Category: Business Finance – Management

Begin this weeks assignment by completing the Path-Goal Leadership Questionnaire, found in this weeks Books and Resources.

Then, draft a critical evaluation and explanation of your score. In detail, describe what you have learned from completing this questionnaire and how you will utilize this information when assuming a leadership position. Provide specific examples to illustrate and support your thoughts.

Support your paper with at least five scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and reference pages

Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

Business Name:  Uptown Swirl

1-For this essay you must prepare (7) pages and include Past and Future Growth worksheet.  The worksheet must be included with the essay (see attachment for example).  The essay grading rubric is attached and must be followed in completing this essay.  (see attachment)

2-Uptown Swirl’s SWOT Analysis is provided and must be incorporated in this essay.  Please expand and be very specific with detailed (see attachment)

3-Lastly, the essay must include (3) references and be error-free of spelling, grammar and punctuation.  A plagiarism report must be provided and is a part of the accepted bid.

  Traditionally, technology has been associated with  rationality,  objectivity and structure; traits oft considered  masculine in the  traditional societal definition of gender roles.  While some technologies  have largely been male-dominated, throughout  history, women have had an  often unrecognized presence in making  significant contributions to  these technological advancements. One such  technology would be the  digital computer. While its development is  generally viewed as a product  of male logic and rationality, much of  the progress in this area has  required an intuitive, interactive and  generally less structured  feminine approach. These culturally  appropriated gender  characteristics as well as historic gender roles  have had a significant  influence in consumerism and technological  development. In this  activity, you will explore technologies that may  be gender-specific and  evaluate technological innovations that have  shaped current society 

I have chosen Next Generation Biometrics Capture Capability (NXGBCC) as my project.

The Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency (DFBA) is responsible for all matter regarding Biometrics. The Department of the Army and more specifically Program Manager Biometrics (PM Bio) manages the program of record (POR) to ensure training and equipment are function for military operations.  Biometrics are the unique personal physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, iris, DNA, that can be used for automation recognition (DHS, 2019). 

First a little history, in December of 2004 an Iraqi insurgent wearing an Iraqi security forces uniform was able to get into the U.S. military base in Mosul Iraq blowing himself up in the dining facility full of U.S. service personnel.  In total 14 U.S. service members, 4 U.S. civilians and 3 Iraqi Soldiers were killed in the incident (AP, 2005).  Since then the military has used Biometrics extensively to identify of personnel entering U.S. installations in the Middle East as well as all U.S. sponsored trained personnel working along U.S. and coalition forces. 

U.S. Forces also collect DNA and latent fingerprints from operational and forensics exploitation locations allowing to identify persons of interest (POI) operating against U.S. and Coalition partners.

Although biometrics mostly used for Intelligence gathering, screening, and force protection. One of the more important matters regarding the collection of Biometrics of non-U.S. individuals who interact with U.S. forces (Host Nation Soldiers, Police Officers, third country, and host nation nationals working at U.S. Bases) in the middle east is that the DoD shares the information with other federal agencies allowing for screening of all Middle Eastern personnel requesting Visas to enter the U.S.  This ensures that any persons who have acted against U.S. and coalition interest are prohibited from legally entering the U.S.

The current PM Biometrics systems that consist of the Biometrics Automated Toolset (BAT) have become antiquated and have reached their operational lifecycle.  Currently the BAT systems require a lot of manual loading of data and a long time in processing, analytical examination, comparisons and sharing with other U.S. agencies. Current civilian application of Biometrics has advance to the point that individuals who are persons of interest (POI) can be biometrically identified by the authorities within matter of minutes.  Appling these commercially advance to military operations would provide with identification of those that are good guys working for our forces and those who are working against us. can be identified within less than returning

SWOT

Strengths:

– Identifying persons of interest (POI)

– Positively Identifying U.S. Base workers

– Vetting host country nationals, Soldiers, police officers

– Force protection

Weakness:

– Old Biometrics systems

– Loading data is manual process

– Processing, analyzing and sharing data takes days

– Requires close proximity of subject to capture biometric or identify

Opportunities:

– New systems are commercially available

– Capabilities to capture biometrics at greater distances are currently available and improving – very fast

– Biometric standoff (at a distance) identification would provide protection to U.S. forces

– Sharing data with Federal agencies faster would identify persons of interest attempting to enter U.S.

– Sharing data with Allies could protect U.S. interest overseas

Threats:

– Bad guys trying to figure way to defeat Biometrics capabilities

– Slow processing of data could put U.S. forces in harms way

– Slow sharing of Data with U.S. Federal agencies could place U.S. homeland in harms way

The business area for this project would be Information Technology (IT) and Intelligence (Intel) gathering/analysis/operations/force protection. For the purpose of this class I plan on keeping this project in the (IT) business area.

Return on Investment (ROI): Although when insurance cost is taken into consideration, it may be possible to try to place a cost on a loss of a life.  It would be impractical and unwise to conduct an ROI when trying to determine the value of saved lives.  From a person who has lost fellow Soldiers and has had to talk to loved ones of lost family members I will say the ROI would be priceless.

