Definitions
• So that we share a common understanding of terms used in this class, consult dictionaries or other authoritative resources of your choice (Wikipedia is not considered an authoritative resource) to research definitions for the following terms. For the purposes of this discussion, articles published in the Harvard Business Review, the McKinsey Quarterly, and the Sloan Management Review are considered authoritative, even though the articles may not be peer-reviewed. Peer reviewed journal articles are likewise considered authoritative.
Use the authoritative resources to provide one or more definition(s) of at least three of the following terms:
o Application portfolio.
o Best practice.
o Effectiveness.
o Environmental scan.
o Governance.
o Information system.
o Information technology.
o Mission.
o Strategic alignment.
o Strategic plan.

For each definition, identify the authoritative resource you consulted.

Timed Essay One
Choose only one of the topics below.
You will have 72 hours to write this essay. You should prepare for it by identifying the
passages from the texts we’ve read with which you’d like to work, by creating an outline
of the essay you intend to write, and/or drafting your essay before submitting it.
The essay should be 600 words long, at minimum, though it can exceed this number. You
should take time, as always, to proofread carefully, as the clarity of your writing will
contribute to the grade you receive. You do not need to format your quotations for the
essay.
1. We’ve considered at some length John Wideman’s sense of the “forces arrayed
against” his brother in “Our Time.” These include those that members of his
community say killed Garth, those that drove the economic life out of
Homewood, and those that landed Robby in prison for life, as well as the life
Robby experiences in prison. And yet, Wideman is also careful to document
Robby’s own culpability in what happens to him. For your essay, citing relevant
passages where appropriate, discuss your own sense of Robby’s personal
responsibility in the lifestyle and crime that landed him in prison, and the relative
influence of his community, country, and culture in the life he chose. Be sure you
come up with a thesis for this discussion: in a short essay like this one, it may well
determine your level of success.
2. In John Berger’s essay “Ways of Seeing,” he writes, “A people or a class cut off
from its own history is far less free to act as a people or class than one that has
been able to situate itself in history.” How does this sentence resonate in John
Edgar Wideman’s “Our Time”? Wideman himself suggests that the people of
Homewood are “oppressed.” If this is the case, show us how, and show us how
powerlessness, or an inability by some to see how they are being manipulated, can
lead people to lose their freedom to act. Quote significant portions of either essay
in order to make your point.
3. Berger argues that the invention of the camera fundamentally changed the way
people see the world. Consider this concept specifically in the context of a single
area of looking at a single issue that is somehow connected with seeing
images. For instance, you could focus on war footage, and how photographs,
films, and videotapes of war have changed how people think about the prospect of
war. But that’s just one example. Any could work here, but you must stick with
only one for your entire discussion. Generate relevant examples from your
experience, as well as from your experience with looking at the world.

Chapter 1: Questions 1: (definitions of economics) what determines whether or not a resource is scarce? why is the concept of scarcity important to the definition of economics?
2: (rational self-interest) discuss the impact of rational self-interest on each of the following decisions:
a whether to attend college full time or enter the work force full time.
b. whether to buy a new textbook or a used one.
c. whether to attend a local college or an out of town college.
4 :(marginal analysis) the owner of a small pizzeria is deciding whether to increase the radius of delivery area by one mile. what considerations must be taken into account if such a decision is to increase profitability?

Chapter 2: Questions 1:(sunk cost and choice) suppose you go to a restaurant to buy an expensive meal. Halfway through, despite feeling quite full, you decide to clean your plate. After all, you think. you paid for the meal, so you are going to eat all of it. What’s wrong with this thinking?
2:(Opportunity cost) Yo can spend spring break either at home working for $80 per day for five days or go to Florida for the week, if you stay home, your expenses will total about $100. If you go to Florida, the airfare, hotel, food, and miscellaneous expenses will total about $700. What’s you opportunity cost of going to Florida?
4:(Specialization: provide some examples of specialized markets or retail outlets. What makes the web so conducive to specialization?

Textbook: McEachern, W. A. (2015). ECON Macroeconomics (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Marketing Debate: Does It Matter Where You Sell? In your position, include an example to support your position. Also include which position applies to your own channel strategy in your marketing plan for a Pet Grooming and Boarding business.
Take a position:
Channel images do not much affect the brand images of the products they sell.
Versus
Channel images must be consistent with the brand image.

