There are two different things

Scenario Overview

Your boss, Michael, is back in the office. The office ordered pizza, and a working lunch ensued. You are congratulated for successfully completing adding join conditions that combined data from more than one table. Last week, you were not feeling very confident because you had only worked with one table, but now you have experience with queries that combine data from more than one table. You were really pleased with yourself because you figured it out on your own without needing to contact Michael at his conference. Michael is all fired up from his conference and full of new ideas and innovative ways to run data, among other things, for his small staff. He is particularly excited to have you play around in the database with the single-row and multiple-row SQL functions. He also wants to introduce you to character and date functions and other functions and regular expressions.

Image credits: People Eating Pizza. Canva.

Work Project Details

Michael explains that he is interested in more fine-grained reports that include formatting results different from that shown in the database. He knows that you are up for the task and has given you the week to work through this small project. At the end of the week, he also wants to chat with you about your long-term plans for coming aboard full-time with JustLee Books. To perform the following assignment, refer to the tables in the JustLee Books database.

1. Determine the length of data stored in the ISBN field of the BOOKS table. Make sure each different length value is displayed only once (not once for each book).
2. Produce a list of all customer names in which the first letter of the first and last names is in uppercase, and the rest are in lowercase.
3. Create a list of all customer numbers along with text indicating whether the customer has been referred by another customer. Display the text “NOT REFERRED” if the customer wasn’t referred to JustLee Books by another customer or “REFERRED” if the customer was referred.
4. Determine the amount of total profit generated by the book purchased on order 1002.
5. Display the book title and profit. The profit should be formatted to display a dollar sign and two decimal places. Take into account that the customer might not pay the full retail price, and each item ordered can involve multiple copies.
6. Display a list of all book titles and the percentage of markup for each book. The percentage of markup should be displayed as a whole number (that is, multiplied by 100) with no decimal position, followed by a percent sign (for example, .2793 = 28%). (The percentage of markup should reflect the difference between the retail and cost amounts as a percent of the cost.)
7. Display the current day of the week, hour, minutes, and seconds of the current date setting on the computer you’re using.
8. Create a list of all book titles and costs. Precede each book’s cost with asterisks so that the width of the displayed Cost field is 12.
9. Using today’s date, determine the age (in months) of each book that JustLee sells. Make sure only whole months are displayed; ignore any portions of months. Display the book title, publication date, current date, and age.
10. Determine the calendar date of the next occurrence of Wednesday, based on today’s date.
11. Produce a list of each customer number and the third and fourth digits of his or her zip code. The query should also display the position of the first occurrence of a 3 in the customer number if it exists Second assignment Scenario Overview You have been getting up to speed with grouping functions after that challenging project last week. You continue to learn about character and date functions, and other functions and regular expressions. Now that you understand and have a good grasp of grouping functions, your boss is excited to have you learn more about groups and how they compare to one another. Michael shared that groups can be created by any of the attributes of your database tables. He is ready for you to start thinking about how orders are grouped by customer, customers by state, profit by publisher, or any other number of attributes grouped by another attribute. (ERD – Figure 1.5 is attached).Image credits: Fresh Coffee, Canva and Laptop, Coffee Cup, Graph Chart on a Wooden Surface, Canva.

12. Work Project Details

    First, you better get a tall and hot cup of coffee because, in this next small project, your boss has a renewed interest in orders. He is apparently still excited about the rich information he discovered at that conference a couple of weeks ago. Your boss wants to know where orders are coming from and which books, categories, and publishers are most profitable. He knows that you are up for the task and has given you a week to work through this small project. Last week was pretty busy, and the two of you did not get a chance to chat about your long-term plans. To perform the following assignment, refer to the tables in the JustLee Books database.

    1. Determine how many orders have been placed by each customer. Do not include in the results any customer who hasn’t recently placed an order with JustLee Books.
    2. Determine the average retail price of books by publisher name and category. Include only the categories Children and Computer and the groups with an average retail price greater than $50.
    3. List the customers living in Georgia or Florida who have recently placed an order totaling more than $80.
    4. What’s the retail price of the most expensive book written by Lisa White?
    5. Determine how many books are in the Cooking category.
    6. Display the number of books with a retail price of more than $30.00.
    7. Display the most recent publication date of all books sold by JustLee Books.
    8. Determine the total profit generated by sales to customer 1017. Note: The total profit calculation should reflect the quantity.
    9. List the retail price of the least expensive book in the Computer category.
    10. Determine the average profit generated by orders in the ORDERS table. Note: The total profit by order must be calculated before finding the average profit.

    Scenario Overview

    You have been getting up to speed with grouping functions after that challenging project last week. You continue to learn about character and date functions, and other functions and regular expressions. Now that you understand and have a good grasp of grouping functions, your boss is excited to have you learn more about groups and how they compare to one another. Michael shared that groups can be created by any of the attributes of your database tables. He is ready for you to start thinking about how orders are grouped by customer, customers by state, profit by publisher, or any other number of attributes grouped by another attribute. (ERD – Figure 1.5 is attached).Image credits: Fresh Coffee, Canva and Laptop, Coffee Cup, Graph Chart on a Wooden Surface, Canva.

