Executive Program Practical Connection Assignment

At UC, it is a priority that students are provided with strong educational programs and courses that allow them to be servant-leaders in their disciplines and communities, linking research with practice and knowledge with ethical decision-making. This assignment is a written assignment where students will demonstrate how this course research has connected and put into practice within their own career.

Assignment:

Provide a reflection of at least 500 words (or 2 pages double spaced) of how the knowledge, skills, or theories of this course have been applied, or could be applied, in a practical manner to your current work environment. If you are not currently working, share times when you have or could observe these theories and knowledge could be applied to an employment opportunity in your field of study.

Requirements:

Provide a 500 word (or 2 pages double spaced) minimum reflection.

Use of proper APA formatting and citations. If supporting evidence from outside resources is used those must be properly cited.

Share a personal connection that identifies specific knowledge and theories from this course.

Demonstrate a connection to your current work environment. If you are not employed, demonstrate a connection to your desired work environment.

You should NOT, provide an overview of the assignments assigned in the course. The assignment asks that you reflect how the knowledge and skills obtained through meeting course objectives were applied or could be applied in the workplace.

Write a discussion post for the post below 

Your boss and you are having some interpersonal problems. He does several things that you find really annoying. To start, he is not considerate of your employees or you. You often find myself thinking that you would be reluctant to do things he does around you that annoy you. Yet, he is your boss, so what can you do? He comes in late to the office, and you and your co-workers have been working for awhile and have your day planned. Inevitable, he will come in, interrupt, and lay on you a whole new set of priorities for the day. To be fair, he does stay late (you have flextime in your office), and he has a good reason to be late – he has childcare responsibilities to fulfill on school mornings. But his habit of coming in and interrupting the schedule for your day is really off-putting. By the time you have listened to his concerns, reprioritized your work, and gotten back on track, it is almost lunchtime and you feel you have wasted almost a half day trying to respond to his concerns. You are afraid to confront him – he is a good guy and it would only put him on the defensive. And it wouldn’t really change anything. But you are also tired of not feeling productive. You just wish he could be a little more sensitive to your situation and be better organized and more aware of your time constraints. Is that asking too much?

1. What is your immediate reaction to the scenario? How would you feel if you were the person this situation was about?
2. How could this situation have been avoided?
3. What approaches to resolving this conflict are appropriate?
4. What are some things that, if done, would make this approach successful?
5. What are some things to avoid when attempting to resolve this conflict? Why?

In your white paper, use additional sources of information but also describe the concept in layman’s terms. Use visuals where appropriate. Describe how an SDN/IBN architecture would look different than network architectures we have traditionally deployed. Compare and contrast the network architectures and discuss the pros and cons of each.

The paper should include the following sections:

• introduction to software-defined networking (SDN) (discussed in Week 3)
• introduction to intent-based networking (IBN) (discussed in Week 4)
• discussion on how virtualizing the desktop and now back-end infrastructure are complementary and related
• discussion of how SDN and IBN are related

Software-defined networking (SDN) and intent-based networking (IBN) offer an ability to revolutionize the modern network architecture. Both of these concepts are relatively new, and your chief technology officer (CTO) has only heard them in passing. In fact, she pawned them off as the new “marketing fad” dressed up as a new concept. Since you have researched both technologies, you understand this is not a fad. When used in combination with virtualization and cloud computing, you know SDN and IBN could revolutionize how the organization operates, providing for reduced costs, efficiency, better management of the network assets, and security. 

However, you need to develop a white paper for the Caduceus CTO to highlight these benefits. Given the CTO has only heard the term in passing, you must describe in this white paper, the SDN and IBN concepts, their benefits, and what it would take for the organization to implement.

Competencies

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Make decisions informed by macroeconomic principles and the business cycle
• Determine the economic impact of historical and current events using models of macroeconomics
• Assess how changes to macroeconomic policies impact the economy

Scenario

You have just completed your seven-year term as the chief economic policy advisor responsible for managing the economy of the nation of Econland. You are expected to create a report for the incoming administration. In this outgoing report, you will summarize your macroeconomic policy decisions and the economic outcomes for Econland. The purpose of this report is to share the lessons you’ve learned over your term and promote sound macroeconomic decision making moving forward.

