All this just need to be reworded. NOT APA nor MLA needed.
Question 1
Distinguish between the concepts of mission and vision. Provide examples in your explanation.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
Mission and vision statement are used in many organization to lay out who they and to identify their business to the external and internal customers. A vision statement is the foundation of an organization. It clearly states to the internal and external customers what the organization is all about. For example for the 375th Air Mobility Wing vision statement is “The Vision of the 375 Air Mobility Wing is providing precise combat capabilities to the warfighter….always”. This clearly states what the vision of the organization is which is ensuring the warfighters have the combat capabilities to do their jog. With a mission statement it is used to state the values and of the organization and it is used to separate the organization from it competitors. For example the 375th Air Mobility Wing mission statement is “The mission of the 375th Air Mobility Wing is enabling combat power”. With this mission statement it clearly states that the organization will enable combat power which tells the employees within the organization that they are trusted with power ensure the warfighters have what they need in a timely manner.
Question 2
Are "strategic management" and "strategic planning" synonymous terms? Explain.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
Strategic management and strategic planning are considered synonymous terms because they are both used to discuss how organizations make decisions regarding their business vision and mission and goals for the future. Even though the term strategic management is used in mainly within the realm of education and strategic planning is used more in the business world they both follow the same concept. Both strategic management and strategic planning focus around organizations focus on strategy to remain competitive and diverse through the changing economy.
Question 3
Describe the strategic management process, and include how it is used by organizations.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
The strategic management process has three stages which are strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and finally strategy evaluation. When looking at the strategy formulation this requires an organization to create the foundation of their organization. This includes creating a mission and vision statement and looking at what external and internal threats or opportunities that will affect the organization. When looking at the strategy implementation this entails an organization to establish objectives that will need to be meet and according to what time frame these objectives will be meet. This requires employ.
Basic phrases for greeting and assisting costumers
All this just need to be reworded. NOT APA nor MLA needed.Questi.docx
1. All this just need to be reworded. NOT APA nor MLA needed.
Question 1
Distinguish between the concepts of mission and vision. Provide
examples in your explanation.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
Mission and vision statement are used in many organization to
lay out who they and to identify their business to the external
and internal customers. A vision statement is the foundation of
an organization. It clearly states to the internal and external
customers what the organization is all about. For example for
the 375th Air Mobility Wing vision statement is “The Vision of
the 375 Air Mobility Wing is providing precise combat
capabilities to the warfighter….always”. This clearly states
what the vision of the organization is which is ensuring the
warfighters have the combat capabilities to do their jog. With a
mission statement it is used to state the values and of the
organization and it is used to separate the organization from it
competitors. For example the 375th Air Mobility Wing mission
statement is “The mission of the 375th Air Mobility Wing is
enabling combat power”. With this mission statement it clearly
states that the organization will enable combat power which
tells the employees within the organization that they are trusted
with power ensure the warfighters have what they need in a
timely manner.
Question 2
Are "strategic management" and "strategic planning"
synonymous terms? Explain.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
Strategic management and strategic planning are considered
2. synonymous terms because they are both used to discuss how
organizations make decisions regarding their business vision
and mission and goals for the future. Even though the term
strategic management is used in mainly within the realm of
education and strategic planning is used more in the business
world they both follow the same concept. Both strategic
management and strategic planning focus around organizations
focus on strategy to remain competitive and diverse through the
changing economy.
Question 3
Describe the strategic management process, and include how it
is used by organizations.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
The strategic management process has three stages which are
strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and finally
strategy evaluation. When looking at the strategy formulation
this requires an organization to create the foundation of their
organization. This includes creating a mission and vision
statement and looking at what external and internal threats or
opportunities that will affect the organization. When looking at
the strategy implementation this entails an organization to
establish objectives that will need to be meet and according to
what time frame these objectives will be meet. This requires
employees and leaders putting the strategic plan into action.
Finally, with strategy evaluation this requires those individuals
who are in leadership positions to see what is working within
the strategic plan and what is not working. This requires
reviewing performance objectives and making any corrections
that are needed to get the strategic plan back on track.
Question 4
Colleges and universities, like all business, have strengths,
weaknesses, and competitors. What would you consider to be an
3. online university’s internal strengths and weaknesses? Why?
Also, who would you say are the competitors to online
universities? What are three external opportunities and three
external threats?
Your response should be at least 200 words in length.
