...Background M&M is a well-established regional accounting firm with 160 employees located across six offices in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Their primary services are corporate audits and tax preparation. Over the last two years the partners decided to move more aggressively into the consulting business. M&M projected that consulting would represent 40 percent of their growth over the next five years. M&M operated within a matrix structure. As new clients were recruited, a manager was assigned to the account. A manager might be assigned to several accounts, depending on the size and scope of the work. This was especially true in the case of tax preparation projects, where it was not uncommon for a manager to be assigned to 8 to 12 clients. Likewise, senior and staff accountants were assigned to multiple account teams. Ruby Sands was the office manager responsible for assigning personnel to different accounts at the Green Bay office. She did her best to assign staff to multiple projects under the same manager. This wasn’t always possible, and sometimes accountants had to work on projects led by different managers. M&M, like most accounting firms, had a tiered promotion system. New CPAs entered as junior or staff accountants. Within two years, their performance was reviewed and they were either asked to leave or promoted to senior accountant. Sometime during their fifth or sixth year, a decision was made to promote them to account manager. Finally, after 10 to...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. Moss and McAdams (M&M) operated within a matrix structure in which personnel and resources were shared across multiple projects and operations. The matrix approach is a hybrid organizational form that combines elements of both the functional and project team forms in an attempt to realize the advantages of both (Gray and Larson, 2008). In this case the firm, the employee Olds was spread across two projects with different aspects of outcome, potentially creating issues in Olds concentrating and being equally productive of both projects. As this was Palmer’s first project after being promoted he wanted the best on his project to make an impression. Having Olds on his team was a major plus. When the new Project Manager, Crosby, approached Palmer about utilizing Olds for his project he was skeptical about allowing Olds to work with Crosby as he knew there may be conflict. However, Palmer decided to be a team player and allow Olds to work with Crosby on his project. After the discussion with Sands, Palmer should have expressed his reluctance to allow Olds to work with Crosby as his project was suffering from the lack of participation from Olds due to the time restraints shared on Crosby’s project. He should have also expressed how Crosby could have been more considerate in his time share of Olds so that both projects were successful, after all as Crosby so adamantly expressed when he petitioned for Olds...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It appears as though Palmer was operating in a weak matrix structure where he had indirect authority to expedite the project and very little influence over the staff assigned. If I were him in this situation, I would express to Ruby Sands the office manager that this situation was beyond my control as a result of Olds being assigned to a task that was very demanding of his time and him not being able to balance that with the expectations of the Johnsonville audit. I would confirm awareness of the importance of the Springfield consulting project to the company’s strategic objectives i.e. to grow its consulting services by 40 percent within 5 years however, I would suggest that for a venture as important as Springfield the team should be chosen carefully and a compromise worked out by management in the event staff must be shared. I would also bring to her attention that the Johnsonville audit was behind schedule as a result of the decision to assign Olds to Crosby’s project which resulted in him being consistently late due to the demands of the Springfield project. I would inform her of the times that was wasted when Olds should have been working on the Johnsonville audit and instead worked on Crosby’s assignment. I would recommend that Sands communicate with management to make them aware of the new developments so that the situation is not used against me for future promotions in the event I...
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...Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It is obvious that everyone involved could have handled things differently in order to maximize time and resources while maintaining a healthy and product work environment for all involved. From the beginning it was evident that Olds skills were definitely in demand. It’s not question that due to his background, Olds talent was quite possibly the best that the Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm had. Because his expertise was so in demand, when met with an organizational structure that had an obvious weak matrix structure, it caused hardship. A weak matrix closely resembles the functional approach, which among other things gives functional managers responsibility over the project manager (Gray & Larson, 2009). In this case Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. From the onset of the situation, Palmer should have voiced his concerns regarding spreading his project members to think across other accounts. Due to the weak matrix environment, it may not have mattered. As soon as Palmer recognized the problems he should have addressed the issue. At the end of the case, Palmer should accept that the decision made by management was the best decision for all parties involved. Valuable employees leave projects all the time for one reason or another. The only reasonable thing to do is find a suitable replacement and continue on with...
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...“Moss and Mcadams Accounting Firm” Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It is obvious that everyone involved could have handled things differently in order to maximize time and resources while maintaining a healthy and product work environment for all involved. From the beginning it was evident that Olds skills were definitely in demand. It’s not question that due to his background, Olds talent was quite possibly the best that the Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm had. Because his expertise was so in demand, when met with an organizational structure that had an obvious weak matrix structure, it caused hardship. A weak matrix closely resembles the functional approach, which among other things gives functional managers responsibility over the project manager (Gray & Larson, 2009). In this case Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. From the onset of the situation, Palmer should have voiced his concerns regarding spreading his project members to think across other accounts. Due to the weak matrix environment, it may not have mattered. As soon as Palmer recognized the problems he should have addressed the issue. At the end of the case, Palmer should accept that the decision made by management was the best decision for all parties involved. Valuable employees leave projects all the time for one reason or another. The only reasonable thing to do...
