Will.i.am tells kids: Dream of being Steve Jobs, not me

Will.i.am is on a mission to inspire inner city youth to embrace science and technology.

The former front man for the Black Eyed Peas is hoping poor minority children will be inspired by his career makeover from musical artist to tech entrepreneur.

Will.i.am was a founding shareholder in Beats Electronics, the maker of Beats by Dre headphones. More recently he formed i.am+, a consumer-electronics company that is trying (and struggling so far) to create a hit wearable device. The Grammy-award winning artist says the company and his charitable foundation want to persuade inner city youth to pursue careers in science and technology, not the NBA and MTV. "There is no one they can look up to that resembles their lifestyle," will.i.am said at SkyBridge Capital's SALT Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month. "I love Michael Dell and I love Steve Jobs, but these kids still dream of being Michael Jordan. They still dream of being LeBron James." Many kids also still dream of becoming the Black Eyed Peas, he said. But will.i.am has a message to kids: "Our business isn't the business."
 
Inner city schools are flawed: Will.i.am, whose full name is William James Adams Jr., expressed frustration with the public education system in inner cities. He said it's "butt backwards wrong" that schools focus on physical education and team sports but not enough on science and technology. "My sister isn't going to be a freaking NBA superstar," will.i.am said. Before he started the Black Eyed Peas in the 1990s and hit it big in the early 2000s, will.i.am grew up in housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. "I'm on a mission to change ghettos that resemble the ghetto I was brought up in," he said. While the 40-year-old entertainer went to school at a charter school in the Palisades, he realizes many inner city kids don't have that opportunity. "No money is being spent in these inner cities on education. America is in a really funky place if we aren't educating our cities. Inner cities in 20 years could turn into slums," will.i.am said.
 
Will kids follow will.i.am into STEM? I.am.angel Foundation, will.i.am's charitable organization, funds programs aimed at steering students into science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
Last month will.i.am announced plans to help fund a STEM program for high school students in Ferguson, Missouri. Will.i.am is hoping the tech entrepreneurs of tomorrow include more kids who grew up in inner cities like he did. At the SALT Conference in Las Vegas, the entertainer showed off the Puls, his company's latest attempt at a smart band. While the first version of the wearable device was slammed by the tech world, Gucci recently partnered with will.i.am on a new line of smart bands. It's not clear if the device will ultimately succeed, but will.i.am is determined to serve as a new kind of role model for inner city kids. "My mission is to build the Puls alongside the philanthropy to continue to sustain and scale our work and inspire these kids to dream down this STEM street," he said.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/14/investing/will-i-am-tech-education-stem/index.html?iid=HP_River

Business Management Final Exam

Here is the link to the final exam. Good luck!

http://goo.gl/forms/Q5OKlHw34x

Creating an Effective Resume

You have only a few seconds to make an impression with your resume. Your goal with your resume is to tell your story and your qualifications. Before writing a resume, think about what makes you special. What unique mix of experiences have made you the best qualified person for the job. Here is a link to a good basic resume but you'll want to make it your own. Make sure to include educational awards that directly relate to the job you're applying for.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zdESx7ASvlJbBLgOpu29GHAwdDhSSx-SbLjw6pS1KKY/edit?usp=sharing

Your assignment is to create a resume and share it . Remember, this is a tool that you'll be using to  make an impression. A resume can open up doors for you and set you apart as a qualified applicant. Take your time and make it good. Remember also that this is a working document. You'll want to update your resume from time to time. You'll also want to alter it to fit the job you're applying for.

A Math Riddle

Here's a riddle. If you can solve this, I'll award you 5 bonus points.

Three men walk into a cafe and have lunch. Needing to leave early, they each leave a $10 bill on the table, knowing that it will easily cover the bill. Shortly after getting outside, the waitress chaises them down saying that they paid too much. She gives them five $1 bills to distribute among themselves. Not knowing for sure how to divide it up, they each take a dollar bill, leaving two. Then they start thinking, "We originally paid $10 each making it $30. Now by each taking a dollar, 3 people x $9=$27. We have just $2 left from the $5 the waitress gave us. What happened to the other dollar?"

See if you can figure out what happened to the missing dollar.

Interview Questions

The interview process is a critical component of landing a good job. You should be able to demonstrate your ability to navigate life and show your ability to make good personal decisions.

Here are some sample questions to consider.

• Describe a situation in which you had to use your communication skills in presenting complex information. How did you determine whether your message was received?
• Share with me an example of an important personal goal that you set, and explain how you accomplished it.
• Lead me through a decision-making process on a major project you’ve completed.
• Have you ever had many different tasks given to you at the same time? How did you manage these?
• Give an example of a time you had to make a difficult decision.

Assignment: Write your answers to these questions in a Google Doc and submit it for your daily grade. Think about your answers. This will probably not be the last time you'll be asked these questions or ones which are very similar. Get prepared now. Good answers can be the difference between getting a good job or having your application tossed in the trash.

See the following web site for tips on how to answer these in an interview.
http://www.va.gov/PBI/Questions.asp 

Diversity

We live and work in a diverse country. List some of the things that make us different. Thse might include race, sex, household income. How many can you think of?

Now list some things that make us the same. What do we have in common?

Watch this clip from the movie Remember the Titans.

What does the coach say that the team must do in order to come together as a team? What is the foundation of teamwork? Why do you think he says this?

