Discussions

BUS 409

Discussion 1

“Internal Consistency at Customer First” Please respond to the following:

• Determine how job analysis and job evaluation could be used at Customers First to develop an internally consistent compensation system.
• Determine whether or not you agree with Joan’s view on job analysis and job evaluation. Explain your rationale.

Discussion 2

“Compensation Considerations” Please respond to the following:

• Determine the best way to leverage compensation surveys to set the level of compensation for your current (or future) job position. Provide specific examples to support your response.
• From the e-Activity, determine how you would integrate internal job structures with external market pay rates to set a base pay rate for the position you researched.

e-Activity

• Use the Internet to find a position with a company or organization with which you would consider working. Be prepared to discuss.

Discussion 3

“Pay Structures” Please respond to the following:

• Argue for or against the argument that pay grades limit a company’s ability to achieve competitive advantage. Support your position.
• Argue for or against the argument that merit pay grids have the potential to undermine employee motivation. Support your position.

Discussion 4

“Alternative Pay Structures” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, determine how a person-focused pay program could benefit your current (or future) place of employment. Provide specific examples to support your response.
• Determine ways that broadbanding or two-tier wage plans could benefit your current (or future) place of employment. Provide specific examples to support your response.

e-Activity

• Use the Internet to research person-focused pay programs with a focus on how they could be incorporated into your current (or future) place of employment. Be prepared to discuss.

Discussion 5

“Discretionary Benefits” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, evaluate how well the company you researched leverages its discretionary benefits to both attract and keep employees.
• Assume the company you researched must drop 25% of the discretionary benefits it currently offers. Determine which benefits it should drop. Provide your rationale.

Discussion 6

“A Health Savings Account at Frontline PR” Please respond to the following:

• From the case study in Chapter 10, determine the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the health savings account (HSA) option and recommend at least one alternative to offering the HAS option.
• Recommend what Susan should do. Provide the rationale behind your recommendation.

BUS 407

Discussion 1

“Design Theory” Please respond to the following:

• Select one (1) task and provide a one (1) sentence demonstration explaining how you would take the chosen task through Gagne-Briggs’ Nine Events.
• Based on the scenario, prepare a brief training cost analysis for a training program of your choice, including estimated time requirements for each task and relating those time requirements to the overall cost you have identified for the project. Then, briefly describe your strategy for implementation.

Discussion 2

“Traditional Training Methods” Please respond to the following:

• Based on the scenario, assess key roles of the lecture / discussion training method as it applies to today’s virtual era. Provide examples from the scenario and the textbook to support your rationale.
• Analyze two to three specific benefits that students can derive from the addition of audiovisual enhancements to traditional training methods.

Discussion 3

“Implementation of the Training” Please respond to the following:

• From the scenario, outline a plan for a one (1) day training program that follows the Experiential Learning Model.
• Go to the Association for Talent Development, located at https://www.td.org/, and locate a training or conference in which you are interested. Examine the training objectives that led to the implementation of the training or conference you have chosen. Then, develop a brief overview for a new training package to develop the same training objective.

BUS 319

Discussion 1

“Managing Contract Risk and Total Ownership Costs” Please respond to the following:

• Per the text, Adams states that contractual risk assessment expands upon traditional Critical Path Methods (CPM) by developing realistic estimates of anticipated risks in the completion of a contract. From the e-Activity, analyze the overall manner in which the company used the risk assessment method and / or risk assessment matrix to meet their contract objective(s). Provide a rationale for your response.
• Imagine that you own a small catering company. Your company is applying for a contract to cater a state congressional luncheon. Determine the three (3) most significant cost factors that you should take into account as the contractor. Provide a rationale for your response to the question. Provide a rationale to support your response.

e-Activity

• Using the Internet, research one (1) industrial or commercial services company that has used risk assessment methods and/or risk assessment matrixes in the process of obtaining a government contract. Be prepared to discuss.

Discussion 2

“Contract Cost and Profit Principle, and Contract Documentation” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, one of the listed CAS board members is with the Boeing Company, an international airline and aerospace company. Analyze two (2) possible extra-contractual motivators that Boeing might consider when bidding on future military contracts. Provide a rationale for each extra contractual motivator to support your response.
• Per Chapter 11 of the text, Adams states that the statement of work (SOW) is the primary contractual exhibit. Analyze the Statement of Work Checklist in Chapter 11 of the text and make one (1) additional recommendation that the government should consider in the SOW. Provide a rationale for your response.

e-Activity

• Go to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Cost Accounting Standards Board’s Website and review the sections of the ‘Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Board Members’ and the ‘CAS Board Meeting Minutes’ for the 70th Meeting (dated October 5, 2011). Be prepared to discuss.

Discussion 3

“Fundamentals of Negotiation” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, analyze the ten (10) rules listed and expand on two (2) rules that you feel are the most important and two (2) rules that you feel are the least important. Provide a rationale for your response.
• Per Chapter 12 of the text, Adams provides a list of twenty-five (25) bargaining table tactics. Select two (2) of these tactics and provide a sample probe and rebuttal (not listed in the text) for each of the tactics that you have chosen. Next, determine which one (1) of the twenty-five (25) you believe is the single most significant tactic in negotiating a contract with a federal government agency. Provide a rationale for your response.

e-Activity

• Read the article “Ten Rules for Bargaining Success“.Be prepared to discuss.