BUSI 2713 BUSINESS LAW

BUSI 2713 BUSINESS LAW

TERM PAPER RESEARCH PROJECT GUIDELINES AND DEADLINES

FALL 2020

The course syllabus for this class shows a research project must be completed for this class. The research project is worth 300 points. To help facilitate students’ success in being able to complete a better research paper, the project will be scaffolded which means that different parts of the project will be due throughout the semester and each part will be assigned points for completion.

Students will have four (4) different prompts from which to choose. The paper must be 8-12 pages in length. The final paper is due on or before Friday, November 20, 2020, at 11:00 p.m. CDT (Columbia campus time).

Directions for the term paper are as follows:

Description: Your Term Paper should include a title page (does not count toward length), be double spaced in Times New Roman 12 font with 1” margins, and appropriately cite all sources referenced using APA format. APA style and organization are mandatory. This is an academic research paper which will require your independent investigation of scholarly/credible sources. Your paper should be largely free of grammatical, spelling, and other common writing errors and incorporate outside research and sources (cited appropriately, of course). You are required to include at least five peer-reviewed articles in your paper. This paper is to be entirely your own, original work, and prepared specifically for this class. Be sure to review the LWC Statement on Academic Integrity paying especially close attention to the definition of plagiarism. It would be wise to begin working on your Term Paper early in the semester; this assignment is worth nearly 1/3rd of your entire course grade and completing it appropriately will take a lot of time and effort. You have nearly two months to craft this paper and, as such, expectations will be relatively high for this assignment.

Be sure to review the LWC Statement on Academic Integrity on the course syllabus. Any instance of plagiarism will result in a “0” on this assignment and harsher academic penalties may be applied by the Office of Academic Affairs. If you have any questions regarding the nature of plagiarism and/or academic writing, be sure to email me immediately (griderl@lindsey.edu).

PROJECT TASKS/DUE DATES

Friday, October 9, 2020 Choose Topic and submit to instructor (10 points)

Friday, October 23, 2020 Identify five (5) references and submit APA style (50 points)

Friday, November 6, 2020 Prepare and submit outline to serve as guide for paper (40 points)

Friday, November 20, 2020 Submit final paper (200 points)

PROMPTS FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE TOPIC

You need to address one of the following prompts in your paper:

What have been the major decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court since 1990? How have these cases impacted the business environment? Cite specific cases. Which of these cases do you strongly agree or disagree with? What is the factual/academic basis for your position? Why do managers or, for that matter, business majors, need to be cognizant of some Supreme Court decisions?

What are some of the major court cases which revolve around Copyrights/Copyright infringement? Discuss Copyrights/infringement, the history of these concepts, and how they relate to the business environment. Include at least one major case from the past five years. You may also want to discuss registered trademarks and patents and famous court cases which relate to these concepts.

Discuss the events leading up to the creation and implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Define and discuss SOX, its implications, and its immediate and future impact. How much of an impact has SOX had on how business is conducted? Why would a businessperson need to be aware of SOX? You may also want to discuss fraud, white-collar crime, insider trading and famous cases related to these concepts.

Discuss the events/environment which led to the creation of the FTC. What does the FTC do? Discuss historic and recent court cases regarding the FTC and allegations of monopolies. Is the market truly “free” with the FTC? Would individual consumers be better off without the FTC? Would business owners be better off without the FTC? What is the factual/academic basis for your argument?

About HITT

About HITT Contracting Inc.

Founded in 1937, HITT Contracting is among the leading general contractors in the South Florida market with offices in Atlanta, Washington DC, Houston, Dallas, New York, Santa Clara, Fort Lauderdale, and Charleston. HITT Contracting specializes in law firms, corporate interiors, hospitality, financial institutions, healthcare construction and government construction projects in various regions, including West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and greater Miami. Regarding ownership, Russell Hitt’s son and son-in-law, Brett Hitt and Jim Millar respectively, are co-chairs of the company’s Board. The two share ownership responsibilities. Initially, HITT Contracting was founded by Myrtle Hitt and Warren Hitt in 1937. Until his death in September 2020, their son Russell A. Hitt served as the company’s chairman emeritus. Together, fathers and sons of the Hitt family have led the organization’s growth into among the top 25 general contractors in the United States. The company maintains a workforce of over 1,000 team members and continues to bring on board self-driven candidates to join the team and contribute to its ongoing success. In furtherance of the company’s mission, the company uphold various core values, including working hard, staying humble, elevating the business of building, being good, taking the high road, attention to detail, and delivering with passion. This text provides an analysis for HITT, including competitive analysis, company analysis, product analysis, customer analysis, and market analysis. The text further delves into how HITT’s services can be developed in markets in developing and developed countries and discusses the future of marketing.

Competitive Analysis

HITT Contracting’s primary competitors are Turner Company, EllisDon and Clark Construction, PCL construction, Ellisdon, Shimmick Construction, Novo Construction, McCarthy. AECOM, LERNER, and Hensel Phelps. The company which has its headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia has revenue of 2.4 billion dollars, with its main business being provision of commercial real estate services for corporate education, hospitality, office, government, and healthcare sectors. HITT Contracting’s main source of competition has to be Clark Construction whose president and CEO has a CEO rating of 91/100 compared to HITT Contracting’s CEO rating of 74/100. Clark Construction has a competitive edge in the sense that its revenue and employees are higher than HITT Contracting’s. Clark generates revenue of 5 billion dollars and employs over 4,200 employees compared to 2.4 billion dollar revenue and a workforce of about 1,000 employees. Turner Company is also proving to be a source of competition generating a revenue of 14.4 billion dollars and over 10, 000 employees. Turner’s CEO rating stands at 74/100 which is the same as HITT Contracting’s. Additionally, EllisDon is a source of competition producing a revenue of $4.4 billion, a CEO rating of 81/100 and employing about 5,000 individuals. PCL Construction is another notable source of competition for HITT Contracting. PCL has an employee workforce of 4500 individual and an annual revenue of $6.3 billion. Worth noting, Dave Filipchuk, the company’s President and CEO has a CEO rating of 76/100 compared to HITT Contracting’s CEO rating of 74/100. Other potential competitors include Donhoe Companies Inc., Keller North America Inc., and James G. Davis Construction Corporation, with 1,400, 2, 400 and 584 employees respectively.

Company Analysis

Doing business as Hitt Contracting Inc., the company has hit the nail on the head in matters general contracting. The corporation provides construction services for corporate building and interiors in nearly all sectors ranging from technology to healthcare. HITT Contracting handles historical renovations to eco-friendly projects. HITT Contracting conducts business in various industries including the construction of buildings construction, non-residential building construction, renovation and repair, commercial and office buildings, and commercial and institutional buildings. According to Improvements-Institutional, 2018 data center HITT Contracting also operates in industries in construction such as land subdivision, building equipment contractors, residential building construction, street and bridge construction and utility building construction. HITT Contracting Environmental Social Governance (ESG) ranking is 1.0 with an ESG industry average of 2.68. The company has an average annual revenue of 1.22 billion US dollars. Hitt Contracting is the ultimate parent company with one subsidiary and 11 branches. HITT Contracting is mostly classified as a company with operations in Nonresidential Building Construction industries. Some of the strengths that come with being an employee of HITT Contracting Inc. are outstanding management and leadership, room for personal development and a conducive work environment. Additionally, the company provides good work pay and employee benefits and supportive team members. On the other hand, some of the perks of working at the company include young and inexperienced personnel in preconstruction, high levels and stress and lean corporate resources.

Product Analysis

HITT Contracting Inc. works with construction professionals to provide clients with a variety of services that range from service and emergency work to base building construction and renovation and corporate interior fit-outs. With HITT Contracting Inc., it is more than construction; it is shaping possibilities, building dreams, and defining spaces that surround us.

With an experience of over eight decades in service provision that goes beyond the client expectations, HITT Contracting has a portfolio of award-winning constructions particularly for commercial build environments. They deliver projects that are redefining commercial real estate in America and beyond from office spaces and mixed-use industrial campuses of the future.

The Company has notable projects including Intelsat, that features a six-level monumental stair and multipurpose room with 28 ceilings that can fit up to 330 individuals. Another notable product is located at the Radio Oncology Center at George Washington University Hospital. It is an occupied renovation that entails a CT scanner and two linear accelerators. The Verizon NAP of Capital region also features five independent data centers featuring 187 million dollars and a 508 unit 21-story and 19-story tower worth up to 150 million dollars.

Customer Analysis

As regards customers, HITT Contracting Inc. provides services to customers that are in need of services ranging from renovation to build base construction to emergency services, and interior fit-outs. They provide services to clients in the corporate arena as well as public business. HITT Contracting Inc. values their customer experience which is why they employ client-centered strategies to ensure customer satisfaction. In 2019, HITT Contracting Inc. set aggressive goals with the aim of genuinely embracing the customer experience. A year later, they chose customer experience pilots to help take the management program to the next level. The program approach had four phases. They audited the existing feedback from partners and clients to determine the feedback loopholes and generate insights for improvement. They further facilitated the first wave of journey maps and outcome-oriented client personas. They further carried out an analysis of the corporate training program and make recommendations to inject client experience into the programming. They further revised the organizations approach to brand and purpose to ensure it aligns with the renewed commitment and client experience. Some of the solutions that were implemented as a result of the program were utilizing technology for client feedback, evaluating partner and client feedback collection, and redefining survey questions. As a result, various changes were realized. There was a deeper team and leadership engagement, increased visibility for the firm, and more knowledge of the client’s expectations and sentiments. Additionally, HITT Contracting Inc. saw better brand and purpose alignment, increased knowledge about client sentiment and expectations, better understanding of client feedback system, and corporate brand architecture. In essence, the client expectation program helped HITT Contracting Inc. to deliver robust journey maps into driving a customer-centric culture and innovative customer experience.

Market Analysis

As far as the market goes, HITT Contracting Inc boasts of clients in matters construction from across the world. HITT Contracting Inc. entered the Houston Market in 2016, making the company’s latest acquisition of trademark. They announced the taking over of a Houston-based Trademark contractor that had an experience of over 30 years. The chairperson, Bret Hitt, noted the company’s excitement to welcome the contractor on board. The purpose of the collaboration was to create a bigger impact on their clients within Texas and beyond. The acquisition of the trademark allowed HITT Contracting to expand their ability to cater to clients in key sectors such as technology, healthcare, commercial base building construction, and corporate interiors. They move was 55 new office employees operate with the organization’s trademark. To further expand its operations, HITT recruited additional construction talents. Worth noting, the synergy between the teams allowed both organizations to view the acquisition as national experience to push them into getting to the next project in size, volume, and scope. Across the United States, HITT Contracting is ranked the leading commercial construction company in the field with its annual revenue amounting to 1 billion dollars. Worth noting, HITT Contracting is ranked by ENR as among the 100 largest general contractors. HITT Contracting continues to maintain its regional offices in South Florida, Atlanta, Charleston, Denver, and satellite offices in Dallas, Baltimore, Seattle, and Richmond. HITT Contracting maintains client-oriented team that meets the need of all programs that require changing the building shells and complete owner fit-outs. Worth noting the company has a wide range of employees including trained and skilled in-house, to provide round-the-clock support to clients following initial occupancy. The company’s way of maintaining excellence and quality speaks to its core mission and its structure. HITT Contracting Inc. teams are often organized into expert market sectors that have a specialty in various aspects, including technology, paint and service, law firms, industrial services, hospitality, healthcare services, government, and building and interiors. Additionally, there are other divisions that complement the market sector teams, including preconstruction, subcontractor relationships, and sustainable construction.

Product Expansion in Markets in Developing and Developed Countries

For HITT Contracting Inc. to expand its construction services to developing and developed countries, it will need to employ a variety of tactics, including collaboration and building from the ground up. According to the hitt.com website, For HITT Contracting to be the renowned construction guru, it has had to collaborate with other contractors. Collaborations are particularly viable for developed countries such as other states where it has not yet established subsidiaries and other countries such as Canada, and across Europe. HITT Contracting has more chances of success when it works with subcontractors as it places them in a position to reach a greater clientele. Without a doubt, new building technologies, approaches, and materials have the potential to completely change the future of construction. Compared to developing countries, developed ones are quick to accept innovation. HITT Contracting remains committed to the ever-changing construction industry. Innovation in the construction sector derives sustainability and well-being and learning and solutions for all stakeholders and partners. As regards underdeveloped countries, HITT Contracting Inc., should start with building sustainability from the ground up. Using built strategies such as mass-timber construction ensures that structural wood remains connected with fasteners. This would make the building not only sustainable but also safe. It would still remain as strong as concrete or steel. Worth noting, mass-timber constructions are not only easy to bring down, but they can also be reused when no longer in use. Recycled finishes and materials can be used throughout the solar panels and entire building to ensure the facility accesses all the energy it needs. With such solar panels, it is possible to input charging stations for visitors.

The Future of Marketing

The changing face of marketing can be best described using the changing marketing channels and the growing consumer dominance. Old school marketing only employed traditional channels of marketing such as broadcasting and print media. However, we are living in a digital age where new school marketers continue to employ traditional methods but combine them with digital technologies bringing deeper and improved customer experience. It is important to care about consumer behavior it speaks to the customer experience. Today client needs have taken center-stage. As creators come up with new products and services they are keeping the needs and wants of their customers at the back of their mind. This shows that, without a doubt, customers have dominated the marketing field. There is need to anticipate future customers as they are bound to be even more essential as end-users of nearly all company products are changing in location, number and makeup at an ever rising rate. Worth noting, there has also been a significant rise in the market for personalized services with consumer services now accounting for 40-50% of consumer purchases. Additionally, customers’ tastes are also becoming more flexible, varied, and demanding. For instance, the rising demand for wood products; the traditional manufacturer today sells a variety of products that never existed years ago, but due to collaborative marketing and product-based research, they are able to get products that meet the market demand.

References

Improvements-Institutional, C., & Improvements-Non-Institutional, C. (2018). Datacenter.

Hitt.com

About the Common Core

Name

Institution

Date

The Common Core Standards

About the Common Core

The Common Core contains academic standards in English and Mathematics considered to be of high quality. The set of standards contain goals that outline what students should be knowledgeable about by the end of each grade. The Common Core Was created to make sure all students graduate high school with the right knowledge to succeed in college, career, and consequently life regardless of where they are from (Common Core State Standards Initiative, n.d.). The Common Core ware created to respond to the need for consistent learning outcomes in the entire country.

The standards developmentally appropriate for students

Some people claim that the Common Core standards may not be developmentally appropriate with the problems concentrated in the early grades. Kindergarten children are not ready to read, though they are required to by the standards. What these people do not acknowledge is that experienced professionals from K-3 teachers to early childhood experts developed these standards. The standards are created to fit the requirements of the 21st Century labor market and the challenges of today’s higher education.

States incorporated these standards into their school systems because they set rigorous, measurable objectives for every child, ensuring that there will be more candidates for college and students on the path to careers. The Fordham Institute conducted an analysis of the Common Core Standards and reported a significant improvement over most states’ academic expectations. There was also greater comparability between states, and districts-all teachers have a tool on best practices and ways to track student growth.

The implementation process may not be doing the Common Core justice, but the States are still running through with them. They are continuing to run the program because it is setting clear, consistent expectations for students in terms of college and career preparations. Out of all the 45 states that adopted the standards, only Oklahoma has replaced them.

For those questioning the appropriateness of these standards in terms of development, they should first remember that there is no clear-cut information on when a child is ready to learn anything that is scientifically backed. Then again, a child’s cognition changes, and these standards are in line with the capacity of 21st Century children. Usually, by saying the Common Core Standards are developmentally inappropriate, what critics mean is, “this is too hard.”