Try this. Take a quiz with two classmates.

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/9d0697b0-a8e2-4698-80ae-b74f4bcc77d3

Try to work with classmates who are totally unlike yourself.


Discuss: How does diversity affect your team? What difficulties does diversity bring? Why should we want to have a diverse team of people to work with? Name an area where your teammate was strong and you were weak.

Leadership Lesson 4 - Creating a Productive Workplace

Goals:

• Understand why companies create work rules
• Describe how managers use extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
• Describe how workers' desire for autonomy, purpose and mastery create job satisfaction

 
Work Rules

Work rules are not created just for the sake of having rules. Companies create work rules to stop behavior that hinders an effective working environment. Rules often include when employees must be at work, what they must do, and how they must perform tasks. The goal of the rules is not to make life more difficult for the employees, but to foster a more productive working environment.

Rules are often created out of necessity. Watch this clip from the movie Cool Hand Luke. Make a list of the rules then write a rationale for why you think the rule was created.

Motivating Employees

Stopping bad behavior isn't enough. Employees need motivation. We typically think that employees are motivated by money. As a consequence, managers have a tendency to create financial incentives for workplace performance. Watch the following video by Daniel Pink.

Discuss the following questions:
What types of work are encouraged by financial incentives?
What types of work are hindered by financial incentives?
What is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?
How do autonomy, purpose and mastery fulfill workers' desires and managers needs?

Assignment: You are the new manager of a Footlocker in a mall in Memphis. Your job is to create a set of work rules and incentives to maximize sales and customer satisfaction in your store. To do this you'll need to complete the following tasks:

1. Write a set of work rules for your store. Keep the rules simple and understandable. Describe how these rules lead to a productive and successful store.

2. Describe how you will use extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to encourage employees to do their best work.

3. Describe how you will use autonomy, purpose and mastery to maximize employee productivity and job satisfaction.


Vocabulary - Study the following terms on Quizlet before the next class meeting:

• Work Rules
• Extrinsic Motivation
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Autonomy
• Purpose
• Mastery 

Standards: 
11.1 Analyze the needs of employees.
11.2 Discuss leadership skills integral to groups.
11.3 Evaluate strong leadership skills. 

Leadership Lesson 3 - The Marshmallow Challenge

Goals:

• Understand the importance of human relations to leadership
• Describe the five human relations skills
• Develop an awareness of ones own attitudes and opinions, leadership style, decision making style and relationship with other people

Challenge

Your class will be divided into teams of three to four students. You'll have 18 minutes to complete a challenge. You'll be given instructions along with all the materials you'll need. Follow the instructions carefully. The winning team will receive a prize.

Good Luck!

Reflection:

• How did your team approach the challenge? What method did you use?
• What did the successful teams do that the unsuccessful team fail at doing?
• Were there assumptions you made about the materials that turned out to not be true?
• What role did failure (prototyping) play in the success of your structure?  

Some surprising facts about this challenge:

1. Average height is about 20"
2. Kindergartners tend to do better than most adults. They tended to create prototypes.
3. Architects and engineers do the best. Thankfully!
4. Business students' project height is about half of the height of the average kindergartners'.
5. CEOs perform a bit better than average.
6. If a facilitator works with a CEO team, that team almost always wins.  A team needs someone to pay attention to the process of work, encouraging timing, improving communication, and sharing ideas. This has a huge positive impact on the outcome.
7. Monetary rewards actually hinder success. Incentives alone are not enough.
8. Teams which understood prototyping skills and given incentive produces superior results.

Discuss: Think of the role of a leader/teacher in this situation. In this case the teacher gave minimal technical instruction. Do you think this was a good choice or a bad choice? What more could the leadership have provided to help improve each team's performance? What style of leadership did the teacher employ? How do attitudes about the teacher influence job performance in this case?

Leaders must develop the following human relations skills in order to influence outcomes:

• Self-Understanding - An awareness of ones attitudes and opinions leadership and decision making style, and relationship with others
• Understanding Others - Know what motivates other people
• Communication - Being able to communicate goals and expectations 
• Team Building - Getting people to work together to achieve a common goal
• Developing Job Satisfaction - creating an enjoyable working environment

Assignment: Write a paragraph describing how a leader could use each of these aspects of human relations to help a team build a better tower. Make sure you address each of the five points and write in complete sentences. You should have one or two sentences for each point. 

Vocabulary - Study to following terms for the next quiz

• Human Relations
• Human Relations Skills
• Self Understanding
• Team Building

Standards:
11.1 Analyze the needs of employees.
11.2 Discuss leadership skills integral to groups.
11.3 Evaluate strong leadership skills.

Resources: http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/marshmallow-design-challenge/

Leadership Lesson 2 - Three Styles of Leadership

Goals:

• Understand the three styles of leadership 
• Describe what types of situations best fit the three styes of leadership
• Understand how and why managers use situational leadership

 Leadership Style

Managers must understand their own style of leadership. Leadership style is the way a manager treats and supervises employees. It's important to know which style of leadership to employ based on a given situation.There are three styles of leadership. Here is an explanation of each.

Autocratic Leadership - The autocratic style of leadership is one where the leader gives direct and clear orders concerning what work is to be done and how it is to be carried out. Under this style of leadership, the manager does not seek the opinion or advice of employees. The advantage of this management style is that it allows a team to make quick decisions and move with speed. This style is often used in emergency situations such as when an order need to be expedited or when plans go wrong.

