Comparing Structures: Select two works of architecture to evaluate using terminology covered this week. One structure must be located in the United States, and the other from any other country around the world. For suggestions, feel free to visit greatbuildings.com. The initial post should be 250-300 words in length and identify the following information: 1. The location of each structure, to include, city, country and continent. 2. The time period in which each building was constructed, and the civilization/society that existed during that period. 3. Function of each building. What was it used for and is it still in use? 4. Describe the exterior of both buildings, identifying similarities and differences. 5. Note any unique features that make these buildings significant to the study of architecture.

Prompt (what will you be writing about):

 Is Fences an accurate depiction of the African American community of the Pittsburgh Hills District in the 1950’s? Why or why not?

Note: your response to this question plus the areas that you will be using to defend your argument are what create your thesis.

Task:
 Be sure to have a thesis that clearly defines if and how you agree that Fences is an accurate depiction of the era.
 Write supporting sections that defend your thesis. Suggested areas of information are:
o August Wilson’s life and times and how this is reflected in the play. Need text examples from Fences to tie in this information.
o History of the era and the setting. Need text examples from Fences to tie in this information.
o Analysis of one or more of the main characters of the play who best exemplify this era and setting. Need text examples from Fences to tie in this information.
 Use at least three outside academic sources that will support your essay (two of these sources can be from the previous research essay pre-write). Be sure to include Fences as an additional reference citation.

Requirements:
 Length and format: 3-4 pages.
 The title page and reference page are also required, but they should not be factored into the 3-4 page length of the essay.
 It should also be double spaced, written in Times New Roman, in 12 point font and with 1 inch margins. Essay should conform to APA formatting and citation style.
 Use the third-person, objective voice, avoiding personal pronouns such as “I,” “you,” “we,” etc.
 Please use at least three outside sources to create a properly-formatted APA reference page.
 Use APA format for in-text citations and references when using outside sources and textual evidence.
 Skills to be assessed with this assignment: creating effective thesis statements, incorporating research, analyzing rhetoric.
 Please be cautious about plagiarism. Make sure to use in-text citations for direct quotes, paraphrases, and new information.

Studies on workplace engagement have identified that while drivers for engagement may depend on generations, position and other factors, there are some drivers that emerge as important for all employees, regardless of these differences:  the way in which senior managers communicate with employees and employee voice.

As the CEO of an organization, discuss how you would integrate these findings in your day-to-day functions (staffing, training, motivation and communications). Specifically, what is your strategy for:

1. Making the link between employees’ work and the broader organizational goals?
2. Ensuring that employees have a voice—so as to express their views, opinions and recommendations and have them taken seriously?
3. Sharing the vision of the organization and inspire employees to fulfill that purpose and achieve the vision?

For this assignment, you will be asked to read a case study and then answer some questions related to the case.  This case deals with making decisions under pressure, especially when information is insufficient.

The Case

Authors: Lauren Ankeles, Marine Lea Graham, Roberta Pittore and Priyanka Ramamurthy

From:  MIT Sloane

After 11 months of planning, the Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) club co-presidents and two conference directors faced a difficult decision. The club’s 3rd annual conference, aptly named “Dare to Fail: Taking Risks When it Matters Most”, was scheduled to begin around the time a winter storm, fortified with up to 50 inches of snow, was predicted to hit the Boston area. At 2:00pm the day before the conference was to begin, the leadership team needed to decide whether the show would go on, be modified, or be canceled altogether.

How could a sunny February afternoon take such a turn for the worse? The clock ticked in the MIT Sloan Student Life Office (SLO), where the three Sloan Wome n in Management (SWIM) club co-presidents and two conference directors were gathered.¹ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. SWIM’s 3rd annual conference, 11 months in the making, was scheduled to take place the next day. A winter storm was looming, with weather predictions varying widely from three to 50 inches of snow in the next 48 hours. It was almost 2:00pm and a decision had to be made – setup was slated to begin in minutes, and speakers were boarding their flights for Boston. Should the conference be canceled, modified, or go forward as planned?

SLO Associate Director Marco Esquandolas looked at the five women seated in front of him and asked, “Ladies, what is your final call?”

During the many months of planning, each member of the leadership team had visualized dozens of possible scenarios for the conference. In some, there were no attendees, the food never arrived, or the speakers forgot their talking points. In others, the room was packed and the crowd was on their feet giving thunderous applause for a life- and career-changing event. After so many setbacks, it was finally all within reach, and it was going to be glorious. Except now, there was a new and unprecedented scenario to consider – canceling the conference for a potentially monstrous snowstorm, when there was not a cloud in the sky or a snowflake on the ground.