(needs to be re-worded)
Colleges and universities are like any other business that
competes for costumers, and like business they have strength
and weaknesses that are internal and external. When looking at
the internal strengths of an online university, is that online
university’s have a very diverse student population, which can
consist of students from all different states and countries. With
online universities they do have compasses located within a
given state and sometimes where the campus is located can be
appealing for students. Another internal strength is the ability to
work with military personal who can attend their online class no
matter where they are located. Some of the internal weakness is
that it is very hard to keep students enrolled in their degree
program. Another internal weakness is trying to keep the tuition
affordable for current and future students. Finally, with
technology always changing it is hard to keep up with all the
new technology and providing the latest in technology to the
staff and students. The biggest competitors for online
universities are the local community colleges and University’s
that are in all 50 states. With an over abundance of choices for
students to go to school this makes online universities to work
even harder to attract students to their online universities. When
looking at online universities there are some external
opportunities and external threats. When looking at the external
opportunities online universities offer the students the ability to
attend college when it is convent for them no matter where they
are at, this does away with having to attend classes in a
classroom setting. Also, online university’s offer many different
degree programs and certificate programs that may not be
offered to the students based off their geographical area.
4. Another strength for online university’s they can increase the
number of students who attending the college without having to
worry about over crowded classrooms. This reduces the amount
of overhead that must be paid to maintain a huge campus to
accommodate all the students. Finally, the biggest external
strength is that online universities can attract more students to
attend their university by appealing to them that they can take
the classes when it is convent for them. Some external threats
for online universities are reduced public funding from the state
that they are operating from. Also with new technology being
developed every year it puts online universities at a
disadvantage. Especially if the online students have a hard time
using the new technology they are forced to trouble shoot the
problems via the internet and by phone. This may discourage
students from attending their courses. Finally, another external
threat is maintaining accreditation in order to keep the school
open.
Question 4
Within this unit, we discussed how businesses may need to
adapt to changing times in order to stay competitive. Their
initial practices may have worked well previously, but may not
serve them well in the long term. The newspaper industry is one
that may face extinction. Explain why they may need to rethink
their business strategy, and provide some advice on possible
strategic management changes. Be specific to include
goals/objects, strengths, and weaknesses.
Your response should be at least 200 words in length
(needs to be re-worded)
With the growth in technology and social media awareness, the
newspaper industry has been having a rough time for almost a
decade now. Print readership is steadily declining, journalists
are being laid off and newspaper organizations have been shut
5. down. With changing times, it is important to change the
business philosophy and the business model to sustain and
survive in the long run. New business strategies should be
adopted by the newspapers to keep up in the market. The main
goal of newspapers should be to sustain by combating
diminishing reader interest. This can be done by using the social
media at the fullest. With e-presence, the newspapers can
publish articles online on social media platforms such as
Twitter, Facebook, etc. Secondly, the newspapers can focus on
redefined content and shortening the content of news. People do
not have enough patience to read long articles. Shortening the
articles can help gain readership from younger audiences.
Mobile apps are another way to combat diminishing readership.
People use their smartphones to get all work done and a mobile
app will help to stay connected with the readers.
Referring to the MTC Case Study, Raj Patel, the Chief
Information Officer (CIO), has indicated that the current IT
strategy is to adopt Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. This
week’s discussion focuses on the benefits, considerations, and
risks of adopting a SaaS solution.
Group 4: Review the Week 7 reading Implementing a SaaS
Solution
and then prepare your initial response as follows:
1. List two benefits of the IT Strategy to use a SaaS solution to
support the hiring process.
2. Identify three things the CIO and his team should look for as
they consider which SaaS vendor to select. Explain what they
6. are and why they are important to MTC’s business.
3. Then, explain what you think is MTC’s biggest risk in
outsourcing this IT function, why you selected that risk, and
what MTC's IT department’s key responsibilities are to
minimize risk and protect the business as they select and use a
SaaS solution.
Remember – the Group 4 initial posting is due by Wednesday
midnight; it should be about two short paragraphs in length,
supported by external research, and it should be posted by
clicking on "Start a New Thread". These postings need to
thoroughly respond to the questions and incorporate relevant
research correctly. Please look at what has been posted by your
classmates before choosing your examples, and then select
something that has not yet been discussed, if possible. Let’s try
to spread the discussion across as many examples as possible.
Then members of Groups 1,2 and 3 should reply to at least three
different postings by other classmates before Sunday midnight.
Responses to initial postings should be specific and assess
whether posting accurately and sufficiently addresses the
questions asked in the discussion topic, and should incorporate
relevant research correctly. Explain your assessment
as to why the information is or is not correct and/or complete,
providing correct information to enhance the discussion.
