An important part of any first course is reflecting on what the start of your educational journey means while defining your goals and how you plan to achieve them.  Considering the reasons you enrolled in this university, your place in it and the world, and how you’ll function as a human who will learn in a virtual university, are important to your success. 

Writing is a process, not a one-time event. This week is an opportunity to further reflect on the last six weeks by adding onto, revising and proofreading the rough draft you began in Week 4.  Strong writers know that the proofreading and editing involved in revising their work is crucial to producing their best final draft. You’ll be practicing these skills as you finalize your own draft of the Reflection Assignment. 

Purpose  

This assignment is intended to give you an opportunity to strengthen your skills in gathering and analyzing business-related information. It provides a deeper understanding of how companies can look at globalization as part of their strategic and operational plans. The assignment has two parts: one focused on information research and analysis, and the other is on applied analytics.  

Resources: 

• Microsoft® Excel® 
• “How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 7 Years” from Harvard Business Review
• Call Center Waiting Time

Part 1: Globalization and Information Research 

Context: Companies that perform well in their country of origin usually consider expanding operations in new international markets. Deciding where, how, and when to expand is not an easy task, though.  

Many issues need to be considered before crafting an expansion strategy and investing significant resources to this end, including:  

• the level of demand to be expected for the company’s products/services 
• presence of local competitors 
• the regulatory, economic, demographic, and political environments 

Carefully researching and analyzing these and other factors can help mitigate the inherent risk associated with an overseas expansion strategy, thus increasing the likelihood of success. 

As a data analyst in your company’s business development department, you’ve been tasked with the responsibility of recommending countries for international expansion. You’ll write a report to the company’s executive team with your research, analysis, and recommendations. 

Instructions:  

Write a 525-word summary covering the following items: 

• According to the article listed above, what were the most important strategic moves that propelled Netflix’s successful international expansion? 
• The article mentions investments in big data and analytics as one of the elements accompanying the second phase of overseas expansion. Why was this investment important? What type of information did Netflix derive from the data collected? 
• According to the article, what is exponential globalization? 
• Not all international expansion strategies are a resounding success, however. Research an article or video that discusses an instance in which an American company’s expansion efforts in another country failed. According to the article/video you selected, what were the main reasons for this failure? Do you agree with this assessment? 
• Explain some of the reasons why certain companies’ expansion plans have failed in the past. 

Part 2: Hypothesis testing  

Context: Your organization is evaluating the quality of its call center operations. One of the most important metrics in a call center is Time in Queue (TiQ), which is the time a customer has to wait before he/she is serviced by a Customer Service Representative (CSR). If a customer has to wait for too long, he/she is more likely to get discouraged and hang up. Furthermore, customers who have to wait too long in the queue typically report a negative overall experience with the call. You’ve conducted an exhaustive literature review and found that the average TiQ in your industry is 2.5 minutes (150 seconds). 

Another important metric is Service Time (ST), also known as Handle Time, which is the time a CSR spends servicing the customer. CSR’s with more experience and deeper knowledge tend to resolve customer calls faster. Companies can improve average ST by providing more training to their CSR’s or even by channeling calls according to area of expertise. Last month your company had an average ST of approximately 3.5 minutes (210 seconds). In an effort to improve this metric, the company has implemented a new protocol that channels calls to CSR’s based on area of expertise. The new protocol (PE) is being tested side-by-side with the traditional (PT) protocol.  

Instructions: 

Access the Call Center Waiting Time file. Each row in the database corresponds to a different call. The column variables are as follows: 

• ProtocolType: indicates protocol type, either PT or PE
• QueueTime: Time in Queue, in seconds
• ServiceTime: Service Time, in seconds
• Perform a test of hypothesis to determine whether the average TiQ is lower than the industry standard of 2.5 minutes (150 seconds). Use a significance level of α=0.05.  
• Evaluate if the company should allocate more resources to improve its average TiQ. 
• Perform a test of hypothesis to determine whether the average ST with service protocol PE is lower than with the PT protocol. Use a significance level of α=0.05.  
• Assess if the new protocol served its purpose. (Hint: this should be a test of means for 2 independent groups.) 
• Submit your calculations and a 175-word summary of your conclusions. 

Submit your assignment.

You have just received two emails, one from your boss or supervisor and one from a coworker. The two emails address the same situation. A minor problem has occurred that you may be responsible for creating. Your boss/supervisor has asked you for a resolution to the problem. Your coworker, who has been affected by this problem, is angry with you and has written an inflammatory email accusing you of creating this problem on purpose.

1. Using word, write an email as a reply to both of the emails that you have received. You should attempt to resolve the problem as efficiently as possible. Since your email will be received both by a supervisor and a coworker, consider all aspects of your communication including the formality of the language you use, grammar, and all aspects of formal communication. Your goal is to solve the problem and maintain your professionalism at the same time.
2. On the same document, analyze the conflict that has happened. What was the cause of the conflict? How did you attempt to resolve the conflict? What did you need to address in terms of your supervisor’s concerns, and how were these different from your coworker’s concerns? Do you think your supervisor and coworker handled the conflict well in their emails to you? How effective are these emails?

Assessment Description

Teachers who understand the psychosocial and sociocultural issues that affect learning and acculturation among ELLs and bilingual/dual language students with exceptionalities will be better able to create meaningful learning experiences.

Create a 500-750 word handout to inform teachers about the psychosocial and sociocultural factors that affect ELLs or bilingual/dual language students with exceptionalities. Your handout should include:

• Descriptions of at least three psychosocial factors that affect ELLs or bilingual/dual language students with exceptionalities;
• Descriptions of at least three sociocultural factors that affect ELLs or bilingual/dual language students with exceptionalities;
• Strategies that would effectively address each of these factors in your teaching.

Support your findings with at least five scholarly resources.

While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented.