Assignment 1: Selecting a Company

Due Week 2 and worth 60 points

Choose an organization with which you are familiar or one in which you have an interest. Research and analyze the organization’s Human Resource Management programs, policies, procedures, or initiatives. Evaluate their effectiveness and select a program, policy, procedure or initiative which you believe needs to be changed.

Write a one (1) page paper in which you:

1. Assess the current Human Resource programs, policies, procedures, or initiatives in terms of effectiveness.
2. Hypothesize the changes that require improvement.
3. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
   1. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
   2. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Evaluate an organization’s readiness for change.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in managing organizational change.
• Write clearly and concisely about managing organizational change using proper writing mechanics.

Describe the movement of the person in Plato’s allegory of the cave. Be very specific about the various stages in this movement, and then please explain how this allegory relates to at least two intellectual standards.

for this  discussion you will have the opportunity to step into the role of a holistic health care practitioner and analyze a case-study using the concepts of holism, vitalism and the determinants of holistic health. Read the case below:

Rebecca, a 54 year-old female, suffering from chronic anxiety has come to have an initial interview with you because she is concerned for her health. She has a fear of speaking in front of large groups and breaks out into a sweat when she is nervous. She has suffered from insomnia for four years, has had heart palpitations at night for five years, and has had frequent night sweats for the last six months. She complains of fatigue and rates her energy at 5 out of 10, in a scale where 10 is the best score. A year ago she moved to a new city to take a job in a large corporate firm where she works 50 hours or more each week. She has no close friends nearby but speaks with her sister and mother regularly. She was involved with a church in her previous town, but stopped attending five years ago after her son and husband died suddenly in a car accident. Her complexion is pale and she has slightly dark circles under her eyes. She usually does not eat breakfast, drinks two 16 oz cups of coffee per day, and prefers sweet or salty foods from the corporate cafeteria for lunch. Dinner is usually a large salad, TV dinner, or fast food. She always includes dessert. She does not exercise and has a one and half hour commute to work each day in heavy traffic. In the evening and on weekends she watches TV, takes herself to the movies or enjoys other non-social, sedentary activities. She does not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco. She makes poor eye contact in the interview but does indicate she is serious about needing guidance to resolve her anxiety. She has not previously sought medical attention for these concerns and uses no prescription or over-the-counter medications.

In an initial post of 275 words, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

What are three additional questions you would want to ask her in order to have a more complete picture of her holistic health?

Why are these questions important and what information do you hope to attain?

Describe this patient’s vitality. Is their vital force weak or strong? How can you tell? If appropriate therapeutic measures were taken, would she recover quickly or slowly?

Substantiate your answers.

Which basic determinants of holistic health are not adequately addressed in her life? What are some simple improvements you could suggest?

It has been said that strategic leaders are concerned with vision and mission, while strategic managers are concerned with strategy. Do you agree? Your answer should include specifics about what you believe a strategic leader does as opposed to what a strategic manager does (e.g., analyze competitors, review market analysis, become informed on technological trends, etc.). In addition, discuss whether you feel there is a need for both roles in organizations today. Justify your answer.  (A 1½-page response is required.)  Must be in APA format with references.

The relationship between the organization and its members can be greatly influenced by what motivates individuals to work. The style of leadership, job design, resources on the job, and environment can all have a significant effect on the satisfaction of employees and their performance. Performance is also influenced by individual motivations (e.g., social, recognition, financial reward, personal growth and development, and/or intrinsic satisfaction) and can equally impact the organization. There are many theories that attempt to explain the nature of motivation. Write a four- to five-page paper (excluding the title and reference pages) evaluating the relationship between motivation, job satisfaction, and work performance. Be sure to address the following:

1. Describe a performance issue which resulted from a motivational problem (what, why, who).
2. Use a content theory of motivation (e.g., Maslow, Alderfer, Herzberg, or McClelland) or a process theory (i.e., Adams, Locke, or Heider and Kelley) to explain how the issue creates a performance problem for the organization.
3. Use the theory of motivation you selected to describe an intervention/action to change the motivation/behavior and correct the performance problem.

Your paper must use a minimum of three scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook. Your paper must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center..

