MGMT315 Forum Topics:

Each week requires 250 word minimum.

Please contact me with any questions.

Week 2 – Corporate Reports

While it seems that college forces you to write endless research papers and focuses on the importance of citing your sources…why do you need to know all of this?   Even in the corporate world, you will need to know how to research your topic and put together a well written proposal.  The purpose of this week’s discussion is to find a corporate report and discuss the research required to create that report.  Do a search for “Corporate Social Responsibility Report” on your search engine of choice.  Do your best to choose a company that hasn’t already been mentioned in the discussion.  As a consumer, are you convinced that this report is well supported with research or are you reading about an individual opinion?   Is the information that the company used relevant to the point they are trying to make?  Is the report well written and easy to follow?  These questions are guidelines, please feel free to elaborate in your responses.

Week 3 – Written Communication

This week’s content is all about the writing process.  At this point in your college career, I am sure that you have all written more papers than you care to count and you have definitely read your share of scholarly work.  Based on feedback that you have received from previous professors regarding your papers…what could you improve upon? Has your writing style changed throughout your schooling? How has this affected your ability to communicate professionally?

Week 4 – Branding

This week, you were asked to read several journal articles discussing marketing campaigns.  To help get the juices flowing for this week’s paper…I would like you to choose a company and discuss their branding.  In to do this, you will first need to explain what branding is.  You should visit the company’s website to determine what their brand is rather than just stating your perception of their brand.  After you describe your chosen company’s brand…please critique it.  Has this company accomplished what they were setting out to do?  Have they reached the audience that they intended?

Week 5 – Job Search

This week we are focusing on building a resume.  When you are in search of a job, a resume is just one part of the process.  Employers today have access to far more information than what is included on your resume.   Many of us use Facebook and Twitter from a social perspective and make the incorrect assumption that this is completely private.  I would like everyone to review your online presence (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.).  If your potential employer were to see your posts, what impression would they get? Perform an internet search of yourself…did anything interesting come up?

Week 6 – Global Communications

This week we are going to revisit global communications.  During week 1, we discussed communicating with someone of a different culture.  Now that we have covered so much material, I would like to take a more professional look at global communications.  So many companies are multinational today.  For this week’s discussion, choose a multinational company and discuss their performance in at least one other country.  What changes did they need to make to be successful outside of the United States?  Were they effective?

Week 7 – Annual Reports

We have looked at various ways of communicating through all areas of business.  One of the most important ways that a corporation communicates with their investors is through their annual report. For this discussion, I would like you to find an annual report and provide a review of that report for your initial response.  The easiest way to do this is to go the website of the company of your choice, scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Investor Relations”.  You should see a link to their most recent annual report. Based on everything you have read both this week as well as previous weeks…was the point communicated effectively?  Was the data presented in a way that was clear to the average person? Were you left with any unanswered questions?

Week 8 – Final Thoughts

It has been such a pleasure getting to know all of you over the past several weeks.  Please respond to this final, ungraded, discussion with your thoughts regarding the course.  Did you enjoy the topics that we discussed?  Which discussion did you find to be the most useful?  Is there a topic that you feel did not lend itself to the course? If so, what would you recommend discussing as an alternative?