Choose one newspaper or magazine article from Business Week, Forbes, The New York Times, or The Wall Street Journal (not a “blurb” or summary), published during the current semester (May-June 2022), that relates directly or indirectly to some analytical concept discussed in the course. Demonstrate your understanding of your readings of this concept, making clear how you would interpret it, how you would use it, what it is important for, and any other relevant issues.

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PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS, Summer 2022 – News Review Paper

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. You are to critically analyze or expand on the economic content of an article from The Wall Street Journal.  Your paper should be at least two but no more than three typed (Times New Roman or CG Times, 12 Point) pages in length. Single or double spacing is acceptable.  Place all of your graphs on separate sheets attached to the back of your paper.  Graph pages are not part of your three-page restriction.  This paper is worth 100 points. If you do not turn in this assignment, you will receive an INCOMPLETEin the assignment and a resulting 10-page paper will be due.  If your paper is late, it will not be accepted, except under extenuating circumstances. You must post/attach your paper into SafeAssign in the Assignments section of Blackboard dedicated for this project no later than the due date.

 

ASSIGNMENT:

  1. Choose one newspaper or magazine article from Business Week, Forbes, The New York Times, or The Wall Street Journal (not a “blurb” or summary), published during the current semester (May-June 2022), that relates directly or indirectly to some analytical concept discussed in the course.  Your write-up should:
    1. Demonstrate your understanding of your readings of this concept, making clear how you would interpret it, how you would use it, what it is important for, and any other relevant issues;
    2. Make clear the relevance of your concept to an article you picked by connecting them, i.e., explain point(s) made by author using concept.  Be careful to explain statements you make—don’t simply make assertions you don’t support.  The statement(s) you focus on from the article will generally report that “something happened”; your task is to fully explain why, using your concept.  Don’t simply use the article to illustrate your concept—your task is to explain the article using the concept.♫ (For example, your concept may be a product demand function and your article might report that increased consumer income has raised the demand for cars; to simply describe a demand function graphically or algebraically, and then describe how higher income will increase demand fails to explain why higher income causes demand to increase, and that would be your task in this case).
  2. The first sentence of your 2 to 3 page paper, (excluding any graphs), should state which analytical concept you have selected.
  3. Highlight selection(s) of article your write-up addresses and somehow get the article to the professor by attaching it to an email or brining it into campus, with your write-up.  State source of article—title of newspaper or magazine, author, page, date—early in paper, somewhere in first paragraph.
  4. The more “challenging” the concept and/or article statement(s) you choose, the higher the probability of earning a higher grade for your effort.  I/we recognize this assignment is not easy—it is harder still if you do not take it seriously.  In that spirit, you are encouraged to begin your search for articles now so as to provide yourself with a reasonable number, from which you can choose the one most likely to result in the most satisfactory grade for the effort made.
  5. Papers will be graded primarily on content; however, your writing will also be considered, and if not at least satisfactory, could reduce the evaluation of your paper by as much as one letter grade.  Your write-up should be organized, logical, and clear with minimal spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.  Collaboration with peers is permitted only prior to initial write-up; if initial write-up is the final one, so be it, though you are encouraged to prepare a rough draft before the final write-up submission.
  6. Papers submitted after the “deadline” date will not be accepted for full credit, except in extenuating circumstances.

 

III. Your paper should include the following:

  1. Name, section, course, and instructor; left justified at the top of the first page.
  2. A title centered at the top of the first page.
  3. Number each page right justified at the top (smith 2, smith 3, etc.)
  4. Main text of analysis:

Write your thoughts on the movie you decide to watch. How does the movie apply to your view of business and how does it influence your views?

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MOVIE TIME ASSIGNMENT!

Watch ONE of the following movies:

  • The Big Short
  • The Lorax
  • Meet the Robinsons
  • The Minimalists – Less is Now (on Netflix)
  • Saving Capitalism (on Netflix)
  • Capital – In the Twenty-First Century (on Netflix)

Write your thoughts on the movie you decide to watch. How does the movie apply to your view of business and how does it influence your views
(if at all)?

