Partnership: The company is considering forming a partnership and wants to be sure it understands the key issues regarding partnership formation, income distribution, and liquidation.

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Explain the process and methods used to account for partnership formation. How do these methods impact the firm’s balance sheet?

Illustrate how the company could split profits and losses.

Describe what happens if the partnership doesn’t do well and the company has to dissolve it, or one of the partners becomes insolvent.

Illustrate the dissolution process by creating a hypothetical cash distribution schedule. Ensure all information is entered accurately.

Corporation: The company is also considering structuring its business as a corporation, but is aware that there are a lot of complex issues to consider when accounting for an incorporated entity. The company is concerned about the following key areas:

Differentiate between various forms of bankruptcy and restructuring that the firm should understand.

Summarize the key points of interest if the firm fell on hard times and had to file voluntary bankruptcy. What ethical implications should be considered when debating whether or not to file bankruptcy?

Identify the key areas of concern if the firm fell on hard times and their creditors forced them into bankruptcy. What defenses are available in this situation?

Illustrate hypothetical calculations that would be done to help creditors understand how much money they might receive if the company were to liquidate. Ensure all information is entered accurately. Please refer to the illustration (Exhibit 13.2) on page 592 from your textbook to view potential calculations. ***see attached file

ACC 690 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The final project for this course is the creation of a portfolio consisting of a report, spreadsheets, and a PowerPoint presentation. You will be placed in a real-world scenario in which you will take the role of an associate in a certified public accountant (CPA) firm. The CPA partners in the scenario would like to help you grow within the firm by getting you more contact with some of the larger clients. You will address questions from one of the firm’s most influential and growing clients by assembling and presenting the necessary information in report and presentation format. Your presentation should include spreadsheet examples. Topics addressed in the portfolio will cover partnership formation, bankruptcy, and acquisition of another company (which may be international). Your three milestone assignments will consist of shorter reports and supporting spreadsheets, which will prepare you for completing a comprehensive report, spreadsheets, and a presentation. You should use your instructor’s feedback from the milestone submissions to improve your final report, spreadsheets, and presentation. Prompt: In Milestone One, you will complete a report covering Section I and Part A of Section II of the final project. In the report you will discuss the key issues of partnership, such as formation, splitting profits/losses, dissolution, and a cash distribution schedules. You will also discuss the issue of bankruptcy, both voluntary and forced, as well as liquidation. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Partnership: The company is considering forming a partnership and wants to be sure it understands the key issues regarding partnership formation, income distribution, and liquidation.

A. Explain the process and methods used to account for partnership formation. How do these methods impact the firm’s balance sheet? B. Illustrate how the company could split profits and losses. C. Describe what happens if the partnership doesn’t do well and the company has to dissolve it, or one of the partners becomes insolvent. D. Illustrate the dissolution process by creating a hypothetical cash distribution schedule. Ensure all information is entered accurately.

II. Corporation: The company is also considering structuring its business as a corporation, but is aware that there are a lot of complex issues to consider

when accounting for an incorporated entity. The company is concerned about the following key areas: A. Differentiate between various forms of bankruptcy and restructuring that the firm should understand.

1. Summarize the key points of interest if the firm fell on hard times and had to file voluntary bankruptcy. What ethical implications should be considered when debating whether or not to file bankruptcy?

2. Identify the key areas of concern if the firm fell on hard times and their creditors forced them into bankruptcy. What defenses are available in this situation?

3. Illustrate hypothetical calculations that would be done to help creditors understand how much money they might receive if the company were to liquidate. Ensure all information is entered accurately. Please refer to the illustration (Exhibit 13.2) on page 592 from your textbook to view potential calculations.

Guidelines for Submission: Your report must be submitted as a 2- to 3-page Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least two sources (in addition to your textbook) cited in APA format. Your accompanying spreadsheets must be submitted as Microsoft Excel files.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Partnership: Formation

Explains the process and methods used to account for partnership formation and how they impact the firm’s balance sheet

Explains the process and methods used to account for partnership formation but does not explain how they impact the firm’s balance sheet or explanation is cursory or has inaccuracies

Does not explain the process and methods used to account for partnership foundation

12.86

Partnership: Split Illustrates the options for distribution of profits and ensures all information is entered accurately

Illustrate the options for distribution of profits and losses but there are inaccuracies

Does not illustrate the options for distribution of profits and losses

12.86

Partnership: Dissolve

Describes what happens in partnership dissolution or partner insolvency

Describes what happens in partnership dissolution or partner insolvency but description is cursory or has inaccuracies

Does not describe what happens in partnership dissolution or partner insolvency

12.86

Partnership: Cash Distribution

Schedule

Illustrates the dissolution process by providing an example of a cash distribution schedule, ensuring accuracy

Illustrates the dissolution process by providing an example of a cash distribution schedule, but there are inaccuracies

Does not provide an example of a cash distribution schedule

12.86

Corporation: Voluntary

Bankruptcy

Summarizes the key points of interest if the firm had to file voluntary bankruptcy and discusses the ethical implications that should be considered

Summarizes the key points of interest if the firm had to file voluntary bankruptcy but does not discuss the ethical implications that should be considered, or discussion is cursory or has inaccuracies

Does not summarize the key points of interest if the firm had to file voluntary bankruptcy

12.86

Corporation: Forced Bankruptcy

Identifies the key areas of concern if the firm was forced into bankruptcy and the defenses available in this situation

Identifies the key areas of concern if the firm was forced into bankruptcy but does not identify defenses available, or identification is cursory or has inaccuracies

Does not identify the key areas of concern if the firm was forced into bankruptcy

12.86

Corporation: Liquidate

Illustrates calculations and ensures all information is entered accurately

Illustrates calculations but there are inaccuracies

Does not illustrate calculations 12.86

Articulation of Response

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

9.98

Total 100%

New Harbor Community Center—Part 1

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Discussion: New Harbor Community Center—Part 1

Human and social service work necessarily involves sensitive client issues such as poverty, discrimination, lack of access, and medical and mental health needs. Last week you explored some of the particular challenges that may arise during group work, such as greater risks for confidentiality breaches or the skill base needed to work with multiple people at once. Working with communities can present some of the same challenges—and poses some unique ones too.

Conducting work within communities often requires a holistic, preventative, and social justice outlook on community support and success. It also requires coordination of many different stakeholders, both in and out of the community (e.g., policymakers). When successfully implemented, community work allows human and social services professionals to go beyond treatment of individuals to look at the improvements that can be made within the system to treat, solve, and ultimately prevent issues.

For this Discussion, you examine a community scenario for particular ethical considerations that would be most important to consider for the case.

To Prepare:

Review Chapter 13 in your course text Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions and the NOHS ethical standards, specifically the “Responsibilities to Public and Society” section.

Consider the New Harbor Community Center scenario in the Interactive Learning Community with Robert Johnson, located in the Weekly Resources.

Post an explanation of the most important ethical considerations that Robert must be aware of and what he can do to ensure that he does not cross any boundaries. Provide references to the NOHS standards and the literature to support your response.

explain a task or a project at a medium level of difficulty. For example, you couldn’t do something like making Kraft Mac and Cheese.

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Example is in attached file 

These are the guidelines for the written instructions.