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...order to complete projects on both ends. In addition, the parties involved could have handled things differently in order to maximize time and resources while maintaining a healthy and productive work environment. At the end of the case I believe that Palmer felt as if he was cheated because he did not receive the full potential of Olds. However, this issue could have been avoided with the project screening process, which should have been assessed when Sands was delegating team members based on their credentials and responsibilities (Gray, 2008). Based on Olds credentials it was evident that his skills were definitely in demand for those particular projects. In fact, it was obvious that his talent was quite possibly the best that the Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm had. In this case Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. Initially her job encompassed the responsibility of the project manager which is to balance the project type, risk and resource demand, if expertise individuals were to be used (Hobbs, 1993). Once Palmer was presented with the issue of sharing, he should have addressed the issue and requested that Sands find him another individual with credential similar to Olds. As Palmer, I would have been dismayed by the decision of management; however, I would have accepted the decision and understood that valuable employees leave projects for varies reasons. In result of this situation the only...
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...Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm Tyrone Adaway BUS 517 Project Management Dr. Flores April 20, 2012 1. Explain how you would respond if you were Bruce at the end of the case. I would be furious beyond belief; I would feel very disrespected and unappreciated by the company at the end of this case. To be forced to work with a subpar team member for several months who had shown poor performance and cause my project to run behind, only to then be told that not only were they going to remove him from my project and leave me shorthanded it was him who got to make the decision. My response to Sands would be one that expressed my concern for the image that may be presented by allowing this to be the way that business is conducted. Since it is standard practice to have junior associates assigned to more than one project as at a time, by allowing him to choose the project that he’s “more interested” in may lead to other jr. associates to put forth less than stellar work in the projects that they are not interested in doing in the hopes that they will be able to not do that work. Also I would advise them that while Springfield account is important the Johnsonville account is equal as important and we are sending the wrong message to the client that we do not value their business as much since we are taking people off their account to put them on other accounts. Thirdly I would remind her that he was initially assigned to work on the Johnsonville account and that his participation...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It appears as though Palmer was operating in a weak matrix structure where he had indirect authority to expedite the project and very little influence over the staff assigned. If I were him in this situation, I would express to Ruby Sands the office manager that this situation was beyond my control as a result of Olds being assigned to a task that was very demanding of his time and him not being able to balance that with the expectations of the Johnsonville audit. I would confirm awareness of the importance of the Springfield consulting project to the company’s strategic objectives i.e. to grow its consulting services by 40 percent within 5 years however, I would suggest that for a venture as important as Springfield the team should be chosen carefully and a compromise worked out by management in the event staff must be shared. I would also bring to her attention that the Johnsonville audit was behind schedule as a result of the decision to assign Olds to Crosby’s project which resulted in him being consistently late due to the demands of the Springfield project. I would inform her of the times that was wasted when Olds should have been working on the Johnsonville audit and instead worked on Crosby’s assignment. I would recommend that Sands communicate with management to make them aware of the new developments so that the situation is not used against me for future promotions in the event I am...
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...Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. If I were Palmer, I would have mixed emotions with Ruby Sands’s decision to move Olds to Crosby’s team at the end. On one side, I will be glad to see the change in management stance towards Olds time share among multiple projects. On other hand, I will be disappointed to lose good resource like Olds. I would have taken this opportunity to explain how difficult it is for senior accountants in the company to share their time between multiple projects. I would have requested management to investigate deeply into current situation and how the organization culture is the responsible for it. M&M is a result-driven organization and promotions are based on meeting deadlines, retaining clients, and generating revenues. Also, the promotion team makes its decision based on relative performance of the account manager in comparison to his or her cohorts (Gray & Larson, 2009, p. 83). This approach has discouraged teamwork and cooperation and has led to conflict and negative culture among the project teams. I would have taken this opportunity to discuss the delay caused by Olds to Johnsonville Audit project and to negotiate with management to allocate an extra resource along with Olds replacement. This extra resource will allow me to make up for the delays and meet the project deadline. I would have asked management to report this incident to promotion team and make it count in evaluating performance. Discuss...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Peter at the end of the case. If I were Peter I would feel very disenchanted with the company at the end of this case. To be forced to work with a subpar team member for several months who had shown poor performance and cause my project to run behind, only to then be told that not only were they going to remove him from my project and leave me shorthanded it was him who got to make the decision. My response to Sands would be one that expressed my concern for the image that may be presented by allowing this to be the way that business is conducted. Since it is standard practice to have junior associates assigned to more than one project as at a time, by allowing him to choose the project that he’s “more interested” in may lead to other jr. associates to put forth less than stellar work in the projects that they are not interested in doing in the hopes that they will be able to not do that work. Also I would advise them that while Springfield account is important the Johnsonville account is equal as important and we maybe sending a message to the client that we do not value their business as much since we are taking people off their account to put them on other accounts. Thirdly I would remind her that he was initially assigned to work on the Johnsonville account and that his participation in the Springfield account was consented to with assurance that it would not be an issue, and that I would like them to take in this...
