Category: Business Studies

MBA 620 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric
Scenario
You are a former Navy officer and fighter pilot who is now the controller of a division of TransGlobal Airlines, which utilizes a fleet of corporate jets for charter at several airports in the southeast part of the United States. Your division’s private charter clients include several Fortune 500 companies in the region. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has informed you that the company is considering the acquisition of two smaller aviation firms in the Caribbean specializing in chartered flights for luxury vacations using light aircraft (60 passengers or less). The CFO has tasked you with assessing the organizational benefits of acquiring these aviation firms. The CFO intends to develop a new business plan for the organization if your analysis recommends moving forward with the acquisition.
After an initial assessment, the company has shortlisted two airlines they want to examine further for acquisition. To understand all aspects of the two airlines under consideration, you have visited each proposed site to assess their performance. The assessment includes creating and analyzing a balanced scorecard for each airline with all four components—financial, internal processes, customers/market, and learning and growth—that will impact the acquisition.
In this milestone, you will use the given information to create balanced scorecards for Company A and Company B.
Prompt
Use the Basic Balanced Scorecard Template to create a balanced scorecard for each company. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Use the data given in Company A Information and Company A Financials to create a balanced scorecard for Company A. The balanced scorecard should highlight key performance indicators, such as net profit, annual growth, and market share, and include the four components:
Financial: Complete the financial section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Internal Processes: Complete the internal processes section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Customers/Market: Complete the customers/market section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Learning and Growth: Complete the customers/market section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Use the data given in Company B Information and Company B Financials to create a balanced scorecard for Company B. The balanced scorecard should highlight key performance indicators, such as net profit, annual growth, and market share, and include the four components:
Financial: Complete the financial section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Internal Processes: Complete the internal processes section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Customers/Market: Complete the customers/market section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
Learning and Growth: Complete the customers/market section of the balanced scorecard template, identifying two of the most relevant key performance indicators.
Explain your rationale for the KPIs chosen, with an explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship between the chosen KPIs.
What to Submit
Submit two completed Excel spreadsheets using the provided template.
Milestone One Rubric
Criteria Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (80%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Company A Balanced Scorecard: Financial Component Develops the balanced scorecard’s financial component for Company A with two of the most relevant key performance indicators in that component; shares the rationale for the choice of KPIs; identifies cause-effect relationships between chosen KPIs Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying relevant KPIs in the fina

Overview
In the highly competitive automotive market, it is critical to keep up with current technology to stay in or get ahead in the marketplace. To remain competitive, companies must innovate and integrate new technologies within their product lines and services.
Scenario
You work as a middle manager for one of the top U.S. producers of luxury and mass-market automobiles and trucks.
The chief technology officer (CTO) of the company from the course scenario has been monitoring new technology developments that the company could integrate into its vehicles to enhance the usefulness of and improve access to the data acquired by the many digital sensors integrated into vehicle subsystems over the past 20 to 30 years. The technology trend of particular interest is the internet of things (IoT)—the interconnection of embedded devices, such as sensors and computers, over the internet. By taking advantage of this trend, the CTO believes the company can seize an opportunity to provide better service and predictive maintenance to its customers, improving customer satisfaction and adding additional revenue streams.
Based on briefings by the CTO and your Module One memo, senior management has decided to implement IoT into its product line. Your CTO has asked you to lead a cross-functional team to take this initiative forward. Your first task is to create a presentation that will include your recommendation for how the company should approach this business problem: should you use incremental or discontinuous innovation?
Specifically, should the company:
Design a completely new product line, based on the new technology (discontinuous innovation)
or
Add new technology features first into one model and then incrementally into the broader product line (incremental innovation)
The recommendation you and your team will make is an important first step in pursuing this new technology. Your presentation and recommendations will be reviewed by senior management. Until senior management approves your approach to this innovation, your cross-functional team will not have a budget and will not be able to start work on the innovation. You should utilize your work from the Module Two presentation and data analysis when making and justifying your recommendation in this first milestone. In Milestone Two, you will subsequently develop a go-to-market strategy. For your project in Module Nine, you will compile your work from Milestones One and Two, and include a proposed organizational structure to best integrate, produce, and market the new technology.
Prompt
Create a PowerPoint presentation to make a recommendation for how the company should pursue the IoT technology to remain competitive: either by discontinuous or incremental innovation. To make your recommendation, you will need to identify how the evolving IoT (sensor) technology fits into the company’s products and services and determine potential risks and benefits. You will also need to look at your competitors to see what they are doing. Finally, you need to analyze the company’s capability (resources) for pursuing the innovation. Use the information and data from the CTO Brief, Comparative Growth Data, Comparative Operating Statistics, and Comparative Product Plans to complete this milestone. Note: Remember to use both on-slide text and narration or speaker notes to convey your information effectively. If narration is not possible, precise and extensive speaker notes should be used, while addressing all of the rubric elements in the presentation. For example, you can use brief, bulleted lists on the slide and include detailed explanations in your narration or speaker notes.
Explain potential risks and benefits for options A and B.
Overview (1 slide): Present the business problem and options A and B.
Option A (1–2 slides): Explain at least two potential risks and benefits for option A.
Option B (1–2 slides): Explain at least two potential risks and benefits for option B.
Compare your competition’s products and services.
Competitors (3–4 slides): Evaluate the competitors’ current products and services.
What are your competitors’ current products and services?
Are your competitors expanding in the current market? Explain how this impacts their market strength.
Analyze your company’s capability to pursue the innovation.
Complete a partial gap analysis (2 slides):
Does your company own the technology, or does it need to be purchased?
How is the technology currently being used in today’s products and services?
What type of technology is available to purchase?
Recommend the innovation approach your company should pursue.
Innovation approach (2 slides): Explain which innovation approach you are recommending and why.
Consider the different stakeholders—research and development (R&D), marketing, finance—when communicating your recommendations.
Include a description of the incremental or discontinuous product that you are recommending for R&D.
Include the sales forecasts for marketi

(You may discuss any type of Project management career)
For CT Module 2, please identify the target organization you will use throughout the course, your position (actual or likely), your actual or likely managerial level (top, middle, or operational), and for those at middle and operational managerial levels, the functional area of your work (e.g., human resources, marketing, management information systems, finance, etc.). Define and describe two strategic and two non-strategic decisions. What types of strategic and non-strategic decisions are made in this area/function? Remember that strategic decisions include a long-term focus, a long-term commitment that included resource dedication, and alignment to support achieving the strategic outcome. Non-strategic decisions are short-term, easier to accomplish, and easier to undo if needed as compared to strategic decisions.
Identify and apply an appropriate analytical tool to analyze external factors that affect company performance. Given the findings of your analysis, and from your individual career perspective, assess the firm’s opportunities and threats. Remember opportunities and threats are external factors identified from the external environment. From your individual career perspective, identify and apply an appropriate analytical tool to analyze resources and capabilities that affect company performance. Given the findings of your analysis, and from your individual career perspective, assess the firm’s strengths and weaknesses. What recommendations do you have for the company? What opportunities or risks relate to your long-term employment with this organization? What actions can you take to act on the opportunities and mitigate the risks?
Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length. Include at least 2 scholarly references including the course textbook. The CSU Global Library is a good place to find these references (available in the left-hand navigation panel).

The instructor only paired us with one student. He never gave out any role play information for the negotiations. I want to know if this assignment could be done. On the agreement, any names could be put in the seller & buyer spot. I can change that if the assignment can done. There are 8 questions to be answered as well.

Comprehensive Marketing Plan Outline
1-Title Page
2- the name of the product/ br

Comprehensive Marketing Plan Outline
1-Title Page
2- the name of the product/ brand for which the marketing plan has been prepared
3- the time period for which the plan is designed (e.g., 2021-2023)
4- the persons and positions of those submitting the plan
5- the date of submission of the plan
II- Executive Summary
One- to three-page summary of the entire plan (include a brief introduction, the major aspects of the plan, and a budget statement)
III- Table of Contents
1- Introduction
a- Highlights of the brand’s historical and recent operations. It is useful to prepare graphs of the brand’s performance that show its sales.
– Situation Analysis
– SWOT (environmental conditions such as economic, social, political, legal, or cooperate environments)
– Industry analysis
– Customer analysis
– Company analysis+ Competitive analysis +Core competency and sustainable competitive advantage of your business (brand/product)
IV- Strategic Focus and Plan
1- Mission
2- Goals and Marketing objectives
V- Market-Product Focus
1-Segmentation
2-Target markets
3-Points of difference and positioning
VI- Marketing Program
1- Product strategy
2- Price strategy
3- Promotion strategy
4- Place strategy
VII- Financial Data and Projections
1- Historical sales revenues
1- Financial projections
VIII- Implementation Plan, Evaluate and Control
1- Plan to implement the strategies
1- Plan to evaluate and control the strategies
NB- The paper should be written in a word document (New Roman 12 font and double spaced)