What is your intended major. and how did your interest in this subject evolve? Describe any relevant experience you have had in the field (employment. internships, military service, volunteer work. campus or civic activities. etc.) and what you have gained from your involvement. How will UW Bothell prepare you for your future endeavors?

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Personal Statement

Your Personal Statement is an opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions committee and provides context for the rest of your application. The statement is very personal and belongs to you alone. Write what you feel strongly about and what matters most to you—not to your friends, parents, or colleagues. In other words, we invite you to distinguish yourself through telling your story.

Transfer Applicant Prompt
What is your intended major. and how did your interest in this subject evolve? Describe any relevant experience you have had in the field (employment. internships, military service, volunteer work. campus or civic activities. etc.) and what you have gained from your involvement. How will UW Bothell prepare you for your future endeavors?

Has the writer followed the assignment instructions for the research report assignment and provided all sections of the report, completed correctly. as requested by the instructions? If not, what has not been done correctly? 2Does the executive summary follow the model from the Victoria Business School and include Headings and other elements that model recommends? Are the majority of sources used scholarly or trade/professional?

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Decreasing Work Hours

Read through the sample research-based report, “Increasing Employee Well-Being and Productivity Through Decreasing Work Hours.” You can access the sample from Content (Sample Papers) for Week 5. BE AWARE: this paper cites sources and lists references using APA 7th Edition.

Answer the following questions. Post your answers as your response to this discussion topic.

1. Has the writer followed the assignment instructions for the research report assignment and provided all sections of the report, completed correctly. as requested by the instructions? If not, what has not been done correctly?

2. Does the executive summary follow the model from the Victoria Business School and include Headings and other elements that model recommends?

3. Are the majority of sources used scholarly or trade/professional?

What problem is the author addressing? Where in the report does the author cite secondary research? What types of primary research does the author cite in the report

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Business Report

After reading the assigned pages from the Victoria Business School’s “Example of a Finished Report,” you will answer a series of questions. Your responses should run 1-2 sentences per question. These questions will help you prepare for your own business report. Provide feedback for one classmate’s answers.

Download the document, “How to Write a Business Report,” from Victoria University. The document is linked to in Content for Week 5.

Access page 26 of the document, “An Example of a Finished Report.”

Review the report, which covers pages 27-41.

Respond to this discussion topic by answering the following questions. Your answers can be 1-2 sentences:

What problem is the author addressing?
Where in the report does the author cite secondary research? You can mention one or two pages.
What types of primary research does the author cite in the report? You can give one or two examples. (You are not required to do primary research for your WRTG 394 writing assignments, the proposal memo and research report; however, it’s important that you know how and why this research is used in business reports.)

Briefly explain the philosophy of Total Service Operations Management and how it may help with successful service operations managment. Critically discuss the importance of lean service operation principles in the context of Total Service Operations Management.

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International Service Operations Management

This is an Open Book Assessment Item – any course materials permitted

Instructions To Students:

The following short essay-style questions focus on testing your understanding and insights to date in this course. Answer two from three questions applying critical thinking and use of illustrative examples where possible. Students must include the most relevant couse theory concepts approprieately applied in their answers to each question. Each question will require an essay-style response approximately 500-700 words in length. Each question will be marked out of 20. Responses will be assessed according to coverage of the relevant issues; depth of analysis; and communication quality/writing. Responses provided in bullet points without the appropriate detail will be awarded only partial marks.

This examination is weighted 40 percent of the final course grade.

Apply critical thinking and illustrative examples. Each of your essay responses should be 500-700 words long – exceeding maximum word count will incur a penatly. Students must include the most relevant course theory concepts and discuss them appropriately in their answers. Assessed on: Coverage of relevant issues; depth of critical analysis; and communication quality/writing. Bullet point responses without the appropriate detail will be awarded only partial marks.

