1. Develop a common-size income statement and balance sheet for your selected company, and calculate the financial ratios described in the textbook. Use the questions and instructions in the INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES section (Part C) of the Guidelines for the Strategic Audit Report. Include a brief discussion of the implications of what you find.
2. In Activity 4.5, one member of each team posted a population demographics summary statement to this forum. For this discussion, read the statements on population demographics posted by your fellow class members. Based on these statements, plus any additional research you may have done, how do you feel about the implications of changing population demographics? Why?
3. Prepare a brief progress report (1 page) on your progress toward completing the strategic audit report. What did you do this week? What problems have you encountered? How do you plan to resolve them? What do you plan to do next week? Save your progress report using the following naming convention: M5Progress_yourlastname. Your strategic audit report is due in Module 8.
4. Working in your assigned teams, select one of the top firms from the Fortune Magazine Annual Rankings. Research the Internet for more information about that firm.
To complete this assignment:
Step 1: In the Groups area, collaborate with your team to prepare a 1-2 page summary statement of your team's research findings (including at least 5-6 quality references). Save the document using the following naming convention. Be sure to include the names of all members of your team at the top of the document.
Step 2: Assign one member of your team to submit a copy of your team's summary using the Assignment link provided in Activity 6.4. Your instructor will apply scores for individual team members based on the quality of the 1-2 page summary statement, and the team evaluations submitted in Activity 6.5. The summary statement must be posted to the Grade Center before the end of this module.
Step 3: Assign one member of your team to post the summary statement to the M7-Top Companies Forum on the Discussion Board. Add a new thread in the forum, include your team name in the subject line, and attach the summary statement to the discussion thread. These summary statements will be reviewed by your classmates and discussed in Module 7. This summary must be posted to the Discussion Board by the end of this module.
Step 4: Complete the Fortune Team Evaluation located in Activity 6.5.
5. Submit your response to the following questions:
What is organizational politics all about?
Why do people tend to see organizational politics as negative?
Could an organization really exist without organizational politics?
What are the characteristics and skills of good political players?
Do you have good political skills?
How could you improve your political skills?
6. In Activity 6.2, your team was assigned to select one of the top firms from the Fortune Magazine Annual Rankings, research the Internet for more information about that firm, and then prepare a 1-2 page summary of your findings. Using the Assignment link above, one member of your team will submit your team's Fortune summary statement. Prior to submitting the summary, save the document using the following naming convention: Be sure your team's summary is also posted to the M7-Top Companies Discussion Forum. This assignment is due in this module.
7. Prepare a brief progress report (1 page) on your progress toward completing the strategic audit report. What did you do this week? What problems have you encountered? How do you plan to resolve them? What do you plan to do next week? Save your progress report using the following naming convention- Your strategic audit report is due in Module 8.