Building from the Module 2 Critical Thinking assignment about your company’s wat

Building from the Module 2 Critical Thinking assignment about your company’s water purification product and target country market, research the components needed to build the product.
Use the following questions to guide your decisions about production and components, respond to the following topics for this week’s critical thinking assignment.
What does the target country produce and export?
What does the target country import; what are the imports used for?
To what degree does the target country have relevant and cost-effective component manufacturing capabilities?
Does the target country have relevant and cost-effective manufacturing/assembly capabilities to create products of acceptable quality?
If the target country does not have relevant component and manufacturing skills, where will the water purification components/devices be sourced from given the target country’s trade agreements?
How do trade profiles and trade relationships enter into your decision about manufacturing locations?
Include relevant theories and concepts related to international commerce as part of your presentation.
Your paper should be 3-4 pages in Microsoft Word. This a minimum suggested page number, points are not deducted for exceeding this page limit. Your paper needs to address all assignment topics. Keep in mind that business writing is succinct and focused on the specific assignment topics. The suggested 3-4 pages exclude the cover page, abstract, and references page. Format the paper according to the CSU Global Writing Center Links to an external site.. Formatting standards include title page, citations, double spacing, third-person pronouns, and references. Cite a minimum of 2 scholarly sources to support your position one source could be your textbook. The CSU Global Library is a great place to find these scholarly sources

Create a presentation of your research and data findings from Project Two includ

Create a presentation of your research and data findings from Project Two including your decision and rationale.
Construct a professional business presentation for internal and external stakeholders.
Identify your key message to both internal and external stakeholders.
Illustrate your key points using visualizations.
Tell your story.
Specifically include the following in your presentation:
Communicate your decision about diversification based on your analysis of the data and research.
Use visualizations to tell the story of the (quantitative and qualitative) data.
Determine the likelihood of success based on the data and research collected.
Discuss the impact that moving to the new industry will have on the organization and its internal and external stakeholders.
Detail your recommendations for moving forward.
Summarize findings of the research performed.
Include research conclusions and reasoning.
Describe the rationale behind your recommendations.
Comments from Customer
This was the exact directions for project 2 (which was the PowerPoint).
“Directions
Part 1: Using the research gathered in Project One, create a visualization for each of the following, then summarize what the data is showing about:
The current state of the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry
Sales by fuel type (electric, hybrid, gas)
Current automotive industry trends
The trend toward different types of motors for the vehicles being made and sold, such as electric and hybrid
Trends in customer demands such as vehicle color, extra features, and styles
Trends in the body types of vehicles sold (SUVs, trucks, sedans)
Trends in the chosen industry
Expected growth areas
Sales by type of products or services offered
Trends in customer demands
Then, provide a summary of all of the data visualized.
Summarize the collective data about both industries as a whole.
Determine what the data is not telling you about the chosen industry.
Part 2: Analyze three decision making models and select the one model that is best suited for making your decision.
Analyze and provide an overview of the following three models and select one for use. Resources are listed in the Supporting Materials section.
The Rational Model
The Intuitive Model
The Recognition-Primed Model
Explain your choice of decision-making model.
Why does your selection make the most sense for this project?”

SOURCES: Writer coiped from Chat GPT
FORMAT: -Unsatisfactory
More than 10 gramma

SOURCES: Writer coiped from Chat GPT
FORMAT: -Unsatisfactory
More than 10 grammar or spelling errors.
GRAMMAR: -Unsatisfactory
More than 10 grammar or spelling errors.
OTHER: This is the first time this something like this happen to me.
I just got the result back from my instructor, and this was his comment.
Feedback for learner
6/15/24, 10:59 PM
Hello Name,
This is mostly based on a ChatGPT report,
Medium Risk
This attempt includes extensive quoted or paraphrased material that may not be original. Review the material and determine if content is properly attributed to its source.
Overall Text Matching
Average Match
38%
Highest Match
38%
-Unsatisfactory
More than 10 grammar or spelling errors.
-Unsatisfactory
Student’s submission is almost not relevant to the topic.
-Unsatisfactory
Student’s submission mostly doesn’t abide by APA 7 Standards and most sentences are not correct and clear.
-Unsatisfactory
Some arguments are NOT supported by appropriate critical methods OR some analysis is NOT relevant for evaluating the evidence.
Comments from Customer
PREVIOUS PAPER INSTRUCTIONS (#573760046): Exercise Content
The objective of this assignment is to explore and analyze the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in entrepreneurial ventures.
Assignment Components:
Select an Entrepreneurial Venture: Each student is required to choose a specific entrepreneurial venture. It could be a startup, a small business, or a notable entrepreneur who has demonstrated a commitment to CSR.
Background Research: Conduct thorough research on the selected entrepreneurial venture. Gather information on the company’s history, mission, values, and any existing CSR initiatives. Look for relevant news articles, press releases, and the company’s official CSR reports if available.
CSR Analysis: Analyze the CSR initiatives undertaken by the entrepreneurial venture. Identify the social and environmental issues addressed, the strategies employed, and the impact of these initiatives on both the community and the business
Comparison with Competitors: Compare the CSR practices of the selected entrepreneurial venture with those of its competitors in the industry. Assess how CSR contributes to the competitive advantage and differentiation of the business.Challenges and Opportunities:Discuss the challenges faced by the entrepreneurial venture in implementing CSR initiatives and any opportunities that have arisen as a result. Consider the long-term benefits and potential risks associated with CSR.
Recommendations: Based on the analysis, provide recommendations for enhancing or expanding the CSR efforts of the entrepreneurial venture. Consider innovative approaches and potential collaborations with stakeholders.
Write a minimum 2-page paper discussing the learnings from the assignment.
Reflect on the importance of CSR in entrepreneurial ventures and its implications for the broader business landscape.
Assessment Criteria:The assignment will be assessed based on the depth of research, analysis, creativity in recommendations, clarity of presentation, and the overall understanding of the role of CSR in entrepreneurial ventures.This assignment encourages students to critically examine the relationship between entrepreneurship and social responsibility, fostering a deeper understanding of the ethical considerations and positive impacts that can result from integrating CSR into business practices.
Use APA 7 Format and list your references.
————————————————–
Material from class not to be used in the assignment.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7155201546538926082/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-top-startups-2022-50-us-companies-rise-linkedin-news/

