Assignment Instructions

Please respond in essay form to each
following questions. These are scenarios that require you to explain
your strategy as a basketball coach.

 

Scenario # 1:

 

Your team has the ball with the lead with
20 seconds to go in the first quarter and is running their offense.
Player A has a driving lane open but decides to shoot a three-pointer.
Make or miss; is this a good shot? What do you say to the player and/or
team at the end of that quarter? Does it depend on the player?

 

Scenario # 2:

 

You are the underdog and you truly feel
that your team has played over their heads for the first three quarters.
As the fourth quarter starts, your team leads 48-38. Your opponent has
played poorly, but now has responded to the situation and is looking
very dangerous. They are a better team, typically. You decide to open
the fourth quarter with a spread offense and a ¾ court man to man
defense. Is this strategy the best decision? What do you tell your team
in the huddle prior to the fourth quarter? What is your coaching
strategy to ensure your team pulls off this upset?

 

Scenario # 3:

 

Your team is down by 20 points at
half-time to a very good team that you knew would be very difficult to
beat. You notice that some of your players look beaten mentally when
entering the locker room. What do you say at half-time to your team?
What is your coaching strategy to start the third quarter? What are your
team’s goals for the duration of this game?

 

Scenario # 4:

 

Your team is leading by 20 points with
six minutes left in the game. You have been leading the game
convincingly since early in the first quarter. The opposing team just
scored five straight points to cut the lead to 15 and called time-out.
The opposing team’s crowd is getting louder and their players are
starting to show enthusiasm. What do you say to your team during the
time-out? What type of tone of voice should be used? Are there other
factors involved with how you will react?

 

Scenario # 5:

 

Your team is winning by three points with
10 seconds left to go in the game. Your team has committed 7 fouls and
the other team will shoot the bonus; 1 and 1 free throw on your team’s
next foul. What is your defensive philosophy for the last 10 seconds?

 

Note: There is no minimum length
requirement for responding to each scenario. To earn full-credit, the
student must develop comprehensive responses that clearly explain the
rationale behind the decision made for each scenario.  

 

Remember to upload this into a word document, double-space, and submit for a grade.

 

Category

Points

Essay is completed with content that
is comprehensive and accurate. Major points are stated clearly; are
supported by specific details, examples, or analysis; and are organized
logically.

35

Clear and thorough descriptions of how you will handle each scenario.

30

 
 

Overall quality of work in comparison to the classroom norm. Meets the minimum length requirement.

25

Submission on time, Rules of
grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed and spelling is correct.
APA format, references included.

10

Total

100

Play
for Profit

Who
are you?

You are
the vice president of operations at Exquisite Entertainment, an entertainment
company that owns and operates 19 seasonal and year-round amusement parks
(Worlds of Play) located throughout the U.S.
You are responsible for providing overall direction and guidance with regard to
the operational activities of the organization.

What”s the current situation?

The company”s amusement parks have always been
popular, but recently they haven”t been
very profitable. Operating costs have been rising, and every dollar of extra
revenue has been hard won. At the company”s
annual management offsite meeting held
that morning at Worlds of Play-Seattle, Alex Harrington, a business strategy
consultant from Ernst & Young LLP, unveiled “Operation Upmarket,”
a business strategy proposal aimed at addressing the issue of profitability for
Worlds of Play. This plan proposed that Worlds of Play offer its customers the
option of a “preferred guest” card. Cardholders would pay more, but
they would get first crack at the rides
and would get seated immediately at any of the park”s restaurants. According to Alex, the plan would help Worlds of
Play finances because it would target the “mass affluents”–wealthy
but time-pressed people who might visit the park more often and spend more time
while there, were it not for long lines
at the rides.

You think
back to that morning’s meeting. You respect Alex’s plan, but what about the
initiatives you had implemented to tap into that same segment? In fact, you
have already had some successes. Roughly 20% of Worlds of Play souvenir shops
have been upgraded to gift boutiques with more appealing
displays and higher-priced merchandise, and some snack concessions have been
converted to seated dining. The most upscale of the restaurants are already
earning almost double the profit per square foot of the other food-service
facilities.

Alex had
done an impressive amount of work developing the idea, commissioning surveys
and focus groups, and getting finance to run the numbers. Her presentation had
been persuasive, you admit. Her tactic had been to get people arguing the
details–should the pass cost $20 more than general admission or $30
more?–while ignoring the question of whether it was a good idea at all. At
first, this approach seemed to be working. But Grace Jones, Exquisite
Entertainment’s vice president of human resources said, “Clearly, there’s
revenue to be gained from offering these differentiated service levels. But it
just doesn’t seem like us. The founder of
Worlds of Play created a place where families could come together for a day to
forget about their cares.” Alex said, “Our history is great, but if
things don’t turn around fast, we are going to be history. The company has to
make changes quickly to avoid cash-crunch-driven bankruptcy or a hostile
takeover.”

It was no
secret to anyone in the meeting that theme parks have only three ways to bring
in more revenue: (1) increase visits per customer, (2) increase average
spending per visit, or (3) attract new customers. Alex argued that the guest
card would address the last two items by attracting a different type of
customer–time-starved, high-income professionals and their families–who might
otherwise avoid the whole experience.

