

April

90,000

$130,000

(Points : 5) $17,500 $36,000 $14,000 $50,000

Question 18.18. (TCO 10) What do you call a budget report that is prepared to report on unusual events that require immediate attention? (Points : 5) Advance report Special report Unique report Progress report

A variety of sources estimate that perhaps 85% of all job openings are not advertised online or in the newspapers. This helps lend credibility to the statement “It is not what you know but who you know”. With this in mind it is necessary for job seekers to develop a plan to penetrate the hidden job market and open themselves up to a wider array of opportunities.

Directions:
1. Click here to go to the Job-Hunt.org website and read about ways you can penetrate the Hidden Job Market.

2. Submit the following:
a. Utilizing the ideas presented of “Push”, “Pull”, and “Maintain” and integrating internet/library research develop your own personal strategy to find unadvertised opportunities. You must present at least two solid ideas in each area. 500-750 words.
b. “Maintain” promotes the establishment and usage of your network of contacts to tap into the Hidden Job Market. Submit the following information about five people in your network:
i. Names
ii. How you know them
iii. How they can help you tap into the Hidden Job Market

Part 2:

A company manufactures specialty devices for machinery. One particular device has reached maturity, and the company is considering whether to replace it with a newer model. Technologies have not changed dramatically so the new device would have similar functionality to the existing one but would be smaller and lighter in weight.

The firm’s three choices are to keep the old model, design a replacement with internal resources and purchase a new design from a firm that is one of it suppliers. The market for these devices will be either “receptive or “neutral” of the replacement model. The financial estimates are as follows: Keeping the old design will yield a profit of $6 million dollars. Designing the replacement internally will yield $10 million if the market is “receptive” but a $3 million loss if the market is “neutral.” Acquiring the new design from the supplier will profit $4 million under “receptive,” $1 million under “neutral. The company feels that the market has a 70% chance of being “receptive: and a 30% change of being “neutral”.

Calculate expected value for all courses of action and what actions yield the highest expected value?

A. There are three possible choices here.
B. If they stay with old design, the profit will be $6 million.
C. The EMV of developing the replacement internally is $6.1 million.
D. The company should choose the highest value, and develop a replacement product design with internal resources.

There could be more than one correct answer.

It is projected that a needed item will sell for $10 each. If the item is outsourced, there is virtually no cost other than the $5 per unit that they would pay their supplier.

Process A requires an investment of $120,000 for design and equipment, but results in a $6 per unit cost.

Process B requires only a $100,000 investment but is per unit cost is $5.

Regardless of whether the item is subcontracted or produced internally, there is a 50% chance that they will sell 50,000 units, and a 50% chance that they will sell 100,000 units.

Using the decision trees and EMV, what is their best choice?

A. The company only has to choose among three alternatives
B. The decision should be based on which alternative yields the highest profits
C. Process A is preferable to process B
D. Process A promises the highest profits

There could be more than one correct answer.It is projected that a needed item will sell for $10 each. If the item is outsourced, there is

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.

Animal Lab Report

Procedures: 1. Visit http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/phyla/phyla.html; Introduction to the Metazoa: Animals, Animals, Animals!, University of California, Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. Click the Systematics link and learn more about a group you desire to begin researching for this lab. Note: The boxes without images have not yet been developed. 2. If possible, visit a local zoo and try to learn more about the animal group you are researching. Take pictures, talk to the zookeepers, etc. 3. Visit a number of websites (a few starters are listed below) that deal with the great diversity of animals and their biological, ecological, and economic impacts on life and human society. Gather (and cite!) information and images to allow you to prepare a poster or PowerPoint presentation. 4. In your poster or PowerPoint presentation, you will need to detail the classification of the group of creatures you are detailing. 5. Required elements include: the time of first occurrence, fossil record (if any), economic and societal impact of the group, and its evolutionary importance (for example the green algae are not terribly important save as a stem group for the evolution of plants).

Example sites: http://www.tolweb.org/tree/ Tree of Life Web Project. Maintained by scientists and collaborators, this site organizes over 5000 web pages about the classification and relationships of the domains and other taxonomic groups. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html Links for Systematics. This site compiles many links to aid your research.