At 1:30pm on Thursday, February 7, SWIM’s three co-presidents and two conference directors, who had been in varying states of misalignment and frustration for so long, met with Marco in his office to sort through their options. Weather reports had been monitored from different networks. Now, there was every indication that a storm would hit Boston at some point, but most networks expected the storm to hit after 12:00pm on Friday, while others said it could be as late as Friday night. It was simply too early to tell.

Janet and Merrill collected a status update of where each speaker was, and when planes would begin taking off toward Boston. They confirmed that all 15 speakers were unfazed by weather reports and were ready to attend the conference the next day, regardless of the potential snowstorm. One had already changed her ticket to fly in earlier to avoid any airport closings, and a second could not be reached as she was already on a flight from London.

At precisely 2:00pm, vendors would begin setting up the venue and SWIM would be liable for the costs. Further, if MIT closed, the rental fees would triple from a one-day rental to daily rentals through the weekend, when the rentals could be picked up. Lea did a back of the envelope calculation and quickly saw that if the conference was canceled after vendors arrived, the costs could increase significantly. The catering company had already warned her that it was too late to cancel the perishable food items that had been prepared for the conference – it was unclear what percentage of the $13,000 catering bill would be recoverable. Lea knew what her vote was, but she was curious to see which way her two co-presidents were leaning.

The MIT administration had not yet closed the Institute, and would not comment on if they would. MIT rarely closed its doors, but if it did no events would be allowed on campus, including the conference.

What would happen if the conference was not canceled, and MIT closed later that night? What if the conference was canceled, MIT did not close, and the storm only hit Friday night? What would be the fallout with attendees and corporate sponsors? Rachel was particularly concerned about the ramifications for the sponsors, whom her team had worked so hard to secure. Would SWIM’s reputation be impacted? Would they be able to secure sponsorship funds in the future? Tarini wondered if attendees would show up for the conference, even if it was not canceled, and if they did, was there a risk of them being snowed in? If the team opted to cancel the conference, would they be forced to give back ticket revenue, and, if so, how would that affect the bottom line? Could they really give up on the event that they had sacrificed for and had devoted the last year of their lives to? The entire conference revolved around the theme of coming to the brink of failure and still finding a way to succeed. With graduation around the corner, there would be no second chances.

Given that most weather forecasts suggested that snowfall would only begin at 12:00pm Friday, and would not escalate until early evening, Merrill began championing the idea of a half-day conference. Could they run the events concurrently instead of sequentially, giving attendees the option to choose which speaker to hear from? Since the event space would be set up for one speaker at a time, would it even be feasible? Would attendees show up for a conference that only lasted three hours, and if not, would low attendance be disrespectful to the high profile speakers?

The conference directors and co-presidents narrowed it down to three choices:

1. Cancel the conference before 2:00pm, thus saving operational costs that would otherwise be incurred.
2. Hold a half-day conference with concurrent speakers.
3. Wait until Thursday night to make a decision, based on more accurate forecasts and updates on speaker travel plans.

While initially on the table, rescheduling was not an option for the team. With only three months left before the conference leadership team graduated it would be impossible to find a date that worked for all, or even most, of the speakers. Additionally, because the venue had no availability in March, April, or May, the team would need to find a new location for the conference. They would in effect be planning an entirely new conference in one-quarter of the time it took to plan the initial conference. For these reasons they knew rescheduling would not work.

In his facilitator role, Marco Esquandolas remained an impartial observer, telling them,

The way I look at clubs on campus is that it is your chance to practice management. You put this all together. You know best if you should cancel or go forward. In all my years here, this situation is unprecedented. If it is canceled, it will be devastating. If there is a storm, it will be devastating. If there is no storm, it will be devastating. I will support whatever decision you make.

The women discussed their options at a rapid pace, knowing the minutes were winding down. How would speakers react if the conference had to be canceled after they had already flown in? Would companies expect sponsorship money to be returned? What was best for the safety of attendees? How much of the setup cost would be sunk if they postponed the decision? If first year students never got to see a conference executed, what would a cancelation mean for the legacy of SWIM? What alternate venues could accommodate the conference if MIT closed? Would it even snow?

The only thing they were sure of was that whatever decision they made would have a long-lasting impact on the event and organization that they were so dedicated to.

Case Analysis:

1. As a consultant to this group, what would you recommend they do? Provide the rationale for your choice.
2. Identify 3-5 issues that will result as a consequence to the resolution you recommend.
3. What suggestions do you have for this group on ways to develop contingency plans in the future?
4. Explain why you believe it is difficult to engage in decision making in organizations.