These instructions are typically 4-5 pages long, you need to use at least 5 visuals (can be hand drawn, scanned in, Clip Art, etc). Typically, the instructions are about 12-15 steps long.

There are two examples of written instructions in the pink booklet of sample assignments. Also, make sure to review Chapter 6 in our textbook for more information.

With written instructions, you need to explain a task or a project at a medium level of difficulty. For example, you couldn’t do something like making Kraft Mac and Cheese. That’s too basic. You could do something like making homemade lasagna.

Most people choose to explain how to cook or bake something, an arts and crafts project, doing a basic woodworking project, car repair, maintaining a piece of sporting equipment (tuning skis, truing a bike wheel, etc), some type of first aid procedure, etc.

You need to use the main headings that I have suggested, but you can vary them slightly. For instance, you might have Tools, Supplies, and Materials, rather than Ingredients, Utensils, and Mixing Bowls.

In the Estimated Time and Cost, you need to have a basic introduction of your instructions to explain the time involved, the approximate cost (if appropriate), the 4-5 main steps, and then most critical step of all.

In the Instructions, you typically will have 12-15 steps. That is about average. You can give tips, suggestions, and anticipate potential problems. If you want to use a Note to point out something more, do that underneath a step (see the examples in the booklet).

Try to begin most of your steps with a command like: Place, Position, Move, Grasp, etc. Look at the example of the one on Pecan Tassies to see what I mean. Also, try not to use more than about two-three sentences per step.

Then, you have Final Reminders where you review the 4-5 main steps, stress the most critical step of all again, and give some final thoughts on the project.

Make sure that when you are doing the instructions that you encourage your reader that he/she can do the task or project.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

What Does “Levels of Evidence” Mean in Evidence-Based Practice?

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In evidence-based practice (EBP), we talk a lot about “Levels of Evidence.” You will see levels of evidence (LOE) ratings on critically appraised topics or synopses of original research, or in the methodology section or evidence table of a clinical practice guideline or systematic review. But what does an LOE rating tell you?

Levels of evidence are like a pyramid. The strongest evidence is at the top
The strongest levels of evidence are at the top of the hierarchy. Photo credit: Unsplash.com

The last two blog posts focused on pre-appraised evidence and on the quality of evidence pyramid – information that is related to levels of evidence or an evidence hierarchy. This post will focus on level of evidence scales – what they are and how to interpret them.

What is a Levels of Evidence Scale and What Does it Tell You?
Anytime we consult the literature to answer a clinical question, we must evaluate the quality of the study. Once we critically appraise a study, the quality of the evidence is graded according to an established scale or hierarchy.

Level of evidence scales are rating scales. They provide a rating of the strength of the evidence, ranging from a summary to a manufacturer’s recommendation. The higher the evidence is in the hierarchy, the stronger the evidence. How the “strength” of the evidence is judged varies among the rating scales. Strength may be identified according to the type of study design and may also take into account how rigorous the research methodology was in relation to the type of study design and/or the results of the study.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the strongest research designs for treatment or intervention studies because they exert the most control over the methods. More control means there is less of a chance of systematic or random error and therefore, the results are considered more trustworthy. However, not all RCTs are well-conducted nor always reported in the literature with the level of detail needed to critique the quality of the study; therefore, it can be difficult to decide whether the results can be believed and used in clinical practice.

Because summaries contain evidence from the lower levels of the hierarchy, including RCTs and evidence syntheses, they are considered the highest form of evidence accessible to all clinicians. (See my post on the 6S pyramid for more explanation.)

The strength of the evidence is usually designated with numbers (e.g., Level 1,2,3 or Level I, II, III) or qualifiers of study quality such as “high” or “low.” Some LOE scales use letter grades (e.g., Level A, B, C); these scales can be confusing when paired with grades for practice recommendations — I’ll talk about practice grades next time.

By the way, just because I say a study is at a “lower level” on a hierarchy of evidence scale, doesn’t mean that it was a poorly done study – be clear about that! It just means that there are other study designs that are stronger because they afford more control for the researcher to reduce or eliminate bias. So we have less “confidence” in the results of lower level studies because we know there is more chance for error.

Also, know that there are poorly done RCTs – and they would be judged lower on the quality scale than a well-done observational study! Expert opinion or expert consensus evidence is at the lowest level of evidence for most hierarchies, but personally, I’d rely on these evidence sources over a “higher level” study design about which I had many questions related to methodology.

Which Levels of Evidence Scale Should You Use?
There is NO universal LOE scale that everyone uses so there are lots of different LOE scales out there.

You might be asking why there is more than one levels of evidence hierarchy. That’s a good question, but the bottom line is that different clinical questions require different levels of evidence (see the table below). Professional organizations frequently use their own scales (e.g., American Heart Association, American College of Chest Physicians); publishing companies and evidence-based practice textbooks have developed their own scales, too (e.g., Elsevier, UpToDate). Melynk & Fineout-Overholt (2015) developed a widely used LOE scale for questions about therapy based on the literature.

In some scales, Level 1 evidence is the strongest evidence and in others, Level 5 is the strongest. Some LOE scales are based only on the research design and others provide levels identified by the judgment of the quality of the study itself.

Originally, levels of evidence systems were designed to assess the quality of intervention (treatment) studies only, but there are now levels of evidence scales for studies questioning etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and harm. Just realize that a high level of evidence for a treatment study (e.g., a summary or systematic review of RCTs) may not be the highest level of evidence for a study of prognosis (Glasziou, Vandenbroucke, & Chalmers, 2004).

Search for the highest level of evidence that matches your Clinical Question

(Sources: Fineout-Overholt & Johnson, 2005; Howick et al., 2011; Winona State University, 2017)

There are some LOE scales that are widely known and used by many researchers and scholars: Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, US Preventive Services Task Force, Joanna Briggs Institute, The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-based Practice Rating Scale, AACN’s Levels of Evidence, and the LOE scale developed by Melynk and Fineout-Overholt (2015) are some examples.

The important point for you to understand right now is that there is no commonly or universally used LOE scale! That means that you cannot assume that a Level 1 is the same “strength” in all scales. So the caution here is to understand which LOE scale is being used for the article or source you are reading. This information is usually found in the introduction or the methods section or identified in an evidence table.

If you have to determine the level of evidence for studies you are reading for a school paper or project, the first thing to do is see if the instructor has prescribed a specific LOE scale to use in the assignment directions. I would assign a specific LOE scale for my students to use so that they were all “speaking” the same language. So check first before searching!

If the instructor wants you to choose which scale to use, then you have a lot of choices. You want to use the scale that makes sense with the clinical question you are asking. Are you writing an evidence paper about medical or nursing interventions? Then your LOE scale needs to identify pre-appraised evidence of summaries or syntheses as the highest level of evidence. If your paper is about the cost of a specific intervention, then I’d be looking for synthesis evidence of economic evaluations. If you are writing a paper about patient experiences, I’d be looking for a meta-synthesis.

Because nursing research uses a variety of research designs, I’d suggest using a scale that includes descriptive and qualitative studies in the evidence hierarchy. The Joanna Briggs Institute Levels of Evidence, The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-based Practice Rating Scale, AACN’s Levels of Evidence, or the LOE scale by Melynk and Fineout-Overholt (2015) are good choices to rate your research studies.