    Work Project Details

    First, you better get a tall and hot cup of coffee because, in this next small project, your boss has a renewed interest in orders. He is apparently still excited about the rich information he discovered at that conference a couple of weeks ago. Your boss wants to know where orders are coming from and which books, categories, and publishers are most profitable. He knows that you are up for the task and has given you a week to work through this small project. Last week was pretty busy, and the two of you did not get a chance to chat about your long-term plans. To perform the following assignment, refer to the tables in the JustLee Books database.

    1. Determine how many orders have been placed by each customer. Do not include in the results any customer who hasn’t recently placed an order with JustLee Books.
    2. Determine the average retail price of books by publisher name and category. Include only the categories Children and Computer and the groups with an average retail price greater than $50.
    3. List the customers living in Georgia or Florida who have recently placed an order totaling more than $80.
    4. What’s the retail price of the most expensive book written by Lisa White?
    5. Determine how many books are in the Cooking category.
    6. Display the number of books with a retail price of more than $30.00.
    7. Display the most recent publication date of all books sold by JustLee Books.
    8. Determine the total profit generated by sales to customer 1017. Note: The total profit calculation should reflect the quantity.
    9. List the retail price of the least expensive book in the Computer category.
    10. Determine the average profit generated by orders in the ORDERS table. Note: The total profit by order must be calculated before finding the average profit.
        

        Scenario Overview

        You have been getting up to speed with grouping functions after that challenging project last week. You continue to learn about character and date functions, and other functions and regular expressions. Now that you understand and have a good grasp of grouping functions, your boss is excited to have you learn more about groups and how they compare to one another. Michael shared that groups can be created by any of the attributes of your database tables. He is ready for you to start thinking about how orders are grouped by customer, customers by state, profit by publisher, or any other number of attributes grouped by another attribute. (ERD – Figure 1.5 is attached).Image credits: Fresh Coffee, Canva and Laptop, Coffee Cup, Graph Chart on a Wooden Surface, Canva.

        Work Project Details

        First, you better get a tall and hot cup of coffee because, in this next small project, your boss has a renewed interest in orders. He is apparently still excited about the rich information he discovered at that conference a couple of weeks ago. Your boss wants to know where orders are coming from and which books, categories, and publishers are most profitable. He knows that you are up for the task and has given you a week to work through this small project. Last week was pretty busy, and the two of you did not get a chance to chat about your long-term plans. To perform the following assignment, refer to the tables in the JustLee Books database.

        1. Determine how many orders have been placed by each customer. Do not include in the results any customer who hasn’t recently placed an order with JustLee Books.
        2. Determine the average retail price of books by publisher name and category. Include only the categories Children and Computer and the groups with an average retail price greater than $50.
        3. List the customers living in Georgia or Florida who have recently placed an order totaling more than $80.
        4. What’s the retail price of the most expensive book written by Lisa White?
        5. Determine how many books are in the Cooking category.
        6. Display the number of books with a retail price of more than $30.00.
        7. Display the most recent publication date of all books sold by JustLee Books.
        8. Determine the total profit generated by sales to customer 1017. Note: The total profit calculation should reflect the quantity.
        9. List the retail price of the least expensive book in the Computer category.
        10. Determine the average profit generated by orders in the ORDERS table. Note: The total profit by order must be calculated before finding the average profit.

After reading and watching this week’s material, engage in an active discussion regarding cost quality. Answer the following questions:

What is the cost of quality and who determines when there is enough quality in the project?

Please find an additional reference source and cite the source in your discussion post. Sources must be used to enhance the learning experience. By finding a referenced source, you are enhancing the learning experience by searching for another source of information on the topic. Also, please ensure you are using a source that is peer reviewed to ensure accuracy of information (select peer-reviewed journal articles in the Park Library search engine)

Your original post should be in the format of an executive summary (must contain verbiage and bullet points to name the key points). Use APA formatting.

Student 1

Belinda is her name

After reading and watching this week’s material, engage in an active discussion regarding cost quality. Answer the following questions: What is the cost of quality and who determines when there is enough quality in the project?

As a project manager you want to be known to produce a quality product. The cost of quality, or COQ, is the accumulated cost of not creating a quality product. These costs can include reworking a product, testing it, field service to make corrections after a product has been installed, and replacing a faulty product. This aggregate cost is reported to management to give them a basis for ensuring that processes always produce to customer expectations (n.a, 2021). The entire project team from the Stakeholders down to the customer determine if the end product is quality deliverable. In the end, the customers are satisfied with the quality of a product if it conforms to their expectations at delivery.
There are several types of costs that are impacted by the quality of a product.
1. Prevention costs – These are costs incurred to prevent product failure. Examples include equipment and maintenance, planning, staff training, documentation, human resources, quality assurance, process control(Goodwin, 2017)

2. Appraisal costs – These are the costs of inspection needed to reduce the risk of sending defective products to customers (n.a, 2021). In other words, any testing related to making sure the product is quality and safe product. Examples include evaluating products and services, completing inspections, field testing, implementing quality control, identifying, and fixing defects before products get to market(Goodwin, 2017).

3. Internal failure costs- These are the costs the company accrue from identifying product defects before it is reaches to the customer. These costs include lost revenue from customers who will not buy from the company again, the processing of returned goods, administering warranty claims, field service costs, liability lawsuits, and possibly even a comprehensive product recall( na.,2021)

4. External failure costs- these are costs that are incurred after the delivery of the product to the customer. These costs include the legal fees related to customer lawsuits, the loss of future sales from dissatisfied customers, product recalls, product return costs, and warranty costs. These costs can be substantial if the result is the loss of customers – and especially when customers tend to buy a company’s products many times (n.a, 2021).

