Business Research Decision Making Student 1 This week is the second week of Unit 2 and I have determined the business that I will be reviewing; it is one of the Fortune 500 companies but not one of the Top 10. I am now working on drafting an outline using the Unit 5 assignment list as my guideline. I have found that for myself, saving the assignment into a personal folder allows me to open it up without coming back to the classroom, so that I can work on my outline and begin preliminary research through the AIU Library and other resources. In regards to learning heuristics; I am learning that as "open-minded" as I think I am in certain areas; I need to re-evaluate my personal biases in regards to how others perceive or make their own determinations based on discussion that I have with them. This is a general observation of my own; as I noticed that when I make a statement during a discussion; I tend to want others to be able to see not only their side of the discussion but my side also so that they understand what I am saying or feeling. I also tend to want to be able to see both sides of a discussion and see if I can understand where the other person(s) is "coming from." This makes it seem to others that I am both agreeing and disagreeing with their point of views, which can make it frustrating for them. Something I definitely need to work on; although I can see a definite advantage in a business setting in that I could make decisions quickly based on what I think and what others think. It might not always be the "best" decision however; there would be acceptable parts to the decision that everyone could agree on. Response 1 Student 2 While decision-making may seem like an easy enough topic as most of us have done it to some degree since we were wearing diapers, most decisions are actually made unconsciously in that we simply do not have the time to sit and weigh the pros and cons of each choice. However, in the financial or business world that time to weigh said pros and cons must be taken as the wrong decision can often times make or break a business. With all of that being said, many of us continue with the unconscious decision making without even knowing it through bias. A few examples of bias include: Confirmation Bias - When information that supports one's existing beliefs in turn causes one to reject the data that goes against these beliefs. This leads to poor and biased decisions because not all of the relevant information is factored in or taken into consideration. Anchoring Bias - Simply put, this bias means to jump to conclusions with final judgment based off of information gained early in the process. Often times this is the result of being forced, or pressured, to make a quick decision. Overconfidence Bias - This type of bias occurs when someone puts too much faith in his or her own knowledge and/or opinions. Overconfidence is often times combined with anchoring in that hunches are acted on out of an unrealistic view of one's own decision-making ability (Jackson, n.d.). Gambler's Fallacy - In this bias one expects past events to influence the future events. This bias is obviously flawed since outcomes are highly uncertain to say the least and the number of previous successes has very little bearing on the future. Fundamental Attribution Error - Instead of looking objectively at a situation, in this bias a person tends to blame other when something goes wrong. In order to prevent this type of bias it is important to look at the situation, as well as those involved in the situation, non-judgmentally so as to ascertain the true root or cause of he problem. References: Jackson, K. (n.d.). Avoiding Psychological Bias in Decision Making. Retrieved on September 14, 2015 from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/avoidingpsychological-bias.htm Response 2 Global Finance Student 1 The different types of foreign exchange exposure faced by the MNC are both horizontal vertical integrations of business. Sources, such as raw materials and parts from one country to the next, in which leads to final assembling and distribution in another country. That is how globalization works; we get parts from one country to send to another to assemble one product which goes in to another product to make the complete product. Enables it to take advantage of certain quota that is given to certain countries especially in Africa and other least developed countries. One such example is the WTO's Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) that regulated the global textile industry. It enables firms to take advantage of incentives, subsidies and tax holidays offered by the host countries. It can also take advantage of the low labour costs that existed in many developing countries. Provide opportunity to expand their operations overseas through 'greenfield investments' like setting up new plants or takeovers of existing plants or through Mergers and Acquisitions.Translation exposure is concerned with a company's assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies or its plant, machineries, debts, loans, lands and buildings or any other items that is related to its Balance Sheets. Due to the increasing globalization of the world economy, many multinationals have subsidiaries all over the world. As of the year 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation has about 51 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries. All its plants, machineries, lands, receivables, payables, loans and so on are normally recorded in the currencies of the countries they are operating in. To consolidate its accounts in Japan, all Toyota subsidiaries around the world will need to translate their accounts to Yen. As a result there exists a translation exposure due to the changes in the foreign currencies. References Kong, Sam Chee, (2012), How Multinational Treasurers hedge their Foreign Exchange Exposure in Global Operations. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article37547.html Response 1 Student 2 I have reviewed the assignments in Unit 1-4 and do not have any questions at this point. However, if any questions or concerns arise, I will refer to the following resources for help, AIU library, Internet for research, reading assignments, and our chat line: I listened to Dr. Parks and feel confident about sucessfully completing my assignments from the information gathered from her teaching and explaining of important points. She is very thorough, and concerned about helping us. I clearly see it in the chat line as well acknowledging and responding to my email. Thank you Dr. Parks. I will also get support from my academic advisor, and student support department. In reference to my having questions about overarching Unit 5 assignment, at this point I do not have any questions about my overarching Unit 5 assigmnet. I am always doing research and will begin researching and outlining my assignment, in terms of including all information needed and referencing as well, to submit a successful project paper. Response 2