EDUS's Acquisition of MCU The Situation: The CEO of EducUS Corporation (EDUS), in conjunction with the EDUS board of directors, has decided to increase the corporation’s footprint and expand its international operations. After identifying global opportunities, the EDUS board of directors decided to explore the possibility of purchasing the Mekong Cham University (MCU) located in downtown Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This university is a small academic institution which has a strong technology school but is short on resources. Specifically, the Mekong Cham faculty members are highly acclaimed technologists who are widely published in the field of information technology and enterprise software application. However, while MCU enjoys an exceptional local reputation as an educational institution, it has difficulty in recruiting students outside the Southeast Asia region. One reason is that MCU has no capability, due to lack of funding, to provide online course offerings. Another reason for the low enrollment at MCU is the poor physical condition of the university building complex. EDUS Corporation also enjoys an excellent reputation as the third largest provider of nontraditional education in the U.S. EDUS is the parent company of 26 universities located throughout the U.S. and Canada. It has a strong international business and management program offering in most of its holdings and is known for its exceptional online delivery capability. You have been selected to work on the EDUS research team in support of the steering committee for this acquisition. You are part of a high performance work team which will focus its research in 5 separate areas. The EDUS CEO has briefed the team and expressed the need for comprehensive research to ensure that the acquisition of MCU will be right for both organizations. She tells you and the team that acquisitions, like this, are often unsuccessful because of incompatible cultures, clashes in management styles, poor integration strategies, and inadequate communications. So she has requested that you particularly focus on these areas of inquiry. The EDUS CEO also informs you and the team that although she understands that this project will take some time, it is imperative that preliminary recommendations be presented within the next eight weeks. To meet the guidance of your CEO, you will lead the project team in a presentation of the team’s findings within this designated period. Week 3 Instructor Guidance Try to imagine a person walking. It could be anyone--male or female-- someone you know, or a famous actor. Can you visualize it? After a while, this walker comes to a house. We don't really get a chance to look at the exterior of the house too much--maybe the shot is too tight, too closely aligned with Walker's point of view. But anyway, as Walker approaches the door and reaches out for the knob we hear something . . . What we hear has a huge impact on how we're going to react to what comes next. Imagine that wh ...

1. EDUS's Acquisition of MCU
The Situation:
The CEO of EducUS Corporation (EDUS), in conjunction with
the EDUS board of directors, has decided to increase the
corporation’s footprint and expand its international operations.
After identifying global opportunities, the EDUS board of
directors decided to explore the possibility of purchasing the
Mekong Cham University (MCU) located in downtown Phnom
Penh, Cambodia. This university is a small academic institution
which has a strong technology school but is short on resources.
Specifically, the Mekong Cham faculty members are highly
acclaimed technologists who are widely published in the field of
information technology and enterprise software application.
However, while MCU enjoys an exceptional local reputation as
an educational institution, it has difficulty in recruiting students
outside the Southeast Asia region. One reason is that MCU has
no capability, due to lack of funding, to provide online course
offerings. Another reason for the low enrollment at MCU is the
poor physical condition of the university building complex.
EDUS Corporation also enjoys an excellent reputation as the
third largest provider of nontraditional education in the U.S.
EDUS is the parent company of 26 universities located
throughout the U.S. and Canada. It has a strong international
business and management program offering in most of its
holdings and is known for its exceptional online delivery
capability.
You have been selected to work on the EDUS research team in
support of the steering committee for this acquisition. You are
part of a high performance work team which will focus its
research in 5 separate areas. The EDUS CEO has briefed the
team and expressed the need for comprehensive research to

2. ensure that the acquisition of MCU will be right for both
organizations. She tells you and the team that acquisitions, like
this, are often unsuccessful because of incompatible cultures,
clashes in management styles, poor integration strategies, and
inadequate communications. So she has requested that you
particularly focus on these areas of inquiry. The EDUS CEO
also informs you and the team that although she understands
that this project will take some time, it is imperative that
preliminary recommendations be presented within the next eight
weeks. To meet the guidance of your CEO, you will lead the
project team in a presentation of the team’s findings within this
designated period.
Week 3 Instructor Guidance
Try to imagine a person walking. It could be anyone--male or
female-- someone you know, or a famous actor. Can you
visualize it?
After a while, this walker comes to a house. We don't really get
a chance to look at the exterior of the house too much--maybe
the shot is too tight, too closely aligned with Walker's point of
view. But anyway, as Walker approaches the door and reaches
out for the knob we hear something . . .
What we hear has a huge impact on how we're going to react to
what comes next. Imagine that what we hear is:
· A piercing, violently repetitive violin string arrangement
(similar to what you might hear in a suspense film Psycho)
·
·
· The deep, resounding sounds of a bass being strummed
complete with pauses (similar to what you might hear in a
thriller like Jaws)
·
·

3. · A sprightly piano roll with some sloppy but peppy percussion
in the background (similar to what you might hear in romantic
comedy like When Harry Met Sally)
·
·
So: How do you feel about Walker going into that house?
***
In the first instance, you might tell Walker to turn around and
run away, that whatever is behind the door is probably about to
make Walker's day a bad one. In the second case, you might
have a similar but less immediate feeling of dread. Something
bad is going to happen but opening the door might be literally
just the gateway. In the third instance, you might expect
something nice or surprising to happen, maybe even a big
welcome home kiss wouldn’t be all that unexpected given the
feisty tone of the music.
It's clear that the sound in a movie plays a big part in how we
receive certain images. In this case, we're talking about the
music (I'll leave the talk of sound effects to our textbook).
Watching a film is certainly primarily a visual exercise but
we're also heavily influenced in how we process those visual
images by the overall tone. Tone is established, as we've seen,
through a variety of methods (light, costume, the visuals
themselves) but one of the most important and most commonly
overlooked is music.
***
You probably know that the cinema has a rich history of silent
films, those made literally before the technology to link film
and sound recording even existed. If you're interested in this era
of Hollywood--the stark black and white beauty, the glitz and
glamour--you might want to follow this link. There, you can
read about how one element, sound--or rather, the absence of
this element!--impacted everything from acting to sets, to the
stories themselves.