As a project manager it is crucial to pay for failure cost that are internal rather than external after delivery to the customer. The reason is that external costs can not only hurt your pocket, but they can also kill a reputation.

Project quality management is all the processes and activities needed to determine and
achieve project quality. At its most basic level, quality means meeting the needs of customers (Project Management Skills, 2019).

There are three key quality management concepts that will help you deliver a high-quality project:
1. Customer Satisfaction – Ensuring that all the requirements are met within the project is part of the quality aspects but also ensuring the customer is satisfied is also equally important to a project.

2. Prevention over inspection – It is less costly and time consuming to spend money during the project then when the project is complete and have failures externally like stated above.
3. Continuous improvement – this is of utmost importance in any project to ensure quality the entire project duration and to use approaches such as Six Sigma and Total Quality Management (TQM). The ongoing effort to improve your products, services, or processes over time. These improvements can be small, incremental changes or major, breakthrough type changes (Project Management Skills, 2019).

As a project manager the most important tool is prevention and customer satisfaction. If you can detect problems early on, it’s going to save you time and money.

Goodwin, J. (September, 14,2017)Cost of Quality: PMP Topics to Learn for the Exam https://magoosh.com/pmp/cost-of-quality-pmp/

Project Management Skills. (2021) Project Quality Management Retrieved 4/12/2022 from https://www.project-management-skills.com/project-quality-management.htmlLinks to an external site.

Project Management Skills. (2019). Project Quality Management: What is quality? Retrieved 4/12/2022 from https://www.project-management-skills.com/project-quality-Links to an external site. management.html

n.a.(May 30,2021)What is the Cost of Quality?, ttps://www.accountingtools.com/articles/2017/5/14/the-cos…

Student 2

Will is his name

Hello,

The level of quality that a project will produce is determined during the early planning stages of the project and are adjusted as needed throughout the project through the use of change control measures. PMBOK describes Cost of Quality as; “All costs incurred over the life of the product by investment in preventing nonconformance to requirements, appraisal of the product or service for conformance to requirements, and failure to meet requirements.” (Project Management Institute, 2021, p. 81) Project sponsors, owners, and senior level managers are responsible for establishing the expected level of quality for the project. This expectation is reflected in the project’s requirements documentation, statement of work, definition of done, and or completion criteria.

The cost of quality methodology uses four cost categories to strike a balance with a project’s overall cost and the quality of the product the project produces. These categories include prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure. The amount of costs related to a project’s quality is decided on by project sponsors, owners, and senior level managers. As such they must consider how much of that cost should be spent on each of the four categories.

Prevention costs are associated with actions taken to prevent defects and failures out of the project. Prevention costs are applied to the design, implementation, and maintenance of the project’s quality management system.

Appraisal costs “…are incurred to determine the degree of conformance to quality requirements.” (Project Management Institute, 2021, p. 88) These are the same requirements that are established in the project’s requirements documentation, statement of work, definition of done, and or completion criteria. Project managers must be able to balance the capabilities the project’s product provides the end user with the project’s budget and scope.

Internal failure occurs when internal actions, policies of procedures cause a dilution of the project’s efficacy. Internal failures include wasted time and materials, defective products produced, rework, and failure analysis.

External failures are costs associated with fixing or rectifying defects found in products after they have been deployed. These defects often involve recalls or sending out updates to patch or replace defects. Projects can consider these costs and budget them into the project accordingly. Accepting external failures is frequently done when being the first to the market is more important than producing the best quality product.

Will,

References

Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2021). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Project Management Institute. (2021). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (17th ed.). Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.

Student 3

Marjan is her name

Department of Business, Park university

PM691DLS2P2022 Time and Cost Management

Professor Lashawn Johnson

Apr 12, 2022

Week 5 Discussion

Cost of Quality refers to the costs incurred in ensuring high-quality products and the costs of incomplete delivery. In other words, the COQ measures the total cost required to prevent, identify, and deal with defective results in project deliverables. Calculating COQ can help make decisions; Because there is a balance between investing in quality during the project and dealing with future costs due to failure to prevent or detect errors. These costs are known as compliance costs and non-compliance costs. Compliance costs include the prevention and evaluation of defects to ensure quality throughout the project. The cost of non-compliance covers the costs of external and internal failures to achieve quality. When added together, the result is the total COQ.

Quality costs after project completion may be imposed due to product return and warranty; Therefore, due to the temporary nature of the projects and the potential benefits of reducing post-project quality costs, the sponsoring organization may choose to invest in improving product quality. These investments are usually made in the field of matching work. Work performed to prevent defects or to reduce the costs of defects or inspections of nonconforming units.

The purpose of the Quality Cost System (COQ) system is to increase customer satisfaction by reducing downtime and adapting products and services to specified requirements.

Features of the quality cost management system

The COQ technique has unique properties. Some features of the quality cost system are listed below:

Estimate and analyze the set of costs associated with ensuring the quality of products and services.

A criterion for measuring the extent to which an organization turns to quality and examines its effect on profit and loss.

Inform employees of the costs of poor quality.

Grounding to ensure the reduction of business costs and increase the competitiveness of the organization.

Benefits of quality cost system

Facilitate the set of efforts made to improve quality.

Evaluate the performance of the organization and set goals for improvement.

