1. "Business Improvement" Please respond to the following:

Note: Online students, please select one of the two subjects to discuss.

• Select one (1) project from the working or educational environment of your choice and specify the main work process (e.g., suppliers and customers involved, work flow, etc.) of the project that you have selected. Next, suggest at least two (2) actions that a manager can take in order to improve the work process of the project in question. Provide a rationale for your response.

• Use the Internet or Strayer Library to research a global business or an organization of your choice. Next, analyze the overall effect of global competition on the business or the organization that you researched. Suggest one (1) strategy that the business leader can use in order to improve business competition and efficiency. Provide a rationale for your response.

2."Reflection to Date" Please respond to the following:

Note: Online students, please select one of the two subjects to discuss.

• In one (1) paragraph, reflect on what you have learned so far in this course. Determine the most interesting, unexpected, or useful piece of knowledge that you have learned. Provide a rationale for your response.

• In the second half of the quarter, we will extend our statistical thinking concepts to practical applications. We will discuss using tools (e.g., Excel) for the execution. Watch the video titled "Descriptive Statistics using ‘Data Analysis' tool in Excel", located at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MFjwM6K5Sg.

Next, speculate on the overall manner in which you would use tools, such as Excel, to apply a business critical thinking strategy. Include one (1) example of such application to support your response.

3.Building and Using Models" Please respond to the following:

Note: Online students, please select one of the two subjects to discuss.

• Imagine that you are a business manager for a mid-sized company. Propose one (1) overall strategy to build an effective business model in order to both monitor / control changes in business process and predict future business performance for your company. Provide a rationale (e.g., verification process) for your response.

• Per the textbook, in order to understand the causal relationship in business process, manager often asks "whys" to drill down the root cause of failures. Select one (1) project from your working or educational environment and propose at least three (3) "why" questions that you would ask in order to identify root cause of problem. Justify your responses.