Week 4 Activity 1: Research Activity: Hofstede’s Dimensions

The cultural distance of countries in which your firm operates is one of the many explanations of significant differences that your U.S.-based employees face when travelling to different affiliates worldwide. Typically, an index of cultural distance can be determined by summing the squared differences of country-level scores such as those introduced by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and then taking the square root of the summation (this is called the Euclidean distance). At the present time, your firm has operations in Turkey, Poland, Costa Rica, South Africa, and Indonesia. Using the Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Resource Center based on studies involving cultural dimensions to assess all five countries, determine which affiliates are located in a culture that is least and most similar to the U.S. As there are four main components of each overall cultural distance score, which component(s) can be considered most influential for each country? Your report should be a maximum of 1 page, double-spaced, Word or PDF document. However, you can have unlimited number of exhibits that should be put in an Appendix in the same file. You have the option to substitute the company and countries featured as examples in this research activity with the company and country you selected in your group project (completely optional).

Hint:

Option 1

• Go to the Global Edge website
• Search Phrase: “Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Resource Center”
• Resource Name: Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Resource Center
• globalEDGE™ Category: “Reference: Culture”

Option 2

• Geert Hofstede website
• Once on the website, select the corresponding countries

Option 3

• Use this Excel file with rankings for all countries

Describe the diplomacy, events and outcome of the Mongol invasions of Japan. How did the Japanese react to this invasion? What logistical and military issues were faced by Kublai Khan’s Chinese, Korean, and Mongol troops? Were the vaunted Samurai superior, equal, or inferior to their enemies on the battlefield? What impact did the kamikaze have on the outcome of the campaign? As a follow up, why did Japanese leadership use that same name for their suicide attacks on American ships at the end of the Second World War?

RULES FOR ANSWERING SPECIAL DISCUSSION BOARD QUESTIONS:

1) Special Discussion Board Questions should be answered in essay form, providing the type of depth and detail expected in a research paper. You should take the time to explain complicated concepts in a thorough and thoughtful manner. Remember, you need to demonstrate an understanding of events–not only in terms of what happened but also why it happened and what effect it had on society. Remember to answer each part of your question as well.

2) Stay on target—answer the questions as fully as possible and don’t wander off the subject—doing so will hurt your grade. You will be allowed to post more than once (in case you have more to add) but you will receive only one (1) grade for all of your work—that grade will be based on the totality of your contribution. You are not required to respond to any other person’s post.

3) To answer each Special Discussion Question you are required to use resources other than your textbook and you are required to provide a list of those sources at the end of your post. This means you may need to take a trip to your local library or conduct an online search or two before you have the information necessary for you to compose your posting. DO NOT use any of the following as sources: your textbook, films or television programs (including documentaries and filmed courses), lectures, blogs, Twitter posts, or Facebook pages. I take off points if you do.

4) Be sure to cite your sources at the end of your posting. DO NOT use endnotes, footnotes, or any other form of source citation within the body of your post. I take off 50% of your grade if you do. Also, do not use phrases such as “According to Jones,…” because I count those as a form of in-text citation and grade accordingly.

5) DO NOT use quotes (and like all the other DO NOTS, I take off points for doing). I want to read your writing, not someone else’s. Read your sources and then write your essay in your own words.

6) Express yourself clearly. Use good grammar. Write in complete sentences. Do not use any of those abbreviations so commonly used on blogs and text messages. I suggest you compose your contribution on a word processing program with a spell-checker. Then cut and paste–or type it in. This may help you get out everything you want to say before you hit “submit.” Be sure to use at least 12 point type for your response so it can be read. And, no, you cannot edit your contributions after they are posted.

7) Carefully proofread and correct your post before submission. Be sure to check your spelling and capitalization, as those are the most common problems for which I take off points. Check your work again right before you hit submit.

8) Your contributions should have real substance to them. Contributions such as “Yeah, what she said.” or “I do so totally agree with what everyone has said” will receive zero (0) points. Posts should run 1,000 – 1,500 words in length–some will run more and some will run less. The rule of thumb here is to answer all parts of the question thoroughly and in detail (and you’ll be surprised how fast your essay grows as you write it, once you’ve done your research).

