The Task
Your assignment is to create a 5-page argumentative/persuasive research paper given one of the following options:
Option 1. Argue for or against the best or worst investment choices.
Option 2. Argue for or against the acceptance of a rejected investment.
Option 3. Argue for or against the acceptance of two projects rather than one project.
The paper should cite approximately three peer reviewed full text journal articles retrieved from ProQuest, BE & T, InfoTrac, and Academic OneFile. Your paper should integrate at least the following elements:
 The presentation of a firm position regarding your stance or theory.
 An offering of a strong position using evidence-based argumentation.
 An address of opposing points as to present a well-rounded argument controlling personal biases and strengthening your argument while diminishing the opposition’s points.
 An effort to use evidence and argument flow as to instill a sense of trust into your reader.
Do you feel stuck while planning your argument? If so, then try jumpstarting the assignment by using the following steps:
1. Choose a stance you believe in and write down why you believe in the stance.
 Ask yourself the following questions:
 Who is my audience and which points will they be interested in?
 What kind of tone am I assuming for my argument?
 Does my tone match the audience? (If not, consider changing your tone.)
 Am I engaging in a fallacy or illogical stance? (Make sure you make sense or no one will believe you!)
 Would someone agree or disagree with me given my points? (Argue with yourself as to find the strengths and weaknesses of your stance.)
 Am I making a moral or cultural argument? (If so, you may need to reconsider a stance able to utilize scholarly literature.)
 Can I research my stance? (If not, you may need to consider a new stance.)
2. Research as to find the evidence needed to support your stance or theory. Seek the needed facts, quotes, and existing research you can use for your argument
3. Outline and write the essay starting with the evidence-supported defense of your points and slowly transition into an address of opposing points.
4. Provide a brief summary of the argument as to conclude the essay.

Course Syllabus

School of Business

BCOM/275 Version 1

Business Communication and Critical Thinking

Copyright © 2011 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Course Description

This course introduces students to the foundations of communication in a business setting. Students will develop skills in critical thinking and decision making through the forms of written communication, including memos, emails, business letters, and reports. Other topics include communication ethics and cross-cultural communications, personal communication styles, solving organizational problems, and the evaluation of an organizations strategic direction.

Policies

Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents:

 University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document.

 Instructor/Course policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum.

University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality.

Course Materials

Cheesebro, T., O’Connor, L., & Rios, F. (2010). Communicating in the workplace. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2009). Critical thinking (9th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

All electronic materials are available on the student website.

Week One: The Communication Process November 15~21, 2011 Details Due Points

Objectives

1.1 Explain the steps in the communication process.

1.2 Describe the roles of listening and responding in the communication process.

Readings

Read Ch. 1, 4 & 5 of Communicating in the Workplace.

Read Ch. 1 & 2 of Critical Thinking.

Read University of Phoenix Material: Communication Process

Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Participation &

Discussion Questions

Participate in class discussion.

Respond to weekly discussion questions.

Post at least 4 substantive responses to the Main forum by Saturday; post the remainder by Monday.

Saturday; Monday

4

Individual

Assignment 1.1

Complete Exercise 1.1 from Ch. 1 of Communicating in the Workplace.

Choose two misunderstandings you experienced and fill out the chart for these.

Monday

5

Course Design Guide

BCOM/275 Version 1

2

Respond to questions 1 and 2 shown under the chart for each example of a misunderstanding. In your response, include the following:

 Cite a meaningful misunderstanding rather than a general or less material misunderstanding.

 Use business- or work-related examples rather than personal ones.

 Identify the roles of the sender and receiver, such as manager, peer, subordinate, client, vendor, and so forth.

Week Two: Critical Thinking Applied to Effective Communication November 22~28, 2011 Details Due Points

Objectives

Conduct research using the online library, your text book and the Internet regarding the differences in culture, management styles, and communication strategies between the U.S. and Cambodia.  Analyze at least three potential management conflicts that may arise due to the identified differences and propose solutions for each to help combat these conflicts. Use at least one chart or graph in your PowerPoint presentation.

 

By Wednesday, September 17, 2014, submit a PowerPoint presentation (approximately 10 slides) containing both your assessment of the differences, as well as the potential conflicts. All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources. Please be sure to cite, in proper APA format, the information sources you used both within the body of your presentation and on a reference slide at the end of your presentation.

 

Also, you may use PowerPoint’s notes feature to further articulate your reasoning for the selection of the identified conflicts. Click here to learn how to use the notes feature.

Conduct research using the online library, your text book and the Internet regarding the differences in culture, management styles, and communication strategies between the U.S. and Cambodia.  Analyze at least three potential management conflicts that may arise due to the identified differences and propose solutions for each to help combat these conflicts. Use at least one chart or graph in your PowerPoint presentation.

 

By Wednesday, September 17, 2014, submit a PowerPoint presentation (approximately 10 slides) containing both your assessment of the differences, as well as the potential conflicts. All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources. Please be sure to cite, in proper APA format, the information sources you used both within the body of your presentation and on a reference slide at the end of your presentation.

 

Also, you may use PowerPoint’s notes feature to further articulate your reasoning for the selection of the identified conflicts. Click here to learn how to use the notes feature.

Weekly tasks or assignments (Individual or Group Projects) will be due by Monday, and late submissions will be assigned a late penalty in accordance with the late penalty policy found in the syllabus. NOTE: All submission posting times are based on midnight Central Time.

