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Dq-180 wordearning Activity #1 - Is there a Gender Wage Gap?The readings and videos this week will provide much food for thought. We have both men and women on both sides of the Equal Pay for Equal Work debate. Let’s create a debate of sorts within our class.Our Topic for Debate:  Is there a Gender Wage Gap?Using our Class Members list, Students with last names beginning from A to H will answer the above question in the affirmative (i.e. Yes – there is Gender Wage Gap.) Using our readings/videos and your research, support your response. Please create a new topic, and let us know in the title of your response, which position you are taking. For example: Is there a Gender Wage Gap? - YESUsing our Class Members list, Students with last names beginning from I to Z will answer the above question in the negative (i.e. No – there is not a Gender Wage Gap.) Using our readings/videos and your research, support your response. Please create a new topic, and let us know in the title of your response, which position you are taking. For example: Is there a Gender Wage Gap? -NOComment ONLY on the responses of your opposing view point. If you were asked to answer in the affirmative, please comment on at least two of the postings of your classmates who answered in the negative. If you were asked to answer in the negative, please comment on at least two of the postings of your classmates who answered in the affirmative. I realize that the position that I’ve asked you to support may or may not be your personal view. I understand and respect that. The goal is simply to explore and share opposing views.  Dq-180 wordLearning Activity #2 - Gaining Negotiation SkillsWhat did you learn about negotiating skills that you may not have known before particularly with regard to gender?  Are women less confrontational, less competitive, and therefore less able to negotiate successfully?  Are men better negotiators?  Support your responses with citations from our readings this week.Think of an example of when you have observed or experienced negotiations.  What was the gender of each participant in the negotiations?  What did you observe in the behaviors that would either be consistent or inconsistent with our course materials this week?    Lastly, think about your own negotiating skills.  What did you learn that may make you a better negotiator?Q0180 wordLearning Activity #1One of the critical considerations in managing a small business is effective marketing. Review articles in the media this week to find information on how small businesses are trying new and innovative ways to market their products and/or services. Share the source/article and comment on why the approach may or may not be effective. Respond to at least two other classmates’ comments.  Q0180 wordLearning Activity #2Financial considerations in small business management are of critical importance given the role they play in the high failure rate.  From the required text this week and from your outside research highlight at least two significant steps small business owners need to take in order to keep their financial house in order (be specific).  Be sure to support your response with solid evidence from the text and your outside research.180 wordSelect "New Thread" and answer one (1) of the following questions:Describe an application of blog technology within an organization. What potential benefits would accrue to the individual, the community of practice (CoP), and to the organization as a whole if blogs were implemented?Outline the major components of a KM strategy. Then, describe the difficulties, as you perceive them, in developing a robust strategy. What can be done to mitigate the difficulties?Outline the results of a knowledge audit. Then, select two results and describe what these benefits mean to an organization (as if you were justifying the purpose to a senior leader).You must start a thread before you can read and reply to other threadsResponse-80 wordKnowledge Management for Nonprofits: A Strategy for Organizational SustainabilityCommunications of the IIMA © 2011                2011  Volume 11 Issue 2I choose this article because I hadn’t given much thought to managing knowledge for nonprofit organizations. However, after seeing the title of this article and reading it you get a better understanding that every organization, corporation and other entities need knowledge management to be competitive and sustainable. This paper frames knowledge management for a nonprofit within the context of the unique business model employed in the nonprofit domain. The strategies within this paper are presented on the basis of identified concepts of sustainability for nonprofit organizations and the types of knowledge pertinent to meet the information needs. These organizations operate within a very unique business model environment. Nonprofit organizations typically are started by personalities similar in nature to start-up businesses in an entrepreneurial manner. As such, technologies and knowledge management are not considered essential to the vision and mission of the organization. Therefore, information systems are typically considered only for fund raising and the like without a strategy to capture the knowledge of those involved with the organization. Likewise, the concept of sustainability is not addressed by the typical nonprofit until the size of the organization mirrors that of a well-established business. Sustainability for a nonprofit is critical if the focus and mission of the organization is going