Briefly explain why you chose the article and how it relates to conflicts in organizations or to leadership and decision making. Be sure to include a link to the article you selected.

Week 6 Journal

Using the Wall Street Journal menu link, select an article that relates to: (1) conflicts in organizations; or (2) leadership and decision making. Briefly explain why you chose the article and how it relates to conflicts in organizations or to leadership and decision making. Be sure to include a link to the article you selected.

Are CEOs entitled to increases in compensation when their company’s financial situation worsens, because their job becomes more challenging?

Week 3 Business Homework

Read the Ethics Activity at the back of Chapter 6 (Links to an external site.) and answer the following:

Ethical Dilemma:

1. Are CEOs entitled to increases in compensation when their company’s financial situation worsens, because their job becomes more challenging?

2. If they fail, are they entitled to huge severance packages for their efforts?

3. Should companies be required to divulge all details of compensation for their highest top managers, and what effect is such disclosure likely to have on executive pay?

What are the key ways you will reach your customers and make them aware of, desire and purchase your good/service/idea (radio; direct mail; sales promotion; social media like Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, blogs, etc; website; sales people; word of mouth or buzz marketing; etc.)?

Mini Business Plan Assessment

What do you love to do? What are you great at doing? Can you shape any of your interests into a business opportunity? Be sure to think big. For instance, if you love hanging out with friends and listening to music, a club promotion business might make sense for you. Or, do you see a business opportunity or unsolved need/problem in the marketplace that you could build a business around? (2019 Cengage Learning).

For inspiration, check out these top ideas or do other research:

Review the basic sections of a business plan in Chapter 7 and information shared in the class resources. Additional resources regarding business plans and research links can be found at:
https://articles.bplans.com/how-to-write-a-business-plan/

How does your good/service/idea solve your potential customers’ problems or pain points better than other potential solutions or the competition…is it better performance, customization, design, price, convenience, delivery method, comfort, quality, etc.?
Target Market/Customer Segments: [MARKETING and RESEARCH, chapter 11]

Describe the characteristics of your ideal customers (demographics, behaviors, interests, values). Remember consumer markets can be segmented by: age, gender, location, income level, educational level, psychographics (purchasing patterns, hobbies, activities), and more. Business customers could be segmented by: type of industry, location, business size (revenue or employee size), technology used, and more.
What is the geographic location of your target market – is it a certain mile radius around your location, regional, national, etc.?

What could be the size of your target market or estimated number of potential customers based on your target market definition? (You may include general market trends or stats to support that there is a market by Googling it or by using the research resources from the IGNITE! website above.  source where you got your information.)
Competition: [EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, chapter 1]

Describe your direct (sell the same type of product/service) and indirect competitors (sell similar or a different type of solution to the same customers)? How do they differ from your business idea/what do they do better or known for?

What are the barriers to entry to the industry (type of business you are opening) and market such as capital costs to get the business started, technology needed, lots of competition, patents required, other external environmental factors like social trends, regulations, etc. from Chapter 1?
Sales & Marketing Activities: [MARKETING, chapters 12 & 13]

Describe how will your target market buy from you? (i.e. storefront, website or e-commerce, sales teams, distributors or retailers, direct face to face if consulting).

What are the key ways you will reach your customers and make them aware of, desire and purchase your good/service/idea (radio; direct mail; sales promotion; social media like Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, blogs, etc; website; sales people; word of mouth or buzz marketing; etc.)?

Revenue Streams/Pricing (How will you make $$?): [ACCOUNTING & MARKETING, chapter 8, 13]

How much will your good/service /idea cost the consumer to buy it?

What pricing strategy will you use such as penetration pricing, matching the competition, prestige, cost based, etc.? Explain why?

What does the target market currently pay for a different solution from a competitor to solve their problem?

Operations and Management: [ENTREPRENEURSHIP/BIZ FORMATION, MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS, chapters 6, 14 & 17]

What is your relevant experience and education related to the product/business idea? For example, what’s your expertise, entrepreneurial characteristics, and Clifton Strengths that you bring to the business?

What are the backgrounds or strengths of your team or possible employees, if you hire people.

What roles would they assume if your business would launch? (Think about who might you need to compliment your strengths and fill gaps of your weaknesses?)

Explain how your business venture will be structured such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or corporation. Give rationale about why this structure was selected and provide any other relevant details.
Ethics and Social Responsibility: [ETHICS, chapter 4]

Outline ethical standards, values, or guiding principles that will be used to guide decision making for the new venture.

What will be the company’s approach to social responsibility as it relates to stakeholder groups such as employees, community, environment, customers? For example, will you donate to the community and if so, what causes?

Cost Structure/Expenses/Funding: [ACCOUNTING & ENTREPRENEURSHIP, chapter 8 & 7]

What are your major expenses or costs to get the business started including customer acquisition costs (marketing), cost to produce good/service/idea (ingredients, supplies, raw material), distribution costs, human resources, equipment, tools, operating costs, building leases or purchase of property, etc.? Think fixed and variable costs. List these out and give estimates to those costs.

How much funding do you need to open the business based on first bullet about expenses/costs?

What will be the sources of that funding (personal savings, loans, lines of credit, friends/family, equity funding, etc.)? Give rationale about why these would be good sources.

Identify which of the variety of methods, or “listening posts,” your selected organization uses to gather the voice of the customer, including their needs and expectations, their feeling of importance, and their satisfaction as a customer.

Recommendations for Improvement

Explain how your selected organization applies the six steps from key customer-focused practices for quality management in the customer focus to meet or exceed customer requirements.
Identify which of the variety of methods, or “listening posts,” your selected organization uses to gather the voice of the customer, including their needs and expectations, their feeling of importance, and their satisfaction as a customer.
Evaluate the principles of workforce engagement, and empowerment and motivation, and evaluate why these two items are important to quality, and which five of Deming’s 14 points relate directly to the notion of empowerment.

How do your recommendations align with organizational structure and governance?Do your recommendations reflect ethical responsibility?

Strategy Implementation

Develop a PowerPoint presentation of 8–12 slides that synthesize the work you did on Assessments 1 and 2. Use the speaker’s notes sections of each slide to expand your talking points. Be sure your presentation includes:

A summary of the AFI framework.
Results from your internal analysis (VRIO or Value Chain)
Results from your external analysis (PESTLE and Five Forces)
A SWOT matrix for the company.
Recommendations:

Do the current strategies need to be changed?

What strategies will move the organization forward?

How do your recommendations align with organizational structure and governance?

Do your recommendations reflect ethical responsibility?

What laws apply to temporary disability at the workplace? Under what general circumstances is the employee entitled to benefits?

Imagine you are a Human Resource manager for a large firm and that one of your employees has suffered a temporary disability.

What laws apply to temporary disability at the workplace?
Under what general circumstances is the employee entitled to benefits?
What are those benefits and who administers them?

Identify and describe a scenario that involves an ergonomic injury and determine guidelines to prevent further injuries in the work setting. Be sure to explain how the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s criteria for ergonomic injuries might apply to the scenario.

Identify and describe a scenario that involves an ergonomic injury and determine guidelines to prevent further injuries in the work setting. Be sure to explain how the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s criteria for ergonomic injuries might apply to the scenario.