• Week 5 Assignment 2.2 – Submit Here

  Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” video in the Student Center.
  Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center.

  Assignment 2.2: Justification Report – Part 2
  Due Week 5 and worth 150 points

  In Part 1 of your Justification Report assignment, you built up the following sections: Problem Statement, Overview of Alternatives, Criteria, and Methods. In Part 2, you will revise Part 1 based on your instructor’s suggestions and add to it the following sections: Evaluation of Alternatives, Findings and Analysis, and References.

  Use the basic outline below to draft your paper. Organize your responses to each question under the following section headings:

  • Evaluation of Alternatives (for Questions 1-3)
  • Findings and Analysis (for Questions 4-5)
  • References (for Question 6)

  Using the provided template, write Part 2 of a single-spaced report in which you:

  1. Research the two (2) alternatives (i.e. possible solutions) that you’ve identified in your Part 1 Evaluation of Alternatives section. Record bibliographic information during research. 
     1. Example: You might research other organizations that have attempted similar solutions to the problem you have identified and explore the results of those experiments. 
  2. Use what you discover in your research to evaluate each alternative by each of your five (5) criteria. 
     1. Example: If your research revealed that four companies similar to yours increased productivity after allowing their workers to telework from home three days per week, you might conclude that one of your suggested alternatives – in this case, the option to telework from home three days per week – satisfies one of your criterion of “Productivity” as a high-potential solution to a problem you’ve identified (of decreased worker morale and productivity at Doe’s Electronics). However, additional research might frustrate a recommendation of this alternative if it is found to fall short of other criteria while a second alternative fares better. For instance, a telework alternative might be found to be too costly to implement; too frustrating for consumers who prefer daily, in-person customer service; or too divergent from the company’s brand, “Always there for you!”
  3. Organize the assignment by your criteria. Explain in narrative form how each of your two (2) alternatives stacks up against your first criterion. Next, explain how each alternative stacks up against your second criterion, etc. 
     1. Example: An abbreviated outline of what this longer section might look like based on the above example is below (Note: Only the first two [2] of five [5] required criteria are included to give you a feel for the structure). Your researched findings, represented as circled bullets below, should be explained in two to five (2-5) sentences. Include in-text citations and follow up with References in APA style):

        Evaluation of Alternatives

        • Productivity
        1. • Alternative A: Telework from home 3 days per week 
             • {narrate findings based on research here}
           • Alternative B: Offer two extra Floating Holidays to each employee per year 
             • {narrate findings based on research here}
        • Cost
        1. • Alternative A: Telework from home 3 days per week 
             • {narrate findings based on research here}
           • Alternative B: Offer two extra Floating Holidays to each employee per year
           • • {narrate findings based on research here}
  4. Briefly summarize in narrative form the major discoveries that emerged from the Evaluation of Alternatives section.
  5. Include a chart like the ones below to illustrate at a glance:

     Figure 1: Alternatives Analyzed by Criteria

     Criteria	Telework Option	Floating Holiday Option
     Productivity	Very high	Negligible increase
     Cost	Very high	Moderate
     Company Image	Increased	Negligible increase
     Worker Morale	Increased	Negligible increase
     Practicality	Moderate	Low
     TOTAL Feasibility* of Alternatives based on Criteria?	Moderate to High	Low to Moderate

     *Feasability = Capability of an alternative being carried out with success

  6. Include an APA style (6th edition) References page that documents the two (2) sources (minimum) that you used and cited in-text in your Evaluation of Alternatives section.  Note that both resources may be secondary resources, or you may include one primary source and one secondary source. Remember that both in-text citations and References must be included (to avoid plagiarism) whenever you are directly quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing researched material.

  Your assignment must:

  • Be typed, single spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

  The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  • Support ideas or claims in body paragraphs with clear details, examples, and explanations.
  • Organize ideas logically by using transitional words, phrases, and sentences.
  • Use sentence variety and effective word choice in written communication.
  • Apply writing process strategies to develop formal business reports and / or proposals.
  • Use technology and information resources to research issues related to selected topics.
  • Write clearly and concisely using proper writing mechanics.

  Consider the feedback from your professor and / or online tutor when making your revisions.

  Click here to view the grading rubric.

Poverty and Health

For this discussion, address the following points based on the reading assigned for this week. In your initial post:

• Analyze whether poverty is a cause of poor health in a community or whether poor health is a cause of poverty.
• Analyze some of the health issues found in a community of
  lower-socioeconomic status as well as the health issues found in
  communities of higher socioeconomic status.  
• Discuss the differences and similarities between the issues found in both communities.
• Utilize at least two scholarly sources, in addition to the course text, to support your points. 