There is no reason to perceive that the literary benchmarks set by the Common Core for kindergarten are too hard. The National Centre for Education Statistics reports that 2 in three children at the kindergarten level recognize letters from the alphabet both in lower and uppercase before they enter kindergarten. Knowledge of the alphabet is one of the “foundational skills” projected under these standards. No parent would want their children to graduate kindergarten without knowledge of the alphabet. Sixty-one percent of children come to kindergarten with more than two concepts of the common core, such as understanding that text is read from left to right.

Why is it called the common core?

It is called the common core because it is a singular academic standard for the entire nation (Trachta, 2018). This, however, does not ring true in practice because only 34 states and the District of Colombia are still fully committed to it. in other states, however, it has been a benchmark for custom state standards. Some states have repealed part of the Common Core, or others have developed their own version. Since every state uses it as a benchmark and is creating custom versions, its common status somehow still reigns.

What the Common Core means to me

The people raising controversy over these standards have not had the time to interact with them at the same level as teachers. Getting to know them reduces the anxiety about how these standards will affect classrooms and students. The Common Core, to me, is an opportunity for teachers to create curricula that can help struggling students catch up using materials that match the Common Core. By standardizing education outcomes, the Common Core is the answer to educational inequality. With proper teacher training, the challenge of adjusting a curriculum to the Common Core is reduced, and teachers can now be able to take advantage of it fully.

Why I support the Common Core

The first reason why I support the Common Core is that it is not an absolute requirement but rather a guide. Those people that disregard these standards do it based on rigidity, which is not correct. The Common Core is adopted by states in different ways, in ways that suit their needs and does not require teaching specific text. The Common Core is just but a recommendation that only works to satisfy certain standards despite the means. This is why it is so useful and practical. I support it because I understand that it is not a rigid set of rules but a dependable benchmark that will achieve great results in developing students that are ready and heading towards college and excellent careers.

I believe that the goals of the Common Core are very sensible, especially in those states that have been ranking below average or far below in these essential subjects. By using a standard that is used in almost every state, the whole nation educates its children and future leaders at the same level. The use of Common Core is an assurance that students will receive a high-quality education. I support this because it will change the statistics, which see 60 percent of students joining colleges needing remedial classes in Math and English, or only 34 percent of eighth-graders showing adequate knowledge of grade-level math and the 30 percent of high-school graduates failing Military entry exams (Riley, 2014).

References

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). About the Standards. Home | Common Core State Standards Initiative. https://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/Riley, B. (2014, March 25). Why I Support Common Core Standards. National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/03/why-i-support-common-core-standards-bob-riley/Trachta, A. (2018, March 28). Don’t Be Afraid to Ask … What Exactly IS Common Core? Niche. https://www.niche.com/blog/what-is-common-core/

Management Information System part a.b and c

Name:

Course:

Tutor:

Date

Management Information System

Systems Development.

Part A

If TMS develops the system in house, they should use waterfall approach. This approach is used with the assumption that the final deliverable is not needed as quick as possible and high level of accuracy is required. Other reasons include:-

Waterfall approach helps in providing the necessary documentation for users at all stages of development.

There will be opportunity to check for errors at all stages.

It will offer enough time for analysis and final implementation.

There is no intensive user and/or client involvement in all phases of development which is very expensive in terms of time and commitment.

It enables requirements to be well defined before the system can be implemented.

This being a busy business enterprise, the client can participate in the development process while at the same time doing other duties.

It can also employ the use of prototype as an experimental way of gathering requirements such as data from the stakeholders involved.

Little training will be required for users after implementation since full documentation with user manuals are provided by this method.

Every stage in waterfall is well distinct, having the start and finishing point, with final product that can be identified for use in the following phase.

Sufficient information is also used which reduces problems of continuous future support by the developers.

The development, in addition, must take into an account all aspects of the working process. This in turn results to high reliability of the final product.

The method also provides thorough testing of the system. This also contributes to high efficiency and reliability.

The maintenance phase of this method consists of preventative and adaptive maintenance which will enable the system to be free from future flaws as well as easy conformance to the changing technology.

Corrective and perfective maintenance are also part of maintenance phase which ensures the correction of any existing errors in the system and to increase efficiency of operation respectively.

Part B

Although TMS have very skilled IS staff who can take on small new projects, outsourcing can be the best strategy in this case because:-

It is relatively cheap in terms of cost as compared to developing in-house system.

Since this is a business enterprise which is after maximizing profits, it should go for the method with lower cost like outsourcing.

Outsourcing will help TMS to enjoy the changing or latest technology from the external experts.

The TMS staff will also be better placed when it comes to learning and gaining extra knowledge from the outsourced professionals.

Outsourcing will also reduce over participation in the development of the new system by the TMS staff at the expense of daily business operations. This over participation is reduced because external experts will be responsible for system implementation.

Outsourcing will also help the project to be completed in time as the experts will have to meet the agreed deadline.

The external service providers can come with additional resources along with a pool of expertise which TMS may lack of sufficient scale within it’s IS department.

Since the TMS IS staff understand the system better, it will be easier for them to maintain the implemented system by external experts once they learn it.

The outsourcing provider can also help TMS enterprise to overcome inertia in consolidating data centers that the internal group of the enterprise cannot do as a result of merger acquisition.

The TMS enterprise will now be in a position to focus less attention in IS operations and more attention on core activities.

The strategy is also a way of helping TMS to free up most of their time to enable its employees use most of their energies in areas where core competencies are needed within the enterprise.

Outsourcing can also help TMS to effectively transition to fresh technologies.

The provider’s experienced consultants are extra readily available to the market place advances and best practices as compared to any trained and experienced in-house IT professional like those of TMS.

Therefore outsourcing providers will be instrumental in helping TMS to implement such technologies like enterprise 2.0, enterprise resource planning systems and web 2.0 tools.

Outsourcing providers can also offer IS personnel within an enterprise environment that atypical company or enterprise cannot afford to build.

The outsourcing provider in many cases opens greater opportunity for both training and advancement in IT than a single IS organization or enterprise.

Outsourcing will also relieve TMS of costly investments in constant training so that IS staff can get updated with the current marketplace technologies as well as headaches of hiring and retraining staff that can easily switch to other jobs with better pay or further lures.

Data management

There are anumber of management issues likely to occur if OIS is merged with OLDS. They include:-

Incompatibility issues since OIS is a package bought from the vendor while OLDS is customized by TMS. This makes the two systems have two completely different features that will require very high level of expertise to successfully integrate.

Difficulty in data administration. This difficulty is likely to arise given that the two systems may be using different formats for forms, queries and even reports.

The effort to integrate two applications has far reaching implications due to their extensive scope. In this case, an integration that fails or even misbehave can cost the enterprise huge loss in terms of millions of dollars.

There is also inadequate amount of control that the integration developers normally have over the participating applications. For instance, the majority of systems are legacy systems or packaged applications that cannot be altered. The systems are simply connected to the solution of integration. As a result, developers are left in asituation where they have to compensate for the gaps or differences amid the applications.

Although it can be easier to implement part of the solution within the application, this alternative might not be available due to internal corporate politics.

There are only a few standards which have established themselves in the integration domain despite the extensive requirement for the integration solution.

The available standards also do not offer solution to all integration concerns. A good example is XML web services that tackles just apportion of such challenges.

The merging of the two applications also require significant shift in corporate politics.It is because business applications, usually center on particular areas of operations like customer relationship management, finance, billing and others.

There is also difficulty in moving data from one system to another due to differences in data format. The majority of packaged, legacy and customs applications are not equipped to take part in integration solution.

As developing EAI solution is also challenging, operating and even maintaining such a solution can be extra intimidating. The combination of different technologies along with the distributed nature of EAI solutions makes it complex for troubleshooting, monitoring and deployment.

Ethics of selling the customer list

The first thing to do is to find out whether it is better to sell client list in an up market or down market. As a business person running an enterprise, this will be more of personal decision. The value of the book for the sales person in business will be greater at atime when the business is most active.It means that the book will be more valuable in the seller’s market if it consists of mainly prospective business with sellers.

However, if the book consists of mainly prospective business with buyers, it will tend to be extra valuable in the market of buyers. Therefore, before selling customer list, an individual wishing to do so have to take into an account the nature of the business along with prevailing market conditions.