 

From Professor:

 

• Make sure there are two spaces between sentences
  • Do not use the word ‘it.’
  • Do not use the word ‘that’ more than two times in your essay. The word is overused and not needed.
  • Do not use contractions (e.g., Don’t = do not)
  • Introduce the full name before the acronym. (e.g., Return on Investment (ROI), Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT))
  • General Rule – Use words for number zero to nine and numerals for all number over ten.
  • Use active voice because active verbs are more effective for the reason that they are simpler and more direct. NO PASSIVE VOICE
  • Do not begin a sentence with “And” or “But.” These words make your writing seem too informal and conversational.
  • Do not use empty words such as very, extremely, must, etc. In formal writing, you need to be precise. These words are better suited for novels, not scholarly writing.
  • Ensure a page or paragraph number is listed for any direct quote reference. e.g, (Lastname, year, p. #) Note only last name is needed for the citation in the paper. If you paraphrase a source, no need to list the page or paragraph. e.g. (Lastname, year). If your source does not have an author’s last name and/or date published, then good chance that it is not a scholarly source. Do not use it.
  • Ensure that punctuation is after the parentheses of a citation, not before. Unless a direct quote is 40 words or more, then the quote must be blocked, indented, and single-spaced or double-spaced. Do not use quotation marks and the punctuation is before the parentheses of the citation.
  • Have only 1” margins for the TOP, BOTTOM, LEFT, and RIGHT sides of the paper.

 

To keep the similarity report under 20%, do not directly cite sources or content from the assignment requirements. Instead always paraphrase when using other sources to substantiate your viewpoint.

 

 

 

Viking Air Ltd is a Canadian company that originally specialised in
the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of various aircraft
types, with a focus on flying boats and floatplanes. It then expanded
to use exclusive licensing rights from de Havilland Canada to
manufacture spare parts for its aircraft family plus to distribute the
DHC-2 Beaver and the DHC-3 Otter aircraft. Viking also moved into
supporting aircraft produced in the past by Canadair a successor to
De Havilland Canada.
 Viking later made a major expansion when it decided to
manufacture an updated version of the de Havilland Twin Otter
aircraft, to be known as the Viking Industries Twin Otter Series 400.
Developing a prototype aircraft for series production was a bold
move and required not only a focus on a new aircraft but also the
development of production facilities and a marketing arm. This is an
example of a company specializing in the MRO service industry and
then expanding into production.
 As such, Viking provides an outstanding example of how Project
Management (PM) is used in the aerospace industry for companies
of a much smaller size than the traditional large manufacturers such
as Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and Bombardier. The following three
videos give an insight into how the Twin Otter Series 400 has
evolved and progressed:
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAlSLyQQnYw
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHQ88HdaGPU
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oszKYlygF0Y
 Other research is available for you to gather for addressing the
assignment question which you are expected to use.

assignment question:
Your assignment must be completed as a 2,000 word report.
 After reading the case study, you are to examine how Viking Air
applied PM theories, principles and methodologies from the course
for the development and production of the Twin Otter Series 400. In
your examination, you should identify from your research what you
consider to be the key PM principles used.
 As part of your examination, you should identify at least five project
management issues related to your research which must include
discussion of the following:
o an assessment of three major risks across the project life
with a suggested likelihood, consequence, impact potential
plus suggested mitigation strategies (hint: you should use
and appendix for the detail)
o key issues in how project selection was done
o a comparison in two of the PM analysis issue only against
the challenges Mahindra/GippsAero would face in updating
the old GAF Nomad aircraft into a new design with updates
similar to the Twin Otter 400 , briefly mentioning similarities
or differences from the PM perspective.
o a suggested Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to Level 2
detail and with one of these to Level 3 detail (hint: you
again should use an appendix for the detail).
 Note that an Executive Summary is NOT required.

Suppose you work for the Wholesome Hamburger Company that owns 100 fast food restaurants in California.

There is a big drought and people are being told to use less water.

You know that it takes:

1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef,
12 gallons of water to produce a head of lettuce,
2 gallons for one walnut, and
468 gallons of water to produce a pound of chicken.

You discuss this with the executives in your firm and they tell you that the way water is allocated by the government, the company does not incur any additional expense: water will remain very cheap for business. The head of the company is soliciting ideas for its strategic plan for the future.

1. What is the ethical dilemma or issue?
2. What are the alternatives or possible courses of action? Identify at least 3 alternatives.
3. What are your recommendations?  In other words, of the several alternatives you identified, what do you think the company should do?
4. What is your rationale for your recommendations?  In other words, why do you recommend this course of action?

Statistical data for US unemployment has been released this past Friday. We would like to have a closer look at the issue, so please pick one of the topics below and post your research making sure you include a live link to an article supporting your position. Your post should not exceed 250 words.

1- What was the US unemployment for the month of August? Is this number high or low? What has been happening to the level of unemployment in the past year?

2- What industries have the highest, lowest unemployment rates? Reasons?

3- Look at the unemployment in a particular US state. Reasons why it is high, low?

4- Look at unemployment in the EU countries. Which ones have the highest, lowest rates and why?