Directions

First, assemble the materials that you will need to complete this assignment:

1. Access the Macroeconomics Simulation: Econland from Harvard Business Review and select either the Rollercoaster or Stagnation scenarios. Once you have completed your final year of your seven-year term, you can access the final reports under the Dashboard and Reports tabs at the top of the webpage. You will use these charts, graphs, and other visualizations to illustrate your report in the indicated areas of the template (for example, Table 1.1). Reach out to your instructor if you have any questions about accessing these resources.
2. Review and use the Project Template located in the What to Submit section.
   • The cover page, Table of Contents, and Introduction sections of your report are provided and should remain standard in all submissions except where indicated in the template. You should read the brief Introduction section, as it provides insight into the purpose and structure of the deliverable, and add the high-level descriptions where prompted.
   • There are placeholders in the template for your data visualizations (e.g., charts, graphs, tables, etc.). These placeholders are meant to give you a rough approximation of the placement of the visualizations that are required. You should replace the placeholders with the appropriate, indicated images in each case. To create an isolated image from the simulation data, it is recommended that you use a snipping tool or other image-editing software to copy and paste your data visualizations into the template. See the relevant tutorials in the Supporting Materials section for more information.
   • You are expected to reference any source material used in your report with appropriate citations. To support you, a References page has been added to the project template with the citation for the course’s reading already provided. Any other references you add should be cited according to APA format.

Once you have assembled the required materials listed above, you can now begin drafting your economic summary report by completing the following steps:

1. The first section of your report is the Introduction, in which you will personalize the provided content with the particular information related to your term (i.e., your simulation results) as the chief economic policy advisor for the nation of Econland. Follow the instructions in the template for contextualizing this section, including adding Table 3 from your simulation report to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Table 1.1). Then, add a two- to three-sentence summary specifying which underlying scenario you chose and your overall performance and approval rating.
2. Taxation Policies: In the Fiscal Policies: Taxation section of your report, discuss the taxation policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Within this section, you should add an image of Table 1 from your simulation results to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Table 2.1). Then, answer the following questions in the paragraphs below the table:
   • Explain your intent for the taxation policy decisions you made over your seven-year term. What were the macroeconomic principles or models that influenced your decision making?
   • Identify the impact of your changes to the income and corporate tax rates. How were consumption and investment affected by your tax-policy decisions? Explain these dynamics using specific macroeconomic principles from the course reading.
   • Compare and contrast the impact of your tax policy decisions with those of current or historical examples in the United States. What do these examples demonstrate about the validity of macroeconomic models? Be sure to cite your research appropriately. (See the Supporting Materials section.)
3. Government Spending: In the Fiscal Policies: Government Expenditure section of your report, discuss government spending policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Within this section, you should add an image of the “Real GDP Growth” and “Unemployment Rate” graphs from your simulation results and use an aggregate demand and aggregate supply (AD/AS) model to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Figures 3.1 and 3.2). Images of the AD/AS model can be found in the course reading or any reputable online source. Then, answer the following questions in the paragraphs below the figures:
   • Explain your decision making regarding government expenditure and how it changed based on the macroeconomic conditions. What was the intent of your fiscal policy decisions in response to the given economic climate?
   • Evaluate your fiscal policy decisions, including how they impacted key macroeconomics factors such as real GDP growth and unemployment. To what extent did your policies yield positive or negative outcomes?
   • Refer to the AD/AS model to support your analysis in this section of your report.
4. Monetary Policies: In the Monetary Policies section of your report, discuss the monetary policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Within this section, you should add an image of the “Inflation Rate” graph from your simulation results to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Figure 4.1). Then, answer the following questions in the paragraphs below the figure:
   • Explain how you changed the interest rate levels and how these changes impacted other macroeconomic factors such as inflation, consumption, investments, GDP, and foreign trade. Provide specific examples to help illustrate.
   • Compare and contrast the impact of your monetary policies with those of current or historical examples in the United States. What do these examples demonstrate about the validity of macroeconomic models? Be sure to cite your research appropriately. (See the Supporting Materials section.)
5. Global Context: In the Global Context section of your report, you will expand your discussion from the particular case of Econland to consider the wider global context. Analyze the impacts of openness to trade in general. Why and how are the impacts of monetary and fiscal policies different in a closed economy versus an open economy? Support your claims with specific details from the course reading.
6. Conclusions: In the Conclusions section of your report, draw your overall conclusions about the relevance and significance of macroeconomics for the public and your successor.
   • Assess the effectiveness of your economic policy decisions. Did your economic policy decisions produce the anticipated results? Did your macroeconomic principles and models behave in ways that you expected? Provide specific examples to illustrate.
   • Evaluate how consumer confidence might have impacted the outcomes of your policy decisions for the economy of Econland. Why is consumer confidence a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisions?
7. Finally, ensure that all of your sources are properly cited using in-line citations and references according to APA format.