This is a clip from the 1989 movie Glory about the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. It was the first formal unit of the Union Army made up entirely of African-American men. After taking over command of the company, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw soon discovers that he needs help teaching the men to fight. He employs the services of Sgt. Major Mulcahy. Why do you think he uses this style of leadership?

 Democratic Leadership - In this style of leadership, the manager encourages workers to share in the decision making process. In stead of giving direct orders, the manager may ask a series of questions in order to provide creative thinking on the part of the team. By creating their own solutions, workers take ownership of the work and share in the rewards of having done a job well. The drawback to this style of leadership is that it takes time to bring a group to consensus. Managers use this style of leadership when they have time to work and when they need all members of the team to buy into the plan.

Watch this clip from the movie Apollo 13. In this clip, the flight director, Gene Kranz, has to come up with a plan to get the astronaut crew back home after an engine failure. Notice how he changes the objective of the mission from landing on the moon to just getting the crew back.  He employs a democratic style of leadership. Why do you think he uses this style?

Open Leadership - Under an open leadership style, the workers are not directly supervised and are given little or no direction. But that does not mean that leadership does not take place. People sometimes need more than information or instruction, reward or punishment. Sometimes they need something else.

The following is a scene from the movie Any Given Sunday. How does the coach give his players what they need? He gives little or no direction. What does he give them?

 Situational Leadership - Sometimes leaders have to know how to change their style of leadership when the situation changes. This is the essence of situational leadership.

Watch this clip from the movie Hoosiers. How does the coach change his leadership style?

Vocabulary - Study the following terms on Quizlet.

• Leadership Style
• Autocratic Leadership
• Democratic Leadership
• Open Leadership 
• Situational Leadership

Standards: 
11.1 Analyze the needs of employees.
11.2 Discuss leadership skills integral to groups.
11.3 Evaluate strong leadership skills.

Leadership Lesson 1 - The Four Powers of Leadership

 Goals:

1. Recognize the importance of leadership to organizational success.
2. Identify important leadership characteristics
3. Describe the four types of power leaders use to shape organizations
   

Leadership is defined as the ability to influence individuals and groups to cooperatively achieve organizational goals. Leaders must have a number of different qualities. Think of leaders that you have seen in action. List three characteristics that you think effective leaders must have. Share these with the class. 

Think: Are all managers leaders? Are there leaders who have no management position?

 Listen to what former Army General, White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of State Colin Powell says is the essence of leadership. 

Take a look at the list of characteristics given by your classmates. How does Colin Powell's concepts of leadership tie all of these together? 

Leadership Power

To achieve their goals, managers must use power to influence people.

• Position Power - comes from the power that the manager holds within the organization. The manager has the authority to give directions and expect the employee to complete the work.
• Reward Power - this power comes from the managers ability to control rewards and punishments.
• Expert Power - this type of power comes is power bestowed by employees based on a manager's expertise or skill in performing a task.
• Identity Power - when employees strive to become like the manager or seek his/her approval, this is known as identity power.

While the first two types of power come from the organization, the last two come from the employees themselves. A company may give a manager position or reward power, expert and identity power come from the employees.

Watch the following clip from the movie Glory. What types of power does the staff sergeant use to motivate an insubordinate soldier? What types of power demonstrate evidence of effective leadership?

Assignment:

Analyze the following scenarios. Explain which of the four types of power are being used and why. Write your answers on a sheet of paper and turn them in a the end of class for your daily grade. (10 points)

1. Amy has been supervising her shift at a local fast food restaurant for a month. When she first started, she had problems getting Jaylin to come in to work on time. He was a hard worked and knew a lot about how all of the equipment worked so he was a valuable member of her staff. But his being late to work caused the other employees to have to do his job until he came in. When asked about it, Jaylin always had excuses. Either he had been caught by a train crossing or his alarm didn't go off or he had misplaced his keys. Finally, Amy called Jaylin to her office after work one day. She insisted that he either start getting to work on time or he could start looking for other work. His work habits had caused a lot of resentment among the other employees and this needed to stop. Jaylin objected, saying that he wasn't motivated to get to work on time because he had not received a raise in over a year. Amy promised that she would see about getting him a raise but he would have to start getting to work on time first. The next morning, not only was Jaylin on time, he was early. For the next month, Jaylin was either on time or a little early to work. One day after work, Amy called him into her office to let him know that she has noticed his success at getting to work on time. She told Jaylin that he was now getting a raise. Jaylin was thrilled. He thanked Amy and said he appreciated the opportunity that she had given him.
What leadership power did Amy use to get Jaylin motivated to get to work on time?

2. Will always admired Tom's skill with wood-working tools. Tom owned a small cabinet shop in the town where they both lived. He was a middle aged man with strong hands, had worked in cabinetry all his life. Tom knew how to create cabinets that looked so solid that it appeared that they were carved out of a single piece of wood. Will had always admired his work. While he was in a high school wood working class, his teacher had introduced him to Tom. When Will graduated high school, he decided that he wanted to work in Tom's shop and asked for a job. Tom agreed to take him on as a paid  apprentice until he thought Will was ready to work as a full employee. Over a period of six months. Will not only learned wood-working skills from Tom, he learned how Tom approached projects and how he led his employees. Will began to not only work like Tom, he began to talk like Tom as well. Some of Will's fellow workers began to joke and call Will "Little Tom." That was okay with Will. He loved and admired Tom. After a year of working in the shop, Tom declared Will a craftsman and hired him on as a full-time worker. Will was grateful for the opportunity and thanked Tom for his trust in him.
What type of leadership power did Tom use in getting Will motivated to excellence?