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...Explain how you would respond if you were Peter at the end of the case. Peter should have addressed the issue much sooner instead of waiting until the project was so far behind before he decided to take action. Although Peter did not get the outcome he desired, it is evident that the move the out Olds on Crosby’s project full time was better for the company and better for Olds. The consulting project that Crosby was in charge of sounds like it is a bigger deal for the firm than the audit so it in the company’s best interest to have their best people on that project. Since Peter was getting substandard work from Old’s he should make the concession to give up Olds in return for a suitable replacement and could ask for some type of compensation for the concession. Discuss what Palmer could do, if anything, to avoid losing Olds. Since the Olds has to shift his focus from consulting to auditing when he shows up for work in the afternoon it is causing him to produce lower quality work. It may be better for Palmer to change the work schedule so that Olds isn’t switching functions from morning to night but instead split up his work week so that he is working on one project on certain days and then working on the other project on the rest of the days. This would result in a less stressful situation for Olds since he won’t have to stop what he is doing to change projects midway through the day. Palmer may also find a way to provide more incentives for Olds so that Olds feels valued...
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...A STORY OF HONESTY A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO,” he said.”I have decided to choose one of you.” The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today – a very special seed. I want you plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.” One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now,others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.Six months went by – still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing...
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...what are the advances in complexity of bryophytes over algae regarding their morphology, habitat,asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction. Bryophytes: are plants that lack vascular tissue and require environmental water to reproduce. General characteristics of this group include: a waxy cuticle to slow down water loss and gametangia that protect developing gametes. The male gamatangium is called the antheridium which produces flagellated sperm. The female archegonium produces a single egg. Bryophytes need water to reproduce. They do not contain any vascular tissue for up right support. These plants usually form mats of horizontally growing tissue. The plant grips the ground with elongated cells called rhizoids. Photosynthesis occurs in the stem-like structures above the matted plant bodies. They undergo an alternation of generations with the haploid generation being the dominant form of this cycle. The sporophytes are generally smaller and depend on the gametophyte for water and protection. Algae The term algae embraces all photosynthetic protists. It refers to an aquatic, photosynthetic way of life, not an evolutionary kinship. Most algae live in water, but some are terrestrial. Most algae live near the surface of the water producing 30 to 50 percent of the earth's oxygen. Algae are classified on the basis of conservative characteristics such as the type of cell wall, flagella, photosynthetic pigments, and the form in which food is stored. They are single celled or live...
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...How to grow your own Moss Graffiti http://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/how-grow-your-own-moss-graffiti Rozie Apps | Friday, 26th April 2013 Art and creativity can be used in powerful ways. They can cause happiness and sadness, anger and joy. But best of all they can unite communities and rejuvenate old or forgotten areas of cities and towns. Graffiti tends to have a negative impact on communities. Many people do not see it as art, but vandalism to their towns, cities and society. It can cost councils a huge amount of money to remove graffiti and this money could be much better spent. A new style of graffiti has been spreading through the cities of the world, turning brown, white or dull brick walls into greener, brighter and more beautiful spaces for people to see. It is called Moss Graffiti. Also known as Eco-Graffiti or Green-Graffiti, it can be seen as a new style of guerrilla gardening. Instead of using harmful toxic chemicals to make art, moss can be used to make beautiful and harmless pieces of art. It is ecologically sound and can be easily removed by spraying lime juice on the design, which kills the moss spores. A moss zebra If you have a wall at home you'd like to brighten up, or permission from the council to rejuvenate an area in your community, follow this recipe to create some green art. You will need: 1 or 2 clumps (small handful) of moss 2 cups of buttermilk, or you can use yogurt (even vegan yogurt) 2 cups of water Half a teaspoon...
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...Pterophyta division. The root like structures, rhizomes, which indicates that this organism has vascular tissue, were sticking out of the gametophytes. All these characteristics correspond to plants in the Pterophyta and Bryophyta division. In the thirds observation, heart shaped gametophytes are visible, verifying the conclusion that this organism is a fern, which is part of the Pterophyta division. The fern gametophyte has circular and the occasional heart shaped leaf. This is a clear indication that this gametophyte is a fern, since the moss gametophyte has long, skinny leaves. Under 10x magnification, scale like cells are visible on the gametophytes. Under the microscope, multiple leaves are growing, layered on top of each other. Ferns and mosses have similar characteristics, but are very different in many ways. Ferns have a vascular system, xylem, and phloem enabling it to transport food and water throughout the leaves, while moss plants lack these structures. Both also alternate their generation, changing from gametophyte to a sporophyte. With a life cycle similar to that of the...
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