The company I chose to analysis is “Nordstrom Inc.” Most businesses face a landscape of uncertainty and a never-ending stream of risks and opportunities. Managers must continually project the likely financial impact of decisions, make recommendations, act on those decisions, determine how to pay for them, and evaluate the costs and effectiveness of what has been done. Many decisions are short-term, routine, and operational. Others are longer-term investment decisions that require substantial new resources, such as developing new services, expanding into new geographic markets, or undertaking business combinations or spin-offs. Each requires managers to forecast, plan, and make decisions based on a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors that can affect a company’s financial success. For the summative assessment in this course, you will bring your finance and economics knowledge to bear by preparing an external capital funding proposal for a major international investment at a publicly traded corporation. In order to secure the support of potential financial backers, your proposal will need to lay out what the proposed investment opportunity is, how it fits within the company’s broader mission and goals, its financial impact, and the amount being requested and why (including alternative funding mechanisms considered). In addition, it will also need to include information on the organization’s context, risk factors, and microeconomic assumptions that could affect the success of the investment. Prompt: You have already chosen the company you will use for your final project, and you have started a narrative description of your expansion project into another country. In this milestone, you will build on that narrative description providing sufficient detail about the expansion, its costs, and its time frame to give a loan committee a firm sense of the proposed investment. You will also analyze the impact of the investment proposal on your business by explaining why now is the right time for this investment given the global context and by explaining how the investment is a good strategic fit with your company. This milestone addresses all of Section II and Section III (Parts A and B only) of the final project. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: II. Investment Project: Use this section to describe the investment for which you are seeking funding, its costs, and time frame. Specifically, you should: A. Describe the investment project. Be sure to provide sufficient detail to give the loan committee a firm sense of the parameters of the activity, the need for it, and what financial metrics are relevant for determining success. In other words, what do you propose to do, where, what marketplace need will it fill, and how will you measure success? B. Specify the resources the project will require and where these resources will come from. In addition to noting the amount of the loan you are requesting ...

1. The company I chose to analysis is “Nordstrom Inc.”
Most businesses face a landscape of uncertainty and a never-
ending stream of risks and opportunities. Managers must
continually project the likely financial
impact of decisions, make recommendations, act on those
decisions, determine how to pay for them, and evaluate the
costs and effectiveness of what has been
done. Many decisions are short-term, routine, and operational.
Others are longer-term investment decisions that require
substantial new resources, such as developing new services,
expanding into new geographic markets, or undertaking
business combinations or spin-offs. Each requires managers to
forecast, plan, and make decisions based on a thorough
understanding of both internal and external factors that can
affect a company’s financial success.
For the summative assessment in this course, you will bring
your finance and economics knowledge to bear by preparing an
external capital funding proposal for a major international
investment at a publicly traded corporation. In order to secure
the support of potential financial backers, your proposal will
need to lay out what the proposed investment opportunity is,
how it fits within the company’s broader mission and goals, its
financial impact, and the amount being requested and why
(including alternative funding mechanisms considered). In
addition, it will also need to include information on the
organization’s context, risk factors, and microeconomic
assumptions that could affect the success of the investment.
Prompt: You have already chosen the company you will use for
your final project, and you have started a narrative description
of your expansion project into another country. In this
milestone, you will build on that narrative description providing
sufficient detail about the expansion, its costs, and its time
frame to give a loan committee a firm sense of the proposed

2. investment. You will also analyze the impact of the investment
proposal on your business by explaining why now is the right
time for this investment given the global context and by
explaining how the investment is a good strategic fit with your
company. This milestone addresses all of Section II and Section
III (Parts A and B only) of the final project.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
II. Investment Project: Use this section to describe the
investment for which you are seeking funding, its costs, and
time frame. Specifically, you should:
A. Describe the investment project. Be sure to provide
sufficient detail to give the loan committee a firm sense of the
parameters of the activity, the need for it, and what financial
metrics are relevant for determining success. In other words,
what do you propose to do, where, what marketplace need will
it fill, and how will you measure success?
B. Specify the resources the project will require and where
these resources will come from. In addition to noting the
amount of the loan you are requesting, you should also consider
human resources, facilities, government approvals, intellectual
property, access to natural resources, and other resources that
might be required to carry out the project.
C. Time frame. When will the project start, what is the
anticipated economic life of the proposed expansion, and how
will you decide if, when, or how to exit? Justify your choices
with appropriate financial metrics.
III. Justification: In this section, you should analyze the impact
of the investment proposal on your business. In particular, you
should cover:
A. Why is now a good time for this investment given the global
context? Justify your response, citing specific external factors
such as trade regulations,
foreign currency considerations, or trends in foreign direct

