Learning Activity #1

1. The Martin family has been making guitars out of its factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, for more than 150 years. In 2004, Martin Guitar was proud to produce its millionth instrument. Go to http://www.martinguitar.com to link to the Martin Guitar Web site and read about the company’s long history. You’ll discover that, even though it’s a family-run company with a fairly unique product, it operates like any other company. Identify the main activities or functions of Martin Guitar’s business and explain how each activity benefits the company.
2. Explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical decision. Then provide an example of each. Describe an ethical lapse and provide an example.

Learning Activity #2

1. Critically discuss the trade deficit in the United States. What is its nature and purpose? Support your claims through the use of a scholarly source.
2.You own a company that employs about two hundred people in Maine to produce hockey sticks. Why might you decide to outsource your production to Indonesia? Would closing your plant and moving your operations overseas help or hurt the U.S. economy? Who would be hurt? Who would be helped? Now, armed with answers to these questions, ask yourself whether you would indeed move your facilities or continue making hockey sticks in Maine. Explain your decision. Support your claims with a scholarly source.

Learning Activity #3

1. Talk with a sole proprietor about his or her selected form of business ownership. Ask him or her which of the following dimensions (discussed in this section) were important in deciding to operate as a proprietor: setup costs and government regulations, control, profit sharing, income taxes, skills, continuity and transferability, ability to obtain financing, and liability exposure. Discuss what you learned from the business owner, and link it to either a concept in the text book or another scholarly source.
2. Critically discuss the following questions: How ―small is a small business? If a substantial portion of small businesses in the United States suddenly closed, what would be the impact on the U.S. economy? How would all these closings affect workers, consumers, and other businesses? Use scholarly support for your claims.

Learning Activity #4

1. Without a plan, it’s hard to succeed. Successful managers set goals and determine the best ways to reach them. Successful students do the same thing. Develop a strategic plan for succeeding in this course that includes the following steps:
        1a. Assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as they relate to this course.
        2b. Establish goals and objectives, or performance targets, to direct all the activities that you’ll perform to            earn a high grade in this course.
       3c. Describe tactical and operational plans for achieving your stated goals and objectives.
2. Describe your definition of a leader vs. a manager and how vision and communication, among other characteristics play a role. Use scholary sources to support.

Learning Activity #5

1. You‘re a marketing researcher for a multinational food-products corporation, and for the past two years, you‘ve been able to work at home. The international division of the company has asked you to join a virtual team assigned to assess the prospects for a new sandwich planned for the Indian market.
List a few of the challenges that you‘re likely to encounter as a member of the virtual team. Explain the steps you‘d take to deal with each of the challenges that you‘ve listed. Support your claims with scholarly resources

2. Communication and teamwork are critical functions in todays business environment. Discuss the characteristics of an effective team and the factors that take place in the stages of team development.  How does communication play a role in team effectiveness?

Learning Activity #6

1. If you were developing a marketing campaign for the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company, what group of consumers would you target? What if you were marketing an iPad/Itouch? What about time-shares (vacation-ownership opportunities) in Vail, Colorado? For each of these products, identify at least five segmentation characteristics that you‘d use in developing a profile of your customers. Explain the segmentation category into which each characteristic falls—demographic, geographic, behavioral, or psychographic. Where it‘s appropriate, be sure to include at least one characteristic from each category. Link your ideas to the reading material in your text and other sources.

2. Market segmentation. You probably know that Scion and Lexus are both Toyota brands, yet they are targeted to very different markets. Visit the Scion, Lexus, and Toyota U.S. Web sites. Based on your review of all three sites, prepare a brief report discussing Toyota’s market segmentation strategy.

http://www.lexus.com
http://www.scion.com
http://www.toyota.com

Learning Activity #7

1. How does mass production work? Describe a good or service that would lend itself well to mass production and one that would not lend itself well to mass production. Using those aofrementioned goods, describe why or why not that they could be produced in a flexible production system.
2. Discuss using personal experiences, how decision making is either aided or hindered by the use of data? How does data mining play a role in decision making?
3. Describe a personal example when utilizing data and how it was derived and analyzed played a role in a business decision.  What were the strengths and weakness of the information system?

Learning Activity #8

1. Describe the information provided by each of these financial statements: income statement, balance sheet, statement of owner’s equity. Identify ten business questions that can be answered by using financial accounting information. For each question, indicate which financial statement (or statements) would be most helpful in answering the question, and why.
2. Develop a summary statement of 25 words or less of the key ‘points’ you have gleaned from your reading and studying about business.   How will what you have studied help you in both your personal and professional life? Where will you go from here – to learn more about leadership, management, and business organizations?