Math_123_Quantitative_Reasoning_Project_Spring_2016Financial

Math 123 Quantitative Reasoning Project Spring 2016

Due:

As an Ivy Tech student, you are making an investment in your education. This project will look at how that investment will pay off if you graduate and get a job in your desired field.

Assume that the median annual income for a high school graduate is $25,000. This is the value that you will be comparing your expected salary and lifestyle to in the following areas:

1.) Income Comparison: Research your expected income after you graduate college. Assume you obtain whatever level of education needed to enter your desired area of employment and that you will have a salary equivalent to the annual Median salary found at: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_in.htm#27-0000 *You will need to click on your desired career in order to see the Annual Median wage.

· Your reflection paper should explain what your desired area of employment is and what the median annual salary for that position is.

· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing your expected salary with that of the median income of a high school graduate.

2.) Housing Comparison: Assume that you and your high school graduate counterpart plan to spend 28% of your gross income on house payments. Look up the current fixed rate APR for mortgages and use Excel to determine the largest value of a house that each of you can afford under those conditions.

· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing the value of the house that a high school graduate can afford and that you expect to be able to afford.

· Explain in your reflection paper what Excel function was used for these calculations. Cite what source you used to find mortgage rates.

· Research housing costs in an area where you would like to live, will your future salary allow you to afford the house you want? Cite what source you used to find housing costs.

· Reflect on the values you found. Do these values meet your needs and expectations, or should you consider other housing options?

3.) Retirement Comparison: Assume that your 401k investments will earn a 7% annual return and that you will set aside 5% of your gross monthly income for 401k investment. Use Excel to determine the balance on such a 401k after 40 years of investment for the high school graduate and for your expected income. Financial planners recommend having 70% of your gross annual income to live off of for each year in retirement. How many years will you and your high school counterpart’s 401k savings last, if you use the 70% recommendation?

· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing the value of the 401k investment of the high school graduate and for your expected salary.

· Explain in your reflection paper what Excel function was used for these calculations.

· Determine how long you and the high school graduate will be able to live on your 401k savings and explain how you determined this.

· Reflect on the values you found, do these values meet your expectations, or will you change your investment strategy?

4.) Raises: The high school graduate’s income is not expected to increase over the next five years, but assume that your field will guarantee you a 2.5% raise on your annual salary each year for the next five years. Determine what your new annual salary will be given these five years of raises. Using this new income, recalculate the mortgage from part 2. Also recalculate the 40 year 401k information from part 3 using this new income (use the new income and 40 years for this, don’t worry about the complication of 5 years of changes).

· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing your initial salary with the salary after 5 years of raises.

· Your paper should explain how you determined the increased salary.

· Your paper should address how your increased salary might impact your mortgage and 401k values.

Project Checklist:

· Explanation of career choice and the salary for this career.

· Comparison of your expected salary vs. a hs graduate.

· Comparison of house you could afford with expected salary vs. hs grad.

· Explanation of how house value was determined.

· Reflection on the housing costs and actual house values.

· Comparison of 401k value you would expect vs. hs grad.

· Explanation of how the 401k value is determined.

· Reflect on the balance of your 401k; will this amount support you in retirement?

· Comparison of length of time you and the hs grad will be able to live on the 401k.

· Explanation of how the length of retirement is determined.

· Comparison of starting salary to salary after 5 years of raises.

· Explanation of how increased salary is determined.

· Discussion of how the increased salary might affect mortgage and 401k values. Including specific quantities.

· Paper should be elegant and coherent with a logical organization.

· Paper should be free of grammatical and mechanical errors.

· Paper must contain some relative change statements.

· Paper should be submitted via Blackboard on time.

In addition to addressing the statements above, your project should:

· Contain your name, course name and project name.

· Be well organized and easy to follow.

· The paper should be in paragraph form (not just bulleted answers!).

· Be clear to by someone who is not familiar with the project.

· Provide support for your statements e.g. explain how values were found.

· Give specific values (i. e. quantify statements).

· Use appropriate representations (tables, color, formatting) that helps the reader understand the project.

· Contain a variety of comparison statements, including the use of relative change sentences.

These instructions cover the MINIMUM expectations of this project. Students are encouraged to make additions beyond these items.

Running head: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 1

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 2

Name

Training and Development in Small Businesses

BUS 407

Professor Thomas Swinney

February 1, 2015

Abstract

State the problem, your method of finding the answer (literature review), what you found, and your conclusions. This is written after the paper so it is in the past tense. No more than 250 words.

