1 World Literature Final To narrow the focus of the final paper,

Interview Questions for Project Managers Interview Questions for Project Managers Name: Sultan

Interview Questions for Project Managers

Interview Questions for Project Managers

Name: Sultan

Position: Project Manager

Section: Environmental affairs

What is the rainfall project mission and how do you achieve it?

As we know that the Sultanate of Oman is located within dry areas that suffer from scarcity of water resources, and accordingly the government has directed during the past years to search for the best solutions that contribute to enhance the amount of groundwater and other sources. One of the solutions was the trend towards applying rainfall project technology to appropriate locations. Achieving the successful results was done by working according to a well-studied methodology by operating and closing the various stations distributed on the top of the mountains in various location, and then analyzing the rain data to check the performance via statistical method.

Do you identify the project stakeholders? If yes, please list them.

Actually there are many sectors have contributed to the completion of the Rainfall project, each in and from his field of work such as: Civil Aviation Authority (for weather data) , Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources (for rain data), Ministry of information, sultan Qaboos University, Royal Oman Police and Royal Air force( for transportation).

How flexible is your project organization in terms of restructuring the organization structure, tasks and roles?

The project was the first of its kind to be implemented in Oman, and given the conditions of water resources in the country, the project moved through many facilities, flexibility and responsiveness by all participating sectors.

Do you maintain relationships with stakeholders of the Oman rainfall enhancement project? & How is it done?

Yes, relations are good and continuous with all participating sectors, and perhaps they are the main reason for the success of the project.

Do you determine and assess the power of stakeholders? (capacity to influence the actions of other stakeholders) If yes, please explain how is it done?

Yes, the capabilities of the stakeholders from all sectors in the project were efficient and practical, and this was evident through the results of the work assigned to each team.

How do you determine and assess the urgency of stakeholders? (degree to which stakeholders’ claims requires immediate attention)

According to the response and the desired reaction from each sector, like whether data request, financial and administrative support

Do you determine and assess the legitimacy of stakeholders? (perceived validity of claims). If yes, please explain how is it done?

No

How do you determine and assess the proximity (level of association or closeness with the project) of stakeholders?

This is clearly evident through the results of the requirements assigned to each sector, through which it is possible to see how close they are to the project.

How are stakeholders classified according to their attributes/characteristics (power, legitimacy, urgency, proximity, level of interest, etc.)?

There are no major divisions in the organizational work mechanism of the project, as every contributing sector has a clear work to be performed and powers that do not exceed them.

Do you predict and map stakeholders’ behaviors (supportive, opposition, neutral, etc.)? How is it done?

Since the stakeholders are from the government sector, and the required works fall within their job duties, everyone supports the project.

Do you predict stakeholders’ potential influence on each other? How do you do it?

No

Do you predict stakeholders’ potential influence on the project? How do you

do it?

This may result if the works are done and delivered from the stakeholders inaccurately.

Are possible conflicts and coalitions among stakeholders identified, analyzed and managed?

These are rare and unlikely to happen, as everyone works as a team.

Do you see any change evolving in interest of stakeholders? How do you manage it?

Rare cases, but it happens in some issues, and in the event that the issue develops and the stakeholder’s views differ, the parties shall meet to solve the issues.

Do you see any change in relationship between stakeholders? How do you manage it?

Sometimes happened, and the right solution was to bring the parties together and solve the issue at the time, by making each party explain their point of view.

Are project management decisions effects on stakeholders? Can you give some examples here?

Yes, for example after studying the climate terrain sites of rainfall stations, the final decision is made by the project management in selecting the sites for the stations due to various considerations.

Does Oman rainfall enhancement project focus on timely completion of project? And how do you do it?

No. It is difficult to close this file and say it will finish within specific of time. It can be expanded and fix many station in different suitable sites. In addition operation and maintains of stations will still forever.

Do you focus on cost savings on the project? And how do you do it?

Saving costs is required, but it should not be at the expense of technology development and expansion of rainfall stations.

How do you maintain acceptable quality standards? And how do you do it?

This is done by investigating the accuracy of the data that are obtained from each sector and constant communication with the company supervising the project, as well as by constantly reviewing everything new in this technology.

1[supanova_question]

COM-655 WEEK NINE DISCUTION 9-1 Discussion: Internal Branding and Communications After reviewing

COM-655 WEEK NINE DISCUTION

9-1 Discussion: Internal Branding and Communications

After reviewing this module’s resources, discuss the necessary steps to create a successful brand-driven organization. Evaluate successful methods for delivering internal communications, creating employee alignment, and developing an overarching in-house branding culture. Provide examples of best practices as shared in the module resources.

