McGee Carpet and Trim installs carpets in commercial offices. Andrea McGee has been very concerned with the amount of time it took to complete several recent jobs. Some of her workers are very unreliable. A list of activities and their optimistic completion time, the most likely completion time, and the pessimistic completion time (all in days) for a new contract are provided in a given table. Following are the activities that are required to install the carpets in the offices:

• Activity 1: Measure office room dimensions
• Activity 2: Estimate cost
• Activity 3: Material requisition
• Activity 4: Workforce requisition
• Activity 5: Special tool requisition
• Activity 6: Installation
• Activity 7: Inspection and customer acceptance

Activity 2 starts immediately after Activity 1. Activity 3, Activity 4, and Activity 5 start concurrently after Activity 2. Activity 6 does not start until after Activity 3, Activity 4, and Activity 5 are completed. The carpet installation project is complete after Activity 7 is completed. If OT = Optimistic Time, MT = Most Likely Time, and PT = Pessimistic Time, use a Program Evaluation Review Estimate (PERT) to compute the statistical time for each activity, as in the following table:

Activities

OT

MT

PT

Activity 1

2

3

4

Activity 2

3

6

9

Activity 3

4

8

12

Activity 4

6

8

10

Activity 5

8

10

12

Activity 6

10

14

18

Activity 7

4

6

8

You must also do the following:

• Determine the expected completion time and the variance for each activity
• Determine the total project completion time and the critical path for the project
• Determine Early Start (ES), Early Finish (EF), Late Start (LS), and slack for each activity
• What is the probability that McGee Carpet and Trim will finish the project in 40 days or less?
• Define project management and the necessary requirements.
• Analyze implications of changes in project scheduling.
• Evaluate application of project management techniques in terms of the firm's business operational goals and requirements.

Please submit your assignment in an APA-formatted paper.

Submitting your assignment in APA format means, at a minimum, you will need the following:

• Title page: Remember the running head. The title should be in all capitals.
• Body: The body of your paper begins on the page following the title page and abstract page and must be double-spaced (be careful not to triple- or quadruple-space between paragraphs). The type face should be 12-pt. Times Roman or 12-pt. Courier in regular black type. Do not use color, bold type, or italics except as required for APA-level headings and references. The deliverable length of the body of your paper for this assignment is 2–3 pages. In-body academic citations to support your decisions and analysis are required. A variety of academic sources is encouraged.
• Reference page: References that align with your in-body academic sources are listed on the final page of your paper. The references must be in APA format using appropriate spacing, hang indention, italics, and upper- and lowercase usage as appropriate for the type of resource used. Remember, the Reference Page is not a bibliography but a further listing of the abbreviated in-body citations used in the paper. Every referenced item must have a corresponding in-body citation.

Your assignment will be graded in accordance with the following criteria. Click here to view the grading rubric.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

This assignment will also be assessed using the Common Assessment criteria provided here.

 

Competency

• Evaluate effective leadership theories and strategies for information technology decision-making in real-world situations.
• Lead, communicate, and direct diverse teams, stakeholders, and sponsors.
• Design effective information technology models for implementing technology for the organization.
• Create a plan to deploy technology solutions in alignment with strategic business needs.
• Manage complex information technology systems.
• Establish a change-control process to assure formal approvals.

Scenario

You have spent many years as an MIS executive. You have just been hired as the new C.I.O. for a company of your choosing. You will need to create an IT strategy that addresses the necessary information technology needs and projects that the company must undertake to be successful.

You will first determine your mission, vision, and strategic goals. Once those are established, you will create your IT strategy/plan. The IT strategy should document how your business will plan, execute, and measure all activities.

You will need to present your strategy to the Executive Board. As the Chief Information Officer (C.I.O), you will need to be clear about how your efforts will increase efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability.

Instructions

Create an IT strategy/plan for your business that you can present to the Executive Leadership Team. It will need to be detailed, clear, and specific so that they can understand your plan then trust in your abilities to manage this part of the business.

Your submission should be in Microsoft Word. You may use a Microsoft Word template to create your IT plan. Appendices for the organizational chart and MIS architecture may be attached separately. Each of the following sections, should be a section of your final IT plan.

Section 1 – Summarize the business and industry that you chose. Explain the type of leadership style you believe is best suited in a changing business environment. Discuss how leadership principles will help ease the challenges of a fast changing IT environment.

Section 2 – Produce an organizational chart that adequately depicts the hierarchal relationship between the IT department and other key business positions. Using the organizational chart, summarize how decision making is impacted by “change,” planned or unplanned. Describe the internal and external stakeholders that will be impacted by the changes.

Section 3 – Evaluate the existing design of the MIS architecture then provide a summary of how the architecture supports business objectives. Analyzing your companies resources and the needs of your MIS architecture, determine the best IT systems implementation model. Create a Disaster Recovery plan that provides automated restoral of key systems and services.

Section 4 – Conduct a systems analysis in order to determine IT systems requirements based upon business objectives and goals. Conduct an inventory of existing IT resources in order to determine the impact of implementing change.

Section 5 – Create a MIS architecture baseline that outlines the current capacity and capability of the infrastructure. Examine and define the best systems life cycle methodology for changes to your MIS architecture. Defend your chosen methodology based upon the capabilities of your chosen company.

Section 6 – As changes to the MIS architecture are necessary, explain how you will implement the changes from a Change Management perspective. Demonstrate knowledge of the change control process. Create a RFP that will be submitted to executive leadership of the organization for approval.

Assignment 1: Full Disclosure in Financial Reporting – Verizon Communications
Due Week 9 and worth 200 points

According to the textbook, the goal of financial reporting is to report financial information that is transparent and complete and truthfully report the financial performance of a company. Investors and other interested parties need to read and understand all aspects of financing reporting.