Responses must be in APA format, 250+ words per response, no
7. less than one legitimate, verifiable reference per discussion post
Due by 8 pm May 3, 2019.
Post:
Using SaaS to support the hiring process can benefit MTC in a
number of ways. The first form of benefit that I would like to
point out is perhaps not the first we might tend toward thinking
of: reputation. MTC is an IT consulting firm and, as is pointed
out in the case study, it is important for them to manage their
own IT systems well. Furthermore, if there is a viable IT
solution that can dramatically improve a manual process, an IT
consulting firm might be well to utilize it in order to bolster
their image. Scalability is another great benefit of using SaaS
for supporting hiring. Scalability means that the system can
accommodate a growing or shrinking user or activity base
without requiring additional investments in hardware or new
software platforms (IFSM 300, 2019).
8. Three questions to consider when selecting a SaaS vendor are:
(1) Is the product really SaaS? (2) What are their processes for
updates and support? and (3) What is your access to the CEO?
(Heller, 2017). One should ensure that the system is truly a
SaaS and not a series of on-premise solutions presented as cloud
or SaaS (Heller, 2017). Understanding the firm's processes for
updates and support is vital to ensure that downtime will not be
an issue and that updates will be speedy. Access to the CEO of
the SaaS company is important for any firm to consider when
selecting any SaaS. In this case, MTC needs to ensure that its
SaaS is not only reliable but functional, and having access to
the provider's CEO can help facilitate these factors. Perhaps the
biggest risk of outsourcing this IT function is that it does not
work out-of-the-box which is a major requirement. Working
out-of-the-box not only implies that the system is easy to
navigate, but that it is readily accessible and reliable from the
beginning. The key responsibility of MTC's IT Department to
minimize this risk is to do due diligence on the SaaS before
purchase and implementation.
References
Heller, M. (2017). How to select a SaaS vendor. CIO. Retrieved
from https://www.cio.com/article/3233197/how-to-select-a-
saas-vendor.html
IFSM 300. (2019). Implementing a SaaS solution. University of
Maryland, University College. Retrieved from
9. https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/362995/viewContent/1408
8296/View
Response:
Post:
SaaS is defined by "it is a distribution model for software,
whereby instead of downloading the software to run locally on
your PC, the program is hosted by a third-party provider, and
then accessed by users over the internet, typically through a
web browser interface." (Demuro, 2018) There are many
benefits why one would choose SaaS over any other system. A
few to mention are, "the vendor is responsible for the day-to-
day operation of the system, for the ongoing operation and
maintenance of the system, for protecting the sensitive business
data housed in the system, for upgrading and enhancing the
system, and for providing training and support." (UMUC, 2019)
This is important because it is allowing the vendor to do all the
work with the system and allow the customer to just use the
system and continue their business as usual.
10. The CIO when choosing a vendor should look at the whole
system altogether to make sure that it is the right fit. Some
more specific things they should pay close attention to is the
cost. MTC is worried about the system being cost-effective and
wanted to spend less money than they are already. There would
be no point in getting a system that they spend more money on
because then they would not be saving any money on the
system. Another thing is their security, they need to make sure
that the system is secure enough to have the individuals
information on the system and not worry about their information
getting out to anyone that would steal it. One of the most
important things that I think the CIO should consider is if the
system will work with what they are trying to do. If the system
cannot do the things they are looking for then it is pointless to
use that vendor. "The more the business process has to adapt to
the system, the less likely the system is to be accepted by the
users." (UMUC, 2019)
The biggest risk that I believe MTC should worry about is
security. When using a third party you have to rely on their
security measures to make sure that they are secure enough and
the private information does not get out. You don't know these
people and have never met them so you need to make sure that
their reputation is the best and that security is not an issue. "It’s
a particular major worry for users who plan on storing sensitive
data that will be detrimental if it ends up in the hands of others,
11. especially their competition." (Finances Online, 2018)
References:
10 SaaS Security Risks And Concerns Every User Has. (2018,
January 30). Retrieved from https://financesonline.com/10-saas-
security-risks-concerns-every-user/
DeMuro, J. (2018, August 06). What is SaaS? Retrieved from
https://www.techradar.com/news/what-is-saas
University of Maryland, University College.
(2019). Implementing a SaaS solution. Retrieved
from https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/362995/viewContent/
14088296/View
Response:
Post
1. List two benefits of the IT Strategy to use a SaaS solution to
support the hiring process.
