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Describe what it means to be a parent or your child rearing philosophy. Alternatively, describe what your childhood was like. What do you recall?

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Describe the most memorable day of your life.

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Students will describe an aspect of society, such as education, work, food consumption, religion, etc. that they think has become McDonaldized and find out about efforts that are being undertaken to counter the trend. They should look, for instance, for alternative lifestyles, alternative forms of organization, or social movements that address the issue. They will decide which efforts are most promising or realistic in resisting McDonaldization.

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One of the local hospitals wants to assure that they have enough nurses for incoming patients needing assistance, especially in the emergency room.  To insure there are enough nurses on duty, but not an overage which would waste hospital resources, the following data regarding the number of patients entering the hospital over the last several weeks has been gathered.  The data does not include weekend patient traffic, as the hospital has previously done a similar study and staffed weekends appropriately.  You are to analyze the data using ANOVA methodology and determine if there are any differences in the number of patients served by the day of the week.  If you find there are differences, which days seem to be the busiest?  You are to write a report to the hospital nursing manager of your findings.  Be sure to include the problem statement (what you were asked to do), your analysis (include the statistical methodology used with graphs, charts, formulas, etc.), and your findings, along with a recommendation for staffing. 

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Business Strategy Analysis Paper

The purpose of this assignment is to increase your ability to analyze business strategies of organizations.  Business strategy focuses on the strategy of individual businesses. Strategic analysis is critical for analyzing the competitive context in which an organization operates and for making reasoned and reasonable recommendations for how that organization should position itself and what actions it should take to maximize value creation. Actions taken by firms to improve competitive position engender responses by other firms, and the expected sequence of actions and responses must be understood to develop an effective strategy.

This assignment presupposes a working knowledge of business strategy and analytical techniques and quantitative tools. This paper will focus on critical evaluation of business strategies of three companies of your choice.

Using the framework of strategic analysis (e.g. Blue Ocean) students will select three strategies from three different companies, operating in different industries (the third being your current/past employer/ intern provider). In a 15-20 page paper, students will:

• Identify the companies
• Provide company profile
• Describe market/ industry strategy with supporting research
• Critically analyze the competitive strategy of each company in a socially  appropriate manner
• Suggest recommendations for strategic value innovation

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The purpose of this assignment is to interpret the results of hypothesis testing and identify potential ethical dilemmas associated with the statistics and their analysis.

Part 1:

Using the preliminary data collected in the Topic 2 assignment, complete two hypothesis tests relevant to the specific requirements of your scenario. To ensure tests are not duplicated, collaborate with the other members of your group to identify specifically which data each person in the group will be utilizing in the hypothesis tests. For example, if you are comparing sports teams, one member of the group might compare the Tigers and the Rams, while another member of the group might compare the Sharks and the Eagles.

Using Excel, complete the two hypothesis tests using different data sets at a .05 level of significance. Generate a box plot for each test. The accuracy of formulas and the box plot visuals will be assessed.

Part 2

Statistical analysis can create a number of ethical challenges. Review the "Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice," "Statement on the Integration of Faith and Work," and the servant leadership and conscious capitalism study materials. Consider the principle of "do no harm" and how, through application of a Christian worldview perspective, ethical challenges related to sampling methods, treatment of outliers, selection of levels, or significance can be anticipated and addressed to ensure that statistical analysis is completed effectively, efficiently, and ethically.

Provide a 750-1,000 summary of the hypothesis tests and ethical issues related to statistical analysis. The summary should address the following:

Summary of the business scenario.
Definition of the variables and sources.
Rationale for the type of hypothesis tests used.
Null and alternative hypothesis.
Two hypothesis tests with results that include test statistic, critical value(s), and p-value.
Box plot visuals for each hypothesis test.
Interpretation of the statistical results of the hypothesis tests.
Discussion of potential ethical dilemmas associated with each hypothesis test, including explanation of how the principle of "do no harm" and a Christian worldview perspective could be applied to ensure the statistical analysis was completed ethically. Include discussion of how sampling methods, treatment of outliers, selection of levels, or significance, etc. should be addressed for ethical compliance.
Summary of the hypothesis testing results and how these can be applied to the specified business scenario.
Submit the Excel spreadsheet and Word summary document.