Learning Objectives

Evaluate the steps necessary to create a successful brand-driven organization

Create a plan to strengthen brand value and integrity though employee alignment and internal communications best practices

Reading and Resources

Textbook: Reputation Management

Chapters 5 and 14

Reading and Resources

Textbook: Reputation Management
Chapters 5 and 14

Article: 6 Tips for Building a Brand Culture and Improving Internal Communications
Read this article that discusses the opportunities for an organization to build a brand culture and improve internal communications.

https://thefinancialbrand.com/17984/building-internal-culture-for-banks-and-credit-unions/

Article: Build Your Brand From the Inside Out
Read this article that discusses how to build brand awareness through employee awareness and engagement.

http://web.archive.org/web/20111105152814/http://www.brandchannel.com/brand_speak.asp?bs_id=221

Video: Achieving Brand Alignment Through Your Employees (cc)
View this video that discusses employee alignment as an opportunity to strengthen an organization and grow brand identity.
Students may experience varying amounts of time for this resource to load, depending on the speed of their internet connection. This video is 4 minutes and 20 seconds in length.

https://textcast.peoplesupport.com/WebCaptioning/webcap.php?video=lcMN9ZtdclU

Module Overview

Each day, corporations wage a myriad of marketing tactics to create awareness and strengthen their external brand image. They seek to engage consumers and to build brand loyalty within the marketplace. However, contemporary marketers have recently begun to supplement their external branding efforts with a different approach. This tactic, which occurs much closer to home, has the capacity to create an extensive brand culture. Internal branding is quickly becoming acknowledged as an effective way to harness employee power and strengthen brand equity from the inside out.

More and more management team members are learning to take “brand image seriously and recognize that it must be consistently nurtured and monitored” (Tybout & Calkins, 2005, p. 309). Through a broad, encompassing approach, organizations are actively seeking ways to engage employees and align their behavior and performance with the established brand image. Internal branding harnesses employee behavior and performance and aligns it with the qualities that are unique to the corporate brand. Through an association with the brand reputation, employees are better able to understand how they are expected to engage with one another. In addition, internal branding creates an overarching and established process for interacting with customers, conducting sales, and sharing a unified brand message.

To successfully manage reputation, internal branding requires strategic communication efforts. The reputational interests of the organization and the associated brand image must be clear. Management must make every effort to convey the brand mission, vision, and values in everything that happens within the organization. Only through consistent alignment and regular employee engagement will the corporation experience a competitive brand advantage (Doorley & Garcia, 2011).

Internal staff alignment helps to define employee conduct and interaction. To act in accordance with brand reputation, employees must understand the parameters in which they are expected to perform. Knowledge of legal and ethical boundaries enables staff members to make sound judgments. By referencing brand values and organizational standards, employees are better able to correctly align their responses, even during the most sensitive of situations (Doorley & Garcia, 2011).

Employee engagement is essential to long-term brand achievement. Internal branding encourages employees to align their enthusiasm with corporate brand values. As staff energies become better aligned with brand reputation, customer communications and sales experiences begin to reflect the centralized brand focus. With internal branding, the motivation is to encourage employees to deliver brand-focused responses and experiences through each and every encounter. This process allows employees to deliver consistent value through a unified brand approach (Doorley & Garcia, 2011).

To ensure employee participation, internal branding must begin at the management level. The process must remain leader-driven. “In the organizations that most effectively promote alignment, the CEO is front and center on the topic” (Doorley & Garcia, 2011, p.136). Senior leaders must demonstrate to employees that they are strong brand champions. It is not enough for management team members to talk about brand values; they must relay these values in their daily actions. They must consistently exhibit the brand reputation through their interactions with customers and during business negotiations. Without upper-level buy-in, employees will never fully engage in the internal branding process.

Internal branding requires a tactical approach that focuses intently upon all departments and all forms of employee communication. By consistently delivering brand-focused communications, organizations express the manner in which they desire for the brand to be perceived (Doorley & Garcia, 2011). Over time, these informative and coordinated communication efforts create a culture that is conducive to employee participation and support. Employees begin to view their internal actions as complementary to the principal brand image and how it is projected in the marketplace. Ultimately, this internal alignment strengthens brand awareness and supports reputation management.

