Assignment “Costs”

Costs

Costs are a consideration of every organization and in economically difficult times many managers may want to cut the “training budget” to save costs.

I’m sure that you’ve heard that training is always the first to go in tough times. But is that really the smartest business strategy to employ–or during economically difficult times should the “training budget be increased?

• Should Training should be cut in tough times?
• Should Training should be increased during tough times?

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:

• Write between 750 – 1,250 words (approximately 3 – 5 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style, see example below.
• Use font size 12 and 1” margins.
• Include cover page and reference page.
• At least 80% of your paper must be original content/writing.
• No more than 20% of your content/information may come from references.
• Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three-reference requirement.
• Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style.

References must come from sources such as, scholarly journals found in EBSCOhost, CNN, online newspapers such as, The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as, Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writing.

A detailed explanation of how to cite a source using APA can be found here (link).

Download an example here

BCO6656 IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Assessment 3: Status Report
Introduction
This
assessment task (worth 15 percent of the total mark for the unit)
requires you to take on the role of an IT Project Manager to produce a
Project Status Report for your employer, Victoria University Information
Systems Consulting (VUISC). In this instance the Status Report provides
a snapshot of project progress and issues. It is being developed to
provide your manager and the project steering committee with an overview
of project status so they can provide you with advice and guidance.
This is an individual assessment task that will be completed in your designated week 11 tutorial at class.
Scenario
Your employer
You
work as a project manager for an IS consulting firm based in Melbourne,
Victoria University Information Systems Consulting (VUISC). You have
worked there for four years, however the company has been in operation
for several years. Being a consulting firm, the company has a range of
employees including consultants, administrative staff, project managers,
programmers, testers, business analysts and help-desk staff along with
technical support staff who specialise in system implementation,
technical writers and training with a focus on user training for
professional development. The company also provides information systems
consultancy and project management services as well.
For the purposes
of this assessment task, please consider your lecturer/tutor to be your
operational managers. They can clarify any queries you may have.
Your client
A
detailed client scenario is available on Collaborate. It describes a
client Yes Chemist Pty Ltd.. They have asked VUISC to manage the
implementation of SAP system. The project has been underway for some
time, and you must now report on progress.
Project issues
At the
start of the assessment tutorial your tutor will release a simple
project schedule along with a document on VU Collaborate that describes a
delay on a critical project task (noted in the schedule supplied). You
must evaluate the impact of this delay on the overall project and make
suggestions on how to make up some time on the project to minimise
project time over runs.
Requirements
• Complete the VUIS Consulting Status Report Template.docx file provided on Collaborate.
•
Create a baseline version of the supplied MS Project file, set the
status date and enter actual values to reflect the delay scenario
provided in the tutorial.
• Analyse the impact that this (entry of
actual data reflecting the delay) has on the project. Complete every
section of the Status Report template removing all prompts (and square
brackets) and replacing them with your responses to the scenario (based
on your analysis of the MS Project schedule).

in this you have to
use the given to complete the work and also with that you have to make a
mpp file in Microsoft project so that u can show the progress of the
work and you have to make that file using Microsoft project software.

Assignment 2.1: Justification Report – Part 1

In Assignments 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3, you will be building up a formal, researched justification report (one part at a time) that culminates in a recommendation to implement a particular product, service, or program in your place of employment. This recommended product, service, or program should resolve a problem that you identify in your workplace and should be directed to your employer (even if you do not actually plan to share it with your employer).

Use the basic outline below to draft your paper. Organize your responses to each question under the following section headings:

• Problem Statement (for Question 1)
• Overview of Alternatives (for Question 2)
• Criteria (for Question 3)
• Methods (for Question 4)

Write a two (2) page, single-spaced report in which you:

1. Describe in detail a problem at work, persuading and convincing the reader that it needs fixing.
2. Provide a detailed description of two (2) possible solutions (“alternatives”) that could be implemented to resolve the problem identified in Question 1.
3. Describe five (5) criteria that you will use to measure the worth of each alternative in Criterion 2. Note: The alternative that satisfies the most criteria to the highest degree will be the one you recommend later to your employer. Criteria are standards that the audience values and are therefore used to measure the worth of each alternative (common examples include cost, desirability, durability, efficiency, time it will take to implement, and practicality).
4. Describe in detail how you will conduct the research needed to determine the best recommended alternative to your employer.

Your assignment must:

• Be typed, single spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your 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:

• Support ideas or claims in body paragraphs with clear details, examples, and explanations.
• Organize ideas logically by using transitional words, phrases, and sentences.
• Use sentence variety and effective word choice in written communication.
• Apply writing process strategies to develop formal business reports and / or proposals.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues related to selected topics.
• Write clearly and concisely using proper writing mechanics.

Dear Class,

Just to help ensure that we are writing the correct areas for next week’s assignment, I am sending you a copy of the Mock Justification Report and Template we examined in class last night. While you already have copies of both of these, the difference is that these copies are highlighted in yellow and green to indicate the areas from the report that you will be writing for Assignment 2.1. 

I thought perhaps a highlighted version might simplify the process. For assignment 2.1, you should complete only the areas you see highlighted in green and yellow. Click on the two links below for the documents.

20141027014833week_3_justification_report_sample.docx

20141027014908week_3_justification_report_template.docx

By this week’s deadline, you must watch and evaluate three informative student presentations. Go to http://www.youtube.com and enter the search term “student informative speech.” Find three speeches that you’d like to watch from the thousands that are available.

Please realize that while the students that you choose for these questions will NOT see these answers, your comments should still be as constructive as possible. For each critique, be sure to provide a complete link of the video you watched along with numbered answered to the questions below.

Answer the following questions about EACH speech (please number each answer!):

1. What is the attention getter of the speech? Was it effective? Why or why not?

2. What was the full thesis statement of the speech? Did the speaker do a good job making this clear within the first minute of the speech?

3. What were the main points of the speech in order? Were these easy to pick out? Why or why not?

4. What kind of transitions did the speaker use? Were they effective?

5. Describe some information that your speaker introduced from an outside source. Did the speaker provide enough details so you knew you could trust their source materials?

6. How did the speaker provide closure in his/her speech? Was the ending effective? Why or why not?

7. What did this student do to make this speech relevant to an average community college student? What could s/he have done better?

8. What, if any, new information did you discover by listening to this speech? List at least three things that were mentioned that you found memorable.

9. Describe your interpretation of the overall delivery of the speech. What were the speaker’s strong and weak points and why? (Don’t focus on the technical aspects of this video such as video-audio being out of sync.)

10. What do you believe should be the overall grade for that speech (number/letter grade)? Please explain your answer. If you deducted points, explain why you deducted those points.