to continue beyond initial “splash” launch or a crisis.http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9248ee7a-40b9-47b3-8f46-69ad64d4b82f%40sessionmgr110&vid=46&hid=119120 wordLearning Activitiy 1: Acquisition of Commercial ItemsReview and discuss the definition of Commercial Item in FAR 2.101.What are the benefits of buying 'Commercial'. Try to come up with one or two.Also take a look at FAR Part 12, what does 12.101 say 'shall' agencies do?120 wordLearning Activity 2: Simplified Acquisition ProceduresThe FAR authorizes the use of a comparatively less formal and more efficient method of contracting called Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP). We’re going to discuss some of the policies and procedures pertaining to SAP.What are Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP)? (Hint: FAR 13.002)When is the use of SAP authorized?What does the FAR say about promoting competition in FAR 13.104?When does the FAR say you use the government purchase card?Take a look at FAR 13.304 and discuss the Standard Form (SF) 44. Where can you find Standard Forms in the FAR? Response-140 wordLearning Activitiy 1: Acquisition of Commercial Items Review and discuss the definition of Commercial Item in FAR 2.101.Commercial items generally have wide use and are readily available to the general public.  Physical items are not the only items that can be consider commercial.  Services that support commercial items or ones that are offered to the general public are considered commercial as well. An item that is used for an inherently government function, such as a majority of weapon systems, would not be considered as commercial, However depending on its configuration, many of those weapon systems could be built using commercial items.  What are the benefits of buying 'Commercial'. Try to come up with one or two.Quantities are generally high which usually drives down costs per unit.  Supportability is also a factor, high use items will have more parts available to fix failures and will potentially be sustained by the vendor for a longer period of time.  Over the last 15 years, I’ve seen a huge shift of equipment within my organization.  We went from primarily proprietary government only use systems to commercial off the shelf.  This shift has made items cheaper, easier to upgrade and covered under the same warranties offered to non-government entities.  However I’ve seen issues with constant updating technology.  Some of our platforms maintain a certain configuration for up to 6 years.  We have found that in that 5th year we sometimes run into issues where COT processors and associated software are no longer supported.  Learning from this, we cycle in tech refreshes, purchase rack mount processors with upgradable motherboards and use software that can be updated “in-house”.  Also take a look at FAR Part 12, what does 12.101 say 'shall' agencies do?The government as well as any other company looking to buy parts realizes the benefit of purchasing commercial items or not “reinventing the wheel”.  Instead of taking the time and money to engineer, fabricate, and test a brand new part, contracting officers are required to do market research to see if that item already exists in the commercial world or can be easily modified to meet that requirement.  Doing this will save time and money as well, as promote sustainability.  Lastly, to their best ability, vendors and their subs are required to utilize commercial and nondevelopmental parts in the items they fabricate.  Doing so should drive down the final cost of the item while positively affecting the ability to support if supportable parts were used.  My program tries hard to use COTS items, so much so, instead of creating our own tech data, we sometimes only issue the vendor’s manual for the items.  We have found that members in the field are not entirely ready for this type of thing and sometimes demand we provide tech data.  The vendor manual is paid for when we buy the part or can easily be obtained with an internet connection.  The manuals are not always written in a form the user may be used to.  It costs a lot of money to develop tech data especially when that data already exists in a commercial form.  The acquisition world it required to follow these “shalls”, this type of thing it will probably take more time for this to carry over to the user. Learning Activity 2: Simplified Acquisition Procedures What are Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP)? (Hint: FAR 13.002)If you’ve ever bought a house or refinanced the mortgage, you’d encounter pages and pages of paperwork.  If costs time and money to generate, complete, and file that paperwork.  SAPs try to ease the impact and costs for executing contracts by streamlining processes.  Small businesses types are provided a better chance to compete for these contracts due to possibly not having the admin assets and other resources available to compete for and execute huge contracts.Contract officers should have a good source list of vendors who are authorized and more preferable to fulfill a contract.  Often several small businesses types are given preference for these smaller contracts.  Sometimes standing prices are in place, especially if the prices have been known to stay steady over time.  If the pricing is current the officer can use standing price quotations.  Competition is the biggest part of purchasing.  The officer should obtain quotes from 3 vendors to try and drive down price so the government receives the best deal.  