Training and Development in Small Business

Revelations hair salon is a salon with 20 employees. They have been going through a lot of changes, business has been slow and the owner is concerned that they may have to close the salon. The owner reached out to me to come in and try to see where I can help to get business back on track. He believes that the employees may need some training even though they have the KSA’s (knowledge, skills, and attitude) to do their jobs.

Analyze Key Elements of Training and Development Geared Toward Improving the Performance of the Specific Small Business for Which you are Consulting

Adequately mention the items from the text required for this question: motivation; knowledge, skills, abilities; and the environment

Predict Three to Five (3-5) Potential Challenges That the Managers or Owners of the Business Could Face in Addressing Organizational Performance

Discuss adequately the items from the text required for this question: demographics, competition, knowledge workers, or customer’s demands for quality products and services

Justify the Effects of Detecting Organizational Gaps in Small Business, Providing Examples to Explain the Rationale

Mention adequately the items from the text required for this question: Actual performance versus expected performance; to train or not to train; motivation, knowledge, and the environment; organizational goals, labor, organizational climate, efficiency, changing systems, or changing management, or MBO.

A gap analysis discloses what is keeping a business from meeting its full potential, is performed for a company as a whole or focused on one department or business area (Berman). In either case, it alerts management to departmental areas of underperformance, whether the issues related to external challenges or internal inefficiencies. Allowing developing a strategy to eliminate the gap and maximize company profits small businesses conduct a gap analysis in an attempt to link the disconnect between the current state of the business and the company's vision, for now and in long-term planning. Comparisons can come against stated goals, accepted industry standards, and any regulation requirements. The company's first step would be to analyze their current state. Get current operational data, and if necessary, interview a representative sample of employees. It is necessary for companies to mark efficiencies by both internal benchmarks and industry standards. Some businesses hire an outside group to conduct a gap analysis in an effort to keep bias from influencing the results (Berman, 2015, p. 215).

After identifying the gaps, they must identify the potential causes for them. A few of these gaps may end up being from internal inefficiencies. A company may have a strategic objective of being the quickest business to market a product. To find that projects are continually suffering delays by failing to complete tasks as quickly as they should (Zomorodi, 2012, p. 123). A company may find that their employees do not have the proper competitive skills needed to compete against better-trained rivals, or that the communication between departments is inadequate. These are all issues that can be addressed by changing the company’s internal operations (Zomorodi, 2012, p. 134). The other gaps may be from the results of an inadequate response to the external environment. There might be a difference in the company's product range. An example of this would be something that keeps the company from serving a segment of the market. They could find that they are not selling to the correct markets, or that their visions of international success are not being reflected on the balance sheet.

These are issues not necessarily associated with the business process, but rather indications that it is not serving marketplace demands adequately. The company must now turn to the task of figuring out how to correct the gap to reach optimal levels. Addressing systemic factors responsible for the suboptimal state is necessary. Although, some of these fixes might be relatively straightforward, such as getting employees the appropriate training and skills needed to bridge the gap, internal repairs may be required, such as rearranging their sales territories to reflect market realities or to integrate work processes to lower cost structure. Another approach may require looking outside the organization, possibly by forming an alliance with another business to market a gap product, instead of spending the unnecessary resources to develop one itself.

Propose a Competitive Training Strategy That Will Improve the Position of the Business in the Market. The Strategy Should Include, at a Minimum, an Agenda of Training Activities, Rationale for Instructional Strategies Used, and the Return on Investment (ROI) That Will be Gained From the Strategy you Have Developed

Adequately answer the question as directed, training strategy proposed, agenda was created, so rationale for what was on the agenda was created, or there was mention or evidence of ROI present.

References

Three or more references from journals ONLY for highest grade. See APA announcements and emails for correct formatting.

Assignment 1: Training and Development in Small Businesses

Due Week 4 and worth 240 points

Select a small business with which you are familiar. Imagine that you have been called into that business to provide a consultation on training. Create a comprehensive training proposal for the business.

Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze key elements of training and development geared toward improving the performance of the specific small business for which you are consulting.

2. Predict three to five (3-5) potential challenges that the managers or owners of the business could face in addressing organizational performance.

3. Justify the effects of detecting organizational gaps in small business, providing examples to explain the rationale.

4. Propose a competitive training strategy that will improve the position of the business in the market. The strategy should include, at a minimum, an agenda of training activities, rationale for instructional strategies used, and the return on investment (ROI) that will be gained from the strategy you have developed.

5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources

6. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:

a. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.

b. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.

c. Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Analyze concepts, meanings, and trends in training.

· Justify the importance of aligning training with organizational strategy.

· Evaluate theories associated with learning, motivation, and employee performance.

· Use technology and information resources to research issues in training and development.

· Write clearly and concisely about training and development using proper writing mechanics.

Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment.

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