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Economic Summary Report
Your economic summary report should outline the key principles and takeaways of your Econland simulation for your successor. It should also illustrate how the macroeconomic ideas are relevant to the nation’s future economic success.

Template: Project Template
Use this template to submit your economic summary report, and submit it as a Word document. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Supporting Materials

The following resources support your work on the project:

Video: How to Use the Snipping Tool (Beginner’s Guide) (for PC)
Use this tutorial for help with snipping, copying, and pasting your data visualizations into your project template.

A captioned version of this video is available: How to Use the Snipping Tool (Beginner’s Guide) (CC).

Resource: Is There a Snipping Tool for Mac?
Use this tutorial for help with snipping, copying, and pasting your data visualizations into your project template.

Resource: APA Style Basics
Use this resource to support your in-line citations and full references in the References section of your project template.

Resource: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Use this resource to support your research for the U.S. Comparisons portions of the Fiscal Policy: Taxation and Monetary Policies sections of your report.

Resource: Congressional Budget Office: Budget and Economic Data
Use this resource to support your research for the U.S. Comparisons portions of the Fiscal Policy: Taxation and Monetary Policies sections of your report.

Resource: White House: Economy & Jobs
Use this resource to support your research for the Fiscal Policy: Taxation and Monetary Policies sections of your report.

Initiating the Project 

Research Project 

Develop a research paper on the project charter process.

Follow this outline: 

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1)  Open the essay with an introduction section describing a project charter.  

2)  Summarize why a project charter is critical to project management success. 

PART 2: PROJECT CHARTER LITERATURE REVIEW 

1.)  Define Project Charter (per PMBOK 6th Edition and course text book).

2.)  List the various elements of a project charter and why each is used (i.e. title, scope overview, business case, background, etc.).

3.)  Explain in-depth the following key components of the project charter: project vision, objectives, scope, project risk planning, assumptions, constraints and organization and implementation plan.

PART 3: CONCLUSION: 

1.)  What critical take-aways in the development process of a project charter would you incorporate into the role of a Project Manager? 

2.)  Highlight specific components of the project charter that may be most critical to the overall success of the entire project plan.

3.)  Discuss preferred methods for stakeholder engagement throughout the project charter process and into project planning.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS: 

Please attend to the following guidelines:

1)  Prepare your report in APA format.

2)  Literature Review should utilize outside sources substantially. A literature review is a comprehensive narrative on the most recent scholarly work on a certain subject. Therefore, a minimum of eight (8) scholarly or professional journal articles should be utilized substantively for this section. Other sources (websites, blogs, dictionaries, etc.) may be used in support but do not count toward this total. Also, the sources need to be current research which means contemporary sources (no more than ten years old).

3)  Paper must be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, 10-12 pages. (Page count does not include title page or reference pages)

4)  Properly cite all sources referenced and include a reference section.

5)  Proofread the document carefully before submission!