Before selling customer list, it is also important to determine the value of the book of business for the salesperson. In this case, the dollar value for the sales person’s book of business relies on the prospect income that the book can be anticipated to produce over time. The present value can be estimated using the projected future income stream at a discount rate that mirrors the risk of receiving that income projection over time.

The quantity and quality of information that the sales person has affects the value of the book of business. Nevertheless, there are also other contributing factors. As an example, to have a good will of say, 40 potential buyers for $100000 properties may be less valuable as compared to having 10 potential buyers for $9 million properties. The same reasoning is true for information and relationships with potential sellers and tenants too. As a result, quantity and quality can be used as the criteria for adding value to the books of business.

The sales person can be willing to stop working immediately and cash out by selling the potential income that could be produced from his or her good will. In such a case, it can be arational choice to sell client list at retirement.

You also have to decide who the client list should be sold to. In this case, you should keep in mind that the income stream that could be produced from a retiring sales’ person’s book of business relies on who gets it from the retiring sales’ person. It also relies on how well the person who gets it can be responsible for the good will of the retiree under his/her stewardship. Therefore, the more income the acquirer anticipates to produce, the more valuable the good will.

In order to draw up an agreement, the parties involved should negotiate a simple contract that involves the sale/purchase of retiree’s book of business on their own. Nevertheless, if the transaction structure becomes complicated, the service from an attorney would be advisable.

The agreement should openly define what is to be sold. It may include the names, addresses and other information from the retiree’s client book. It may also comprise of tangible items like computer equipment, office supplies, marketing materials and many others.

As far as the payment arrangement is concerned, the parties may agree to a one-time, lump sum payment or a combination of lump sum amount. It will then be followed by prospect payment as the transactions are closed based on the contract. The terms of future payments should also be well defined. They should also agree on the right duration possible for the payment arrangement in order to minimize the liability of tax.

Recommendation to Jane

I would like to advise Jane that she should first of all consider three things before selling her enterprise customer list. She should consider who to sell customer list to, the prevailing market conditions and whether she is willing to retire. Only with the condition that she is willing to retire and with other considerations being favorable in terms of the value of sale, then she can go ahead to sell customer list, else she should not.

Management is a complex and wide concept that needs to be illustrated in an in-depth manner

Quality Management

Student’s name

Student’s Affiliation

Quality Management

Introduction

Management is a complex and wide concept that needs to be illustrated in an in-depth manner. What’s more, the dynamic business environment results into changes within management. There are new concepts adopted by management that need to be understood in order for institutions and organizations to engage in efficient and effective provision of goods and services. Quality management is one of the contemporary management concepts that managers need to be familiar with. Organizations irrespective of their size, industry, or culture must employ managerial services to ensure a balanced proportion between the various forms of resources to improve performance. Quality management, therefore, refers to the systematic process that involves measures meant to ensure that the product or service provided within an organization meets the demands of the consumers. It involves planning and implementation of the continuous organizational improvement in the provision of goods or services. Many organizations have decided to embrace quality management within the overall management system. This paper, thus, emphasizes that dynamism in the business environment calls for different institutions and organizations to ensure that there is increased quality management.

As a client or customer of SunHealth Corporation, a healthcare organization; it is important to note that quality management has enabled healthcare organizations to provide quality services to the patients through the various described processes. Through quality service provision patients have been able to obtain the required treatment at the right time in the right manner. Mortality rates have reduced due to the enhancement of quality healthcare services to patients both in-patient and out-patients (Moores, 2008). Since quality management process gives an opportunity for open decision making, healthcare organizations have taken up this advantage thereby involving the patients in making of decision through their contributions. This makes patients feel part and parcel of the organizations hence resulting into increased patient loyalty. The effect of this has been increased provision of services hence increased profitability (Miller et al, 2009).

When constructing a House of Quality within the quality management process; there should be a provision for the identification of problems affecting an organization. In that regard, Healthcare organizations have been able to identify various problems affecting them hence taking the necessary measures. This has led to effective and efficient management practices in the running of the organizations.

SunHealth Corporation should apply the concepts of quality management in order to ensure that all the patients obtain the best Medicare and Medicaid services affordable to all the stakeholders. Through quality management, healthcare facilities should embark on creating Home-based care. Through partnership with the National Institutes of Health through the establishment of the telehealth care services especially to those who cannot make it to the hospitals. They transport system has well-furnished ambulances that will assist the organization in delivering the best of healthcare services within the region (Kaluzny, McLaughlin & Simposn, 1999).

When developing a SPC checklist for each dimension of the product that you believe would be subject to statistical control, many organizations fail to employ the best approach. The below chart helps understand the process of developing a one of the best SPC checklist to help the client and the firm make the right decisions when buying or offering services. It demonstrates an order entry process serving both clients and firms.

Sources:

According to Kaizen’s philosophy that emphasizes on changing and making better explores the meaning of continuous improvement. Kaizen’s philosophy emphasizes the following five steps:

Planning of Activities

The five steps begin with planning one’s activities, which is an essential step towards quality management. Planning activities helps in managing time, thus, it is vital to plan daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. The initial step in personal Kaizen in our daily lives, reminds us to set aside few minutes to plan for our activities tomorrow.

Setting Apart Things that one does Regularly

To enter the Kaizen’s personal cycle, getting all the activities is a major step in the process of continuous improvement. The activities that appear regularly in one’s schedule will become one persona Kaizen. These activities must be set apart to ensure that one focuses on doing such activities effectively to improve the quality.

Creating a Way of making everything Better

This step focuses on improving life processes regularly based of Kaizen’s philosophy. This is the step where one improves the performance by doing the things done regularly in different manner. This is achievable though setting targets that must be accomplished.

Standardize

Continuous improvement with regard to quality management demands that the entire cycle should be part and parcel of the standardization process. Standardization also helps improve the present better state, and one is challenged to further improve in a progressive manner. Without this step, one may feel satisfied, thus, performing below the standard.

Evaluation and back again to the first step

Evaluation process is of ultimate importance in the cycle of quality management or improvement. This step is a precursor to the first step. It helps one know whether he/she has done the right or the wrong thing.

Finally in the benchmarking process, one must involve the customers and all the other stakeholders in making decisions. For example, provision of healthcare services that consumers have praised before and would to continue enjoying is essential. Both risk and quality management within SunHealth Corporation are involved in the tracking and management of incidents and either environmental factors for risk management or quality issues and outcomes for all stakeholders in quality management (Moores, 2008). They are involved in the identification of the processes and activities required for improvement to prevent future losses hence reducing the risks of financial loss as well as legal liability for organizations. In addition, both risk and quality management within ensures confidentiality of data and support a very inclusive framework of reporting and benchmarking. Through all these activities, the two aspects of management result into performance overview of an organization.

References

Kaluzny, A., McLaughlin, C. & Simposn, K. (1999).Applying total quality management concepts to public health organizations. Public Health Reports. 107, (3); 257-264

Miller, W. et al. (2009). Assessment of quality management practices within the healthcare industry. American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 1 (2).105-113.

Moores, B. (2008). Concepts of quality and quality management in industry and the service sector. Retrieved on July 14, 2014 from http://forge.fh-potsdam.de/~IFLA/INSPEL/94-2mobr.pdf

Millennials and the Political Process

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Millennials and the Political Process

Outline

1. Every vote matters.

2. Millennials make up a significant percentage of voters, about half.

3. Ethnically diverse and open-minded generation.

4. They can become civil servants to represent their views.

5. Young people hit hard in the recession, issues like college debt and healthcare, unemployment matter to them.

6. Start voting early to make it a lifelong habit.

7. It is easy to be an educated voter; social media is awash with information about candidates.

8. Voting affects the future, adulthood responsibilities such as buying homes, healthcare. Policies by current leaders will affect this.

