Category: Business and Management

Consider the following questions about your organization:
Who is the CEO, and what is their career and company history? Do they seem to value and prioritize diversity? What is their leadership style?
Then, in 1-2 pages, address these additional components in your analysis:
Profile the CEO, their career track, leadership style, and effectiveness. Describe their level of success based on the Kinicki and Williams (2022) principles.
Describe the organization’s workplace inclusivity and diversity efforts. How have they been effective or ineffective? How does the CEO impact these efforts?

Ducor Chemical received a research and development (R&D) contract from one of its most important clients. The client had awarded Ducor a 12-month, sole-source contract for the R&D effort to create a new chemical that the client required for one of its future products. If Ducor could develop the product, the long-term production contract that would follow could generate significant profits over the next several years. In addition to various lab personnel who would be used as needed, the contract mandated that a senior chemist be assigned for the duration of the project. In the past, senior chemists had been used mainly for internal rather than external customer projects. This would be the first time a senior chemist had been assigned to this client. With only four senior chemists on staff, the project manager expected the resource negotiation process with the lab manager to be an easy undertaking. Project manager: “I understand you’ve already looked over the technical requirements, so you should understand the necessity for assigning your best senior scientist.” Lab manager: “All of my senior scientists are good. Any one of them can do the job. Based on the timing of your project, I have decided to assign John Thornton.” Project manager: “Just my luck! You assigned the only one I cannot work with effectively. I have had the misfortune of working with him before. He’s extremely arrogant and unpleasant to work with.”
Lab manager: “Perhaps so, but he got the job done, didn’t he?” Project manager: “Yes, he did. Technically, he is capable. However, his arrogant attitude and sarcasm produced a demoralizing atmosphere for my team. That project was about three months in length. This project is at least a year. Also, if follow-on work is generated, as I expect it to be, I’ll be stuck with him for a long time. That’s unacceptable to me.” Lab manager: “I’ll talk to John and see if I can put a gag in his mouth. Anyway, you’re a good project manager and you should know how to work with these technical and scientific prima donnas.” Project manager: “I’ll never be able to maintain my sanity having to work with him full time for at least one year. Surely you can assign one of the other three senior chemists instead.” Lab manager: “Because of the nature of the other projects I have, John is the only senior chemist I can release for one full year. If your project were two or three months, then I might be able to give you one of the other senior chemists.” Project manager: “I feel like you are dumping Thornton on me without considering what is in the best interests of the project. Perhaps we should have the sponsor resolve this conflict.” Lab manager: “First of all, this is not a conflict. Second, threatening me with sponsor intervention will not help your case. Do you plan on asking for my resources or support ever again in the future? I’m like an elephant. I have a long memory. Third, my responsibility is to meet your deliverable in a manner that is in the best interest of the company. “Try to look at resource assignments through my eyes. You’re worried about the best interests of your project. I have to support some 20 projects and must make decisions in the best interests of the entire company. Benefiting one project at the expense of several other projects is not a good company decision. And I am paid to make sound company decisions, whereas you are paid to make a project decision.” Project manager: “My salary, promotion, and future opportunities rest solely on the success of this one project, not 20.” Lab manager: “Our relationship must be a partnership based on trust if project management is to succeed. You must trust me when I tell you that your deliverables will be accomplished within time, cost, and quality. It’s my job to make that promise and to see that it is kept. Project manager: “But what about morale? That should also be a factor. There is also another important consideration. The customer wants monthly team meetings, at our location, to assess progress.” Lab manager: “I know that. I read the requirements document. Why are the monthly meetings a problem?” Project manager: “I have worked with this customer before. At the team meetings, they want to hear the technical status from the people doing the work rather than from the project manager. That means that John Thornton would be directly interfacing with the customer at least once a month. Thornton is a loose cannon, and there’s no telling what words will come out of his mouth. If it were not for the interface meetings, I might be agreeable to accept Thornton. But based on previous experience, he simply does not know when to shut up! He could cause irrevocable damage to our project.” Lab manager: “I will take care of John Thornton. And to appease you, I will also attend each one of the customer interface meetings to keep Thornton in line. As far as I’m concerned, Thornton will be assigned and the subject is officially closed!”
THE PROJECT CONTINUED
John Thornton was assigned to the project team. During the second interface meeting, Thornton stood up and complained to the customer that some of the tests that the customer had requested were worthless, serving no viable purpose. Furthermore, Thornton asserted that if he were left alone, he could develop a product far superior to what the customer had requested. The customer was furious over Thornton’s remarks and asserted that they would now evaluate the project performance to date as well as Ducor’s commitment to the project. After the evaluation, they would consider whether the project should be terminated or perhaps assigned to one of Ducor’s competitors. The lab manager had not been present during either of the first two customer interface meetings.
QUESTIONS
1. How do we create a partnership between the project manager and line managers when the project manager focuses only on the best interest of his or her project and the line manager is expected to make impartial company decisions?
2. Who should have more of a say during negotiations for resources: the project manager or the line manager?
3. How should irresolvable conflicts over staffing between project and line managers be handled?
4. Should an external customer have a say in project staffing?
5. How do we remove an employee who is not performing as expected?
6. Should project managers negotiate for people or deliverables?

