Unit 1 - Discussion Board 2

Unit: Global Management Fundamentals

Within the Discussion Board area, write 400-600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Consider the following scenario:

You are competing for a promotion to global manager. This position involves managing three key departments located in three different countries with three very different cultures. You have been asked to create a PowerPoint presentation of 18 to 22 slides. Your presentation should persuade the hiring directors that you are the right person for the promotion.

Each week, you will use what you have learned to contribute to this presentation. The following table describes what is to be included in your presentation:

SectionDescriptionSlidesTitle SlideTitle of presentation and author information.11: Global Management Fundamentals

Use an original scenario to provide examples of the four fundamentals of management:

Planning

Organizing

Leading

Controlling

Demonstrate how global strategy is incorporated in each example.

4-52: Cultural Differences in Communication

Research findings on the communication and business practice distinctions associated with a specific culture. Describe potential communication challenges and proactive solutions.

3: Global Business Issues

Application of Ethical Management Practice. This involves working through the five steps to decision making advocated by the Project Management Institute. An ethical dilemma will be provided and students will work through the decision-making process and come to a conclusion.

4: Global Negotiations

Methods for Managing differences: Competitive vs. Cooperative Cultures. Working through a conflict using the Managing Differences worksheet included in the course assignment using a conflict amongst your global team members.

References

Use APA guidelines to cite references.

Your Discussion Board Assignment for this week:

The following functions are fundamentally important in the management role:

Planning

Organizing

Leading

Controlling

Give an example of how each function contributes to the management role.

Choose 1 as the most important, and explain why you chose that function over the other 3.

Unit 1 - Individual Project

Unit: Global Management Fundamentals

You have been assigned to provide staffing solutions and a project plan for a new operation overseas. Provide a high-level view of how you will manage this project. The following questions need to be answered in your response:

How would you apply planning, organizing, leading, and controlling to this project?

Provide an example of how each fundamental aspect of management might be carried out in this scenario.

Unit 1 - Discussion Board 2

Unit: Research Strategies

Within the Discussion Board area, write 200-300 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

In this class, you will develop a research proposal based on a business, organizational problem, or topic that you want to explore. If you need help in finding a problem to explore, check the Successful Business Research textbook, chapter 6, for more on asking the right questions. Also, the following Web sites can assist in finding an organizational issue:

History of Quality Management

Total Quality Management Information

Part 1: Types of Research

Discuss the following:

Explain the differences between academic and business research approaches.

Explain which research approach you as a researcher would choose (quantitative, qualitative, or business) for your particular research question/problem.

Part 2: Selecting a Research Topic

Using the worksheets in chapter 6 (pp. 37-41) and the Web sites, examine how you would determine what area you will focus on for your research project and what questions you might be asking.

Select your research topic.

Utilizing the CTU Library, locate 1 peer-reviewed journal article that reports the findings of a qualitative study on or related to your research topic and 1 that reports the findings of a quantitative study on or related to your topic (you will need to cite both in your response). These articles will start to build your literature review and the rationale for your research project.

For example, if you want to investigate starting an online business to sell your homemade product, you may have to use the bigger topic of selling online or starting a business for your quantitative and qualitative articles.

Provide citations and references for your articles in accordance with APA guidelines, as needed and appropriate.

WORKSHEET: Research Goals

What is the broad primary question you want your research to answer?

What are the more specific questions that will help you answer the primary question?

How do you plan to use the information you find? (In a business plan? Research paper? Presentation?

What kind of information do you need to answer your questions? (Qualitative, such analysts' insights about trends, or quantitative, such as sales figures, industry or target market growth rates?)

What geographic region do you plan to cover?

What other key factors do you need to keep in mind during your research process? (Specific concerns of investors, professor's course requirements, and so on.) _

WORKSHEET: Research Questions List the questions you are seeking answers for in each of the following areas. A few potential questions are

listed first.

Industry/Economic Sector

• What is the size of the industry of which your business is a part?

• What has the growth rate of that industry been over the last few years?

• What is the projected future growth rate of that industry?

• What are the leading products/services in that industry?

• What are typical profit margins in that industry?

• What are the key trends/developments affecting that industry?

• Is the industry dominated by a few major companies or are there many healthy competitors?

CHAPTER 6: LIST YOUR QUESTIONS 39

Target Market

• What are the demographic characteristics of your target customers? (That is, age, gender, marital status, income, education level, type of business, and so on.)

• What is the size of your potential market in actual numbers? (That is, how many people/businesses fit the characteristics of your target customers in the specific geographic location you're targeting?)

• What is the size of the potential market in your specific geographic area in terms of revenue? 

• What has the growth rate of that market been over the last few years?

• What is the projected growth rate of that market?

• How many other companies in your type of business currently serve the target market?

Company

• Which companies are the leading competitors in your industry?

• Which companies are the leading competitors in your specific geographic target market?

• How is market share divided?

• What products/services do your leading competitors offer? At what price? 

• How are your competitors perceived in the marketplace? 

• Who are some potential customers for your products/services? What are the names of key personnel and their contact information? 

• Who are some potential suppliers of products/services that you need? How do their current customers rate them?