The most challenging part of this project proposal is that I am actually working with the Product Manager (PdM) in trying to develop actual methodologies to evaluate the Next Generation Biometrics Capture Capabilities (NXGBCC) that would replace the current BAT systems.  I have worked in the Biometrics area for over 12 years so this will be a great opportunity to possibly identifying some new considerations for the capabilitys development documents (CDD) for the NXGBCC.

Reference:

Department of Homeland Security.  (2019, May 9).  Biometrics. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/biometrics (Links to an external site.)

Associated Press.  (2005, August 19).  Details of Mosul mess hall bombing emerge.  NBCNEWS.  Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9013247/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/details-mosul-mess-hall-bombing-emerge/#.XiIqAi3MxhE (Links to an external site.)

  

Research the elements and core disciplines of lean manufacturing and services as it relates to your organization, or one with which you are familiar.
 

Write a 800- to 1,050-word paper in which you address the following points:
 

Describe briefly at least three core elements of lean.
 

Identify which elements are required for your selected organization to move towards a lean environment.
 

Describe your selected organizations vision.
 

Describe how your selected organizations vision supports lean. If the organizations vision does not support lean, re-write it so that it does and describe how your new version of the vision supports lean.

  

Assignment-7

Terry Wilson, a seasoned marketing veteran, has recently decided to explore growth options for Tuscan Treasures, an importer of Italian furniture. Profits are declining and Mr. Wilson must decide whether to downsize or expand to improve the situation. You have been asked to advise Mr. Wilson on which growth strategy would best aid Tuscan Treasures should he chose that route. You have also been asked to provide Mr. Wilson with a better understanding of why profits have been down recently, including possible causes of the decline. He also wants to know what he would need to do if he decides to downsize he operation.
 

Part A: Provide Mr. Wilson with three possible growth strategies.
 

Part B: What are the possible causes of his companys decline?
 

Part C: What are some recommendations for handling a downsizing? 

        

Question 1 of 20

The   information systems projects of both the U.S. Navy and FedEx were __________   in nature. 

    

     

A.     tactical

    

B.     strategic

    

C.     operational

    

D.     large-scale

 

    

Question 2 of 20

A   global information systems strategy is characterized by __________ systems. 

    

     

A.     centralized

    

B.     decentralized

    

C.     distributed

    

D.     homogeneous

 

    

Question 3 of 20

The   business competency area for IS professionals: 

    

     

A.     is more strategic than technical.

    

B.     sets them apart from others who have only technical skills.

    

C.     is the easiest to outsource.

    

D.     None of the above

 

    

Question 4 of 20

Information   systems are combinations of __________ that people build and use to collect,   create, and distribute useful data, typically in organizational settings. 

    

     

A.     hardware

    

B.     software

    

C.     telecommunications networks

    

D.     All of the above

 

    

Question 5 of 20

Which   type of information system enables customers to buy goods and services from a   firm’s Web site? 

    

     

A.     Customer Relation Management System

    

B.     Electronic Commerce System

    

C.     Office Automation System

    

D.     Transaction Processing System

 

    

Question 6 of 20

Which   of the following is considered to be one of the more traditional categories that   are used to describe information systems? 

    

     

A.     Transaction processing systems

    

B.     Management information systems

    

C.     Decision support systems

    

D.     All of the above

 

    

Question 7 of 20

Which   of the following is NOT true about knowledge? 

    

     

A.     Knowledge is accumulated wisdom.

    

B.     Knowledge is needed to understand relationships between different pieces of     information.

    

C.     Knowledge is used to organize or manipulate data.

    

D.     All of the above are true.

 

    

Question 8 of 20

Knowledge   is a body of governing procedures. Which of the following American   outsourcing destination countries has the highest English proficiency? 

    

     

A.     Argentina

    

B.     Brazil

    

C.     Costa Rica

    

D.     Mexico

 

    

Question 9 of 20

Which   of the flowing is NOT a product marketed by Apple? 

    

     

A.     iPod

    

B.     iTunes

    

C.     iDrive

    

D.     Newton

 

    

Question 10 of 20

Which   executive-level person is responsible for overseeing and managing the   organization’s information systems? 

    

     

A.     Chief Knowledge Officer

    

B.     Chief Technology Officer

    

C.     Chief Information Officer

    

D.     Chief Operations Officer

 

    

Question 11 of 20

Which   IS manager is responsible for coordinating and managing the entire voice and   data network? 

    

     

A.     Operations manager

    

B.     Database administrator

    

C.     Telecommunications manager

    

D.     Network manager

 

    

Question 12 of 20

Which   of the following events interrupted Globalization 2.0? 

    

     

A.     The Great Depression

    

B.     World War I

    

C.     World War II

    

D.     All of the above

 

    

Question 13 of 20

__________   is a cultural characteristic related to the risk-taking nature of a culture. 

    

     

A.     Risk aversion

    

B.     Uncertainty avoidance

    

C.     Fear of future consequences

    

D.     Risk seeking

 

    

Question 14 of 20

The   first mainstream Web browser was called: 

    

     

A.     Netscape.

    

B.     Opera.

    

C.     Firefox.

    

D.     Internet Explorer.

 

    

Question 15 of 20

Which   of the following is a weakness of the multidomestic business strategy? 