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum,
Read Week 5 Lecture Notes. (hello writer, these lecture notes are copied & pasted down below)
Weekly Learning Objectives Covered
In this discussion forum, you will design strategies for a communication process that facilitates successful change.
Imagine that:
You are the liaison between the decision makers and the followers.
Your role is to communicate potential personnel change initiatives.
In your post, using the communication strategies found in the text,
List the actions you will take to format the conversation with employees regarding the restructuring process.
Design a strategy to communicate the personnel change initiatives.
Your main post must be a minimum of 300 words.
Week 5 Lecture Notes
During the stages of planning, designing and implementation, leaders should pause and ask questions such as,
Is the change process ethically focused?
Has the team considered the ethical responsibility of the organization?
Has the company carefully considered possible risks?
How can those risks be minimized so that harm does not occur or is greatly reduced for stakeholders.
Having a strong ethical focus, when designing any change process will help create sustainable change.
If the change action has been properly designed to reduce or eliminate risks and implemented, it is now imperative that the leader pursues the organization’s culture and sees that the change is sustainable and embedded in the organization’s structure. This sounds like a simple task; one would assume that the change would be visible and therefore successful. However, here too, questions have to be asked, such as,
How does the leader know if the change initiative is actually embedded and part of the culture?
How does the leader know that the organization has become the new dynamic and is not just something they do – like a bullet point on the agenda?
How can the change practice be measured?
The leader must be fully committed at this point to devote their time and energy to ensure that the change is streaming throughout the organization.
The communication process plays a vital role to the success or failure of change. The leader has to take effective measures that will help the embedding process, such as:
Clearly explaining the roles of each player, so that they realize the purpose and importance of their role in the change process
Ensuring that change actions are tied to the strategic plan within the organization, thereby setting the path for its future growth and initiatives
Measuring the progress and celebrating the successes, as these will lessen the chaos that often accompanies change
Recognizing that productive failure is part of the process that allows participants to own the problem
Redesigning helps to develop collaborative effort
Review the video Lead Like the Great Conductors (Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors).
Each of the conductors in the video had a specific technique and style of communication. The orchestra understood the visual actions of the maestro and performed the expected behaviors to achieve the desired outcome. While every situation required the same ending, the guidance of the leader was very different. Developing the communication pattern was not something that happened overnight. The understanding took time and effort.
“Crying wolf” is not an attractive behavior of the change manager. It is crucial that the change manager understands when to develop an urgency and an escalation of commitment for seeking ownership and assistance. If everything becomes an urgent matter, then nothing is an urgent matter! Likewise, declaring victory too soon could cause a critical aspect of the implementation to be overlooked. The savvy change manager carefully paces the process and the communication throughout the initiative. Exploring clear and concise leadership from within the organization helps to establish a new culture.
The leader must mirror the new culture and the behaviors expected with the initiative (Cignoranelli, 2003). Taking change to the personal level encourages the participant to develop an ownership and partnership in the change, often ensuring the desired outcomes. The language of change must fit the audience. The dialogue for selling change to the internal culture will likely differ when communicating the same to external shareholders.
The bottom line? Communication is a key ingredient for change implementation and overall sustainability. Recognizing that each phase of change requires a new path of dialogue will help participants move through each phase and partner in the process
Forbes School of Business Faculty
References:
Cignoranelli, D. A. (2003). Communicating change initiatives. The practicing CPA, 27(8), 3–4.
Talgam, I. (2009, July). Lead like the great conductors [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors

The information about the company’s current benefits and employee demographics are attached. Use external resources to find trending benefit information.
You have been hired by our fictitious company as the lead of HR. Your first assignment is to review the current benefits package (which has not been reviewed for a long time) and come up with a totally new or revised benefit package.
You will need to prepare a written presentation for the CEO and Board Members. Tell them what you think should be changed and why (always remember the why). Also note that as you’re talking the audience will be thinking… how does this affect our budget? You will need to be proactive and address this before they ask!

