ACC 556
Discussion #1
“Internal Controls”
Please respond to the following:
- Imagine that a coworker wants to circumvent an internal control to steal money from your company. Speculate on two (2) internal controls that your coworker might attempt to circumvent in order to steal the money. Recommend two (2) actions that the company could take in order to prevent the theft.
- Outline an anti-fraud program that you would implement at your company (current or previous). Suggest the approach you would take to sell this program to your senior executives. Provide a rationale for your response.
Discussion #2
“Accounts Receivable Management”
Please respond to the following:
- Examine the five (5) steps to managing accounts receivable. Speculate on the step that is most vulnerable to fraud. Suggest at least two (2) actions that a company can take in order to protect this step from fraud.
- Imagine that your company has tasked you with developing a plan for factoring accounts receivables. Create one (1) scenario that demonstrates the key benefits and / or detriments to your company from factoring accounts receivable.
Discussion #3
“Plant Assets”
Please respond to the following:
- Imagine that you are the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a startup airline company. The executive management team has tasked you with making a recommendation about whether the company should buy or lease airplanes. Analyze the major pros and cons for leasing and buying assets. Based on your analysis, provide a recommendation to the executive team.
- Compare and contrast the three (3) methods for depreciating plant assets. Recommend the method that maximizes profits for both a shorter period of time and a longer period of time.
BUS 520
Discussion #1
Motivation Methods
Examine the significant similarities and differences of goal-setting theory, self-efficacy, and reinforcement.
- Which theory do you believe most closely aligns with your current or future approach to motivating employees?
- Provide at least one example that demonstrates your approach to employee motivation.
Note: Use information from your readings (Chapters 5 and 6) and/or other outside research to support your responses.
This week, the question to ponder upon addresses two specific issues:
- First, explain which theory (goal-setting theory, self-efficacy, and reinforcement) you believe most closely aligns with your current or future approach to motivating employees.
- Second, least one example that demonstrates your approach to employee motivation.
- A discussion at the beginning of this lesson about the challenges facing organizations to keep their employees interested and engaged can help address the issue raised by the question of this discussion forum. About two-thirds of U.S. workers agree that they are not fully engaged in their work. Similar problems exist in other countries like Germany where just 15 percent of workers report being engaged in their work. Some organizations are responding to the problem by looking for creative ways to engage their employees. Nearly half of employees blame their supervisor for the situation, claiming that they don’t remove obstacles that get in the way of performing well. Some workers also say that their supervisors fail to include them in discussions that directly affect them.
- Class: Can you share with us a situation where an employee (or you) lost enthusiasm about the company, and therefore became less motivated.
Discussion #2
“Teamwork Makes the Dream Work”
Recall what you learned this week about the five stages of group development and team performance. With that in mind, respond to the following:
- Describe one workplace scenario in which understanding of these five stages could have helped you work more effectively with a team. Provide a rationale for your response.
- Reflect on your teamwork experience and share the good, bad, and tolerable characteristics of being a team member.
Note: Use information from your readings (Chapters 7, 8, and The Forgotten Group Member Case) and/or other outside research to support your responses.
This week’s question addresses two issues:
- First, suggest at least one (1) scenario in which understanding the Five Stages of Group Development could help you to work more effectively with a team.
- Second, reflect on an experience that you had being a member of a team and classify the good, bad, and tolerable characteristics of being a team member.
- When addressing the issues raised by this week’s discussion, keep in mind that having a supportive organizational setting within which to work, can be a strong launching pad for team success. By contrast, team performance can suffer when resources such as information, budgets, work space, deadlines, rules and procedures, technologies, and the like, are insufficient to accomplish the task. For instance, In a survey of MBA students, 56 percent admitted to cheating by plagiarizing, downloading essays from the Web, and more. Some students justify their cheating by saying, “everyone does it.”
- Class: How would you respond in a work situation in which you are told an unethical action is the norm for the industry or business?
Discussion #3
“Would You Make the Same Decision?”
Watch this video: Making Decisions
https://www.lynda.com/course/sharerevideodirect/16…
Include these items in your response:
- Provide an example of a time when you made a decision regarding a work issue when procedures were not in place.
- Explain the steps you took to address the issue. What could you have done differently, and why?
Note: Use information from your readings (Chapters 9 and 10) and/or other outside research to support your response.
- First, provide an example of a decisions you made in your current or past organization when procedures were not in place.
- Second, explain the significant ways to address the problem, and tell us what you could have done differently.
- When addressing the issue raised by this question, make certain you understand the concept of rational model of decision making. It is noteworthy that the optimizing decision maker is rational as consistent and value-maximizing choices within specified constraints are made. Our textbook notes that the Rational Model includes six steps: define the problem, identify the decision criteria, allocate weights to the criteria, develop the alternatives, evaluate the alternatives, and select the best alternative.
- Class: Describe an important decision you took and the outcome turned out to be what you least expected and identify the perceptions that you made to explain your failure.
ECO 550
Discussion #1
“Production Economics and Decisions”
Please respond to the following:
- From the scenario for Katrina’s Candies, determine the relevant costs for the expansion decision, and distinguish between the short run and the long run costs. Recommend the key decision-making criteria that Katrina’s Candies should use for expansion decisions in the short run and in the long run. Determine under what conditions, a company should or should not continue to produce the good or service.
Scenario:
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institut…
Discussion #2
“Market Structures and Cost Management”
Please respond to the following:
- From the scenario for Katrina’s Candies, determine the appropriate type of market structure for the situation in question. Cite at least four (4) defining characteristics that have helped you reach this decision regarding the appropriateness of the chosen structure.
- Imagine that you are a manager of a chemical company. An accident has occurred in which chemicals leaked into the ground water nearby. The community is unaware of the accident. Compare the primary costs involved in cleaning up the water immediately (and thus confessing) versus hiding your culpability now and possibly paying more in the future. Predict the impact on profitability in both situations.
Scenario:
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institut…
Discussion #3
“Market Structures” Please respond to the following:
- From the scenario, assuming Katrina’s Candies is operating in the monopolistically competitive market structure and faces the following weekly demand and short-run cost functions:
VC = 20Q+0.006665 Q2 with MC=20 + 0.01333Q and FC = $5,000
P = 50-0.01Q and MR = 50-0.02Q
*Where price is in $ and Q is in kilograms. All answers should be rounded to the nearest whole number.
- Algebraically, determine what price Katrina’s Candies should charge in order for the company to maximize profit in the short run. Determine the quantity that would be produced at this price and the maximum profit possible.
Scenario: