• Essential Skills

You are planning a special dinner and want to add the perfect seasonings. But your spice drawer is a jumbled mess. You comb through the jars of spices, getting increasingly more annoyed. Where’s the salt? The cilantro? That container of garlic? Frustrating, right? But if you line up the spices neatly on the counter in front of you, you can suddenly see all your options…and calmly choose the best flavoring for your meal.

That’s what critical thinking is—the ability to step back from a problem, assess what you have to work with, and rationally decide the best way forward toward a solution. It’s a key component of practicing your problem-solving skill in this course and beyond. By improving your critical thinking so you can solve problems in the present and future, you’ll take a positive step toward achieving both your personal and professional goals.

Show Less

Skill Application

In the following Capella Stories, you’ll learn how decorated Thunderbird pilot Nicole Malachowski used critical thinking to achieve her long-held dream: the conferment of the Congressional Medal of Honor on WWII’s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

• Capella Stories: Bringing the WASP to New Heights.

Have you ever been confronted with two versions of the same story? It can be hard to know which to believe, right? Historians and students of history (like you!) often face the same challenge. In the following Capella Stories, biographer and historian Kate Clifford Larson walks us through important moments in Harriet Tubman’s life and reveals the critical thinking steps she took to determine their historical accuracy. How will these same steps strengthen your problem-solving skill and help you think critically in your own life? Learn how Harriet Tubman’s biographer used the six steps of critical thinking to discover the real story of this fascinating American hero.

o  • Note: The first three assessments in this course build on each other; therefore, it is essential that you complete them in the order presented.

Overview

Now that you’ve evaluated the credibility of your sources (Assessment 1), you are ready to use your agility and problem-solving skills to analyze the content of your sources. For this assessment, you will complete the Historical Analysis Worksheet [DOCX], using a critical thinking process to evaluate evidence as you explore the causes and long-term impacts related to your issue. Analyze how those in the past have successfully and unsuccessfully tackled the same issues while also considering how these same issues might now be addressed by your organization.

Preparation

Review the evidence you compiled and compared for Assessment 1, Evaluating Historical Sources. Then begin to formulate your explanation or main arguments about your chosen issue. Consider the historical context of the issue, its challenges, and the strategies and approaches people used to deal with those challenges.

Instructions

For this assignment, use the Historical Analysis Worksheet [DOCX] to complete the following steps. You will use this worksheet to further examine the sources you’ve collected for your topic (facing economic change or engaging civil rights).

Step 1: Identify questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact. 

Step 2: Describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue.

Step 3: Explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information.

Step 4: Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about an historical issue.

Step 5: Use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue.

Step 6: Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Additional Requirements

Your submission should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.• Citations: Include a complete citation for each source. When you refer to evidence (in Step 2 of the worksheet), be sure to include in-text references to your sources. Review current APA Style and Format guidelines for more information on how to cite your sources.• Number of references: Your assessment should include a reference page with at least four sources cited: two primary and two secondary sources, with up to two sources selected from the History Presentation Resource List [DOCX].• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 2: Determine the causes and long-term impacts of an historical event. o Identify questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact.o Explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information.• Competency 3: Explain lessons learned from U.S. historical events and their potential influence on a current problem or situation. o Describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue.o Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about an historical issue.o Use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue.• Competency 4: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized manner, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences. o Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Historical Analysis Scoring Guide

Criteria 

Non-performance 

Basic 

Proficient 

Distinguished 

Identify questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact. 

Does not identify questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact.

Identifies one or more questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact, but questions need further refinement.

Identifies questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact.

Identifies clear, specific questions that need to be answered to understand an historical event and its long-term impact. 

Describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue. 

Does not describe information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue.

Describes information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue, but this information is incomplete.

Describes information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue.

Describes information learned from historical sources that can be used to inform a current understanding of an historical issue, with supporting examples. 

Explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information. 

Does not explain similarities and differences in sources of historical information.

Identifies similarities and differences in sources of historical information.

Explains similarities and differences in sources of historical information.

Explains similarities and differences in sources of historical information, with supporting examples. 

Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about an historical issue. 

Does not analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence.

Attempts to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence but does not include the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about an historical issue.

Analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about an historical issue.

Analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of historical evidence, including the challenges of using such evidence to make an argument about an historical issue, using supporting examples and specific details. 

Use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue. 

Does not use critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue.

Uses critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue, but the analysis is incomplete.

Uses critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue.

Uses critical thinking to relate past challenges and strategies to a current organizational issue, using specific evidence. 

Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics. 

Does not write in a well-organized and concise manner.

Writing is unclear, wordy, or disconnected, with errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Writes in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Organizes content so clarity is enhanced and all ideas flow logically and smoothly. Writes concisely, precisely, and directly, with nearly flawless adherence to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics. 

o .

