1. How were the colleges Smith, Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe, Vassar, and others collectively known? These prestigious schools are 5 of the best women’s schools in the nation. Women who are serious about their education, no matter if you’re an athlete, writer, or scientist. The main attractions for these schools are their rigorous programs, excellent mentorship properties, and most importantly, a chance to work one-on-one with the faculty.

I feel that the quality of information I gathered was more than enough to answer this question correctly. Before I performed this research, I was unaware of these colleges and now find it fascinating that these schools offer such a great education, not only to Americans, but to women from other Nations. The source I used to gather this information from was from an internet based search, www.thesisterscolleges.org.

2. What is the largest employer in Waco, Texas? The largest employer in Waco Texas is a company called Providence. Providence Health Center houses 2434 employees, roughly 75 more than Baylor University. In 2008, Providence completed a 3 year rebuilding project, which included 215,000 square feet of new hospital space, remodeling of roughly 70,000 square feet, a new and expanded ICU and Cardiology Department, but most importantly, and InProv Café. They are working on another 18 month project that will be focused solely on labor and delivery. What makes these projects so rare is that they are all financed through the hospital’s reserves.

The information I gathered was precise and accurate enough to give time frames and figures for past and current project they are working on. When you here of a town called “Waco Texas”, at least to me, only 1 thing comes to mind. Looking at pictures of this hospital and reading about the improvement that they are completing, makes this 1 of the best hospitals I have ever read about. The source I used to gather this information was from Google, and the site I used was www.providense.net/facilities.

3. Which financial institution in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has the lowest 15-year mortgage rate? Integrity First Financial Group offers a 15 year mortgage at 2.75%. What makes this percentage even more appealing is that they offer a mortgage with no obligation or upfront cost. The reason they are able to offer lower than the normal industry rates is because of such a high volume they do. This company was stated in the Wall Street Journal as having the lowest rates in the Nation.

While performing this research, one question came to my mind. Even though they are located in Pennsylvania, would they accept mortgages from different states? When I used Google to find this information, this company was the first to provide information on who provided the lowest rates in Lancaster PA. The website provided to me was www.integritydirectmortgage.com.

4. Who provides IBM's current legal counsel? Robert C. Weber serves as IBM’s Senior Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, and General Counsel. Robert joined IBM in January 2006 and reports to President and Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty. Bob is responsible for IBM’s global legal, security, privacy and compliance activities and policies, as well as IBM’s Government Programs and Environmental Affairs functions. Bob is a graduate of Yale College (1972) and Duke Law School (1976), and is a member of the New York and Ohio bars.

IBM is a very credible company to work for. To be in a position that Mr. Weber is in has to be demanding. This particular research was rather easy to find. This information is accurate and is from a credible source, www. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/biography/21743.wss.

5. Are open-ended or close-ended questions better to use in consumer surveys? Open ended questions allow the participants to respond in any way that they choose. Open ended questions also allow the participant to give you insight on topics one may have never thought of. Closed ended questions require a simple yes/no, or multiple choice answers. Having said that, I feel it all comes down to the type of survey that one will be conducting.

From a personal opinion, I feel that closed ended questions will provide you with more of an in-depth survey, one that will give you the necessary information to either make improvements on products, or whatever it is one is looking to achieve with this. The research was very easy, but I feel that if you know the difference between the 2 questions, and know what route you want to take, you should be able to decide what types of questions you need to use. The resource I used was www.knowledge-basesurvey.com.

6. Who is the most interesting person in the world? This is a tough choice; because everyone is interesting in their own way. But I will say that one person stands out to me, and his name is Alex Ferguson, who is the Manager of the English soccer club, Manchester United. Alex Ferguson has been managing one of the most powerful English clubs since 1986. At the young age of 70, he has been managing this club for 26 years and has no intention of stepping down any time soon. With 26 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the longest serving manager in their history after overtaking Sir Matt Busby's record on 19 December 2010. His tenure is also the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. In 2008, he became the third British manager to win the European Cup on more than one occasion. This question is a matter of opinion. The source I got my information from was www.manutd.com.

7. Who wrote the article "The Importance of Philos in Organizations" and what is that article about? The writer of this interesting article was a man called David Krackhardt. This article is mainly about the strength of severe change and uncertainty. In this case, it’s how people resist change and how uncomfortable they are with uncertainty. The “strong ties “constitute a base of trust that will allow people to reduce resistance to certain things and provide some sort of comfort when faced with change.

This was a rather difficult question to research and find the meaning of the article. If I found something about the article, it did not have the author’s name, and vice versa. After further research, I was able to find the answer to the entire question. The source I used was an article from the Harvard Business School.

8. Compare the profit margins of the grocery business and the software industry. The profit margins for both industries will be a huge difference. For instance the grocery business let’s look at a box of cereal. A normal box of cereal sells for $3.99, and the cost to make the cereal is roughly 50 cents. Now let’s look at the software industry, a pair of computer speakers usually depends on the brand and size of the speakers, which can run you on the high end of $500.00. So with the purchase of 1 pair of those speakers, you can purchase 125 boxes of cereal.
So it’s safe to say that the profit margins for software are much higher than the grocery business. The software company earns about 10% of the profit margins, compared to roughly 1% for grocery sales. This information was rather fun to research. It’s always interesting to find out what business sector is producing what percentage of the market. The source I used was reliable that also supplied a chart to show the different sectors and what percentage of the market they fall under. It was www.p360.org.

As for the first time working in an on-line group, I feel this was a great way to get to know one of my classmates. Even though it was only Rhonda and I, she was very easy to get in touch with, extremely easy to talk to and come to a resolution of whom will do which questions. When it came down to checking on what she has gotten done, I either called her, sent her a text or email. With her schedule, she usually responded rather quickly or as soon as she could, and to me, that was perfect and didn’t leave me guessing on what she was doing, or even if she was doing anything.
For the question pertaining to what didn’t work well, I feel that the only thing that did not work out was the fact that the 3rd person in our group dropped the class, other than that, working with Rhonda was simply a pleasure and I hope it was on her end as well. With the loss of our 3rd person, we were able to eliminate 1/3 of the questions. I spoke with her and the first agreement was to eliminate 4 of mine and 4 of hers, and she did not put up any type of argument. Our initial conversation consisted of her doing 13 of the 25, and me 12. After thinking about this more, I thought eliminating 5 of hers, and 3 of mine, which would equal out to us doing the same amount of work, and she was even more happier with that idea, I mean, who wouldn’t be. As for next time, I’m sure I would not do anything differently, except if Rhonda is not a part of my group, I will make sure she is.

Resources 1. The Sisters (http://www.thesistercolleges.org/faq/index.php ) 2. Centers and Facilities. (2012) Providence. Retrieved from www.providence.net 3. Integrity First Financial Group. (2011) Lowest Mortgage Interest Rates in the Nation. Retrieved from www.integritydirectmortgage.com 4. Robert C. Weber. (2012) Senior Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, and General Counsel. Retrieved from www. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/biography/21743.wss 5. Super Survey (http://www.knowledge-base.supersurvey.com) 6. Alex Ferguson bio (www.manutd.com) 7. Eccles, Robert G. (1992) Structure, Form and Action: Networks and Organization. Boston, MA: Retrieved from www.mendeley.com 8. Profit Margins of Selected Industries (www.p360.org)