Week 1 & 2
betterdays
week_1__2_assignments.docxBA350: Principles of Finance
Week 1 Assignment: Due Sunday, April 5, 2015
Chapters 1 and 2 Questions
· CHAPTER 1 QUESTIONS: 1-2, 1-6, 1-7, 1-9
· CHAPTER 2 PROBLEMS: 2-3, 2-5
Week 2 Discussion “Investors and Creditors or Financial Statement Ratios”
Discussion Due: April 10, 2015
· Please respond to one of the following questions:
Question A
Investors and creditors are typically not interested in the same thing. Investors are typically interested in whether a company is going to turn a profit over time, while a creditor is interested in short-term cash flow. Decide whether you are an investor or creditor. Choose two ratios for the type of external user you chose and discuss its importance in analyzing a company.
Question B
When reviewing the financial statements of a company, there are many different ratios to choose from. Choose a ratio that looks at liquidity, solvency and profitability and discuss its importance.
Week 2 Assignment Due: April 12, 2015
Chapter 3 Questions
· QUESTIONS: 3-2, 3-4
· PROBLEMS: 3-13
BA471 Developing Human Resources
Week 1 Assignment: Due Sunday, April 5, 2015
· Sysco Case Study
Read the following case study:
HR Contributes at SYSCO
Many people in the United States are not familiar with SYSCO, but they see its results because SYSCO is the largest food services and distribution company with almost $24 billion in annual sales. SYSCO supplies food products to customers in restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, hospitals, and other companies. In a firm the size of SYSCO with more than 40,000 employees, HR management is making significant contributions to organizational success. As an indication of this success, SYSCO received the Optimas award for general HR Excellence from Workforce Magazine.
Beginning several years ago, the need to revitalize HR activities was recognized by both executives and senior HR staff members. At the time, the SYSCO operating regions had administered many of their own HR practices. To bring change to HR corporate-wide, while preserving the entrepreneurial independence of the regions, a “market-driven” HR approach was developed. In this approach, corporate HR identified ways it could assist regional operations, and then developed programs and services that met regional needs.
However, unlike in many other corporations where corporate HR programs would be “mandated” to operating units, SYSCO took a different approach. Key to market-driven HR is that managers in the regional operations must be convinced to “buy” the corporate HR services. For example, if a supervisory training program is developed by corporate HR, regional managers decide if they want to use the program for supervisory training in their regions.
Another part of creating HR as market driven was the establishment by corporate HR of a Virtual Resource Center (VRC) to provide services to managers and employees. A key aspect of the VRC is use of HR technology to gather extensive data on HR activities and provide that data to operating managers. One source of data is workplace climate surveys of employees. Using the survey data, HR developed initiatives to increase safety, which reduced workers’ compensation claims by 30%, resulting in savings of $10 million per year.
Another problem that SYSCO had was high turnover rates of night shift warehouse workers. Recruiting these workers has been a constant challenge for SYSCO and other distribution firms. By implementing a variety of programs and services, based on employee and managerial input from surveys, the retention rate for these warehouse employees has been increased by 20%, resulting in savings of $15 million per year. These savings are due to reduced time and money spent recruiting, selecting, and training new employees. Also, employees with more experience are more productive and more knowledgeable about SYSCO operations and products.
Another area where HR has contributed is with truck and delivery drivers. Data gathered through the VRC has been used to revise base pay and incentive programs, increase driver retention rates, and improve driver safety records. Additionally, customer satisfaction rates increased and delivery expenses declined.
All of these changes illustrate that HR efforts at SYSCO have been paying off for the company, managers, and employees. But as the value of HR efforts is recognized by more managers, HR’s role at SYSCO is likely to continue growing and changing
Write a 2-3 page paper. In the paper address the following questions:
· How does the market-driven approach illustrate that HR has strategic, operational, and administrative roles at SYSCO?
· Discuss what types of HR changes could have affected reductions in workers’ compensation expenses, employee turnover, and increases in customer satisfaction.
Include a cover sheet and 2-3 references. References should be obtained through the Grantham University online library. Only one website reference will be allowed (not Wikipedia). Please adhere to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th ed., 2nd printing when writing and submitting assignments and papers.
Week 2 “Technology And Job Design
Discussion Due: April 10, 2015 (Remember this should be in your own words.)
Technology and Job Design
Advancements in technology have certainly made our lives easier over the last twenty years. They’ve also changed the nature of how many of us do our jobs. A great example is right here in this course…professors can teach from home!
Describe how technology has changed the job description/design in your current or former job.
· Has your job description/design been modified to accommodate those changes?
Week 2 Assignment Due: April 12, 2015
· Bone Secours Health Care Study
Please read the case study at the end of Chapter 4 entitled “Bone Secours Health Care” . (I will attach a copy of the case study)
Write a 2-3 page paper. Be sure to address the following questions in your paper:
· How well could this level of flexible scheduling work in another industry? For example, a steel mill?
· Identify other potential flexible work ideas that Bon Secours might use.
· Flexible scheduling is common in health care. What would be the likely result without it?
