Section 3: Chapter 7 - Information and Decision Making Chapter 8 - Planning Processes and Techniques Chapter 9 - Strategy and Strategic

Management Study Activities You are encouraged to utilize the resources found under Library Services and Resources in the completion of this course. The Self-Test found at the end of each chapter is an excellent means of testing your understanding of the assigned chapters. The answers to the Self-Test can be found at the back of the book under AN-1 Self-Test answers. Please read chapters 7, 8, and 9.

Assignment 6 Class Participation Discussion Forum Current News and Events Please review the Class Participation Policy located in the Course Essentials section of the syllabus for this course. Learners are expected to have weekly interaction with the Faculty Mentor as well as with other Learners through class participation in the Class Discussion Forum. Learners must post to the Course Discussion Forum at least once each week. The post should be a direct response to the topic for the week and include brief commentary on the posts of other classmates. Your post must be substantial and thoughtful and be a minimum of 250 words. It is recommended that you write your post in Word to track your word count and then copy and paste it into the discussion forum space in the course syllabus.

Each Learner will prepare a short discussion of an article on Strategic Management that is related to the objectives of the course. Your class participation assignment is to select the news item and discuss it with the class via the Class Participation Forum. Discuss a news item or event that has arisen within the past month that has relevance to Strategic Management. Include the following: o Topic: Culture Plays a Key Role in Customer Relationships o Date: April 12, 2013 o Source: http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/CRM-News/DailyNews/Culture-Plays-a-Key-Role-in-Customer-Relationships-88764.aspx o Summary: We know that no matter where we work culture plays an important role in the success of any organization. It is one of the building blocks to put together a strong team, increase sales and retain customers. The company must strategically align their teams around the culture. When planning and establishing this alignment, the company must be clear and

precise about their goals and missions. Adopting these values and norms must be implemented throughout the company. o Conclusions: This is true. I work for a startup company and this company is trying their best to establish their reputation in the construction industry. It is a trial and error right now since we have to deal with two very different cultures. The parent company is in Asia and they work long hours with no flex time. Here in the United States, we work between 8 to 10 hours per day five days a week. Although the parent company would like us to adopt their working culture, they would end up losing most of their employees. Our working culture here is very different from another country. Furthermore, I have read that working long hours produces less productivity. I understand that the parent company would like control over their foreign entity, however they must adapt to our working life here in the US. The parent company and this office in the US must strategically figure out how to align all the aspect of doing business here in the United States. Hopefully in time, we will.