Description
Graduate Programs Discussion Boards
Discussion Boards (DB) are a key component of online learning. They foster active participation of learners and dialogue with fellow learners and instructors. Graduate-level courses require learners to create original posts to course DBs and to engage in dialogue by responding to posts created by others throughout the course. Original posts and responses should be substantive, and if references are made to the works of others, APA guidelines for in-text citations and references apply.
Minimum Weekly DB Expectations
- Post an original and thoughtful Main Post to the DB prompt.
- Respond to at least 2 other posts from learners and/or the instructor (Response Posts).
- The first contribution (Main Post or Response Post) must be posted before midnight (Central time) on Friday of each week.
- Two additional responses are required after Friday of each week.
- For DB assignment prompts with a Part One and Part Two, Part One should be addressed in the first week of the unit with a Main Post and minimum of 2 Response Posts, and Part Two should be addressed in the second week of the unit with a Main Post and a minimum of 2 Response Posts.
More on DBs
At the end of each unit, DB participation is assessed based on level of engagement and the quality of the contribution to the discussion. DBs allow learners to learn through sharing ideas and experiences as they relate to course content. Because it is not possible to engage in two-way dialogue after a conversation has ended, no posts to the DB are accepted after the end of the unit. Learners must demonstrate an appropriate depth of understanding of course content to receive credit for having submitted substantive posts. Typically, this is achieved with 3–4 strong paragraphs for Main Posts and 2–3 strong paragraphs for Response Posts.
In today’s business environment, it is essential to not only understand the necessity of strategic decision making and planning but to also be able to integrate them into competitive strategies.
This discussion has three parts:
- What are the components of competitive strategy? Within competitive strategy what is the relevance of a value change framework? What are the implications for customers and the competition?
- Cooperative strategies are the steps taken by two or more organizations to align strategies and resources to achieve a common goal. Discuss some considerations that must be taken into consideration when planning a strategic alliance.
- What are the critical factors that are necessary in a joint venture to increase the likelihood of success?
In your own words, please post a response to the Discussion Board and comment on other postings. You will be graded on the quality of your postings.
Jason Heyland
Business Research for Decision Making: MGT600
Unit 5 Discussion Board – Part 1
When managing or owning a business it’s important to be competitive in the market to which your products belong. In order to be competitive, the business needs to have a strategy that is competitive and be able to maneuver seamlessly within the market. Let’s take a look at the potential components that would make a competitive strategy. The strategy is simply any policies and/or procedures that is put in place to gain a competitive advantage over other similar products on the marketplace.
Some of the components of a competitive strategy are cost leadership, differentiation strategy, best-cost, and market niche (iEduNote 2023). Each strategy presents an opportunity to better position your products over the competition. Cost leadership is providing the lowest cost for a particular product in an industry. Differentiation is simply making a product that is different from other similar products that are offered by the competition. Best cost is having a product with the best value for the price. And niche is offering a specific product in a specialized group of consumers. A good example of this could be flood insurance, as only people of the geographic niche market of a flood plain would require such an insurance plan.
Value change framework is relevant as it helps to determine positive vs negative efficiency in cost. You want to ensure the things the company is spending money on is providing value to the customer base in which it serves. If they find that they are spending significant money on something that is not providing a return on its value it could be decided to not pursue those efforts any longer.
As far as implications for the customers and competition. They are the ones that will help determine if a company needs to make any changes in terms of value change framework. The customers help to steer these types of decisions as it’s their buying power that lets the market know what’s in demand is what’s not. For example, if the marketing plan isn’t providing value to the customers and driving them towards their products the company may want to consider changing the framework as to gain the attention and provide value to its customer base.
*I will cover questions two and three during week two of Unit 5.
References
iEduNote (2023). Competitive Strategy: Four Types of Competitive Strategy. Retrieved at
https://www.iedunote.com/competitive-strategy
,
JH
Jason Hewey
Reply
UNIT 5 – DISCUSSION BOARD
Mon 5/8/2023 7:37 AM
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A collaborative environment is essential for the success of any company. Ensuring the success of a collaborative environment in meeting the goals and objectives of the organization requires proper planning and management. This summary covers a research process aligned with a project on improving the collaboration environment in a company. The project is concerned with meeting the following goals and objectives; (i) to improve the success of collaboration in an organization; (ii) to ensure that collaboration efforts are identified and rewarded; (iii) to maintain a collaborative environment within the organization. The project's primary goal is to initiate, encourage and foster collaboration within the organization (Unterhitzenberger, 2021).
The project involves several employees with low collaboration ability; the project intends to change the nature of collaboration in the organization to high performance (Horváth, 2019). The research process in this project involves exposing the employees to various collaborative procedures and analyzing the results and findings at every stage. The findings at every stage are discussed and analyzed at every milestone. The discussions of the results and findings imply that the organization has various challenges affecting the company's collaboration ability. This report implies that the project effectively fostered a collaborative environment in the company by exposing them to the various rewards and advantages of collaboration.
Collaboration has been an issue in the business industry over time; the need to enhance collaboration has left companies developing projects and conducting research to improve their management for a collaborative environment. This report discusses and analyzes the challenges that make collaboration impossible for various organizations and how to come about the challenges to create an organizational culture that promotes collaboration. The project report also covers the various strategies that managers can practice to incorporate collaboration in an organizational culture. The report also implies that collaboration is a process and requires strategic planning to achieve in an organization.
References
Unterhitzenberger, C. (2021). Project Management Journal® Special Issue on Project
Behavior. Project Management Journal, 52(6), 527-530.
Horváth, V. (2019). Project management competence–definitions, models, standards and
practical implications. Vezetéstudomány-Budapest Management Review, 50(11), 2-17.
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