mgmt 306

Write a business memo responding to one of the following prompts:

You're the CEO of a global pharmaceutical company. After decades of work (and the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars), your scientists have come up with a major breakthrough. Your new drug, RU-32, is a low-cost anti-diabetic medication that dramatically stabilizes insulin levels. If approved, your company will own the patent on a drug worth billions of dollars. However, during Phase III clinical trials, unexpected complications arose, and approval by the FDA is now unlikely. Without FDA approval, you cannot sell RU-32 in the U.S. and most developed countries. However, other countries—primarily developing countries—will allow you to market the drug without U.S. FDA approval. You must choose whether to stop all development and cancel the program, or proceed with manufacturing for sale to citizens of developing countries.

Inform the Board of Directors of your decision. Write a memo explaining your position and your reasons. Be specific and use detailed examples to support your main points.

A statistic taken from the Press-Enterprise states that the average American worker spends about 1.8 hours of every eight hour work day on non-work activities (e.g., personal phone calls, internet surfing, etc.). Estimates suggest this lack of productivity costs American business hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but workers say focusing eight hours a day strictly on work-related business is unreasonable and impossible considering we work more hours than ever before. Additionally, workers argue they need to schedule appointments and daily activities when businesses are open. In your opinion, which side makes a stronger case?

Write a persuasive memo to your business arguing one side. Be specific and use detailed examples to support your main points.

Your firm has discovered that the majority of resumes submitted in the past few years have been inaccurate, misleading, and filled with misinformation. Because of this, your firm has been unable to hire qualified workers, which has caused many problems. The Hiring Manager, Sheila Lass, has decided to stop accepting traditional resumes. Instead, she will ask potential employees to submit an on-line, electronic profile. In addition to searching Google for applicant background, she plans to ask applicants to allow searching their Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, LinkedIn accounts, and so on. By examining their on-line profiles, Ms. Lass feels she can get to know the "real" person.

Write the Hiring Manager a persuasive memo arguing for or against her proposal. Be specific and use detailed examples to support your main points.

In the modern business world, which is more highly valued: being smart or being attractive? Write a business memo to your supervisor stating which is most important. Fully explain your reasons. Be specific and use detailed examples to support your main points.

(2)

Write a paper responding to one of the following prompts:

Paper 1

For the final paper, discuss the actions of the main characters in the film. What were their motivations? Their options? How did their "world view" influence their decision-making? Do you agree with their choices or not, and why? Analyze their predicament and discuss the merits of their actions.

Paper 2

For this paper, discuss how the decisions made by the main characters influence the "real world." What did their actions do to the other Wall Street firms? How did they influence domestic and global financial markets? What effect did they have on the valuations of other securities? How did they influence lending, mortgages, and retirement accounts? And finally, what effect did they have on capital allocation and formation?

You can write the paper in a group. There is no limit to the size of the group, and you can work with students from other sections of 306. When you post your paper to Blackboard, list everyone in the group on the top of the first page. Also, each member of the group must post a copy of the (same) paper to Blackboard.

· Sam Rogers, Investment Floor Head (Kevin Spacey)

· Will Emerson, Head of Trading (Paul Bettany)

· John Tuld, CEO and Chairman of the Board (Jeremy Irons)

· Peter Sullivan, Senior Risk Analyst (Zachary Quinto)

· Seth Bregman, Junior Risk Analyst (Penn Badgley)

· Jared Cohen, Investment Division Head (Simon Baker)

· Eric Dale, Former Head of Risk Management (Stanley Tucci)

· Sarah Robertson, Chief Risk Management Officer (Demi Moore)

· Ramesh Shah, Legal Counsel (Aasif Mandvi)

"...relentless in its honesty and shrewd in its insights and techniques... an extraordinary feat of filmmaking"

—A. O. Scott, New York Times

"Margin Call is one of the strongest American films of the year and easily the best Wall Street movie ever made."

—David Denby, New Yorker

"... this confident, crisply made piece of work does an expert job of bringing us inside the inner sanctum of a top Wall Street investment bank..."

—Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Margin Call "takes place over a 36-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank and highlights the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007-2008... Although the film does not depict any real Wall Street firm, or similar corporate action during the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs similarly moved early to hedge and reduce its position in mortgage-backed securities, at the urging of two employees. Other firms like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns found themselves similarly and catastrophically over-leveraged in mortgage-backed securities. They scrambled, ultimately unsuccessfully, to manage the financial and public panic that ensued when their problems became apparent and the global financial markets plunged as a result." (Margin Call (film))

Write a paper analyzing a business book. Choose one book from the list.

The minimum required length is 5 pages. There is no maximum.

You can write the paper in a group. There is no limit to the size of the group, and you can work with students from other sections of 306. When you post your paper to Blackboard, list everyone in the group on the top of the first page. Also, each member of the group must post a copy of the (same) paper to Blackboard.

Your analysis paper should contain two parts. The first part is a brief summary of the book—a simple explanation of what the book was about. Because this is an extra credit assignment, it only needs to be a short, simple summary.

The second part is your own personal reaction to the book. What do you think of the book's ideas? Tell me what you personally think. Yes, you can write in first person. There's no right or wrong answer, so be confident in your opinions!