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You have just been hired as a program manager for a specific program. Create a business case and charter for the program, including governance as well as a complete program plan for your new program.

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The Course Project is an individual assignment and is a program management plan for a company of your choice. You may use your own employer or a public company you can research to provide necessary details. To get started, you need to know the company’s strategic plan and strategic capacity plan. You have just been hired as a program manager for a specific program. Either use one from your research or create one that would fit what you have learned about the organization’s strategic objectives. Create a business case and charter for the program, including governance as well as a complete program plan for your new program.

You will treat each part separately as its own.

Your outline should include the following:

  1. A brief description of the company you will be using for your project
  2. A brief description of the program that you are proposing
  3. A summary of the business case – important benefits and points that you wish to make

Course Project Part 2—Business Case and Charter should include the following:

  • Executive summary
  • Organization’s strategic plan
  • Organization’s strategic capacity plan
  • Program business case which is composed by:
  1. Problem description
  2. Alternatives
  3. Feasibility
  4. Cost-benefit analysis
  • Program charter which is composed by:
  1. Program overview
  2. Benefit management
  3. Program governance
  4. Program component selection criteria and list
  5. Program roadmap

Course Project Part 3—Final Program Management Plan should include the following:

  1. Executive summary
  2. Financial management
  3. Benefits management plan summary
  4. Stakeholder engagement plan
  5. Communication management plan
  6. Risk management plan
  7. Change management plan
  8. Resource map management plan
  9. Program component descriptions and roadmap
  10. Schedule management plan
  11. Scope management plan

Given that you will likely be voting in 2020, your final project in this class will be to objectively compare and contrast the major candidates, and, if you so choose, the potential third party/Independent candidates running

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We have a presidential election year right around the corner. It may not be getting as much attention as Covid-19, but all of the issues related to the pandemic and the response (as well as unrelated issues) will play a role in the strategies that the presidential candidates will utilize.

Given that you will likely be voting in 2020, your final project in this class will be to objectively compare and contrast the major candidates, and, if you so choose, the potential third party/Independent candidates running, if one emerges.

You will be producing an analytical memo that follows this basic outline.

  1. Background, education and work/political experience for each candidate.
  2. Scandals associated with the candidate, if any. For some candidates, this might be a multi-pager, so concentrate on the ones that are factual in nature or most highly covered or most critical to voters.
  3. Economic policy
  4. Health care policy
  5. Education policy
  6. (YOUR CHOICE of POLICY) to match your interests (for example, are you concerned about the environment, immigration, taxation, etc.)
  7. Current polling (see resources below)
  8. Summary of your findings and your assessment (this means, objectively, who do you think will do better in the race to win electoral college votes across the states and territories.

Make sure that you do not plagiarize material.  Cite your sources. Include quotations if exact wording is taken from a source.  Any reference format is acceptable so long as you use only one and do so accurately.

These may be turned in early, but are due by July 31 (so that we have time to read and grade them).

Each of these candidates comes from a very different background….  Go into their story.  Use resources like magazine articles, biographies, etc.  But make sure you do not use partisan sources.  Those tend to embellish and leave out material.

These can include anything from Stormy Daniels and Tara Reade to questions about campaign finance problems and civil lawsuits.  Some candidates will have more; others less.  Again, avoid using sources like Breitbart or

What was their economic policy prior to the pandemic?  What are they talking about now? Bringing back the economy? Dealing with global recession? Dealing with the trillions in debt the U.S. has?

Then…with the other policy areas listed and your own policy choice. You may do more if you wish.

Then after policy, switch to the competitive situation:  how are these candidates doing in the polls?

Real Clear Politics has the collected polls of multiple sources.  This is from the nomination phase of the process, but it shows you what is out there.  You may use Gallup and other reputable polls, but this is one of the best as it also averages all the polls giving a better idea of a more reliable trend.

You could also look at polling that breaks down the demographics of their support.  Where do they draw most of her support from?

Trial heats of one versus the other are going to be a big part of what you see, but there will also be polls looking at their negatives, their scores on competence or trusthworthiness. Those are interesting as well.

How much money have they raised? How are they spending it?