5- Look at unemployment in a particular Asian country. What has been the trend? What accounts for those numbers?

What do the teeth and/or the birthmark represent?

After reading “Berenice” and “The Birthmark” and watching the Unit 1 video lecture, I think we could all use help figuring out what the teeth in Poe’s “Berenice” and what the birthmark in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” mean.
What do they represent? Hawthorne almost teases us by calling Georgiana’s birthmark “that mysterious symbol” (18), but what does it symbolize? Poe’s strange narrator Egaeus comes to believe that “all her teeth were ideas” (6) in his monomania, but what does that mean? Do they stand for a specific idea, or just “thought/speculation/intellect” in general? Or multiple ideas? What do the teeth and/or the birthmark symbolize? And how do they help the stories suggest larger philosophical meanings?
And, a possible further issue to consider, does discussing various ideas of what the Teeth/Birthmark represent help us understand why the male characters become so obsessed with the women in such unhealthy ways, and so help us better understand what the story/stories are telling us about gender?
There are many possible ways to think about this, so I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas. Be sure, however, you carefully review thePowerPoint presentation “What makes a good forum post and reply” (available on the “student resources” page), and remember to hit the minimum word counts Provide here. Part 2: The “form,” or organization of a post, and the main elements that should be in each one.
1) Begin with a specific and original argument about the text, much like a thesis statement in an essay. The first words of your post should literally be “I argue…”
2) Include evidence: very precise references, carefully chosen and short quotations, and analyses of the text (especially the quotations and references you chose).
3) End with a quick assertion about why your ideas matter: how does your argument change the way we think about the text, or some aspect of it?
(A fourth, less important part would be to include potential counter-arguments, or elements of the text that might go against your main ideas, and handle them responsibly).
Here’s audio about “form” and “content”

You may choose to discuss both stories or only one; I think the ideal Post would closely analyze onlyone of the stories, but end with some concluding thoughts that touch on both stories together–though you don’t have to try and make them mean the same thing (they surely don’t mean the exact same thing).
You have to Post before you can read other students’ Posts, but then be sure you do read them, since all our ideas together will help us learn about these two stories and help us practice literary criticism–and, of course, so you can make a meaningful Formal Replythat contributes to the discussion–these also need to do some original work with the language of the literature.

Link to video to watch https://youtu.be/QcCXi1J4LxA
Please remember that the titles of Poems and Short Stories go in quotation marks. Later in the semester we will read full length works, and the titles of Novels and Plays go in Italics. So, remember, “Short Stories” vs. Full Novels. For this week, the titles “Berenice” and “The Birthmark” go in quotations, and that is especially important because a claim about “Berenice” refers to the text itself while a claim about Berenice (without quotation marks) refers to the character herself. (And her name, which rhymes with “icy” is not “Bernice”).
Be sure you cite each quotation (just put a page number in parentheses). For the Poe story, cite by the PDF page #.
Forum Posts = at least 500 words, and Replies= at least 200 words. For context, this unit summary is itself well over 500 words.

TASK 01:
a. Determine whether any of the Australian States or Territories had a negative profit (loss) in 2014.
b. Provide a possible explanation as to why this might be the case.
TASK 02:
a. Determine which Australian State or Territory had the highest Sales in the period 2011-2014.
b. Provide a possible explanation as to why this might be the case.
TASK 03:
a. Describe which Product Category has the highest total sales (in dollars).
b. Explain how this is related to the Profit for that Product Category.
c. Provide a possible explanation as to why this might be the case.
TASK 04:
a. Describe how the Sales and Profits for Western Australia and Victoria have changed over the period 2011-2014.
b. Provide a possible explanation as to why this might be the case.

Rusty Weaver, a project manager for the Tipton Machinery, filed a petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 7, seeking to discharge $75,000 in credit-card debts and $45,000 in student loans.  Weaver’s wife died and left him with two children, Paul, who attended college, and Diana, who was thirteen years old.  According to Weaver, Diana was an “elite” swimmer who practiced ten to fifteen hours a week and placed between first and third at more than thirty competitive events. Diana was homeschooled with academic achievements that were average for her grade level.  His petition showed monthly income of $5,325 and expenses of $5,200.  The expenses included annual homeschool costs of $8,200 and annual swimming expenses of $5,000.  The expenses did not include college costs for Paul, or airfare for his upcoming summer trip to Europe, and other items.  The trustee allowed monthly expenses of $4,227, with nothing for swimming, and asked the court to dismiss the petition.

• If Weaver qualified for Chapter 7, which debts would be discharged?  Which debts would not be discharged?  Why?
• Using the median income from your state, does Weaver qualify for Chapter 7?
• Should the court grant the trustee’s request?  Does Weaver have other options if the Chapter 7 petition is dismissed?

Explain your answers and support them with relevant scholarly sources.