Millennials often take very little or no interest at all when it comes to political issues. There are several reasons for their disinterest, the first of these being that they feel that politics do not affect their lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. Politics affect every area of our lives today. This has been clearly shown in President Trump’s presidency where people have been divided along many lines, and the nation’s unity has been threatened. Policies enacted by the government affect every area of citizens’ lives including education, healthcare, and taxation among many others (Johnson). It is time for millennials to sit up, take notice and actively engage in politics to safeguard their futures and their dreams.

The first reason as to why millennials should become involved in the political process is that every single one of their votes matters. In a country with millions upon millions of voters, it is easy for someone to think, but mine is just one vote. If everyone else votes then the one vote will not count. If every single millennial adopted such a mindset, there would be trouble for the voting process known as voter apathy (Quaranta 796). In the 2016 election, the fact that every vote counts came to be seen clearly. While the president did not win the popular vote, he won the Electoral College votes. Had more people turned out to vote perhaps the outcome may have been different. Many leaders such as Senator Al Franken of Minnesota in 2009 have won elections by a very small margin.

The second reason as to why millennials should become a part of the political process is that they make a significant part of the voting population. The population of millennials is fast growing and will soon outnumber the baby boomers. Their large numbers mean that they cannot afford to sit back and let others make decisions for them (Oakley). They should take advantage of their numbers. Millennials can swing the vote in the direction that they please because of the large part of voters that they make. Given the fact that they are capable of determining the election, it would be unwise not to stand up and be counted in the political process.

Millennials come from diverse backgrounds in terms of race, ethnicity, education, mindset among many other factors. This means that their opinions are quite diverse as well. For this reason, their interaction with people of different backgrounds has enabled them to be open-minded. Older generations may have grown up with people of the same mindset that renders them incapable of open-mindedness that the millennials posses. Because of this diversity, millennials are poised to have liberal opinions on matters affecting them today (Miller). They should, therefore, be involved in the political process to ensure inclusivity and diversity in leadership.

In recent years, we have seen the age of civil servants become younger and younger. In the past civil servants were assumed to be old people and this is one of the reasons that millennials have been mostly disinterested in politics. However, it has been seen that young people are equally capable of being outstanding leaders and making the right policies in their areas of expertise. The young people taking up leadership positions in the political sphere means that they can advocate for matters that are important to their peers and ensure that they make their voices heard.

Millennials are the hardest hit by economic crises such as recessions. This is because they make up a large part of the population. Problems such as healthcare, unemployment, and debt affect them the most. Most students in college take federal loans to help them finance their education. After college during times of recession, they might find it hard to get employment that will help them pay off their loans. Because of problems like these, young people should play an active role in the political process. They must ensure that the leaders they vote for will advocate for policies that will make their lives better.

To develop a lifelong habit of voting, it is crucial that millennials start voting early on in life. As with any other practice, it should be formed early so that as one grows older, it becomes natural for them to be a part of the political process. The first time that a person vote is a significant milestone. It brings with it a feeling of responsibility and the young voter feels that they are making their voice heard (Oakley). As one grows older and takes part in election cycles, they get more familiar with the process, and they are more informed about the matters concerning them in politics. They will, therefore, be more interested in the political process in the future and it will grow to become a habit.

Another reason as to why millennials should be interested in politics is that they cannot claim ignorance. Information concerning the political process and candidates are readily available on all forms of media, both social and mainstream (Young). During election seasons, the media takes time to disseminate information and make the voter as informed as possible. With the availability of data, the millennials have no excuse to remain aloof. They can make an informed decision quickly and easily and thus lend their voice to the political process.

Millennials should be a part of the political process because it affects their future. It is normal for millennials to assume that the current crop of leaders has no impact on their lives. This is a misguided view. While today’s leaders may seem to have no effect on their lives, the policies that the leaders make today have potentially long term effects. There is every reason for millennials to be actively involved in the political process as it will undoubtedly affect their lives in the future. Policies relating to areas such as healthcare, education, employment, housing, and taxation affect the life of every citizen (Miller). Millennials should ensure that they use their numbers to vote into office those leaders that they feel represent their interests both in the short term and in the long run.

Perhaps the most important reason as to why millennials should be a part of the political process is because it is their constitutional right. All citizens have the right to vote. It is their right as well as their responsibility to vote into office leaders to represent them at the local and national levels. Exercising this right ensures that millennials safeguard their voice in government and also that their interests are articulated and expressed. They cannot afford to ignore politics as every aspect of their lives is influenced by politics.

From these arguments, it is clear that millennials have every reason to be a part of the political process. The world today is controlled by politics; hence every citizen should make sure that they have a say in the leaders that are chosen to represent them. The fact that they make up such a large part of the voting numbers in the country means that millennials have a big say in politics and leadership of this country. Voter apathy is quite rampant among the millennials (Quaranta 801). Political candidates should, therefore, ensure that they woo the young people by educating them on the relevance of politics to their lives. During political campaigns, those candidates who have been popular among the younger generation have a higher chance of winning (Young).

Millennials can no longer afford to ignore the political process. Their large and growing numbers means that their interests are at higher stake in the political process. Many policies that are passed in the political process affect their lives; hence they should be educated to make the best decisions possible. Every single vote matters in an election hence the idea that one vote does not count should be done away with. The world today is governed by politics, and it affects relationships with other people. Divisive politics have been shown to cause strife and hatred among people of one country. With the diversity among millennials, they are in the best position to bring unity and elect leaders that have the best interests of the country at heart.

Works Cited

Johnson, Meghan. “Milennials: The unspoken generation.” Veritas 1.1 (2015): 6.

Miller, Carly. “The Great Divide: How UC Students See Politics in 2017.” (2018).

Miller, Kiki. Beyond the Ballot: An Examination of the Role of Social Media in the Political Participation and Political Socialization Process of Millennials. University of Colorado at Denver, 2017.

Oakley, David. “The Millennial Generation and Alternative Political Behaviors: An Examination of Political Participation Among Modern Young Americans.” (2017).

Quaranta, Mario. “An apathetic generation? Cohorts’ patterns of political participation in Italy.” Social Indicators Research125.3 (2016): 793-812.

Young, Brittni Jamaeka. “Millennials: Redefining Engagement in Politics.” (2015).

Minimum Wage

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Minimum Wage and the Distribution of Income

Description of the Issue

The debate regarding whether or not to increase the minimum wage has been in existence for a long time. Currently, the federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour, and this has been the case for over a decade. Americans have always been advocates of the American dream. They believe that as long as one works hard, one should earn just enough money to get by. Millions of Americans today continue to work for little pay and reduced benefits in arduous jobs. The people affected by the low minimum wage work in the service sector where they serve food, deliver pizza, clean officers, stock shelves and care for the elderly and young. They work the same jobs year in and year out while still caring for their families, paying bills and saving for college, which is not easy when earning the minimum wage. Despite their best efforts, these essential low-wage workers continue to fall further behind.

Opposing sides of the Minimum Wage Debate

There are two sides to the argument where on the one hand, some people support the decision to raise the minimum wage while others oppose increasing the minimum wage. In his article Real Family Values: Raising the Federal Minimum Wage, Jack Jenkins posits that increasing the minimum wage is imperative as it would lift millions of workers from poverty and grant them an opportunity to contribute robustly to the national economy. Jenkins points out that the current minimum wage is impacting the family institutions by denying them an opportunity to spend quality time as a family. Americans value family time and minimum wage makes it impossible for them to do this. People who earn minimum wage are forced to take up two or three jobs and work even during their off days to make ends meet (Jenkins, 02). This means they earn less than $13, 000 a year, which is below the federal threshold of $19, 530 for a family that comprises three individuals. Because they cannot afford a car, they have to spend hours communing to subway locations in the city which takes away from the time they should be spending with their family at home. Jenkins also notes that increasing the minimum wage would provide an equal opportunity to contribute to the economy. This is because with the increased income they can access benefits and afford essentials like food and rent meaning that they do not have to depend on government services to make ends meet. On the other hand, the Employment Policies Institute article The Impact of a $9.80 Federal Minimum Wage opposes the decision to increase the federal minimum wage. The authors of the text posit that the series of the proposal that intends to raise minimum wage by 35% from 7.25 dollars to 9.80 dollars opines that they would poorly target the low-income families that they are meant to help (“Can Raising The Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty And Hardship? – Employment Policies Institute”, 03). According to the text, the minimum wage is a weak way of reducing poverty. The strategy limits employment opportunities for the least skilled people. Moreover, the text posits that the beneficiaries of the minimum wage would only be the young population who are 25years old or below.

