This situation is set up to give you a real-world look at the complex nature of international trade negotiations, especially for multinational companies.

The following articles give you the background for the next situation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2019/03/27/tariffs-and-a-turkish-coup-how-manufacturers-win-in-the-face-of-uncertainty/#364a04832770 (Links to an external site.)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-steel/dont-blink-on-trump-tariffs-steel-ceos-tell-u-s-lawmakers-idUSKCN1R82NG (Links to an external site.)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/27/trump-auto-tariff-republicans-1240519 (Links to an external site.)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2019/03/26/heres-how-much-money-the-government-is-making-off-chinese-tariffs/#20b099fb7b7a (Links to an external site.)

You work for Nucor Steel. Your CEO has asked to present the board of directors a set of recommendations for the company’s response to the steel tariffs.

Information for your response:

• Nucor has steel plants around the world
  • This includes the USA, Brazil, Germany, UAE.
• Nucor has customers for the products around the world
• The 3 major products of Nucor are automotive steel (33%), sheet metal (33%), and construction steel (33%).
  • Brazil and UAE focus on automotive steel
  • Germany focus is sheet metal
  • USA construction steel
• The customers for each product are the following:
  • automotive steel–US and Germany
  • sheet metal–China and India
  • construction steel—Brazil and China
• Nucor has access to multiple politicians that can make recommendations to the President
• Nucor will continue to produce in each country.
  • This is due to the nature of steel production.

What I am looking for is a set of recommendations for the board of directors in regards to the company’s position on tariffs and trade negotiations. I want an actual recommendation for the company to state publically and what the lobbying position should be for the near term. Keep in mind that Nucor MUST continue operations in all countries. Also, keep in mind the steel tariffs have a positive public image. You must give a recommendation for the 3 divisions (the products) and the reasons for these recommendations.

This is a very complicated situation, and you will need to make sure you keep in mind that these tariffs do not happen in a vacuum. This means other countries will also place tariffs.

Note Nucor was access to ALL governments involved and can lobby directly to the government. Also, note while they do not have directly owned factories in China they do have several partnership with Chinese facilitates.

Project Objectives and Description

As you probably know or will learn as the class progresses, some of the management practices used in organizations today are not ideally suited for monitoring and controlling project finances.

The PMBOK indicates the monitoring and controlling process group “…consists of those processes required to track, review, and orchestrate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes”. The process group also involves: (1) “controlling changes and recommending corrective or preventive action in anticipation of possible problems”; (2) monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and the project performance baseline”; and (3) influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control and configuration management so only approved changes are implemented”. (PMBOK, page 57).

The objectives of this individual project are twofold:

• First, to investigate management practices used by your organization and to identify issues that may detract from the organization’s ability to monitor and control project finances.
• Second, to propose changes to these management practices to help resolve these issues and explain how these proposed changes will optimize project financial monitoring and control efforts.
  My organization is : Raytheon

You will develop a Project Financial Monitoring and Control proposal documenting these efforts, making use of: (1) this course and past project management and financial management coursework; (2) your own professional experience; (3) knowledge and experience resident in your organization; and (4) additional research. The majority of the coursework pertaining to this assignment will be covered in sessions 1 through 5. This assignment is due in session 10.

A template for the proposal will not be provided. If it hasn’t happened already, you should expect, at some point in your career, to develop a white paper, a proposal, or some other type of document with only a final objective or two for guidance. You are free to organize the proposal as you see fit as long as the following particulars are included: (1) a statement describing the organization type (e.g., state, local, or federal government, etc.); (2) a discussion of the organization’s business line(s); (3) and a discussion of the organization’s strategic objectives. The organization’s identity shall be masked in the proposal and the proposal shall be free of any proprietary or closely-held company information, as well as any other information that could reveal the organization’s identity.

The purpose of any proposal is to sell a product, service, idea, etc. In this case, you are selling a set of recommendations aimed at resolving issues associated with your organization’s ability to monitor and control project finances. Address your proposal to your organization’s decision makers. Put yourself in their shoes on the receiving end of the proposal. What would you want to know?

• What are you selling?
• How does it apply to me?
• Why should I buy it?
• What benefits do I receive?
• What actions do I need to take to realize the benefits?
• How long will it take to realize the benefits?
• How much will it cost?

For the purposes of this assignment, the last two questions (time and cost) should be addressed, at least, in relative terms. A detailed time and cost analysis is not required. However, if you intend to share the outcome with your organization, you might want to consider including a more detailed analysis at some point in time.

THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT TO ORGANIZE YOUR PROPOSAL IN THIS FASHION. THIS IS SIMPLY A LIST OF THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER WHEN PREPARING YOUR PROPOSAL.