Do a report and PowerPoint presentation carefully and critically for the questions attached. Please no Ai and up to date informations. Also add the calculations used in it. 

Submit your answers to the Business Plan Questions, 1-16, below.  This is the business that you will use throughout the course for your business plan development.  Be sure to give it careful consideration as you will be required to research, create, and submit answers to many questions about this business during future weeks. This is a small business that you will manage.  It may either be an existing business or one you hope to start.  
1. Who is your competition?
2. Have you conducted a SWOT analysis?
3. What is the customer profile for your product and/or service?
4. How will you identify prospective customers?
5. What geographic area will you serve?
6. What are the distinguishing characteristics of your product and/or service?
7. What steps have already been taken to develop your product and/or service?
8. What do you plan to name your product and/or service?
9. Will there be a warranty?
10. How will you set the price for your product and/or service?
11. What type of distribution plan will you use?
12. Will you export to other countries?
13. What type of selling effort will you use?
14. What special selling skills will be required?
15. What types of advertising and sales promotion will you use?
16. Can you use the Internet to promote your company and product/service?

Case 1
Assignment Overview
Career Growth: Management and Leadership Reimagined 
Managerial and leadership opportunities expand for an MBA graduate with advanced academic preparation and professional experience. 
Since the start of your MBA program, you have successfully completed coursework in finance, asset management (accounting), economics, data analytics, sustainable business ethics, marketing, and management/leadership. They provide background for how management and leadership are interconnected in all areas of an organization. 
Case 1 Resources
Creating Organizational Control Systems (2022)
Vision, Mission, and Goals (2022)
The Basic Building Blocks of Organizational Structure (2022)
Understanding the Strategic Management Process (2022)
Data Analysis: 4 Ways HR Analytics Help Small Businesses Make Data-Driven Decisions (2022) 
Economics: Employability, the Labor Force, and the Economy (2022) 
Financial Operations: Human Capital as a Service (2022) 
Marketing: What are the biggest social media challenges for HR? (2022) 
DEI: Build trust in diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments (2022) 
Case Assignment 
Cross-Functional Management and Organization Behavior
HR/Team Dynamics, Leadership, and Organizational Culture were prevalent themes in earlier coursework. Connecting those concepts to Strategic Management is the focus of Case 1. 
Strategic management is a complex discipline and requires tools and resources across departments. Research how it all works together to optimize performance and productivity in a culturally diverse environment. Use quality research published within the last year. Articles from the library databases are a good choice. Library databases allow searching by date. In Google search, click “Tools” and enter the date range.
Explore the role of the overall management function. Include work from home (WFH) and hybrid schedules in the coverage. (1 page).
How does marketing fit in the scenario? Consider social media implications in the workplace. (1 page).
Connect how managerial economics supports the process. Look at trends like unemployment, reskilling, and the Great Resignation. (1 page).
Consider the function of data analysis in the process. Include information on how data is used by managers. (1 page).
Explore accounting and finance tools that are integral to achieving the performance and operational productivity goals. Consider how benchmarking is addressed. (1 page).
Include a discussion of workplace diversity as a consideration. (1 page).
Making Connections
Explain how Strategic Management provides a foundation for the cross-functional teams to collaborate for the benefit of the organization. (1 page).
Each of the seven sections above must have research support (published in the last year). 
No quotations are permitted in this paper. Since you are engaging in research, cite and reference the sources in APA format. NOTE: Failure to use research with accompanying citations to support content will result in reduced scoring “Level 2-Developing” across the grading rubric. This is a professional paper, not a personal one based on feelings. It must be written in the third person. This means words like “I,” “we,” and “you” are not appropriate. 
Assignment Expectations
Use the attached APA-formatted template (MGT599 Case 1) to create your submission.
The template is set up in APA 7: double-spacing, font, margins, headings, page breaks, APA help links.
Your submission will include:
Trident University International’s cover page
A paper with APA citations (2- to 3-sentence introduction, 7-page body, 2- to 3-sentence conclusion)
The reference list page in APA format

Please follow all instructions. Please Use APA 7th style for the Excel assignment. Please provide the level of confidence for the file on providing the level of confidence. 