As the Howick et al. (2011) noted: “no evidence ranking system or decision tool can be used without a healthy dose of judgment and thought.” Keep that statement in mind as you explore and use these LOE scales.

References
Fineout-Overholt, E., & Johnston, L. (2005). Teaching EBP: Asking searchable, answerable clinical questions. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 2(3), 157-160.

Glasziou, P., Vandenbroucke, J., & Chalmers, I. (2004). Assessing the quality of research. British Medical Journal, 328(7430), 39-41.

Howick, J., Chalmers, I., Glasziou, P., Greenhalgh, T., Heneghan, C., Liberati, A., … Thornton, H. (2011). The 2011 Oxford CEBM levels of evidence: Introductory document. Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. http://www.cebm.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/CEBM-Levels-of-Evidence-Introduction-2.1.pdf

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2015). Evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare: A guide to best practice (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health.

Winona State University Library. (2017). Levels of evidence. http://libguides.winona.edu/ebptoolkit

recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems

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Written Assignment 1: Trace the Scientific Method in a Primary Scientific Article

Addresses course outcomes 1 and 4:

recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems

weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge and the scientific method

Before starting this assignment you might want to revisit the Scientific Method Tutorial in the Science Learning Center under the Content area.

Please review one of the provided Science Daily articles and the corresponding peer-reviewed scholarly written article below.

Identify and describe the steps of the scientific method. Which observations do you think the scientists made leading up to this research study? Given your understanding of the experimental design, formulate a specific hypothesis that is being tested in this experiment. If a hypothesis is stated, please rewrite it IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Describe the experimental design including control and treatment group(s), and dependent and independent variables. Summarize the results and the conclusion (50 points)

Criticize the research described. Things to consider: Were the test subjects and treatments relevant and appropriate? Was the sample size large enough? Were the methods used appropriate? Can you think of a potential bias in a research study like this? What are the limitations of the conclusions made in this research study? Address at least two of these questions in your critique of the research study (20 points).

Discuss the relevance of this type of research, both for the world in general andfor you personally (20 points). Proper grammar will count for 10 points.

Write a paper with title page, introduction, paragraphs addressing the questions, conclusion and references. You must write in your own words and paraphrase information from the selected information sources, addressing each of the questions for your chosen topic. Your paper should consist of less than 10% direct quotes. Your paper should be 500 – 750 words, excluding references and title page. Use APA style for references, see https://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/apa_tutorial.cfm

Multivitamins in pregnancy may be linked to lower autism risk in children

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171004190457.htm. An international research team set out to assess whether nutrient supplementation during pregnancy is associated with reduced risk of autism spectrum disorder, with and without intellectual disability.

Journal Reference: DeVilbiss, E. A., Magnusson, C., Gardner, R. A.,Rai, D., Newschaffer, C.J. Lyall, K., Dalman, C. Lee, B.K., Antenatal nutritional supplementation and autism spectrum disorders in the Stockholm youth cohort: population based cohort study. BMJ, 2017 Oct 4;359:j4273. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.j4273