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Computing Taxable Income. Ross Martin had the following tax information:
Gross salary, $52,145
Interest earnings, $205
Dividend income, $65
One personal exemption, $3,900
Itemized deductions, $9,250
Adjustments to income, $1,200

Determining Tax Deductions. If Lola Harper had the following itemized deductions, should she use Schedule A or the standard deduction? The standard deduction for her tax situation is $6,100.

Donations to church and other charities, $2,050
Medical and dental expenses that exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income, $330
State income tax, $690
Job-related expenses that exceed 2 percent of adjusted gross income, $1,610

Calculating Tax Deductions. Kaye Blanchard is 72 years old. She has $30,000 of adjusted gross income and $8,000 of qualified medical expenses. She will be itemizing her tax deductions this year.

How much of a tax deduction will Kaye be able to deduct?

Comparing Tax Deductions and Credits. Imari Brown is attending community college. She has $1,000 of education expenses. She claims herself on her tax return. She is trying to decide between the tuition and fees deduction or an education credit. If Imari is in the 15% tax bracket, which should she choose?

Calculating Average Tax Rate. What would be the average tax rate for a person who paid taxes of $4,864.14 on a taxable income of $39,870?

Comparing Taxes on Investments. Would you prefer a fully taxable investment earning 8.1 percent or a tax-exempt investment earning 6.1 percent? Why? (Assume 1 28 percent tax rate.)

Capital Gains. Samuel Jenkins made two investments, the first was 13 months ago and the second was two months ago. He just sold both investments and has capital gains of $2,000 on each. If Samuel is in the 28 percent tax bracket, what will be the amount of capital gains tax on each investment?

Future Value of a Tax Savings. On December 30, you decide to make a $1,500 charitable donation.
a. If you are in the 28 percent tax bracket, how much will you save in taxes for the current year?
b. If you deposit the tax savings in a savings account for the next five years at 4 percent, what will be the future value of that account?

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Paper Instructions:

Please submit your answers to  all questions to your choice of  3  Real-Life Research Cases below
Each case write up should be approximately 3 pages single spaced.
Case 1:
Sonic Goes Mobile
Sonic Drive-In has recently reviewed information for a number of surveys involving various types of product evaluations. All the surveys were completed online with customers recruited from their proprietary panel. In addition to the actual survey data and other information, the online interviewing system captures the browser that the respondent used to complete the survey. Analyzing the “browser used” data, Sonic has observed a slow but steady increase in the number of individuals completing the survey on mobile browsers, including tablets and smartphones. The most recent results show a big jump in this percentage from a year ago, with an average of nearly 30 percent of the more recent surveys completed on mobile browsers.
Several managers have attempted completing some of these surveys using their own tablets and smartphones. They like the idea that using these platforms increase the options for the consumer and that these devices permit consumers to take the surveys at times and in places when and where they previously could not. However, their experiences in testing the surveys on their mobile devices have suggested that they may need to change the way they design questionnaires to accommodate smartphones and tablets.
Questions
1. What are the impediments and difficulties associated with completing surveys on mobile devices?
2. What changes does Sonic need to make in its survey designs to take advantage of these new survey platforms?
3. What about mixing survey results taken on laptop computers and those taken on mobile devices? What cautions, if any, would you have?
4. Might the inclusion of mobile devices, along with laptops and desktops, improve the quality of the sample? Why do you say that?