Summary of Channel Strategy:

Most producers do not sell their goods directly to final users. Between producers and final users stands one or more marketing channels, a host of marketing intermediaries performing a variety of functions.
Marketing channel decisions are among the most critical decisions facing management. The company’s chosen channel(s) profoundly affect all other marketing decisions.
Companies use intermediaries when they lack the financial resources to carry out direct marketing, when direct marketing is not feasible, and when they can earn more by doing so. The most important functions performed by intermediaries are information, promotion, negotiation, ordering, financing, risk taking, physical possession, payment, and title.
Manufacturers have many alternatives for reaching a market. They can sell direct or use one-, two-, or three-level channels. Deciding which type(s) of channel to use calls for analyzing customer needs, establishing channel objectives, and identifying and evaluating the major alternatives, including the types and numbers of intermediaries involved in the channel.
Effective channel management calls for selecting intermediaries and training and motivating them. The goal is to build a long-term partnership that will be profitable for all channel members.
Marketing channels are characterized by continuous and sometimes dramatic change. Three of the most important trends are the growth of vertical marketing systems, horizontal marketing systems, and multichannel marketing systems.
E-commerce has become firmly established as more companies have adopted “brick-and-click” channel systems. M-commerce (selling via smart phones and tablets) is also gaining in importance. Some consumers engage in showrooming by which they shop in stores to inspect products but buy online later to seek a lower price.
Channel integration must recognize the distinctive strengths of online, offline, and mobile selling and maximize their joint contributions.
All marketing channels have the potential for conflict and competition resulting from goal incompatibility, poorly defined roles and rights, perceptual differences, and interdependent relationships. Companies can try to manage conflict through dual compensation, superordinate goals, employee exchange, co-optation, and other means.
Channel arrangements are up to the company, but certain legal and ethical issues to be considered include exclusive dealing or territories, tying agreements, and dealers’ rights.

Part 1
Two of the great innovations of the Renaissance in painting were the artist’s ability to depict a more contemporary world, and to create the illusion of a three-dimensional world in a painting. By studying and comparing paintings created in Italy from the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, you can see how this innovation developed:

Giotto. Lamentation Fresco in the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, 1305–06
Masaccio, The Tribute Money, c. 1427
Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1481

In a minimum of 2 well-developed paragraphs, identify and describe at least 3 specific details or elements that progressively illustrate the artist’s concern for depicting a more natural world and for creating the illusion of three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface of the painting.

Part 2
As we learned this week, art historians analyze a work of art using a specific vocabulary to describe its physical and visual properties, and by interpreting its subject matter, symbolism, and socio-historical context. Select one of the following paintings:

Jan Van Eyck, Double Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife, 1434
Master of Flémalle, Mérode Altarpiece, 1425-28
Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, 1474-76

For your selected painting:

In a paragraph of 4-6 sentences, describe the composition of the painting, including its use of color and light, and the representation of space. Explain why some artistic elements in the painting look realistic to you and some do not look realistic. Discuss whether the figures fit into the space, whether their movements seem believable, whether their clothes fit their bodies properly, and whether there are shadows that make sense.
Read about your selected painting in the course textbook and/or through reliable online resources. In a paragraph of 4-6 sentences, describe the overall subject matter of the painting; the meaning of some of the objects in the painting; and any social, historical, political, and/or religious factors that are important to understanding the painting. Be sure to provide citations for any outside sources you reference in this part of your response.