Description of Signature Assignment:
Students will reflect and apply
concepts from Fundamentals of Project Management to create, analyze, and
recommend appropriate project artifacts
to enable a successful project.
Directions for Students:
Students will select one project from a
list of well-known, global projects (see list below), to capture, analyze,
and recommend various project artifacts
throughout the term. You are using a real-life, completed project for
which you will research the key
components of the project. Throughout the semester each student will
complete a project plan which entails
various project management deliverables. Each deliverable will be due
within one of the weekly
modules/folders.
your project because once you select
it, you must stick with it through the remainder of the course.
The Grand Hotel – Mackinac Island,
MichiganWeek 5: 
Week 6: Deliverable 5: Risk Management Plan
Present the Risk Management plan for your selected project. It is to be created based on the information available based on the students research of the project topic and knowledge of project management. Once it is created based on the data available, it should be analyzed for areas of
improvement and recommendations. Remember to include the risk identification, analysis (probability and impact), risk response strategy, etc. Templates for project communications plans are available
within the classroom, as well as projectmanagement.com, and other online sources.

Download data on a company’s stock history. From this data, create scatterplots, histograms, and calculate the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation of some data points. Write a 5-8 page report including the graphs and descriptive statistics you have created.
Business analytics techniques are used to facilitate decision making by transforming large amounts of raw data into meaningful information. Many businesses rely on analysis of relevant historical data to make key strategic and operational decisions. Therefore, understanding how to use techniques such as graphical representation and descriptive statistics to translate raw data into useful information can be a valuable skill in an organization.
In this assessment and the next, you will have the opportunity to sharpen your analytics skills by locating and interpreting real-life stock data.
You have been learning about how to explore data. In this assessment, you will apply those skills by downloading a practical dataset and creating graphical representations of that data. The work you do in this assessment will lay the foundation for future assessments in which you analyze and interpret those graphical representations. Since the purpose of business analytics is to make sense of large quantities of raw data, this assessment helps you develop skills in applying analytics to business contexts by practicing the exploration and display of data.
In addition to graphical and tabular summary methods, numeric or quantitative variables and data can be summarized numerically using various techniques of description and display.
Descriptive methods, which describe existing data, are also methods for using a subset of the available data to estimate or test a theory about a measurement on a larger group. This larger group is called the population, and the measurement being studied is the parameter. The smaller group, or subset, of the population that is taken in order to make an inference (to make an estimate or test a theory) is referred to as the sample. The measurement taken on that sample is then referred to as the statistic, which is usually the best single-number estimate for the population parameter of interest. Most often, however, the estimate should not be restricted to a single number that would be exactly correct or incorrect. Instead, it is preferable to calculate some range of possible values between which there can be a certain percent confidence that the true population parameter falls. These are referred to as confidence intervals.
Business analytics techniques are used to facilitate decision making by transforming large amounts of raw data into meaningful information. Many businesses rely on analysis of relevant historical data to make key strategic and operational decisions with the goal of gaining or maintaining competitive advantage. Therefore, understanding how to use techniques such as graphical representation and descriptive statistics to translate raw data into useful information can be a valuable skill in an organization.
In this assessment and the next, you will have the opportunity to sharpen your analytics skills by locating and interpreting real-life stock data, creating a business report, and presenting the information from the business report with your supervisor and colleagues as part of a decision-making effort.
You are a member of a business analyst group interested in a publicly traded company. Your supervisor has asked you to create a presentation, including graphical representations from raw stock data. From that raw stock data, you are to create a business report for a company-wide meeting at the end of the quarter. Your work and the work of others will result in a Business Report, which will be utilized to help company leadership make decisions.
Your first task is to pick a publicly held company with only one business platform. So do not pick Apple, Amazon, Disney, et cetera. You want a company that plays in only one industry. Then you are to provide an overview of the company, including business context. Remember that business context includes many aspects of the company, industry, competition, et cetera.