Case 2:
Procter & Gamble Uses Its Online Community to Help Develop Scents for a New Product Line
When Procter & Gamble was developing scents for a new product line, it asked members of its online community to simply record the scents that they encountered over the course of a day that made them feel good. By week's end, they had images, videos, and simple text messages about cut grass, fresh paint, play dough, and other aromas that revealed volumes about how scent triggers not just nostalgia but feeling of competence, adventurousness, comfort, and other powerful emotions.
This scents project illustrates how mobile enables discovery around a specific sensation. But P&G also embarked on an ambitious attempt to get a more holistic understanding of its consumer—who she is, where she goes, what she sees. So, using a research application, community members were asked to share beauty moments—the sensory experiences and encounters with beauty products and brands that they have during the week, both at home and out in the world. A great deal was learned about how they feel at different times of day, in different contexts, about what triggers them to use an existing product or try a new one.
Beauty is a highly subjective attribute and feeling beautiful is a highly dynamic state. So P&G enlisted its community members to help it go deeper, not just through more personal, one-to-one sharing via these mobile apps buy through collective collaboration. After all, while emerging new tools and apps make people more accurate reports, they still have to be willing to do it. That's why it's so important to be able to establish intimacy, trust, and relationship in one venue, like an online community or series of advisory group meetings or online chats that you can then apply to mobile projects, and vice versa.
In this example, P&G was trying to discover the parallels and discrepancies between how others see them. So community members simply used their phones to take pictures of themselves in the moment—at home or at work—and post them, along with their own critique. Then other community members privately and anonymously commented on the images.
“This is me after work. I am still wearing work clothes, tired, but feeling good,” wrote one brave volunteer beneath her uploaded picture. “I see my smile, yet again, I also see that my face needs powdering and my eyes are tired.”
But is that what other women saw when they looked at her? Some glances were pretty sharply appraising. “She seems to have a bit of acne,” one unsentimental member wrote. “Her nose ring doesn't go with the rest of her,” wrote another. “Bright, happy eyes!” observed one admirer. “Absolutely great smile. White teeth,” wrote another. Overall, the “critics” were kinder than the subject.
Is it surprising to learn that young women are harder on themselves than others tend to be? Probably not. But the deeper lesson in this experience is about the positive potential of collaboration—between technologies (mobile vs online), between consumers, and between consumers and brands.47
Questions
1. Do you think P&G used the right research method to answer the research question? What about mall interviews or IDIs?
2. How does a company recruit the “right” respondents for its online and social media communities?
3. Researchers talk about getting “richer understanding” from online communities. What does this really mean?
4. How might a firm like Estee Lauder use this information? Should they also create an online community? Have they done so already?

Case 3:
McDonald's Listening Tour
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of US adults and approximately 17 percent—or 12.5 million—children and adolescents are obese. It goes without saying that marketers are regularly the targets for consumer advocacy groups looking to take action against the obesity epidemic and fast-food restaurants and other purveyors of fatty and sugary foods are often at the center of the obesity debate.
McDonald's formulated a corporate response by announcing a long-term plan geared toward offering improved nutrition choices, including adding produce and low-fat dairy options to Happy Meals, reducing sodium and added sugars across its menu, and increasing customers' access to nutrition information. The plan also includes a long-term qualitative research project, a nationwide “listening tour” featuring McDonald's leadership and key decision makers, including senior director of Nutrition Cindy Goody, McDonald's USA president Jan Fields, and CMO Neil Golden.
The listening tour was designed to gather input from local audiences on the company's nutritional messaging, sustainability, and overall brand promotion. McDonald's menu has changed over the years, and the goal of the tour was to take feedback from various audiences. This would help with menu adjustments and help determine how the company can be more sustainable. The entire premise was based on a two-way dialogue.
McDonald's approached the sessions with guidelines that varied, depending on the audience. It was not simply a wide open discussion on any topic that came to mind. Several tour stops were to speak with minority consumers; other stops included the Blog Her conference, a social networking conference for female bloggers. Other groups visited included the American Dietetic Association's Food and Nutrition Conference, a group of PTA members and educators in Washington, DC, and a group of students at Duke University.
McDonald's found out that most people felt the firm was on the right track. In other cases, the company found that it needed to do a better job telling McDonald's story. It was not getting credit for things that it was doing. For example, McDonald's has an iPhone app with nutritional information, but very few knew about it. Others didn't realize that McDonald's menu is completely customizable. If you don't want pickles, then you don't have to have pickles. And if you want lettuce and tomato, all you have to do is ask.18
Questions
1. Is the listening tour really qualitative research? Why or why not?
2. After the findings are presented to management, should quantitative research be done?
3. Couldn't McDonald's just have done focus groups instead?
4. Other than focus groups, what qualitative techniques might McDonald's have used?

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Paper Instructions:

Consider the questions below and compose a 200-word minimum reflective perspective summary about your results. Use the self-assessment document you completed from the textbook as your guide.
Did you expect your score to be high or low? Any surprises? Are your stronger or milder points an asset?
Does the self-assessment scale or rating accurately describe a trait, characteristic, behavior, cognition, or another aspect of your leadership? If so, which one(s) and why? If the self-assessment is inaccurate then how do you account for the difference between what it measures and your leadership style?
Based on the result of this self-assessment do you need to make a change in a leadership behavior or cognition (way of thinking) that will improve your skills and make you a better leader? How would you start to make this change? If no change is needed then how do you plan to use the information from the assessment?