3. Michelle was the floor manager for MetalTech, a automobile parts manufacturing business in a large mid-western city. She had been promoted to that position after working at the company just two years. Michelle had a way of working with employees and getting the best out of them. She had been promoted to shift supervisor after working there for just six months. Just one year later she was promoted to her current position of floor manager. It was a more stressful job but Michelle seemed to thrive on the day to day work of managing her department. One day, a worker reported to Michelle that one of the stamping machines had "frozen up." After inspecting the machine, Michelle could find nothing wrong. She inspected the power supply and everything seemed normal but the machine was not getting power from the building. She couldn't figure out why there was no power. Clearly, there was some information she was missing. She knew that the machine had been installed years earlier and that Jake, the VP of operations and previous floor manager had been there when it was installed. She decided to call Jake to see if he could shed any light on the problems they were having. When Jake arrived, he explained how the power supply for the machine had been set up. It was far more complicated than Michelle had understood. They both looked at the wiring diagram for the building and traced the problem back to a breaker in a remote part of the building. After some additional wiring work, they were able to get the machine back up and running.
What type of leadership power did Jake exercise in getting the machine fixed?

4. Sonya was the head nurse at a hospital in a mid-sized city. It was her job to supervise and schedule a team of 20 nurses to care for the patients on her floor. Kalvin was new to the job, so Sonya had scheduled Kalvin to work nights and weekends. This was standard practice for all new hires in the department since most of the veteran nurses already had the most favorable schedules. Kalvin as undeterred by the difficult hours. He worked hard and tried to do the job as efficiently as possible. He came to work on-time and often stayed late to make sure everything was in good shape for the following shift. Sonya began to notice Kalvin's hard work. After three months, one of the nurses on the first shift left to take another job in another city where her husband had found work. Kalvin requested a move to the first shift since it would allow him to spend more time with his family. Sonya agreed to the shift change and allowed Kalvin to work during the days and only one weekend a month. Kalvin was thrilled with the schedule change.
What type of leadership power did Sonya use?


Study: Be ready to take a quiz over the following terms at the beginning of our next class. You can study these items on Quizlet.

• Leadership
• Position Power
• Reward Power
• Expert Power
• Identity Power

Management Lesson 2 - Effective Supervision

Goals

• Understand what makes a supervisor effective
• Identify the responsibilities of supervisors
• Describe the day-to-day activities of supervisors
• understand the role of a Work Coach

The Effective Supervisor

 Great workers are often chosen by the companies they work for to be supervisors. The hope is that these workers will be able to replicate and multiply their effectiveness by teaching and motivating subordinates who work for them. A supervisor's effectiveness is judged based on three factors:

• Quality
• Efficiency
• Worker Satisfaction

Responsibilities

To achieve these goals, supervisors take on certain responsibilities

1. Bridge - Supervisors serve as a bridge between management and the employees. The supervisor must communicate the goals and objectives of management to the employees. At the same time, the supervisor can take concerns and ideas to management.

2. Coach - Supervisors use their expertise and experience to teach and motivate employees to improve workplace performance. Supervisors often use performance reviews to evaluate the work and accomplishments of employees. Supervisors also encourage their subordinates though verbal encouragement and recognition.

3. Guard - Supervisors also serve as a guard of the company's resources. by using resources efficiently, supervisors keep costs low and directly contribute to the company's bottom line.


Tools

A supervisor uses tools to maintain an efficient workplace.

A work schedule is often used to schedule jobs to be completed and assists in assigning responsibilities to employees for getting specific tasks done. Much of supervisors' time is consumed in scheduling work to keep tasks completed on-time.

Another critical component of a supervisor's job is to communicate effectively with employees and management. Company's often use e-mail, text messaging and phone calls to communicate critical aspects of a company's operation. Supervisors also use job tickets and order forms to communicate specific job plans with employees and management.

The final task that supervisors must oversee is quality control. If errors or defects are detected, a supervisor must find out the cause and have it corrected. This may involve additional training for an employee or repairing or replacing a piece of mechanical equipment.

Supervisors are not left alone to complete all these tasks. Companies often provide work coaches to assist in training supervisors in becoming more effective in their work. Work coaches can provide training, advice, and supervision when necessary.

Management Lesson 1 - The Four Management Functions

Goals

• Understand the four functions of all managers: planning, organizing, implementing, controlling

• Differentiate the roles of Supervisor, Mid Management, and Executive Management 

Systems Thinking

To get started in thinking about how supervisors, managers and executives function, we're going to perform a short exercise. We're going to make toast, or at least plan the toast-making process.

1. Take a clean sheet of paper and a marker and without using words draw an explanation of how to make toast. Simple right? Do not talk or share your drawings. Do it in 5 minutes. Go!
2. Now, test out the effectiveness of your communication. See if a novice learner can understand your instructions. (10 minutes)
3. Examine the drawings. Is there anything common? Notice that all instructional drawings have nodes which define tasks and links which define order. The combination of both creates a systems model.
4. We can now measure the complexity of the task by counting the number of nodes. What is the class average? What level seems like too few and what level is too many? Select an optimal amount of nodes.
5.  Now, using a marker and post-it notes. Make a note for each node. Arrange them on the white board in a way that makes sense. 
6. Refine the process by adding nodes or combining them to make a simple model.
7. Define which critical processes would need to be monitored to achieve a perfect piece of toast. 