Analysis of Evidence

As regards evidence, both articles employ various strategies to support their notion. Jenkins references statistics and a personal narrative from Aarin Foster, who is a single father of two daughters surviving on minimum wage in Chicago. Foster narrates how he struggles to make ends meet and provide for his daughter with a low salary. He says that he has to work 30 hours a week and work during his off days to supplement his income. As a result, he always gets home late and only spends about five minutes per day with his daughters. On the other hand, the Employees Policies Institute uses a series of proposals, including the Rebuild America Act, Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012, and the Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012, to conclude that increasing the minimum wage does not reduce poverty.

Evaluation of Qualification of Authors

While some authors depict bias in their texts, others are credible. Jack Jenkin’s article is plausible because he is a professional with vast experience in publishing. He was the former Senior Reporter for Religion for ThinkProgress and currently serves as a national reporter for the Religion News Service. On the other hand, the Employment Policies Institute shows signs of bias in the text. The Institute has been known to be largely fiscally conservative, which explains its position that minimum wage should not be reduced.

My Standpoint

From my standpoint, Jenkins position on increasing the minimum wage is more viable than the position presented by the Employment Policies Institute. I agree with Jenkins that the minimum wage should be raised as it would give workers a chance to pull themselves out of poverty. As long as a person is working hard, they should be able to enjoy a decent lifestyle, and they should have ample time to spend with their families and friends.

Works Cited

“Can Raising The Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty And Hardship? – Employment Policies Institute”. Employment Policies Institute, 2021, https://www.epionline.org/studies/can-raising-the-minimum-wage-reduce-poverty-and-hardship/.

Jenkins, Jack. “Real Family Values: Raising The Federal Minimum Wage”. Americanprogress.Org, 2013, https://americanprogress.org/article/real-family-values-raising-the-federal-minimum-wage/

Millennials Preparedness to Real-World Environment (2)

Millennials Preparedness to Real-World Environment

Student’s Name

Institution

Millennials Preparedness to Real-World Environment

Graduate unpreparedness to the real world has become the primary growing concern in a career that significantly develops anxiety and culture of uncertainty among the millennials. Should more education courses attempt to create real-world environments to better prepare students or should colleges streamline coursework in favor of more classes devoted to a career as well as significant preparedness? It is an inquisitive question as both are to some extent solutions to student unpreparedness in college. However, I support the act of colleges streamlining the coursework in favor of more class devoted to significant preparedness and career as it works out better in curbing the problem. The necessity of getting a tertiary level education is acquiring the knowledge as well as the skills essential in performing practical work in the job field. Therefore, the reality of student graduating while not contented regarding career preparedness is a great catastrophe that requires immediate action at the college level. Restructuring of the college’s coursework in favor of more classes being dedicated toward a career is discussed into an in-depth extent as a valid measure of curbing student anxiety as well as enhancing major preparedness to the real world environment.

A high percentage of the graduates from the universities as well as other advanced level learning institution is not satisfied with what they are taught. It significantly means that the professors as wells other staff are not doing their work correctly or the students do not play their part well. These are alarming questions but essential in elaborating the cause of the growing concerns of anxiety and uncertainty towards career preparedness. According to the researchers’ reports, it is right that the tutors are delivering their services of feeding the students with all the knowledge required in consideration to the education curriculum. However, they forget the bit of teaching the same scholars the practical technicalities that are efficient in the field. “55 percent of students felt they were well prepared to work but only 18 percent of employers felt the same.” (Wurdinger & Qureshi 2015). Apart from the substantial general coursework, the students are also subjected to the co-curriculum activities which are mandatory to miss as well as a standardized test that they are supposed to acquire more than the recommended pass mark or retake the same course. Also, the same students have to be active in the school clubs and other non-curriculum activities vital for the social-being such as participating in religious activities. It is written to be evaluated through the continuous assessments and take part in co-curriculum events, but the practical skills part in the coursework should also be given the same weight. When all these things are put together, it becomes tiresome, and the students will have limited time dedicated to the practical work that prepares them to survive in the real world environment.

It is essential to restructure the tertiary level education coursework as the vital thing of students being in that institution is being capable of living well after the course which involves financial stability, helping the family and giving back to the community. The act of developing self-dependency at the millennial age is vital in preparing the students to face the real world, and the course framework should be structured in a sound way that considers knowledge instigation as well as work preparedness. All these elements regarded as “well-being” in the real world refers to the act of being capable of working or investing as well as inventing a viable business that is worth and paying (Ravitch 2016). Education sharpens peoples’ mind, and that is the reason behind an individual specifying to a particular discipline at the advanced level that one has the potentiality and willingness to work at after the completion of the course. It is healthy and right for the students to participate in the co-curriculum activities as it dramatically plays a significant role in mind refreshment but they are supposed to manage their time well not to spend all of it out there in the field and end up having problems in other parts of education. Some have the talents that are worth as well as paying even more than the other careers in the world, hence the co-curriculums cannot be ignored as well. Streamlining the coursework is vital to make sure that every essential element based on class, extra-curriculum and career preparedness are adequately granted enough time to prevent dragging behind one side.

For instance, consider the case of these graduate that move out to the career environment and cannot stand in one job even for a year. It is an excellent example of college-level unpreparedness, and it depicts the importance of rectifying the coursework. This postgraduate realizes that the career that they have secured does not fit their requirements, or they are not capable of giving out what is recommended in the field. All this involves career unpreparedness at the college level education. In the university, the professors are keen in ensuring that students are fit in the class work that they teach and prove it by testing them through the standardized test. “…the schools’ inability to show them applicable skills as one of the leading ways schools failed to help them,” (Irvine et al. 2015). It is right that they have acquired the knowledge, but they should also gain the skills fundamental to their work through practical experience in the career environment. The tutors at the college level have to put up a strategy that equips the students with the appropriate expertise in the real world in such a way that they will be able to work and secure a place after the course.

In the world today job opportunities are limited, and only a few, as well as the sharpest out, compete others in securing the available chances. It has reached an extent that in acquiring a career one have to be experienced and capable of putting the skills in practice efficiently or having a connection with a person who can persevere in training you how to do the job. Hence, making it very rare for the university graduate securing good careers immediately after their course completion. Therefore, in the college students are supposed to be depicted in a program that will to a profound extent train them how to plan and come up with new viable ideas that will effectively open broad ways at the real world. For instance, it is evident in real life situations that among the most prominent and wealthy people in the world are the businessmen. They spend adequate time and energy investing and inventing new ideas that fill the gap in the society earning those lots of capital. In reality, people in business do not make a living through working by themselves, but they employ others, people, to work for them in the ventures they have invested enhancing diversity. Teachers are supposed to align the curriculum in such a way that the learners have adequate time to develop the skills of planning and coming up with new opportunities by the utilization of the available resources (Hew 2016).

In colleges and other tertiary level learning institutions, practical techniques of rectifying the coursework in a manner that will depict enough time to career preparedness are supposed to be adopted. Some of these measures include introducing and reorganizing internships into a more efficient way, increasing the number of projects done throughout the course as well as encouraging students to get involved in activities that can earn them income during their holidays and other free time. To start with is the rescheduling the methodologies of offering internships and others related attachments. Some colleges are never serious about this activity, and it becomes an option regarding the individual student’s interest. Others provide the internship opportunity but once in the whole time course duration. It is traumatizing to the extent of taking learning institutions as business-oriented ventures whose aim is just earning the capital and have no concern of where the graduates will end up to in future. Internships are among the best techniques of introducing students to the real world as they will have the time to get experience and interact with professionals in that particular field who will significantly share their skills.