Nursing Assignments

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Research (graded) Give a brief definition of nursing research and evidenced-based research. Explain differences and similarities. Remember to use references. w Role of Research (graded) Why should nurses incorporate research? What trends have created a push for nursing practice based on evidence? Remember to use references. week 2 Describe a Significant Clinical Issue (graded) Reflect on your practice and identify a significant clinical issue that you would like to search for evidence in online sources. This issue will be the basis for the Research Database Assignment that you will submit Week 4. Describe what makes your issue significant, for example, the seriousness, the number of people affected, the gaps in knowledge, and so forth. Remember to integrate references. Formulate Searchable Clinical Questions (graded) Read the assigned case study and formulate searchable, clinical questions in the PICO(T) format. There are several potential questions that could be asked. Identify if the focus of your question is assessment, etiology, treatment, or prognosis. Remember to integrate references. week 3 Research Problems and Designs (graded) Using your Significant Clinical Issue from Week 2, describe the knowledge gap that research could fill. Identify the PICO(T) elements that might be found in a research question related to the problem. Share a Research Database Description (graded) Review the guidelines, grading rubric, and brief video (link found in guidelines) that explain the Research Database Assignment due in Week 4. Search for one research database that is relevant to this assignment, and briefly describe the issue you are investigating, the name of the research database, and where it may be found, that is, the URL. USE THE FORM IN THE ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES Briefly describe your process for locating databases that contain relevant research studies. Did you have any difficulties or face any challenges? week 4 Sampling (graded) The most common sampling method is the convenience sample; therefore, many of the studies that you find for evidence use this sampling method. What are the implications for using a convenience sample on the way you interpret and use the findings? Ethical and Legal Issues (graded) Read one of the case studies from Your Genes, Your Choices: Exploring the Issues Raised by Genetics Research (a PDF of this may be downloaded from Doc Sharing). Consider the legal and ethical issues that may occur as the result of genetics research. Identify the name of the case and explain something new that you learned about ethical and legal issues regarding research by completing this statement, “I didn’t know _____.” The legal/ethical dilemmas discussed in these cases are timeless, but the details of the case studies may be dated. If you would prefer, you may discuss a legal/ethical issue issue you have faced at your facility instead of analyzing a case. week 5 Measurement Strategies (graded) Describe what reliability means in terms of research and why it is important. How does a researcher ensure that reliability is maintained in instruments and between raters? Data Collection (graded) Download the Class Survey from Doc Sharing and answer the questions. You are not to submit your answers, nor is the survey graded. This experience is to provide you with insight into being a human subject. What was your impression of this data collection tool and the type of questions it asked? week 6 Applying Evidence From Research Reports (graded) Consider a policy or procedure at your facility that you believe may be not following best practices. Search for at least two research reports (preferably systematic reviews) that address the policy or procedure. Cite your sources. After reading the results sections of the reports, would you recommend to keep or change your current policy or procedure? Defend your decision based on the strength of the evidence. Analyzing Results (graded) Earlier in the course you were asked to complete the Class Survey. The results are in! Findings from students who have taken NR439 can be found in Doc Sharing. Review these and describe what the results say about this sample of students. week 7 Applying Evidence to Practice (graded) How does a nurse know what (if any) knowledge in a research study is useable for clinical practice? What would a critical thinker look for in the evidence before deciding to change? What influence do credibility and significance have on your decisions to integrate research-based evidence into your practice? Sharing Evidence (graded) Discuss the research databases that you discovered related to the clinical issue that you chose for the Research Databases Assignment. Summarize the evidence you found in your Research Database Assignment. Explain how you would share this with your clinical practice area. ASSIGNMENTS Research Database Assignment – Week 4 Guidelines and Grading Rubric Purpose You are to locate and document research databases that relate to a significant clinical nursing issue of your choice. The research databases may be labeled as such, or may be collections of research studies, reports, articles and/or findings that are not specifically called databases. Please note: Individual journals and journal articles do not meet the criteria for a research database, and therefore, do not qualify for this assignment. Course Outcomes This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcome: CO 1: Examine the sources of evidence that contribute to professional nursing practice. (PO #7) Due Date: You are to identify a total of five research databases (or collections of research-based evidence) that are relevant to a significant clinical nursing issue that is important to you. Submit the descriptions using the form provided in Doc Sharing to the Week 4 Dropboxby11:59 p.m. Sunday (MT). Points The assignment is worth a total of 175 points. Please see the grading rubric for details. Requirements 1. Choose a topic of interest to you that is a significant clinical nursing issue. Please note that the databases you identify could be useful sources of information for your Capstone project in NR451, so choose your topic thoughtfully. 2. Download the NR439_Research_Database_Form from Doc Sharing and type information about each database directly onto the form. Your paper does NOT need to follow APA formatting; however, you are expected to use correct grammar, spelling, syntax, and write in complete sentences. 3. Save the file by clicking Save as and adding your last name, e.g., NR439_Research Database_Smith.docx. 4. Watch the video that describes this assignment by opening this link:.brainshark.com/devry/vu?pi=zHpzpHehxzHr05z0&intk=45814200″>http://www.brainshark.com/devry/vu?pi=zHpzpHehxzHr05z0&intk=45814200 5. Describe your topic of interest. This is worth 15 points. 6. Locate a total of five research databases or collections related to your topic. Each research database description is worth 30 points. You may search for these in various locations, e.g., the Internet, an intranet at work, print publications, etc. You may NOT choose the databases that are already familiar to you – MEDLINE, PUBMED (which also indexes MEDLINE), GOOGLE SCHOLAR, and CINAHL. Instead, you are expected to expand your knowledge of evidence-based sources. Places to help you begin include your textbook, which lists databases and websites that report research. The Chamberlain online library (.chamberlain.edu/”>http://library.chamberlain.edu) gives you access to several databases and provide tutorials for searching. Government sites such as those at the National Institutes of Health offer collections of research on a variety of subjects. The key to choosing the databases is that each contains research-based evidence that also pertains to your topic of interest. 7. Review each database or collection to gather information to create a description for the assignment. Each description must: a. identify the title of the research database; b. describe the location of the research database in a way that a reader could find it. This could be a URL or an APA citation; c. name owner or publisher of the source; d. describe the research database. This must be in your own words and not copied and pasted from the original source. Include the purpose of the database and the subject matter it covers. This may be four or five sentences; and e. explain how the research found in the database relates to your topic of interest. This may be an additional paragraph, perhaps two or three sentences. 8. Submit to the Research Database basket in the Dropbox by 11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 4. Please post question about this paper in the Q & A Forum. Example The following is an example of a description for JBI: Title of source:Joanna Briggs Institute for Evidence-Based Nursing and Midwifery Location of source (URL):.joannabriggs.edu.au/”>www.joannabriggs.edu.au Owner or publisher:Joanna Briggs Institute for Evidence-Based Nursing and Midwifery (JBI) Describe (in your own words) the research database or collection of research including the purpose and the subject matter it covers: The Joanna Briggs Institute is an international not-for-profit Research and Development Organization that provides evidence-based resources for healthcare professionals in nursing, midwifery, medicine, and allied health. Those with membershipare able to obtain evidence-based practice information from systemic reviews, evaluation reports, electronic journals, best-practice information, and consumer healthcare information. Explain how the source relates to your topic of interest: JBI is relevant to my topic of interest because it provides reports, systemic reviews, journal Articles, and best-practice information on current issues in healthcare. Hospital readmissions are a major issue in healthcare. The database had several resources addressing the problem of hospital readmissions and identifying strategies for improvement. Research Database Assignment Form Type your answers to the following questions using complete sentences and correct grammar, spelling, and syntax. Click Save as and save the file with your last name and assignment, e.g., NR439_Research_Database_Smith. Submit to the Research Database basket in the Dropbox by11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 4. The guidelines and grading rubric for this assignment may be found in Doc Sharing. Name: [replace this text with your name] Describe briefly your topic of interest/research question(15 possible points): #1 Database (or collection) (30 possible points): Title of Database: Location of Database (URL): Owner or publisher of Database: Describe (in your own words) the research database or collection of research including the purpose and the subject matter it covers: Explain how the databaserelates to your topic of interest/question: #2 Database (or collection) (30 possible points): Title of Database: Location of Database (URL): Owner or publisher of Database: Describe (in your own words) the research database or collection of research including the purpose and the subject matter it covers: Explain how the databaserelates to your topic of interest/question: #3 Database (or collection) (30 possible points): Title of Database: Location of Database (URL): Owner or publisher of Database: Describe (in your own words) the research database or collection of research including