Think: Where do the following processes occur in the sequence we just illustrated?

• Planning
• Organizing
• Implementing
• Controlling

Study to chart on page 273 of your textbook. Notice the different levels of management and what roles each play in the work of managing a company.

Discuss: Which systems do you think were more effective, the individual drawings or the group drawings?
This is a process that many companies use to solve real world problems. What are some other inefficient systems you've experienced at a local business or school that could be refined using this method?

Assignment: Think of a common task that you regularly encounter at school such as studying for a test or writing a research paper,  Work with a classmate to create a visual representation of that system using a step-by-step drawing. Think about how you could improve the system to produce a more consistent result. What are the critical elements of the process? Turn in your plan for your daily grade. (5 points)

Watch this video to see how real companies are using this method to create systems that work.

Study the following vocabulary words for the next quiz:

• Planning 
• Organizing
• Implementing
• Controlling
• Supervisor
• Mid-Manager
• Executive

Standards:
9.1 Compare and contrast the types of organizational structures used in businesses.
14.1 Examine the basic steps in the process of controlling.
14.2 Analyze ways standards are used in a business.

Business Communication Exam

Here is your Business Communication Exam. Each question is worth 5 points. Good luck!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lOFuo9yu_HqP0j6w9EX9FrDeB6hlryYC6fvxbOtSNwE/viewform

What do managers DO?

Have you ever worked for a manager? Maybe you've actually worked as a manager. What is a managers job anyway? Watch this video from Gold Rush.

Upcoming Test

We'll have our test on the Business Communication unit as soon as we get back. Please study your Quizlet terms so you'll be ready. Please make good use of your time. See you soon!

Communication Networks

Businesses generally have two types of communication networks, formal and informal. Formal networks are official sources of information that carry messages approved by the company. Companies typically release information in the form of press releases. In some cases, such as major product announcements or expansions, companies may have press conferences in order to answer direct questions from the news media. Informal networks are what you would expect, networks of informal communication about a company. While not official, companies may leak information to the press or certain individuals for various reasons. Companies may want to shape the discussion of new products, influence their stock price or interfere with a competitor's message.

Formal Networks

Take a look at the following section of Apple Computer's Web site. This is an official communication channel that apple uses to release product announcements or other official information about the company.

https://www.apple.com/pr/

Here is the official press release section of Nike's Web site.

http://news.nike.com/press-release

Look over both of these sites and make a note of the types of messages being sent out. Who are these companies targeting with their messages? What messages do you find interesting?


Informal Networks

Now take a look at a couple of informal network Web sites that carry information about Apple computer and Nike. Are there stories that are reported on the informal networks that are not reported on the formal ones?

http://www.macrumors.com/

http://www.macnn.com/

Here is a site with information on Nike:

http://sneakernews.com/category/nike-sb/

http://www.nikeblog.com/


Assignment:

1. Select a company, Apple or Nike.

2. Choose a story from their official site. Analyze the story answering the following questions:

• What type of information is being presented? Financial? Promotional? Public interest?
• Who would be interested in reading this story? A consumer, investor, employee, government regulator? 
• Why is the company releasing this information? Is their goal to generate interest, increase sales, increase stock price, thwart government regulation or some other reason?

3. Choose a story from an informal network Web site. Analyze the story answering the following questions:

• What is the story about?
• Who would be interested in reading this story and why?
• How do you think the writer got essential information for this story? 
• How could the company use this story to their advantage?

4. Use your notes to write your answers down in the form of an essay. Create a Google Document titled Communication Networks. Format your paper in Times New Roman 12 point, double-spaced text. Copy and paste the URLs for your stories at the top of the page. Create two paragraphs to analyze the stories, one paragraph for the formal network story and one for the informal network story. 

5. Share your paper using the blue share button in the upper right hand corner of the Google Document page. You should be able to complete this paper within the hour.

Rubric: This project is worth 15 points, so do your best work. I'll be grading this paper on the following scale. 

Formatting: 0-5 This should be simple. Just set your paper up using the instructions above.

Grammar Usage and Punctuation: 0-5 Please proof read your paper carefully. 

Completeness: 0-5 Please read the questions carefully and make sure you answer all of them.

Total points available: 15

Emotional Interference

Sometimes our emotions can get in the way of effective communication. This is called emotional interference. Certain words or situations can trigger emotional and physical responses that responses that can't be entirely controlled. The emotions can come from the sender, receiver or even the medium itself. Consider the following forms of speech:

1. Burning an American flag.
2. Wearing a Nazi swastika armband.
3. Burning a cross in a public space.
4. Publishing a cartoon of Mohammed.
5. A weather siren going off in the middle of a storm.

Think: Which of these forms of speech would evoke an emotional reaction in you? Are there certain words or names that you find offensive or evoke an emotional response in you?

