PLEASE FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CLEARLY PROFESSOR IS STRICT

Earth’s Greatest Enemies?

Climatologist James Lovelock (http://www.jameslovelock.org/) (originator of the Gaia_hypothesis ) once said that Earth’s greatest enemies were the Three C’s: cars, cows and chainsaws because of their contributions to destabilizing planetary climate.

A. In this final Discussion Forum, you will answer the following question to show your ability to find connections among the environmental issues that you have learned about in this course.
Number your responses so I can see you have addressed each part.

You must cite specific evidence from any Unit of the course to support each of your responses.
Each contributing factor is worth 4 points x 3 = 12 points.

1. What and how do each of these things contribute to the destabilizing of Earth’s atmosphere and its climate?

1a. cows?
1b. cars?
1c. chainsaws?

You must cite at least one source in your posting. Please use MLA or APA formating to cite your source. 

Reminders:

• Loss of land plants because of human activities will not result in a reduction of atmospheric oxygen because most of planetary photosynthesis and its resulting oxygen production is in the oceans.
• Be sure to back up your explanations with some research before discussing this topic online with your classmates. Be sure to read relevant sections of your text (and supplementary readings from this Module) and look online.  Start with the links in this question and the Resources listed for this Module.

You work for a local fitness club called Super Fit. The owners of Super Fit would like to expand their business and add a

running track and a large pool. They have drafted the following letter to send out to their current members, informing them of

the updates and new services. The owners have asked you to review this letter and rewrite it as necessary. As you read the

letter you realize it is not well written. Please rewrite the letter for the owners. Use the correct business letter format.

We are excitedly writing to let you know about some thrilling new changes here at Super Fit! We have decided to expand our

current business to fit our clients needs. So, as of March 2015, we will have a brand new running track and a new lap pool.

Both the running track and the pool will be very large, and will be able to accommodate many runners and swimmers. We will

also offer a few other new services too.

We are proud to note that your membership fee will not increase at all. We appreciate your business and hope you will consider

telling your friends about Super Fit and all that we offer! We would also like to offer you a 50% off of ones month’s fee if you

refer a friend to us and they sign a membership contract.

Remember, stay fit with Super Fit!

With love,

Bob and Joanie Goldman

Your task: Rewrite this letter for the fitness club. The letter will be sent out to all members; but for this assignment, please

send the letter to Jane Dough. Her address is 1475 NW Salmon Creek Road, Portland, OR 97229. Don’t forget to create a

letterhead for this letter as well (you will need to make up the address and phone number). You can add or remove information

as necessary to make this a strong letter; but keep the goal of the letter the same.

Here are some questions to consider before you rewrite the letter.

1. What is the purpose of this letter? In other words, what does the writer want the reader to ‘do or know’ when they are

done reading the letter?

2. Will you write this letter as direct or indirect?

3. Think about the flow of the letter; what information should come first in the letter?

4. What information can be left out of the letter or needs to be added to the letter?

5. What letter format will you use, block or modified block?

6. Are you going to use mixed or open punctuation?

7. How do you keep it interesting, but business based?

Please read Ethics & Equity When is a Dairy Farm a Trade or Business on pg 6-17. Is the position by Randolph defensible? Review the 9 factors considered to help determine whether an operation should be considered a business or hobby. See in the same page the general rules.  You should also do some outside research on the subject, include in your own words and cite your sources.  Write a detailed memo to Randolph with your research findings to properly advise him on this matter. Your memo will likely be  01 page only. –  (Should be less than 20%) –      Due : Tuesday, February 25th 11:59pm.

  

6-3e Hobby Losses Business or investment expenses are deductible only if the taxpayer can show that the activity was entered into for the purpose of making a profit. Certain activities may have either profit-seeking or personal attributes, depending upon individual circumstances. Examples include raising horses and operating a farm used as a weekend residence. While personal losses are not deductible, losses attributable to profit-seeking activities may be deducted and used to offset a taxpayer’s other income. For this reason, the tax law limits the deductibility of hobby losses.