· The first benefit of using a SaaS solution that I would like to
highlight are the potential cost savings to MTC. SaaS solutions
are “usually leased or subscribed to by the customer, and the
software is owned by the vendor, runs on the vendor's hardware,
and is accessed via the internet as a ‘service’” (University of
Maryland, University College, 2019). Because the vendor who
owns the SaaS solution is “responsible for the day-to-day
operation of the system, for the ongoing operation and
maintenance of the system, for protecting the sensitive business
12. data housed in the system, for upgrading and enhancing the
system, and for providing training and support” (University of
Maryland, University College, 2019), the overall cost for the
subscriber is significantly reduced.
· Another major benefit of a SaaS solution vs a COTS solution
is the availability of vendor support. The textbook notes that
“once the organization purchases a COTS solution, the vendor's
involvement in the day-to-day operation is nonexistent”
(University of Maryland, University College, 2019). As a result,
if MTC was to experience issues with integrating the system
with operations, or have training issues, or security concerns,
those issues are solely the responsibility of MTC to address.
With a SaaS solution, this is not the case. SaaS vendors are
involved in the process and are invested in keeping the
subscribers business. As such, they will assist MTC with a
variety of concerns to ensure that their solution becomes an
essential service in their subscriber.
2. Identify three things the CIO and his team should look for as
they consider which SaaS vendor to select. Explain what they
are and why they are important to MTC’s business.
· The first thing that the CIO and his team should consider when
looking to get into a SaaS solution, is how to get out of a SaaS
solution. Delsh notes that “companies get acquired, change
strategy or simply go bankrupt. If you intend to build parts of
13. your business workflow on a SaaS product that is by nature out
of your control, you should explore your exit options” (Delsh,
June 13, 2018). Involved with that is determining who owns the
data that is likely stored on the SaaS provider servers. If that
data is owned by them, it may be wise to negotiate to ensure
that you have a clause to retrieve your data in the event of a
dissolution of the contract.
· Data stored in a hiring system likely contains a large amount
of personal identifiable information (PII). This data is
extremely sensitive and is the target of cyber criminals. It is
imperative that CIOs determine what measures will be taken by
SaaS providers to protect this information. “Always be sure to
ask potential vendors about the security certifications they
hold” (Lipka, n.d.).
· Data migration and integration is the third thing that the CIO
and his team should look for. Transitioning from a manual
hiring process to a digital, web-based SaaS solution, will
require a fair amount of data uploading. It is in the best interest
of MTC and the SaaS provider to expedite this process in order
to get the hiring system operating. “For a large SaaS
deployment, these can be points of leverage in contract
negotiations, since it's in everyone's interest to make the
migration as fast and painless as possible” (Gray, August 1,
2016).
14. 3. Then, explain what you think is MTC’s biggest risk in
outsourcing this IT function, why you selected that risk, and
what MTC's IT department’s key responsibilities are to
minimize risk and protect the business as they select and use a
SaaS solution.
· I think the biggest risk that MTC faces in selecting a solution
is determining what level of flexibility in the software should
be sought after. Delsh notes that companies should “beware that
often times, it’s the least mature players in the market that bring
you the latest technologies” (Delsh, June 13, 2018). Well
established companies have a large number of subscribers and
are much less likely to listen to the input of one specific
company when making changes to their platform. If MTC wants
a company that has that kind of flexibility, they may lean
toward a newer SaaS provider. “These companies could lack
proper support and documentation or go out of business due to
their risky business model” (Delsh, June 13, 2018). If that
occurs, MTC could be caught flat-footed and be without an
essential service necessary to run the business. MTC must
weigh these considerations, and determine what vendor provides
both flexibility and maturity.
References
Delsh, K. (June 13, 2018). How to choose a SaaS provider: Key
questions you should ask yourself. Retrieved from
https://bdtechtalks.com/2018/06/13/software-as-a-service-saas-
15. vendor-how-choose/
Gray, P. (August 1, 2016). SaaS checklist: Nine factors to
consider when selecting a vendor. Retrieved from
https://www.zdnet.com/article/saas-checklist-nine-factors-to-
consider-when-selecting-a-vendor/
Lipka, N. (n.d.). Ask these questions before you invest in a
SaaS ITSM solution. Retrieved from
https://www.vivantio.com/resources/blog/saas-itsm-solution-
questions/
University of Maryland, University College. (2019).
Implementing a SaaS solution. Retrieved from
https://learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/362995/viewContent/1408
8296/View
Response: