Technological advances have enabled media to provide near instantaneous coverage from every corner of the world. This first became apparent during Operation Desert Shield in 1990, when the public was exposed to images of U.S. military operations in Kuwait and Iraq with minimal delay. The technology continued to evolve, and during Operations Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and Enduring Freedom in 2001, broadcasts were real time, and many 24 hour news networks now existed. Images of violence such as suicide bombings and firefights inundated the daily lives of Americans. 

As you have already learned, terrorism depends on the ability to inspire fear. In the past, this influence was limited by an individual’s proximity to the event and word of mouth regarding the act. Today, although media outlets are rarely at the attack site during an attack, they usually broadcast the destruction that ensues. The media’s ability to report on these events increased the terrorists’ audience exponentially. Western media coverage has ironically created a false proximity that has proven to be effective at spreading fear to the masses.

For example, Spain’s decision to withdraw support for the Iraq War followed extensive media coverage of the Madrid train bombings. It has been said that the media coverage of the attack strongly influenced public opinion against the Iraq War to such an extent that government policy shifted. 

For this assignment, you are the public relations officer for the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. ISAF is the military command under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization responsible for security, stability, and reconstruction in Afghanistan. Your commander has indicated that the Taliban insurgents have been gaining in popularity primarily through their effective use of the media. He believes ISAF needs to develop a better relationship with the media to help mitigate the insurgents’ attempts to gain support and positive public sentiment through their media efforts.

You have been selected to lead the media campaign for ISAF. Through extensive liaison, you have been allowed to write 1 article that will run simultaneously in the major news publications throughout the United States, Europe, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Your commander has given you the freedom to write what you feel is necessary, so long as it contains the following at a minimum:

Assignment Guidelines

• Address the following in an article of 900 words:
  • Provide a brief overview of ISAF’s mission.
    • Include a clear identification of the ISAF commander, deputy commander, and chief of staff (including country of origin).
  • Briefly summarize 3 good news stories that show ISAF’s involvement in the community. The 3 articles must pertain to one of the following:
    • Agriculture
    • Government
    • Education
  • How can media coverage of terrorist attacks influence public opinion of governmental affairs? Explain.
  • How does a nation’s efficient response to attacks psychologically influence its citizens? Explain.
  • What effects can media coverage of terrorist attacks have on a nation’s activities? Consider the following in your response:
    • Economy
    • Agriculture
    • Transportation
    • Crime
    • Local communities
  • What fear management techniques utilized within the international arena have been apparently successful? Explain.
• For this assignment, you must utilize scholarly and academic sources to support your arguments.
• Compile your responses into your final paper and submit the file to your instructor.
• All sources must be referenced using APA style.

Required Assignment 2—Manufacturing Budget Analysis

Tom Emory and Jim Morris strolled back to their plant from the administrative offices of Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Company. Tom is manager of the machine shop in the company’s factory; Jim is manager of the equipment maintenance department. The men had just attended the monthly performance evaluation meeting for plant department heads. These meetings had been held on the third Tuesday of each month since Robert Ferguson, Jr., the president’s son, had become plant manager a year earlier. As they were walking, Tom Emory spoke: “Boy, I hate those meetings! I never know whether my department’s accounting reports will show good or bad performance. I’m beginning to expect the worst. If the accountants say I saved the company a dollar, I’m called ‘Sir,’ but if I spend even a little too much—boy, do I get in trouble. I don’t know if I can hold on until I retire.” Tom had just been given the worst evaluation he had ever received in his long career with Ferguson & Son. He was the most respected of the experienced machinists in the company. He had been with the company for many years and was promoted to supervisor of the machine shop when the company expanded and moved to its present location. The president (Robert Ferguson, Sr.) had often stated that the company’s success was due to the high quality work of machinists like Tom. As supervisor, Tom stressed the importance of craftsmanship and told his workers that he wanted no sloppy work coming from his department. When Robert Ferguson, Jr., became the plant manager, he directed that monthly performance comparisons be made between actual and budgeted costs for each department. The departmental budgets were intended to encourage the supervisors to reduce inefficiencies and to seek cost reduction opportunities. The company controller was instructed to have his staff “tighten” the budget slightly whenever a department attained its budget in a given month; this was done to reinforce the plant manager’s desire to reduce costs. The young plant manager often stressed the importance of continued progress toward attaining the budget; he also made it known that he kept a file of these performance reports for future reference when he succeeded his father. Tom Emory’s conversation with Jim Morris continued as follows: Emory: I really don’t understand. We’ve worked so hard to meet the budget, and the minute we do so they tighten it on us. We can’t work any faster and still maintain quality. I think my men are ready to quit trying. Besides, those reports don’t tell the whole story. We always seem to be interrupting the big jobs for all those small rush orders. All that setup and machine adjustment time is killing us. And quite frankly, Jim, you were no help. When our hydraulic press broke down last month, your people were nowhere to be found. We had to take it apart ourselves and got stuck with all that idle time. Morris: I’m sorry about that, Tom, but you know my department has had trouble making budget, too. We were running well behind at the time of that problem, and if we had spent a day on that old machine, we would never have made it up. Instead, we made the scheduled inspections of the forklift trucks because we knew we could do those in less than the budgeted time. Emory: Well, Jim, at least you have some options. I’m locked into what the scheduling department assigns to me and you know they’re being harassed by sales for those special orders. Incidentally, why didn’t your report show all the supplies you guys wasted last month when you were working in Bill’s department? Morris: We’re not out of the woods on that deal yet. We charged the maximum we could to other work and haven’t even reported some of it yet. Emory: Well, I’m glad you have a way of getting out of the pressure. The accountants seem to know everything that’s happening in my department, sometimes even before I do. I thought all that budget and accounting stuff was supposed to help, but it just gets me into trouble. It’s all a big pain. I’m trying to put out quality work; they’re trying to save pennies.