When pushing for competition, the requirements should be posted in a way where vendors can easily access them.  Once the officer receives the offers, the will be evaluated, lowest price isn’t always the more preferable.  The officer will research the vendors, select the best offer and then finally award and document the contract. When is the use of SAP authorized?SAPs are authorized to be executed on purchases that fall under the SAT/$150,000.  This can also include items at or below the micro-purchase threshold/$3000, however for those, the GPC should normally be used.  According to 13.500, under a test program, SAPs are be used on contracts of up to $6.5M if the item will only be commercial items and $12M if the head of agency authorizes it for commercial purchases supporting contingency or NBCR ops.  This test program has been extended a few times, current expiration is 1Jan15, so it has expired.  I wasn’t able to find any information regarding its further extension.  This gave contract officers the ability to use further discretion to award a contract without the threat of added costs to the contract due to the extra admin work the government and vendor would have had to do. To ease the admin impacts and therefore meet the intent of SAPs of a streamlined process, the requirements should be well defined and should promote small businesses  According to FAR 13.004 discuss the difference between a quotation and an offer?You go to the car dealership and ask the salesperson the price of a car (RFQ), they are giving you a quote (quotation) of the price, often over what they are willing to take, not legally binding.  You turn around and submit an offer of what you are willing to pay for that vehicle.  If they accept, then it’s legally binding, the contract is established, then followed usually in writing.  A quotation isn’t legally binding, while an offer is if it’s accepted. PNWC provides a synopsis of the difference based upon an actual issue that may help explain it better.http://pacificnwc.blogspot.com/2012/03/offers-vs-quotations.html The government may cancel, withdraw or amend an order in writing before accepting it.  The vendor may have had to manufacture or buy the items to fulfill the order, any change may negatively affect the vendor.  If the vendor can prove an impact, the government may be liable to compensate the vendor for some of the losses. What does the FAR say about promoting competition in FAR 13.104?Competition tends to raise quality while driving down cost. By pushing for competition, the government is in a better position to get the best deal.  Mobile carrier wars are huge right now, prices are going down for the number of members on each account while data plan amounts are on the rise.Contracting officers shouldn’t be subjective based upon their own preferences and feelings.  When working a mobile phone service contract, they shouldn’t only contact AT&T because that’s who they use for their personal carrier or stray away from Sprint because the phone they gave the officer died after only 2 months of use and they wouldn’t replace it.  Although the officer may have never heard of Metro PCS, he/she should not automatically exclude the carrier.  By using at least 3 sources, the officer should be able to enhance the amount of competition. When does the FAR say you use the government purchase card?The GPC is commonly used for purchasing supplies, services or construction and often times for purchases at or below the regular micro purchase threshold, $3K for supplies, $2.5K for purchases and $2K for construction.  It can also be used for pre-priced gov’t contracts of $25K or less.  The whole point of the GPC is to further reduce admin costs, if a micro purchase needs to be made, authorization must be obtained if the GPC isn’t used.  In my organization, my guys are the ones who manage our GPCs and those of our other units.  There are several restrictions of what can and cannot be purchased.  My guys must validate every request before the purchase is made by other unit.  They are constantly audited and have had to re-take training due to a few purchases made by the units they oversee that were later deemed to be improper.    Take a look at FAR 13.306 and discuss the Standard Form (SF) 44. Where can you find Standard Forms in the FAR?If I was away from the contracting office or at an isolated location and had to make a purchase of goods or services, I’d be able to make that purchase using an SF44.  It’s an all in one document that designates items you would find on a normal invoice.  It’s a receiving report, invoice and public voucher.  It’s small enough to be carried in a pocket and is even used in electronic form, a little like the electronic items UPS or FedEx require you sign once they deliver you a package. The forms are used for purchases at the micro purchase threshold, usually for items immediately available, the threshold can be overran for urgent needs.  Our contracting officers usually have to deploy on a regular basis, often to locations considered remote.  SF44s in paper and electronic form are perfect items to allow them to make the required purchases to meet mission requirements.  Illustration of forms can be found in part 53.3  More info on the electronic version from DAUhttps://acc.dau.mil/adl/en-US/444356/file/57141/3in1_Brochure.pdf200 wordWeek 4 Exercise Actions for Week 4 ExerciseFind an article (no more than 5 years old) that describes/outlines strategy for managing knowledge. Strategies can be for managing knowledge at the individual, group, or organizational level.1. List the name and source of your article.