3. investment that might affect business financial decisions.
B. Strategic fit. Use this section to discuss why the investment
proposal makes sense for your company strategically.
Specifically:
1. How does the investment align with the company’s
organizational and financial priorities? Support your argument
with evidence from company reports and financial statement
analysis designed to persuade the lender that the investment is a
good strategic fit for your company.
2. How does the project fit within the global microeconomic
environment? Support your response with evidence. For
example, would the
expansion tap unmet demand for the company’s key products or
services or fill a new niche? How do you know?
3. How does the project build on the organization’s core
competencies and comparative advantage? For example, does
the company have a strategic advantage from intellectual
property, regional expertise, suppliers, or organizational
structure?
9/9/16
1
CH
3
-­‐
Individual
Differences:

4. Employee
A?tudes
MGT308
The
ABCs
of
Attitudes
Copyright
©
2013
Pearson
EducaKon,
Inc.
publishing
as
PrenKce
Hall
Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects,
people, or events
Three components of an attitude:
A?tude
Behavioral
CogniKve

5. AffecKve
The
emotional
or
feeling
segment
of
an
attitude
The
opinion
or
belief
segment
of
an
attitude
An
intention
to
behave
in
a
certain

6. way
toward
someone
or
something
Eagley
&
Chaiken,
1998
Connecting
attitudes
to
behavior
A?tude
Behavior
A?tude
Behavior
9/9/16
2

7. Rate
each
question
on
a
scale
of
1
(strongly
disagree)
to
5
(strongly
agree)
1.
Breakfast
is
the
most
important
meal
with
regards
to
one’s
overall
health.

8. 2.
Homelessness
is
one
of
the
biggest
problems
in
society
today.
3.
The
right
to
vote
is
one
of
the
most
valuable
rights
of
American
ciKzens.
4.

9. Whether
or
not
one
arrives
on
Kme
(to
appointments,
meeKngs,
classes,
etc.)
says
a
lot
about
one’s
character.
FLIP
YOUR
PAPER
OVER
PLEASE!
Rate
each
question
on
a
scale

10. of
1
(not
at
all)
to
5
(yes,
deBinitely)
1.
Do
you
eat
a
healthful
breakfast
every
day?
2.
Do
you
personally
do
anything
to
help
the
homeless

11. (e.g.,
volunteer
at
a
homeless
shelter
or
donate
money)?
3.
Did
you
vote
in
the
last
elecKon
for
which
you
were
eligible?
4.
Are
you
consistently
on

12. Kme
to
your
appointments,
classes,
and
other
commitments?
Connecting
attitudes
to
behavior
A?tude
Behavior
A?tude
MoKvaKon
to
reduce
dissonance
Behavior
FesKnger:

13. the
WHY
is
all
about
cogni4ve
dissonance!
Cogni4ve
Dissonance
Theory
9/9/16
3
Connecting
attitudes
to
behavior
Do
a%tudes
and
behavior
always

14. align?
• Example:
hiring
candidates
with
criminal
background
(Pager
&
Quillian,
2005)
When
have
you
acted
in
a
way
that
was
inconsistent
with
your

15. a2tude
about
something?
Why
do
you
think
you
did?
Connecting
attitudes
to
behavior
• Importance
of
the
a?tude
• Its
correspondence
to
behavior
• Its
accessibility
• The
presence
of
social
pressure

16. • Whether
or
not
a
person
has
had
direct
experience
with
the
behavior
• The
a?tude/behavior
relaKonship
is
stronger
if
it
refers
to
something
in
our
direct
personal
experience
‘Big

17. Attitudes’
in
Organizational
Behavior
Employee
Engagement/
Job
Involvement
Perceived
Org/
Supervisor
Support
Perceived
Fairness
(Org.
JusKce)
Job
SaKsfacKon
OrganizaKonal

18. Commitment
9/9/16
4
Perceptions
of
Fairness
(Organizational
Justice)
• How
fair
one
perceives:
• 1)
Rewards
&
outcomes
at
work
(distribu4ve
jus4ce)
• 2)
Decision-­‐making

19. Procedures
at
work
(procedural
jus4ce)
• 3)
Interpersonal
CommunicaKon
with
supervisors/managers
(interac4onal
jus4ce)
• What
are
benefits?
How
can
managers
impact?
Perceived
Support
from
Organization/
Supervisor

20. • Degree
to
which
employees
believe
the
org./supervisor
values
their
contribu7on
and
cares
about
their
well-­‐being.
• Commonly
linked
to
empowerment,
saKsfacKon,
commitment
PercepKons
of
meaning
in
work,
competence,
self-­‐determinaKon

21. (autonomy),
and
impact
• What
are
the
benefits?
How
can
managers
impact?
Employee
Engagement
• Psychological
state
of
affecKve,
cogniKve,
&
physical
components
wherein
employees
give
all

