The purpose of this assignment is to analyze how businesses interact with their internal and external environments. Students will also apply their knowledge of decision-making models, technology and innovation challenges, management theories, and goal setting.

Write a paper (1,600-1,800 words) in which you address the following based on the information provided in the “West Chester Private School Case Study” resource.

1.  Review how organizations interact with their external environment (as open systems and complex adaptive systems). Evaluate the effectiveness West Chester Private School (WCPS) as an open system at the time of the closure. Additionally, evaluate the effectiveness of WCPS as a complex adaptive system at the time of the closure.

2.  Review the readings provided for this topic on the internal environment of organizations. Evaluate the organizational culture and organizational climate at the time the decision to close two campuses was made.

3.  Evaluate the decision made by Dr. Murphy and Educations Management Services (EMS) in terms of the process of going about the closure. Explain how the behavioral decision-making model was applied in the WCPS’s decision to shut down its campuses.

4.  Provide an explanation, using appropriate management theories, for how the administration could have handled the closure effectively with stakeholders. Include one theory from each of the following: the classical approach, the human relations approach, and the modern management approach.

5.  Provide a suggestion of two goals: one long-term and one short-term goal for the future direction of WCPS. Include a justified rationale of the suggestions.

6.  Concluding statement: Integrate the four functions of management as a means to revamp management at WCPS and meet the recommended goals.

You are required to use at least three external scholarly sources in addition to the textbook and the case study resource

This week we shall look at Monopolistic Competition.  This is where you, as a consumer, spend most of your time.  In Monopolistic Competition, there are many companies selling similar but not identical products.  Put differently, the goods are close, but not perfect substitutes.

Because of the relative ease of substitution, companies often compete by advertising, services (for stores), brand names, brand loyalty and product differentiation more than by price.  Thus, prices of competing products tend to be close, but not identical as they are in Perfect Competition.

Since this market is where you – as a consumer – spend most of your time and a lot of your money, this week you are going to look at this market in action in your daily life. When you go shopping this week, pay close attention to product prices and what information they tell you about how the products compete.

A grocery store is a good example.  Look at the soda aisle and by viewing the prices and the product locations on the shelves, which products are close substitutes, sufficiently differentiated that they have brand loyalty (i.e., a higher price), etc.  Do the same with canned vegetables.  Or undertake the same observational experiment in another type of store you regularly frequent.

Assignment Summary:

1. Watch the video above and under the Week 4 Videos, watch all videos. 
2. Then go to a store, as discussed above, and observe.  Observation is a well-established method of real world research.  It will probably be easier and perhaps more informative if you pick on one product line to observe and observe by brand name. In particular, look for:
   1. product prices,
   2. product packaging (design, colors, logos, etc.); and,
   3. product shelve placement relative to other similar products.
3. Based on what you observe can you identify:
   1. which products/brand names compete most closely with each other?  Are they placed close to each other on the shelves or far apart?
   2. which products/brand names are aimed at cost conscious consumers?  Where are these on the store shelves for grocery stores?
   3. which are aimed at higher end consumers? Where are these on the store shelves for grocery stores?
   4. which products/brand names have a narrower market and command brand loyalty?  This one could be tricky to figure out.
4. Share what you find with the class on the discussion board.
   1. What do you think you have learned from this activity? 
   2. What have you learned about monopolistic competition?
5. Post your views to the discussion board and refer to at least two different concepts from this week’s Chapters. Your illustration of concepts MUST include an explanation why you think they are relevant to the week’s topic using specific information from the articles, videos and other research that you have done.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU ADD SOMETHING NEW to the discussion.

1. Post on three different days for a minimum of three posts. Failure to meet these minimum posting requirements results in point loss
   1. Include a word count on each post. Min. 200

  3.2 Discussion: Writing Exercise – Literature Review

Getting Started

The focus of this writing exercise remains researching and article analysis. Remember to make good use of the services and resources through OCLS, including a Personalized Search Plan (PSP). The reading for this week focuses on literature reviews. You have likely encountered this component of research in your previous educational pursuits, but the importance and significance of the literature review in a doctoral program should not be underestimated. Locating and becoming acquainted with the body of research that exists on your topic is an essential skill in order to successfully complete this program. 