Emotional interference can result for some of the following reasons:

• Frame of Reference - preconceived notions or prejudice, inability to see from another's point of view.
• Intercultural Differences - Misinterpretation of meaning due to lack of shared values or experiences.
• Attitudinal Barriers - One party has had a bad experience with the sender/receiver/medium

Read: Read the following story of how David Howard lost his job as an assistant to the mayor of Washington DC.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/williams/williams020499.htm


Assignment:  On a sheet of notebook paper, answer the following questions concerning the article:

Why did David Howard lose his job?
What role did emotional interference play in his firing?
Why was he re-hired by the mayor?
What lessons do you believe each party learned from this incident?

Turn in your paper at the end of class. This paper is worth 5 points.

Say again?

Read these sign out loud.

Now read it again. carefully this time. Miss anything?

How about this...

Try this one....

  Now see if you can count the number of "F"s in this sign.

Sometimes, what we think we're reading can be the greatest barrier to actually getting the message. The reason for this is that we actually do not read each letter of each word. Try this...

Activity:

The class will be divided into teams.

This activity involves you in transposing a piece of information. A supplier has sent you a document and you want to communicate its main points to a section of your staff. The staff concerned are those working directly with the new machinery that is being discussed in the document. This new equipment is an integral part of a drive to improve efficiency so its successful implementation is seen as being important.


Your task is to summarize the main points in the following document in as few a words as possible. It is a document sent by Supplier X to Company B regarding the delivery of the new equipment ordered by Company B.

This machine is a highly specialized precision built piece and as such needs to be handled with care. The Company (hereafter referred to as the 'Supplier') will not be liable for any damage caused by incorrect usage or failure to follow the guidelines contained in the manual and online help facility provided by the purchaser (hereafter referred to as the 'Buyer').
The machine must be installed by fully qualified IS0 9000 accredited engineers according to the specifications laid down in the contract of purchase. Notwithstanding the liability of the Supplier for any defects in the manufacture of the equipment prior to delivery, the Buyer must ensure familiarity with the conditions of installation and operation at all times.
Installation should be carried out under ambient temperatures - extremes of temperature should be avoided. The equipment must be stored in the eventual location for a period not less than 36 hours prior to unpacking to allow for the dispersal of any condensation that could affect internal components. Once this has been completed the packaging must be removed in strict order as detailed in the aforementioned manual. The power supply is designed for use in UK and European countries utilizing 240v AC supplies. Any variations to such power supplies must be corrected by the use of suitable transformers at the expense of the Buyer. No warranty can be offered for incorrect power supplies and the subsequent damage this could cause.
The unit must be fully earthed and wired in acordance with the regulations laid down by the regulatory bodies dealing with health and safety in the workplace in the relevant country of use as well as any regulations apertaining to member states of the European Union.
The unit needs to be powered up on completing the installation and run for a period no less than 48 hours but no more than 72 hours, before loading appropriate raw materials onto the machine. Introduction of the raw materials must only be carried out following certification of the working order of the machine by the appropriate supervisor who should register the successful trial run with the Supplier.
Periodically, the machine must be shut down and fully cleaned. The period of continued use must not exceed 27 days in any one calendar month but can be less as dictated by the usage of the machine. Maintenance must not be carried out by any site employee from the Buyer; such maintenance will invalidate any warranty on the machine.
Changes to the operational features can be made through amending the software settings. Any person so doing must be fully conversant with M (Mumps) language and the characteristics of distributed cache protocol and the relational capabilities of the language with SQL.
We hope that you enjoy using this machine and that it adds to the efficiency and productivity of the business.

Write down your simplified instructions and send them to your staff to see if they can understand the main points. Create a document in Google docs, name your file Simplified Instructions and format your instructions in a clear and readable manner. Make good choices to make your document as readable as possible. Each teams work will be shown to the class for evaluation.

Who? What? A model for communication.

Have you ever felt like you were talking but you weren't being heard? We know what we are trying to communicate but how do we know that we are being heard?

Think of the Profit video we watched earlier this week. What did Marcus spend most of his time doing? It turns out that most managers spend the majority of their time communicating. But how do we know we are communicating effectively? Take a look at the following communication model.

How does the Source (sender) know they are being heard? What could interfere with the message? How would you define "noise"?

Think about the following channels (mediums):

phone
e-mail
letter
text
fax
face-to-face meeting
tweet
blog post
news article
advertising

Discuss: What are the advantages and disadvantages of each medium?

Look at the following list. Which medium would you choose for each situation and why?

1. You buy a new pair of basketball shoes and they fall apart. The store refuses to take them back saying you were too hard on them. How would you complain to the company to get the issue resolved?

2. You have an employee who is chronically late to work. You need to correct this situation or have this person fired.

3. While you were out of the office, a loyal customer came in to your business to pick up some merchandise that was not ready. Now they're are upset. How do you reach out to them?

4. You have a customer that has not paid the outstanding balance on a bill. They will not answer a phone call. How else could you reach out to them?

5. A customer needs to receive a quick response to a request for a quote. How do you let them know a price?

6. You need an out of state customer to sign a contract for an order you're about to produce. How do you need to get the contract signed?

7. You have a new product you need to release to the public for the first time. How will you get the message out?

8. You need to thank a friend for a business gift.

9. You have a disagreement with a customer over the terms of a contract. You need to have some points of the agreement clarified.

Assignment: Answer these questions on a sheet of paper and turn it in for your daily grade.  5 points

Miscommunication

Take a look at these English translations of foreign signs. What do you think the source was trying to communicate? How would you re-word these signs?

Take a look at these modified signs. How did the source of these messages attempt to communicate in a more effective manner? Do you think they were successful?