Employee participation is vital to creating internal brand alignment. Internal training sessions offer employees the opportunity to discover ethical decision-making strategies when faced with unique situations. Role-play and interactive training activities allow employees to utilize the recognized brand values to create judgment-based responses. These face-to-face interactions offer tremendous insight for organizational leaders. Internal discussions and employee feedback sessions allow management team members to determine if brand values are clear to their employees. If gaps exist, management team members must strive to “more effectively align employee behavior with the organization’s reputational interests” (Doorley & Garcia, 2011, p. 145).

When employees clearly and completely comprehend what is expected of them, they are more apt to perform in line with brand reputation strategies. Simple approaches are easier to understand and more widely accepted. Strategies must attach to all processes within the organization. They should be applied at all employment levels. In addition, the brand alignment criteria must align directly with leadership roles. Management participation must be apparent and highly visible (Doorley & Garcia, 2011).

Employee engagement becomes stronger as employees gain enthusiasm for the brand vision. Their discussions regarding brand identity often transcend the workplace environment. Employee conversations can help promote brand awareness and strengthen brand identity. When employees feel that they possess an active role in the organization’s brand culture, they become engaged and supportive of the strategic outcome. Through internal branding, employees are able to embrace the brand environment. They become members of the internal brand culture. Quite often, an organization’s employees will become their leading brand ambassadors.

References

Doorley, J., & Garcia, H. F. (2011). Reputation management: The key to successful public relations and

corporate communications (2nd ed.). Abingdon, OX: Routledge.

Tybout, A. M., & Calkins, T. (2005). Kellogg on branding: The marketing faculty of the Kellogg school of

management . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.[supanova_question]

Langston Hughes, “One Christmas Eve” Name_______________________________________________________ How does what you know about

Writing Assignment Help Langston Hughes, “One Christmas Eve”

Name_______________________________________________________

How does what you know about Langston Hughes influence your understanding of the story? How about your knowledge of the race relations in the US at the time of the story?

Why is it important that the story takes place on Christmas Eve? What are some of the reasons Arcie cannot provide a better holiday experience for Joe?

Are the whites in the short story overtly racist?

What are the racist acts that you see displayed in the story, overt and covert? List them.

What adjectives/words did Hughes use to express Christmas cheer from the point of view of the whites? List them.

What adjectives/words does he use to express Arcie’s point of view? List them. What does that do to the reader? Whom are we supposed to sympathize with?

Why does the story end with Arcie’s explanation that Joe has not seen Santa Claus but an “old white man”?

What is/are the lesson(s) that little Joe learns this Christmas Eve?

What is the point of this story? What is the message that Hughes wants to convey?

In what way(s) does the story define white privilege? https://onlyassignmenthelp.com/index.php/2021/11/28/this-assignment-requires-a-250-word-maximum-abstract-summarizing-a-research-paper-attached-i-have-attached-the-pdf-of/ [supanova_question]

4 Developing the Brand Strategy Student Name Institution Date Developing the Brand

4

Developing the Brand Strategy

Student Name

Institution

Date

Developing the Brand Strategy

The branding of products and services is called product branding. The product branding of an item is a sign or design that separates it from other items. Your eyes will be drawn to things you walk by in a supermarket, as they are generally branded with unique colors, designs, and logos. Brand building entails making your business known to consumers to develop an impressive and long-lasting brand reputation in the market.

Product Name

The subject of this article is the mobile phone market. Beep Cell will be the product name for this phone. The quantity of cell phones in demand has been steadily increasing hence the mobile phone market will be the best industry to venture in.

Advertising Slogan or Tag Line

The greatest way to sell your cellular phone business is to craft a great slogan and tagline. Beep Cell’s slogan will be “The phone you always dreamed of,” and it is a visual attention-getter.

Product Attributes

The Beep Cell will last for roughly 12-16 hours when on, is exceptionally fast, features a clear screen, has a 56-megapixel camera, and has image sensors with bigger pixels for improved color range and low-light photographs. The phone includes an on-screen fingerprint sensor with 64 to 256 GB of storage, which is a wonderful luxury. It also offers wireless charging and multi-window display options. Another advantage of the Beep cell is that it has an infrared remote control so that you can control your TV.