Many quality experts believe that 25 to 40 percent of the cost of each operation leads to losses, which can be minimized by implementing a COQ system.

Improving quality by eliminating waste immediately leads to increased capacity without additional investment and appears directly in the form of profits in the financial balances.

In general, the project manager has overall responsibility for the quality management process. In fact, the quality of the project is not the responsibility of one or two people. It is the responsibility of all team members. These tasks include:

Project Manager – Responsible for developing the quality management process and ensuring accurate delivery.

Team members – responsible for quality assurance and quality control for each of the tasks and activities assigned to them.

Organization – Responsible for standardizing quality controls and standards in all projects.

Stakeholders – are responsible for transferring their expectations from quality products and services to the project and organization and are responsible for accepting and confirming the delivery of all goods and services.

Finally, quality is achieved by product users, customers, or clients, not the community. The quality of any project cannot be ideal. However, project managers must anticipate the potential costs of failure and be prepared to deal with them. Early detection problems save time and money.

References

Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2021). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sandra F. Rowe. (2020). Project Management for Small Projects, Third Edition. (Park University Library).

Robin A. Buser, Miriam Pollack. (2014). Project Management for Libraries: A Practical Approach. (Park University Library).

Obi, Lovelin Ifeoma, Arif, Mohammed, Awuzie, Bankole, Islam, Rubina, Gupta, Aman Deep, Walton, Robert. (2021). Critical success factors for cost management in public-housing projects. (Park University Library).

• Asfoor H.M.A. AL-Jandeel A.A.T. Igorevich K.K. Ivanovna L.A. (2022). Control of Time, Cost, and Quality of Construction Project Management. (Park University Library).
• Dedy Achmad Kurniady, Nurochim, Aan Komariah, Turwelis, Huynh Tan Hoi, Vo Hoang Ca. (2022). Construction project progress evaluation using a quantitative approach by considering time, cost, and quality. (Park University Library).
• Rodolfo Siles, PMP. Who is Responsible for Project Quality? https://www.pm4dev.com/pm4dev-blog/entry/who-is-re…

STAND-ALONE PROJECT   

MR 638 Employee Benefits

Your Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style.

In preparation for your work on the Stand-Alone Project, we will begin with some background material on the consulting company that you represent and the client company that you will be serving. 

The Consulting Company. In this project you serve as an Employee Benefits Consultant for the Human Resources Group (HRG). HRG is a national consulting company with proven expertise in the areas of Human Resource Management. The firm is divided into three specialty practices: Organizational Development, Employee Benefits, and Compensation. You are the lead consultant in the Employee benefits practice with several analysts working for you. Your practice involves both on-site client evaluations and internal research designed to develop and deliver benefit solutions

The Client Company. Apex Manufacturing is an Atlanta based diversified manufacturing company. It is a $2 billion organization that has been in business for 15 years. It is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its operating companies are very decentralized and have little connection with one another. Each operating company has its own HR department headed by a VP of human resources and a support staff. The Apex Corporate HR group coordinates all human resource activity throughout the company and is headed by an SVP of HR. There is no senior level Employee Benefits officer at either the corporate or operating unit level. The company has a total employee population of 15,000 spread over 12 states. Most of the operating unit personnel are blue-collar workers, high school educated, and earning in the $15,000-$25,000 range. There is a small executive and management group at each business unit.

The Scenario. The last several years have been rough for Apex. As the economy has worsened, its profitability has suffered. Its competitors have developed manufacturing plants in Mexico where labor costs are low, and this has translated into lower product prices than Apex can afford to match. As a result, they have seen erosion in their book of business and a steady decrease in their stock price. The Board of Directors has expressed its concern and has admonished Apex to keep a close watch on all expenses.

Apex has always been protective of its employees. It has tried to keep wages competitive and be responsive to the employees’ needs. The company has a history of paying 100% of the cost of health benefits. Apex values the relationship that it maintains with its employees and sees that relationship as a factor in its ability to hire and retain good workers. However, employee benefit costs have skyrocketed with costs for the fully insured medical plan exceeding 45% of payroll. Premiums have increased over 15% for each of the last several years and show no signs of weakening. The President of Apex is concerned that he can no longer afford to offer cost-free benefits and is thinking of introducing employee premiums. This issue has become common knowledge among the workers who have stated their refusal to begin paying premiums.

There is no champion for employee benefits at Apex and, therefore, there has been no strategic planning in this area. The rapidly spiraling cost of benefits is of major concern to the president. He knows that if he does not find a way to control these costs, the Board of Directors may force him to cut the benefit program significantly. This will create dissention among the employees, destroy their motivation, and further add to the operating problems at Apex. The president does not believe that he should have to call in outside consultants since he has a large internal HR group. Thus he looks to the senior vice president of HR for solutions. The SVP has no current experience in handling benefit issues of this magnitude. The Benefits Manager at Corporate is a good administrator, but also not qualified to work through these issues. The SVP has used the services of HRG in the past and knows that outsourcing is the only way to address these issues effectively.

The Consulting Project. The SVP has contacted you at HRG asking for your assistance. He has gotten the president to agree to a meeting with you, although the president is still very leery of using outside help. He will have to be convinced that the expenditure for your services is justified. The meeting lasts for forty-five minutes, and the SVP has given you every chance to explain how you might be of service. 

Part A The first phase of your consulting assignment is to respond to the president with a detailed answer to each of his three questions.