General Rules If an individual can show that an activity has been conducted with the intent to earn a profit, losses from the activity are fully deductible. The hobby loss rules apply only if the activity is not engaged in for profit. Hobby expenses are deduct- ible only to the extent of hobby income.40 The Regulations stipulate that the following nine factors should be considered in determining whether an activity is profit-seeking or is a hobby:41 • Whether the activity is conducted in a businesslike manner. • The expertise of the taxpayers or their advisers. • The time and effort expended. • The expectation that the assets of the activity will appreciate in value. • The taxpayer’s previous success in conducting similar activities. • The history of income or losses from the activity. • The relationship of profits earned to losses incurred. • The financial status of the taxpayer (e.g., if the taxpayer does not have sub- stantial amounts of other income, this may indicate that the activity is engaged in for profit). • Elements of personal pleasure or recreation in the activity. The presence or absence of a factor is not by itself determinative of whether the activity is profit-seeking or is a hobby. Rather, the decision is a subjective one that is based on an analysis of the facts and circumstances.

ETHICS & EQUITY When Is a Dairy Farm a Trade or Business?

Randolph has been an orthopedic surgeon in New Orleans for 15 years. He would like to devote less time to his medical practice, spend more time with his family, and pay less income tax. His net income from his medical practice has been about $500,000 per year for the past five years. Randolph grew up on a dairy farm in southeastern Louisiana. He has many fond memories of his childhood and believes a farm would be an excellent environment for his three children. Randolph purchases a dairy farm across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. He hires two full-time employees to handle the milking operations and other part-time employees as needed. In addition, Randolph and his family participate in performing various activities on the farm.

Randolph commutes to New Orleans four days a week to continue his medical practice. Because he is devoting less time to the practice, his net income decreases to $400,000. Randolph has a loss of $75,000 for the dairy farm that he attributes to depressed milk prices and his inexperience at running the farm. He considers the medical practice and the dairy farm to be separate trades or businesses. Therefore, on the Federal income tax return, the $75,000 net loss is offset against the $400,000 net income. Assume that the net income and net loss from the medical practice and the dairy farm, respectively, remainapproximatelythesameforthenextfouryears. Is the position adopted by Randolph defensible? Discuss.

 

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Corporate Culture and Leadership: Keys to Good Strategy Execution
CH12
Your Results:
The  answer for each question is indicated by a  .

 

1    
Which one of the following is not something that shapes and helps define a company’s culture?
    A)
The core values and business principles that executives espouse together with the operating practices and behaviors that define “how we do things around here”
    B)
The company’s standards of what is ethically acceptable and what is not, along with the legends and stories that people repeat to illustrate and reinforce the company’s core values, traditions, and business practices
    C)
A company’s approach to people management and its style of operating
    D)
The strategy and business model that the company has adopted
    E)
The “chemistry” and “personality” that permeates its work environment
    

 
2    
Which one of the following is not something to look for in identifying a company’s culture?
    A)
The company’s approach to people management and the official policies, procedures, and operating practices that paint the white lines for the behavior of company personnel
    B)
The company’s track record in meeting or beating its financial and strategic performance targets
    C)
How managers and employees interact and relate to each other
    D)
The spirit and character that pervades the work climate
    E)
The strength of peer pressures to do things in particular ways and conform to expected norms
    

 
3    
Which of the following statements about a strong-culture company is false?
    A)
Decisive leadership on the part of top executives, an industry-leading market share, and strict enforcement of long-standing company policies are all important traits of a strong culture company.
    B)
In strong culture companies, senior managers make a point of reiterating key principles and core values to organization members; more importantly, they make a conscious effort to display these principles and values in their own actions and behavior—they walk the talk.
    C)
Continuity of leadership, small group size, stable group membership, geographic concentration, and considerable organizational success all contribute to the emergence and sustainability of a strong culture.
    D)
In a strong-culture company, culturally-approved behaviors and ways of doing things are nurtured while culturally-disapproved behaviors and work practices get squashed.
    E)
Senior managers insist that company values and business principles be reflected in the decisions and actions taken by all company personnel; moreover, individuals encounter strong peer pressures from co-workers to observe culturally-approved norms and behaviors.
    