Other things to consider:

• This is not a proposal to do a study to identify issues and propose solutions.
• One or more past project efforts may be used to illustrate existing issues impacting the organization’s ability to monitor/control project finances. However, the proposal must address the organization’s overall ability to monitor/control project finances.
• For this assignment, assume at least part of your target audience (the organization’s management) does not understand anything about project management concepts, tools, and techniques or managing project finances.
• Issues should be narrowly focused. Broadly stated issues typically result in broadly stated solutions. Management may be reluctant to invest time and money unless the scope of the effort is perceived to be manageable. Provide sufficient detail to fully explain the issue and its impact on project financial monitoring and controlling activities (see the third bullet above).
• Proposed solutions must address the associated issue(s). Sufficient detail must be included to describe how the solution resolves the issue(s) and how the solution is to be implemented (see the third bullet above).
• There are issues that impact an organization’s ability to complete a project on time and within budget that do not necessarily impact an organization’s ability to monitor/control project finances. Make sure you can articulate a clear connection between the issues you choose and the organization’s ability to monitor/control project finances.
• The effectiveness of your message can be adversely affected by writing mechanics issues and the clarity of your proposal

Project Milestones

You will provide two interim milestone reports before submitting your proposal. The purpose of the interim milestone reports is to make sure you are headed in the right direction.

Milestone 1 – Explain the project objectives and requirements to decision makers within your organization to gain organizational support for your efforts and access to organizational information (excluding financial data). If you are unable to gain organizational support for your project, choose an imaginary organization.

Develop a statement describing the organization type (e.g., state, local, or federal government, etc.); and the organization’s business line(s) and strategic vision or objectives. You may chose the entire organization or a portion of the organization.

Report your progress in the Individual Project Milestone 1 discussion forum by Sunday of Session 2. A milestone report template is provided in course content.

Milestone 2 – Identify the issues that may detract from the organization’s ability to optimally monitor and control project finances. Put yourself in the shoes of a project manager in your organization. What would you do, starting in the planning phase of the project, to make sure you could successfully monitor and control project finances? What elements of the project management plan or associated planning artifacts would you focus on? Now translate these to the organization level. What must be present (processes, procedures, instructions, practices, tools, training, etc.) to establish a firm foundation throughout the organization for successfully monitoring and controlling the finances of all projects? Where are the holes?

Focus your efforts on four to five of the most significant issues. Submit this summary in the Individual Project Milestone 2 discussion forum by Sunday of session 6. A milestone report template is provided in course content.

Note: If your organization has no apparent issues with respect to its ability to monitor and control project finances, create some simulated issues.

Submit the completed project report in your assignment folder by Sunday of session 10. The project report must be submitted as a MS Word document. Line spacing: 1½; font: 12 point; pages: 15 (maximum).

Evaluation

You will be evaluated on:

• The organization and content of the completed project report. Does it tell a complete and compelling story in a logical and readable manner? Are issues clearly linked to project financial monitoring/controlling activities? Is sufficient detail provided to clearly explain the issue and its impact on project financial monitoring/controlling activities?
• Adherence to project milestones and other assignment requirements
• Correct application of financial management concepts, tools, and techniques
• Correct application of project management concepts, tools, and techniques
• Rationale for proposed solutions. Are solutions clearly linked to associated issues? Is sufficient detail provided to clearly describe how the solution resolves the issue(s) and how the solution is to be implemented?
• Feasibility of proposed solutions with respect to their associated issue(s).
• Writing mechanics and adherence to APA standards

Must be at least 100 words each

1)Chapter 8 IOS Apps

I have no real devotion to a brand of phone, i currently use an iPhone 5s though, and because of this I am quite familiar with the App Store for apple. Unlike Android, where you can get apps from plenty of different places, Apple must very closely look over every app that is sent to them in case of issue. If the app, which must be written in O-C, C or C++ programming language, passes this look over it is put on the app store. I personally have taken a few online courses unrelated to college in coding and think that it is amazing that Apple offers utility tools on their website to make things easier for the writers! Has anyone here written out any kind of application in the past or have used the tools that Apple offers?

2) CHapter 8 Data Sharing

Each mobile platform offers methods for sharing data. For IOS you can sync with your computer automatically, though from experience I have found this much easier if you have an Apple computer. One feature I’ve really enjoyed is the Airdrop, this allows my family to have permissions when we are in range, to share pictures and music without having to switch devices. It is nice for security to be able to select who you share with. The later versions give more control over it.

For Android, I never got the opportunity to use Android Beam, but it seems to be using a similar concept though in that situation you would need to move the phones together. Windows appears to not have the same options for sharing between devices but rather you share to the Onedrive, and that is accesible to others with access.