Write a 4–6-page analysis of a leader you either interviewed personally or researched thoroughly. In your analysis, address specific ways the leader demonstrates effective leadership.

Effective leaders realize that employees should be recognized for a job well done. While some people prefer public praise and others prefer personal recognition, most employees want to be recognized in some way. Kouzes and Posner (2017) state that effective leaders begin their leadership development by first learning to lead themselves. Effective leadership begins from within and expands outward to affect others. This development cascades into effective leadership.

SHOW LESS

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Evaluate the purpose and relevance of leadership.
  • Analyze how a leader reflects the definition of leadership.
  • Evaluate leadership style, characteristics, or themes in relation to the purpose and relevance of effective leadership.
• Competency 2: Evaluate how leadership strengths apply in the workplace and within the community.
  • Analyze how a leader models leadership.
  • Analyze how a leader inspires a shared vision.
  • Analyze how a leader looks for new opportunities that may require experimentation or taking risks.
  • Analyze how a leader empowers and recognizes the contributions of others.

Toggle Drawer

Questions to Consider

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.

• How does having or not having a shared vision affect your work? What strategies have you seen used that inspire a shared vision?
• How do the leaders you know recognize and acknowledge exceptional work?

Preparation

Throughout your career, you could undoubtedly benefit from analyzing leadership and management characteristics of other leaders and managers you consider effective and successful. This assessment provides an opportunity and framework to do that in the context of effective leadership.

To complete this assessment, you have two options. You may choose to base your assessment on a leader you know personally or on a leader who is well-known. Be sure to read the complete instructions for both options carefully before making a decision.

Instructions

Option A: Interview a Leader You Know Personally

Identify someone you know who is currently serving in a leadership capacity at an organization. You may choose a leader affiliated with your employer, a community leader, a political or church leader, or anyone whose leadership skills you admire. Arrange an interview with your selected leader to learn about his or her view of leadership. Structure the interview around the concepts of leadership as you have come to understand them from your own research or the recommended readings. Some suggested interview questions are:

• What is your definition of leadership?
• How do you model leadership?
• How do you inspire a shared vision in those around you?
• How do you look for new opportunities that may require experimenting or taking risks?
• How do you enable or empower others to act?
• How do you recognize the contributions made by others?
• In what ways do you get personally involved?
• What challenges and opportunities do you face?

Conduct the interview and then use the interview results to complete this assessment as instructed in the Requirements below.

Option B: Research a Well-Known Leader

It may be difficult for you to gain access to interview an available leader. If so, you may opt to research a well-known historical figure or contemporary leader whom you believe embodies great leadership. You may choose a business leader, political leader, author, scientist, sports personality, or any public figure about whom there is enough information publicly available for you to fulfill the requirements of this assessment. Refer to the Option B Leaders List (linked in the Resources) for potential subjects; you are not limited to this list.

Focus your research on how the leader demonstrates exemplary leadership as identified below:

• What is the leader’s definition of leadership?
• How does the leader model leadership?
• How does the leader inspire a shared vision in those around him or her?
• How does the leader look for new opportunities that may require experimenting or taking risks?
• How does the leader enable or empower others to act?
• How does the leader recognize the contributions made by others?
• In what ways does the leader get personally involved?
• What challenges and opportunities does the leader face?

Once you have completed your research, complete this assessment as instructed below.

Requirements for Both Options

In your assessment, address the following:

• Explain why you chose your selected leader.
• Provide background information on the environment and culture of the organization in which the leader provides leadership.
• Analyze how the leader models leadership.
• Analyze how the leader inspires a shared vision.
• Analyze how the leader looks for new opportunities that may require experimenting or taking risks.
• Analyze how the leader empowers and recognizes the contributions of others.
• Analyze how the leader reflects their definition of leadership.
• Evaluate the leadership style, characteristics, or themes of the leader in relation to the purpose and relevance of leadership. Draw justifiable conclusions about the effectiveness of the leader.

Additional Requirements for Both Options

Your analysis should be well organized and written in clear, succinct language. It should be approximately 4–6 pages in length. Follow APA rules for attributing sources that support your analysis and conclusions.