4. There's a wealth of resources there, including links to silent
movies you can watch online and a lengthy documentary that
explores the films and stars of that time period: Hollywood: A
Celebration of the American Silent Film.
In many of today's movies, a rich and expressive background
score has been replaced by a soundtrack of popular songs. I
think this is a problem because suddenly someone else's words
are filling your eardrums. You're unable to form your own
opinion and impression because you're being force fed someone
else's. I can understand why Hollywood would pursue such a
strategy; even if you ignore the obvious cross over promotion
and economic motivators, it's a lot easier to rely on an
established and clear way of communicating tone (the lyrics to a
song, our previous experience with a singer's persona) than to
rely on the more moody and atmospheric elements of orchestral
music.
Maybe it comes down to a matter of trust. Some filmmakers
trust their audience to understand what will happen based
simply on a few notes of music. Others feel like they need the
added oomph of star power of lyrics to get their message across.
But to me, the latter method feels like a crutch to prop up a
scene. It feels a little too instant and distant to really have the
kind of deep emotional response that I go to the movies for.
However, some of you might say that the only reason you had
the response I mentioned to the Jaws or Psycho score is because
of previous exposure.
You knew that the violins signaled danger not because of how
they were played but because you were able to remember them
signaling danger in a different context. While that's likely true
for the particular examples from this lecture, it's also pretty
commonly held that the sound of certain instruments played
certain ways can elicit or strengthen certain emotions.
So it's not just that the thrumming Imperial March from Star
Wars makes us think of outer space exploits and evil empires
because of our previous association. Somehow, the musical
notes embodied a regal but menacing quality that helped to

5. define the image, just as the image now helps define our
reaction to the musical notes.
Being aware of the way music works on us as viewers is
incredibly important. If we listen carefully, we can tell when a
character is lying or when they need to be more careful; we can
tell if a situation is truly dangerous or just inconvenient. We
can even tell the future.
***
Understanding the different types of sound can be very
important. Our discussion question for the week breaks this
down a bit, asking you to think of sound in three main
categories--music, dialogue, and sound effects. But really, all
sound in film is broken down much more simply, and under a
much broader umbrella; the sound is either diegetic or non-
diegetic. Basically, what this means is sound that either
originates from the world of the film (the former term, diegetic)
or sound that originates externally from the world of the film
(the latter term, non-diegetic).
These are important terms, so I hope you'll take a few minutes
to watch this brief video presentation that explains them more
fully and also runs through some examples:
Material developed by Nate Pritts, Ph.D.; additional material by
James Meetze.
Establishing Theme
If this video is not loading properly, you can access the video
by clicking here.
Please click here to view the Week Three Assignment Video
transcript.
Select a movie from AFI’s 10 Top 10 lists and explain how
three cinematic techniques and/or design elements have helped

6. establish a major theme in that film. Note: While you are
allowed to choose a film that does not come from the AFI lists,
you are strongly encouraged to email your professor to receive
approval before doing so.
In 800 to 1200 words
· Describe a major theme of the movie you have selected using
evidence from the movie itself as well as course resources and
other scholarly sources to support your position.
· Identify at least three techniques (cinematography, lighting,
acting style, or direction) and/or design elements (set design,
costuming, or hair and makeup), and explain how these
techniques and/or design elements contribute to the
establishment of the theme. Reference particular scenes or
sequences in your explanations.
· State your opinion regarding the mise en scène, including
· How the elements work together.
· How congruent the design elements are with the theme of the
movie.
· Whether or not other techniques would be as effective
(Explain your reasoning).
Note: Remember that a theme is an overarching idea that recurs
throughout the plot of a film. It is the distilled essence of what
the film is about, the main design which the specific scenes and
actions lead a viewer to understand.
Your paper should be organized around a thesis statement that
focuses on how the elements of your chosen feature-length film
both establish and maintain one of its major themes. Review the
Week Three sample paper, which provides an example of a well-
developed analysis as well as insight on composition.
The paper must be 800 to 1200 words in length and formatted
according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center.
You must use at least two scholarly sources other than the
textbook to support your claims. Refer to the ENG225 Research
Guide in the Ashford University Library for guidance and to
locate your sources. Cite your sources (including the feature-

7. length film) within the text of your paper and on the reference
page. For information regarding APA, including samples and
tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center.
Please note that if you opt to write about the same film in your
Final Film Critique, applicable pieces of this assignment can be
used to write that assignment. Please also note that you should
reflect on and revise this assignment based on the instructor’s
feedback before you incorporate it into the Final Film Critique.
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It is advised that you check your document for originality
(avoiding unintentional plagiarism) by using the Turnitin
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Waypoint for guidance on using the Turnitin program.
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assignment.
Please view the video Accessing Feedback in the Gradebook
for guidance on how to review your instructor’s feedback when
the post is graded.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be
used to evaluate your assignment.