Therefore, colleges are supposed to put implement them as part of the coursework in such a way that it will be inevitable for a student to skip. Also, it is crucial for the students to attend various internships up to three of them or more if possible depending on the duration of the course. The more they get exposed to the working environment to more they master the skills and techniques required in the field, and this will be essential when it comes to securing a career (Fincher et al. 2017). During the internships, there is a capability of the students identifying a particular gap in the society that they will utilize as opportunities to start inventions through the experience gained. It sharpens their brains as well as technical skills that make them innovative, and they will not undergo too much struggle when they get out to the real world which favors the productive people. Nowadays during the interview sessions, the interviewer’s panels are not much concerned with the papers and grade point aggregates that one get on course completion but the kind of skills and experience the one has. In the end, those graduates with positive recommendations and experience after undergoing to various internships are favored and first secure the job opportunities.

The second issue regards increasing the number of projects partaken by the students throughout the coursework. The higher the number of these projects the well-equipped the student will be. Many institutions only put in consideration one general project at a particular phase of the course, but that is not right. Projects make students to think critically, carry out significant research, analyze the issue, come up with a plan and finally present it to a panel of professors who either certifies it or insist that more should be done. Projects cannot be ignored as partaking them make students have practical experience of how the real world is and develop the cognitive of being active in identifying a problem in the society as well as being fast to generate a valid solution (Entwistle & Ramsden 2015). Students with adequate skills will not depend on employment but will be there to study the environment and come up with their innovations that will be productive to the community.

Projects have an unusual approach that is unique in such a way that skipping one step leads to significant failure as it will interfere with rest of the work. The same case happens in the real world, especially in the workplace. Therefore, projects will equip the students with the smartness and be used to correctly doing things following all the required steps as well as avoiding the alluring shortcuts. Furthermore, these projects will boost the students’ courage as they make a presentation and this will be applicable in the career field during the interviews as well as when presenting other constructive ideas. Thus, the learning institutions should make the significant rectification of giving students adequate time to carry out projects as well as other practical experiments as they play an essential role when it comes to career preparedness. The professors should also not ignore any of these projects, and they have also to ensure credibility in testing the students’ capabilities.

The other solution to graduate career unpreparedness and anxiety is encouraging students to get involved in part-time activities that will significantly earn them income. The fact of their presence in school sharpens the mind and gains skills that enable them to work and be financially stable for their sustenance as well as that of their families. Talents work out well as part-time work for the students, but they can also be significantly be involved in all the other fields such as business as long as it is not interfering with their studying program (Dunn 2016). Therefore, having the potentiality of being productive and earning while still partaking their course is significant as it will ease the parents’ burden as well as developing a sense of responsibility. Students who are used to work even when at school have an easy time when they graduate as they are used to the real world and knows which fields they fit better hence secure the best careers. Also, it is essential as they develop the sense of belonging and impendence as they will not all the time rely on their parents to cater for their expenses as well as school fees.

For instance, take an example of a student who at the other side is a musician and spends his free time composing songs and attending other relevant occasions to entertain the audience. At long last, he knows his career field and will significantly take a course related to music ending up improving his skills that are effective in facing the real world after course completion. The anxiety of unpreparedness will not affect him, and he will be longing when that time comes to complete his studies and get in the field on a full-time basis. He will not be part of the growing concern culture of unpreparedness to career “…21 percent of students said there are not enough internship opportunities,” (Dondlinger & McLeod 2015).

Today many learning institutions have adopted new technology as a way of equipping students with practical skills necessary at the workplace as a way of preparing them to face the real world. Although, it seems that either one of the party the students or the tertiary level tutors have failed to do their work correctly. All the blame cannot be subjected to the college level schools as even students have to play their part well. At the tertiary level, the professor expects to deal with mature people who should not be pushed all the minute to do the right thing at the right time. It is evident that the practical lessons are framed as part of the coursework in various institutions, but some students end up not attending the sessions that particular moment is hence missing the practical based context of the entire course. The issue of work unpreparedness has emerged to be a devastating menace in the community where the students’ tamarack and waste lots of their time trying to find fitting job opportunities. Some even end up losing hope living a frustrated life where it is challenging to have a good livelihood. Therefore, it is a task of all the affected party whether the students, professors, and the tertiary learning institutions to reschedule the coursework appropriately and enhance proper management of time and available resources towards students’ job preparedness.

From the above discussion, it is true that there are anxieties and growing concerns regarding graduate unpreparedness towards the real world, but restructuring the tertiary level coursework schedules will be a sound solution to the problem. Taking the mentioned above measure will significantly enable psychological and physiological preparedness of the students to join the career fields as they will be adequately trained and experienced. It is not the learning institutions and tutors duty to make the sound changes but also government’s responsibility to appropriately intervene with the education system in such a way that it will improve students’ preparedness to join the real world. Also, students at the individual level should make the efforts of curbing the anxieties and growing concern cultures and adopt productive actions that will enhance their survivability in the world as well as careers.

References

Dondlinger, M. J., & McLeod, J. K. (2015). Solving real world problems with alternate reality gaming: Student experiences in the global village playground capstone course design. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 9(2), 3.

Dunn, M. E. (2016). Reclaiming Opportunities for Effective Teaching: An Institutional Ethnographic Study of Community College Course Outlines. Lexington Books.

Entwistle, N., & Ramsden, P. (2015). Understanding student learning (Routledge revivals). Routledge.

Fincher, M., Kelly, C., Harrison, M., Harrison, Z., Hopson, D., & Weems, S. (2017). Articulation and transfer for career and technical students: Best practices for dealing with real and perceived barriers to baccalaureate degree attainment for applied science students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 41(8), 531-535.

Hew, K. F. (2016). Promoting engagement in online courses: What strategies can we learn from three highly rated MOOCS. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(2), 320-341.

Irvine, J., Molyneux, J., & Gillman, M. (2015). ‘Providing a link with the real world’: Learning from the student experience of service user and carer involvement in social work education. Social Work Education, 34(2), 138-150.

Ravitch, D. (2016). The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education. Basic Books.

Russell, J. E., Van Horne, S., Ward, A. S., III, E. A. B., Sipola, M., Colombo, M., & Rocheford, M. K. (2016). Large lecture transformation: Adopting evidence-based practices to increase student engagement and performance in an introductory science course. Journal of Geoscience Education, 64(1), 37-51.

Wurdinger, S., & Qureshi, M. (2015). Enhancing college students’ life skills through project based learning. Innovative Higher Education, 40(3), 279-286.

Management Information System, Broadway Cafe

Management Information System: Broadway Cafe

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Abstract

However, being a booming business ever since its establishment in 1952, the ‘Broadway café’ has in the recent past succumbed to the effects of changing times with technological advancement effects in the 21st century taking the lead. The menu of the café ranges from varieties of coffees, teas, bakery, sandwiches, salads as well as soups. According to a critical analysis of the café, ordering processes in the café is manual as there is no computer system installed there. The grandfather’s memory stands out as the main reference point in merely all aspects of the café and this is seen as the main shortcoming in the operation of the business especially within the 21st century. This has direct impacts on the business by touching on such aspects as finance, sales, marketing, accounting, customer service as well as the human resource aspects. It is the postulation of this paper that the adoption of e-commerce strategies is an effective tool towards reforming the café especially in the modern day era of technological advancement.

Discussion

The Broadway café would be more suited in adoption of electronic marketing strategies, computerized information management as well as adoption of an online system of ordering and correspondences. These are among other emerging features especially within the food industry such as in which the Broadway café operates in. e-marketing strategies are not only convenient and efficient in saving costs of marketing but they increase the capacity of the advert to reach large number of target audiences easily (Baltzan, 2012). The internet has eased the mechanisms of advertisement and as such, the Broadway café would have itself to blame in the event of failure to exploit the great opportunities brought about by internet and technological advancement in general. Information management as well as data handling is poorly done in the café hence necessitating the adoption of the more improved systems of data/information management through computerized systems. Though the initial costs of installing computers systems in the café may be considered high, the efficiency realized through the system by far outweighs the costs incurred in installation. This would equally enable the management of the café to adopt advanced services of data handling such as cloud computing. Moreover, this system would enable easy correspondences with customers through social media platforms among other improvements. This would be effective in business transactions of ordering and reservation placements as well as passing on feedback and concerns, which would be very useful to the management for improvements.

