Assignment 2: Designing Value-Based Service

As the rate of innovation increases, companies face expanding product/service lines, shorter product and service lifecycles, and more frequent product/service transitions. All of these can bring tremendous value but also pose enormous challenges and risks.

The article “The Art of Managing New Product Transitions” by Erhun, Gonclave, and Hopman (2007) from the readings for this module includes a matrix titled “Product Drivers and Risk Factors,” which focuses on Intel, a company that manufactures high-tech products (p. 76). Based on your readings and research, address the following issues:

• Redesign the product risk factor matrix so that the factors are appropriate for a services firm that delivers traditional tax accounting and audit services. For example, among the supply risks, assume that the company relies on individuals with specific knowledge of the tax law in the jurisdictions where its clients operate, be it state, federal, or foreign.
• Now, assume that the firm wants to develop a management consultancy practice. (Alternatively, you may choose to add a legal services line instead.). Create a separate new matrix that summarizes the additional risk factors for this firm launching a management consultancy or legal services line. What additional risk factors are you adding to your matrix?
• Explain how the business risks differ between traditional tax and audit services and management consulting services. In your opinion, what are the three biggest risks the firm faces if it diversifies into the new service line?
• Recommend whether the firm should organically grow into a consultancy service or acquire a third party to achieve new goals. Justify your recommendations.

Develop a 6–8-slide presentation in PowerPoint format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2.ppt.

Be sure to include the following in your presentation:

• A title slide
• An agenda slide
• A reference slide
• Headings for each section
• Speaker notes to support the content in each slide[
• In-text cititions 

Assignment 2: Discussion—Enterprise Resource Planning

Reflect on the readings for this module as well as those from previous modules when you consider this module’s discussion question. In your response, take into account the time constraints on modern businesses in terms of time to market and demand for innovation. As an aside, and not as part of the assignment, you may wish to consider how your answers would or would not change if you were considering a craftsmen-type or vertically-integrated business.

Based on the above information and on your reflection of the readings for the course, respond to the following:

• If continuous improvement is the key to remain competitive, then why do firms codify so many processes into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems?

• Does this limit innovation and if so, how can that risk be reduced? If you were an ERP vendor what would be your perspective?

By Monday, January 12, 2015, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, January 14, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses.

Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Also need in text citations and question need to be answered and formated as followed:

• If continuous improvement is the key to remain competitive, then why do firms codify so many processes into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems?
  

• Does this limit innovation and if so, how can that risk be reduced? If you were an ERP vendor what would be your perspective?

Using the organization where you work, one where you have worked, or one in which you are very familiar, identify a Human Resource Management program, policy, procedure, or initiative that you believe needs to be changed. Your goal is to apply Kotter’s 8 Stage Process of Creating Change to the HR situation you have selected, with corresponding suggestions for how to put this change initiative into practice. Once it is formulated, you will present your recommendations to upper management.

This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a written report and a PowerPoint presentation. You must submit the two (2) sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment. Label each file name according to the section of the assignment it is written for.

Section 1: Change Management Plan

1.      Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:

a.      Describe the organization in terms of industry, size, and history.

b.      Describe how the HR program /policy / process / procedure / initiative that has been proposed should be changed.

c.      Describe three (3) reasons why this change is important to make.

d.      Describe the recommended change.

e.      Develop a strategy that illustrates how you would address each of the eight (8) Stages  of Change (Establishing a sense of urgency; creating coalition; developing vision and strategy; communicating the vision; empowering broad-based action; generating short term wins; consolidating gains and producing more change; anchoring new approaches into the culture).

f.       Identify potential resistance to change and describe how the resistance would be managed.

g.     Outline at least three (3) communications strategies you would use.

h.      Propose two (2) diagnostic tools to identify the changes that need to be made in organization.

i.       Recommend two (2) strategies for sustaining the change.

j.       Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Section 1 of this assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• 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 and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Section 2: PowerPoint Presentation

2.      Prepare a ten to fifteen (10-15) slide PowerPoint presentation in which you:

1. Summarize the main points in the written report.
2. Create bulleted speaking notes for your presentation to the shareholders in the Notes section of the PowerPoint. Note: You may create or assume any fictitious names, data, or scenarios that have not been established in this assignment for a realistic flow of communication.

Use a professional technically written style to graphically convey the information

HUM111 week 8 Assignment 2 Ancient Chinese Contribution

Ancient Chinese Contributions. Essay. To win a trip to China, you enter a contest to determine the four most useful contributions or inventions created by the ancient Chinese. (1) Identify eight to ten of these useful inventions or contributions. (2) Nominate four that you believe are the most ingenious or innovative. (3) Explain why you believe these four inventions or contributions are the most useful inventions or contributions from the ancient Chinese. (4) Identify one invention or contribution that you cannot live without and explain why.

The Project Paper focuses on a suggested topic related to art, architecture, history, music, or literature. The project will reflect your views and interpretation of the topic. This project is designed to help you stretch your mind and your abilities to be the creative, innovative, and critical thinker you already are! 

Choose one (1) of the topics from the list of topic choices below. Read the topic carefully. Write a three to four (3-4) page paper (750-1,000 words) that responds to each of the items described in the topic.

Note: Submit your topic choice to the instructor for approval before the end of Week 2. 

For the topic you choose:

Support your ideas with specific, illustrative examples. If there are questions or points associated with your chosen topic, be sure to answer all of the listed questions and address all of the items in that topic. If your topic requires you to do several things related to the topic, be sure to do each of the things listed.
While some of the topics tend to lend themselves toward particular writing genres, you are not restricted to the specific format suggested for the individual topic. For example, you may do an “interview,” a “proposal,” a “letter,” a “short story,” a “blog,” an “essay,” an “article,” or any other written genre for almost any of the topics. The project is intended to be fun as well as informative, so feel free to be creative with the delivery of your information.
Use at least two (2) sources besides the textbook, which counts as one (1) source.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA Style format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions specific to the selected topic. (Note: Students can find APA style materials located in the course shell for reference)
Include a cover page containing the tile of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

Assignment 2: LASA – Project Planning – Developing the Project Plan and Determining Critical Path

1. Using the District4WarehouseMove WBS.xls provided, create a Microsoft project plan for the District 4 Warehouse Move project. Use the PDF document, Project Plan Check – District4Move, to check your work to be sure you have created your starting project plan correctly.  Microsoft Project is required for this task. If you have not yet downloaded OpenProj, pleaseclick here and follow the directions to do so now.

   Note: you will need to insert a column to include your WBS codes, then you will need to sequence the tasks to show tasks by work package. It may help to review the Microsoft tutorial, Sequencing tasks in a project:http://www.project-open.org/en/project_tutorial

1. Based upon the details in the WBS and the project case, determine which tasks need to be completed first and which tasks are dependent upon other tasks to be completed prior to starting. Using this information identify predecessors in your project plan’s predecessor column. Complete the predecessor column by entering the line number of tasks that must be completed in order for each task to start. This will create your project timeline.

   Note: This is a critical step in the process to developing your critical path. It may help to review the Microsoft tutorial, Creating relationships between tasks: http://www.slideshare.net/dmdk12/creating-the-network-diagram-and-gantt-with-openproj

1. Using the View Network Diagram functionality within MS Project, determine the critical path for this project. In a MS Word document, list the activities that are on the critical path. Considering the risks identified in the risk table below, identify which risks would be most likely to increase your project timeline. Justify your responses.
2. Submit both your completed project plan and your MS Word document.

District 4 Production Warehouse Move Project – Risk Table