The second task is prepping stock history data from the business or company and creating scatter plots and a histograms.
The third task is to calculate mean, median, mode, and standard deviation of the adjusted daily closing stock price and the stock volume.
The fourth task is to provide a summary of the information you provide (including data analysis) without bias and with factual information including citations.
It is your responsibility to present visually and to interpret the data into meaningful information using analysis and descriptive statistics.
Select a publicly traded business or stock that plays in only one industry in which you have interest. Download the raw data on the company’s stock history.
Follow these steps to locate and download stock history from Yahoo! Finance:
Go to Yahoo Finance.
Search for and find the stock information of your chosen company. Remember do not use a company that plays in multiple industries.
Once you pull up the general data on the company, review the screen links throughout until you find the link for Historical Data. Click on the Historical Data link. Then select the following settings above the table:
Select Time Period of one year.
Select “Historical Prices.”
Select Frequency as “Daily.”
Click Apply.
Click Download Data. Go to the bottom of your screen or your Downloads folder to open the Excel file you just downloaded. Open the Excel file. Check to be sure that you have enough lines to show the whole year. If not, reset the settings at the top of the Historical Data chart and try again.
Once you are sure that you have a year’s worth of data, save the Excel file.
Using the Excel file with the year’s stock data, conduct descriptive analysis as follows:
Create a scatter plot of the highest stock price (in the column labeled “High”) against time. Write several sentences explaining the process/steps by which you created this graph.
Create a scatter plot of the lowest stock price (in the column labeled “Low”) against time. Write several sentences explaining the process/steps by which you created this graph.
Create a histogram of the adjusted daily closing stock price (in the column labeled “Adj Close”). Make sure the histogram is meaningful by adjusting the bin size so you can see the shape of the histogram. Write several sentences explaining the process/steps by which you created this graph.
Create a histogram of the stock trading volume (in the column labeled “Volume”). Make sure the histogram is meaningful by adjusting the bin size so you can see the shape of the histogram. Write several sentences explaining the process/steps by which you created each graph.
Complete the following for each of the four graphs:
Make sure the x and y axis have appropriate labels—“Stock Price in USD” or “Date D/M/Y” for example.
Change the title of the graph to communicated what the graph is communicating.
Add options—color, trendlines, legend, other?
Calculate the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation of the adjusted daily closing stock price.
Put answers of calculations in table format for easy review.
Write several sentences explaining the process by which you calculated these statistics.
Calculate the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation of the stock volume. Put in table format for easy review. Write a sentence explaining the process by which you calculated these statistics.
Prepare a 5-8 page report that you would present to your supervisor, including the following:
An APA-formatted title page.
A 1-2 page introduction describing the background of your chosen company and its practical extensive business context. You should use at least four sources of information on the company, industries the company participates in, history, mission, platforms, products, competitive advantage, and competitors by industry.
A section labeled Graphical Representations of Data, in which you include the four graphs you created above and short descriptions of the process you used to create each graph.
A section labeled Descriptive Statistics, in which you include the statistics you calculated above and explanation of the procedures you followed to calculate the statistics.
A summary of what the data suggests. No opinion please. See textbook information on how to interpret data. Please remain unbiased in your summary. You may use additional resources (and cite) to help you interpret the data. For example: What does Standard Deviation say about stock volatility?
Your paper should be APA-formatted with in-text citations and a corresponding references page. Remember to cite the sources of your financial data. Include at least four sources of information for your page and reflect on reference page.
Walkthrough: You may view the following media piece to help you understand concepts addressed in this assessment:
Using Analytic Techniques to Add Meaning to Data Walkthrough.
Additional Requirements
Length: 5-8 pages, double-spaced. Include a title page and the graphical representations of the data selected.
Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:
Competency 2: Use analytic and statistical techniques to make meaning of large quantities of data.
Create four different graphical representations of data.
Calculate descriptive statistics for two different variables.
Summarize the processes by which each graph and statistics were created and calculated.
Competency 4: Present the results of data analysis in clear and meaningful ways to multiple stakeholders.
Introduce the company and practical business context.
Correctly format citations and references using current APA style.
Write content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.