How does your selected “flattener” impact the work that leaders must do in their organizations?

/in /by

Upon viewing the video entitled The World Is Flat, choose one (1) of Friedman’s ten (10) “flatteners” impacting leaders and organizations in the Knowledge Age, then answer the following questions:

  • How does your selected “flattener” impact the work that leaders must do in their organizations?
  • Explain how you have observed or been impacted by this “flattener” in your organization (current or recent past).

Read the postings of your classmates and add your own experiences concerning their chosen “flattener”.

Must be:

At required length or longer

Written in American English at graduate level

Received on or before the deadline

Must pass turn it in

Written in APA with references

Global Climate Change

/in /by

For the tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013, and earlier events in this city’s history in May 3, 1999, May 2003, and currently in May 2013, describe the Fuji ta scale ranking of these three events, and the losses that were incurred as a result of the tornadoes on these occasions, as well as the tell-tale radar images in each of these three events
3. In April 2011, an outbreak of tornadoes occurred on April 14. Describe this outbreak of tornadoes, how many states were affected, how many hours did it go on and last, how many states were affected, and how many people lost their lives, and rank this in terms of US tornado history

4. What is La Niña, and what role does it play in the formation of tornadoes in tornado alley? “DeadliestTornadoes” links La Niña with three major episodes of tornadoes in the United States, 1974, 2002, and 2011. Explain what happened in each of these years and cite some statistics as to how many tornadoes occurred, how many states were involved, what damages took place based on what you can find in the NOVA videos, your textbook, or online sources.

5. in “Deadliest Tornadoes” an outbreak is described that took place on April 25, 2011. Describe this outbreak of tornadoes, what weather service specialists observed on their radar, and some details on the scale of this outbreak, the states that were affected, the numbers of tornadoes produced, and the ranking of this outbreak with respect to US history
6. In “Oklahoma’s deadliest tornadoes,” Howard Bluestein talks about the improvement to Doppler radar called dual polarization radar. What can this radar system see, and how does that help us in warning people of an oncoming tornado with greater lead time?

7. In “Oklahoma’s deadliest tornadoes,” scientists discuss what set up the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri. Describe the events that led to the formation of the tornado that hit Joplin, discuss the scale of its impacts, it’s ranking on the Fuji ta scale, and the type of damage that it did to the city of Joplin, as well as why the disaster site clearly indicates the ranking given to this tornado.

8. Why is it that the F5 that hit Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013 killed only 24 people, where as a similar event impacting Joplin Missouri the city on May 22, 2011 as suggested in the video “Oklahoma’s deadliest tornadoes”

9. Explain why global climate change, warming of earth’s atmosphere, could possibly set up conditions to make tornadoes more frequent and more powerful, as well as eventually resulting in the kinds of tornadic events we are currently seeing in the southern Plains occurring in the Great Lakes region
10. How can we best protect people in the future if we cannot prevent tornadoes from happening?

Describe the five phases of a project

/in /by

Write an email response in which you address the following points:

  • Determine which project should be implemented and why (e.g. feasibility study, breakeven analysis, etc).
  • Describe the five phases of a project
  • Describe the key deliverables associated with the selected project.

Since this is an e-mail response, limit your length to 500 words or less. In order to do this, you will need to be very compact with your points.

 

Project Management E-Mail

 

Dear Project Manager:

We have three project proposals to consider in next week’s Project Management Office’s (PMO) Review. Piper Industries Corp. needs the projects to be complete and to be generating revenue within 12 months of next week’s PMO Review. Wendell Deirelein, our vice-president, has assigned your team to analyze the three projects below and make a recommendation on which project the company should invest in. The recommendation must include your team description of the five phases of the project and the key deliverables (project completion date and cost) for each project.

Project Code Name: Juniper

·         This is an enhancement of a current widget being offered by our company.

·         Risk of completion of this project on time is low.

·         Product plan shows the critical path to be 6 months at a cost of $325,000 to bring the product to market.

·         Product is forecasted to have a ROI of $250,000 for a period of 2 to 3 years.

·         The third year is forecasted to be the end of life for this product line due to advances projected in technology.

·         This is a standard product line that marketing believes many customers will want to purchase.

Project Code Name: Palomino

·         This is a new line of widget products including enhancements using existing technology.

·         Risk for completion of this project on time is medium.

·         Production plan shows the critical path to be 9 months at a cost of $655,000 to bring the product to market.

·         Product is forecasted to have a ROI of $450,000 for a period of 5 years.

·         This product will be a custom part for one of your strategic customers—historically the forecasts from this customer have a 5% margin of error.

·         The seventh year is forecasted to be the end of life for this product by the customer.