 1. Why are health care costs rising so rapidly? 

 2. What can Apex do to control costs? 

 3. What guarantee of success is HRG willing to make to Apex? 

 Use material from the text and outside readings to help you formulate your responses.  You may want to search the Internet for additional background information and statistics on the rising cost of health care. Use APA style when citing sources. Be particularly careful when considering the third question. Your response may well determine whether you get the business, but the overriding question is whether you can ethically guarantee results. Try to be creative as you come up with ways that both HRG and Apex can come out winners in this project.

Congratulations! Your responses to the President of Apex have helped him to understand the complexity of health care issues in America. He now sees that it is very difficult for any single employer to combat effectively the systemic causes of rising health care costs. He also realizes the inability of his internal staff to address the problems and, therefore, reluctantly agrees to the project.

Part B For the second phase of the project, two of your analysts came on-site to conduct the medical plan audit. After a series of meetings with Apex staff and a review of their plan documents, your analysts found the following about the Apex medical report.

 Medical Plan

 1. A fully insured indemnity plan is included.

 2. There is a $200 deductible per family member.

 3. The coinsurance plan includes paying 90% and the employee paying 10%.

 4. The out-of-pocket maximum is $2000 per family member.

 5. The prescription drug plan includes a $5 co-pay for generic drugs and a $10 co-pay for brand name drugs.

 6. The company pays 100% of the premium for both the employee and their dependents.

 You have had time to review the Apex health plan audit results. Your initial assessment is that it is a very rich plan that puts the entire burden of cost on the company.  Although it does make them unique in their industry and will attract workers, it is not an approach that can continue to be cost justified. The material in your text, as well as the Lecture and Research Updates and the Required Readings, will help you in this evaluation. You should use Internet resources to research how other companies have responded to these kinds of challenges. The next step in the project is to provide an analysis of each of the plan components listed above. For each one, you are to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the current provision and suggest alternatives.  Again, remember to cite all sources used. As you prepare your response, you should consider the following. (2-page, double-spaced, response is required.)

 1. Self-Insured v. Fully Insured Plan:  Would it be in the best interest of Apex to self-insure its plans, using stop loss coverage to limit their liability? 

 2. Introduction of Managed Care: Are there other forms of a health plan that would be more appropriate for a company the size of Apex?  Consider the use of Managed Care programs. 

 3. Handling of Deductibles, Coinsurance, and Out-pf-Pocket Maximums: How could Apex use utilization review and case management techniques to isolate high cost areas of the plan? 

 4. Restructure of the Drug Plan: Prescription drug costs are responsible for a major part of spiraling health care costs.  How might you change the co-pay structure to try to reduce costs? 

 5. Introduction of Employee Premiums:  What changes would you suggest to restructure the deductibles, co-insurance, and out-of-pocket maximums?

 6. Formal Recommendation: It is said that employees will never become prudent users of health care if they don’t have “any skin in the game.” How might you adjust health care premiums at Apex? 

 Once you have finished your evaluation, you should conclude with a formal recommendation to Apex senior management. 

Part C As lead consultant for HRG, you have reviewed the evaluations and recommendations of your analysts and agree that they have come up with several ways to re-design the medical plan to reduce costs. It is also clear that these suggestions will require employees to begin making contributions to the plan and paying more in deductibles and co-pays. The employees have already voiced their disapproval of employee contributions. The third phase in the project is, therefore, to develop a plan designed to get Apex employees to buy into the proposed changes. One way that this can often be accomplished is to look at additional low-cost benefits that can be introduced as a trade-off against the medical premiums.

As you look at the other benefits currently available to Apex employees, you determine the following:

 1. Company pays for a flat $15,000 of life insurance. No voluntary coverage.

 2. No retirement plan is available to employees.

 3. No form of flexible benefits is available.

 As you review these other benefits of the Apex plan, you begin to see a number of ways that you might be able to temper the cost of the health plan with the introduction of other employer-paid benefits. You will again need to use the text, lectures, and reading assignments to determine how you might create these new benefits.

In this section of the project plan you will want to consider the following when preparing your plan:

 1. Life Insurance Alternatives:  The advisability of increasing the amount of company paid life insurance. You may find it helpful to check Internet providers to determine the costs of increased term insurance. Are there other types of life insurance programs that might be offered on a voluntary basis? 

 2. Retirement Plan Introduction:  Review the types of retirement plans that would be available to Apex.  You might want to concentrate your efforts on defined contribution plans that don’t require pre-funding. Remember, a 401(k) plan does not need initially to offer a company match on contributions to be successful.  

 3. Flexible Benefits Plan Given that employees may be responsible for more out-of-pocket costs, think about the use of flexible benefits. Check out the tax benefits available to both employer and employee.  

 Once you have completed your research, create a document that outlines these incremental benefits and why you believe they will enhance the overall benefit plan and reduce the negative reactions to the health care premiums. (3-page, double-spaced, response is required.)

Part D It is now two months into your consulting project with Apex. You have identified issues regarding the Apex medical plan and have presented plan changes to senior management. You have also proposed the introduction of several new benefits that the employees are sure to like. Your final phase of the project will consist of coming up with an effective communication program.