You are appointed as a team leader for a project that will pave the way for the organisation to operate in an emerging African economy. Assess the skills that you will require to prepare the ground for the expansion of the enterprise.

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Upon leaving University you join a multinational oil and gas exploration company based in the UK. You are appointed as a team leader for a project that will pave the way for the organisation to operate in an emerging African economy.

Assess the skills that you will require to prepare the ground for the expansion of the enterprise.  You will assess your own skill levels and outline an appropriate personal development plan.

It is crucial for the success of the project that personnel from the home country and the emerging economy are merged into a single team. You will highlight any factors that may inhibit this process.

As team leader you will have a say in how the team is selected and you will demonstrate your sensitivity to the issues involved in building a multinational team.

You will also demonstrate an understanding of globalisation and the contextual issues that will be the critical success factors for the success of the project.

  1. Demonstrate an awareness of the need for cross-cultural communication, negotiation, leadership and team-building skills.
  2. Critically evaluate global issues and utilize this knowledge for critical thinking, thoughtful analysis, and globally-conscious decision-making.

Work through a set of tutorials about research in history. Develop a research question on a focused topic using the list of themes provided. Use library resources to identify and locate sources for research on the focused topic

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  • Work through a set of tutorials about research in history.
  • Develop a research question on a focused topic using the list of themes provided.
  • Use library resources to identify and locate sources for research on the focused topic
  • Write a short paragraph explaining how the sources were identified and located
  • The Research Process
  • Background Research Tips
  • Narrowing Your Topic
  • Constructing a Thesis Statement

You will use two documents for this step, a List of Themes, and a Form for submitting your work.

  • Select a theme from the list provided and type your choice into the form.
  • Using what you learned in the tutorials from Step 1, develop a research question. Type the research question into the form provided. Your research question
    • Should not be a restatement of the theme, but should be more specific, considering some aspect of the theme that can be analyzed in a typical 8-10 page research paper.

Sherry Turkle, a professor of the Social Studies of Technology, has written extensively about the effects of technology on human relationships. What evidence does Turkle provide for her main argument that technology has served to diminish the quality of our relationships?

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Have a look at the assignment question below ii) Now read the sample review. Read the accompanying comments on the side as you go. Is this is a well written review in your opinion?
Critical review task
Sherry Turkle, a professor of the Social Studies of Technology, has written extensively about the effects of technology on human relationships. Read Chapter 1 (Connectivity and its discontents) from her book Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. What evidence does Turkle provide for her main argument that technology has served to diminish the quality of our relationships? How persuaded are you by this argument?

Select a topic for the speech where you can persuade the audience that the problem exists and that your proposed solution will solve or help to solve the problem. Choose a problem, whether it’s local or in your community, and address the problem.

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  1. Select a topic for the speech where you can persuade the audience that the problem exists and that your proposed solution will solve or help to solve the problem. Choose a problem, whether it’s local or in your community, and address the problem. You must choose a specific problem in your community that can be addressed with a feasible solution proposed within the time frame of four to six minutes. For this assignment, the smaller the community, the better.  For example, many are part of the community of Nashville, but trying to solve the traffic problems we usually have is not feasible in a short speech.  The problem is just too complicated and too multi-faceted.  Think smaller.

Your family is a community, your church or other organization, your workplace, your neighborhood, etc.

If a solution already exists for the problem, you may use it as a separate main point and explain why this current solution is not effective. Then provide your solution with a plan as to how you would implement the new solution. If others have implemented a solution similar to yours, you may use this as an example to show how this potential solution has worked for others. Your problem must be narrowed to a local or community problem; it cannot be a national or world-wide problem. Your research must include evidence that persuades the audience that the problem is a local problem and that the solution you are proposing will work locally. You may use the problem-solution organization or Monroe’s Motivated Sequence pattern.

  1. Find a minimum of 3 sources for your speech topic. Cite your sources in MLA format on your works cited page, and cite your sources during your speech using an acceptable in-text oral citation.
  2. Develop a 4 to 6 minute speech persuading the audience about your problem and solution.
  3. Organize your presentation using the preparation outline format.  All points on your outline will be full sentences.  The preparation outline will include your works cited page.
  4. Develop a delivery outline for presenting your speech. The delivery outline will include words or phrases, not sentences; will follow the outline symbolization and format; and will be one 8.5×11” sheet of paper front only orthree 4×6” notecards front only in length.  An example delivery outline is on page 250 in your textbook.