the purpose and the subject matter it covers: Explain how the databaserelates to your topic of interest/question: #4 Database (or collection) (30 possible points): Title of Database: Location of Database (URL): Owner or publisher of Database: Describe (in your own words) the research database or collection of research including the purpose and the subject matter it covers: Explain how the databaserelates to your topic of interest/question: #5 Database (or collection) (30 possible points): Title of Database: Location of Database (URL): Owner or publisher of Database: Describe (in your own words) the research database or collection of research including the purpose and the subject matter it covers: Explain how the databaserelates to your topic of interest/question: WEEK 5 Reading Research Literature #1 Guidelines and Grading Rubric – Week 5 Purpose The student will read research literature to determine the research purpose, question, design, peer-review status, study characteristics, conflict of interest, population, sampling, vulnerable subjects, and HIPAA concerns. Course Outcomes This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes: CO 2: Apply research principles to the interpretation of the content of published research studies. (PO #4 and 8) CO 4: Evaluate published nursing research for credibility and lab significance related to evidence-based practice. (PO #4 and 8) Due Date:Submit to the Reading Research Literature #1 basket in the Dropbox by11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 5. Requirements 1. Download the research articles from the Chamberlain library. Retrieve the following research articles:Make sure you are viewing the full text PDF. If you view the article in HTML format, you may not be able to see the tables and figures that are referenced in the questions. Sanford, J., Townsend-Rocchicciolli, J., Horigan, A., & Hall, P. (2011). A process of decision making by caregivers of family members with heart failure. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 25(1), 55–70..devry.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/853503862/354CEF3F10A4D9CPQ/6?accountid=147674″>http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/853503862/354CEF3F10A4D9CPQ/6?accountid=147674 Schwarz, K. A., Mion, L. C., Hudock, D., & Litman, G. (2008). Telemonitoring of heart failure patients and their caregivers: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 23, 18–26..devry.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2009875572&site=ehost-live”>http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2009875572&site=ehost-live 2. Download NR439_RRL1_form and type answers to the questions directly onto the form. Your paper does NOT need to follow APA formatting; however, you are expected to use correct grammar, spelling, syntax, and write in complete sentences. 3. Save the file by clicking Save as and adding your last name, e.g., NR439_RRL1_Smith.docx. 4. Watch the video on how to complete this assignment by opening this link:.brainshark.com/devry/vu?pi=zGLz8YKmYzHr05z0&intk=958145897″>http://www.brainshark.com/devry/vu?pi=zGLz8YKmYzHr05z0&intk=958145897 5. Submit to the Reading Research Literature #1 basket in the Dropbox by11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 5. Please post questions about this paper in the Week 5 Q & A Forum. Points:This assignment is worth 225 points. Grading Criteria Reading Research Literature #1 – Week 5 Type your answers to the following questions using complete sentences and correct grammar, spelling, and syntax. Click Save as and save the file with your last name and assignment, e.g.,NR439_RRL1_Smith. Submit to the Reading Research Literature #1 basket in the Dropbox by11:59 pm MT Sunday at the end of Week 5. The guidelines and grading rubric for this assignment may be found in Doc Sharing. Title: RRL#1 Name: [replace this text with your name] The following questions pertain to: Sanford, J., Townsend-Rocchicciolli, J., Horigan, A., & Hall, P. (2011). A process of decision making by caregivers of family members with heart failure.Research & Theory for Nursing Practice, 25(1), 55–70. 1) What is the purpose of this research? 2) What is the research question (or questions)? This may be implicit or explicit. 3) Did the authors describe the design of this study? If so, give a description. 4) What characteristics does this study possess that are qualitative in nature? Review Chapter 2. 5) What is the evidence that this journal is peer-reviewed? Does the journal have an editorial board? (Look for the journal’s website to discover this information) 6) Is there evidence of any conflict of interest? Do the authors have any potential financial gain from the results of this study? 7) Describe the population for this study. 8) How was the sample selected? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this sampling strategy? 9) Were the subjects in this study vulnerable? Were there any risks for them as the result of participation in the research study? 10) Are there any HIPAA concerns that are evident in this study? The following questions pertain to:Schwarz, K., Mion, P., Hudock, D., & Litman, G. (2008). Telemonitoring of heart failure patients and their caregivers: A pilot randomized controlled study. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 23(1), 18–26. 11) What is the purpose of this research? 12) What is the research question (or questions)? This may be implicit or explicit. 13) Did the authors describe the design of this study? If so, give a description. 14) What characteristics does this study possess that are quantitative in nature? Review Chapter 2. 15) What is the evidence that this journal is peer-reviewed? Does the journal have an editorial board? (Look for the journal’s website to discover this information) 16) Is there evidence of any conflict of interest? Do the authors have any potential financial gain from the results of this study? 17) Describe the population for this study. 18) How was the sample selected? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this sampling strategy? 19) Were the subjects in this study vulnerable? Were there any risks for them as the result of participation in the research study? 20) Are there any HIPAA concerns that are evident in this study? WEEK 6 Reading Research Literature #2 – Week 6 (3 Pages) Type your answers to the following questions using complete sentences and correct grammar, spelling, and syntax. Click Save as and save the file with your last name and assignment, e.g.,NR439_RRL2_Smith. Submit to the Reading Research Literature #2 basket in the Dropbox by11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 6. The guidelines and grading rubric for this assignment may be found in Doc Sharing. Title: RRL#2 Name: [replace this text with your name] The following questions pertain to: Sanford, J., Townsend-Rocchicciolli,J., Horigan, A., & Hall, P. (2011). A process of decision making by caregivers of family members with heart failure. Research & Theory for Nursing Practice, 25(1), 55–70. 1) What methods were put in place to ensure that the subjects were giving true informed consent? 2) What was the setting for the study? 3) Was the sample adequate for the research design that was selected? 4) Describe the data collection procedure. 5) What did the authors say about the reliability and validity of their data collection and analysis? 6) What demographic information was reported? 7) What were the variables that were studied? 8) How were the data analyzed after collection? Was there any special software used? 9) Discuss the use of any figures, graphs, and tables. Was the information conveyed in an understandable and meaningful way? 10) Discuss the authors’ conclusions. Do you feel these conclusions are based on the data that they collected? The following questions pertain to:Schwarz, K., Mion, P., Hudock, D., & Litman, G. (2008). Telemonitoring of heart failure patients and their caregivers: A pilot randomized controlled study. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 23(1), 18–26. 11) What methods were put in place to ensure that the subjects were giving true informed consent? 12) What was the setting for the study? 13) Was the sample adequate for the research design that was selected? 14) Describe the data collection procedure. 15) How did the authors address the reliability and validity of their data collection and analysis of the instruments used? 16) What limitations did the authors face in data collection? How could these have been lessened or minimized? 17) What demographic information was reported by the authors? 18) What were the variables that were studied? 19) Were there any inferential tests used in the analysis of data in this study? If so, what were they? 20) Discuss the use of any figures, graphs, and tables. Was the information conveyed in an understandable and meaningful way? Reading Research Literature #2 Guidelines and Grading Rubric – Week 6 Purpose The student will read research literature to determine the informed consent, study setting, sample size, data collection procedures, reliability and validity, demographic information, variables, data analysis, figures, and conclusions. Course Outcomes This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes: CO 2: Apply research principles to the interpretation of the content of published research studies. (PO #4 and 8) CO 4: Evaluate published nursing research for credibility and lab significance related to evidence-based practice. (PO #4 and 8) Due Date:Submit to the Reading Research Literature #2 basket in the Dropbox by11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 6. Requirements 1. Download the research articles from the Chamberlain library.Make sure you are viewing the full text PDF. If you view the article in HTML format, you may not be able to see the tables and figures that are referenced in the questions. Retrieve the following research articles: Sanford, J., Townsend-Rocchicciolli, J., Horigan, A., & Hall, P. (2011). A process of decision making by caregivers of family members with heart failure. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 25(1), 55–70..devry.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/853503862/354CEF3F10A4D9CPQ/6?accountid=147674″>http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/853503862/354CEF3F10A4D9CPQ/6?accountid=147674 Schwarz, K. A., Mion, L. C., Hudock, D., & Litman, G. (2008). Telemonitoring of heart failure patients and their caregivers: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 23, 18–26..devry.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2009875572&site=ehost-live”>http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2009875572&site=ehost-live 2. Download NR439_RRL2_form and type answers to the questions directly onto the form. Your paper does NOT need to follow APA formatting; however, you are expected to use correct grammar, spelling, syntax, and write in complete sentences. 3. Watch the video on how to complete this assignment by opening the link: .brainshark.com/devry/vu?pi=zGdzBrSTYzHr05z0&intk=643784797″>http://www.brainshark.com/devry/vu?pi=zGdzBrSTYzHr05z0&intk=643784797 4. Save the file by clicking Save as and adding your last name, e.g., NR439_RRL2_Smith.docx. 5. Submit to the Reading Research Literature #2 basket in the Dropbox by11:59 p.m. MT Sunday at the end of Week 6. Please post questions about this paper in the Q & A Forum. Points:This assignment is worth 225 point