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

You will need to store the details of a customer’s order in a file so that you have a record of it and so that you can retrieve it for later use. Numerous errors can occur during input or output operations. There are two fundamentally different ways to handle these error conditions (or any error conditions). You can test for each condition before or after it occurs or you can use exception handling.

In your program, you will be using exception handling to deal with input or output errors. Discuss the following:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of testing for error conditions as compared to using exception handling when performing input or output?
• Why have almost all programmers, in almost all cases, moved to using exception handling for input or output?
• In what situations other than input or output might you find exception handling useful? Could exception handling be the preferred approach to use for those situations as well?

Write 2 more paragraphs that are an introduction and conclusion to this topic. Be sure to include your references and format your submission in APA format.

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with a reply of at least 100 words about their primary task response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening.

Graphs and Trees

Task Background: Graphs and trees provide you with ways to visualize data sets, and the opportunity to do analysis on the data (e.g., shortest path). Knowing the structure of a database enables you to choose a proper algorithm for searching for data within a database.

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write up to 3 paragraphs that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Assignment 1: Careers in Lodging, and Food and Beverage Industries

Due Week 3 and worth 200 points

To prepare for your assignment, review “Career Paths of a Hospitality Management Student”, located athttp://www.hcareers.com/us/resourcecenter/tabid/306/articleid/573/default.aspx. This article provides an overview of the various responsibilities of managers that are commonly found in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Next, read “A Day in the Life of David Lindahl, General Manager of Daily Diner Frogtown”, located athttp://minneapolis.eater.com/2013/7/19/6399397/a-day-in-the-life-of-david-lindahl-general-manager-of-daily-diner. Then, read “The Day in the Life of a Hotel GM vs. CEO”, located at: http://hospitality.cvent.com/blog/charmed-by-hospitality-marketing/the-day-in-the-life-of-a-hotel-gm-vs-ceo.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Describe the various types of management careers that can be offered within each industry (lodging, and food and beverage).
2. Compare and contrast the differences between the General Management (GM) positions within the two industries.
3. Analyze and describe the growth in overall employment within these two industries and how this overall growth is forecasted within the next ten years.
4. Recommend at least three human resource practices in which each industry can better recruit and retain management talent for their respective industry.
5. Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not quality as academic resources.
6. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
   1. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
   2. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
   3. Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Discuss various career opportunities in the food service and lodging industries.
• Describe the significant trends impacting the hospitality industry.
• Analyze the basic procedures involved in managing a restaurant operation.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in hospitality and tourism management.
• Write clearly and concisely about hospitality and tourism management using proper writing mechanics.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric can be found here.

You’ve recently been promoted into the position of marketing manager in the communications division of your company. Your new job involves managing a staff and creating the publications and marketing materials for insurance sales professionals in three regions.
You have met the directors of the three regional sales forces before, and now you ask each one for a meeting to discuss in depth how your team can best meet their needs. Two of the sales directors were very cordial, and each explained what the technical demands of their areas are and how your department can best meet their needs.
However, during your meeting with Bill—t he sales direct or of the third region and one of your firm’ s biggest moneymakers— he lays down the law. He says that his area is the largest of the three regions, and it produces significantly more revenue for your company than the other two regions combine d. “You and your people need to know that when I say, ‘Jump,’” he says, “they need to ask, ‘How high?’”
In return, he says, he’ll recommend you and your people for every award the company has to offer. In addition, he says he’ll personally give you a monetary bonus, based on your tea m’s performance, at the end of the year. Although you have never heard of a manager giving someone a bonus out of his own pocket, you suspect that your company would frown on such a practice.

1. What are the ethical issues in this case?
2. What are some reasons the decision maker in this case might be inclined to go along? Not go along?
3. If you were the decision maker, how would you handle the situation?
4. Would you report the conversation to your manager? Why or why not?

DQ 1-2  150-200 words

DQ 1

The field of human resources is evolving from providing services to an organization to becoming a strategic partner in its growth.  Analyze and discuss how the role of human resources today can provide value as a strategic partner in an organization.

DQ 2

Effective human resources professionals have a solid understanding of the changing nature of work and the workplace. Compare and contrast the evolution of work and the workplace over the past 20 years and how it has impacted human resources.