Use the Internet to research Verizon Communications’ financial statements, annual report, notes to the financial statements, president’s letter, and management discussion and analysis from the most recent year in order to complete this assignment.

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

1. Discuss the disclosure requirement on accounting policies, and identify at least two (2) examples of the most commonly required disclosure. Explain the key ways in which the examples you provided are useful to financial statement users. Analyze Verizon Communications’ disclosure on accounting policies, and give your opinion on whether or not the information is helpful for decision making. Provide a rationale for your response.
2. Explain the importance of the management discussion and analysis section of an annual report.  Select three (3) items from Verizon’s management and discussion analysis of the annual report that could be useful to potential investors. Provide three (3) specific examples of how the three (3) items you selected could influence a potential investor’s decision to invest in Verizon.  
3. Describe segmented information, and explain the way in which companies determine segments. Identify at least three (3) advantages and three (3) disadvantages of segmented financial data. Give your opinion on whether or not the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Outline the manner in which Verizon segments its financial data. Suggest key actions that Verizon’s management can take in order to improve the company’s segmented financial data. Provide a rationale for your response.
4. Analyze the various types of auditor’s reports, and determine the impact that the auditor’s report has on a company’s ability to obtain financing from a bank. Identify the type of auditor’s report issued on Verizon, and speculate the manner in which you believe banks will perceive Verizon’s auditor’s report. 
5. Use at least two (2) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Analyze and explain the requirements for full disclosure in financial reporting.
• Evaluate the importance and impact of full disclosure or non-disclosure in accounting practices.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in intermediate accounting.
• Write clearly and concisely about intermediate accounting using proper writing mechanics.

 

Competency

This competency will allow you to demonstrate your ability and skill as a consultant and use your analysis of NoJax's structure and organizational behavior to provide a plan for reorganization.

Instructions

You have been asked by NoJax to come in as a consultant and analyze the business for factors that impact the organizational behavior of the company. NoJax would like to ensure that their company design is current and that their employees are as efficient as possible. You have been analyzing several elements of the organization structure and behaviors using the NoJax Company Background document to identify areas of improvement. You will use that information to provide NoJax a new reorganization plan to continue their success, to be more efficient, and to stay ahead of their competition.

In your reorganization report, address the following questions:

• Using your behavior analysis from module 01, provide a detailed plan to positively change current employee behavior. Include at least three aspects of diversity that will have a positive impact on the behavior of the organization. What new processes and continued training plans can NoJax implement to ensure successful assimilation of new employees?
• Utilizing the Big-Five personality traits you identified in module 02, relate them to how management can affect organization culture. How can the culture be altered in a positive manner to improve relationships with management and employees? What plan will you put in place to continue the positive relationships?
• Include the key elements you identified in module 03 that go into creating an organization as you describe NoJax's company structure. How can the basic structure of NoJax be improved to better align business goals and employee objectives? Include at least five elements to improve the structure.
• Using the barriers in communication you identified in module 04, propose at least one change for each of NoJax's barriers, so they are able to change their communication process. How will a more effective and supportive communication process have the most impact and build better relationships and a stronger culture within the company?
• Utilizing what you identified in module 05 as the process of decision-making NoJax currently uses, how can they become more efficient and better use the negotiation process? Make sure you identify each step of the decision-making process NoJax currently uses. Then you will need to add any elements of the decision-making process that are missing. If any current step is not working or is weak, you will need to describe how NoJax can improve each of those steps to be more efficient.
• In your proposed change for NoJax from module 06, how should each management person best use their management style to have the greatest positive impact on employees? How can management maintain a balance between the current culture and making new and improved relationships to minimize resistance to change? Include at least six elements in your plan.

Farm Branch Rentals needs some assistance in adding 2 new vendors & 2 new customers. Please add the following vendors and customers beginning balances to the company within Quickbooks. Be sure to include the balances as of December 1, 2015.

LMNOP Rental

• 4537 White Road
• Siler City, NC 36647
• Phone Number: 252-876-9987
• Contact: Tim Waltz
• Vendor Type: Supply
• Account Balance: $2359

HJW Reality

• 543 Mill Lane
• Smithfield, NC 65343
• Phone Number: 252-667-9833
• Contact: Nicole Smith
• Vendor Type: Supply
• Account Balance: $765

Geller Construction Company

• 76 Rock Quarry Road
• Smithfield, NC 65463
• Phone Number: 252-876-0032
• Contact: Kevin Lowe
• Customer
• Account Balance: $2134

Rocks Etc.

• 712 Hwy 158 E
• Siler City, NC 77634
• Phone Number: 252-443-0976
• Contact: Justin Tart
• Customer
• Account Balance: $543

After adding the vendors & customers, provide a report that explains the steps in detail, with screenshots showing how to add the vendors & the customers in the software.

Submit the following for this assignment:

• A memo of 350-500 words to Farm Branch Rentals that covers the following:      
  • Explains the steps for setting up vendors & customers          
    • Use screenshots to show how to add the vendors & customers in the software.Include the required items that are needed and other items that you think of that would be helpful in properly adding vendors & customers. 
    • What the aged-payables & aged-receivables reports are. 
    • How they might be used to make management decisions from both the view of internal and external users. 
    • Include how the reports would be used to make management decisions for the business. 
• Include an aged-accounts payable report showing the correct set up of the vendor accounts.     
  • Include the beginning balances for these accounts as of December 31, 2015.
  • Save the aged-payables report as a PDF document named P3-IP1_AP_LASTNAME.
  • Include an aged-accounts receivables report showing the correct set up of the customer accounts.
  • Include the beginning balances for these accounts as of December 31, 2015.
  • Save the aged-receivables report as a PDF document named P3-IP1_AR_LASTNAME