Based on your resources this week, choose three areas of language acquisition that you found most interesting and that were unknown to you prior to this week.

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Language Acquisition

Prior to beginning this discussion, please read the following required articles:

  • “Language Acquisition Socialization: Sociocognitive and Complexity Theory Perspectives”
  • “The Learning Brain: Lessons for Education: A Précis”
  • “The Cultural-Historical Foundations of the Zone of Proximal Development”
  • “Self-Determination, Self-Regulation, and the Brain: Autonomy Improves Performance by Enhancing Neuroaffective Responsiveness to Self-Regulation Failure”
  • “Acquisition, Learning, or Development of Language? Skinner’s ‘Verbal Behavior’ Revisited”
  • “Linguistic variation and micro-cues in first language acquisition.”

Based on your resources this week, choose three areas of language acquisition that you found most interesting and that were unknown to you prior to this week.

In your initial post,

  • Explain the theoretical perspectives of each of these chosen areas.
  • Apply skeptical inquiry to a brief discussion about why language acquisition is an important area for scholars and educators to understand when developing learning opportunities.
  • Apply the concept of language acquisition to your own academic success. Has your own language development affected your success as a student? As an employee? How? Based on the resources and your current knowledge, do you believe you could develop areas of language acquisition, personally, that would be beneficial to you, your loved ones, or your friends?

Education and Delinquency Memo

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Education and Delinquency Memo

Imagine that local community activists have accused your school district of failing to address the issue of juvenile delinquents within the community. The superintendent of schools has requested that you prepare a memo to present to the school’s board of directors to address the situation.

Write a 700-word memo that that identifies and discusses the issues of school failure and how it relates to delinquency. Address why the association between school failure and delinquency is difficult to assess.

Format your memo consistent with APA guidelines.

The facility is in a beautiful bush setting with trees, native bird life, lovely outdoor recreational facilities and tables and seats to enjoy the fresh air and scenery.

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Assessment 1– Research Case Study 1

Scenario – Background

Gui works in an Alcohol and other Drug (AOD) facility just outside of Melbourne. The facility is in a beautiful bush setting with trees, native bird life, lovely outdoor recreational facilities and tables and seats to enjoy the fresh air and scenery. The clientele is comprised of a number of age groups with individuals there for the first time and others back for further treatment. Young people under 18 years are not represented highly among the live-in clientele who generally come from all age groups and backgrounds and present with both alcohol and drug problems – sometimes both at the same time. Most clients are only day attendees. There is no real trend, except for a slight spike of men over fifty being treated for alcoholism.

Lubna, who is the Director of the facility, is Gui’s boss. One day in the tea room, Lubna beckoned Gui over to have a private chat about a new resident named Courtney. She was admitted due to several life threatening binge drinking episodes – all within the past six months. After her last hospitalisation, her father agreed with clinicians that an alcohol treatment facility was needed to assist.

Gui had read Courtney’s referring notes and knew a little bit about her. She was 17 years old. Her mother passed away unexpectedly when she was 15, and now it is just her and dad. Still at school, she busses every day from her small rural hometown to the high school in the larger regional city nearby. Courtney would often arrive at school looking very tired and frequently went to sick bay to see the nurse. Generally she was quiet and well behaved, but an average student with little motivation. She has a few good friends at school, including some young people who lived in the town centre. Because her friends got up to lots of fun on the weekends Courtney tried to organise sleepovers whenever she could. Because her dad thought she needed some fun in her life he agreed she could go. This went okay for a while, but on the last two weekend sleepovers, which were three months apart, she had been hospitalised due to binge drinking. After the first incident she told her dad it was just an accident and would never happen again. Three months later he decided to let her go again, believing she had learnt her lesson. But it did happen again, and this time she was flown to Melbourne by air ambulance in a critical condition – only just making it.

However, that day on her morning walk through the grounds, Lubna had run into Courtney. She was sitting under a tree in the middle of some thick bush far away from the main building; an out of bounds area for all clients. Lubna said hello, and shouted out to be careful of the bull ants – which were notorious at that time of the year. Lubna soon noticed that Courtney was crying and seemed to be in some distress. Courtney seemed a little embarrassed at first, but quickly said sorry, got up and started walking to Lubna. They kept walking along the bush track and although unusual for Courtney, she instantly trusted Lubna and started to talk about the past few years.

Gui was curious about how Courtney had disappeared from the main area without staff knowing, and was immediately concerned about her state of mind. After talking to Courtney, Lubna was also eager to share her concerns with Gui.

Courtney mainly talked to Lubna about her mother’s death, living with just her dad and her boredom and loneliness, but she also opened up about her treatment at the facility. She didn’t like being in the same area as alcoholics, especially some of the older men whom she found gross and smelly. She felt unsafe around one man in particular who seemed to stare at her a lot. Courtney admitted to abusing alcohol, but she was no alcoholic and was upset and ashamed to be creating such a fuss for everyone.

She talked about how mean she was to her dad and how guilty she now felt. She normally had no feelings at all for her dad, usually feeling quite numb, if not slightly irritated with him. Her constant irritability was creating a giant wedge between them – but she couldn’t stop. Although he cooked her favourite meals on most nights, she often refused to eat, going to her room to be alone. Courtney’s father was worried because he thought she was losing too much weight; a constant cause of friction between them. She told Lubna he had got it all wrong – she was just fine, looking way better now that she had lost all her puppy fat – and some more.

Courtney used to go horse riding with her mum, and was quite a good rider. They were members of the local pony club, but she hadn’t ridden since her mother’s death. Her membership had now run out and no amount of coaxing from her dad would convince her to return. She confessed to Lubna that she snuck the occasional bottle of wine from her dad’s cellar under the house, but he didn’t really seem to notice. Her dad had always let her have a few sips of alcohol since she was a little girl, so she didn’t think it would matter. Courtney felt school was a drag because she couldn’t see how an education would make any difference to her life. Lubna could tell that Courtney’s feelings of sadness and hopelessness stopped her from trying to do well. But, Courtney could see no future for herself in the small country town she called home.

Courtney had pretty much lost interest in everything except for her few good friends – and drinking. She constantly worried about everything, biting her fingernails to the quick. About a year ago, Courtney’s dad had set up a visit for Courtney with the local doctor because he had noticed a change in her personality. The doctor thought she was just going through the normal process of grieving after the death of her mother and would come good soon. No additional counselling or support was arranged for her. Because Courtney always showed up at school and managed to ‘just’ pass most of the time, she was no real problem at school – flying low under the radar…

Gui listened attentively as Lubna conveyed Courtney’s sad story, thinking about how they might be able to help her. Lubna was also quite concerned and was thinking about the suitability of their normal treatment process for alcoholism. Someone from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) visited every day to run sessions with the clients, but attendance was voluntary and young people tended to avoid it. It was policy at the facility that clients who presented with a drinking problem should abstain completely. No alcohol or drugs were allowed on the premises at any time.

What did current research tell them about young people and binge drinking? Could parent’s do anything to prevent it? Why did some young people turn to binge drinking while others coped with the ups and downs of teenage life, even the loss of a parent. They both needed to find out more. With the conversation over, Gui returned to his clients, but agreed to carry out the research into evidence-based practice for clients like Courtney.

Part A

1. What do you think are the reasons, Gui and Lubna found it necessary to find out more about how to assist Courtney?

2. Gui wants to learn more about how to effectively treat young binge drinkers, but how can he be certain the information he finds is credible and trustworthy? Describe two ways to evaluate the validity of information sources. (Up to 80 words)

3. Conduct research on the internet and find four websites that are credible sources of information on mental health for Gui. State the name of the organisation/institution and include their web address.

4. Conduct research on the internet and find four websites that are credible sources of information on AOD for Gui. State the name of the organisation/institution and include their web address.