Please read the case of Walmart cost of capital and answer questions, Please let

Please read the case of Walmart cost of capital and answer questions, Please let me know if you will be able to do this Case write up and you can apply the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). If any question sent me a massage here. I need to have this done correctly al because this subject is important, if you won’t be able do it let me know i will do this one and submit other project.

Explain why and how you see things differently.
Offer and support your opinion w

Explain why and how you see things differently.
Offer and support your opinion with industry best-practices.
Build on something interesting or provocative that your classmate wrote.
Please focus on applying the information covered in this course in your recommendations.
ask thoughtful questions pertaining to the topic, and/or answer a question (in detail) posted by another student or the instructor. Note: The following are not examples of substantive contributions:
Thanking, agreeing with, or complimenting a classmate.
Providing irrelevant commentary.
First response to #1(1/2 page)-
Some of the signs that I would look for as a manager that would indicate a diminishing capacity for change are employee resistance, a decline in productivity, and increased levels of conflict. Based on my experience, these are some of the first signs and can come months before an impact can be felt in employee turnover, so in a way I think they’re some of the most important signs to look out for. If the smaller, less disruptive signs are noticed when they first start to bubble up, there may be a chance for a company to course correct before they start to lose what may be a lot of great people that are just being put in a difficult situation.
Planned change is important because if a company is able to recognize when change may be beneficial and can be proactive about making changes, they would likely also have an easier time getting more buy in from employees. Change as a reaction tends to happen quickly, but if it can be done as an offensive measure there may be more time to look at different options and to ask for and implement employee feedback, which would make it easier to get a team on board with the change rather than having to deal with them fighting against it.
At my current employer we were able to make a planned change when we recognized that our internal ordering system was becoming ineffective and no longer provided the information that we needed to track our projects, as well as being something that was going to be losing software support in the short term. Because we were able to see this coming ahead of time, we were able to review multiple alternatives and choose the best one for our needs, then assemble a team that would participate in the build out. We spent a full year working on it, including scheduling regular check-ins with the larger team to review what we had done, what did and didn’t work, if there was anything that we hadn’t thought of or had forgotten to include, etc. We were also able to spend a full month working through a “soft launch” that allowed our customers to use the system and provide us with feedback on any adjustments that made sense from their perspective. Since we had been so proactive about everything leading up to this change, something that was actually an enormous project was able to transition in a way that went even smoother than we’d hoped, and certainly smoother than it would have gone had we waited to implement the change until we were forced to do so.
Second response (1/2 page-
Good evening all,
One of the hardest things to do as a manager is deal with change. Especially if the change is unexpected or detrimental to the team. When I was in the Navy there was a saying about the nuclear operators (I was one), “Nukes hate two things. Change, and the way things are”. I think that statement actually had a good amount of truth in it for us. We have operated under the same training, assumptions, basic actions, and lifestyle for decades. Any small change to the status quo could add a small amount of uncertainty to our lives and we did not appreciate it.
In the real world, change is much more common but the responses can be similar. When change is introduced to a team that is incapable of accepting the change they might talk about how things have always been done in the past. They could also threaten to file a complaint or quit if the change is not reverted or their demands for the change aren’t met. Another possibility is that the team simply disregards the new change and continues on as they were. All of these responses undermine the point of the change and the manager’s authority.
Today, planned change is part of an Agile mindset. Being able to pivot to another goal or way of doing business based on feedback is important. Without being able to change, your team might not be able to keep up with or meet the new demands being set by the stakeholders, ultimately costing your project time and money. While some change is important, a complete paradigm shift or a 180 during a project might cause the same conditions I spoke about before. If those massive changes are spread out over a longer period, assuming you have the time in your project for that, it can help alleviate some of those problems.
Attached weekly reading to use as reference for response along with my personal response to weekly discussion.