3) Chapter 8 POP3 and IMAP

I haven’t called my mom yet, but this item of the chapter has given me some guilt. My mother was having an issue with memory on her phone. Most of it was the way she was using the Amazon music app, but she also was concerned about email. I told her email was not her problem because the email is stored on the server and her phone was simply accessing it the same way her desktop computer does, but that the messages weren’t on her phone. She said that she kind of understood this but was confused why she then deleted items on her phone and then still had to delete them on her email. Since she’d already cleared the data, I just figured she made a mistake somewhere and didn’t think more about it. Then I read this chapter how you can have POP3 protocol which does store the emails locally, and so the behavior would be exactly what my mother described. She has a new phone now and hasn’t complained about the double duty to manage emails so I think she’s got IMAP by default, but knowing the two protocols will make me a better listener in future and able to resolve it.

4) Week 5: Monitor applications

This is something that all Smartphone users who download applications should do. The article provides some information about automating some of the steps and creating an alert if the application tries to access something it has not been given permission to. However, the underlying theme is that many applications are created, especially Android which is open source, with permissions the application may not need to function, or that you don’t want it to have all the time. For example, does CandyCrush really need access to your microphone or your photos, no neither of those phone features are part of the game. So disabling these and being able to monitor if they continue to try and connect could alert users to applications that may not have the best intentions.

5) Week 5 : Gesture Short Cuts

The article focuses on ways to quickly access parts of the phone using one or two fingers and moving across the screen. For example, get your maps in 3 dimensions by moving two fingertips down the screen. The exception to the gestures is the double click on the power button to get to the camera quickly. Though that was probably my favorite one. I definitely have lost a good photo moment fumbling with my phone. As people use mobile devices for more robust access with data, I think these little tricks will become increasingly essential to the user experience. I mostly just read email on the phone but wait until my desktop is available to do a full response but many people want to have full access right away. So being able to move the cursor and delete easily are key to user acceptance.

6) IT Pro: Mobile Devices

Class,

I am glad to see the class text includes a chapter about mobile operating systems. Having an understanding of mobile devices has become a requirement for anyone entering the IT field. So many users now access online content through smart phones and tablets that they have become an integrated part of most major organizations. I personally wonder how much additional security risk is involved when accessing content on such a device. Traditional operating systems tend to have a considerable amount of security that I feel smart phones lack.

Is there an increased opportunity for data theft if information is stored on a mobile device (such as sensitive emails or something of that nature)?

7) ITV Pro: OS Features part 1:

IT Pro.TV covered some great features in this first video. At the end they downloaded a Launcher App, that started to change the GUI of the android phone. Showed more apps, and also started grouping similar apps together. I haven’t had an Android phone for about 5 years now, but my question is, do you need an launcher app, or could you group apps together on your own? On my iPhone I have the ability to group apps together without having to download any type of app to do it.

Also, another thing that they talked about was Open Source Apps compared to Closed Source. Closed Source is mostly on the iOS (Apple Devices) whereas with the Androids you can find Open Source Apps (they mentioned you can see the source code with open source) which are usually free. However, the downside with Open Source Apps, is that you have to trust the install process and with that, it could lead to data corruption on your phone.

8) ITV Pro:Other operating systems

Wong and Rodrick talked about the three most common devices in use today, Android, iOS, and Windows phones, tablets and pads. This is the first I have heard about Windows phones, the device used to present that OS was a Nokia suggesting that the Windows OS maybe used on any android platform. The really nice thing about the various features on any device is that they are intuitive meaning that a technically savvy person can fumble through the interface and find the correct solution. If that fails, there is always YouTube. The key is to understand that there are no such things as problems, only solutions looking for a place to happen. The IT pros make us aware of those solutions by showing where the settings are in the different OSs and the various stores available to download or purchase the different applications.

THIS POST HAS DISCUSSION HAS TWO PARTS

PART 1 POST/REPLY

PART 2 VIDEO RELATED TO POST

Part 1:

After reviewing this week’s readings you will need to compose a discussion board post of at least 250 words that addresses the question I ask below.

Please respond to each other. Remember, that the purpose of this discussion is not to answer my initial or follow-up questions. The purpose is to engage with the assigned readings and integrate them with other ideas and into your daily (or future) practice. Please do use terminology from the assigned readings, cite the textbook with at least an in-text citation (Dipboye, 2016), and bring in current events (provide a URL) to add to the conversation and to support your points. These discussions are the main learning and assessment tool in this course.

Question(s):

Discuss how power and conformity have lead to bad decisions for organizations. Use personal examples where ever possible (or The Office). How might these situations have been avoided?

lINKS TO HELP WITH QUESTION

THIS IS FOR POST AND REPLY TO TWO CLASS MATES

Part 2:

Find a video that you think would be helpful to other students to support their understanding of the material in this chapter. Provide a link to the video and explain why you selected it and how it is helpful. be sure to watch the whole video and let us know what is covered. Before spending too much time watching the video, make sure that no one else has already selected the video. You need to provide a unique selection to be eligible for points.

Alternatively, you can create a meme that demonstrates the principles in this course. It has to be in good taste and demonstrate a deep understanding of the principles in the chapter or common misconceptions about the material covered this week. You can find several excellent meme generators online.