For this discussion, address the following points based on the reading assigned for this week. In your initial post:

• Analyze whether poverty is a cause of poor health in a community or whether poor health is a cause of poverty.
• Analyze some of the health issues found in a community of
  lower-socioeconomic status as well as the health issues found in
  communities of higher socioeconomic status.  
• Discuss the differences and similarities between the issues found in both communities.
• Utilize at least two scholarly sources, in addition to the course text, to support your points. 

Assignment 2: Challenges in the Global Business Environment

Due Week 9 and worth 330 points

According to the textbook, ongoing challenges in the global business environment are mostly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to embrace technology advancements, and stiff competition among businesses. Imagine that you have been appointed as Apple’s Chief Compliance Officer and must prepare a video presentation for Apple’s suppliers regarding Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct to deliver via a web meeting. To prepare for your presentation, review Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct, located at https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/. Next, use a tablet, smartphone, laptop, desktop, or traditional video recorder to record a maximum of a five to seven (5-7) minute dynamic video on Apple’s Code of Conduct. Alternatively, you may submit a four to six (4-6) page paper instead of the video submission.

In addition to the recorded video, you must also create a presentation using PowerPoint (or other equivalent software) summarizing the important changes and explanations regarding the code of conduct that you communicated in your video presentation to email to the suppliers after the meeting for future reference.

You must submit both parts of the assignment to receive full credit.

Note: If you are using a tablet or smartphone you will need to email the video file to yourself, then save it to a computer in order to upload to Blackboard. You may want to upload your video to a file sharing service, such as Dropbox, if your email will not let you send a large video file. Dropbox is accessible from all smartphones and tablets from the Dropbox app.

Once you are ready to upload your video to Blackboard, view the Kaltura video tutorial found in your online course shell (Week 9).

Please use the following naming convention in the popup window for your video once it is finished uploading:

• Title: Your First Name, Your Last Name – Challenges in the Business Environment
• Tags: BUS475, Business Environment
• Description: First Name, Last Name – BUS475 Assignment 2 (Date Uploaded ex. 11-14-2014)

Part 1: Video Presentation OR Paper

Prepare and present a video that is a maximum of five to seven (5-7) minutes OR write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:

1. List specific changes that Apple has made to its Code of Conduct in recent years. Provide at least one (1) example of each change.
2. Explain the identified changes to the suppliers in such a way that they will understand the standards that Apple requires in order to maintain their relationship with the company.

Part 2: PowerPoint Presentation

Create a six to eight (6-8) slide PowerPoint presentation in which you:

1. Summarize Apple’s Supplier Responsibility information.
2. Discuss Apple’s stance on each of the following areas:

1. Empowering workers
2. Labor and Human Rights
3. Health and Safety
4. The Environment
5. Accountability

1. Identify the key ways that Apple’s Progress Report has changed since last year.
2. Examine the manner in which Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct helps the organization operate as a socially responsible organization.
3. Provide detailed speaker notes of what you would say if you were delivering the presentation.
4. Submit a reference page with at least two (2) quality references that you have used for this presentation / paper. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your PowerPoint presentation must follow these formatting requirements:

• Format the PowerPoint presentation with headings on each slide and three to four (3-4) relevant graphics (photographs, graphs, clip art, etc.), ensuring that the presentation is visually appealing and readable from 18 feet away. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a title slide containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The title and reference slides are not included in the required slide length.

If you choose the written paper, your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Evaluate the influences of changing economic, political, social, cultural, and technological forces on business and society.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in business and society.
• Write clearly and concisely about business and society using proper writing mechanics.

I thought I’d kick off the Southwest Airlines assignment with a proposal on getting this done.

In summary, we need to produce a journal containing lessons learned or ‘management practices worth emulating’ that we have gathered from the Nuts! book and then discussed.

10x key themes:

– Motivation

– Leadership

– Decision Making

– Group dynamics and teamwork

– Power and politics in organizations

– Ethics and integrity

– communication

– Management of Change

– Creation and management of organization culture

– Managing one’s self and one’s time

My proposal is that we start recording any lessons we identify on the Team discussion board for this exercise “Southwest Airlines Team Project Discussion…”. We should clarify which theme the learning is relevant to, so that it’s be easier to collate into a journal at the end.

(discussion these 10 themes and at least 500 words)