22. of
themselves
to
their
work
roles
(Kahn,
1990)
• Energy,
involvement
(absorpKon),
&
dedicaKon
(Schaufeli
et
al.)
• Commonly
linked
with
overall
saKsfacKon
&
job
involvement
Degree
of
psychological
idenKficaKon

23. with
the
job
• What
are
the
benefits?
How
can
managers
impact?
9/9/16
5
Organizational
Commitment
• IdenKfying
with
one’s
organizaKon
and

24. its
goals;
wishing
to
stay
with
organizaKon
• 3
Dimensions
(Meyer
&
Allen,
1991):
• AffecKve
Commitment
• ConKnuance
Commitment
• NormaKve
Commitment
• Benefits
• Higher
organizaKonal
ciKzenship
behaviors
(affecKve)

25. • Greater
moKvaKon
• Lower
absenteeism
&
turnover
(especially
intenKons)
Impacting
Organizational
Commitment
• ConKnuance:
• Maintaining
compeKKve
rewards/salary/benefits
• AffecKve:
• Fairness
in
rewards/decision-­‐making/interpersonal
treatment
• PosiKve
relaKonship-­‐oriented
leadership

26. &
support
• Open,
transparent
communicaKon
• WHY?
-­‐-­‐-­‐
Homan’s
Social
Exchange
Theory
provides
one
explanaKon:
Receiving
something
posiKve
from
organizaKon/
manager
MoKvated

27. by
the
Norm
of
Reciprocity
PosiKve
behavioral
response
(giving
back)
Job
Satisfaction
• The
extent
to
which
you
like
your
job
(and
all
the
components
of

28. your
job)
• Conceptualized
as
general
sa4sfac4on
or
component-­‐specific
• Measured
via
self-­‐report
survey
as
single
global
ra4ng
or
summa4on
of
ra4ngs
across
job
facets
9/9/16
6

29. BeneBits
of
Job
Satisfaction
• Lower
turnover
• Higher
customer
saKsfacKon
• Higher
OCBs,
lower
CPBs
(counter-­‐producKve
behaviors)
• Higher
job
performance!
Does
job
sa<sfac<on
performance
or
does
performance

30. job
sa<sfac<on?
Impacting
Job
Satisfaction
(&
related
attitudes)
• Factors
outside
manager’s
control:
Personality
• Core
self-­‐evaluaKons
(Bono
&
Judge,
2003)
• Trait
affecKvity
(Connolly
&
Viswesvaran,
2000)

31. • Pay
–
but
only
to
a
certain
point
• ‘Good
leadership’
(direct
managers
especially)
• Fair
outcomes/decision/interacKons
• PosiKve
social
experiences
at
work
(work
buddies!)
• Via
impacKng
support
Impacting
Job

32. Satisfaction
• Change
the
Job/Tasks
(Job
CharacterisKc
Theory,
Hackman
&
Oldham,
1976)
Job
Enrichment
Task
Iden4ty
Task
Significance
Skill
Variety
Autonomy
Feedback
Psychological
States

33. Meaningfulness
Responsibility
Knowledge
of
Results
Job
Sa4sfac4on
9/9/16
7
Wrap-­‐up
&
Questions
Big
Theories
in
aVtudes:
• CogniKve
Dissonance
Theory
(FesKnger)

34. • Job
CharacterisKc
Theory
(Hackman
&
Oldham)
5
important
aVtudes
• What
they’re
all
about
• Consequences
(Benefits)
• How
to
impact
QUESTIONS?
What’s
Next
for
Thursday:

35. • READ:
CH
4
&
“Waking
Up
on
the
Wrong
Side
of
the
Desk”
arKcle
on
d2l
• On
Thursday
we
will
cover
EmoKons
&
Moods
(ch
4)
&
finish
“Work

36. Happiness
Videos”
• Quiz
on
Tuesday
the
20th
on
intro,
ch
1,
3,
4.
The chosen company is Alghanim Industries.
1. Briefly describe the company (provide general information
about the company)
2. What are the main goals of the company?
3. What is the organizational structure? (draw a diagram and
provide a brief explanation of the main tasks for each
department of the company i.e., HR, Finance, marketing etc.)
4. Identify five career opportunities that the company may offer
for an MIS graduate?
5. Choose one of the identified job titles and explain briefly (1-
2 sentences) at least five tasks performed by an employee who
has this job title. (better include entry level job “specialist”
which is about analyzing tasks that’re more into IT oriented)
6. This part needs to analyze how the tasks mentioned in the
previous section relate to the knowledge obtained in the

37. academic courses that you have taken so far (For instance, if
you chose data analysis as a job career, you have to relate this
job opportunity with a certain course I have taken Like MIS360
“Business process and systems”)