The café would equally run a website through which marketing and interacting with customers would be enabled. The strategy would be very effective in attracting customers due to improved customer awareness as well as increase on overall sales of the café. Present-ability of a business website contributes highly to the overall effect realized through interactions of persons within the website. Healthy interaction on the website has a likelihood of attracting more customers while at the same time increasing on the sales margins.

There are main features that would be dominant in designing the business website and these are together with the capacity to have as much information as possible, higher interact-ability, ease of access as well as high level of confidentiality especially on customer information (Baltzan, 2012). This would be effective in overcoming strategic challenges that are posed by advancement of technology including increased security risks, high compromise of individual information as well as lowered probability of customers and or the café to lose sensitive information to unauthorized person.

Among other ways that such an e-strategy as the website developed is effective in reaching different players within an industry such as the suppliers, customers as well as the traders (Baltzan, 2012). For instance, the Broadway café would have an improved capacity in interacting with the suppliers at more ease. This would be against previously where correspondences were all through cumbersome tools and human brain. Effective designing and operation-izing of the website would play a critical role in attracting suppliers while at the same time creating opportunities for bidding and interactions. Besides, the creation of such an inter-phase and or a portal for the suppliers would make the café run more efficiently with suppliers being customized to own private information as against developing a public portal for an individual supplier.

Finally, the effects of a portal to the employees are multiple and they range from the ease of communicating grievances. Besides, customization of individual employees to such systems as biographic system, which, traces employee information for eases of management, the system would be effective in keeping individual information. The use of kiosks in the café would therefore have roles diversified/changed where official correspondences between the café management and the other parties would be done. Besides, the kiosks would continue to provide strategic retail outlets for the Broadway café.

References

Baltzan, D., W., (2012). “Business Driven Information Systems”, 3e. Retrieved from < HYPERLINK “http://connect.mcgrawhill.com/connect/shortUrl.do?accessUrl=r_farmer_busi_4415_winter_2014_rfarmer_1&logout=true&navclick=true” http://connect.mcgrawhill.com/connect/shortUrl.do?accessUrl=r_farmer_busi_4415_winter_2014_rfarmer_1&logout=true&navclick=true>

Burnham, K. (2021). Culturally

Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies

Student’s name

Institutional Affiliation

Burnham, K. (2021). Culturally Responsive Teaching: 5 Strategies for Educators. Retrieved 6 October 2021, from https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/culturally-responsive-teaching-strategies/The article 5 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies was written by Kristin Burnham and published as part of the blogs by the Northern University Graduate Programs. Kristin Burnham is a renowned editor, journalist, and contributor of the Northeastern University Enrollment Management team. Furthermore, Ms. Burnham is an award-winning writer with over 12 years of experience in developing content for technology brands, magazines, and websites. She spent the majority of her career writing on matters ranging from consumer and enterprise technology, online privacy, cybersecurity, and IT leadership. Burnham has also developed various publications for clients including Computerworld, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, The Parallax, Dun & Bradstreet, Northeastern University, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Red Hat’s Enterprise Project just to name a few. Burnham’s background evokes trust in her article. The fact that she has is an award-winning writer makes me respect her and the work that she does. Burnham has had vast experience as a writer and reporter which makes her the best person to talk about culturally responsive teaching strategies.

The article 5 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies by Kristin Burnham is a recent article that was published on July 31st, 2020. This makes the article up-to-date and viable for understanding this topic. Knowing that this article was published as recently as last year, makes it easy for me to relate to its findings. It makes me understand the urgency of the matter and why as a society we should move away from traditional methods of teaching to more responsive strategies. The article’s publishing organization was formed with the sole purpose of taking enhancing deeper level learning. The mission is to ensure that in all programs from doctorate degree to certification- students learn to convert their ideas into meaningful actions. Northeastern University Graduate Programs also publishes any outstanding work that students write as relates to program courses of business, social sciences, and health professions. The article’s intended audience is academicians, teachers, researchers, students, program developers, and people that are generally interested in culturally responsive pedagogy. This article is a scholarly article as it was written with a specialized audience in mind. The author points out the need to consider the b diverse background, upbringing, and experiences of students and incorporating them in teaching strategies at all levels of education. The author appeals to the benefits of culturally responsive teaching as including an increased sense of identity, inclusivity, engagements, and critical thinking (Burnham, 2021). This text bears no notable bias; the author does a good job in explaining that diversity issues cut across both students and teachers.

Without a doubt, all the claims and arguments made by Kristin Burnham in the article seem sensible to me. She writes that “typical mainstream education is not addressing the realities of today’s students.” I could not agree with her less. I feel that traditional educating is not all-rounded and it does not have a personalized approach to learning. I support her appeal that culturally responsive teaching is better because it entails diverse authors and makes reference to diverse cultures that speaks to the personal experiences of students. In my viewpoint, this approach is more effective in teaching when compared to the traditional methods.

While the article is comprehensive, reading the article leaves me with questions about the practicality of culturally responsive teaching strategies. While we seek to move from traditional teaching methods to more diverse and inclusive methods of teaching, it is important to recognize the challenge that might be encountered in implementing. I feel that some teachers, particularly, the more traditional ones would prefer to stick to the traditional methods that entail the following curriculum to the letter. Moving from traditional methods to culturally responsive methods requires the teacher to prepare in advance such as using diverse sources written by culturally representative authors and this might seem like a lot of work for old-school teachers. In essence, there is the possibility of resistance in moving from traditional to culturally responsive teaching.

The evidence that seemed most convincing has to do with making learning contextual. I could not agree less with Kristin on this issue. I feel that education makes more sense if they time curriculum to real-world experiences. This ensures that the knowledge gained in class can be put to use in the contemporary world. The traditional method of mastering concepts with the pure purpose of passing exams and graduating is not viable because it does not produce thinkers and problem solvers which are important in today’s world.

The evidence that least appeals to me has to do with reconsidering classroom setup. Burnham says that there is a need to take an inventory of the books and sources in the school library and reevaluate them so that they include authors from diverse races. She also mentions the need for inventory books to represent LGBTQ individuals. However, I do not think this is strategy is realistic. At times, there might not be authors that identify as LBGTQ who have undertaken research in some areas. This might make it difficult to execute this strategy.

This article turned my entire thinking about culturally responsive teaching around. I have been a student for the better part of my life and I have never thought about the influence of teaching methods on the experiences of students. My thinking was that the most important goal that teachers have is to cover what is in the curriculum. I thought that passing exams and getting a certificate or diploma was enough proof that one is educated. It turns out I was wrong; education is what you do with the knowledge gained.

After reading this article, it is now clear that we must move from traditional to culturally responsive methods of teaching. I now understand that the latter is more beneficial as it ensures inclusivity and adopts a more personalized approach to teaching. I am informed that culturally responsive teaching strategies are all about ensuring that the studies reflect the background, upbringing, cultures, races, economic status, and experiences of all students.

Just like all other texts that I have read on culturally responsive teaching, this text holds that culturally responsive teaching strategies are more beneficial compared to traditional methods of teaching. The article shares similar insights with other texts. It holds that will an increasingly diverse society, comes the need to adjust teaching methods so that they suit all students. The text also holds that culturally responsive teaching is more beneficial as it fosters a sense of identity in students and promotes critical thinking.

After reading this text, I realize that teaching methods have an impact on the learners. Future research should concentrate on the implementation of culturally responsive teaching methods. The main concern here is how to ensure that moving forward all teachers adopt culturally teaching methods as they teach. Curriculum implementers should devise a tool on ensuring teachers a culturally responsive approach to teaching.

References

Burnham, K. (2021). Culturally Responsive Teaching: 5 Strategies for Educators. Retrieved 6 October 2021, from https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/culturally-responsive-teaching-strategies/