As you develop a communication plan, concentrate on the following issues:

 1. What is to be communicated? 

 2. How is it to be communicated? 

 3. When is it to be communicated? 

 4. Who will handle the communication? 

 As you conduct your research, you will be reminded that there are certain legal obligations in communicating benefit information. In addition, you will want to review options for creating internal, informal communication pieces that describe the “total” package being introduced. Also, consider what types of electronic communication may be available. The Internet is a great source of finding information about creative benefit communication. Remember that utilizing company managers and supervisors, as well as vendor representatives, makes for better acceptance of the message. Check to see when the Apex Open Enrollment is and be prepared to discuss the advantages of rolling out the new plans on a benefit anniversary date. As indicated above, all phases of the project must be fully annotated and all references cited. (A 3-page, double-spaced, response is required.)

1. Homepage / Title Page

Your homepage or title page should creatively showcase the essence of the wedding. At the bottom of this page, be certain to include the following statement: This project details a hypothetical wedding for a university-level wedding planning course.

2. Consultant Page

Include your name(s) and the overall business name for your wedding planning company. Include any experience you have and/or write a statement that sells your company to potential clients, keeping your target audience in mind. Be certain to include the locations you serve and your contact information, which can be hypothetical. Incorporation of photo(s) is encouraged to personalize the consultant page. Any message to potential clients regarding your response time to inquiries should be 24 hours or less. Otherwise, they will move on to the next consultant!

3. The Couple

Create a hypothetical couple. Separate the information by client (e.g., bride and groom, groom and groom, bride and bride). Create a profile of each and give a synopsis of who they are. Include their names, hometown, current residence (they may or may not live in the same location), cultural background, religious background, age, education, occupation, hobbies, family specifics (e.g., names, ages and other relevant details of parents, siblings, etc.) and any additional information that is pertinent to the couple. Narrative detail is encouraged to bring the couple to life, showcasing each person’s background, interests and personality. Incorporation of a photo of each (and/or together as a couple) is required. You can use stock online photos to find individuals who meet the characteristics of your clients. Below their individual profiles, include the section on how and where they met, followed by their engagement story.

While the couple is hypothetical, you should include sufficient detail so that they come across as real. Make sure the facts are consistent and clear. For example, with educational background, indicate where each went to school, and major / degree(s) earned. If they are in the workforce, be specific about the name of the company and job title. The specificity should follow with all areas. Note: Be certain that the details regarding your clients originate from your own imagination! Do not under any circumstances use photos and/or details that are specific to actual or media-based celebrities.

4. Focus on Diversity / Unique Situations

Every couple is diverse in their own ways and weddings allow couples to celebrate their uniqueness! These unique situations influence the wedding planning process in positive ways and may also present planning challenges. List and thoroughly explain a minimum of two diverse aspects that are unique to this couple. Some examples might include: cultures or subcultures represented, religions represented, LGBTQ+ couple, age cohort, specialized needs such as a disability, second marriage, blended family, family dynamics, etc.

The unique situations should be distinct – do not lump them into a single paragraph. Ground the diversity by covering areas that are salient. pertinent to your clients and that are clearly embedded in the planning process. Be certain to have at least two unique situations, presented and discussed separately and thoroughly. This is an extremely important aspect of the project that will guide many of the other decisions.

5. Theme and Vision

Provide a summary of the theme for the wedding and the inspiration (vision) behind the theme. Clearly and thoroughly explain how the theme is relevant to this couple. Give a minimum of three detailed examples of how the theme is incorporated in the wedding. Be sure that the theme makes sense in light of the details that you shared about the couple’s background. Make sure that you clearly separate the three examples of how the theme is incorporated in the wedding, and discuss each.

6. Number of Guests

The couple can have between 20 and 200 guests. Select the number of guests and clearly and thoroughly give at least two reasons why this number was appropriate for this couple, their theme and vision, unique elements, budget, etc. Clearly separate the two reasons why the number of guests made sense in light of the couple, their theme and vision, unique elements, budget, etc.

When considering your discussion of the clients’ guests, remember that these are the people who are spending their time and money to attend the wedding, so be certain to do this section justice. Some things to consider:

How many total? How many from each side?

Are guests local, national and/or international?

What airport will out of town guests use?

Do they all speak the same language? If not, how will this be addressed during the wedding events?

How long are most people staying?

Are there room block(s)? Where?

Are your clients planning any special activities for out of town guests, perhaps the day before or day after the wedding?

Any specialized needs for the guests in terms of diet, mobility, etc.?

Are children invited to the wedding? Will there be onsite child care?

7. Budget

Your clients’ wedding budget can fall between $5,000 and $100,000 and should not include the engagement ring or the honeymoon. As you are creating the background information for your hypothetical clients, their story should make sense in light of the budget amount.

State the budget amount and thoroughly detail a minimum of two distinct ways (clearly separated) that the budget amount was selected and how the budget influenced decisions the clients made. Reflect on who paid for the wedding, why and any impacts that this had on the planning process.

Provide a summary budget in a graph or table format the indicates a realistic distribution of expenditures in light of your clients’ selected specific elements. Table 7.3 (p. 137) offers sample summary budgets for different price points. Remember that each couple will have areas that are particularly important to them and the budget percentages will vary accordingly. Table 7.3 offers national averages and should not be directly copied. The budget summary you create should be weighted to reflect the comparative importance of the categories to your clients.

8. Planning Timeline

Your clients’ wedding timeline can fall between 2 months and 24 months. As you are creating the background information for your hypothetical clients, their story should make sense in light of the timeline. When listing the wedding date, be sure to include the exact full date (including day of the week) and start time of the wedding as well as start time of the reception.