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Innovation Through Information Technology Research Paper 
To successfully complete this course each student is required to research the below topic and submit a 7-10 page paper in MS Word. Selecta known Fortune 500 Organization and discuss how information technology (IT) played apart in its success and how it shaped the industry the selected organization operates in.The research paper must at minimum cover the following topics:·Provide an overview of the selected organization and describe its product or services. (No more than 250 words).·Explain the role IT played in the company and its strategic business impacts?·What are the benefits and challenges of using IT in business?·What business strategies would you use if you were defining the strategic direction for this company?Formatyour paper consistent with APA formatting guidelines. Include at minimum 5 to 6 references to support your research.Method of Evaluation -Research paper will be evaluated based on the following rubric:All key requirements of the written assignment are covered in a substantive way.·The paper links theory to relevant examples from the text and research performed.·Major points are stated clearly, are organized logically, and are supported by specific details, examples, or analysis.·The introduction provides sufficient background on the topic and previews major points.·The conclusion is logical, flows from the body of the paper, and reviews the major points

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CONSULTING PRACTICE AREA: OPERATIONS
Global Sourcing at Nike
Nike has engaged you as a consultant to support the company’s global sourcing activities. The engagement includes an analysis of working conditions at Nike’s foreign contractors, the company’s implementation of sustainable sourcing practices, and a potential shift of Nike’s foreign supplier base from Asia to the Americas (“near shoring”). What measures would you recommend to strengthen Nike’s global sourcing capabilities? In your answer, be sure to specify the assumptions underlying your analysis and the grounds for your recommendations.

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* Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:  MTN)

