You have been provided with a data set of Airbnb rentals for six U.S. cities that includes several variables including, rental price, property type, number of beds, review score and many more. You will be assigned ONE city in which to conduct a regression modelling exercise of the main factors impacting rental price . It is up to you how you address this, but you are expected to conduct this systematically and rigorously using the 8-step approach covered in class: understand the problem, understand the data, clean the data, analyse the data, run your regression model, check your model, interpret the results and provide advice.

DEBATE TOPIC: Class is a form of open stratification in which the position a person has by birth can be changed through his or her achievements or luck. Do you still agree with this statement given the current trends in terms of globalization and inequality?

I (the con team) will provide a different perspective and will criticize this statement => write the write-up base on this perspective

See instruction in the attachment

Project 3: Job Application Documents
Read these instructions carefully.  A draft of Project 3 is due Wednesday for peer review.  Your final Project 3 is due at the end of this week.

Overview
Most of us obtain jobs through a multi-stage process. First you research the types of jobs you are qualified for and the types of employers you would like to work for. Then you try to convince specific employers to consider you for a job. Your first communication with your future employer is likely to be through a resume and application letter. These documents must persuade him or her to continue the conversation.

Details
Your resume and application letter must be adapted to reflect your specific skills for a specific position. Find a detailed job advertisement for which you are at least mostly qualified (or will be upon graduation). You will analyze the job ad and the organization that published it in order to emphasize your qualifications for the position.

Documents required:

An application letter addressed to the prospective employer. The letter should highlight the aspects of your experience that are relevant to the job.
A resume that emphasizes your qualifications for the job. This resume will differ, perhaps significantly, from your generic resume.
A cover memo written to your instructor. This memo will explain and/or list all the ways you adapted your resume and application letter to meet the needs of this job and employer. The cover memo can be short (a single page) and informal.
A copy of the job ad. Copy and paste the entire ad into a Word.doc.
A copy of your generic resume. This is the resume that you have used in the past, or the one on which you archive all new experiences. If you dont have a generic resume, create one.
Note: The cover memo, job ad and generic resume will not be graded; however, if they are missing, your grade may be reduced.

Resumes
The purpose of the resume is to describe your qualifications for a type of job.

Content. The goal is to argue that you are qualified for a particular type of job and that you would be a capable, responsible, and personable employee who communicates effectively.

Format. Your format may be traditional or innovative as long as it is appropriate and as long as the information is highly accessible and is organized in a way that highlights the most important items from the employers perspective. Important: Follow the formatting and content guidelines as mentioned in BCE Chapter 13.

Style. Your style should be fairly formal. You need not use complete sentences, but you should use a concise, active style and show consistency in expression from section to section.

Application Letters
The purpose of the application letter is to persuade that specific employer to grant you an interview. Just as you appreciate being treated as an individual rather than as a statistic, so does an employer.

Content and Organization. The goal is to show the reader both that you know what that specific company needs and that you have what it takes. You may organize this section in various ways: Most business cover letters use AIDA (See BCE Chapter 14). Most application letters in engineering and science fields follow the Introduction/Education/Experience/Conclusion format. The letter should close by inviting a response. Important: BCE Chapter 14 provides excellent examples.

Style. Application letters are difficult to write because they aim at somewhat conflicting goals. On the one hand, you want to make a good first impression. So you want to sound polite and fairly formal. On the other hand, you want to stand out from the crowd otherwise, why should the employer hire you rather than any of the other applicants? The best policy is probably to talk to your reader as directly and naturally as possible. Avoid hype.

Format. Use a conventional business letter format.  Be brief: if possible, stick to one page.

Evaluation Criteria
Adaptation and Organization. The application letters and resumes demonstrate proficient application of genre conventions in response to different rhetorical situations. Organizational strategies are clear, effective and appropriate. The writer understands organizational strategies and is able to adapt them to specific job application situations.

Content. The writer makes information choices dependent on resume and application letter conventions and audience needs. Content focuses on skills, results, and qualifications, quantified where appropriate.

Style, Tone and Design. The documents are correct and concise. Tone is appropriate to the rhetorical situation but is in all ways professional, conversational and tailored to the specific audience. Design works to make the documents attractive and accessible.

Correctness. Employers impose strict standards of correctness on application materials. Accordingly, I will mark this project on a somewhat stricter scale than usual.

Essay: Examining Communication as a function of team dynamics 

Objective: Examine team communication dynamics and performance to identify and develop people who have the potential to make significant contributions to a team or organization.