5. Explain the following terms. Indicate which term applies to the work Gui is about to undertake, and why?

i. evidence-based practice

ii. continuous quality improvement

iii. research

6. From your internet research identify two current evidence-based trends in mental health and/or AOD treatment. Examine core issues, such as:

• Patterns of use

• Implications for safety

• New treatments

• What is known and what is still to be learnt

(Up to 100 words)

7. For one of your selected evidence-based trends in mental health and/or AOD treatment, find out how the following research principles were applied:

i. where and how and the research was conducted

ii. the rules of evidence

iii. cultural considerations

iiii. ethical considerations

8. Research may be conducted for a number of reasons, including:

i. comparison

ii. hypothesis testing

iii. trend identification

iiii. own knowledge extension

v. to strengthen quality of own practice.

For each reason above, provide further detail on its purpose and benefits.

9. Of the above, which purpose applies to the research being conducted by Gui? Explain.

10. To be credible, Gui’s research must demonstrate processes that support the analysis of information. Explain how Gui could use the following processes to support his research:

i. comparing

ii. contrasting

iii. challenging

iiii. reflecting

v. distinguishing the relevant from the irrelevant

vi. using interdisciplinary connections

11. Explain how you think Gui should go about finding and evaluating his information. (Up to 80 words)

TASK 2

Gui asks you to assist him in his research. He had conducted some preliminary reading on young people and alcohol abuse, discovering there has been extensive research studies done both in Australia and overseas. Gui needed some clarity around his research objectives and a few questions answered.

1. Identify and write up two research objectives for Gui based on his work requirements. (Up to 50 words each)

2. Conduct research to answer the following questions that have been puzzling Gui:

i. Does excessive use of alcohol affect the academic performance of young people?

ii. How does a young person’s personality affect their likelihood of developing alcohol abuse problems? Is there any research that could link to Courtney’s personality profile?

iii. To prevent alcohol abuse problems in their teens, is it better for parents to start their children early on alcohol to make it a normal everyday thing, or, should they hold off as long as possible?

iiii. What are some school-based prevention strategies that could be incorporated at Courtney’s high school?

v. Should young people with alcohol abuse problems abstain completely from drinking? If not, then what should happen?

vi. Is comorbidity connected to young people who abuse alcohol?

vii. Is Courtney suffering any signs of a mental illness, or is her doctor right in thinking she was just going through normal grieving and would recover soon?

3. From the research you conducted for Gui, compare and contrast the different sources of information you found into a systematic but simple table. Prioritise the research findings into numerical order from most to least relevant information based on Gui’s research objectives.

(The simple table should be developed using word processing software in landscape orientation to fit in the columns.) Your table should include:

i. a priority numbering system with ‘1’ being most relevant

ii. the name of the research

iii. the web address

iiii. the body who conducted and/or funded the study

v. the strength of the information

vi. the currency of the information

vii. the reliability of the information

viii. the key findings of the research.

4. Write an informal email to Gui (of about one page), explaining:

i. the ways your research findings could be utilised in the treatment facility, including the feasibility, the benefits, and don’t forget the risks

ii. any current practices at the facility that you recommend should be changed

iii. two areas that still require further research and evaluation

iiii. two recommended actions to assist in the treatment of Courtney from a comorbidity perspective.

v. the duty of care to be applied along with all evidence-based new practices

The Internal Organization: Resources, Capabilities, Core Competencies, and Competitive Advantages

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Business Administration BUS 499

The Internal Organization: Resources, Capabilities, Core Competencies, and Competition Advantages

Welcome to the Business Administration Capstone.

In this lesson we will discuss The Internal Organization: Resources, Capabilities, Core Competencies, and Competitive Advantages

Next slide.

Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Analyze the internal environment of a company for strengths and weaknesses that impact the firm’s competitiveness.

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Analyze the internal environment of a company for strengths and weaknesses that impact the firm’s competitiveness; and

Use technology and information resources to research issues in strategic management.

Please go to the next slide.

Topics

Analyzing the Internal Organization

Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

Building Core Competencies

Outsourcing

Competencies, Strengths, Weaknesses, and Strategic Decisions

In order to achieve this objective, the following supporting topics will be covered:

Analyzing the internal organization;

Resources, capabilities, and core competencies;

Building core competencies;

Outsourcing; and

Competencies, strengths, weaknesses, and strategic decisions.

Next slide.

Internal Analysis

Traditional Factors

Global Mind-set

Bundles

In the global economy, traditional factors such as labor costs, access to financial resources and raw materials, and protected or regulated markets remain sources of competitive advantage, but to a lesser degree. On important reason is that competitors can apply their resources to successfully use an international strategy as a means of overcoming the advantages created by these more traditional sources.

Increasingly, those who analyze their firm’s internal organization should use a global mind-set to do so. A global mind-set is the ability to study an internal organization in ways that are not dependent on the assumptions of a single country, culture, or context. Because they are able to span artificial boundaries, those with a global mind-set recognize that their firms must possess resources and capabilities that allow understanding of and appropriate response to competitive situations that are influenced by country-specific factors and unique societal cultures.

Finally, analysis of the firm’s internal organization requires that evaluators examine the firm’s portfolio of resources and the bundles of heterogeneous resources and capabilities managers have created. This perspective suggests that individual firms possess at least some resources and capabilities that other companies do not.

Please go to the next slide.

Creating Value

Value

Measured by characteristics and attributes

Offer Superior Value

Source of Above-Average Returns

By exploiting their core competencies or competitive advantages to at least meet if not exceed the demanding standards of global competition, firms create value for customers. Value is measured by a product’s performance characteristics and by its attributes for which customers are willing to pay.

Firms with a competitive advantage offer value to customers that is superior to the value competitors provide. Firms create value by innovatively bundling and leveraging their resources and capabilities. Firms unable to creatively bundle and leverage their resources and capabilities in ways that create value for customers suffer performance declines. Sometimes, it seems that these declines may happen because firms fail to understand what customers value.

Ultimately, creating value for customers is the source of above-average returns for a firm. What the firm intends regarding value creation affects its choice of business-level strategy and its organizational structure.

Please go to the next slide.

Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

Resources

Tangible

Intangible

Capabilities

Competitive

Advantage

Strategic

Competiti

-veness

Core

Competencies

Discovering

Core

Competencies

Value

Chain

Analysis

Four Criteria

of Sustainable

Advantages

– Outsource

Valuable

Rare

Costly to Imitate

Nonsubstitutable

Resources, capabilities, and core competencies are the foundation of competitive advantage. Resources are bundled to create organizational capabilities. In turn, capabilities are the source of a firm’s core competencies, which are the basis of competitive advantages.

Please go to the next slide.

Resources

Tangible Resources

Financial

Organizational

Physical

Technological

Intangible Resources

Human

Innovation

Reputational

Broad in scope, resources cover a spectrum of individual, social, and organizational phenomena. Typically, resources alone do not yield a competitive advantage. In fact, a competitive advantage is generally based on the unique bundling of several resources.

Some of a firm’s resources are tangible while others are intangible. Tangible resources are assets that can be seen and quantified. Production equipment, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, and formal reporting structures are examples of tangible resources.

Intangible resources are assets that are rooted deeply in the firm’s history and have accumulated over time. Because they are embedded in unique patterns of routines, intangible resources are relatively difficult for competitors to analyze and imitate.

The four types of tangible resources are financial, organizational, physical, and technological. The three types of intangible resources are human, innovation, and reputational.

Please go to the next slide.