The Scenario
NCR Country Club (NCRCC) started in 1954 as an employee benefit of the National
Cash Register Co. but is now an open-membership club. This country club located
in Kettering, Ohio (near Dayton), hosts two 18-hole golf courses. The NCR South
course, a par 71 championship course of 6,824 yards of heavily wooded rolling
countryside, the site of the 1996 PGA Championship, the 1986 U.S. Open, and the
1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur, is consistently ranked by Golf Digest as one of the top
100 courses in the United States. The prairie-links style of the North course, a
6,358-yard par 70 course, is considered challenging. In southwestern Ohio, the
active golf season usually lasts from May through October. Within a 30-minute radius
of NCRCC, the avid golfer will find eight other private golf and country clubs as well
as 29 public golf clubs and courses.
In 1997, after the purchase of NCR Corporation by AT&T, AT&T provided
a $4.0 million interest-free loan to raze the original clapboard-sided clubhouse and
replace it with an all-brick colonial-style facility. Boasting both formal and informal,
inside and outside eating facilities as well as banquet and party rooms, the members
voted that the new clubhouse would be totally smoke-free. The rich cherrywood
paneling and the hunter green and burgundy décor mellow the high-ceiling, interior
spaces. Golf memberships are $20,000 with social (nongolf) memberships at $1,000
each. NCR employees did not and do not pay membership fees to join. Additionally,
each member must spend $150 per quarter in dining receipts and pay $225 (golf) or
$160 (social) in annual dues.
Needing to attract new members to support the renovated facility after AT&T
divested itself of NCR and given the growing age of its members, NCRCC
implemented an aggressive membership campaign in 1998. The goal was to bring
golf memberships to 680 and attract as many social memberships as possible. After
only moderate success, NCRCC commissioned McMahon Group to assist with
strategic planning.
NCRCC: Teeing Up a
New Strategic Direction
Used with permission of
Pamela S. Schindler
©2001.
Business Research Methods, 11e, Cooper/Schindler
2
McMahon Group specializes in providing research and strategic consulting to golf
clubs and full-service golfing facilities. “Golf club membership within the United States
is perceived as a discretionary luxury of life. NCR faces a similar situation found
elsewhere in clubs around the country—an older satisfied membership which sees
no reason to change what they perceive to be a good thing,” shared Frank Vain,
president of McMahon Group. “With NCR, we faced another wrinkle. Because
NCR was once corporately owned, NCR retirees and current employees saw
membership as an entitlement, a right.”
After McMahon’s First Impressions visit (a free on-site assessment where a
club specialist tours facilities, collects information on membership and operations,
and discusses industry trends with strategic planning committees), NCRCC’s board
hired McMahon to provide direction and assistance to NCRCC’s strategic planning
committee. “Historically, NCRCC has a 7 percent penetration rate among NCR
employees. NCR’s employee pool was trending smaller, providing continuing
downward pressure on NCRCC membership,” explained Vain. “With membership
segments of NCR retirees (1/3 of members) and current NCR employees (another
1/3 of members) getting less numerous each year, only the segment comprised of
non-NCR affiliates provides an opportunity for growth. NCRCC needs to become
a stand-alone club to survive.”
McMahon Group conducted six focus groups at NCRCC on December 3–4,
1998, involving 43 members, seven nonmembers, and 12 employees. Especially
among younger members (under 46) and nonmembers, a golf-only club was less
attractive than the full service array that some other area country clubs offered. A
consistent theme was that members did not feel they received the overall level of
service at NCRCC that they expected from a fine private country club, whether it
be in the dining operation or on the golf course. Staff members were frustrated that
meeting the board’s profit directive was often counterproductive to a high level of
service. The NCRCC board directed McMahon Group to conduct a membership
study to explore the feasibility of adding additional facilities, including swimming and
fitness facilities to attract younger adults and families with children.
McMahon Group distributed mail surveys to 1,650 members and their spouses
in January 1999 (see Exhibit C-NCR 1–2). A return rate of 57 percent and 48
percent, respectively, netted 886 usable surveys. Data were interpreted at ±3% (or
±0.1) at the 95 percent confidence level. Due to McMahon’s extensive consulting
and research experience with golf facilities nationwide, it was able to compare
NCRCC’s membership survey results with those of members of 80 other country
clubs.
>The Research
NCRCC: Teeing Up a New Strategic Direction
Business Research Methods, 11e, Cooper/Schindler
3
Overall, 72 percent of NCRCC members were either satisfied or very satisfied.
This is slightly less than the 79 percent satisfaction level for other clubs. Only 12
percent are very satisfied, with other clubs averaging 21 percent. The group with the