Introduction: This lesson focuses on how individuals on a team can be developed to improve the teams effectiveness. It also gives you an overview of how leaders can help diagnose and develop their teams for higher levels of performance.

Deliverables: The essay for this lesson is required to be a minimum of 3 pages which clearly demonstrate your understanding of the activity. Essays should have a clear introduction, thesis statement, and conclusion, written in APA format (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/).   

Activity Details       
       
Step 1:  Read the following questions, and use what you have learned about Team Dynamics to address each of the items below, and summarize your responses in a 3-4-page paper (APA formatting required):       

You have been managing a small group on a project for several months. For some reason, the project seems to be at a halt. Your project sponsor wants to know what is happening. What are the possible reasons for your team being in trouble?  Include a description of symptoms of a team in trouble, and an explanation of common team problems.

How are you going to resolve the problems?  Provide a solution that includes a description of tools to resolve and prevent stalled team problems.

References
Viswanathan, R. (2010). Fundamentals of Communication. From Business Communication.

Fapohunda, T (2013). Towards Effective Team Building in the Workplace, International Journal of Education and Research, 1(4), pp. 1-12. 

Problem Complexity and Problem Solving in the 21st Century from Marquardt, M., & Yeo, R., Understanding problem solving through action learning strategy (pp. 9-29).

Action Learning and Breakthrough Problem-Solving from Marquardt, M., & Yeo, R., Understanding and resolving team dynamics through action learning teams (pp. 30-58).

Use APA 6th edition style including 12pt font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, page numbers. Each paper will have7 references from the original textbook (at least 4) and other course material or approved academic resources (at least 2).
Be sure to structure your paper as follows:
A title page (1 page),
Reference page (1 page) and
4 pages of analysis and reflection = 6 page paper.
Each paper will use a personal example of a conflict or difficult conversation or negotiation that you participated in or observed. The narrative of the example is applied to course content to illustrate your analysis for what worked or could be done differently to achieve a better outcome in the future.

Using the text, Getting to Yes, analyze a negotiation you have personally experienced in the last 12-18 months. Include the following in your analysis:

Introduction
What are principled negotiations?
What are the characteristics of a negotiation that is both efficient and effective?
Describe your negotiation.
Use the framework of the 4 keys of principled negotiation (as outlined in the textbook).
Analyze your example of a negotiation. Answer the following questions in your paper:
o How could you separate people from the problem?
o What are the interests v. positions in this negotiation?
o What options for mutual gain are available?
o What are objective criteria that could be used in this negotiation?
Does your MVS give you any insights as to patterns you have when it comes to handling negotiations?
What would you do differently in the future to produce a better negotiation?

Project 2: Business Correspondence
Read these instructions carefully.  There is no peer review for this project.  Your final Project 2 is due at the end of this week.

Overview
For this project, you will write four documents: three correspondence messages in response to the following scenarios and a cover memo to your instructor in which you outline the business writing strategies you employed as you composed your messages.

A scenario overview and four options are provided below.  Select any three of the options you prefer. The choices are:

a complaint letter from a customer to a construction firm;
an email from a customer service representative to his or her manager;
a memo from that manager to all employees within the firm explaining the specifics of company policy;
a letter from customer service responding to the customers complaints.
Note:  Be sure to follow the scenarios, but feel free to make up details where needed.

Scenario Overview
Denison Construction and Renovations is a thriving construction firm with offices in New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. The company specializes in high end projects and therefore employs master craftspeople to build custom cabinets, bathrooms, kitchens, and other projects to the precise specifications of very demanding clients. All Denison craftspeople have a minimum of five years of industry experience and come highly recommended from either previous clients or employers (or both).

In recent months, a team of workers from Denison has been building a 2,000 square foot indoor/outdoor addition (including an indoor sun room and an attached, outdoor patio) at the home of Mr. Kenneth and Mrs. Karen Hatcher, 353 Park Avenue, Kingland, Arizona. While the Hatchers are quite pleased with the work that the Denison team has been provided (both in terms of its quality and the rapid pace of its advancement), the family is less than fully pleased with the decorum of Denison workers. In particular, Mr. Hatcher is upset that the craftspeople tend not to wear shirts while completing many of their outdoor tasks.