Capabilities

Resources purposely integrated

Critical to the building of competitive advantage

Evolve and develop over time

Capabilities exist when resources have been purposely integrated to achieve a specific task or set of tasks. These tasks range from human resources selection to product marketing and research and development activities.

Critical to the building of competitive advantages, capabilities are often based on developing, carrying, and exchanging information and knowledge through the firm’s human capital. Client-specific capabilities often develop from repeated interactions with clients and the learning about their needs that occurs.

As a result, capabilities often evolve and develop over time. The foundation of many capabilities lies in the unique skills and knowledge of a firm’s employees and, often, their functional expertise. Hence, the value of human capital in developing and using capabilities and, ultimately, core competencies cannot be overstated.

Please go to the next slide.

Core Competencies

Value Capabilities

Rare Capabilities

Costly-to-Imitate Capabilities

Unique historical conditions

Causally ambiguous

Social complexity

Nonsubstitutable Capabilities

Core competencies are capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over it rivals. Core competencies distinguish a company competitively and reflect its personality. Core competencies emerge over time through an organizational process of accumulating and learning how to deploy different resources and capabilities. As the capacity to take action, core competencies are crown jewels of a company, the activities the company performs especially well compared with competitors and through which the firm adds unique value to its goods or services over a long period of time.

Capabilities that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and nonsubstitutable are core competencies.

Value capabilities allow the firm to exploit opportunities or neutralize threats in its external environment. By effectively using capabilities to exploit opportunities, a firm creates value for customers.

Rare capabilities are capabilities that few, if any, competitors possess. Capabilities possessed by many rivals are unlikely to be sources of competitive advantage for any one of them. Instead, valuable but common resources and capabilities are sources of competitive parity. Competitive advantage results only when firms develop and exploit valuable capabilities that differ from those shared with competitors.

Costly-to-imitate capabilities are capabilities that other firms cannot easily develop. Capabilities that are costly to imitate are created because of one reason or a combination of three reasons. First, a firm sometimes is able to develop capabilities because of unique historical conditions. A second condition occurs when the link between the firm’s capabilities and its competitive advantage is causally ambiguous. Social complexity is the third reason that capabilities can be costly to imitate.

Nonsubstitutable capabilities are capabilities that do not have strategic equivalents. This final criterion for a capability to be a source of competitive advantage is that there must be no strategically equivalent valuable resources that are themselves either not rare or imitable.

Please go to the next slide.

Check Your Understanding

10

Value Chain

Understand the Parts

Template

Primary Activities

Support Activities

Value chain analysis allows the firm to understand the parts of its operations that create value and those that do not. Understanding these issues is important because the firm earns above-average returns only when the value it creates is greater that the costs incurred to create that value.

The value chain is a template that firms use to understand their cost position and to identify the multiple means that might be used to facilitate implementation of a chose business-level strategy. Today’s competitive landscape demands that firms examine their value chains in global, rather than a domestic-only context. In particular, activities associated with supply chains should be studied within a global context.

A firm’s value chain is segmented into primary and support activities. Primary activities are involved with a product’s physical creation, its sale and distribution to buyers, and its service after the sale. Support activities provide the assistance necessary for the primary activities to take place.

Please go to the next slide.

Outsourcing

What is Outsourcing

Purchase of a value-creating activity from an external supplier

Few organizations possess

Resources and capabilities

Concerned with how components, finished goods, or services will be obtained, outsourcing is the purchase of a value-creating activity from an external supplier. Not-for-profit agencies as well as for-profit organizations actively engage in outsourcing. Firms engaging in effective outsourcing increase their flexibility, mitigate risks, and reduce their capital investments. In multiple global industries, the trend toward outsourcing continues at a rapid pace.

Outsourcing can be effective because few, if any, organizations possess the resources and capabilities required to achieve competitive superiority in all primary and support activities.

Please go to the next slide.

Competencies, Strengths, Weaknesses, and Strategic Decisions

Why Analyze the Internal Organization

Identify strengths and weaknesses

Resources

Capabilities

Core Competencies

Having the Right Resources

Example of External Environment Affecting Competitive Advantage

Borders Group Incorporated

When firms analyze the internal organization, they are able to identify their strengths and weaknesses in resources, capabilities, and core competencies. An example of this would be when a firm has weak capabilities or does not have core competencies in areas required to achieve a competitive advantage. On the other hand, the firm could decide to outsource a function or activity where it is weak in order to improve its ability to use its remaining resources to create value.

After looking over the results of the examination dealing with a firm’s internal organization, managers should understand that having a significant quantity of resources is not the same as having the right resources. When we talk about the right resources, we refer to them as resources that have the potential to be formed into core competencies. These core competencies will then serve as the foundation for creating value for customers and developing competitive advantages.

Decision-makers sometimes become more focused and productive when looking to find the right resources, especially when the firm has constrained resources. Using tools like outsourcing can help a firm focus on its core competencies and use those as its source of competitive advantage. It is important to note that the value-creating abilities of core competencies should not be taken advantage of or relied on as a permanent competitive advantage. This is due to all core competencies having the potential to become core rigidities. Usually, events occurring in the firm’s external environment create conditions where core competencies can become core rigidities, generate inertia, and stifle innovation. The bad news about core capabilities deals with the external events that can take away the competitive advantage. This can occur when new competitors figure out a better way to serve the firm’s customers, when new technologies emerge, or when political or social events stir things up.

An example of external environment affecting a competitive advantage involves the Borders Group Incorporated. This company relied on its large storefronts that drew customers into their stores to browse through books and magazines in a pleasant atmosphere as sources of its competitive success. Over the years, however, digital technologies have rapidly changed customers’ shopping patterns for reading materials. We saw earlier that Amazon. com’s use of the Internet has significantly changed the competitive landscape for Borders and similar competitors. As a result, it is possible that Borders’ core competencies of store locations and a desirable physical environment for customers became core rigidities for this firm. This change eventually lead to Borders filing for bankruptcy in early 2011 and subsequent liquidation.

It is important that managers who are studying the firm’s internal organization take responsibility for making sure that core competencies do not become core rigidities.

Next slide.

13

Summary

Analyzing the Internal Organization

Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

Building Core Competencies

Outsourcing

Competencies, Strengths, Weaknesses, and Strategic Decisions

We have reached the end of this lesson. Let’s take a look at what we have covered.

First, we discussed value. Value is measured by a product’s performance characteristics and by its attributes for which customers are willing to pay.

Next, we went over resources. Tangible resources are assets that can be seen and quantified. Intangible resources are assets that are rooted deeply in the firm’s history and have accumulated over time.

We then talked about capabilities. Capabilities exist when resources have been purposely integrated to achieve a specific task or set of tasks.

Next, we discussed competencies. Core competencies are capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over it rivals.

We then went over value chain. Value chain analysis allows the firm to understand the parts of its operations that create value and those that do not.

Later in the lesson with a discussion on outsourcing. Concerned with how components, finished goods, or services will be obtained, outsourcing is the purchase of a value-creating activity from an external supplier.

Finally, to conclude the lesson we discussed competencies, strengths, weaknesses, and strategic decisions. We talked about the importance of having the right resources and considering the external environment. We also looked at the concept of core competencies and used the example of Borders Group Incorporated to illustrate the big picture.

This completes this lesson.

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