Product Benefits

The way that individuals work, socialize, and entertain themselves has changed dramatically because of mobile phones (Usman, 2020). Communication, compact, convenient, shooting images and videos, text messaging, and self-expression are among the benefits of Beep Cell. Personalizing a mobile phone with a custom ringtone, buying a personalized phone case, or picking the kind of phone they want to carry are all ways mobile phone owners express themselves. The phone is used to keep notes, entertainment and for giving navigation maps. If you want to organize your financial affairs, online financing via the mobile is a good option. As well as being utilized for Virtual Working, Crime prevention, and evidence Gathering, mobile phones are employed to record criminal activity in progress or immediately after it occurs. Also, in the fields of education and research, beep cell is applicable.

Business differentiation is what provides your brand an advantage over your competition; it’s how you set yourself apart from them in a way that intrigues customers and keeps them satisfied. The manufacturers of Beep Cell phones have separated their product line by offering medium-sized phones. Sometimes, the product is the same size as other items on the market, but your competitors are not capitalizing on the size of the product by using the title to accentuate that point. They’ve created a brand image to distinguish their product. Even with the use of branding, sales may not grow. Regardless of the talent of your designer, if you affix a quality logo to a lousy product, you won’t be successful. Beep Cell has just included a basic component. If your production source offers the option to make your product unique, it may be possible to help your product stand out with simple addition, such as a feature or ingredient. While most phones use a standard IR remote, Beep Cell uses an infrared one.

Beep Cell brand shows customers that you care by offering top-notch customer service. Customers are drawn to brands that provide real-time assistance. To make the experience smoother for customers, your support employees should focus on delivering frictionless assistance. The most effective strategy to address consumer requirements is to fully comprehend all contact points between your customers and your business. You can visualize the entire client experience by mapping it to your products and services. It streamlines disjointed efforts and issues of friction while highlighting areas where things might be improved.

It is essential to check client satisfaction levels frequently. You need to test your clients’ satisfaction with your entire industry often to know how happy they are true. Finding the best channels of communication and measures to gauge client satisfaction are both critical. You must maintain your customer service consistency. Customers’ biggest frustration is inconsistent customer service. If your team is unable to give consistent service, consumers will be left feeling lost and bewildered. Implement a customer-focused culture. Your client needs can be met by emphasizing customer experience at every touchpoint by creating a company culture. To better position, your goods, boost its unique selling proposition. Every firm has a unique value proposition to provide their clients a reason to buy from them instead of competition (USP). Your USP may alter as your firm evolves and as clients’ preferences shift.

Reference

Usman, M. (2020). Impacts of Mobile Phones on Our Youth Today. Available at SSRN 3630207.[supanova_question]

9.3 Required Returns and Valuation Estimating required return and determining an asset’s

9.3

 Required Returns and Valuation

Estimating required return and determining an asset’s beta are important for evaluating whether to invest in a particular asset. We treateach of these in turn and show some examples of how to perform the calculations.

Required Returns

Required returns may now be estimated, and this is tremendously valuable because required returns are used as the discount rates inthe valuation formulas when doing time value of money problems and security valuation. To illustrate, suppose that PG&E just paid anannual dividend of $1.82 per share, and we believe that dividends are expected to grow at a 2% annual rate in the future. In this casewe can use the constant growth stock valuation formula from Chapter 5 to estimate the value of PG&E’s stock:

(5.4)

P0?=D0(1+gN)r?gN

where P0 is the value of PG&E stock, gN is long-run normal growth rate of dividends, and r is the required return. Note that we use theform of the model with D0 in the numerator because we were given the last dividend paid. Recalling that PG&E’s required return was6.24%, we get

Value of PG&EStock

= ($1.82)(1.02)/(0.0624 – 0.02)
= $1.8564/0.0424
= $43.783

Suppose we did this estimation of value and looked up an actual quote for PG&E’s stock on the Internet. If the price is currently $43.00,this would mean that the stock appears to be underpriced on the market, which would indicate that it is a bargain according to ourestimates. However, before we run out to buy PG&E stock, which we think may be worth $0.78 more per share than its price, we needto consider market efficiency and market frictions. Remember that market efficiency says that the market price ($43.00) is the bestavailable estimate of value. Now, we must decide whose estimate we put more faith in: our estimate ($43.78) or the market’s ($43.00)?If we believe in market efficiency, we would probably not make the investment. There are times, however, when we need to value anasset or a closely held stock for which no market price exists: In this case we have little choice but to rely on our own estimates. In thesecases, the ability to estimate the required return is essential.

What Determines an Asset’s Beta?

