Unit 8 Assignments. ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE IN APA FORMAT AND HAVE CONCLUSION. ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES. DO NOT COPY PASTE. SUBMIT SEPARATELY

1. Management Information Systems and Technology. Discussion Board.

APA format. ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES. REFERENCES LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. AT LEAST 300 WORDS, INCLUDE CONCLUSION AT THE END. NO PLAGIARISM.

· Describe the role of information technology in globalization

· Define the digital divide and explain Nielsen’s three stages of the digital divide.

· Describe what the term information systems ethics means

2. STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING AND MANAGEMENT. Discussion Board.

APA format. ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES. REFERENCES LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. AT LEAST 300 WORDS, INCLUDE CONCLUSION AT THE END. NO PLAGIARISM.

In this question, you will consider the three concentration strategies. Briefly describe each strategy (market penetration, market development, and product development) and then provide a real-world example of each. Your example may come from your personal and professional experiences or may be from research you conducted online.

3. HR. Discussion Board.

APA format. ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES. REFERENCES LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. AT LEAST 300 WORDS, INCLUDE CONCLUSION AT THE END. NO PLAGIARISM.

This week’s readings outlined the benefits and challenges to organizations implementing work-life policies.   An organization can create policies, but cultural change requires more than just a change in policy.  As your reading points out:

· Policies are sometimes under-utilized by career-oriented professionals.

· Users may face stigma; career backlash; glass ceiling effect.

· Policy use is sometimes not supported by management.

Absenteeism, supervision, equity, performance, customer service and the overall creation of more work for managers who have to coordinate the implications of more complex policies are among the most prevalent concerns of among management when considering the implementation of these types of policies.

Given the valid concerns, what are the benefits—both tangible and to the culture of an organization that undertakes the adoption of policies designed to help employees with work-life balance?   What does an organization stand to gain if it can work through the growing pains of implementation?  Have you worked as an employee—have you worked for an employer who offered work-life policies?  How were they implemented?  Were you able to use them?  Discuss your experiences as they relate to what you’ve read.

4. MANAGING PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS. Discussion. Board.

APA format. ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES. REFERENCES LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. AT LEAST 300 WORDS, INCLUDE CONCLUSION AT THE END. NO PLAGIARISM.

Read the article Improving Successful Project Completion: Lessons Learned from the Global Health Partnerships Program (http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/02/24/improving-successful-project-completion-lessons-learned-from-the-global-health-partnerships-program/) which describes how the Global Health Partnership program of the Pfizer foundation supported the efficient implementation and lessons learned across 31 cancer and tobacco control projects developed in Asia and Africa.

Based on the information presented address the following questions:

· What are the keys to evaluating the success of a project? Do you think they did a thorough job of articulating the ‘lessons learned’ given the information presented?

· The Global Health partnership program index assessed grantees’ projects success based on a systematic review of progress reports and anecdotal input from program managers and mentors. There is an inherent subjectivity to anecdotal inputs.  Explain your thoughts about the impact of subjectivity on the quality of the index given the subjectivity factor and consider both the pros and cons.  Given both sides, what is your stance on qualitative vs. quantitative type data in this type of reporting? Explain.

· The grantees of the Global Health Partnership program gave specific feedback about how the technical assistance contributed to their projects. Based on that feedback,  do you agree or disagree that these results should be extended to all grantees? And to other similar programs? Explain your perspective.

5. MANAGING PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS. PORTFOLIO.

The portfolio activity is a self-reflection exercise using the concepts you have learned during this course.

During this course, you have learned about concepts related to a project life cycle.  In unit 1 the importance of project management was analyzed. In unit 2, the key elements of the initiation phase were discussed including stakeholders and cultural diversity management. During the units 3, 4 & 5 the planning phase of a project was studied and a project simulation was conducted. Unit 6, reviewed the constraints and challenges of executing projects while unit 7 addressed different ways of controlling projects. Finally, unit 8 covered the steps to successfully close a project and lessons learned.

Based on what you’ve learned in this course, please reflect on the aspects of project management you feel can be applied to your career after the completion of your MBA in UoPeople.   You are asked to write a 2-3 page critical reflection that addressed your career plan during the next 10-years using project management (life cycle phases and knowledge areas) to inform where you’re headed.