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

• Apply critical thinking in the review of articles.

Background Information

The work of a literature review can inform a scholar’s entire research project. From past scholarship, researchers often derive and refine key concepts, hypotheses, sampling strategies, analytical techniques, solutions to ethical dilemmas, and other helpful ideas and practices.

Despite their wide-ranging impact, literature reviews are often associated with the introductory sections of a journal article—everything after the abstract and before the methodology section—because that is where scholars summarize prior research and explain how their article will add to it. In these introductory sections, much gets accomplished. Researchers expertly distill key points from the dozens or hundreds of prior studies that they have read; they identify competing perspectives, uncover important contradictions or disagreements that need to be resolved, and show the connections (and disconnects) between disparate studies—studies that may have been conducted decades apart by scholars in different disciplines and subfields. (Harris, 2014, p. 38)

References

Harris, S. R. (2014). How to critique journal articles in the social sciences. SAGE.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade. 
2. Read Chapter 4 of How to Critique Journal Articles in the Social Sciences.
3. Follow the instructions for Exercise 4.2 and 4.3 write a response (300-400 words) explaining your findings of the article searches, locations, and contents. Remember to consider the questions listed in the text as you craft your response.  
4. Use APA format for all in-text citations and references and Grammarly to ensure your submission is free of writing errors. In addition to the APA-formatted reference, please include the permalink in your post so your instructor and classmates can access your article(s).
5. Post your initial response by the end of day 4 of the workshop. 
6. Read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings, as well as any follow-up instructor questions directed at you, by the end of the workshop. 
7. Your postings are interactions with your classmates and instructor that should facilitate engaging dialogue and provide evidence of critical thinking. For this discussion, focus on the following:
   1. Extension: Expand the discussion.
   2. Challenge: Interrogate assumptions, conclusions or interpretations.
   3. Relational: Make comparisons or contrasts of themes, ideas, or issues.
   4. Clarification: Provide clarification to classmates’ questions and provide insight into the discussion

APA 7th Edition

300 -400 words with proper incite citations, please see the attached files

 Answer each questions thoroughly, providing evidence to support your answer, demonstrating both depth and breath of knowledge. A  couple sentence response WILL NOT be sufficient. 

 1.Who was David Walker’s audience? Explain your answer.

2. Discuss the quote: “Is not God a God of justice to all his creatures?” What is David Walker’s purpose for such a statement?

3.Explain what David Walker’s appeal (meaning challenge or call) is to the black community. What about to the white community?

4. Discuss the phrase “Pride, prejudice, avarice, and blood will be the ruin of this happy republic …”

5. Discuss the historical context in which David Walker’s Appeal was written.

6. Discuss the quote: “Oh, how can those who are actuated by avarice only but think, that our Creator made us to be an inheritance to them for ever (sic), when they see that our greatest glory is centered in such mean and low objects?”

7. What is David Walker’s position on the education of blacks? Explain your answer.

8. Discuss the statement: “For while they are working for our emancipation, we are, by our treachery, wickedness, and deceit, working against ourselves and our children – helping our, and the enemies of God, to keep us and our dear little children in their infernal chains of slavery.”

——————–

Material:

https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/walker/walker.html

It should be no surprise that organizational culture can have an impact on employee performance and satisfaction. Tell us about the organizational culture at your current or past employer. What type of impact did it have on your performance and satisfaction? In addition to the textbook, utilize at least two outside sources to support your response.

Info below is from textbook with citing info at the end:

a Definition of organizational culture Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations.1 Seven primary characteristics seem to capture the essence of an organization’s culture:

1. Innovation and risk taking. The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks. 

2. Attention to detail. The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail. 

3. Outcome orientation. The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them. 

4. People orientation. The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization. 

5. Team orientation. The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. 

6. Aggressiveness. The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing. 

7. Stability. The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth. 

Each of these characteristics exists on a continuum from low to high. Appraising an organization on the strength of each provides a basis for the shared understanding members have about the organization, how things are done in it, and the way they are supposed to behave.

Robbins, Stephen P.; Judge, Timothy A.. Organizational Behavior (Page 527). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.