During the discussions of the Porsche dealership, Nordstrom’s, and PG&E, we said that it is the nature of the products and services thatare sold by a company that determine the company’s risk. Luxury goods, like sports cars, tend to have more market risk than donecessities like electricity. Demand for durable goods, items that are long-lived and can be repaired like cars and appliances, willfluctuate more as the economy rises and falls than demand for food or medicine. If a company has invested in productive assets tomake luxury or durable goods, then it is likely to have a high beta (higher than 1 or the market average beta). Similarly, if the factoriesand equipment make food or electricity or things that are necessary (or that have steady demand), then the company will have a lowerbeta (less than 1). Thus, it is the assets of a company and the products those assets make that determine the company’s beta.Companies that produce similar goods sold in similar markets will have similar betas because those companies will be impactedsimilarly by the kind of macroeconomic news that creates market risk.

In theory, the asset beta of a Porsche dealership should be very nearly the same as the asset beta of, say, a BMW dealership. This isbecause they are in very similar businesses.

If both the Porsche and the BMW dealerships had no debt financing, then both of their asset betas would be identical to the betas oftheir stock. This is because the stock would represent the only claim against the assets, so the risk of the assets would translate directlyto the risk of the stock. In this case, both dealerships’ stock, being in the same business, would probably have almost identical betas,and both would also have almost identical required rates of return.

However, most companies use debt financing in addition to equity financing. As we have already mentioned, this use of debt is alsoknown as leverage. The use of leverage increases the risk of equity because debt, with its priority claim, forces equity holders to bearthe risk that there will be lower cash flows available for them after debt payments are made. For this reason, the betas of stock differeven among firms in the same industry because of the varying amount of debt that the companies borrow. Asset betas, therefore,depend primarily on the nature of a company’s business—they reflect only the firm’s undiversifiable business risk—whereas equitybetas (the betas of investing in just a company’s stock) depend on both a firm’s asset beta and on its use of leverage—both the business and financial risk that stockholders must bear.

Demonstration Problem 9.1: Standard Deviation of Two-Stock Portfolios

A stock portfolio consists entirely of two stocks, Bach Corp. and Beethoven Inc. Using the following data, calculate thestandard deviation of the portfolio.

CORRBach–Beethoven = 0.6

Bach

Beethoven

0.7
0.11

Portfolio weighting
Standard deviation

0.3
0.23

If you wanted to increase the risk of your portfolio, what would you do?

Show how your answer to part b would increase portfolio risk.

Solution

Calculate the portfolio standard deviation:

SDp=[(0.7)2(0.11)2+(0.3)2(0.23)2+2(0.7)(0.3)(0.6)(0.11)(0.23)]????????????????????????????????????????????????????????=0.130.

Increase the weighting of Beethoven Inc. because it has the higher standard deviation.

Any increase in the proportion of Beethoven Inc. would increase portfolio risk. In this example, we increase theproportion of Beethoven Inc. to 0.7. Recalculating portfolio standard deviation gives us

SDp=[(0.3)2(0.11)2+(0.7)2(0.23)2+2(0.7)(0.3)(0.6)(0.11)(0.23)]????????????????????????????????????????????????????????=0.183.

Demonstration Problem 9.2: Risk and Return of Two-Stock Portfolios

For stocks A and B, ra = 0.13, rb = 0.22, SDa = 0.3, and SDb = 0.5.

What are the expected returns and standard deviations of portfolios consisting entirely of stock A and entirely of stockB?

Calculate portfolio returns and standard deviations under the following assumptions:

Wa = 0.5, CORRAB = 1
Wa = 0.5, CORRAB = 0

Solution

No calculation is required. A portfolio consisting entirely of stock A would have ra = 0.13 and SDa = 0.3. A portfolioconsisting entirely of stock B would have rb = 0.22 and SDb = 0.5.

For Wa = 0.5 and CORRAB = 1, rP = 0.175 and SDp = 0.4. For Wa = 0.5, and CORRAB = 0, rP = 0.175 and SDp =0.292.

Demonstration Problem 9.3: Calculating Beta

Calculate the beta for Emmett Corp. stock, using the following information:

????????  SDEmmett = 0.08 
?????????SDS&P 500 = 0.65 
CORREmmett–S&P 500 = 0.85

Solution

Solve for beta:

?s=CORREmmett – S&P500SDEmmettSDS&P 500(SDS&P 500)2?s=(0.85)(0.08)(0.065)/(0.065)2[supanova_question]