Critically discuss two recent developments in the international financial environment appear to have impacted on your chosen company’s recent performance and development.

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Choose a Multinational Enterprise (MNE) listed on an internationally recognised Stock Exchange (including for example, London, Dublin, New York or Paris). You are required to:

Critically discuss two recent developments in the international financial environment appear to have impacted on your chosen company’s recent performance and development. Analyse how these two developments are likely to impact on the company in the near future.

Discuss the following key elements of the MNE’s international financial and/or risk management strategy (and how they appear to have affected the financial performance of your chosen company):

  • Sources of finance
  • Dividend policy

With reference to your chosen Multinational Enterprise (and using the most recent annual report published), analyse the financial performance (in terms of profitability, liquidity, efficiency and investment) of the company in the two most recent consecutive financial periods ( e.g. 2016/17 or 2017/18, ) using 8 different accounting ratios (prior year comparative figures will be available in the annual report).

Choose one work where it seems to you that the theme is addressed most clearly and coherently. What similarities do you see in the author’s/poet’s views?  How do they differ from each other?

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In this essay we return to a topic that has arisen with some frequency in our study of Colonial and Nineteenth Century American Literature: Dualism.

Read the definition of “moral dualism” found here, paying particular attention to the philosophical and theological meanings of the term:

Native American Mythology                                      Puritanism

Transcendentalism                                                        Rationalism/Empiricism

Poe’s Concept of the Bi-Part Soul                            Hawthorne’s Anti-transcendentalism

Melville’s Anti-transcendentalism                          Walt Whitman’s poetry

Then, as a prewriting exercise, ponder how themes of moral/spiritual dualism are addressed in all of the readings in ENGL 2131. You will likely find examples in almost everything we have read, but here are some reminders on where to look:

Native American Mythology                                      Puritanism

Transcendentalism                                                        Rationalism/Empiricism

Poe’s Concept of the Bi-Part Soul                            Hawthorne’s Anti-transcendentalism

Melville’s Anti-transcendentalism                          Walt Whitman’s poetry

Now choose one work where it seems to you that the theme is addressed most clearly and coherently. What similarities do you see in the author’s/poet’s views?  How do they differ from each other?

(Unit One: Native Americans, Puritans, Colonials, Edgar Allan Poe; Unit Two: Emerson, Thoreau, Melville; Unit Three: Hawthorne, Douglass, Whitman, Dickinson)

Formulate a thesis about the most significant similarity or difference. Probably the best way to approach this is to ask yourself WHY the difference or similarity exists.  What is its source?

Write an essay of 750-1000 words in support of this thesis, using specific examples (QUOTES) from the three works you identified.

Document this essay in MLA FORMAT. If you have questions about this, you can e-mail me, make an online appointment with the Writer’s Studio, and/or review the guidelines found here:

Prepare a FLEXBLE budget that adjusts revenues and expenses given the actual level of sales activity that occurred.

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Due to global warming, demand for milk shares was much larger than expected. The amount of large milk shakes actually sold in January were 85,000 (10,000 over budget) while the amount of small milk shakes actually sold in January were 45,000 (5,000 under budget).

The budgets prepared above were planned prior to the beginning of the year and are valid for the planned level of sales activity.

If the actual level of sales activity differs from the planned level, comparing our budgets above with actual results may lead to incorrect conclusions about performance. Prepare a FLEXBLE budget that adjusts revenues and expenses given the actual level of sales activity that occurred.

How do Kotter’s principles help to explain what went wrong in this organization when management tried to develop and implement a new system?

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Read the case study “Sometimes a Simple Change Isn’t So Simple.” Consider John Kotter’s eight-stage process for managing change (in his book Leading Change). How do Kotter’s principles help to explain what went wrong in this organization when management tried to develop and implement a new system?

QUESTION 1 B) PLEASE WATCH VIDEO
How would you apply the principles that the speaker advocates in this video to the case that we considered in Discussion Question A this week? Is this video more or less helpful for understanding change management than John Kotter’s change management process? Explain your point of view.