Key Assignment

Your final assignment as a financial management intern is to apply the knowledge that you acquired while engaging in the cost of capital and capital budgeting discussion you had with your colleagues. In this task, you will be evaluating a capital project using the weighted cost of capital for a firm using the market value rather than the book value of the components and the capital budgeting techniques presented in this phase.

First, recalculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) using the market value of equity to determine are more realistic cost of capital. You will need to visit a Web site to get the current value of the common stock price per share and multiply this value times the most recent number of shares of common stock outstanding. In this exercise, you will be ignoring preferred stock because its weight value will most likely be too low to impact the final result. You may use the following table to complete this portion of the task:

Company	Common Stock, price per share	Number of Common Shares Outstanding	Market Value of Common Equity

 

Now, you can estimate the total market value of the company by adding the book value of total liabilities to the market value of the firm’s common equity and determine their market value weights.

Company	Total Liabilities	Market Value of Common Equity	Market Value of the Firm
Values
Weights

 

Using the cost of each component as determined in the Phase 4 IP, calculate the firm’s market value WACC.

	After-Tax Cost of Debt	Cost of Common Equity	WACC
Unweighted Cost
Market Weight of Component
Market Weighted Cost of Component

 

The firm is considering investing in a capital project that will have an initial cost of $12 million. The project is expected to have a productive life of 5 years, and at the end of this period, it is expected to have a salvage value of $2 million. The net value of the project will be depreciated using the straight-line method for the full 5 years. The project is expected to increase the firm’s revenue by $10 million per year, and related expenses (not including depreciation) are expected to increase by about $6.5 million per year.

The first thing you need to do is calculate the annual depreciation. Feel free to use the following table:

Initial Investment
less Salvage Value
Depreciable Value
Life of Project (years)
Depreciation/year

In this assignment, you will research information related to the marketing and promotion of the acquisition by EDUS and provide an assessment. Click here to review the EDUS case and consider the following:

Topics for Research and Analysis

Promotional Goals: Identify specific objectives related to the promotion of EDUS’s acquisition of the institution. In addition, identify specific objectives related to informing potential students of new capabilities and offerings resulting from the acquisition. (Promotional goals vary. Some organizations need to create awareness of their product’s benefits compared to competitors. Other promotional goals may involve communicating new uses for an item, or informing customers or lower prices.)

Business Environment: Identify cultural and legal factors that might influence promotional decisions – both in announcing the acquisition within the region and recruiting new students to the institution. (In some countries, certain information is required in television commercials selling products aimed at children.)

Media Plan: Analyze media availability to determine cost-efficient methods of communicating with potential students within the country and within the geographic region. (While television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet may be common in industrialized countries, developing economies may require other different media. In some countries, advertising messages are broadcast through large speakers mounted on moving trucks.)

Promotional Strategy: Compare the benefits of push-and-pull promotions for acquiring new students at the institution. Devise a promotional strategy that will help EDUS expand the student body and also inform potential students of increased capability of the institution resulting from this acquisition.

Economic, Cultural, and Political-Legal Environment: Investigate the economic, cultural, and political-legal environment that might affect promotional messages and media relevant to this acquisition.

Recommended Actions: Recommend EDUS actions related to promotional goals, needed adaptations due to cultural or legal factors, and a media plan. Provide evidence to support your recommendations.

Conclusions: Draw conclusions about the material you have presented. The opinions or judgments you present should be supported by your research.

 

submit a PowerPoint presentation (approximately 10 slides) providing your analysis and research findings on the topics indicated. You are expected to include statistical data when possible, including tables, graphs, and other visuals that support and enhance your study. Most importantly, all written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

In this assignment, you will research information related to the marketing and promotion of the acquisition by EDUS and provide an assessment. Click here to review the EDUS case and consider the following:

Topics for Research and Analysis

Promotional Goals: Identify specific objectives related to the promotion of EDUS’s acquisition of the institution. In addition, identify specific objectives related to informing potential students of new capabilities and offerings resulting from the acquisition. (Promotional goals vary. Some organizations need to create awareness of their product’s benefits compared to competitors. Other promotional goals may involve communicating new uses for an item, or informing customers or lower prices.)

Business Environment: Identify cultural and legal factors that might influence promotional decisions – both in announcing the acquisition within the region and recruiting new students to the institution. (In some countries, certain information is required in television commercials selling products aimed at children.)

Media Plan: Analyze media availability to determine cost-efficient methods of communicating with potential students within the country and within the geographic region. (While television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet may be common in industrialized countries, developing economies may require other different media. In some countries, advertising messages are broadcast through large speakers mounted on moving trucks.)

Promotional Strategy: Compare the benefits of push-and-pull promotions for acquiring new students at the institution. Devise a promotional strategy that will help EDUS expand the student body and also inform potential students of increased capability of the institution resulting from this acquisition.

Economic, Cultural, and Political-Legal Environment: Investigate the economic, cultural, and political-legal environment that might affect promotional messages and media relevant to this acquisition.

Recommended Actions: Recommend EDUS actions related to promotional goals, needed adaptations due to cultural or legal factors, and a media plan. Provide evidence to support your recommendations.

Conclusions: Draw conclusions about the material you have presented. The opinions or judgments you present should be supported by your research.

 

submit a PowerPoint presentation (approximately 10 slides) providing your analysis and research findings on the topics indicated. You are expected to include statistical data when possible, including tables, graphs, and other visuals that support and enhance your study. Most importantly, all written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.