Project Code Name: Stargazer

·         Research and development has already started on our new widgets. The company has spent $450,000 on this product so far and the estimate to bring this product to market is $575,000.

·         Risk of completing this project on time is high.

·         Product is forecasted to have ROI of $300,000 first year; $550,000the second year; and $750,000 the third year.

·         The product life is forecasted to be 7 years for this product. (This forecast included derivative product which will cost more).

·         By delivering such an innovative product to the market place first, your organization will be seen as a leader in this industry.

·         Your sales and marketing teams have discussed this type of product with a few of your strategic customers; while some are interested, there are many questions about the business.

Sincerely,

Ray Gritsch

Piper Industries Corporation

Managerial skills are “what individuals need to learn to become more effective managers”

/in /by

Discussion Board Thread

Re:  Managerial Skills

Definition:

Managerial skills are “what individuals need to learn to become more effective managers”

 

Tonidandel, S., Braddy, P. W., & Fleenor, J. W. (2012). Relative importance of managerial skills

for predicting effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(6), 636-655. doi:http//

dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683941211252464

 

 

Summary:

All three authors are from North Carolina; Scott Tonidandel from the Department of Psychology at Davidson College, and both Phillip W. Braddy and John W. Fleenor are from the Center for Creative Leadership. In their article, “Relative importance of managerial skills for predicting effectiveness”, the authors examine four managerial skills that contribute to this effectiveness. A study that involved 733 managers were rated in their use of the four skill dimensions – namely, technical skills, administrative skills, human skills, and citizenship behavior. Of the skills that were rated, administrative skills was the most important followed by human skills that was rated higher than the technical skills and citizenship behavior. By managers utilizing these four skill dimensions, organizations will have better working environments and be more efficient in producing goods and services.

 

Discussion:

            Managerial skills are vitally important to an organization’s success. According to the article, managers are part of an organization’s “Human capital resource” that will enable the company’s competitive advantage. Having spent over 15 years in the restaurant field personally, managerial skills need to be taught through experience and in theory (academics). While there are a few different types of thought that deal with managerial skills, the concepts in this study were based on the four dimensional skills of S.E Scullen (2003). “Technical skill refers to a manager’s proficiency in specific methods or techniques related to that manager’s functional area. Administrative skill subsumes areas such as planning, organizing, delegating, and coordinating. Human skill is concerned with a manager’s ability to interact and work effectively with team members. Citizenship behavior attempts to capture other beneficial aspects of work behavior such as being cooperative, loyal, and persistent”. The study that was conducted involved many different levels of managers and directors, and was shown in the results, that as the higher level of management/director was evaluated, the higher their skill levels in all four dimensions.  This goes along with what was mentioned earlier, that as upward movement in an organization the position is, the manager has increased in his/her skills through continued education and in experience. This is the trend in the business world today in order to remain competitive and to enable managers to lead their respective teams to be more productive and efficient. The study predicted that human skills would be the rated above the other skills, but if was found not to be true in this case. It showed that administrative skills were rated slightly higher in importance than human skills. Although administrative and human skills are closely related, the study was conducted with effectiveness as a higher consideration than a manager’s ability for structuring in their specific field. This, along with different variables and the fact that effectiveness and performance were part of the main criteria for the basis of the study, may be the reason for administrative skills having a higher rating than human skills. The combination of all four skills will greatly assist in the development of more productive and better suited managers in the business world. Research should continue in order to identify new skills and characteristics that will help managers to be more effective and successful.

 

Biblical Integration:

            In our Christian lives, having sets of skills for effectiveness, should be our goal. As we grow in the Lord and in the knowledge of His Word, we better prepare ourselves for devil’s snares. Ephesians 6:11 speaks of “putting on the whole armour of God”, this could be compared to what we have discussed in this article. As different pieces of armour are put upon us, we can metaphorically translate this as having different skills that will help us in becoming more effective and productive to “withstand” the devil. The Lord commands us to be warriors for Him. In comparison to the business aspect, by having more skilled attributes we can be competitive and ultimately successful.

 

References:

Carina, R. M. (2012). Managerial skills development of selected private institutions of higher

learning in batangas, philippines. IAMURE International Journal of Business and

Management, 3, 141-167. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1520794027?accountid=12085

 

 

Holy Bible. Cornerstone Bible Publishers. Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Tewari, R., & Sharma, R. (2011). Managerial skills for managers in the 21st century. Review of

Management, 1(3), 4-15. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1272084310?accountid=12085

 

Tonidandel, S., Braddy, P. W., & Fleenor, J. W. (2012). Relative importance of managerial skills

for predicting effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(6), 636-655. doi:http//

dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683941211252464

 

File  Managerial Skills – Articles.docx (60.915 KB)