The timeline starts from the point of engagement, so you can determine the desired wedding date (based on your clients’ backgrounds, theme, etc.) and work backwards to the associated engagement date. For example, if the client timeline is 12 months and my clients are getting married in January 2023 to coincide with a winter theme, then the associated engagement date would be in January of 2022.

The wedding date should be based in reality, meaning that it must take place at some point after the end of this semester. You should be thinking ahead as you plan, as trends change and we want to be forward-thinking consultants.

State the amount of time that the couple had to plan the wedding and clearly detail a minimum of two ways this amount of time was needed and how the timeline affected their planning process. Clearly separate the two ways that the timeline influenced the planning process.

Additionally, reflect back on the seven phases of timelines (see Table 8.1 on pp. 150-151 with detailed explanation for each phase on pp. 151-172 in your book) and thoroughly explain which phases (at least two) presented the greatest challenges to the couple and/or planner and why. Clearly separate the challenges.

9. Specific Elements

Below is a list of elements that are common to most weddings. For each element, you should include details and photos that will clarify the selections made by your clients and how they match the theme and budget. Be certain to indicate the associated vendor’s contact information (note: all vendors should be actual businesses) and any additional citations regarding where the information was obtained. Citations may be beyond the associated vendors (e.g., where sample photos were obtained). If any given element listed below is not going to be included in the wedding, provide a paragraph clearly detailing why it was not included.

• Ceremony venue
• Reception venue
• Invitations and other stationery elements. Note: You are required to include the wording that will be used in the invitation. This can be placed next to a sample of what the invitation will look like. See pp. 280-283 for guidelines and samples of wording.
• Wedding attire (minimum: the couple and their attendants)
• Floral décor for ceremony (minimum: bride’s bouquet, wedding party bouquets and boutonnieres)
• Floral décor for reception (minimum: centerpieces)
• Music for ceremony
• Readings for the ceremony (minimum of two, include the wording for each)
• Music and other entertainment for reception
• Photography and/or videography
• Rentals, decorative elements and lighting (can be separated as applicable)
• Food and beverage
• Wedding cake / other desserts, as applicable
• Transportation and lodging
• Favors
• Gifts for wedding party members
• Wedding rings
• Wedding day preparation (minimum: hair and makeup for bride)
• Other (to be named and included as appropriate)

10. Layout, Form, Design and Grammar

The utmost professionalism is expected in terms of the layout, form, design and grammar. Treat this assignment as though it is your company and your clients. Use your creativity to showcase the theme. Make the layout easy to follow and clearly label each section. Proofread carefully to catch typographical and grammatical errors. Be careful in your usage of pronouns and verb tense. Remember, this is not your wedding that you are presenting, but that of your clients!

Please use 2020 tax forms.

Tax Forms you will need to complete;

Form 1040, Schedule 1, Schedule 2, Schedule 3, Schedule A, Schedule B, 2 Form Schedule C (one for Board of director Business, one for consulting business), Schedule D, Form 8949, Schedule E, Schedule SE, Form 8995

Please complete the 2020 Federal Income Tax return for Joseph and Diana Jones. Ignore the requirement to attach the form(s) W-2 to the front page of the Form 1040. If required information is missing, use reasonable assumptions to fill in the gaps.

Joseph and Diana Jones live in Pleasantville, New Jersey. Joseph is the Vice-President of Sales at a small start-up company. Diana is a former advertising executive who currently consults with former clients. She also serves on the board of directors of an advertising company. The Joneses have three children Rebecca (age 18), Alan (age 15) and David (age 12). In January, Rebecca left home to attend a liberal arts college. All three children qualify as Joseph and Diana’s dependents. The Joneses plan to file a joint return. The Joneses provided the following information:

• Joseph’s social security number is 598-94-2583

• Diana’s social security number is 301-52-2942

• Rebecca’s social security number is 887-44-8710

• Alan’s social security number is 810-42-9092

• David’s social security number is 855-11-3021

Joseph Jones reported the following information relating to his employment during the year:

Employer	Gross Wages	Federal Income Tax Withheld	State Income Tax Withheld
Alternative Energy	$152,325	$26,230	$8,900

The above amounts do not reflect any income items described below. Joseph’s employer withheld all payroll taxes it was required to withhold. The entire Jones family was covered by minimum essential health insurance during each month in 2020. The insurance was provided by Joseph’s employer, Alternative Energy.

Diana Cohen received the following revenue during the year (she uses the cash method of accounting).

Consulting Revenue reported to her on a from 1099-NEC, Box 1

High End Retail$32,000

Jensen’s Health Products $8,500

Strategic Solutions$4,750

Board of Director Compensation reported to her on Form 1099-NEC Box 1

Natural Sunshine, Inc.$7,200

In each of these self employment endeavors, Diana is an active participant, and both activities are considered specified service trade or businesses for purposes of the Qualified Business Income Deduction. Assume both Activities qualify as a trade or business.

During the year, Diana paid the following business expenses for each activity

Consultant–related

Airfare$2,900

Hotel$1,550

Meals$420

Parking$320

Diana drove 290 business miles for consulting-related activities (she has documentation to verify).

Board of Director Activity

Meals$140

Hotel$225

Diana drove 315 business miles for her board of director activities (she has documentation to verify).