2. Attach the article, or provide a link to its location.
3. Briefly explain why you selected this particular article. (i.e. why did it appeal to you).180 wordActions for Table of Research FindingsThe next formal assignment in class is the Literature Review. In a Literature Review, a writer evaluates sources on a particular topic and identifies any gaps in the current research. For the Literature Review, students will continue to work with the topic chosen earlier in the semester. As you consider the following assignment, it may be useful to view this information on the Literature Review.http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/web/lit_review.htmlOne thing that Literature Reviews ask writers to do is to carefully evaluate sources andassess their ideas and arguments. The table of research findings asks you to look at each source with a critical eye and pinpoint the focus, methodology, and findings in that study. In addition, you are asked to personally reflect on the meaning of the source.Please consider the following as you assess your sources on your technological transformation topic:Read over Chapters 11 and 13 in Writing for Success.Chapter 11, Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?Chapter 13, APA and MLA Documentation and FormattingIn addition, there are several articles in the reserved readings section of the class that you might choose from if you would like to do so.Chapter 2, So You’ve Got a Writing Assignment. Now what?Chapter 13, Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources Organizing a Table of Research Findings: I would look over your annotated bibliography and find 3 articles. Each article must report on the findings of a research study on your chosen topic. Finding and examining these sources will help you to identify the current research issues surrounding your topic.Research Topic: Social Media and EducationSourceDefinitions/key termsFocus of study(subjects, participants, type of college, purpose of study)MethodologyFindingsPersonal ReflectionsFor example, a student researching the topic of social media and education might come across the following three resources in the UMUC Databases. The student's job would be to read over the sources carefully and to identify the source (including citations in APA format), definitions/key terms used in the research, focus of the study/article, what methodology the author used, a description of the author's findings, and the student's reflections on the source itself.Moran, M., Seaman, J., Tinti-Kane, H., & Babson Survey Research, G. (2011). Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today's Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media. Babson Survey Research Group, 2011 32 pp. (ED535130)Powers, L., Averbeck, C., Alhussain, R., & Warner, A. (2012). PERSPECTIVES ON DISTANCE EDUCATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA.Quarterly Review Of Distance Education,13(4), 241-245.Younger, D. W., Duncan, J. E., & Hart, L. M. (2013). Tuning into YouTube in the Classroom: Improving Assessment Scores through Social Media. Online Submission,2013 6 pp. (ED543108) Task:Please fill in the table for 3 sources you've located on your research topic. At the bottom of your Table, list a potential category, or categories, that your sources might fall under in your Literature Review. As you continue to work on the Literature Review, continue to closely evaluate your sources.  Q-150 wordAs you put together your literature reviews, you will want to consider carefully how to effectively use your evidence. As the University of North Carolina says, "Does evidence speak for itself? No, it does not. After you introduce evidence into your writing, you must say why and how this evidence supports your argument. In other words, you have to explain the significance of the evidence and its function in your paper. What turns a fact or piece of information into evidence is the connection it has with a larger claim or argument: evidence is always evidence for something, and you have to make that link clear." (Evidence, 2013). Of course, you will want to be aware that the Literature Review itself does not make the argument. No, the Literature Review is where you examine all the available current research on your topic. Consider the following video on effectively using evidence.Task: After looking over the sources that you've been working with, choose one of the sources and write a short paragraph why it should or should not be evidence in your Literature Review. Feel free to write about evidence that will not be useful. Q-150 wordHere are lots of resources to help students understand the Literature Review. Please browse these resources and then complete the discussion post below.Ted Zorn and Nittaya Campbell, "Improving the Writing of Literature Reviews through Literature Integration Exercise" -- please click  HYPERLINK "https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/common/dialogs/quickLink/quickLink.d2l?ou=54162&type=content&rcode=UMUC-283188" \t "_self" eReserves to find the article.Here are some video resources on Literature Reviews: The University of North Carolina has this excellent tutorial: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/lit-review/ The following was developed by UMUC's David Taylor on how to outline the literature review: http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/web/lit_review.html Task: After reviewing the material on the Literature Review posted above, please return to your annotated bibliography and begin developing "categories" to help you to organize your sources. Post one category below and list several sources that might fill that category. Remember that some sources may fall into more than one category. Please feel free to post questions or concerns because your instructor wants to help you. Please respond generously to at least two of your fellow classmates.  Artist Unknown. (Clipartpal.com) Large_Open_Book. [Cartoon] Retrieved from http://www.clipartpal.com/_thumbs/pd/education/large_open_book.png 
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Question # 00047028 Posted By: shortone Updated on: 02/06/2015 07:23 AM Due on: 02/28/2015
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