The Role of Crisis-Responding Organizations

Understanding crisis response requires knowledge of the “working parts,” or organizations that respond to crises or disasters. Learning about international, national, and regional organizations in your area and the role each organization plays in disaster response is paramount to creating a crisis plan. A working knowledge of responding organizations is an essential element in leading other professionals and/or organizations in crisis response.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the Course Introduction area in the navigation bar on the left. Keep this overview in mind as you work through each week of the course.
• Review Chapter 17 in your course text, Crisis Intervention Strategies, and focus on the different organizations and groups that respond to disasters and their roles in responding to them.
• Review the websites for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), American Red Cross, International Relief & Development, Salvation Army, and Mennonite Disaster Service to determine the role each organization plays in a crisis, the types of professionals that respond to crises, how responders are selected, and how each organization is funded for crisis response.
• Review the media in this week’s Learning Resources, paying close attention to types of crises and who responds to them.
• Explore organizations in your state or region that respond to disasters and examine their roles and the interactions of those roles with international and national organizations.
• Review additional websites to develop an understanding of the growing field of crisis response.
• Select three national and/or international organizations and think about the crisis-responding roles of each.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a brief description of each of the national and/or international organizations you selected. Then analyze the crisis-responding roles of each of the organizations you selected. Be specific and provide examples.

Note: Put the names of the organizations you selected in the first line of your post. You will be asked to respond to a colleague who chose at least one different organization than you did.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

This assignment focuses on gender roles characterized in fairy tales, folktales, myths, and legends. Discuss the role gender has played with the characters found in folklore using at least three stories to support your conclusions. First ask yourself how males and females are typically portrayed in folklore. Is this representative of their culture? Using your three story examples, identify the hero/heroine and provide examples or details from the story that demonstrate how their gender is being represented. This assignment should be 1 full page in length, using MLA format.

Human resources (HR) and other policies are critical to the effective and efficient management of any organization. Discuss the following:

• Provide  examples of HR (or other) policies and how they support or inhibit organizational performance. 
• What  actions should management take to identify and change policies that  inhibit organizational performance? 

Discussion 1

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the articles Who Needs Budgets?, Traditional Budgeting vs. Beyond Budgeting (Links to an external site.) in the Financial Planning page of the CFO Edge website, and Traditional Budgeting Versus Beyond Budgeting: A Literature Review (Links to an external site.).

In the words of GE’s legendary ex-CEO Jack Welch, Jack Welch, “The budgeting process at most companies has to be the most ineffective practice in management. It sucks the energy, time, fun, and big dreams out of an organization (…) [and] brings out the most unproductive behaviors (…)” (Welch & Welch, 2005, p. 189).

Some argue that the purposes of budgeting can be achieved without the conventional budgeting process. These companies espouse an idea called beyond budgeting that proposes to replace annual budgets with rolling forecasts of key performance indicators (Hope & Fraser, 2003). Others disagree, pointing out that the work of continuous planning is costlier than budgeting and that doing something continuously tends to make the process superficial.

So, the jury is still out. But so far, GE still prepares budgets! Discuss in an initial post of 200 words whether the controversial concept of beyond budgeting is a better approach for financial planning and analysis (FP&A) than traditional budgeting.

Discussion 2

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the Budget of the United States Government (Links to an external site.).

Congress is responsible for creating the federal government’s annual budget. For agencies and their programs to be funded, Congressional authorization committees must pass, and the President must sign, all 12 authorization bills by September 30—the last day of the current fiscal year—so the country can have a new budget in time for the start of the next fiscal year (USA.gov, n.d.).

Access the Government Publishing Office (Links to an external site.) to obtain Historical Budgetary Tables following the steps below:

• Click on the link to access the Budget of the United States Government (Links to an external site.)
• Click on the “Fiscal Year 2018” link
• Scroll down and select “Historical Tables”
• Obtain the .xls (Excel) file format of Table 1.1 and Table 1.2 to complete the two requirements below:
  • Table 1.2 shows the budget of Surpluses or Deficits (–) as Percentages of gross domestic product (GDP). Determine how many times since 1950 the budget has shown a surplus and how many times it has shown a deficit using the data in the Total column, “Surplus or Deficit.” Also, identify the 3 years with the highest deficits, and the year with the highest surplus as a as a percentage of GDP. What were the surplus and deficit percentages for these years?
  • Table 1.1 shows the budget Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (–) from 1789–2022. Identify whether the highest deficits incurred in the identified years from Table 1.2 were paid with tax revenues (receipts) or borrowed funds (outlays). Discuss how the government gets money and where the government spends money on.
• Click on the “Fiscal Year 2018” link, scroll down and obtain the PDF file for “Major Savings and Reforms” to complete the last requirement. The Major Savings and Reforms volume describes major savings and reform proposals included in the 2018 President’s Budget.
  • Discuss major discretionary budget eliminations. Why is it important that government budgets accurately estimate future revenues during economic downturns?

Instructions

Supporting Lectures:

Review the following lectures:

• Role of Training
• Strategic Training

Introduction:

You are the lead consultant for Human Ecology and Workforce Management Solutions, LLC. Its top HR person has asked you to review the following development and answer the following questions with top management:

Some employees in IBM’s Global Technology Services group received e-mails from the company informing them that a recent evaluation had identified them as the employees who had not kept pace with acquiring the necessary skills and expertise needed to meet changing client needs, technology, and markets. As a result, IBM requires them to dedicate one day a week or up to twenty-three days in total between October 2014 and March 2015 to focus on training. During this time, the employees will take a pay cut, receiving only 90% of their base salary. Once the training is completed, salaries will be restored to full. Employees can either take the training or look for job opportunities within IBM that better match their current skill set.