 
4    
The characteristics of a weak company culture include
    A)
deep hostility to change and to people who champion new ways of doing things.
    B)
no code of ethics or statement of core values, a highly centralized managerial hierarchy, and a big corporate bureaucracy.
    C)
a lack of values and principles that are consistently preached or widely shared, little co-worker peer pressure to do things in particular ways, and no strong employee allegiance to what the company stands for or to operating the business in well-defined ways.
    D)
no strong sense of empowerment among company members, little or no top management commitment to a clearly-defined competitive strategy, and a poor track record in producing good financial results.
    E)
All of the above are traits of a weak company culture.
    

 
5    
Which of the following is not one of the four types of unhealthy company cultures?
    A)
Bureaucratic cultures
    B)
Change-resistant cultures
    C)
Unethical and greed-driven cultures
    D)
Politicized cultures
    E)
Insular, inwardly-focused cultures
    

 
6    
Companies with insular, inwardly-focused cultures
    A)
are typically opposed to performance-based incentive compensation and employee empowerment.
    B)
are prone to be preoccupied with avoiding risks, are unlikely to pursue bold actions to capture emerging opportunities, are frequently lax when it comes to product innovation and continuous improvement in performing value chain activities, and prefer following rather than leading market change.
    C)
are typically gung-ho about adapting to changing market conditions so as to protect the company’s culture from shareholder criticism.
    D)
tend to resist recruiting people who can offer fresh thinking and outside perspectives and typically refrain from looking outside the company for best practices, new managerial approaches, and innovative ideas.
    E)
are typically run by empire-building managers who jealously guard their decision-making prerogatives; they have their own agendas and operate the work units under their supervision as autonomous “fiefdoms,” and the positions they take on issues is usually aimed at protecting or expanding their turf.
    

 
7    
The hallmarks of a high performance corporate culture include
    A)
a shared willingness to adapt core values and ethical standards to fit the changing requirements of an evolving strategy, use of a balanced scorecard approach to tracking company performance, and a gung-ho approach to discovering best practices.
    B)
considerable political infighting that typically consumes a great deal of organizational energy, often with the result that what’s best for the company takes a backseat to political maneuvering.
    C)
a “can-do” spirit, pride in doing things right, no-excuses accountability, and a pervasive results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.
    D)
charismatic managerial leadership, a lean management bureaucracy, and a must-be-invented-here mindset.
    E)
strong inclinations to adopt a wait-and-see posture, carefully analyze several alternative responses, learn from the missteps of early movers, and then move forward cautiously and conservatively with initiatives that are deemed safe.
    

 
8    
Adaptive cultures are characterized by such traits as
    A)
willingness on the part of organizational members to accept change and take on the challenge of introducing and executing new strategies—company personnel share a feeling of confidence that the organization can deal with whatever threats and opportunities come down the pike; they are receptive to risk taking, experimentation, innovation, and changing strategies and practices.
    B)
orchestrating organizational changes in a manner that (1) demonstrates genuine care for the well-being of all key constituencies (customers, employees, shareowners, suppliers, and the communities where the company operates) and (2) tries to satisfy all their legitimate interests simultaneously.
    C)
a proactive approach to identifying issues, evaluating the implications and options, and quickly moving ahead with workable solutions.
    D)
a willingness to change operating practices and behaviors to adapt to new market and competitive conditions so long as the changes do not compromise core values and long-standing business principles
    E)
All of these.
    

 
9    
Which of the following is not one of the leadership roles that senior managers have to play in pushing for good strategy execution and operating excellence?
    A)
Learning the obstacles in the path of good execution and clearing the way for progress
    B)
Weeding out managers who are consistently in the ranks of the lowest performers (the bottom 10%) and who are not enthusiastic about the strategy or how it is being executed
    C)
Staying on top what is happening and closely monitor progress.
    D)
Putting constructive pressure on the organization and initiate ive actions.
    E)
Delegating authority to middle and lower-level managers and creating a sense of empowerment among employees to move the implementation process forward.
    

 
10    
The task of top executives in making ive adjustments includes
    A)
deciding when adjustments are needed and what adjustments to make.
    B)
knowing when to continue with the present corporate culture and when to shift to a different and better corporate culture.
    C)
being good at figuring out whether to arrive at decisions quickly or slowly in choosing among the various alternative adjustments.
    D)
deciding whether to try to fix the problems of poor strategy execution or simply shift to a strategy that is easier to execute ly.
    E)
deciding how to identify the problems that need fixing.