highest dissatisfaction rate (19 percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied) was the key
55–64 age group, with the under 46 group generating 11 percent dissatisfaction.
While members currently saw the club as an “Adult Golf and Dining Club” (63
percent), many believed its future would need to incorporate facilities for children, if
the club were to remain competitive for new members. This was especially true for
those members under age 46.
Most current members joined for golf (80 percent either important or very
important) or dining (77 percent either important or very important). Most members
were satisfied with golf (81 percent either satisfied [29 percent] or very satisfied [69
percent]). However, level of satisfaction was lower with the over 65 group when it
came to course layout (58 percent very satisfied) and condition (77 percent very
satisfied). Fewer members were satisfied with dining (49 percent either satisfied or
very satisfied). However, even given some dissatisfaction, 61 percent felt their
membership was a good value.
The 37th Hole, the casual dining facility, generated concerns about speed of
service (27 percent either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied), professionalism of wait
staff (19 percent either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied), and menu variety (36 percent
either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied). The same concerns surfaced in the formal
dining area, with menu variety and meal-to-meal consistency generating the highest
dissatisfaction scores. It is very important for NCRCC to provide casual adult dining
(95 percent either very important or important), but less so for casual family dining
(78 percent), outdoor dining (69 percent), formal dining (44 percent), men’s grill
(37 percent), and women’s grill (22 percent). Dining prices are seen as the same (65
percent lunch, 48 percent dinner) or higher (32 percent lunch, 47 percent dinner)
than other clubs and restaurants frequented by members. Members overwhelmingly
continue to endorse the no-smoking rule (97 percent formal dining, 94 percent 37th
Hole, 83 percent bar/lounge).
“Members think of NCRCC as first a golf club, but the golf wasn’t meeting
expectations. Second, members see NCRCC as a dining club, but the members
were dissatisfied with the casual dining product and service,” shared Vain.
Survey results offered good and bad news. Additional facilities would not
be attractions to most current members, but many members are interested in improving
the current facilities. Fully 59 percent, however, were unwilling to pay higher dues
(including 43 percent of under age 46) to obtain the changes they found attractive.
>Some Results
NCRCC: Teeing Up a New Strategic Direction
Business Research Methods, 11e, Cooper/Schindler
4
“New facilities were an attraction for the non-NCR affiliated segment,”
summarized Vain in discussing what McMahon Group shared with the strategic
planning committee following the completion of the study. “New facilities, especially
swimming, fitness, and outdoor dining, provide the best opportunity to broaden the
attraction of the club.”
• 74% golf (single or family) and 24% social, with 2% corporate
memberships.
• 65% are (23%) or had been (42%) employed at NCR.
• 55% male, 45% female.
• In each of four age groups:
• Under 46 (19%)
• 46–55 (23%)
• 56–65 (26%)
• 66 or older (33%)
• 74% lived within seven miles of NCRCC.
• 42% had been members for 20 or more years.
• 78% did not have children (under age 21) living at home.
• 41% belonged to a swimming/tennis club (15%) or fitness facility (26%).
• 81% reside in the Kettering-Dayton area year round.
Facility Additions
Swimming pool 30 60
Tennis courts 22 36
Health and fitness center 30 49
Spa 30 58
Activities
For adults 26 40
For families 23 53
For children 18 47
>Who Answered the survey
All Members Members under 46
(% ) (% )
Improving the driving range (Important or Very Important) 36
Improving short game practice area
(Important or Very Important) 40
Current Facility Alterations
Expanding bar/lounge (Important or Very Important) 41
NCRCC: Teeing Up a New Strategic Direction
Business Research Methods, 11e, Cooper/Schindler
5
1 Build the management-research question hierarchy, through the investigative
questions stage. Then compare your list with the measurement
questions asked.
2 Given the research question, how appropriate were the measurement
questions?
3 Describe the sampling strategy. How appropriate were the various sampling
design decisions?
4 What, if any, problems did you find with the questionnaire as a whole?
Consider structure, directions, question order, question phrasing, appropriateness
of response strategy chosen, etc.
5 If you were McMahon Group, how would you present the findings of your
study to the NCRCC board? Explain the rationale for your chosen method.
6 Given the data presented in the case:
7 What would you recommend to the board of NCRCC with respect to
adding facilities like tennis courts, a swimming pool, a spa, a fitness
center, and a year-round driving range?
8 What would you recommend to the board of NCRCC with respect to
adding or changing programming activities like social activities for adults,
families with children, and children?
9 What would you recommend with respect to changing current operations?

