ASSIGNMENT - CHALLENGES IN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

As you have explored in this course, ongoing challenges in the global business environment are mostly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to embrace technology advancements, and stiff competition among businesses. Imagine that you have been appointed as the Chief Compliance Officer of a Fortune 500 company of your choice and must prepare a presentation for your suppliers regarding your Supplier Code of Conduct to deliver via a web meeting.

This assignment has two parts. For the first part, you are to create a five to seven (5-7) minute dynamic video on your company's Code of Conduct. You may use any type of recording device you have to create this video-smartphone, laptop, webcam, or other type of video recorder. The specific points to cover for this video are listed below.

As an alternative to the video, you may submit a four to six (4-6) page paper that details what you would say in such a presentation following the same prompts as the video assignment below.

For the second part of the assignment, you will create a presentation using PowerPoint (or other equivalent software) summarizing the important changes and explanations regarding the code of conduct that you communicated in your video/paper presentation to email to the suppliers after the meeting for future reference. The specific points to cover are listed below.

You must submit both parts of the assignment to receive full credit.

Note: If you are using a tablet or smartphone you will need to email the video file to yourself, then save it to a computer in order to upload to Blackboard. You may want to upload your video to a file sharing service, such as Dropbox, if your email will not let you send a large video file. Dropbox is accessible from all smartphones and tablets from the Dropboxapp.

Once you are ready to upload your video to Blackboard, view the Kaltura video tutorial found in your online course shell (Week 9). Please use the following naming convention in the popup window for your video once it is finished uploading:

Part 1: Video Presentation OR Paper

Prepare and present a video that is a maximum of five to seven (5-7) minutes OR write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:

1. List specific changes that your company has made to its Code of Conduct in recent years. Provide at least one (1) example of each change.

2. Explain the identified changes to the suppliers in such a way that they will understand the standards that your company requires in order to maintain their relationship with the company.

If you choose the written paper instead of the video, 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; 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.
Specific Library Resources to help you get started

A general introduction to the Strayer Library is available in your course shell on the left-hand menu under Research-Library.
- Introductory Search - Use the home page's search box to keyword search many, but not all, databases.
- Targeted Search - Scroll to the bottom of the page for an A to Z listing of all databases. Float over each link to see a description of the database and click to load that particular database's custom search page. Custom search pages include both basic and advanced search options.
These databases are only partially searchable through the general search bar. You will have to search them individually to find resources for your paper.
- Nexis Uni - This contains legal information and would be useful to search for court cases in which your company has been involved.
- Video Explaining Nexis Uni
- Mergent Online - This has company info on both public and private companies. Fortune 500 can be public or private. Mergent is known for financial and accounting info, but also has qualitative information too. They offer news feeds, country reports on business environments, industry-wide reporting, company reports, and Annual Reports-the middle 3 are unique to this database. Starting with looking at a company's annual report would be very useful for this assignment. Industry reports would also be useful to see if your company is involved in any industry-wide initiatives or is notable in its industry in any way (could be good or bad.)
- Instructional Videos on each of the databases:
o Library Databases - Mergent Online
o Company Research - Annual Reports and 10-Ks
o Company Research - Industry Reports

American City Business Journals - This is probably the most fun way to read business news by metro area. They have over 35 journals based around US cities. Look up the metro area your company is associated with, go to ACBJ, then choose the applicable city, and search for news articles.

Starters are like the academic version of Wikipedia. Search on a topic to get an overview with links to other information within that topic. It will help you get ideas for keywords for your own searches and what you need to know in order to successfully write your paper.
- Library Databases - Research Starters Instructional Video

Don't stress over writing papers! Watch this video on writing papers and essays. Topics include how to start your research, how to organize your research, how to draft your paper, and how to revise it.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the rubric.

As you have explored in this course, ongoing challenges in the global business environment are mostly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to embrace technology advancements, and stiff competition among businesses. Imagine that you have been appointed as the Chief Compliance Officer of a Fortune 500 company of your choice and must prepare a presentation for your suppliers regarding your Supplier Code of Conduct to deliver via a web meeting.