Internal Environmental Analysis

Purpose: 
This project is the third of four projects.  Students will perform an internal environmental analysis using the tools and concepts learned in the course to date.  You will also draw from previous business courses to develop an understanding of how organizations develop and manage strategies to establish, safeguard and sustain its position in a competitive market. 
Students also have the opportunity to review an organization's objectives and goals and the key functional areas within the organization.  Performing an internal environment analysis helps assess a firm's internal resources and capabilities and plays a critical role in formulating strategy by identifying a firm's strengths to capitalize on so that it can effectively overcome weaknesses.  
Outcomes Met With This Project:
* utilize a set of useful analytical skills, tools, and techniques for analyzing a company strategically;
* integrate ideas, concepts, and theories from previously taken functional courses including, accounting, finance, market, business and human resource management;
* analyze and synthesize strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to generate, prioritize, and implement alternative strategies in order to revise a current plan or write a new plan and present a strategic plan.
Instructions:
Step 1: Specific Company for All Four Projects
The companies that your instructor has assigned to you for Project 1 is the company you will use for this project.  The assigned company must be used for this project and in subsequent projects in the course.  Students must complete the project using the assigned company.  Deviating from the assigned company will result in a zero for the project.
After reading the course material, you will complete the steps below.   
Step 2:  Course Materials and Research
* You are required to research information about the focal company and the internal environment for this project, You are accountable for using the course materials to support the ideas, reasoning and conclusions made.  Course materials use goes beyond defining terms but is used to explain the 'why and how' of a situation.  Using one or two in-text citations from the course materials and then relying on Internet source material will not earn many points on the assignment.  A variety of source material is expected and what is presented must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed.   Avoid merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and impact.  In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas presented from the research, the course material and the question(s) being asked.
* Note:  Your report is based on the results of the research performed and not on any prepared documentation.  What this means is that you will research and draw your own conclusions that are supported by the research and the course material rather than the use any source material that puts together any of the tools or techniques whether from the Internet, for-pay websites or any pre-prepared document, video or source material.  A zero will be earned for not doing your own analysis.
* Success:  The analysis is based on research and not opinion.  You are not making recommendations and you will not attempt to position the focal company in a better or worse light than other companies within the industry merely because you are completing an analysis on this particular company.  The analysis must be based on factual information.  Any conclusions drawn have to be based on factual information rather than leaps of faith.  To ensure success, as stated above, you are expected to use the course materials and research on the focal company's global industry and the focal company.  Opinion does not earn credit nor does using external sources when course materials can be used.  It is necessary to provide explanations (the why and how) rather than making statements.   Avoid stringing one citation after another as doing so does not show detailed explanations.
  You may  use Market Line and should be looking at the focal company's Annual Report or 10K report.  You are not depending on any one resource to complete the analysis.  It is impossible to complete a Porter’s Five Forces, competitive analysis or OT by using only course material.
You should not be using obscure articles, GlassDoor, or Chron or similar articles.  
Research for Financial Analysis:  Financial Research
Research for Industry Analysis CSI Market.
You should not be using obscure articles, GlassDoor, or Chron or similar articles.  
Research for Financial Analysis:  Financial Research
Research for Industry Analysis CSI Market
Step 3:  How to Set Up the Report
* The document has to be written in Word or rtf.  No other format is acceptable.  No pdf files will be graded.  Use 12-point font for a double-spaced report.  The final product cannot be longer than 8 pages in length, which includes all tables and matrices but excludes the title page and reference page.  Do no use an Appendix.   Those items identified in the technical analysis should appear under the appropriate heading in the paper.  It is important to format the tables/matrices to fit the report and to present the analysis in a clear concise manner.
* Create a title page with title, your name, the course number, the instructor's name;
* Use this template to complete the project: Project 3 Template. 
Step 4: Strategic Role of Corporate Strengths/Weaknesses in the Internal Strategy Analysis
There are three levels of strategy:  corporate level strategy, business level strategy and functional level strategy.  Corporate level strategies are related to businesses or markets the focal company successfully can compete within.  Corporate level strategies affect the entire organization and are formulated by top management using input from middle and lower management.  Decision making about corporate level strategies are considered complex, affect the entire company and relate to an organization’s resource capabilities.  Corporate level strategies align with an organization’s mission statement and ideally are designed around goals and objectives. 
Perform an analysis on:
* Corporate-level strategies
* Create a partial SWOT table and performs a SW analysis and discuss the strategic inferences/implications (Discuss what strategies would allow the company to capitalize on its major strengths and what strategies would allow the company to improve upon its major weaknesses.)
* Create an IFE matrix analysis.  Make sure to explain how the matrix was developed and discuss the strategic inferences/implications
* Develop a Grand Strategy Matrix.  Make sure to explain how the matrix was developed and discuss the strategic inferences/implications at a corporate level and business-unit-level.
Step 5:  Strategic Role of Internal Resources/Departments/Processes
Perform an analysis on:
* Business-level strategies
    * Evaluate the company's product line, target market 
    * Identify and explain business-level strategies
* Functional-level strategies
    * Assess the company's organizational structure, the organizational culture, marketing production, operations, finance and accounting, and R&D that can be accomplished by viewing the company's website, interviews, and surveys.
    * Explain how these strategies align with the company's vision and mission statements.
 Step 6:  Strategic Financial Analysis for the Last Reported Fiscal Year 
* Use the company's income statement and balance sheet to calculate no less than a total of ten (10) key financial ratios to the business that are relevant to the focal company.  There must be a mix of four different key categories inclusive of the leverage, liquidity, profitability, and efficiency ratios so that the ratios do not all come from the same category. The specific ratios selection must come from the following categories.
* Leverage Ratios (Long term debt ratio, Total debt ratio, Debt-to-equity ratio, Times interest earned ratio, and Cash coverage ratio).
* Liquidity Ratios (Net working capital to total assets ratio, current ratio, quick ratio, and cash ratio)
* Efficiency Ratios (Asset turnover ratio, Average collection period, Inventory turnover ratio, and Days sales outstanding)
* Profitability Ratios (Net profit margin, Return on assets, and Return on equity) 
* The selection of the ratios has to be relevant to the focal company so it is important to choose wisely.
* Quote industry financial average ratios that correlate to the 10 financial ratios selected for the focal company.  You may find the industry averages by going to the library.  If you are unable to find on your own, reach out to the librarian as these resources are readily available.
* Discuss the corporate financial standing based on a financial ratio analysis.  Include whether the company's financial ratio is a strength, a weakness or a neutral factor.
Note:  If copied directly from the Internet, a zero will be assigned. When placing any table or figure in a table, it must be explained in detail.
Step 7:  Composite Analysis
A composite analysis is one in which you will bring in a combination of relevant factors from the various analyses (EFE Matrix, IFE matrix, CPM matrix, SWOT, Grand Strategy Matrix and QSPM).  The QSPM is a tool that helps determine the relative attractiveness of feasible alternative strategies based on the external and internal key success factors.
* Develop a Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) analysis.   Make sure to discuss how the matrix was developed and discuss the strategic inferences/implications.
* Develop a composite analysis on internal factor strategy analysis based on the qualitative and quantitative analytical outcomes from those steps above.