CASE STUDY 5
A 52-year-old man complained of pain and cramping in his right calf caused by walking two blocks. The pain was relieved with cessation of activity. The pain had been increasing in frequency and intensity. Physical examination findings were essentially normal except for decreased hair on the right leg. The patient’s popliteal, dorsalis pedis, and posterior tibial pulses were markedly decreased compared with those of his left leg.

Studies

Results

Routine laboratory work

Within normal limits (WNL)

Doppler ultrasound systolic pressures, p. 900

Femoral: 130 mm Hg; popliteal: 90 mm Hg; posterior tibial: 88 mm Hg; dorsalis pedis: 88 mm Hg (normal: same as brachial systolic blood pressure)

Arterial plethysmography, p. 695

Decreased amplitude of distal femoral, popliteal, dorsalis pedis, and posterior tibial pulse waves

Femoral arteriography of right leg, p. 988

Obstruction of the femoral artery at the midthigh level

Arterial duplex scan, p. 864

Apparent arterial obstruction in the superficial femoral artery

Diagnostic Analysis

With the clinical picture of classic intermittent claudication, the noninvasive Doppler and plethysmographic arterial vascular study merely documented the presence and location of the arterial occlusion in the proximal femoral artery. Most vascular surgeons prefer arteriography to document the location of the vascular occlusion. The patient underwent a bypass from the proximal femoral artery to the popliteal artery. After surgery he was asymptomatic.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What was the cause of this patient’s pain and cramping?
2. Why was there decreased hair on the patient’s right leg?
3. What would be the strategic nursing assessments after surgery to determine the adequacy of the patient’s circulation?

Position paper:
-Frame both sides.
-Make an argument. two sides, but pick one side.

Proposal: Position paper (5%)

The purpose of this task is to get students to think about what your position paper will be about. It is to get students thinking about the current controversial issues that exist. Papers should be a minimum of two (2) pages of text, excluding, references, the proposed reading list, the title page and any appendixes if needed. Proposals must clearly outline what the issue is and what the two sides of that issue are. Each proposal must have a reference page to identify the evidence you have used in your proposal and a Proposed Reading List outlining a minimum 10 refereed journal articles you plan to use in your position paper. Ideas for the position paper can be found in the section below. Marks will be given for style, grammar, spelling, quality of ideas, content, organization, appropriateness of reference list and reading list, and APA formatting.

Examples may include:
• Men as victims of family violence,
• The use of couples or family therapy to treat abuse,
• Whether offender group counselling is effective,
• The adequacy of the justice response to family violence,
• Whether child protective services should intervene in all cases of children being exposed to domestic violence,
• Issues surrounding unfounded allegations of IPV (intimate partner violence) or child maltreatment or sibling abuse or elder abuse, etc.
• The role of alcohol and other drugs in IPV or child maltreatment or sibling abuse or elder abuse, etc.,
• Whether women and men are equally violent in private settings,
• He assertion that elder abuse is the result of stress in providing care.

Using Just Facts answer the following questions:

Approximately how many people own guns in the United States?

How many murders occurred in the United States last year? How many of these involved the use of a gun?

How many children die as a result of gun accidents each year?

Using Google.com find out how the guns were obtained in each of the school shootings below:

How were the guns obtained which were used at Columbine High School?

How were the guns obtained which were used at Virginia Tech?

How were the guns obtained which were used at Sandy Hook?

How were the guns obtained that were used in Parkland, Florida?

What is the NRA and why do they support the right to bear arms?

III. Writing assignment: Write your report in the form of a 350 to 500 word essay in which you provide the answers to the above questions. You should also express your opinion as to whether the government should or should not restrict the private ownership of guns.

1. Provide a copy of your most recent resume and put that as page 1 of your paper. (Attached in additional files and not included in the 5-page count). Currently, I am a student, so look for finance internships and entry-level jobs related to finance in the U.S.

2. Your paper will have 3 short “chapters.” For EACH chapter you will provide the following:

a. Provide an actual job description for a job to which you would (hypothetically or actually) apply ( must be related to your major ). Please copy the full job description into the 1st page of the chapter, together with the name of the company to which you are applying. Please provide the URL for the job description so that we can verify it.

b. Write a cover letter that specifically integrates your qualifications for the job specifically addressing the requirements illuminated in the job description. DO NOT PUFF OR SELF-FLATTER!!!! This cover letter must explain why you can competitively provide value to the employer relative to others who might also be applying.

c. Indicate what changes to your resume you would make for this particular position (you cannot make up stuff about yourself – your resume must be “real.”)

d. Indicate what type of networking you would do to improve your prospects.

• If you have done online research about the company, provide a summary of what you have learned.
• If you know someone who works for the company, indicate who they are and what their position is.
• If you do not know anyone, what steps would you take to find out about the company culture, etc.

3. You need to provide all of these components for EACH of the 3 “Chapters.” Each of the 3 (three) different job descriptions must be for jobs for you which you are eligible to apply. That means 3 cover letters, 3 actual job description related to finance and business, and so on.