Calculating your real tax rate

Assignment: Your assignment for today is to calculate your income tax. Calculating your taxes can be a bit confusing to say the least. Today, you're going to figure your real taxes. Use the following web site to calculate your tax bracket.

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm


For the sake of income, lets figure your income on your birth date. Calculate it like this. If your birth date is July 4, 1997 then use this as your income

06/04/97
060497
$60,497

or if its October 10, 1996 then it would be:
10/10/96
101096
$101,096

Got it? Good.

Now, to calculate your income tax, us the 2013 table filing as single. Remember that the first $17,850 is taxed at 10%, from $17,850 to $72,500 is taxed at 15%, and $72,500 to $146,400 is taxed at 25%.

So if your income is $101,096, your tax would be calculated as follows

$17,850 x 10% = 1,785
(72,500 - 17,850) x 15% = $8,197.50
(101,096-72,500) x 25% = $7,149

1785.00 + 8197.50 + 7149.00 =  $17,131


Now  to calculate your FICA taxes at 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. To use our example above...

101,096 x .062 = $6267.95
101,096 x .0145 = $1465.89
Total = $7,733.84
+ 17,131
= $24,864.84 or 24.59%

Try it! Calculate your tax rate and turn in your paper showing your work.

This exercise is worth 10 points

***For an extra 5 points, calculate your tax amount and percentage if you deduct a $5000 contribution to your IRA and deduct 5% of your paycheck for your 401K retirement account. 

Protecting Customer Data

Online commerce is becoming a major part of the American economy. According to a recent article in Forbes, last year online shopping accounted for 10% of retail purchases. Last year Sont, Home Depot and Target reported major data breaches that affected many customers. Read the following article on the incident with Target.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paularosenblum/2014/01/17/the-target-data-breach-is-becoming-a-nightmare/

 On January 12 of this year, President Obama proposed a new series of data laws to protect consumers from data theft. According the the President, this is problem that is costing billions of dollars each year. Read the following article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/12/us-usa-obama-cybersecurity-idUSKBN0KL0EI20150112


Assignment: 

1. Create a Google Document titled Consumer Data.
2. Format your paper in 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced text
3. Share your document with edit rights.
4. Answer the following questions in complete sentences:

•  In the previous article. the President mentions barring educational software companies from selling student's data to other companies. Since these firms provide many services to students at no charge, how might this affect their business model? Do you agree or disagree with the President's proposal? Explain your answer.

Read the following article on the President's proposal:

 http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2015-state-of-the-union/sotu-will-obamas-cybersecurity-proposals-actually-protect-you-n289826

• What methods do cyber security firms use to protect consumer data. How might the proposed laws make their job more difficult?

Rubric:

Grammar usage and Punctuation 3 points
Formatting 3 points
Completeness of your answer 4 points
Total- 10 points.

Patent Trolls

Read Section 7.2 of your textbook. Make a note of the differences between patents, copyrights and trademarks. and how these regulations protect businesses.

Read the section on the FDA, FTC and other government organizations. Understand how the government protects people from businesses. Be able to discuss these.

What is a patent troll and how do they hurt businesses? Watch this video to learn more.

Terrorist acts on 9/11 cost the US economy about $123 billion. Patent trolls cost the economy $29 billion each year to defend. What can be done? Listen to how one entrepreneur fought patent trolls.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/what-the-courts-did-to-curb-patent-trollingfor-now/383138/

Discuss the following questions:

• According to the article, what are the 2 key elements of the patent trolls' business model?
• Why have patent trolls been so successful?
• How did the Alice Corp vs CLS Bank decision help businesses in defending themselves against frivolous lawsuits?

Additional info on patent trolling.

 http://stopbadpatents.com.
 http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/07/26/138576167/when-patents-attack
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/how-the-patent-trolls-won-in-congress/

Assignment: Study the next 5 terms on Quizlet.Complete the learn section and take a practice multiple choice test on the first 10 terms.

Add these 5 terms to your study list. Study the flash cards to familiarize yourself with these 5 new terms. Tale the learn module and take a practice test.

• Trademark
• Copyright
• Patent
• Cookies
• Information Liability

The discussion is worth 5 points. The Quizlet exercise is worth 5 points.

Government Regulation

The US Government regulates business monopolies through a series of acts and regulations. Read pages 162-164 of your textbook. Take note of the Acts and what each Act regulates. Watch this video on the role of government regulation:

Read section 7.1 of your textbook. Be able to explain how the federal government regulates monopolies and promotes fair competition. Also be able to explain how bankruptcy protects businesses from creditors.


Read the following article on how the government moved to block the US Airways- American Airlines merger.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/15/why-the-justice-department-blocked-the-american-us-airways-merger/

From your reading, discuss the following questions. Be able to cite evidence from the article to support your answer.:

• Why had the government been so willing to allow airline mergers in the past?
• What does the article tell you about how the Acts and regulations are enforced? Which branch of government is entrusted with enforcing the law?
• How would the merger have hurt competition and harmed consumers?

Assignment: Log on to Quizlet and view ALL of the flashcards. Complete learn on the first 5 terms and be prepared to take a quiz at the beginning of our next class.

Participation in the discussion is worth 5 points. Completing the Quizlet assignment is worth 5 points as well.