This assignment has two parts. For the first part, you are to create a five to seven (5-7) minute dynamic video on your company's Code of Conduct. You may use any type of recording device you have to create this video-smartphone, laptop, webcam, or other type of video recorder. The specific points to cover for this video are listed below.

As an alternative to the video, you may submit a four to six (4-6) page paper that details what you would say in such a presentation following the same prompts as the video assignment below.

For the second part of the assignment, you will create a presentation using PowerPoint (or other equivalent software) summarizing the important changes and explanations regarding the code of conduct that you communicated in your video/paper presentation to email to the suppliers after the meeting for future reference. The specific points to cover are listed below.

You must submit both parts of the assignment to receive full credit.

Note: If you are using a tablet or smartphone you will need to email the video file to yourself, then save it to a computer in order to upload to Blackboard. You may want to upload your video to a file sharing service, such as Dropbox, if your email will not let you send a large video file. Dropbox is accessible from all smartphones and tablets from the Dropbox app.

Once you are ready to upload your video to Blackboard, view the Kaltura video tutorial found in your online course shell (Week 9).

Part 2: PowerPoint Presentation

Create a six to eight (6-8) slide PowerPoint presentation in which you:
1. Summarize your chosen company's Supplier Responsibility information.
2. Discuss your company's stance on each of the following areas:
o Empowering Workers
o Labor and Human Rights
o Health and Safety
o The Environment
o Accountability
Identify the key ways that your company's Progress Report has changed since last year.
Examine the manner in which your company's Supplier Code of Conduct helps the organization operate as a socially responsible organization.
Provide detailed speaker notes of what you would say if you were delivering the presentation.

Submit a reference page with at least three (3) quality references from the past 2 years that you have used for this presentation / paper.

Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not qualify as academic resources.
a. Here is an introductory video on the library and how to use it: Online Library Resources at Strayer University.mp4
Your PowerPoint presentation must follow these formatting requirements:
- Format the PowerPoint presentation with headings on each slide and three to four (3-4) relevant graphics (photographs, graphs, clip art, etc.), ensuring that the presentation is visually appealing and readable from 18 feet away. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
- Include a title slide containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The title and reference slides are not included in the required slide length.

Specific Library Resources to help you get started

A general introduction to the Strayer Library is available in your course shell on the left-hand menu under Research-Library.
- Introductory Search - Use the home page's search box to keyword search many, but not all, databases.
- Targeted Search - Scroll to the bottom of the page for an A to Z listing of all databases. Float over each link to see a description of the database and click to load that particular database's custom search page. Custom search pages include both basic and advanced search options.

These databases are only partially searchable through the general search bar. You will have to search them individually to find resources for your paper.

- Nexis Uni - This contains legal information and would be useful to search for court cases in which your company has been involved.

- Video Explaining Nexis Uni

- Mergent Online - This has company info on both public and private companies. Fortune 500 can be public or private. Mergent is known for financial and accounting info, but also has qualitative information too. They offer news feeds, country reports on business environments, industry-wide reporting, company reports, and Annual Reports-the middle 3 are unique to this database. Starting with looking at a company's annual report would be very useful for this assignment. Industry reports would also be useful to see if your company is involved in any industry-wide initiatives or is notable in its industry in any way (could be good or bad.)
- Instructional Videos on each of the databases:
o Library Databases - Mergent Online
o Company Research - Annual Reports and 10-Ks
o Company Research - Industry Reports

American City Business Journals - This is probably the most fun way to read business news by metro area. They have over 35 journals based around US cities. Look up the metro area your company is associated with, go to ACBJ, then choose the applicable city, and search for news articles.

Research Starters are like the academic version of Wikipedia. Search on a topic to get an overview with links to other information within that topic. It will help you get ideas for keywords for your own searches and what you need to know in order to successfully write your paper.

- Library Databases - Research Starters Instructional Video

Note - This is an exception example. Research Starter articles do appear in a feature box above the results list when using the general search box on research.strayer.edu.

Don't stress over writing papers! Watch this video on writing papers and essays. Topics include how to start your research, how to organize your research, how to draft your paper, and how to revise it.