Given that the Hatchers live in an exclusive, gated community, they are concerned that the immodesty of Denison workers may be reflecting negatively upon them. Given that the weather in Arizona is extremely hot, the Hatchers understand why the workers may choose such apparel, but they would strongly prefer that the craftspeople choose more suitable attire (either sleeveless t-shirts or tank-tops would be fine with you). The Hatchers also understand that some construction workers (as do many adults) use obscene language, but they have overheard a troubling amount of this language. Though they are hardly prudish, the Hatchers are worried that these obscenities can be heard by the children who play outside on their quiet, residential street.

Details
The Cover Memo
In this memo to your instructor, explicitly note which three of the correspondence options you have chosen to write. Explain the strategic choices that you made while composing your messageswhich details did you decide to include, which did you decide not to include, and so forthand describe the rationale for these decisions (i.e., explain why you did these things). Also note any challenges that you faced while writing, or explain why any of your strategic decisions were particularly difficult to reach.

The Correspondence Options (complete three out of four)
Option 1: Write a complaint letter from Kenneth or Karen Hatcher (whichever persona you prefer) to Delilah Flores, a customer service representative at Denison.

You are quite happy with the quality of the work being conducted and that you have no intention of cancelling your contract with Denison at this time. However, you want Denison workers dress more appropriately and speak more politely, given the nature of your residential community. You are uncertain whether or not Denison has corporate policies on these matters, and you do not particularly care if they do. In your mind, the customer is always right, and these Denison employees should do whatever can be reasonably asked of them to comply with your demands.

Option 2: Write an email from Delilah Flores to Patrick Gordon, Manager of Customer Service at the Denison site in Kingland.

You (this time you are Delilah Flores) and Mr. Gordon have already spoken about the problems at the Hatcher property so you need not explain the entire situation.  You need information from Mr. Gordon in order to act on this issue and respond to the Hatchers.

You understand why the Hatchers could have these objections about dress and language, and you’re not sure whether the company has a dress-code for employees at construction sites (unlike office workers, who must comply to a fairly strict dress code), nor do you know whether an official policy on language use exists. You need to know if the company has official policies on these issues and what, if any, action you should take if they exist (should customer service send out reminders to site managers to avoid future complaints?). You have a scanned copy of the Hatchers’ letter.  Would a copy help Mr. Gordon?

Option 3: Compose an inter-office memo from Patrick Gordon to all construction site managers who are employed at the Denison branch in Kingland.

You (now you are Patrick Gordon) want to tell them that, because of a recent complaint, you are hoping to clarify a few company policies. Policy 137k concerns professional attire at the workplace and states (you are paraphrasing here) that employees must wear shirts (sleeveless t-shirts and tank tops also count) at all times. This policy has not been strictly enforced in the past, but you are hoping that workers will comply in the future.

Also note that Policy 162g prohibits profanity or abusive language. The statement itself states, Denison Construction prohibits the use of vulgar, profane, insulting, obscene, derogatory, or offensive language of a vile nature toward the employer, the employer’s representatives, or any customers when such remarks are unjustified under the circumstances, and not within the normal exchange and customary good-natured banter between the employer or the employer’s representative and the employee. In short, you dont necessarily want to get rid of all cursing (you are not the profanity police), but you need employers to be mindful of the situations in which they operate.  You imagine that this news may not be entirely welcome, but you know that your site managers and employees are hardworking and professional.

Option 4: Compose a letter of apology from Delilah Flores to Kenneth and Karen Hatcher.

You (Delilah again) need to let the Hatchers know that you have received their complaint and that your company plans to honor their request (in other words, your employees will start dressing appropriately and stop cursing). The Hatchers should also know that your manager, Patrick Gordon, has circulated a memo to all construction site managers reminding them of company policies in reference to these two points. You know that companies are often glad that customers bring them their concerns so that they have a chance to correct the problem and make the customer happy.  You also know that your company (Denison) takes seriously its responsibility to provide excellent customer service.

Evaluation Criteria
Adaptation and Organization.  The responses demonstrate an understanding and effective application of genre conventions for everyday business communication.  Organizational strategies are clear, effective and appropriate.  The writer understands organizational strategies and is able to adapt them to specific rhetorical situations. 

Content.  The writer includes specific, focused requests, explanations, goodwill, and/or instructions with appropriate use of buffer or context, when needed. Evidence to support requests or claims is clear, accessible and written from the readers perspective.

Style, Tone and Design.  The messages are correct and concise.  Tone is appropriate to the rhetorical situation but is in all ways professional, approachable, conversational and tailored to the specific audience.  Design conventions are followed accurately.