Neither of Diana’s business activities required the filing of Form(s) 1099 to report payments she made during the tax year. In addition, Ms. Jones drove a 2017 Lexus purchased on January 1, 2017 for all her business mileage. She drove the vehicle a total of 10,605 miles during the year for all purposes. Diana has written documentation to support the mileage amounts. She also has access to another vehicle for personal purposes.

The Joneses also received the following during the year:

Interest Income from First Bank of New Jersey	$420
Interest Income from Patterson, New Jersey School District	$300
Interest Income from U. S. Treasury	$250
Interest Income from General Mills Corporate Bond	$450
Qualified dividend income from Rio Tinto	$1,500
Qualified dividend income from Microsoft	$800
Qualified dividend income from Cooper Tire	$200
Qualified dividend income from Cardinal Health	$375
Qualified dividend income from Union Pacific	$140
Qualified dividend income from Proctor & Gamble	$190
Qualified dividend income from PepsiCo	$125
Qualified dividend income from Kellogg	$200
Qualified dividend income from Abbott Labs	$275
Qualified dividend income from 3M	$450
Dividend income (not qualified) from China Fund	$2,000

The Jones did not own, control or manage any foreign bank accounts, nor were they grantors or beneficiaries of a foreign trust during the tax year.

The Jones had the following activity in their brokerage account during the year (all transactions were reported on a Form 1099-B and basis information for each stock sale was reported to the IRS);

Sold	2,000 shares of Microsoft	7/1/20	$22,500
Sold	75 shares of Apple Inc.	4/15/20	$28,750
Sold	350 Shares of Cooper Tire	10/14/20	$14,700
Sold	1,000 shares of Cardinal Health	9/3/20	$35,000
Sold	50 Shares of Union Pacific	1/7/20	$2,750
Purchased	100 Shares of Proctor & Gamble	7/10/20	$7,700
Purchased	350 Shares of Cooper Tire	12/1/20	$14,000
Purchased	350 shares of PepsiCo	5/14/20	$32,000
Purchased	300 shares of Kellogg	10/14/20	$21,000
Purchased	2,000 shares of Microsoft	5/1/20	$21,000
Purchased	50 shares of Cooper Tire	6/28/20	$2,000

Relevant tax basis/holding period information related to sales of securities in the current year:

Purchased	200 Shares of Apple Inc.	3/8/17	$90,000
Purchased	300 Shares of Cooper Tire	1/12/16	$9,000
Purchased	100 shares of Union Pacific	9/5/19	$6,000

Received 1,000 shares of Cardinal Health from Diana’s father as a gift on 10/10//03. Her father’s basis in the stock at the time of the gift was $7,000. Fair market value of the stock at the date of the gift was $41,000.

The Joneses have a $43,000 long-term capital loss carryover from the prior tax year.

The Joneses received a New Jersey state tax refund of $400 in May of 2020. The Joneses received the refund because they had overpaid their New Jersey state individual income tax for 2019. On their 2019 Federal income tax return, the Joneses itemized, and deducted and received a tax benefit for all state tax income taxes paid in 2019.

Diana is a 10% owner in an advertising agency named Bright Ideas (BI) (EIN 20-1234567). BI is a Subchapter S corporation located at 4700 MM Lane, West Rockport, ME 04865. The company reported ordinary business income for the tax year of $150,000. Diana received a K-1 from BI reporting her allocation of this business income. Diana acquired the stock several years ago. Her Basis in the stock before considering her 2020 income allocation was $92,000. Diana is a passive owner with respect to this entity, and all her investment is at risk. Diana received no distribution from BI in 2020. BI is a specified service business for purposes of the Qualified Business Income Deduction, generating $150,000 of Qualified Business Income and paying $50,000 in W2 Wages to its non-shareholder employees.

Diana is also a 20% owner in Natural Sunshine, Inc. (“NS”) (EIN 24-9876543). NS is a Subchapter S corporation located at 6488 WYWH Drive, Islamorada, FL 33036. The company reported an ordinary business loss for the year of $80,000. Diana received a K-1 from NS reporting her allocation of the business loss. Diana acquired the stock several years ago. Her basis in the stock before considering her 2020 loss allocation was $45,000. Diana is a passive owner with respect to this entity. NS is not a specified service business for the purposes of the Qualified Business Income Deduction.

The Joneses paid the following expenses during the year:

Dentist (unreimbursed by insurance)	$1,500
Doctors (unreimbursed by insurance)	$2,425
Prescriptions (unreimbursed by insurance)	$675
Real Property taxes on residence	$7,525
Vehicle (not used for business) property tax based upon value	$2,250
Mortgage interest on principal residence mortgage of $600,000	$20,550
Home Equity interest on $40,000 mortgage used to purchase new car	$3,600
Contribution to United Way	$5,000
Contribution to American Cancer Society	$7,000
Contribution to neighborhood drive to oppose development project	$500
Contribution to the Temple Mount Synagogue	$15,000

The Joneses also donated clothing, electronics, furniture and other household goods to the Salvation Army of Pleasantville, New Jersey on April 15, 2020. Estimated thrift value of the goods donated was $375.

Miscellaneous Information

On September 1, The Joneses paid $200 in foreign taxes attributed to the dividend received from the China Fund.

The Joneses would like to contribute to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The Joneses would also like to receive a refund (if any) of tax they may have overpaid for the year. Their preferred method of receiving the refund is by check.