The employees have reacted negatively toward the program. Some feel the program with its pay cut is unfair because their work has received positive evaluations from their managers. Also, employees noted that all the employees in the workgroup were being assigned to the same training program regardless of their individual skill levels. A few of the employees believe that the training program is a cost-cutting exercise that is being presented as a training program. A spokesperson for IBM emphasized that the salary cut and retraining program was not a standard practice across IBM but affected only a few hundred employees in the US technology services outsourcing business. The purpose of the program is to help employees develop key skills in areas such as cloud and mobile computing and advanced data analytics. Because the program can help employees in the long term to increase their billable hours with clients, IBM believes the salary cut is a co-investment cost shared by both the employees and the company. IBM calculated that it will lose one day of billing each week that the employees are in the training program, which in turn matches 20% of the compensation of the employees involved. So, the 10% pay cut actually splits the cost of training.

Tasks:

• Analyze whether the IBM undertaking is “strategic.”
• Evaluate whether the employees’ salaries should be reduced for the time they attend training programs.
• Evaluate recommendations for additional ways through which the IBM management can convince the affected employees to update and gain new skills.
• Summarize IBMs choices and the effects it will have on the organization.

To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Submission Details:

• Create a 2–3-page Microsoft Word document.
• Name your file as SU_HRM5060_W1_Project_LastName_FirstName.

Capstone Project Part I & II

For your capstone project, please include the following information on a local or national organization or agency in which you have a professional interest: The organization or agency you choose will be used for all parts of the Capstone Project.

I. Overview of the Organization: History, Mission, Performance Outcomes, and Strategic Plan(s).

II. Service to the Community (programs offered and populations served – provide a summary of each program)

All submissions must be formatted using APA 7th edition.

 Hide Folder InformationInstructions

Choose a state with which you are familiar or that interests you in terms of employment law. Develop a PowerPoint presentation in which you analyze the employment laws specific to that state. In your presentation analyze why the state has a need for these laws, as well as how these laws coincide with and supplement the federal employment laws. Discuss at least one court case from that state where these laws have been challenged, and provide the outcome of the case. Finally, discuss whether and why you agree or not whether these laws are necessary in the state and why.

Support your conclusions with references from a minimum of five (5) journal articles or publications.

Incorporate appropriate animations, transitions, and graphics as well as “speaker notes” for each slide. The speaker notes may be comprised of brief paragraphs or bulleted lists.

Create a PowerPoint presentation. Think about who your target audience is and how your topic affects them.

The required length of the PowerPoint Presentation option for this assignment is 12-15 slides (with a separate reference slide). Your presentation MUST include notes containing 150-200 words per slide (this is your script). Be sure to include citations for quotations and paraphrases with references in APA format and style.

Save the file as a PPT file with the correct course code information in the name.

You work in the Human Resource department and have just been promoted to a supervisor position. Your role in this new position will be to lead your team as well as be a human resource strategic partner and resource to leaders and employees in the organization. In order to be effective in this new position, you need to learn what it means to be an effective leader. This includes understanding the foundations of leadership, your choices of leadership style, and the influence skills required in a human resource position. You have decided to research and decide what models of leadership you will use in your new position.

Leadership Development Challenge

This assignment is designed to create foundations for you in the leadership development area by discussing key elements of leadership, influence, and communication in the human resource profession. This will also set the stage for your application of these foundations in the upcoming course assignments.

Instructions

Write a 3–4 page paper in which you define leadership, influence, and communication unique to the human resource professional. You will identify two leadership theories that resonate for you as you envision your leadership style for this new position.

There are many ways to research leadership theories. The course text The Leadership Experience compiles a clear overview of current leadership theories in Chapter 1, “What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?” Using this text allows you to examine a variety of relevant leadership theories from a single source. Additional resources are also provided to supplement the course text and provide additional perspectives.

This paper should be well-organized and cover the following elements.

• Write an introduction that outlines why you are writing this paper.
• Describe unique characteristics of human resource leadership. 
  • Introduce the unique characteristics of leadership for the human resource professional.
• Explain how leadership theories apply to human resource leadership. 
  • Select two leadership theories that resonate for you as the foundation for your leadership style and approach and explain their relevance.
• Explain the importance of influence to human resource leadership. 
  • Provide examples of how you will use this leadership information in your new role as a human resource supervisor.
  • Discuss not only how you will lead your team but how this will impact your relationships throughout the organization.
• Write a conclusion that wraps up and summarizes your document.