Answer Question 2 and Question 3:

Question 2. (20 marks)

A. Briefly explain the philosophy of Total Service Operations Management and how it may help with successful service operations managment.

B. Critically discuss the importance of lean service operation principles in the context of Total Service Operations Management.

C. Use appropriate course reading materials, specific company examples and case(s) covered in this course to illustrate your answer.

Question 3. (20 marks)

A. Briefly explain the importance and implications of developing an organisational culture that embraces continuous improvement and change to achieve successful international service operation.

B. Critically discuss the paradigm shift (change in the basic operating culture) that is needed to develop exceptional service operations for most firms.

C. Use appropriate course reading materials, specific company examples and case(s) covered in this course to illustrate your answer.

Based on your findings above, assess which expansion criteria seem to be more effective. Could any expansion criterion be changed or eliminated? If so, which one and why? Based on your findings above, does it appear as if the Loyalty Card is positively correlated with sales growth? Would you recommend changing this marketing strategy?

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Statistics Analysis

Review the Wk 2 – Apply: Statistical Report assignment.

In preparation for writing your report to senior management next week, conduct the following descriptive statistics analyses with Microsoft® Excel®. Answer the questions below in your Microsoft® Excel® sheet or in a separate Microsoft® Word document:

Insert a new column in the database that corresponds to “Annual Sales.” Annual Sales is the result of multiplying a restaurant’s “SqFt.” by “Sales/SqFt.”
Calculate the mean, standard deviation, skew, 5-number summary, and interquartile range (IQR) for each of the variables.
Create a box-plot for the “Annual Sales” variable. Does it look symmetric? Would you prefer the IQR instead of the standard deviation to describe this variable’s dispersion? Why?
Create a histogram for the “Sales/SqFt” variable. Is the distribution symmetric? If not, what is the skew? Are there any outliers? If so, which one(s)? What is the “SqFt” area of the outlier(s)? Is the outlier(s) smaller or larger than the average restaurant in the database? What can you conclude from this observation?
What measure of central tendency is more appropriate to describe “Sales/SqFt”? Why?

 

Below is the information for the week 2 assignment and is provided only as a reference. Nothing from the information below needs to be answered for this week’s assignment.

Purpose

This assignment is intended to help you learn how to apply statistical methods when analyzing operational data, evaluating the performance of current marketing strategies, and recommending actionable business decisions. This is an opportunity to build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills within the context of data analysis and interpretation. You’ll gain a first-hand understanding of how data analytics supports decision-making and adds value to an organization.

Scenario:

Pastas R Us, Inc. is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in noodle-based dishes, soups, and salads. Since its inception, the business development team has favored opening new restaurants in areas (within a 3-mile radius) that satisfy the following demographic conditions:

Median age between 25 – 45 years old
Household median income above national average
At least 15% college educated adult population

Last year, the marketing department rolled out a Loyalty Card strategy to increase sales. Under this program, customers present their Loyalty Card when paying for their orders and receive some free food after making 10 purchases.

The company has collected data from its 74 restaurants to track important variables such as average sales per customer, year-on-year sales growth, sales per sq. ft., Loyalty Card usage as a percentage of sales, and others. A key metric of financial performance in the restaurant industry is annual sales per sq. ft. For example, if a 1200 sq. ft. restaurant recorded $2 million in sales last year, then it sold $1,667 per sq. ft.

Executive management wants to know whether the current expansion criteria can be improved. They want to evaluate the effectiveness of the Loyalty Card marketing strategy and identify feasible, actionable opportunities for improvement. As a member of the analytics department, you’ve been assigned the responsibility of conducting a thorough statistical analysis of the company’s available database to answer executive management’s questions.