Adam
Goodwin, the VP of marketing said, “It strikes me as a very shortsighted strategy. I mean, sure we could
make a lot of money on those cards in the first couple of seasons. But just
think about what it does to the overall customer experience. The average Joe
with his wife and three kids is not going to shell out for five upgrades. So
they are going to be sweating through even longer lines and just steaming when
they see some yuppie waltz ahead of them. I don’t even think it’s a great
experience for the preferred guests. Who wants to feel all the anger directed
at them? The key to this business is that the customers feel good while they
are here. A couple of ugly glances, a
nasty remark, and the day is spoiled for everybody. Neither side’s coming back.”

“I
should have explained,” Alex said. “We would definitely separate the
lines so the preferred cardholders wouldn’t be in people’s faces and we’d limit
the percentage of special tickets issued on any given day. But I don’t think
you are giving your customers enough credit. People have a lot more awareness and appreciation of the
fact that time is money. This program lets them choose which they want to save.”

What are you supposed to
do?

You have
been charged by CEO Len Becker to summarize the merits of the option presented
at the meeting in his absence. Craft the body of a document for Mr. Becker.

Develop a
response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which
clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as
appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences,
audience-appropriate language, and correct
conventions of standard American English.

General Instructions

Write a 4-6 sentence description of a URL on the specified
topic.  Submit it to the appropriate drop
box AND post it to the Webliography
in the course.

Your Webliography assignments
should include an introduction to
the site and a description, and/or evaluation, of it.  Be specific. The key is that someone should
be able to read your entry and know whether this site is what they might be relevant
to their research. See the examples below for good descriptions.

Do not duplicate
entries. It might be to your advantage to post early.  Otherwise one of your classmates may beat you
to the wonderful site you’ve discovered

How to Post

When you go to the Webliography tab and click on it, you’ll
see “add new entry,” on the left, just above the heading. When you click on it,
you’ll go to a page that will have fields for you to fill in. It will include
the title of the site, the category, the URL, the description, the site author,
and the date it was last modified.

Example

Pennsylvania State Constitution of 1776. (2008)

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/pa08.asp

The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 (ratified September 28, 1776)
has been described as the most democratic in America and was drafted by Robert
Whitehill, Timothy Matlack, Dr. Thomas Young, George Bryan, James Cannon, and Benjamin
Franklin. The Constitution provides for a unicameral legislature, a Supreme
Executive Council, a President elected by an Assembly and Council together, and
a Council of Censors. The constitution was later copied by revolutionaries of
Vermont as a basis for their constitution. This site is useful as it gives us
an insight into the debate over constitutional government that would culminate
in 1787.

Grading Criteria

• The
  entry is from an academic or literary source with a reputable author that
  has the authority / training  to
  write on the subject. (15 points)
• You
  have included a helpful description of at least 4-6 sentences that tells
  us what we’ll find on the site. (20 points)
• Your
  description is grammatically and mechanically correct. (10 points)
• The
  URL is correct. (5 points)
• You
  have not duplicated an entry. (10 Points)
• The
  URL is NOT from Wikipedia or
  other wiki or social media sites – That means your URL cannot be “open
  author.”

Historical Essay

Substantially covered the Articles of Confederation

Substantially covered the Constitution

Compared the two documents in detail, giving historic
examples

Compare the federalists and anti-federalists

Used at least 4 academic sources

Paper is formatted correctly in APA style and is organized
properly with an Introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

The sources are in correct APA format, and in proper
locations throughout the paper.

Grammatically correct without spelling errors.

use this link for chapter infomation http://www.twyman-whitney.com/history120-121/pdf/chapteroutlines.htm

Journal #1

In this first journal activity, you may write about any topic(s) of your choice, but it is best to use the textbook to study.

For this activity, topics should address content covered in Chapters 1 – 8 in the textbook. 

It is expected that, at a minimum, you are reading the assigned textbook chapters.

You are encouraged to read collateral historical writings on topics covered in the textbook.

This activity will consist of 10 separate journal entries; you will have a total of 20 entries by the end of the course.

Each separate entry should:

contain a minimum of 120 words.

consist of a summary, paraphrase, and synthesis of material you are reading/studying in this course.

be written in your own words – do not quote the work of others verbatim.

discuss the subject matter that you are studying – do not simply agree/disagree.

Your study involves, first and foremost, learning the nation’s past; doing so requires a review of previously published studies, so you are encouraged to conduct research using outside resources, but be sure to draft your journal entries in your own words.

Direct quotations should not be used; citations are not necessary.

Do not copy/paste information from any source.

No citations

make a different word file 

 In this second journal activity, you may write about any topic(s) of your choice, but it is best to use the textbook to study.

• For this activity, topics should address content covered in Chapters 9 – 15 in the textbook. 
  • It is expected that, at a minimum, you are reading the assigned textbook chapters.
  • You are encouraged to read collateral historical writings on topics covered in the textbook.
• This activity will consist of 10 separate journal entries; you will have a total of 20 entries by the end of the course.
• Each separate entry should:
  • contain a minimum of 120 words.
  • consist of a summary, paraphrase, synthesis of material you are reading/studying in this course.
  • be written in your own words – do not quote the work of others verbatim.
  • discuss the subject matter that you are studying – do not simply agree/disagree.
• Your study involves, first and foremost, learning the nation’s past; doing so requires a review of previously published studies, so you are encouraged to conduct research using outside resources, but be sure to draft your journal entries in your own words.
  • Direct quotations should not be used; citations are not necessary.
  • Do not copy/paste information from any source.
  • No citations