    

     

A.     Differing product offerings limit economies of scale

    

B.     Inability to react to local market conditions

    

C.     Difficult to manage

    

D.     Personnel overhead

 

    

Question 16 of 20

__________   enables you to apply concepts from one domain to a new situation or problem. 

    

     

A.     Information

    

B.     Wisdom

    

C.     Data

    

D.     Knowledge

 

    

Question 17 of 20

De   facto standards contributing to Globalization 3.0 include all of the   following EXCEPT: 

    

     

A.     Microsoft Word.

    

B.     Adobe Acrobat.

    

C.     PayPal.

    

D.     eBay.

 

    

Question 18 of 20

Which   of the following is NOT considered a geoeconomic challenge of operating in a   digital world? 

    

     

A.     Demographic

    

B.     Expertise

    

C.     Time zone differences

    

D.     Internet access

 

    

Question 19 of 20

A   __________ information systems strategy is characterized by local databases. 

    

     

A.     global

    

B.     transnational

    

C.     multinational

    

D.     hybrid

 

    

Question 20 of 20

The   EU data protection directive limits: 

    

     

A.     Internet freedom.

    

B.     personal rights to access data.

    

C.     transborder data flows.

    

D.     electronic commerce.

 

  

Your firm has been investigating the possibility of locating facilities in an East Asian country such as Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, or Singapore. You have been asked by the chief executive officer (CEO) to research what has been happening in these countries in terms of environmental legislation and laws regarding wages and hours. He has asked you to prepare a report that addresses the following information:

• Describe the level of environmental regulation in      any 2 of these countries.
• Describe the 2 selected countries’ versions of wage      and working-hour legislation. 

Use the Library and other Internet resources to find the legislation for the specific countries.

Select 2 of the 4 East Asian countries to analyze for this assignment. Use the Library and other Internet resources to answer the following questions for each selected country: 

• What is the country’s environmental regulation      level?
• What kind of legislation has been passed in the      country regarding working hours and wages?
• Do you think the country’s environmental regulation      is sufficient? Explain.
• Do you feel that the country’s hour and wage      legislation is ethical? Explain.

Include a 23-page Word document that contains your answers to the 4 questions listed. You must also include a reference list w/hanging indent in APA format.

  

Your manager believes in learning from other companies’ success stories as well as stories of failure. In particular, she likes to apply various management theories when possible, rather than starting from the beginning every time a decision has to be made. She asks you to write a memo to her addressing the following: From any recent or current event in the news, discuss and explain the use of these two specific theories that the firms you researched believed in 

In the human resource area, moving toward an employee empowerment culture

In the marketing area, the theory of penetration pricing 

For each of these two, explain the following: 

The issue being addressed that gave rise to employing these theories 

How the theory being followed leads to specific actions on the part of the company

Results achieved

If you had been the senior manager in these situations, at those companies, how might you have addressed the situation any differently? What other theory could have been the basis for the decision. 

  

Assignment 2: Final Project

You have a novel product idea and a working prototype for floating fishing pliers. You use an extrusion process to manufacture the pliers, and your family assembles them out of your basement. Your plan is to distribute them through sporting goods stores that cater to anglers. Applying all that you have learned in this course, create a detailed strategic plan for the next five years. You should include the following elements of comprehensive strategic plan:

• A mission statement that describes      the overall purpose of the organization 
• A resource needs assessment 
• A statement and some detail on the      technology requirements, goal statement, and rationale 
• A set of objectives (measurable      and observable) 
• A statement on the hardware, software,      and facility resource requirements 
• A statement on training resource      requirement and staff development plan 
• A marketing plan 
• An itemized budget, evaluation      method, and funding sources 

Submit your assignment to the W6: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

  

Assignment 2 Grading   Criteria 

Maximum Points

 

Provided a complete   strategy for manufacturing and distributing the product.

20

 

Created a detailed   strategic plan for the next five years.

15

 

Strategic plan was   comprehensive and included all of the elements listed in the final project   description.

20

 

Presented a structured   report free of spelling and grammatical errors and cited sources in APA   format when necessary.

5

 

Total:

60

  

Complete the following assignment:

Apply the chaos theory to retail store of your choice, for instance, Nordstroms, Dillards, and so forth. If you are unsure if your choice of a retail store is acceptable, please check with your facilitator.

Identify core components and processes. 

Examine how SWOT analysis can be used.

As a continuation of retail store project:

• Identify      chaos in the retail business 
• Examine how      systems principles apply to the internal management of the store 
• Examine how      systems principles apply to the store and community 
• Determine      how to estimate the community’s total demand for retail goods 
• Identify      the core components and critical processes of the store 

Submit your assignment to the W5: Assignment 3 Dropbox.

  

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria 

Maximum
  Points

 

Provided a complete analysis. 

10

 

Synthesized several ideas into one application.

10

 

Provided quality suggestions for SWOT analysis.

10

 

Presented a structured report free of spelling and grammatical   errors and cited sources in APA format when necessary.

5

 

Total: 

35