Chapter 7 Quizlet Terms

The Quizlet terms for chapter 7 have been posted. You'll need to learn these for the next exam. Start learning these a few at a time. We'll be having quizzes on five new items from the list at the start of each class period.

http://quizlet.com/_13rv70

Happy MLK Day!

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

-MLK

Who is Marvin Ellison?

Who's the most successful HHS graduate? It might just be this guy and you've probably never heard of him.

The stockholder strikes back.

Boards and executive teams often have very cozy relationships. As you have already seen through your research, a Board Chairman will also serve as a CEO of the same company. Stockholders and their interests are sometime forgotten. That's where activist investors come in. Read the following story and video on how companies respond to the presence of shareholders who try to influence or take over the board of a company.

Read the following article.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100963166

Think: How could activist investors benefit a company? How could they hurt it?
Why have activist investors grown more influential in the past?

Discuss: Do activist investors keep CEOs on their toes or do they create a distraction?

For further reading, read more about the most famous activist investors and their target companies.

Bill Ackman
Daniel Loeb
Nelson Peltz
Carl Ichan
David Tepper
David Einhorn
John Paulson

Is the public corporation dying?

Since 1997 the number of companies listed on stock exchanges has declines from 8800 to 4100. Why is this? Is the large publicly traded company a thing of the past? Carefully read the following article on the rise of the virtual corporation.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/triumph-virtual-corporation-194905193.html

Also, read abut virtual corporations on page 150 of your textbook.
 
Assignment: Create a Google Document with a classmate answering the following questions.

1. How did Dell Computer's business model differ from Nike's?
2. What was the advantage of the Dell model?
3. What was the advantage of Nike's business model?
4. Why did the Nike model triumph?
5. Why would the Nike business model lead to the reduction in the number of publicly traded companies?
6. Do you think the Nike business model is sustainable? Why or why not?
7. If you were to start a shoe business today, which model would you use? Nike's or Dell's? Explain your answer.

Title your document Virtual Corporation. Format your paper in 10 point Times New Roman double-spaced text. Put your name and your partner's name at the top. Research and discuss your answers before writing. Make sure you answer the questions in complete sentences! I'll be grading using the following rubric:

Grammar Usage and Punctuation 3 points
Formatting 3 points
Completeness of your answers 4 points
10 points total.

Closely held does not equal small!

Over 90% of American corporations are closely held. Closely held companies are typically owned by a few individuals, often from a single family. Below is a list of some of the largest closely held companies in America. Some of these names you may recognize; others may not be as familiar to you.

Cargill
Hobby Lobby
ChickFila
Koch
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Pilot Flying J
Publix
Loves Travel Stops
Ernst and Young
Reyes Holdings
C&S Wholesale Grocers
US Foods
Aramark
Meijer
ToysRUs
Performance Food Group
HJ Heinz
Fidelity Investments
Cox Enterprises
SC Johnson and Son
Hilton Worldwide
Bloomberg
Menard
Brightstar
Graybar Electric
Edward Jones
Winco Foods
Kohler
Charmer Sunbelt Group
Avaya
Neiman Marcus
Levi Strauss & Co.
Genesis Healthcare
Southwire

Assignment Part 1: You'll be paired with a partner for this assignment. You'll be assigned two of the companies listed above. For each company, you'll need to do some research.  Some of these companies make a lot of information public while others might guard their information more carefully. Find out the following information:
1. What are the annual revenues?
2. Where is the headquarters?
3.Who is the CEO?
4. Who are the owners?
5. How many employees do they have?
6. What products or services they offer?

Type this information us in a Google Docs file and share it with me by the end of class. Title your paper Closely Held Companies. Make sure you put you and your partners name at the top of the page.

5 Points

Part 2: Recently the Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby, a privately held company, has the right to refuse contraceptive coverage to its employees based on religious grounds. Read the following article on the topic:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/30/after-hobby-lobby-these-77-corporations-will-drop-birth-control-coverage.html

Discuss this issue with your partner. Write your thoughts down in a separate Google Docs paper titled Hobby Lobby. Explain why you think private companies should have the same rights as individuals (ie free speech, free association etc.).

5 Points

Part 3: Complete the Learn section of the Quizlet section on corporations. Also Complete a multiple choice test and a scatter test.

5 points


Each part of this assignment is worth 5 points for a total of 15 points.


Note! For next class, make sure you know the definitions to the following terms:

• Close Corporation
• Open Corporation
• IPO
• Personal Guarantee
• Proxy

Corporations Explained

What are corporations and how are they set up? Here's a basic explanation.

What are the advantages of a corporation? Here's a good 10 minute explanation of corporations and why you'd want one.

Assignment: Corporate structures consist of Stockholders, a Board of Directors, Officers, Employees and Customers/ Citizens. Look up the Board of Directors, CEO and corporate officers for a given company. Title your paper Corporate Structure - <company name>. You paper must be typed in 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced. Put the names in bold. Share your paper using the blue share button in Google Docs. Use one of the following companies:

General Motors
Kellogs
Apple Computer
Merck
Pepsico
Xerox
American Express
Walmart
IBM
Nike
McDonald's
Fubu

Grammar Usage and Punctuation - 3 points
Spelling - 3 points
Answer content - 4 points
10 points total


When you're done, review the terms in Quizlet and take the Learn module twice. Pay particular attention to the following terms:

Corporation
Charter
Stockholder
Stock
Dividends
Board of Directors
Officers

This review is worth 5 points.