9) And this one applies to any post on this board…Be polite—no name calling, no long-winded attempts to dominate the discussion, no profanity, no threats. If you disagree with someone, you may say so and then present YOUR argument—spending your time tearing down THEIR argument will hurt your grade and could get you thrown off the Discussion Board. Please also see the Discussion Board rules in the class FAQs for additional information.

10) Your grade, once posted, is non-negotiable. Some wise person warned us not to compare ourselves to others, for there will always be greater and lesser persons than ourselves. This rule also applies to Discussion Board contributions. You are graded by me on your own merit—not against the class as a whole.

I want two different answers for same questions….
Learning Outcome:

1. Demonstrate a solid understanding of the potential of entrepreneur in today’s competitive business world. (Lo 1.2)

2. Demonstrate ability to think independently and systematically on developing a viable business model (Lo 1.3 & 3.7).

3. Understand the place of small business in history and explore the strengths and weaknesses of small business. (Lo 1.1).

Assignment Workload:

This assignment is an individual assignment.

An entrepreneur Start-up

Business Plan

A business plan is any simple plan, not only limited to the business start-up plan that helps the management to understand the current situation of the enterprises (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) and look forward into the future. A start-up plan is a business plan which consists of the mission, vision, objectives and action plans for the future of the new enterprises while the business plan drawn during the operation of the firm is vital for running the firm effectively, acquire new customers, partners, loans and so on. According to Fiore (2005), a business plan involves two dimensions; an organizing tool to simplify and clarify your business goals and strategy, the second one is a selling document that sells the business idea and shows that a product or a service can make a profit and attract funding and company resources.

Imagine you started a new business as an entrepreneur in Saudi Arabia. Briefly mention the specific steps which you consider necessary to a successful business plan.

Please, think and share information on the following items:

1. Owners, capital structure and company profile (1 Marks)

a. Your Business Name, Address, E‐Mail

b. Form of ownership: What is the legal structure? Sole proprietor, Partnership, Corporation….

C. Investment capital

2. Company Business Description (300 – 400words)

A. Scope and type of business (3 Marks)

What business will you be in? What will you do? What market segment will you choose?

• Business idea: what is your big idea? Is it a product or a service? What makes your idea different?

• Mission Statement

• Company’s short-term and long-term goals and objectives.

• Target market and demographics: Who will your customers be? Where do they live? What is your target market passionate about?

B. Business Philosophy (3 Marks)

What is important to you in your business?

• Describe your Industry: Is it a growth industry? What long-term or short-term changes do you foresee in the industry? How will your company take advantage of it?

• Describe your most important company strengths and core competencies: What factors will make the company succeed? What do you think your major competitive strengths will be? What background experience, skills, and strengths do you personally bring to this new venture?

• Risk Assessment: Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your business using SWOT.

•Who is your competition and how do you beat them?

3. Products and Services (3Marks)

a. Briefly discuss your products or services (Technical specification).

b. Size of business: how many employees? How many offices and retail facilities?

c. What factors will give you competitive advantages or disadvantages? Examples, include level of quality or unique or proprietary features.

Below is the picture of the assignemnt. It says 8-10 pages double spaced but allowed to be 7.

For your research paper, please select a U.S. Supreme Court decision (from the alternatives below) and
conduct a thorough analysis of the decision. In doing so, please discuss where the case originated and
track its development through the lower courts to the U.S. Supreme Court (procedural history). Identify
and discuss the issue(s) presented in the case and the court’s ruling on these issues (holding). Likewise,
offer a lengthy analysis of the Court’s reasoning/rationale for this ruling (and dissenting opinions, if any)
– paying particular attention to the influence of public policy (or public opinion). Lastly, and arguably
most important, analyze the social or political ramifications of the Court’s decision. In other words, does
the case matter?

Please select one of the case alternatives below.
Firearms at home for self-defense

District of Columbia v. Heller, 2008

Affirmative Action (race conscious) in college admissions

Fischer v. University of Texas at Austin, 2016

Social Media and Free Speech (Criminal)

Elonis v. United States, 2015

Same-Sex Marriage is legalized across the 50 states

Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015