Review the case. Respond to the following:

• Identify the problems that appear to exist in Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system and explain how the problems are likely to reduce the effectiveness of the system. (approximately 1 page)
• Explain how Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system could be revised to improve its effectiveness. (approximately 1–2 pages)
• Explain how the use of an activity based costing system could change the results of the budget, if utilized. (approximately 1 page)
• As stated in the case, many employees have “quit trying” and have altered behavior on the job. Provide specific ways for how you would use a budget to change employee behavior and align goals in the organization. Explain how goal alignment can improve profitability and overall return to the shareholders of the company. (approximately 1 page)
• Synthesize data to explain the concept of ROI and describe how the use of an activity based costing system can improve the company’s ROI and the potential impact on free cash flow. (approximately 1 page)

Write a 5–6 page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention:

Microsoft Project 2010
Final Project scenario: You have been assigned to install workstation, software, and networking equipment for a 250 person call center. This call center is an addition of capabilities for an existing company of 500+ people. You are an IT Project Management consultant that has been brought in to implement this project and have three months to complete the project. Complete a project plan for this scenario as follows:
1. Develop a WBS, Network Diagram, and Gantt Chart for the project (Must include at least 30 activities and 10 resources minimum).
2. Include all necessary project dependencies.
3. List all project resources, and assign costs to each resource.
4. Baseline the project plan.
5. Input at least three project updates.
6. Create an Earned Value Report and at least one other report from MS Project 2010 reports.
7. Create a one page Word document summarizing an overview of the project.
8. Put all files together in a zip file, and submit them for grading.

I have 28 questions need some one to help by tonight.

They  are 24 question in 2 pages attached.

The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries are increasingly important in international business. In this case analysis, briefly describe the economy of the BRIC countries and identify reasons why the BRIC countries are growing in importance. This case should be a minimum of 2500 words not including the title, thesis, and reference pages. Need to be done in APA format and the writing guidelines are attached.

Writing Guidelines

The following list of criteria is provided for you to use as you develop your writing assignments. Faculty will use a similar scale to assess your writing assignments. Please take the time before each writing assignment to review the requirements so that you know what you are being graded on.

Elements	Criteria
Knowledge/Understanding	Shows depth and understanding of the subject
	Thesis for paper is clearly identified and logically developed throughout the paper
	Reasoning is sound, compelling, and well supported
Research	Peer reviewed articles are selected and are appropriate for the paper topic
	Articles are synthesized and integrated effectively
	There is sufficient research cited to support arguments
	New information from articles addresses similarities and differences with prior course readings and individual’s prior knowledge
Writing	Demonstrates evidence of graduate level writing mechanics*
	Minimum paper requirements (length, topic, research, integration of core values) are met
	Follows formatting requirements given (ex. APA or MLA)

*Statement on graduate level writing requirements:

Your writing reflects your ideas and communicates your understanding of the topic to the instructor. This assignment will be graded on the composition elements listed below, as well as your understanding of the content:

 

Successful graduate level writing should demonstrate:

 

Proofreading skills

 

Correct grammar and punctuation

 

Logical organization

 

Proper content presentation (introduction, body, conclusion) Correct formatting for citations, references, and headings