Report:

Write a 750-word statistical report that includes the following sections:

Section 1: Scope and descriptive statistics
Section 2: Analysis
Section 3: Recommendations and Implementation

Section 1 – Scope and descriptive statistics

State the report’s objective.
Discuss the nature of the current database. What variables were analyzed?
Summarize your descriptive statistics findings from Excel. Use a table and insert appropriate graphs.

Section 2 – Analysis

Using Excel, create scatter plots and display the regression equations for the following pairs of variables:
“BachDeg%” versus “Sales/SqFt”
“MedIncome” versus “Sales/SqFt”
“MedAge” versus “Sales/SqFt”
“LoyaltyCard(%)” versus “SalesGrowth(%)”
In your report, include the scatter plots. For each scatter plot, designate the type of relationship observed (increasing/positive, decreasing/negative, or no relationship) and determine what you can conclude from these relationships.

Section 3: Recommendations and implementation

Based on your findings above, assess which expansion criteria seem to be more effective. Could any expansion criterion be changed or eliminated? If so, which one and why?
Based on your findings above, does it appear as if the Loyalty Card is positively correlated with sales growth? Would you recommend changing this marketing strategy?
Based on your previous findings, recommend marketing positioning that targets a specific demographic.

(Hint: Are younger people patronizing the restaurants more than older people?)

Indicate what information should be collected to track and evaluate the effectiveness of your recommendations. How can this data be collected?

(Hint: Would you use survey/samples or census?)

In your opinion and professional experience, how can (or does) the corporate structure of shareholders, a board of directors, and senior management, in conjunction with the concepts of legal personhood and limited liability, influence a corporation’s ability or willingness to implement sustainability practices?

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Corporate Sustainability Discussion Question

In your opinion and professional experience, how can (or does) the corporate structure of shareholders, a board of directors, and senior management, in conjunction with the concepts of legal personhood and limited liability, influence a corporation’s ability or willingness to implement sustainability practices? Be as specific as you can and include any relevant examples with which you may be familiar.

Identify the types of management styles the company adopted during these different periods of success and the factors that led to adopting particular management styles over these periods and how these management styles impacted the company. Critically analyse the four models of organisational environments, as you studied in this module, that the company operated in

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Organisational studies

READ AND UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. This assessment is made up of a Case Study of Marks and Spencer.
2. You are required to provide answers to the assessment questions based on information from the case study.
3. Take note of the mark scheme and word count allotted to each question (this is only a guidance and you can distribute the word count in a different way if needed).

Assessment Questions
Marks and Spencer is one of the UK giant companies with the presence of the British and international markets for more than a century. The company has been going through ups and downs in its performance over these years. Focusing on the last three decades with a historical/chronological observation
1) Assess its main success and setback periods since its establishment and how they manifested themselves (300 words)

2) Identify the types of management styles the company adopted during these different periods of success and the factors that led to adopting particular management styles over these periods and how these management styles impacted the company (700 words)

3) Critically analyse the four models of organisational environments, as you studied in this module, that the company operated in (500 words).

Learning Outcomes Assessed
LO2: Identify the elements of the organisational environment and their impact on resource allocation and decision making within organisations.

LO3: Distinguish between organisation as an entity and organisation as a key management task within firms.

LO6: Assess various management styles and list their advantages and disadvantages.

LO7: Develop critical reasoning and analytical skills by identifying the role and importance of organisational functions.

In your examination, discuss the ethical and legal foundations of the Expectancy Motivational Theory. Discuss the examples of it found within Biblical scripture, Discuss how it fits (or doesn’t) with the Human Dignity-Centered Framework.

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Human Dignity and the Expectancy Motivational Theory

1. In your examination, discuss the ethical and legal foundations of the Expectancy Motivational Theory.

2. Discuss the examples of it found within Biblical scripture,

3. Discuss how it fits (or doesn’t) with the Human Dignity-Centered Framework.

This paper should draw on a minimum of (10)ten substantial journal article resources and will be 10 to 12 pages in length observing all APA style conventions.